A week had pa.s.sed since the ordeal.
Today was the first day they all went back to school. School had been on break because of the damage Juan caused, but resumed cla.s.ses in the city"s public facilities. The school was being fixed thanks to a large sum of money given to the school by an anonymous donor. It was a secret, but the money probably came from the Jevini family.
After being shot by Juan, Kazuki has been looked after by a doctor of the Jevini family. Although they were bullet wounds, since the injuries inflicted were in areas that healed fairly quickly, Kazuki considered himself lucky in an otherwise unlucky situation.
Kazuki told people who didn"t know what happened that he fell down the stairs, but it still became a hot topic of discussion among the students for a while. Well, since Kazuki wasn"t able to tell the truth, he didn"t really mind.
Although most of his injures already healed, he was still using crutches.
"Oops."
While going to school, Kazuki stumbled... but it wasn"t because he wasn"t used to the crutches.
The reason why he couldn"t walk properly was Sabrina, in a round-about manner.
"Sabrina, isn"t this hard for you? I don"t want to trouble you, so I"ll just use crutches. Could you give them back?"
"No, it"s not a problem. I can protect you better than these things."
Sabrina had her hand around one of Kazuki"s shoulders helping him walk. Unfortunately, due to their height difference, she wasn"t so much helping him walk as she was pulling him down until he found it difficult to walk.
And every time they took a step, Sabrina"s "tool box" b.u.mped into him; thus, it was surprisingly painful. But since she was doing it out a good will, Kazuki didn"t have the heart to tell her.
After becoming the boss of the Jevini family, Sabrina had to return to Italy.
But she remained in j.a.pan and was living with Kazuki.
To understand how this happened, one would need to look back at what happened three days ago.
Three days ago, Kazuki and Sabrina were at the airport.
Since Sofia was returning to Italy, the two of them came to see her off.
On a side note, Juan and his men had already been sent off to Italy by the Jevini family. Apparently, a harsh punishment awaited to the traitors.
When Kazuki asked what kind of punishment was in store for them, Sofia thought for a bit and asked "I don"t think you"ll be able to eat meat for a while, is that ok?". Obviously, Kazuki chose not to inquire any further.
Outside on the runway, a plane soared off into the cloudless sky.
Soon it would also be time for Sofia"s plane to depart.
"Thanks for coming here to see me off."
"Don"t mind it, it"s nothing really."
"I wasn"t talking to you. I was talking to Sabrina."
Sofia glared at him.
"Ehh..."
"I wouldn"t have come if Onii-chan didn"t come with me."
"Hah."
After hearing Sabrina"s words, Sofia"s threatening expression quickly disappeared and tears started appearing in the corners of her eyes. When Sofia tried to complain, Sabrina hugged Kazuki"s arm tightly and closed her eyes. A menacing look fell on Kazuki.
So he quickly changed the subject.
"Ah, by the way, is that really ok with Sabrina?"
"Ah, this?"
Sofia tapped the thick brown envelope she held in her hand.
"It"s fine as long as I have these doc.u.ments."
Inside were doc.u.ments. One was to acknowledge that Sabrina was now the official boss of the Jevini family.
There was another doc.u.ment as well, it stated that 「 As the boss - Sabrina will be staying in j.a.pan as a foreign exchange student and Sofia will take her place as the subst.i.tute boss. 」
"With this, Sabrina doesn"t have to be in Italy."
"Are you ok with this though, Sofia-san?"
"This will benefit Sabrina for sure, but this is also a great opportunity for me. Our interests just happened to coincide."
"I see... thank you."
"I told you that I didn"t do this for grat.i.tude."
"But I still want to say thank you. Thank you."
When Kazuki bowed his head, Sofia snorted in an embarra.s.sed manner.
"I told you this before, but don"t let your guard down."
Her expression turned serious as she warned them.
"With this doc.u.ment I"m the boss on paper, but it won"t change the fact that Sabrina is the real boss. Enemy mafia families... or like this time, even a Jevini family member could attack."
She paused for a moment.
And asked him;
"Do you still have the resolve to take in Sabrina?"
"I..."
The moments when the school blew up, Saki got hurt and Juan shot him started replaying in Kazuki"s head.
He wasn"t able to answer Sofia straight away. He didn"t even know how to respond. Sabrina looked up at Kazuki while he was still frozen.
"Oh, are you scared?"
"To be honest, I"m... I"m scared when I think that something like this might happen again."
"Are you trying to run away?"
"No."
Kazuki looked straight at Sofia.
And he declared...
"I am scared, but I am also prepared. Sabrina is my little sister, after all."
Sofia"s hand flashed for a moment as she looked away.
"... That"s some good determination. If you answered me without thinking, I was going to kill you."
"What!?"
She put the switch blade back in her pocket. It seemed like Kazuki could"ve been killed on the spot.
"Onii-chan..."
Sabrina happily rubbed her nose on Kazuki"s arm.
"Looks like it"s time. I"ll be off now — get away from her!"
"S-sorry. S-so, look after yourself. Hey, Sabrina."
"Si. I leave the paper work to you."
Sofia turned around.
"Ah, that"s right."
She turned back around and moved her face near Kazuki"s.
— You and Sabrina live in different worlds. It won"t turn out well in the end.
He remembered what she said to him before. Kazuki"s body stiffened.
"I leave Sabrina to you."
Sofia kissed Kazuki"s cheek.
"What?"
Kazuki was unable to process what just happened and proceed to stare blankly at Sofia. Sabrina probably didn"t see what just happened because of how she was standing, so she looked up at Kazuki in a puzzled manner.
He stroked his cheek. He was still able to feel the softness of Sofia"s lips. Kazuki quickly blushed.
"Eh? Eh? Ehhh—hhh!"
"Why are you getting so worked up over something like this? Surprisingly, you have a cute side. That was to say thanks for what happened this time, and my way of saying that I trust you."
"Sofia-san..."
Trust. That single word made Kazuki feel happy.
However...
"But... if you do something to Sabrina, I won"t forgive you!"
Sofia"s expression quickly changed... at a shocking speed.
"Ah, ahh..."
"I"ll let you taste various tortures used across the world. You"ll believe you"d better off dead. Well, you won"t die though."
She cracked her fingers and smiled evilly. Her eyes were out of focus and the scariest part was that she might actually do it.
"If you do, I won"t forgive you."
Sabrina coldly said. Sofia turned to stone as she was bullying Kazuki.
"Eeep—."
With the large amount of mental damage dealt, Sofia dragged her feat and disappeared through the boarding gates.
Her figure as she walked away didn"t give off the atmosphere of a boss, but a melancholic one instead.
And so, Sabrina remained in Kazuki"s house.
"What should I do, I"m going to be late at this rate - eep."
Kazuki tripped over something and fell magnificently. After falling, he rubbed his nose and looked behind him... only to see a zombie, no, Izuna grabbing his leg.
"I—"m—hung—ry!"
Izuna crawled up Kazuki"s body.
"Lord, I thank thee for thy mercy and gladly receive this daily bread. I bless this which is set before me and - I can"t wait any more."
"Stop! Why are you offering a prayer!? Sabrina! D-do something!"
"Si."
Sabrina removed a cute pouch and opened it. Izuna, who was about to eat Kazuki (in a non-s.e.xual way) stopped her hands.
"Izuna."
"Hmm!? Is that a packed lunch!?"
Sabrina threw the packed lunch away like she was throwing a soccer ball... it flew quite far.
"Woof, woof!"
Izuna chased it like a dog.
"Kyaa—aa!"
Saki stood there with a pale face. In her hands were some gardening tools. She probably had them to do some gardening at the cathedral.
"S-Sabrina, t-that was the lunch I packed for Ootaki-kun..."
"Si. I found the suspicious lunch inside the bag on the floor, so I used it."
"That was mine!"
Sabrina and Saki exchanged glances with one another.
"...You."
"..."
The two of them didn"t move an inch and they both refused to back down.
Bite.
While Saki was focused on glaring at Sabrina, Sabrina bit her.
"Kyaa! It hurts, it hurts! I"m sorry~."
"Ah—hh! Sabrina, stop it!"
Kazuki pulled Sabrina off Saki.
"Are you ok, Kinos.h.i.ta?"
"Yeah, somewhat.... Eh heh heh, I"m glad you were able to make up with Sabrina."
Saki wiped her tears away as she smiled happily.
"Yeah, it"s all thanks to you, Kinos.h.i.ta. Isn"t that right, Sabrina?"
"Si. I"m really in your debt this time. Thanks to you, I"m now Onii-chan"s "family" and "family.""[1]
"Ah, so I am part of that family now. I don"t want to be involved in a fight for a while, though."
"It"s ok. If we"re together, we"re invincible."
"Umm."
Saki held her hand up.
"Is it ok if I join that family as well? No, I need to join!"
"Ehh!? What are you saying, Kinos.h.i.ta!?"
"But you two seem to be having lots of fun together. Hey, how do I sign up?"
"No, no. It"s not an extra curriculum activity."
"Si. Others are not allowed to join."
"Uuu..."
While Kazuki was persuading Saki, Izuna hopped on his back. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were pressing against him and he felt a soft, marshmallow-like sensation.
"Izuna-san!?"
"You don"t really need all that to become a family. For example, get "married.""
""Married!?""
Kazuki and Saki spoke at the same time. Sabrina also widened her eyes in surprise.
"So for that reason, Kazuki-kun will be mar—ried to me☆"
"Whaaat!? What are you saying, Izuna-san!?"
"T-then I will!"
"Kinos.h.i.ta as well!? Will that be ok!?"
"Si. Then me as well."
"Sabrina is a little sister!"
"It"s fine, it"s fine. Then, everyone will be competing with the Paradise Lost as our destination!"
"We"re not! Everyone calm dow—!"
Like always, Kazuki"s yell echoed throughout the blue sky.
______________________________________________________________________
Reference
1. The first "family" means family as in mother, father, brother, sister, etc. The second "family" means the mafia family. Saki is confused thinking that the second "family" is like a club or something. ↩