"He doesn"t hate you; he"s just finding everything difficult to accept," Seiji told her. "At the very least, judging from his tone, there"s no indication that he hates you, or even that there"s any disgust. Your uncle is just confused, and he needs some time to comprehend this matter."
"What if... Uncle... doesn"t want me... anymore..." Reo sniffled.
Seiji crouched down in front of Reo and looked straight into her eyes.
"With how cute you are, how could he possibly not want you anymore, Reo-chan?" He wiped away her tears with his hand. "I believe that can"t be the case... but if it really happens, Reo-chan, why don"t you just come live in my home?"
"Brother Harano..."
"I told you before that I would help you. Although that was in your dream, that promise still stands in the real world as well." Seiji smiled gently. "And didn"t you promise your mother that you would be braver? So don"t always cry, and be more spirited, alright?"
"Okay..." Reo nodded. Her cheeks reddened slightly when she saw his gentle smile. "Brother Harano... thank you."
"No need to be so polite, Reo-chan."
Taking care of an elementary school girl wasn"t as easy as it seemed, not to mention the fact that she possessed a mysterious power.
Seiji admitted to himself that he might have been too impulsive in the heat of the moment. But taking into account Reo"s situation, he felt that he couldn"t just watch from the sidelines.
There was still plenty of s.p.a.ce in his new apartment for an extra child to live with them, but the problem was... s.h.i.+ka"s ability, the "Reaper"s Curse."
Would the solution be forcing s.h.i.+ka to move out?
No! Seiji would never do such a thing.
They would all live together. As long as Reo didn"t talk to or come into contact with s.h.i.+ka, she would probably remain unaffected.
"s.h.i.+ka, not only did I get you involved in this, we even added a child to our home. I"m sorry..."
Seiji and s.h.i.+ka were currently in the living room of Shouhei Hirai"s residence, waiting for Reo to finish packing up the things she wanted to take. Meanwhile, Seiji apologized to his adopted younger sister.
"I"m happy to have been of help to Brother." The black-haired girl smiled faintly. "And taking care of Reo Tachibana... this is something that Brother would do, and there"s nothing wrong about it."
"s.h.i.+kchan..." Seiji was moved by his adopted sister"s understanding.
To be honest, s.h.i.+ka Kagura was somewhat dissatisfied. She felt that her adopted brother suddenly deciding to take care of an elementary school girl was a bit overboard. She felt that he was undertaking a responsibility that he shouldn"t have.
However, she knew that Seiji Haruta was just such a person.
Precisely because he was such a person, s.h.i.+ka herself was able to become his adopted younger sister and live together with him.
Reo Tachibana was indeed an unfortunate child who was in a somewhat similar circ.u.mstance to her previous self. s.h.i.+ka was also worried about Reo.
"Brother, is it really alright for her live together with me? How about... I move out?" s.h.i.+ka offered in a soft voice.
"No! I won"t have you move out; you definitely can"t do that!" Seiji said seriously. "Although there is some risk, as long as we all pay attention, nothing major should happen, so there"s no need to mind too much. And even if something really does happen, it can definitely be taken care of—for sure!"
Seiji"s tone was resolute to the point where it was impossible to doubt him. s.h.i.+ka felt a warm feeling in her heart and didn"t say anything else about this matter.
After Reo finished packing her things, Seiji formally introduced s.h.i.+ka to Reo.
"You"ll meet with misfortune, but there"s no need to be afraid. Just be careful not to talk to her or touch her."
"Oh..." Reo blinked as she looked at the black-haired girl.
s.h.i.+ka smiled at Reo.
Reo"s eyes widened upon seeing s.h.i.+ka"s smile. "So pretty! Such a beautiful big sister... not being able to talk to her is really..."
The little girl felt it was truly regrettable.
"Not... not even one sentence?" she asked.
"It"s not absolute, but if you talk to her, you need to mentally prepare yourself, as something unfortunate may occur to you," Seiji explained.
Unfortunate things... Of course Reo didn"t want that to happen, but she also really wanted to speak to the beautiful big sister.
"Brother Harano, aren"t you afraid? Of meeting with unfortunate things..."
"I have a special ability that protects me from that happening."
"Oh..." Reo thought about it. "Then, is it alright if I talk to you, and you help me talk to Big Sister Kagura?"
"This... I suppose so."
"Then, Brother Harano, come over here."
At Reo"s indication, Seiji sat beside her and tilted his head so that she could whisper into his ear. He felt her hot breath tickle his ears as she spoke.
"h.e.l.lo, Big Sister Kagura," Seiji said. "You"re so pretty, especially when you smile."
It was honest, direct praise. s.h.i.+ka smiled upon hearing Seiji tell her that.
Reo was dazed by s.h.i.+ka"s beautiful smile once more. Even Seiji was somewhat dazzled by her smile. Then, s.h.i.+ka sat on Seiji"s other side and indicated for him to move his ear closer to her mouth.
"Thank you. You"re also quite cute yourself, Little Sister Tachibana." He acted as a messenger for s.h.i.+ka as well.
"I"d like to be able to speak to Big Sister directly, but I"m afraid of meeting with unfortunate things... is it very difficult for Big Sister to have such an ability?" This was from Reo.
"It"s quite difficult, but I don"t feel so anymore, because... I met this person." He transmitted this message from s.h.i.+ka while simultaneously pointing at himself.
s.h.i.+ka had actually said "Brother Seigo," but Seiji felt it would be too awkward to say that out loud! He was quite embarra.s.sed by it.
"This person has the ability to not be affected by you—that"s awesome. If only I had such an ability as well." From Reo.
"He does have nice abilities, but what"s even better is his... heart. He cares for me and took me in, just like how he"s treating you now." From s.h.i.+ka. Seiji got even more embarra.s.sed!
"So Big Sister Kagura is just like me... how long have you lived together with him?"
"Not long, but it"ll be very long in the future. I have nowhere else to go and will always stay together with him."
"If Uncle doesn"t want me anymore, can I do this as well? Always stay together with him..."
"Eh? I probably shouldn"t have transmitted this sentence." Seiji came to that realization only after saying it out loud.
He was just about to say something to Reo when s.h.i.+ka indicated for his ear again.
"Of course, didn"t he say that it was fine already? That"s why you don"t need to worry about having no place to go. This home welcomes you, Little Sister Tachibana."
Reo looked towards s.h.i.+ka"s face. s.h.i.+ka looked back at Reo and smiled faintly. Reo responded with a cute smile.
She didn"t have Seiji say the next sentence; instead, she said it herself.
"Thank you, Big Sister Kagura."
After communicating through Seiji, Reo Tachibana and s.h.i.+ka Kagura officially became familiar with each other.
Seiji felt gratified at their conversation, and then he thought about how they were going to need to use this method in the future to communicate as well. Seiji felt rather itchy inside; it was a subtle sensation.
Was he going to get addicted to this embarra.s.sing "play?"
"...It doesn"t matter even if I get addicted, right?
"No, no! I should be thinking about how to cultivate and get stronger, so that I can find a method to deal with s.h.i.+ka"s "Reaper"s Curse" problem from the foundation!" He criticized himself.
Afterwards, the three of them hauled Reo"s luggage and left her residence. They returned to the hospital and gave the key back to Hirai.
"You... why are you willing to take care of Reo?" Hirai asked, looking at Seiji.
"Because I think Reo-chan is a good girl," Seiji responded.
Hirai looked at him for a while before turning to look at his niece.
"Reo... do you think it"s alright to be together with this person?"
"I... I think it"s okay..." Reo responded weakly.
Hirai looked at her for a while before retracting his gaze.
"Then... let"s just temporarily do this for now. Seigo Harano-san... I"ll be leaving Reo in your care."