"No," Seiji replied. "I"m just temporarily taking care of her.""So that means you now have a temporary younger sister."
"She"s not my younger sister!"
"Then, a daughter?"
"That"s even further off the mark! She"s just a child that"s temporarily living here. There"s no other meaning behind it."
"But you"re treating her as a younger sister, aren"t you?"
"Er... I suppose you could say that."
"Then she"s a younger sister!"
There was a sharp glint in Chiaki"s eyes. She pointed at Seiji in a pose that seemed to come straight out of Phoenix Wright and said: "You perverted lolicon!"
"Objection! I"m definitely not a pervert; I"m just a pure sis-con!" Seiji did his best to clear his name.
"Fooling an elementary school girl into coming here and becoming your younger sister is clearly a pervert"s action!"
"Objection! I didn"t fool her at all; I brought her here through intimate friends.h.i.+p!"
"The accused"s defense is meaningless! Judge Mika, what do you say?"
"I agree with Prosecutor Chiaki"s viewpoint. The accused, please make a more meaningful statement, or show some evidence to prove your point," Mika said expressionlessly.
"Wah... Reo-chan can be my witness."
"A minor that"s at the centre of this might currently be under a certain someone"s undue influence, so she can"t be a witness for you."
"Why is it like this!?" Seiji acted as if he had received a heavy impact.
"Hmph, our side is easily able to summon witnesses." Chiaki revealed a smug expression. "Judge Mika, please allow my first witness to enter!"
"I allow your witness to enter."
"Come, my witness, Kagursan!"
s.h.i.+ka really did walk into the room and sat down on the tatami. Seiji was surprised for a moment at this.
"s.h.i.+kchan..." he murmured.
"Please introduce yourself, prosecutor"s witness," Mika said to s.h.i.+ka.
"I am the accused"s adopted younger sister, s.h.i.+ka Kagura," the black-haired beauty said calmly.
"No way, you"re playing along with them as well!?" Seiji was rather stunned now.
"Kagursan, do you feel that the accused"s words just now are true?" Chiaki asked.
"They were not," s.h.i.+ka said, scrutinizing her adopted older brother"s face closely.
"Hey, hey, what"s going on now!?" Seiji was stunned even more.
"Oh? Which part was he lying about?" Chiaki smiled faintly, and Seiji saw a dark shadow flicker across her face.
Mika also had a faint black aura around her.
"The sentence "I"m definitely not a pervert,"" s.h.i.+ka said.
"Why do you say that this sentence is a lie?" Chiaki asked.
"Because he intended to sleep together with the little girl that he just brought home." Everyone heard her calm voice clearly.
Seiji completely froze over.
He didn"t know what his expression looked like anymore, nor did he dare right now to check what the prosecutor and judge"s expressions were like.
He felt as if... he really was a suspect on a defense stand right now!
This experience was way too realistic for him.
"Seiji..." A low voice spoke up.
He was about to be judged.
So, being judged actually felt like this...
Just as Seiji was beginning to escape from reality, what saved him was -
"Brother Harano... what are you all doing?"
The little girl walked out of the study and asked everyone with an inquisitive look on her face.
After some introductions, Reo got to know Mika and Chiaki.
The atmosphere eased up... or perhaps it should say that the atmosphere changed entirely.
Seiji felt as if the atmosphere where he was just about to be judged earlier had disappeared completely, transforming somehow into something beautiful and peaceful.
However, when Reo admitted that she had promised to sleep together with him, the atmosphere instantly changed back again!
"Little sister Tachibana, even if you"re only an elementary school girl, it"s not good for you to be sleeping together with a boy." Chiaki said with a wide grin as she looked towards Seiji with a sharp gaze.
"He might touch you in strange places, you know."
*Shtick!* A sharp arrow pierced Seiji"s chest.
"Yeah, boys are all messy when they"re asleep. He"ll interfere with your own sleep," Mika added.
"Oh... Brother Harano, are you really like this?" Reo asked.
"I..."
Seiji mentally broke out into a cold sweat in front of the sharp gazes of the prosecutor, judge, and witness, and ended up averting his gaze.
"...I don"t know, perhaps... I really might do something I don"t know about while I"m asleep."
"This is a lie! I"m perfectly normal while I"m asleep!" At least, that was what Seiji believed.
But due to the sense of pressure he felt from the three girls, he could only say what he did just now.
Reo blinked at this.
"Then, I"ll try sleeping together with Brother Harano for one night first, and if Brother really does move around too much at night... I"ll just sleep by myself in the future."
Try sleeping together with him for one night first?
Both Mika and Chiaki"s expressions froze over slightly at this.
"Little sister Tachibana, why do you... insist on sleeping together with him? Are you afraid to sleep by yourself?"
"I"m not afraid, I just... I just want to be together with Brother Harano." The little girl"s face reddened slightly as she said this.
Mika and Chiaki were rendered speechless.
Then, they both glared viciously at the perverted sis-con in front of them!
"Ah... the sky sure is beautiful." Seiji looked out of the window in an attempt to escape from reality.
After seeing Reo"s att.i.tude, Mika and Chiaki found it too awkward to proceed with the trial. To be honest, they knew that with Seiji"s moral character, he definitely wasn"t the type to do anything to a loli like Reo. But... they still felt uncomfortable and displeased inside!
As for just why they were displeased, only they knew. After chatting for a while longer, the two of them said goodbye and left.
After that was dinnertime. Seiji and s.h.i.+ka worked together to cook an abundant dinner to welcome Reo"s arrival. Reo found the food quite delicious. She ate from many dishes and even had an extra bowl of rice.
After dinner, Seiji did the same thing that he did in the soul realm and played video games together with Reo. Of course, the game system and games were borrowed from Hirai"s residence. Reo had lots of fun while playing, just like she had in the soul realm.
Finally, it was bedtime.
"If I do anything at all to Reo-chan, will the Demon Blade slice me into pieces in the middle of the night?" Seiji couldn"t help but think when he saw s.h.i.+ka"s expression as she said good night to him. "I definitely won"t do anything to Reo. I definitely won"t! So... s.h.i.+kchan, you don"t need to guard our bed all night, you know."
He was unable to muster the courage to say this out loud in the end.
Reo-chan in pajamas was of course incredibly cute. When he saw this incredibly cute little girl get on his bed and lay beside him, Seiji found that his heart wasn"t as calm as he had expected it to be.
There were three advantages to lolis: they were light, soft, and easy to push...
"Hey hey! Stop!!" Seiji resorted to the method of reciting as many digits of pi as he could recall to calm himself down. As he done so, he reflected that he hadn"t been forced to use this method for a very long time.
No matter how moved he was by the scene of a loli in his bed and no matter how strong the cannon fire was, he absolutely had to protect his line of defense! He absolutely had to withstand everything!!
"Understood! Sergeant Haruta swears that he shall accomplish this mission!!"
"Good night, Reo-chan," he said.
"Good night, Brother Harano."
Seiji turned off the lights and they closed their eyes. Before long, Seiji felt Reo getting closer to him and hugging his arm. It was a warm and soft feeling. He could also smell a faint aroma.
"Calm down, relax; she"s just a young child..." Seiji maintained his sense of logic and reason.
He gradually fell asleep... but before long, he was woken up by the sound of crying.
"It was as I expected." Seiji inwardly sighed.
Reo-chan was crying. This was only natural. She had said farewell forever to her mother and was now living in an unfamiliar place... as a child, she would definitely feel sad and anxious.
She needed someone to accompany her, and this was the main reason why Seiji had agreed to sleep together with her in the first place. He didn"t say anything as he listened to her cry. He merely reached out with the hand that she wasn"t holding on to and gently patted her on the head.
"If you want to cry, then cry to your heart"s content. I shall accompany you throughout this long, long night."