[TL/N: h.e.l.lo everyone, the release was halted with the whole moving thing, so… 2 chapters coming right after this one, enjoy!]The baby cackled happily and grasped Aoinoun-san"s finger energetically.
"Ah! Aaaah! So cute… My baby, so cute."
Aoinoun-san seemed to be overcome with emotion as her trembling empty left hand slowly drew towards the baby.
As for me, I kept staring intently at the baby"s head, dumbfounded.
"…Horns, tail, and wings."
Around the temples, the baby"s head sported a pair of seemingly soft small gray horns, which grew directly out of the fluff.
On the backs, the kid had small wings—being of the same color, they seemed to be miniature copies of Aoinoun-san"s wings.
From the bottom, short tail the thickness of my arm grew out as well.
"Here, here too! It"s the younger sister!"
The egg on the left was still shaking with a clatter.
Was this one having trouble with getting out? It seemed to struggle quite a bit.
"Can"t we break it?"
"Y-you"re right! It seems quite pitiable!"
Aoinoun-san turned to look at me with surprise. She looked at her right hand that was still grasped by mine, and then again at me.
"Sorry, Kunpei-san, can I trouble you to do me a favor? Older sister won"t let go."
"Ah."
Grinning, the baby was playing with Aoinoun-san"s finger with its both hands.
"Ah, yeah."
I nodded and touched the egg gently. It"s quite hard, this egg.
It was cracked here and there, so I put my finger into one of the cracks and started to gently peel the sh.e.l.l off.
While being careful not to hurt the baby inside with the fragments of the cracked sh.e.l.l, I peeled the sh.e.l.l off carefully bit by bit with quiet snapping sounds.
"Ooh."
Something bit my left hand"s finger. It started chewing it, then seemed to bite it playfully and finally sucked on it.
"O-oi. Nothing"s gonna come out…"
After pulling my finger back slowly, I returned to peeling the sh.e.l.l bit by bit.
"…Fuee, fuaaaah."
From inside the egg, I"ve heard a faint cry, similar to deep breathing.
"Ah, Kunpei-san, quickly! Younger sister"s crying!"
"Ah, g-got it!"
I quickly moved my hands and split the sh.e.l.l.
As most of it was already peeled off, I grabbed the upper part of the sh.e.l.l with both my hands and pulled on it strongly.
"Fuuuaaah! Aaaaah!"
A lovely infant appeared, tears flowing from its still closed eyes.
"Aaaah… the younger sister is also cute… hey, don"t be afraid~ It"s mom~"
Aoinoun-san extended her left hand and caressed her cheek.
The younger sister grabbed the thumb of the hand stroking her with her mouth and sucked on it. It seemed like she calmed down.
As I expected, there were horns growing from the fluff on both sides of her head.
Different than her sister"s, this girl"s horns were white and curving upwards.
She also properly had a pair of wings on her back and a tail on the bottom.
"I-it"s better the hug them, right?"
"T-that"s of course. It"s rather cold after all."
Obviously, the babies were stark naked.
It"s still March. While it got warmer, it"s still rather chilly.
"Hey, wait."
I took off my outer garment. It was a sweatshirt with a big hood.
I"m alright. I"m weak to cold, so I"m wearing a long-sleeved shirt and another shirt below.
"Ah, Aoinoun-san, please wear this."
It"s not like I forgot, but this girl is also stark naked. They"re getting along quite nice, the mother and her two daughters. Wait, that"s not it.
[TL/N: j.a.panese seem to have a custom to take baths together and chat, usually among family, and sometimes friends and colleagues, to deepen their relations; it"s almost always done naked, and he"s hinting at that with his joke.]Aoinoun-san was wearing my jacket on her shoulders right now, but she"s been completely exposed since a while ago.
Her small but shapely bosom, her white belly, and… and that hairless place.
I must look embarra.s.sed. To be honest, it"s hard to look at her directly.
"Y-yes! Thank you very much!"
Freeing her hands gently from the babies" hold, she accepted my sweatshirt and put it on as well.
Its size was too big, so it was somehow able to conceal her down to her thighs.
I took off my shirt. I still have a thin undershirt protecting me from cold left on. I should be okay… probably.
I wrapped the younger sister in my shirt. I feel like her expression relaxed a bit—maybe it"s because the clothes are warm. Her half-opened eyes started blinking incessantly, and her mouth began to close and open repeatedly.
As for the older sister, she was wrapped in the jacket I"ve given Aoinoun-san. The inside is covered with thin plumage, so it"s bound to be warm.
The hand she was grasping until now disappeared, so she was curiously but restlessly looking around, trying to find it.
Ah, they both have a cowlick, but each in a different direction. The older sister"s goes to the right, and the younger"s to the left.
"Hey, hold her."
I"ve been trying not to dirty her with my blood so it took some effort, but at last, both of them were warm.
"…Waah, thank you very much. Look, it"s warm now~ How nice, isn"t it~?"
Aoinoun-san spread her arms and picked up the older sister first.
The latter seemed to be happy because of the warmth—she was laughing.
"S-so soft… so warm."
With big tears still spilling from her eyes, Aoinoun-san trembled with emotion.
While looking at them, I used the now useless cloth sack and wrapped it around my hand as a makeshift dressing.
Aoinoun-san, who was still sitting, put her hands under the baby girl"s armpits, squirming.
A moment later, she raised her eyes and looked at me.
"U-um, it"s a bit difficult to do this in this posture, so could you please pick up the younger sister?"
Ah, I get it, she couldn"t lift her up because her posture was too unbalanced.
"G-got it."
I haven"t held a baby since Shouhei was small.
It sure makes me nervous.
"Hey, excuse me."
Holding her under her armpits, I held her up.
The neck… it seems to be in the right position. I"m holding her properly.
"Ah."
The younger sister looked at me with what seemed to be curiosity. Her half-open eyes were fixed on me.
"Aah, aah!"
"Eh? O-older sister?" Aoinoun-san cried out in surprise.
As I looked in her direction, it turned out that the older sister she was holding was reaching out with her arms towards me, fretting and moving restlessly.
"Eh, so you want to be together with your sister. Shunpei-san, hi~"
""Hi"? You…"
To my slight irritation, she approached me as though she was going to hand me the older sister.
On the spur of the moment, I held the younger sister with just my right hand, and received her older sister with my left hand.
"Ah~!"
"…Hm?"
A happy older sister, and a curious younger sister.
For some reason, I"m hugging the twin sisters.
What"s up with this. Maybe it"s about time I got a proper explanation.
Aoinoun-san wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with a grin.
Looking at the twin sisters in my arms, her smile became even broader.
"Wow… when they"re together, their cuteness is amazing… isn"t it nice, being hugged by your papa…"
"P-papa?!"
She just said something terrifying.