Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: 7.1 Marriage?
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Morning.
After waking up and taking a shower, I changed into my uniform.
Nothing unusual there. It was just my daily morning routine.
But the scene in the kitchen that followed was a little different from the norm.
“Yaaawn~!”
Akane, apron tied around her waist, greeted me with a stretch and a yawn.
“You’re late! How long are you gonna sleep?”
“Spare me the nagging.”
Akane wearing an apron in our house. And acting like she owned the place, completely at ease.
It felt strangely off-putting somehow.
The awkwardness I used to feel looking at Akane was gone now.
Maybe because her attitude had become more honest. Or perhaps she figured there was no point pretending anymore since we both knew everything there was to know.
“Good morning, Naibusu.”
“Yeah. Morning, Sis.”
Sis had already finished eating and was leisurely sipping her coffee.
Sis used to always be rushed in the mornings. Judging by the apron, Akane must have made breakfast. Had Akane given her some breathing room?
If Akane’s presence was helping in any way, that was a relief.
“Akane’s right. How about waking up a bit earlier, Naibusu? You always cut it so close.”
Sis joined in on Akane’s nagging. What pointless chatter.
“Sure.”
I gave a half-hearted reply and took a seat.
Toast, fried eggs, sausage, bacon.
Western style today, huh.
I grabbed the bread without a word and started chewing.
“Naibusu, for breakfast, do you prefer bread or rice?”
Akane peered at me as I munched away.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Come on! Can’t you answer seriously for once?”
She scolded me for my soulless response.
I thought I was being serious.
“I like anything that fills me up calorie-wise. Bonus points if it’s got nutrients.”
“You really live life so carelessly.”
Akane sighed.
Was eating whatever a crime now?
Akane had a habit of getting mad whenever we talked. If she kept snapping like that, she’d end up with wrinkles.
As I tuned out Akane’s nagging and filled my stomach, Sis spoke up in a slightly serious tone.
“By the way, Akane. What about the academy?”
“Huh? The academy?”
“Yeah. Don’t you need to keep going until graduation?”
“No... I don’t really...”
Sis meant well, thinking of Akane, but Akane didn’t seem thrilled.
I chimed in casually.
“Sis. After what she did, how’s she supposed to go back to the academy? You know how the others would treat her.”
“Naibusu.”
Sis warned me for my rash words. But it was the truth.
And it spoke for Akane’s feelings too—something she couldn’t easily say to Sis herself, so I was saying it for her.
Akane hadn’t just tormented Yuuki. Nanami was a victim too, and probably others I didn’t know about.
The brutal atmosphere in class had certainly changed. But that was only because Akane and the other bullies were dead. It didn’t erase Akane’s sins, and not all the victims had forgiven her.
“How do you plan to face that karma? You might end up thinking it’d be better to just stay dead.”
If Akane had somehow survived unscathed and gone back to the academy, she would’ve suffered worse than Yuuki ever did.
There was no place for her there anymore. She’d committed those wrongs, and even my protection had limits. For her own sake, it was better not to send her.
“Still, it’d be better if she at least graduated...”
Sis had a tendency to view the academy’s cutthroat ecosystem of violence and abuse in too rosy a light.
Was it a teacher thing?
I didn’t know what it was like when Sis attended, but these days’ kids were no joke.
“...Teacher. I’m fine. Naibusu’s right.”
Akane spoke with resignation.
“I haven’t even been forgiven by Yuu yet... I couldn’t face the others.”
“Akane...”
I could understand Sis worrying about her student.
But none of the other kids would want Akane back. Above all, it was her own doing—seeds she’d sown herself.
“Hmph. Acting like the victim now.”
“Naibusu.”
Sis tried to stop me, but I had to say my piece.
“Don’t get any funny ideas. Just live out your days as this house’s maid. If you wander off and get dragged to some shady lab, it’ll be a hassle.”
Sis’s eyes lit up at my words.
“Oh my. Is this a proposal right now?”
...How the hell did she twist that into a proposal?
I told her to spend her life doing maid work here.
“Y-Yeah. Akane would definitely make a great bride. She’s so pretty, great at cooking and housework. If only her body were intact, men would’ve... ah.”
Sis cut herself off, realizing her slip about men not leaving her alone.
But Akane, the one concerned, didn’t seem to mind.
“A bride...”
Instead, she mulled over the word “bride” and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
And I burst out laughing.
“Pfft! Bride? As if any guy would take a personality like that.”
Akane shot back snarkily.
“Don’t worry. I won’t ask you to take me.”
“Heh. Be grateful I’m even letting you work as a maid.”
“Hmph. I owe the teacher, not you. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
Akane glared at me without backing down.
Sis watched us with a pleased smile.
“Naibusu’s still such a kid. At times like this, he should man up and go for it. Like, ‘I’ll take you as my bride!’ or something.”
...Am I crazy? Hit on Akane?
Please don’t misunderstand like that, Sis.
But...
Hm.
Not an impossible scenario, is it?
I’d already said I’d take responsibility. I’d taken her virginity too.
Above all, Akane’s body couldn’t survive without external mana injections. I’d have to keep providing that from now on.
The one most likely to pair with her, Yuuki, had become a girl. No telling if she’d turn back, and she didn’t seem all that eager anyway.
...Huh? Did that mean I really had to take her in and support her?
Had I already locked into the Akane route?
I stared at Akane’s back as she cleared the plates.
With the apron on, her rear view was surprisingly appealing. Watching her swaying hips brought back memories from yesterday, making my groin twitch. She even had a bit of that young housewife vibe.
Hmm...
“...What? Why’re you staring like that?”
Akane noticed me gazing thoughtfully.
“Nah, just thinking if things keep going like this, I might actually end up marrying you.”
“...What?”
“Oh my.”
Marriage among academy students wasn’t all that rare.
Society even encouraged early marriages for compatible pairs. Producing second-generation Rune Holders boosted national defense, so they got preferential treatment.
Akane, as Sis said, lacked nothing in looks or skills. Her personality was awful, but even that had improved a lot lately—and would probably keep getting better.
Akane as my bride...
It’d be like stealing her from Yuuki, but maybe not so bad. Yuuki had pretty much discarded her anyway. If I didn’t take her, she’d never marry.
“If Akane got on her knees and begged me to marry her, I might consider it.”
“You idiot?!”
Akane stormed off, fuming as usual.
But it felt more like flustered embarrassment than real anger. She’d never imagined marrying anyone but Yuuki.
“Me marry Naibusu? Ridiculous! Yuu’s the one for me... but Yuu’s a girl now... Wait, does that mean Naibusu’s the only one I can rely on...?”
Akane mumbled to herself, waffling internally.
She’d better not drop any plates in her fluster.
“Sigh~ Naibusu getting married already. Time flies.”
“Teacher! I’m not marrying Naibusu!”
Akane snapped at Sis’s wistful mutter.
“Girls who say they’ll never marry are always the first to go.”
“Ugh.”
Akane shut her mouth at Sis’s grinning remark.
She must’ve thought of someone it applied to. Guess it was universal—those who swore off marriage went first.
“Sigh... So Naibusu’s marrying before me... Well, raising him right and seeing him off was my goal anyway. Maybe this is for the best.”
Her goal was marrying off her little brother, not even her own kid.
Classic Sis goal. But from now on, I wished she’d live for her own happiness. Whether I married or not was beside the point.
“What should I do? To avoid spinster talk, maybe I should start looking for a husband now?”
“Khk!”
“Hm?”
“...No, sausage got stuck in my throat. *Cough cough*.”
“Jeez, eat slower.”
Sis stood and patted my back.
I faked choking harder than necessary.
“Hmph. All size, no maturity.”
Akane rolled her eyes at me.
I had nothing to say to that.
The idea of Sis getting married had shocked me more than I expected—enough to rattle me to my core.
“Naibusu, you okay now?”
“Yeah... sure.”
Sis peered at me with worried eyes once the coughing stopped.
Jewel-like blue irises. Eyes that had watched pre-possession Naibusu for ten years, and me for another ten after.
Her concern for me poured from her mind. No matter how big I got, to Sis, I was still her little brother. Her priority was always him—unchanging.
“Alright then, I’ll head out first. See you at the academy later.”
“...Yeah.”
Sis ruffled my hair in farewell.
But my mind wasn’t there. I still couldn’t shake the shock of Sis getting married.
Sis was at marriageable age—it was natural. Siblings couldn’t live together forever. Eventually, we’d have to go our separate ways.
No matter how trash the game, incestuous marriages were forbidden. I wasn’t childish enough to think of marrying Sis.
But.
Still.
Something felt wrong.
I hated the idea of Sis marrying another man.
This wasn’t violation, NTR, or anything like that.
So why did it feel so awful? Why so repulsive?
I agonized over it.
Just thinking about Sis marrying made my heart race anxiously, chest tighten, breathing hard. Like watching an NTR scene in that garbage game... that horrific feeling.
I forced down the unease and spoke.
“...Akane. On second thought, no. Even if you beg, I won’t marry you.”
“What?! You serious, idiot?!”
Akane slammed the table in rage, but I couldn’t help it.
If I got married, Sis would too.
I didn’t want that.
I knew it was childish whining. But I wasn’t ready to accept Sis’s marriage.
Did I have the right to block Sis’s happiness?
...I didn’t even know what I was thinking.
What the hell did I want?