Hi guys, author here! Please share your thoughts in the comments and reviews. And if you like it, don't forget to drop some stones — they're a great motivator!
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Since we are in April, I found this. Enjoy~(Check the paragraph comment.)
Also, found this new top% build for a character.
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Utahime, who was put on the spot all of a sudden, looked a bit nervous.
The trio of interrogators were eyeing her sternly, and that made the whole thing even more stressful.
"....Haha, don't worry, just kidding~" said Miyuki and smiled at Utahime.
Toji looked at his wife with confusion. He wasn't kidding.
Naoya simply smiled at Utahime seeing he shocked struck.
Hearing Miyuki's words, Utahime blinked in confusion before her gaze fell on Naoya, who was smiling at her.
Seeing him smile, she unconsciously pouted and looked away from him.
'She is pissed now...' thought Naoya and shook his head.
He looked to the side and gave a blaming gaze to Miyuki, who devised the entire skit.
Miyuki, though, simply joined her hands and asked for an apology.
Naoya simply sighed, being mad at her won't help anyway.
While such things were going on, Naoya and Toji noticed someone eying them and turned around to spot a dog, more precisely a wolf, keeping an eye on them.
The wolf was the shikigami summoned by Megumi, and for some reason, it was looking at them.
Toji shrugged his shoulders, not minding much, while Naoya's eyes narrowed.
[Divine Dogs]
Naoya's shadow extended, and from inside it, two larger wolves appeared behind Megumi's black wolf.
Cupcake and Frosting placed a paw each on Megumi's black wolf making it flinch. It turned around and immediately recognized it's senpai there and lowered its head.
It then looked towards Naoya, who caught its presence and whimpered. It's mission failed.
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In the kitchen, Maki, Mai, and Megumi were on a heist. They were trying to smuggle in some snacks from the kitchen, but Miyuki, being the smart mom she was, placed them in a high cabinet.
Maki and Mai were holding onto a chair on top of which the white wolf was standing. Upon him was Megumi, who was made to steal the supplies. He didn't want to be the one there, but Maki and Mai threatened the poor boy.
"You can do it, Megumi!" cheered Mai.
"You are the chosen one!" added Maki.
Megumi looked hatefully at his little aunts.
It was a while back when Toji told him about the smuggling ability of [Ten Shadows] and to try it out, he used that on some snacks and showed it to the Maki and Mai.
Since then, the two had made him use that technique on multiple occasions. Storing their backpacks when they come back from school, sneaking in snacks and games, etc.
Megumi was standing on his tiptoes trying to get a hold of the storage box, but it was still a bit far away.
"Want some help, you thieves?"
The three of them flinched at the familiar voice and turned around, and as expected, Naoya was standing there with both his and Megumi's wolves beside him. Cupcake and Frosting were wagging their tails happily while Megumi's black wolf looked at its twin wolf and shook its head. The mission failed.
Because of the shock, Megumi turned around in a hurry and lost balance and was about to fall, but Naoya caught him before he got hurt.
Megumi sighed, seeing that he wasn't hurt.
"Ahem Ahem."
That relief was short-lived.
Maki, Mai, and Megumi looked at Naoya with a bit of fear, while Naoya simply smiled at them.
~A few moments later~
Maki, Mai, and Megumi were found standing in a corner. All of them were at different spots so that they wouldn't start to argue with each other.
Zankyo was assigned as the warden to look after the three thieving children.
"Next time, try better. Reflect on why you all got caught so easily," said Naoya. He wasn't just punishing them because they tried to steal snacks. Their sneaking around was also inefficient, and they need to learn that.
Maki and Mai pouted at the comment while Megumi just looked down in embarrassment. It was his shikigami who got them caught after all.
Naoya shook his head at the kids' actions. Still, he went ahead to get a snack for them anyway.
He reached for the storage container and pulled it out.
However, along with the container, a zip bag came out and fell down as well.
Naoya picked it up and was about to keep it back, but his gaze fell on the contents of the transparent bag.
"What happened, Naoya? Kids up to mischief?" asked Miyuki, who came in to check on them since Naoya took a while.
She had a smile on her face, but when she saw what was in Naoya's hands, her smile stiffened.
Naoya looked at her, showed the bag to her and pointed a finger at her.
Inside the bag was a pregnancy check stick, and from what Naoya could see, the results were positive.
Miyuki immediately looked around, checking if there was someone looking at them and then rushed towards Naoya and pulled him away.
Once far away from kids and Toji, she spoke.
"Yes."
"You, nii-san?"
Miyuki nodded.
"Haven't told him?"
Miyuki nodded again.
"Why?"
"He has a big project coming up, and I want him to focus on that."
"...Just saying this out loud, nii-san would be even more excited for the job if he knew that the family is about to increase. By the way, congrats," said Naoya and enthusiastically shook Miyuki's hand.
"You sure? Won't he be....panicked?"
"I can assure you," replied Naoya.
Back when Megumi was about to be born, Toji tried his best to act calm and collected, but Naoya had seen how excited that big brute got after he held his son. Back when he got the news, he wasn't very excited about the child or confident that he could be a good parent, but now the same man was trying his best to take care of his and his family's happiness.
"After Utahime and I leave, sit with him and talk. He won't show it, but I am fairly confident he would be happy. Not to mention, he should know the consequences of doing it unprotected," said Naoya.
Miyuki immediately bonked her brother-in-law. She didn't want to say that she was the one who asked Toji to do it raw because it felt better.
"...Okay. I will. Thank you," said Miyuki and lightly hugged Naoya.
Naoya hugged her back and gave her a reassuring pat.
"...*Sigh*, I really am going to be called an uncle by this one. Megumi was closer in age, but this one would be too young to call me big brother," mumbled Naoya and sighed.
The two broke their hug, and Miyuki chuckled.
"You cannot be young forever, you know, take care of this one too, Uncle Naoya."
"Leave it to me. Little one, I will be the one who will look after you, don't worry at all," said Naoya and fist bumped Miyuki's belly.
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Back to Utahime:
Since Naoya went after the kids and Miyuki went after Naoya, Utahime was left alone with Toji, and it was super awkward between the two of them.
"So? What grade sorcerer are you?" asked Toji.
"Huh? Ah- I am a semi-grade-1, sir," replied Utahime.
"No need to be that formal. You are that brat's girlfriend; feel free to call me whatever you feel like. Name's Toji Fushiguro, just so you know," said Toji and sipped on his tea.
Utahime nodded.
"So? What is it that you like about that brat?" asked Toji and narrowed his eyes.
"Eh?"
"Just his looks and money?" added Toji.
"Huh?... I mean, he is handsome....but not money. I earn quite well, too!"
"Just because one earns enough, doesn't mean they say no to more money," retorted Toji and shrugged.
Utahime fell silent at Toji's words. Was this man serious? She was not starting to understand why Naoya didn't say any nice things about him.
She took a deep breath and looked Toji straight in the eye.
"Everyone is indeed greedy to some extent, but some feelings are not based on greed. Naoya is nice, strong, good-looking, and sure, he is rich too, but those are just surface-level things. They might initially make you attracted to someone, but in the long run, these things start to fade out if the person is an inherently bad match for you," replied Utahime.
Toji stared at her and snorted. The young lady seemed fiercer than she looked.
"...How long has it been since you two started?" asked Toji.
Utahime thought for a bit.
"Around 5 years,"
"Woah, quite some time. Past the initial attraction phase?"
Utahime frowned at Toji's question. She really felt hateful.
"...I don't think so."
"Hm?"
A faint blush came on Utahime's cheeks.
"I-I-I mean, he still makes my heart flutter from time to time. Sometimes he pisses me off, other times he fawns over me. The feelings renew and refresh from time to time," explained Utahime. In the heat of the moment, she spoke some embarrassing things, and once she finished speaking, she realised what she said and covered her face with her hands.
'What the hell are you talking to this almost a complete stranger of a man!!!!!!!' mentally screamed Utahime, and wanted nothing more than to bury herself in a hole.
Toji blinked dumbfoundedly. He didn't know why he was being shown a romance drama.
True, he was asking such questions to the girl in front of him, but he was only doing so to gauge her out and find out if she was deployed by someone to get closer to that stupid brat.
But one look at the embarrassed Utahime made him question his doubt. Either the girl was a great actor, or his cousin had deeply infatuated her.
"A-Ah, Ahem, calm down. I was just asking that without any deep thought," said Toji.
Utahime, still a blushing mess, glared at Toji.
The man dared to say there was no deep meaning to his questions after she spoke so much embarrassing stuff.
"Oi! How dare you make my Utahime cry!" yelled Naoya, who came back with Miyuki and immediately jumped towards Utahime and hugged her tightly.
"Bad Toji!!! How can you make a girl cry?!" scolded Miyuki and pulled his ear.
Naoya's focus immediately shifted from Toji to Utahime, who was still crimson from embarrassment. He started asking if Toji annoyed her, and whether he should take out a shotgun and deal with the uncouth man.
Miyuki's grip on Toji's ear strengthened, though that only made him feel a bit itchy.
He looked at the situation around him.
'...Am I the bad guy here?' thought Toji.
Being the kind of guy he was, he simply pointed his finger at Utahime and spoke up.
"Oi. I am not at fault. She got embarrassed talking about why she likes him,"
"..."
"..."
"...Huh?"
Miyuki and Naoya became momentarily speechless and looked at Utahime.
Utahime, on the other hand, had her eyes widened in shock. She so wanted to have her bat right now to strike the rude snitch.
"Utahime?" asked Naoya.
Hearing his voice, she looked at him but simply hid her face to avoid the gazes around her.
"Ara~" muttered Miyuki with an amused smile, though her grip on Toji's ear didn't loosen.
Naoya, on the other hand, enjoyed the adorable reaction from Utahime and simply patted her back to calm her down.
"Ah, Nii-san, Nee-san, can you look after Maki and Mai for a while? We will come back in a bit," said Naoya and looked towards Miyuki.
Miyuki got the message and gave the OK signal.
Naoya nodded and pulled away Utahime along with him. He went out to give Miyuki some space, though aside from that, he didn't want to flirt with Utahime at the Fushiguro residence.
Once both of them got out, Utahime peeked up.
"...Your cousin is a tactless man."
"You really have an eye for people."
"...Don't ask about what I said."
"I want to hear it."
"No!"
"Eh? That's unfair. I want to hear the lovely compliments about me too!"
"No. It's embarrassing."
"Please~" whined Naoya and started to slowly break down her defences.
Utahime freed herself from Naoya and tried to run away, but Naoya easily caught up to her and trapped her once again.
She tried to struggle out, but Naoya was simply stronger than her.
She glared at him, but Naoya simply pecked her cheek and asked her to reveal her secrets once again.
"Tell me~"
"No."
"Please~"
"No!"
She glared at him and turned away. There was no way she was going to tell all that to him, or he would get even more annoying.
Naoya looked at his tsundere-acting lady. He was not someone who was afraid of challenges, and certainly not when the challenge was cute.
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Back at Fushiguro residence:
"Fufu~ such young love~" muttered Miyuki.
"Why am I still being held like this. Not that I mind. You can do it harder," said Toji and gave a playful look to Miyuki.
He might have felt that the whole romantic drama vibe from earlier was a bit too much for him, but even he agreed to what Utahime said.
His love for Miyuki refreshes and renews from time to time as well.
Miyuki looked at Toji and pouted.
Seeing her pout, Toji smirked. Just like that, his love for her got refreshed.
He was leaning in to kiss his wife, but before their lips could touch, Miyuki brought something in the way.
He smirked once again. He liked it when she tried to play hard to get from time to time.
However, his gaze moved towards the object that came in his way, and all the playfulness immediately disappeared.
He looked at Miyuki, who simply nodded and released Toji's ear.
Freed, Toji took the stick from her and looked at it intently.
"..." Miyuki got a bit tense because of the silence, but suddenly found herself wrapped in Toji's embrace.
The man didn't say anything, but the hug told her enough. A small smile appeared on Miyuki's lips as she hugged Toji back.