"Yukinoshita probably wants to ask why there are so many fireflies around me. It's simple: because my heart is calm."
"Insects are very sensitive to the perception of emotions. When you become closer to nature, they become closer to you."
Noticing Yukinoshita's hesitant expression out of the corner of his eye, Ren took the initiative to explain.
This was one of Ren's small techniques for regulating emotions.
Emotion is a mysterious thing—unseen and untouchable, yet you can feel it physically.
The easiest emotion to understand is hostility. Even if your back is turned to someone, if their hostile eyes are fixed on you, your body's primal instincts will make your skin crawl. This is the most common and applicable emotion.
Besides that, there are other common emotions like sadness and happiness, which are equally applicable.
If you sit casually under a dim streetlight, leaning against the pole while chugging alcohol without saying a word—there will always be a kind passerby who comes up to ask what's wrong. Sadness is contagious; it makes some emotionally sensitive strangers involuntarily empathize with you, and the feeling spreads.
Happiness is the same. You might not actually find something funny at first, but as everyone around you keeps laughing, you'll realize... that thing that wasn't funny is actually quite interesting.
They returned to the bustling city, the real world that was the polar opposite of the fields they were just in. After getting the answer she wanted, Yukinoshita did not speak.
Ren was right. Yukinoshita's emotions had always been in a state of suppression and tension. The pressure from facing the seemingly omnipotent Haruno Yukinoshita, and the mental strain of trying to catch up to Haruno's footsteps as quickly as possible.
Yukinoshita didn't dare to stop and observe the scenery along the road; she was afraid that if she stopped, she would never see her sister's back again.
"Yukinoshita, you remember our bet, right?"
"I remember."
Yukinoshita's voice was somewhat low. Prepared to accept the consequences of losing, Yukinoshita would calmly accept the punishment. But the moment before knowing exactly what the punishment was, she couldn't help but feel nervous.
"My command is..."
Ren paused.
"Change. Stop living in your sister's shadow."
"You are you, she is she. You can try to surpass her, but do not become her."
Yukinoshita was stunned. She hadn't expected Ren's command to be about herself.
"We're home. Go back."
Before Yukinoshita could speak, Ren cut off any possibility of her saying more. Only then did Yukinoshita realize that, without knowing it, they had arrived downstairs at her apartment.
"...Goodbye."
Thinking it over, she didn't say the words she had swallowed. Yukinoshita gave Ren a deep look before turning to leave. Too much had happened today; she needed to calm down.
Friends, salvation, the genuine thing, emotions. Four crucial words kept spinning in Yukinoshita's mind.
"Yeah, goodbye, Yukinoshita."
"Ta-da! Mahiru, I'm back~ Look what I brought you!"
Looking at Mahiru Shiina, who came to greet him as soon as she heard the door open, Ren took out the caramel flan he had packed and hidden behind his back. Ren had always remembered Mahiru's tastes. Since the milk tea he brought for her had been snatched by Yukinoshita, Ren changed to a different dessert.
"Ren, welcome home."
Instead of reaching for the plastic bag Ren held out, Mahiru wrapped her arms around Ren's waist and buried her head in the Ren's chest.
Setting the plastic bag on the entryway cabinet, Ren hugged Mahiru with both hands. "What's wrong, my lovely fiancée?"
"Nothing, I just missed you so much."
Buried in Ren's arms, Mahiru's voice sounded muffled.
Meow Meow Roar~
The three cats, big and small, also ran to the entryway to welcome Ren home.
"Since you missed me, then eat dessert with me!"
Ren scooped Mahiru up, picked up the bag from the cabinet with one hand, and walked toward the living room.
"Ah!"
Being picked up like this for the first time, Mahiru couldn't help but cry out in surprise. Trusting Ren unconditionally, Mahiru quickly adapted to this perspective she had never experienced before.
Looking down at Ren from above, Mahiru spoke softly: "Ren."
"What... mm..."
Hearing Mahiru call him, Ren looked up just as he was about to ask what was wrong, only to be kissed on the lips by Mahiru in a surprise attack. To keep Mahiru steady and prevent her from falling, Ren had to hold her firmly.
This gave Mahiru an opportunity. Cupping Ren's cheeks with both hands, Mahiru, in the posture of a superior, somewhat clumsily sought affection from Ren.
It was a very novel experience. This way of treating Ren like a superior seemed to flip some strange switch inside Mahiru.
[Wasn't Ren looking at parenting handbooks because he wanted to raise me like a child? Then I'm going to raise Ren like a child too!]
A strange way of competing appeared.
"Ren, it's so good!"
Sitting in Ren's lap, Mahiru scooped out a spoonful of caramel flan and put it in her mouth. The girl's eyes unconsciously curved. Looking at the flan on the small plate that wobbled after a scoop was taken, Mahiru, like a child, patted the side with her spoon.
Good, it wobbled even more. Mahiru mimicked the caramel flan, swaying left and right in Ren's arms. Now, it wasn't just her eyes curving; Mahiru's whole body broke into a smile, revealing her pretty canine teeth.
"I'm glad Mahiru likes it."
"Ren, ah~"
Eating the flan Mahiru brought to his lips, Ren reached for the dessert on the coffee table and began to personally feed Mahiru. Mahiru didn't mind, actively cooperating with Ren's feeding actions.
[Mm, need to feed the child from time to time to increase the intimate interaction between the two.]
Ren recalled the contents of the parenting handbook and gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart.
[Need to actively cooperate with the child's behavior to achieve intimacy.]
Mahiru was also recalling the knowledge from the parenting handbook.
"Ren, are you seriously trying to spoil me into being totally helpless?"
After finishing dessert, Mahiru finally protested. She thought it would end once Ren finished feeding her—but then he pulled a tissue from the coffee table and carefully wiped the corner of her mouth.
That overly meticulous care made her feel like Ren was deliberately trying to make her dependent.
"Yeah," Ren said, amused. After wiping the last bit of brown sugar from the corner of her lips, he flicked the tissue neatly into the trash. "If I spoil Mahiru into being completely helpless, you won't be able to leave me later."
"You don't have to spoil me like that," Mahiru said, turning in his arms to face him. She looked straight into his eyes, serious in the cutest way. "Mahiru isn't leaving Ren anyway."
"Then I want to spoil you even more."
"No," Mahiru shot back, raising a small fist and lightly thumping his chest. "I'm the one who's going to spoil Ren into being helpless."
----------------
Currently on Patreon: 450 chapters available.
You can also read 2 chapters ahead for free on my Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/LIZBETH1242