Chapter 48: The Girls Working Hard to Lose Weight.
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The morning shooting session went exceptionally smoothly, allowing Kihara to wrap up his work early and head straight home after enjoying lunch with the crew. Upon arriving, he spotted the girls gathered outside the house and sauntered over out of curiosity.
"What is everyone up to out here?"
The first to respond was Lala. She greeted him with an enthusiastic, tight hug before launching into an introduction of her latest invention.
"Ta-da! This is my new 'Auto-Jumper-Kun,' invented specifically to help Anna and the others lose weight! You don't need to swing it with your hands—it floats in mid-air and swings on its own, and you can even adjust the speed to ramp up the workout intensity!"
Rather than the high-tech floating jump rope right in front of him, Kihara's attention was drawn to the plump bounty on Anna Yanami's chest bouncing up and down with every jump. However, with so many people standing around, he didn't stare for long.
"Going purely by your description, it does sound like a fantastic weight-loss gadget. Did you verify that there are no glitches with it?"
"Mmhmm! I personally tested it multiple times without a single issue before handing it over to them!"
As Lala finished speaking, her eyes sparkled like stars as she proactively leaned her head toward Kihara, clearly expecting some head-pats.
He indulged her as requested, ruffling her hair while offering praise. "Good job. Still, try not to use yourself as the test subject next time. You can use something else as a stand-in—your safety is much more important."
"Understood! Hehehe... Kihara, I love you so much!"
Lala squinted her eyes in pure delight, ultimately failing to hold back the joy in her heart as she wrapped her slender arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest with a silly giggle. The pink cowlick atop her head spun rapidly like a helicopter propeller.
Her pure and straightforward affection infected Kihara, softening the smile on his face. Immediately after, he was hit by the glares of three pairs of eyes filled with completely different emotions.
The one dripping with jealousy was obviously Anna Yanami; the one carrying irritation mixed with envy belonged to Nana; and the one looking as if she had learned a valuable lesson—and was eager to put it into practice—was Momo.
Fortunately, Kihara had long since polished his skin to be as thick as a fortress wall. Such intense stares were completely harmless to him; he even traced each gaze right back to its owner, successfully forcing the girls to retract their eyes in awkwardness.
Realizing that while she was busy sweating away to lose weight, the affection between Lala and Kihara was rapidly heating up, Anna Yanami kept her mouth shut and persisted in jumping rope for a full half-hour without a word.
Her sweat completely drenched her tracksuit, sticking to her skin and outlining a pair of alluring curves. The moment she finally stopped, her legs turned completely soft, and she pitched straight toward the ground.
Fortunately, Kihara had anticipated this scenario and had been waiting right by her side. Reaching out, he caught her securely in his arms, lifting her into a princess carry as he headed toward the living room. "I'm taking Anna inside to rest. I'll be right back out."
"Got it, brother-in-law."
Momo caught the trace of envy in Nana's eyes as she watched Anna Yanami being carried away, a subtle smile creeping onto the corners of her lips.
'As expected, my guess was right. Nana really does harbor feelings for brother-in-law, she just hasn't realized it herself yet.'
Such a dynamic might be considered shocking and unconventional on Earth, but in outer space, it was a completely different story. Rather, for Kihara—who was practically set to become the next Deviluke King—the earthly system of monogamy carried absolute zero binding power over him.
'I should let Nana realize these feelings on her own, though I can lend her a tiny helping hand since she is my twin sister.'
With that thought in mind, Momo turned to her. "Nana, you go ahead and use the jump rope first. I haven't quite gotten the hang of the rhythm yet."
"Haha, that's what you get for staying indoors and never exercising!" Nana mocked her ruthlessly, stepping up to the floating Auto-Jumper-Kun with a serious expression. "I'm only demonstrating this once, so pay close attention to the key techniques!"
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll watch very carefully."
"Tch, with a casual attitude like that, don't come crying to me when your legs get swollen from getting hit."
Pouting in frustration, Nana pressed the start button on the right side and began jumping rope with total focus.
However, she quickly realized a cruel reality: when she jumped rope, she completely lacked the dramatic, bouncing sensation that Anna Yanami displayed.
This wave of shame led her to mistakenly assume that the reason Momo let her go first was specifically to mock her flat chest, leaving her so angry she nearly tripped over the rope.
On the other side, Momo—completely unaware that her good intentions had been misconstrued—was sitting casually on the wooden porch chatting with Lala.
"Big sister, have you received a notification regarding the wedding date from Father yet?"
"Nope! Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
"I was just curious. Father was so desperate to get an heir earlier, yet now that you've found a future husband, he isn't in a hurry at all. It just feels a bit strange."
"True..." Lala cupped her delicate chin, pondering for a few seconds before deciding to let it go. "Father and Mother definitely have their own considerations. Besides, living a peaceful life like this together with you, Nana, Kihara, Anna... and everyone else is pretty great too!"
"Big sister, your words sound almost like... No, never mind, I'm overthinking it."
"?"
Momo felt that her innocent and pure big sister was unlikely to realize that monopolizing Kihara was an impossible feat, which was why she blurted out words that practically amounted to granting him permission to build a harem.
The two sisters chatted for about an hour before Nana—glistening with sweat—finally brought her workout to a stop. Possessing physical capabilities far superior to Anna Yanami's, her legs didn't turn soft or weak in the slightest.
She even wiped her sweat while shouting how "refreshing" it felt, leaving Momo watching her with anxiety brewing in her heart.
You had to know that Kihara was standing right nearby; as long as Nana showed the slightest sign of losing her footing, he would have proactively walked over to carry her into the living room. Yet this silly twin sister failed to realize the opportunity at all.
Left with no choice, Momo resorted to her plant-communication ability, having the blades of grass beneath Nana's shoes forcefully trip her up into a stumble.
"Whoa!"
"Careful."
Falling right into Kihara's arms, Nana's initial reaction was to push him away, but the instant her hands touched his chest, all her strength vanished into soft weakness.
A voice echoed deep inside her heart, telling her that Kihara wasn't a stranger. She was merely exhausted from exercising, and he was kindly offering support—it was no big deal.
Thus, with her small face blushing bright red, Nana kept her head down, allowing Kihara to carry her into the living room.
Watching this scene unfold, Momo genuinely wanted to shout up at the sky: "I am the MVP, and Nana is just getting carried to a free win!"
"Momo, it's your turn to exercise now!"
"I know, big sister." Smoothing down her slightly wrinkled denim shorts, Momo stood up, casting a quick glance into the living room. Confirming that Kihara was walking back outside, she stepped into the center of the Auto-Jumper-Kun.
'Although I don't harbor romantic feelings for brother-in-law like Nana does, enjoying his meticulous care shouldn't be a problem, right?'
With that thought in mind, Momo pressed the start button and began jumping rope. Before long, however, she noticed that the swinging frequency of the jump rope seemed to be gradually accelerating, even though she hadn't raised the speed setting before starting.
"Big sister!" she called out in a trembling voice. "Your invention... seems to have a problem! The swinging speed is getting faster and faster!!!"
"Uh... I forgot to install a heat dissipation system on it! Continuous use seems to have fried the speed control chip..."
"BIG SISTER!!!"
A maiden's tragic cry echoed straight into the sky.
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Thank you for reading.