When Ryoma Raiden learned of this, he was clearly... somewhat perplexed.
"Doesn't Natasha have rooms at her place?"
If she was Natasha's family, why wasn't she staying with her?
He scrolled through his phone contacts, Natasha, as the champion of the first Martial Arts Tournament, was someone he had contact information for.
"Oh, Shiraha and I hit it off right away, and we immediately decided to become sworn siblings."
Rin ad-libbed casually.
Then she prepared to use her authority directly, to make them believe it.
But Shiraha hurried over at that moment, bumping into Rin's arm and squeezing in beside her.
The motion was as natural as if it were an accident but Rin knew he'd done it on purpose.
"Actually, something came up at the delinquent senior's house, so Sis Rin needs to lay low for a while."
Shiraha thought for a moment, putting on a clueless expression: "Anyway, that's what the delinquent senior said."
On the other end of the connected call, Raven was silent for a while. She glanced at Gray Serpent, who nodded.
"Mm, there are some issues at my place. It's not really appropriate for Sis Rin to be involved with that sort of thing."
Gray Serpent held up a little notebook.
Raven was silent for another moment: "Sis Rin's way of thinking might be a little... different from most people. Sorry, Chief. If she's causing trouble, I can ask someone else to take her in."
Ryoma Raiden glanced at Rin, who looked completely at ease and made herself right at home. He was quiet for a beat too: "It's fine. Just one more pair of chopsticks."
Natasha was also a valuable asset, apart from lacking a Stigma, her strength seemed roughly on par with the three major families of Schicksal, and she carried Honkai beast genes within her. She was worth recruiting.
Only Mei widened her eyes: "You two skipped class to go find a big sister?"
"What about me?"
Am I just supposed to be left alone at school?
Kiana muttered quietly: "You have so many friends at school..."
Mei huffed indignantly: "But you shouldn't have kept it from me!"
"I told you on the phone, Mei-nee."
You didn't tell me there was a big sister involved!
Mei bit into her dinner with extra force. Because of the rebel Kiana's existence, the once-loyal minister Shiraha didn't seem so loyal anymore.
That made her quite worried for a while.
In the end, Rin ended up staying here.
That night, Shiraha lay in bed, staring at the starry pattern on the ceiling in the darkness, without the lights on, it wasn't very bright.
Elysia leaned over, languidly resting her head on the kid's shoulder, her long hair spilling down.
"Little Shiraha..." her tone was soft and wistful, "kids' shoulders really are nice to lean on."
And Rin too, since you've grown up, at least act like the big sister you're supposed to be! Why are you still as easy to read as a child?
"Maybe Rin-nee is just too lonely."
Shiraha said softly.
Elysia sighed, there was really no arguing with that.
After Little Shiraha went to the Elysian Realm, Elysia had come to know clearly just how much time had passed since the Previous Era, fifty-five thousand years.
That was an incredibly long stretch of time.
"When you comfort Rin, don't let yourself get pulled in too deep," Elysia said quietly.
After all, Rin had grown up, becoming as beautiful as Sakura and just as cool and aloof.
Shiraha was about to respond when Elysia added: "Rin's here. Say something nice."
She sighed. But she could only watch, and even had to remind Little Shiraha. For the sake of world peace, for everyone to have a bright future, Elysia endured it.
Shiraha opened his mouth several times as if to speak, but seeing Elysia's pensive expression, he finally slowly lifted her upper body, sat up himself, and let himself lean over her shoulder instead.
He rubbed his cheek against Elysia's: "Rin-nee is a good person. And Sis Sakura is too."
It wasn't anything earth-shattering. Elysia sighed again, but after a moment, a faint smile tugged at her lips anyway.
"You..." her starry eyes curved, "if you don't win Rin over now, by the time she turns bad, it'll be too late."
So Elysia wouldn't get in the way, after all, Shiraha was genuinely trying to save world peace.
Even if it made her unhappy, because her one and only companion, in order to save the world, was slowly becoming no longer her one and only.
The bed was slept in by someone else, her spot on his chest taken too, Elysia made small whimpering sounds.
"I trust Rin-nee."
Shiraha paused, then added: "But according to Rin-nee's own terms, I'll trust her with caution..."
He smiled as he said it, then buried his face by Elysia's neck: "...is Rin still here?"
His voice was very, very low, so low that Shiraha himself wasn't sure if Elysia could even hear him.
Rin was indeed no longer there.
In another room
Yae Sakura sat on the bed, while Rin had reverted to her massive fox form, coiled at the foot of the bed, her body still trembling slightly.
No way! Shiraha actually had delusions?!
She had originally planned to subtly modify Shiraha's emotions, to make him gradually fall for her. But she hadn't stayed long before she felt a chill run down her back.
Like someone had been watching her the whole time.
"What kind of bad scheme are you cooking up again? Fox... Rin."
Yae Sakura stepped closer. Rin looked up at her, hesitated as if to speak...
She couldn't exactly admit she'd been scared off by a kid.
"From what I can see, Shiraha is a good child. Don't hurt him."
As long as Yae Sakura didn't fall into darkness, she was a good person at heart.
But Rin didn't want to hear that right now.
She forced her tone to stay steady: "You'd better enjoy your freedom while it lasts."
Yae Sakura sighed again. She stood on the balcony, gazing at the city under the night sky, still many places lit up with lights.
Everything about this era was far too advanced for her, a simple village girl. But because of the illusions woven by the fox spirit, parts of it felt strangely familiar.
As if she'd seen these scenes before, in some dream.
"Rin..." Yae Sakura said softly. Before Rin could fully register it, she continued: "Did you once live in such a bustling city too?"
She still didn't know how much time had passed since her own era. She only thought this was the vast difference between countries and cities.
Rin's expression softened a little. She nodded.
Yae Sakura looked puzzled: "If you once lived in such a nice place, then why... did you end up like this?"
Rin's face, which had just relaxed, froze instantly.
She stood back up, her massive fox form filling nearly half the room: "I take it back. You don't get to have your free time anymore."
Yae Sakura was silent for a moment: "Did someone hurt you in the past..."
Before she could finish, Rin repossessed the body. Yae Sakura paused, then kept asking.
"Was someone cruel to you back then?"
Rin gave a cold snort: "Yeah. But they're all dead."
Rin didn't like talking about the past, but when Yae Sakura asked, she'd answer a little.
Yae Sakura grew quieter and quieter. It was the first time she'd learned about the fox spirit's past.
Maybe, there was something she could do.
Knock, knock, knock!
A crisp sound at the door suddenly broke the silence. Rin slowly came back to herself, realizing only then that dawn had come outside.
Had they been talking that long?
She opened the door. Shiraha stood there, his smile clean and bright: "Good morning, Rin-nee!"
His voice was clear and crisp.
Rin was quiet for a moment, then turned her head away: "Good morning."
If only Yae Sakura could be this considerate too.