It seemed like Mei and Shiraha's relationship had gotten better again.
Ryoma Raiden couldn't quite figure it out. At dinner, the two little ones were back to how they'd been before, Mei even picked food for Shiraha, and Shiraha returned the favor.
"How'd they make up again?"
Siegfried leaned in, lowering his voice to ask Kiana.
Kiana was shoveling food into her mouth. At the question, she glanced at Shiraha and mumbled through a full mouth: "Shiraha's too easy to win over."
Then she went back to eating. When it came to mealtimes, Kiana only cared about one thing, eating. As long as she could eat well, that was all that mattered!
As for Shiraha and Mei's situation... let's leave it as it is for now. Once she finds a way to make money in the future, she'll find a way to help Shiraha out too.
Sure, Shiraha could be pretty stubborn and troublesome a lot of the time, but that was okay,
Kiana was magnanimous!
Siegfried opened his mouth, then hesitated.
"At school, isn't it Shiraha who leads you guys around?"
He hadn't expected that answer, Shiraha was well-behaved at home, but clearly a very opinionated... brat.
Kiana looked surprised. Why would Dad think that?
"I'm done eating!"
Today, for the first time in a while, Shiraha put down his chopsticks first.
Ryoma Raiden looked puzzled: "You're not feeding your friend today?"
Shiraha was quiet for a moment, glancing at the empty seat beside him, and smiled helplessly: "No, Nee-chan doesn't have much of an appetite today."
He stood up and pushed his chair back into place.
"I'm heading upstairs first, Uncle Ryoma."
After politely greeting them, Shiraha glanced at Siegfried, which made Siegfried tense up for a moment, this brat isn't going to start trouble again, is he?
Shiraha thought for a moment, then decided to save the greeting for tomorrow.
He quickly ran upstairs, leaving Siegfried blinking in confusion. What was that kid's deal?
Upstairs, Shiraha entered his room, which looked like a sea of stars.
In the middle of that starry sea, the fairy-like woman with pink hair lay sprawled on the bed, her hand stretched out blankly, fingertips pointing toward the ceiling, as if trying to touch stars that weren't really there.
Even though the stars were fake....
"Nee-chan, why didn't you turn on the light?"
Shiraha asked casually, not turning it on himself either. The evening light wasn't quite dark yet, just enough to keep the starry sea in the room from being swallowed entirely by darkness.
Elysia turned her head expressionlessly: "Because I can't reach the switch."
Shiraha paused, his expression unchanged, and grinned as he flopped onto the bed too, his upper body sinking into the soft blankets, lying side by side with her.
"Then just call me. Your little brother has everything in short supply, except time."
Elysia sighed and didn't answer right away.
After a moment, she spoke softly: "I just feel like Little Shiraha is thinking about so much all day long. It must be pretty tiring."
It was a good thing that a self-sufficient little brother could solve problems but Rin's situation really wasn't something Shiraha should have to deal with at his age.
Shiraha kicked off his shoes and curled up beside Elysia, his tone innocent: "Why?"
He paused, then continued on his own: "But I feel really happy this way. Every day there are so many things to worry about, it's like the world can't function without me, Nee-chan can't function without me, and even Rin-nee cares about me."
"Mei-nee cares about me after school too. And even though Kiana doesn't play with me much, she still pays attention to what I do."
"Yuna, even though she's trying to fit in with others and isn't super close to me, still checks in on how I'm feeling most of the time. As for Himeko... let's not talk about her; I can't figure her out. And the delinquent senior is all tough on the outside but soft on the inside."
Shiraha counted on his fingers: "And that's not even counting the Elysian Realm. So many pretty girls are having their emotions stirred up because of me, why would that be tiring?"
Elysia's lips twitched: "Are you about to say that with so many people supporting and trusting you, you can do anything?"
She turned on her side and tugged at Shiraha's cheek. Little guy, don't use my own tricks against me!
Your Elysia-nee is the one who's truly all-powerful.
Shiraha shook his head. He lifted his little face, his eyes bright: "Who needs that many people? As long as I have Nee-chan's support, I'm already capable of anything."
Elysia let out a couple of light humphs: "Little guy, you can't fool me anymore, Elysia has gotten stronger, and more mature too!"
She poked Shiraha's forehead hard, but Elysia felt helpless too, Rin's sudden appearance had tangled her up into a complete mess.
After a while, Mei pushed the door open and turned on the light. The faint threads on the ceiling immediately disappeared into the brightness.
Under the light, Shiraha's cheek seemed to have been nibbled on, it looked a little red. Mei was quiet for a moment, then pursed her lips: "What a useless ghost friend. When that miko named Rin showed up, she didn't do anything either, just bullies the weak and fears the strong."
Elysia was instantly floored.
Her mouth hung open, wanting to say something but not knowing how, and then she silently retreated into a corner by herself.
Shiraha's mouth fell open slightly. Mei isn't afraid of ghosts anymore now, huh... Elysia-nee, it looks like you used some very special methods to cure Mei's phobia of ghosts.
Mei stepped forward and sat naturally on the bed: "That sister named Rin, is she also someone who keeps her true strength hidden?"
Shiraha rubbed his cheek, glanced at the depressed Elysia in the corner, and hesitated before nodding: "Rin-nee is very powerful, you could say she's the strongest hacker in the world."
"The strongest?"
Mei blinked, intrigued.
Shiraha thought for a moment: "Let's put it this way, Rin-nee could hack into any country's defense system."
Mei blinked. It sounded impressive, but she didn't fully grasp just how impressive.
Shiraha paused, then added: "Rin-nee can also modify the data in any game, including the online games we play."
Mei understood instantly: "Rin-nee is doing so badly now, was she a cheat maker in the past?"
Shiraha: ....
He was silent for a moment before giving the perfect answer: "I don't know."
"That's fine. Just don't hide things like this from me from now on. We're best friends, after all."
Mei patted her chest. Shiraha nodded too, Mei was way easier to handle than Rin-nee.
Though, Rin-nee did have mental issues, so Shiraha could understand her to some extent.
After chatting for a while longer, as she was about to leave, Mei remembered something: "Oh, right, the second Martial Arts Tournament is starting soon. I'm definitely going to watch it this time!"
Mei clenched her fist, as if psyching herself up.
She couldn't keep slacking off anymore, she needed to get stronger too.
Over the past two years, the appearance of Kiana, the delinquent senior, and Rin had made Mei feel a sense of crisis for the first time in a while.
She had this nagging feeling that fate was approaching, recently, so many capable people had gathered around her... though for some reason, most of them kept to themselves and only talked to Shiraha once in a while.
"The second tournament, huh..."
Shiraha didn't take it too much to heart. Ever since Natasha had easily claimed the championship in the first tournament, he'd come to understand one thing, if a name didn't appear in the "plot," it was incredibly rare for a true genius to emerge from them.