Devils - bright complex 4

[bakemonoremy]

Location: Shopping District

Tsumugi: I’ve gotta say, you’re a real savior. I’m so happy you’re helping me carry my baggage, Ritsu-kun.

Nowadays, our unit… Switch, is starting out for real, so there’s a need to buy a lot of necessary things.

It would be lot of work for just one person, so you’re really saving me here, Ritsu-kun. Despite looking so dainty, you’re surprisingly strong~ ♪

Ritsu: Hehe. I’m no mere mortal after all.

Besides, I have no more work to do today, so I wouldn’t know what to do with my time until dawn anyway.

If I can get on Aoba Onii-chan’s good side and become closer with him, I can use it to harass Anija again, too...♪

Tsumugi: You shouldn’t bully him too much~. Rei-kun was crying, you know. Well, they were probably crocodile tears, though.

Ritsu: Hmpf. He can cry, cry until his tears run out, dry up and turn into a mummy for all I care.

Tsumugi: If I remember correctly, Rei-kun’s character is supposed to be a vampire, not a mummy. I wonder why that person suddenly started speaking and behaving so strangely?

I tried asking him directly, but he just said a bunch of profound-sounding, ambiguous things… It felt like he was dodging the question, so I still don’t really know what he truly meant to say.

Ritsu: Don’t know, don’t care~. Don’t ask me about Anija, it’s a bother. And like, that vampire act of all things is such a self-deprecating joke, it’s pathetic.

Tsumugi: ……….?

Rei: ~……….♪

Tsumugi: Oh? Speak of the devil, right over there across the street I can see Rei-kun walking.

Along with Anzu-chan, and the Light Music Club’s… Which one of the Futago-chan’s* is it, I wonder? All three of them are walking together so happily~, they look like a family ♪

Ritsu: ………….

Tsumugi: Ritsu-kun, Ritsu-kun. It’s a good opportunity, so why don’t we call out to them?

They seem to be on some kind of errand as well, so depending on the case we might be able to go shopping together.

And then, you can apologize for your cruel behavior earlier, and the two of you can make up a-...

Uwah?

Ritsu: ………….

Tsumugi: Wawah, don’t pull me, Ritsu-kun! What’s wrong all of a sudden, do you want us to hide in that alley?

Rei: Hmhm. I see, I can use this for reference.

I thought the young lady could get along well with anyone, but she has a rather constrained relationship with her own younger brother?

Hinata: Sakuma-senpai, you’re saying that even though you can usually seduce anyone… And yet it seems like you’re being hated by your younger brother, so that’s kind of unexpected and fresh.

Rei: I’m not being hated.** Ritsu does love me, I think… Probably.

Rei: Well, once you reach high school, I guess it’s rare to see siblings who are still touchy-feely with each other.

Hinata: But I wanna be touchy-feely! All Onii-chans and Onee-chans do!

Rei: Yes! I want to hug him and go “There, there”, and grant him anything he desires...♪

Hinata: But to our younger brothers, that might just be troublesome~?

Rei: That’s puberty. It’s harsh for any family… They’re at that age where they want to grasp everything with their own power.

Even though I think they could be granted even better things from their older siblings without going through danger and hardships…

Well, this is probably just my egoism as the eldest.

Tsumugi: ...Hm~m, they’re a strange match of sorts. I suppose they’re helping Anzu-chan with her shopping or something?

Fufu. It’s like you siblings conspired beforehand to do the same thing… Ritsu-kun ♪

Ritsu: It’s just a coincidence. And like, Anija is making a know-it-all face and talking about little brothers and it’s pissing me off.

Tsumugi: Well, to me it’s an enviable thing.

My older brother has no interest in our family whatsoever, and ever since he was young he’d just repeat over and over again that he wants to leave the house already.

And once he reached university, he became entirely self-reliant and now only seldomly comes near our house.

Ritsu: Hmm? Aoba Onii-chan, you have an older Onii-chan?

Tsumugi: More or less. It’s more of a “Oh right, I had one” kind of feeling, and I even sometimes forget about his existence entirely.

That’s exactly why I want other siblings to get along.

But. This is merely me averting my eyes from my own problems, in other words, I’m just being selfish.

Ritsu: …………...

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*Futago = Twins

**Rei says this in a distinctive childish and pouty tone, but I couldn’t get it across in English.