It was only when her little sister's gaze grew darker and darker that she smiled, "Really can't do anything about little Yukino. Alright, alright, Onee-san promises you, if this exorcist doesn't work either, then we'll ask that Kaito-kun you keep thinking about. How about it?"
"Onee-san!", Yukino bit her lip, her snow-like pretty face tinged with a faint blush, but her tone grew increasingly dangerous, "Are you out of your mind?"
"Tch! Tch!"
Haruno clicked her tongue. Her sister rarely got this emotionally agitated, before, it was always from being teased, but this time, it was clearly from the mention of a boy's name.
The siscon radar activated, and a thick sense of alertness surged in her heart.
'That boy named "Kaito" seems to hold a very important place in little Yukino's heart.'
'Maybe not quite "like," but she definitely has a considerable level of affection toward him.'
Yukino had always been a cold, unsmiling iceberg since childhood. Not to mention close male friends, she didn't even have many close female friends.
"She'd only been in Tokyo for less than two months, and yet that "Kaito-kun" has managed to leave such a strong impression?'
'Is he some kind of playboy?'
'Otherwise, those affection-raising methods are way too practiced.'
Just like how every father thinks any punk who dares touch their daughter is a bastard who deserves to be drowned in Tokyo Bay, it's the same for siscons. They always assume the worst of any male who dares get close to their precious sister.
Although she always loved to tease little Yukino, Haruno did dote on her deeply. She absolutely couldn't let her get tricked by some bad man.
So
"Speaking of which, after this matter is resolved, how about little Yukino brings that Kaito-kun out to meet me? He seems to take good care of you at school, doesn't he?", Yukinoshita Haruno's tone was very casual, like it was no big deal, "As your Onee-san, I really want to properly thank him~"
Once they met in person, no matter what kind of demon or monster he was, he wouldn't escape her discerning eyes.
If he really was a bad man with ill intent, then no need to say more, just go full fists blazing and end it.
But if he turned out to be an unexpectedly good guy well, maybe she'd give her blessing to her sister
'My foot!'
'Yukino is still so young, what love are we even talking about?
'Interacting with boys and stuff like that at the very least, wait until after graduating university, okay?'
'Me, the Onee-san, has been single this long, never dated anyone, and is still living just fine.'
'There's nothing wrong with single life, that's all hard-earned experience from me as a senior.'
"I'm just ordinary classmates with Kaito-kun," Yukino hesitated for a moment, her voice turning cold again, "As for gratitude I'll repay him myself. No need to trouble you."
Yukinoshita Haruno: "?"
The black-haired older sister's eyes widened.
'What's with that white-flag tone of voice?'
'Are you sure you meant "repay" and not "beat up"? Because I think that yellow-haired brat deserves a good "beat down".'
Before she could continue questioning, a certain secretary lady knocked on the door and came in. Her expression seemed a little dazed. She paused before speaking, "Ojou-sama, the person you invited has arrived. He's waiting in the reception room."
With outsiders present, Yukinoshita Haruno immediately tucked away her teasing expression toward her sister, nodded slightly, but then frowned.
Her secretary was a prestigious graduate, always capable and decisive.
'Now what's with that lovestruck girl expression? Face glowing and dazed, did she just bloom?'
Just as she was about to call Yukino to go check it out, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by the secretary.
The other woman hesitated for a moment before quietly saying, "Ojou-sama, please mentally prepare yourself."
'Prepare?'
Yukinoshita Haruno felt even more confused, but it was clearly related to the exorcist who had just arrived.
She furrowed her brows in thought, but seeing that Yukino had already walked ahead, she couldn't dwell on the details and quickly followed.
Since the person had already arrived, whatever the weirdness was, she'd find out soon enough by seeing him in person.
Kaito casually glanced around at the surroundings, but his gaze lingered in a certain direction through the window.
'There is indeed a demonic presence, but it is only at small fry level.'
Within the pitch-black grudge aura, there was also a faint scent of blood. It had clearly taken human lives.
No wonder the client had previously contacted many priests, shrine maidens, and onmyoji, yet none of them had succeeded, and one unlucky priest even ended up mentally broken from fright.
A vengeful spirit that had killed before had already taken shape. It truly wasn't something that could be exorcised easily.
Just as he was thinking this, clear "click clack" footsteps suddenly sounded from behind, and someone opened the door.
"This must be Miss Togawa, correct? Nice to meet you, I'm Yukinoshita Haruno. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
A practiced social smile appeared on her pretty face. Yukinoshita Haruno entered the reception room, and the first person she saw was the secretary Sakiko, sitting on the sofa with a calm expression.
The two had only ever contacted via phone before and had never met in person.
But from the voice, she'd figured the other was probably a young girl.
Now seeing her in person, sure enough, she was an outstanding beauty, not inferior even to her own sister.
'Also the surname Togawa, is it a coincidence? Or is she really related to that Togawa Group?'
Thoughts spun endlessly in her mind, and Haruno then turned to look at the boy in the room. He had his back to her, gazing out the window, 'This must be the exorcist Miss Togawa brought.'
She couldn't see his face, but the view from behind was rather attractive.
Haruno couldn't help but think so. For some reason, her heart, normally unmoved by appearances, began to stir strangely.
She wanted to get closer to him. Just a little closer
'Wait, why am I having such dangerous thoughts?'
Haruno snapped back to clarity, startled by her own thoughts.
'To actually feel this kind of interest toward a younger boy I just met Could it be I have really been single too long? So lonely I can't take it?'
'No no no, only that Shizuka would lose sleep dreaming about marriage, right?'
'I'm not that desperate, okay?'
Her wavering heart almost gave way. Haruno patted her chest and was just about to greet him, when the next event came in quick succession.
"You're Kaito-kun?", Somehow, Yukino had already walked past her and was now looking at the unfamiliar boy's back. Her voice was a little hesitant, and with a faint, hard-to-detect hint of delight.
"Huh?", Hearing her sister's voice, Haruno paused slightly.
Then, her pitch-black eyes narrowed, her gaze gradually turning dangerous.
'That Kaito-kun, the one Yukino has been concerned about all this time, even thinking of him constantly during her recent time off school, is standing right in front of me?'
'Let me have a look at you, you little punk, just what kind of god or devil are you?'
"Long time no see, Yukinoshita-san," The boy's crisp voice rang out in the room, reminiscent of lemon or mint.
Time was quietly entering summer. A breeze stirred, brushing over the window sill, lifting the curtains, and ruffling his clothes.
The sky-colored light moved against the wind. In the warm sunshine, the boy's skin was nearly translucent, like glass.
All the armor of logic and reason crumbled in the starlight flickering deep within his pupils.
Doki! Doki!
In a daze, Yukinoshita Haruno clearly heard
The sound of her own heartbeat.
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Chapter 206: Yukinoshita Haruno: Yukino, Do You Even Understand What Filial Duty Means, Kouyaa!
Time seemed to come to a halt.
Perhaps even Yukinoshita Haruno herself hadn't realized, her originally obsidian-black pupils were gradually becoming brighter.
That gaze, simply put, was like a hungry lioness, having crossed mountains and rivers, endured countless hardships, and finally found a strong lion. Controlled by the instinct to reproduce, even her eyes were practically glowing green.
Yukino did not notice this strange detail. The girl was still immersed in the joy of reuniting with a certain someone.
Ever since her home was plagued by an evil spirit, for safety, her sister had specially contacted Shizuka to help her temporarily take a leave of absence from school.
It had been quite a long time since Yukino last attended Shuka Academy, so naturally, she hadn't seen that certain someone either.
Although she believed she held no improper thoughts about Kaito-kun, just purely admired his beauty Still, reuniting with someone familiar after a long time apart was always something worth being happy about.
"Long time no see."
The beautiful girl nicknamed "Yukino" now had a faint smile hanging on her lips, though small, it was indeed there.
"I didn't expect that today's request would actually be related to you," Kaito nodded slightly. Even before entering this building, he had already sensed the familiar aura. Should he say that the world really is small? You always meet unexpected people in unexpected places.
"Mm-hmm~ So this is Kaito-kun, huh?" Just as the two were exchanging pleasantries, the cheerful onee-san, black short hair, resembling Yukino ninety percent, but with a significantly better figure, smiled and approached, putting her hands together, "No wonder our Yukino always talks about you at home. According to my sister, it's all thanks to your care at school. That must have been hard work, huh?"
"You're too kind, Miss Yukinoshita."
Kaito subtly stepped back a bit. This Miss Haruno, not only did her figure stand at the opposite end of the spectrum from her sister's, but her personality was also far more extroverted. As she leaned in, the distance between them shrank to barely five centimeters, almost close enough to touch faces.
"Calling me 'Miss Yukinoshita' is way too hard to distinguish. There are two Yukinoshitas here, you know?", Haruno didn't mind his retreat at all. She even gave a cute wave, her hearty tone uncannily similar to that iron-fisted female teacher's, "Just call me Haruno, or Haruno-neesan is fine too, since you're little Yukino's friend~"
'A sister's friend is a sister's friend, that's perfectly normal, right?'
'Obviously, boyfriends also fall under the "friend" category.'
'So, Yukino, your sister has spoiled you for so long, letting your future boyfriend bring me some joy as well shouldn't be a problem, right?'
'Besides, this foolish little sister and this Kaito-kun clearly haven't even gotten to first base,' So Haruno felt no psychological burden at all.
Just like how a baby tiger isn't considered a tiger. A calf isn't considered a cow.
From the moment she laid eyes on Kaito, 'Yukino, this brother-in-law, I've decided on him.'
"Miss Haruno, let's talk about the request instead," Kaito wasn't good at dealing with these passionate, mature onee-san types. Luckily, he wasn't alone, he still had his little secretary.
Secretary Sakiko had seen plenty of bad women trying to make moves on her president. Over time, she'd developed rich battle experience, punching south-mountain cheating cats, kicking north-sea vixens, with the banner reading, "Justice Prevails!"
Seeing the blue-haired young girl named "Togawa Shouko" subtly step in front of Kaito with a protective posture, Yukinoshita Haruno raised an eyebrow but wasn't surprised.
Extreme beauty was like a warrior's treasured blade, cutting through iron like mud. There was no sword light so drifting, no killing intent so poetic.
It made you fall in defeat the moment you were distracted.
Even little Yukino, who always wore a cold, stoic face, couldn't help but be moved. Haruno didn't think this Togawa could resist.
But as a mature and elegant onee-san, she didn't show any strangeness on her face. She simply nodded slightly and led everyone downstairs, driving to a construction site nearby that was still under development.
"This is the place," Standing at the outer perimeter of the site, Haruno's tone turned a bit serious, "Around last month, a construction worker, due to improper operation, fell into the cement mixer and died on the spot. Since then, strange things have been happening on this site."
"First, some workers said they heard familiar screams in the middle of the night. Later, someone even saw a pitch-black ghostly shadow appearing around the site of the original accident at midnight."
"After that that same mixer involved in the accident caused three more workers to suffer incidents one after another."
Haruno hadn't originally believed that evil spirits or demons existed in this world.
She was a thorough atheist, always sneering at superstitions and ghosts.
But seeing panic spread, and construction workers strongly refusing to continue work, she had no choice but to invite priests and perform rituals. Whether it worked or not, at least it could give the workers peace of mind.
Unfortunately, it didn't help much.
They'd invited plenty of priests, shrine maidens, and onmyoji. But either they were frauds, or their strength was insufficient. Not only did they fail to resolve the site's problems, one unlucky fellow even got scared into a mental breakdown.
The Yukinoshita family had some background in the construction industry, and this construction project was crucial to whether the family could expand its power into Tokyo.
Haruno always acted carefree and joked around in front of her sister, but only she knew, because of the site's troubles, she often had sleepless nights.
Due to the evil spirit not being handled for a long time, construction workers had been on strike for a while. So although it was clearly still an active site, it now looked empty.
From Kaito's perspective, he could see a red monster wearing a dark construction uniform, "barely humanoid," wandering aimlessly in front of a cement mixer.
The reason it was called "barely humanoid" was that it looked like many broken chunks of meat glued together to form a human shape. There were no bones under the skin, making it look soft, limp, and sticky, occasionally dropping bits of flesh from its limbs.
