William 18

Title: The Saegusa Twins

“But Kudou, haven’t you considered joining the Disciplinary Committee? With you and Shiba, the committee would be much stronger.”

“What do you think, Chair?” Tatsumi Koutarou said, rubbing his chin.

“I’d welcome it, but I’m not sure if Mayumi would let him go!” Mari half-joked, glancing at Mayumi.

“No way, absolutely not!”

Mayumi immediately rejected Mari’s suggestion. She knew her friend’s personality well. If she was stubborn now or said something dismissive, Mari would definitely take Kousen without hesitation.

“Alright, Shiba, come with me to the Disciplinary Committee! I’ll explain your duties later.” Mari didn’t want to keep teasing Mayumi.

“Okay!”

Tatsuya gave Miyuki a few words of instruction before following the Disciplinary Committee members.

The Student Council members also dispersed at the school gate, as it was already very late, well past dismissal time.

However, Kousen, who was supposed to head home alone on his motorcycle, now had someone in the back seat.

The faint, delicate sensation from behind had been making him slightly restless.

“Didn’t expect, looks small but quite substantial!”

Kousen muttered softly.

“What did you say, Kousen-kun?”

Mayumi vaguely heard Kousen say something from the front, but the motorcycle was moving too fast, and the wind combined with Kousen’s low voice made it impossible for her to hear clearly.

“Senpai, is there no one at your house right now?”

The reason was that as soon as Kousen took out his motorcycle, Mayumi was already waiting at the gate, asking him to give her a ride because she had important business at home.

This time, Kousen’s words were clear in Mayumi’s ears.

“Mm, Dad went to the Magic Association, seems like he has some business. My younger siblings are out playing, and my older siblings haven’t lived at home for a long time.”

“Good then.”

It wasn’t that Kousen was afraid to meet Mayumi’s family, but showing up empty-handed for the first time felt inappropriate.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

But as the saying goes, what you don’t want to encounter is exactly what you run into.

“Who are you?”

As Kousen dropped Mayumi off in front of her house and was about to leave, a loud shout rang out.

One of two nearly identical twin girls called out to him.

“Kasumi, that’s rude.”

Mayumi quickly pulled the girl named Kasumi aside and scolded her.

Soon after, Mayumi returned with each of her younger sisters in tow, though the girl who had shouted earlier still looked slightly annoyed.

“Hello, Senpai. My name is Saegusa Izumi. Thank you so much for looking after Onee-san.”

The other girl, with slightly longer hair, greeted him first, her sweet smile clearly showing she was someone who smiled often.

“Come on, Kasumi, say hello.” Mayumi saw Kasumi still reluctant to greet him and promptly smacked her head.

“Saegusa Kasumi, pleased to meet you.”

Perhaps due to her sister’s pressure, Kasumi spoke reluctantly.

“I’m Kudou Kousen, but I’m not the one looking after Saegusa-senpai. It’s more like Senpai who’s been looking after me.”

Kousen didn’t mind Kasumi’s attitude and greeted both sisters warmly.

“By the way, Senpai, are you heading back now? Won’t you come in for a bit?” Izumi asked with interest.

After all, this was the first time she saw her sister so close with a guy her age, so she was eager to learn more.

Kasumi’s sudden attitude stemmed from the same reason. She adored her sister deeply and admired her excessively.

That’s why she couldn’t hold back seeing a guy so close to her sister.

“Hmm, I’ll take my leave for today. I’ll visit formally another time.” Kousen nodded.

He indeed didn’t want to meet the Saegusa family yet. Meeting the two sisters was fine, but meeting their father would require him to enter the house no matter what.

“I see. Next time Senpai visits, we’ll treat you well.”

Izumi spoke very politely. There was no need to rush to uncover the truth. Besides, tonight she planned to thoroughly interrogate her sister.

With that thought, Izumi’s expression grew more menacing, as if already imagining her sister’s embarrassed, mortified face during the interrogation.

Mayumi, meanwhile, felt a slight chill.

“Just go already. I don’t want to see you.”

Kasumi muttered softly again.

“Kasumi?”

Mayumi’s voice shot up eight octaves.

Terrified, Kasumi shclass back. “See you, Senpai.”

“That’s enough. Thanks for the trouble today, Kousen-kun. Rest well when you get home! You must be exhausted.”

Mayumi finished speaking and pulled her two sisters into the house.

Kousen could still see the girl named Izumi asking Mayumi something along the way.

It made Mayumi’s cheeks flush like ripe tomatoes, while Kasumi continued to look annoyed, waving her hands and feet.

With the roar of the motorcycle and thick smoke from the exhaust, Kousen and his bike disappeared the next second.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

When Kousen returned home, the sky was completely dark, as so much had happened today.

“Just thinking about it is exhausting!”

Kousen had no intention of cooking himself today. After tossing ingredients from the fridge into the automatic cooking machine, he went to take a shower.

Normally, he didn’t care much for food made by the automatic cooker. Though its taste rivaled that of a starred hotel chef, for some reason, he felt it lacked a bit of “soul.” After showering and enjoying a fairly lavish dinner, Kousen prepared to continue his work for the day.

He placed [Night] on the tuning table. This time, he was trying to add movement magic to the dispersion bullet magic used in the training room.

At this stage, he already had a complete concept. He was confident he could finish it tonight. However, upgrading this magic to A-class wasn’t his main goal.

His primary aim was to add release magic, allowing the four magic systems to work in sequence and ultimately become his first strategic-class magic.