Cassius’s brows furrowed in interest. “This could definitely prove to be extremely useful if I ever encounter an enemy I can't handle. And it also appears to be useful even at the higher Ranks, though I don't know where its upper ceiling resides.” He ended up storing the clear-colored Cloak of Invisibility in his Inventory Space, only planning to use it in an emergency predicament.

After opening up the door to his house, Cassius realized that he had been idling outside for too long, as Aya stood right before him, arms crossed under her ample bosom. Her short figure, paired with her angry pout, made her look like a…

“Pikachu…?” Cassius accidentally blurted out, which made Aya’s pout all the more prominent. She lurched forward, grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him through the door. Yet, rather than hit him as he expected, she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his embrace.

Before Cassius could voice his confusion, Aya mumbled softly, “Leaving me all alone for another girl… and for an entire day no less… You big jerk.”

“...Ha…” Cassius shook his head in defeat, then waddled through the dimly lit corridor, with Aya sticking to him like an inseparable sloth. “I promise I won't leave again without telling you first, alright?” he said warmly. Then his voice turned awkward. “Now could you please let go so I can walk…?”

“Uhn-uh,” Aya rejected. “Just a minute more. That woman had you all day, and you can't even do this much with me? Am I not good enough…?”

Cassius heaved a heavy sigh before petting the dismayed girl’s head, giving her the go-ahead to do whatever she pleased. A lovely smile graced her beautiful features as she rubbed her cheeks against his shirt, with small hearts and flowers seemingly leaving her head and bouncing off the exasperated man she was smothering.

Yet, when Sasha, their stepmother, walked by with a drowsy countenance, Aya jerked back and pushed Cassius away. “M-Mother, what are you doing up this late?? I had thought you were already asleep!” she shouted in a low voice, her eyes erratically darting everywhere.

Even in her groggy state, Sasha could clearly see the scarlet blush touching upon her daughter’s cheeks. She looked between her and the unusually handsome youth standing in the doorway. A small, insinuating smirk played her lips into a charming crescendo. “And who might this handsome young man be, my little Aya~?”

Aya's embarrassment was quickly replaced by confusion as she tilted her head. “...Mom, he’s Cassius…”

“Hello, Miss Sasha,” Cassius chimed in. “We didn't mean to wake you, if we did. But I apologize if that’s the case.”

His respectful yet distant tone was the same, his mannerisms were similar, but his appearance and height were not what Sasha remembered! There was no way this dashing young man was Cassius! And if so, what were he and her daughter out doing after curfew??

“...Are you really Cassius…?” asked Sasha, no longer half-awake. Answering, Cassius said, “Yes, Miss Sasha…”

Sasha’s eyes widened in surprise. She took short, quick steps over to Cassius, sizing him up with her hands and eyes. After fondling just about every part of his chiseled body, a streak of black shrouded the expression she was making. A brief pause later, she muttered, “You’re jacked…”

Cassius awkwardly chuckled, “Y-Yes…”

“And you’re supposed to be Cassius…?? How is this possible in a few short weeks…!?” Sasha’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she staggered a bit, finding it tough to keep her balance.

She hadn't seen much more than her stepson’s receding silhouette these past weeks, but little to no interaction with him had always been the norm. Of course, when she stopped by the hospital, she noticed the changes, but she just thought that to be temporary side effects of the truck crash. Yet that didn't seem to be the case…

“Did this all happen because of your accident!?” Sasha spoke her mind. To which Cassius reluctantly nodded, “It’s something like that…”

“...Unbelievable…” Sasha wobbled to a wall, disbelief etched across her pretty, timeless facial features. Yet, when she felt a sudden surge of hostility come from her daughter, she turned and asked, “Is something the matter, dear?”

Aya coldly huffed, “Nope! It’s nothing, m.o.t.h.e.r!” She wasn't thick-skinned enough to just outright admit that she didn't like how her mom got all touchy-feely with Cassius. She hadn't even got to hold hands with him, and yet her mother was doing as she pleased! It was infuriating! Especially when that other floozy got even further ahead!

Question marks flew around Sasha’s head as she truly had no idea what her daughter seemed so irked about. To even go so far as to call her ‘mother,’ something she never did—that was when the pieces clicked and the clues came together. She rapidly flipped her gaze between her grumbling daughter and the handsome aloof man whom she had treated like a son for two years. Realization dawned on her as she parted her lips, unable to find the proper words.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

So she spoke improperly. “How… lewd…”

Even Cassius was slightly taken aback by Sasha’s words, let alone the flustered tsundere mess that was Aya. Her face turned redder than a sea of blood as she rushed over to her mother to clasp her mouth, then she pulled her into the backrooms. Before disappearing from sight, Aya bit her lips while furtively glancing at Cassius, with her on the verge of tears. Using her eyes, she seemed to be telling him not to listen to a single word her stupid mother said. Then, with a door slam, she and the sexy milf in lingerie vanished into the backrooms.

“Luckily, Dad is out on that very long business trip, or he definitely would have woken up from that,” Cassius sighed, finding it harder and harder to live near two non-blood-related females. “Dad is almost always away on work for that mysterious job of his, constantly leaving me alone with these two. Though it wasn't a problem before, because of my fugly appearance, I have changed greatly since then. I should be more careful from now on…”

With Cassius’s Charisma stat now at 25 and still on the rise, it was inevitable that those of the opposite sex would begin putting more focus on him. The system even went so far as to say (Could become an amateur model) right next to his Charisma stat. As such, Cassius had to be more mindful around family, though he had a bad omen about the direction Aya was heading in, especially when considering how she was definitely the one following him all day. He wasn't dense enough to not see what was going on here.

Ultimately, Cassius heaved a tired sigh before deciding to let his future self deal with everything. For now, he would let himself get some rest, prepared to get up early the next morning for work. After that would be Gate searching with the 4D map he obtained from the Hunter Association receptionist.

The very next morning, Cassius rose his upper half from slumber, only to feel something lumpy and soft beside him. ‘It can't possibly be…’

Yep, it was that cliché. Sprawled out on the bed, pressing up against his arm, was the scantily dressed Aya. Through the almost see-through red blouse she was wearing, one could see her fair and tender skin. It shimmered invitingly under the rays of morning sunlight shining their glow down upon her, further accentuating her alluring mountains of milky pudding, as well as her slim stomach and plump thighs.

Though, even with such a country-toppling sight before him, the only thing to pass through Cassius’s mind was, ‘How was she able to not set off my Perception…? Maybe the intent needs to be malicious for it to come into effect?’

Bingo!

‘Well, no matter… I guess I should just slip away—’ Was what he wanted to do, but Aya cutely rubbing her drowsy eyes quickly made him rethink his next move. For a moment, the two of them simply stared at each other, but when she looked at where his eyes kept falling, her cheeks turned crimson red from the bottom up.

“Eek!” Aya yelped as she covered her melon-sized breasts and scooted over to the end of the bed. “Y-You didn't see anything, did you…?” she asked, appearing more like a defenseless puppy than the vixen who slipped into her stepbrother’s bed in the middle of the night.

“Did I see anything?” Cassius stared straight ahead, then lied without blinking, “Of course not.”

Aya breathed a sigh of relief, though she still looked quite aggrieved. “You promise…?”

“I promise.”

Silence.

The room seemed to get consumed by an air of solemnity as Cassius and Aya didn't know where next to take this conversation. Clearing up the confusion itching away at her heart, Aya said, “D-Don't misunderstand…! It’s just that I had a nightmare about that day… and I… slept next to you because it felt safe…”

‘...It seems like she isn't as over that incident as I originally assumed,’ thought Cassius. Though, if he were being honest, he didn't believe it to be possible for something as traumatic as that to be whisked under the rug in a single night.

He sighed before extending his hands as if asking for a hug. Although embarrassed, Aya accepted the invitation and wrapped her arms around his muscular waist. Speaking softly next to her reddened ears, Cassius said, “I was just surprised when I found you laying here. But if you ever have trouble sleeping, you can feel free to welcome yourself into my bed. Though you might want to wear something a little less prone to slipping off.” He chortled, faintly recalling the snowy white mountain tops that appeared through the loose collar part of her blouse.

Instinctively knowing what he was thinking about, Aya pounded her cotton fists on his chest before murmuring, “Dummy….”

“Yes, yes,” agreed Cassius. “Even in school, I was not the brightest around. Who would’ve thought my ineptitude extended beyond just the books, though?” he joked, receiving a melodic laugh in return.

Aya’s peach blossom eyes scanned the defined chest muscles she was sticking to, her blush deepening in response. She quickly burrowed her head away from sight, finding it difficult to even so much as endure his unintentionally burning gaze. However, though her cuteness was just begging to be teased, Cassius let her be.

After a couple minutes of staying at a distance where they could hear the rhythm of each other’s heartbeats, Aya finally let go. She averted her eyes from the face that only seemed to have become more striking. “...You have work to get to, don't you? I don't want you to be late…”

“Oh?” Cassius debated another round of teasing, yet held back at the last second. “You are right, I have to earn my keep here. Don't want to be deemed an irredeemable bum and get kicked out of here, because then I won't be able to see something.”

“See what…?” asked Aya, curiosity brimming in her moistened eyes.

Cassius smiled warmly as he leaned off his bed and let the resplendent morning rays hit his smooth skin. While momentarily stunned, Aya failed to notice when he replied, “If I get kicked out, I won't be able to see you anymore. Wouldn't that be unfortunate? My eyesight would be deprived at that point.”

When Aya finally got around to his words, her eyes glimmered gold as her heartbeat quickened. No longer able to take that smoldering gaze of his, she covered her face in her long luscious locks of gold before fumbling off the bed and scurrying away like a deer caught in headlights. Yet, before Aya fully vanished into the outside corridor, she murmured, “H-Have a good day at work…!” Then left for good, with a door at the end of the hallway closing shut immediately after.

Once again left alone, Cassius wondered if he had said something unusual. He shrugged dismissively. “I don't recall saying anything unusual.” While also completely forgetting about all the ‘Be careful what I say around family’ stuff from earlier.