["EHHH?! YOU TOOK DOWN THE CEO OF SEX?!"]

The red-eyed youth winced and pulled the phone back for the sake of his eardrums, a feminine voice with the force of a thousand screaming souls blaring through it. The worst part was that it wasn't even on speaker mode.

"Please don't call him that again. And if you ask me, he's more like a Wage Slave of Sex rather than a full-blown CEO— Why am I seriously responding to this?"

He stared up at the skies above, questioning his existence.

"...Ahhhh forget it. I caught the perv and got the box of panties he stashed away. There's just one small, teensy tiny problem."

["Hmmm? What is it?"]

At that, his gaze cast downwards to the fallen man sporting the same uniform as him. Lying next to him was his "weapon," a stick of very average length.

"I think he passed out from the pain, which is weird since my kicks aren't that strong."

["Iunno 'bout that one, Shiki-nii. You were fuming when you found out about this."]

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened yesterday when his little sister broke the news to him.

["You were planning to kill him though?!"]

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The voice from his phone aside, he holstered his bokken bag over his shoulders and went to grab the unconscious Akira by the scruff of his neck.

This was definitely not an excuse to sweep a situation that did not happen under a rug that too did not exist.

"Aaaanyways, I'll be heading back now. See you soon, Mizuki."

He was absolutely not meditating on homicide.

["...I won't say a thing if the cops catch ya."]

Beep!

With the call ended, he glanced at the deviant passed out under the shade of a tree that, upon further inspection, had a rope decorating its surface.

"...Did this guy seriously try to climb a tree with a shimenawa tied around it? Geez, talk about zero respect."

He made sure to offer a prayer to the spirit residing within, before leaving with the pervert in tow.

----------------------------------------

As it turned out, lugging a person down the mountains was pretty taxing on the body.

"I...did not think that through, at ALL."

His head slammed onto the wooden countertop with a sigh, a thud audible throughout the quiet café he found himself in; the closest approximation to a hideout that he and his sister had.

"Heeeeyyy~ Come on nooow! At least we're done with all the requests and stuff." A familiar, bratty voice rang out from his left.

A scowl of annoyance replaced the look of lethargy on his face as he turned to glare at the primary source of both his joy and misery.

"That's easy for you to say. The only thing you have to do is forward the request — I do all the dirty work!"

Cold red met warm blue. If his hair was like the night sky, then hers was akin to the sun itself. One wouldn't be faulted for mistaking them to be polar opposites, like a devil and a goddess.

"Hehehe. We all have our roles to fill, Shiki-nii."

Implying of course, that he wasn't there to correct such a misconception. Little did onlookers know, hidden behind those azure eyes was not a goddess by any stretch of the word, but a being who existed solely to laugh at mankind's hardships. In other words, she could only be━━━

"Perish."

A gremlin.

Poke.

Now, let it be known that Kagami Shiki loved his little sister very dearly.

"Eh?"

Let it be known that he'd support her through thick and thin, from the simplest homework to the most grueling of errands.

"What are you doing?"

Let it be known that he'd give up his umbrella for her in a heartbeat, even if it's only lightly drizzling.

"Hello? Earth to Shiki-nii?"

Let it be known that he'd carry her through a field of mud, not allowing a single inch of her to get sullied.

"The pokes are starting to get oddly heavy."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Let it be known that he'd protect her from any deviants attempting to lay their hands on her.

"H-huuaah?! Why is your expression getting so intense?!"

Let it be known that if any perverts like Yamada tried to get near her, not even the heavens could put an end to his infernal crusade.

"Help! Help! My brother's been possessed!"

Let it be known that he had connections to the yakuza and plenty of rope.

"Owwww, please stoooop!"

Let it be known that going to hell would be a better alternative than incurring his fury, smoldering enough to cloud even the sun itself with ashes.

"Now now Shiki-kun, try not to bully Mizuki-chan too much."

Unexpectedly, his teary-eyed sister's savior appeared in the form of the purple-eyed café owner, who promptly placed their orders onto the counter. A blackberry milkshake and his favored drink for hot summers, chocolate milkshake.

"...Anyways, thanks for the drink, Alice-san."

Sweet cocoa began soothing his rampaging spirit once it entered his mouth, leaving the poor girl next to him dumbfounded.

"A-are you two just going to ignore what happened?"

Evidently, yes. The only responses Mizuki's inquiry received were blank stares from both her brother and the older woman.

"Yo, ojou-chan~! Wanna go sing some karaoke with me?"

And now she was being asked out by a clueless guy who couldn't read the room. Not even the universe was giving her a break at this rate.

"N—" "Oh really? When do we go? I wanted to sing Tear Them To Pieces."

The devil himself reappeared in the red-eyed youth's body, intercepting the stranger's sudden advances before she could speak. An immense chill emanated from his glare, threatening to cause another Ice Age from its sheer intensity.

"Uh- Mm, uh haha, I think I left my wallet at home."

A swing and a miss, except the ball defied all laws of motion and flew straight into space — such was the divine providence known as overprotectiveness, bestowed upon brothers and fathers to protect those they held dear.

Repelled or perhaps controlled by a force akin to a raging tide, the dimwitted soul who attempted to court the Demon King's sister made a break for the exit, vanishing in record time.

“Hah? Hey! Where are you going? Let’s sing a duet of Run Away From Death!”

Now, what was Alice's reaction to a customer being driven away by Shiki's ghastly glare, being the café's sole proprietor?

"Uwaaaaah! At this rate, you're going to end up as Mr. 'Sistraction' despite your charms!"

Despite having lost a customer, she unflinchingly took the opportunity to tease like an assassin driving a knife through her victim's heart.

"━━━That's rich coming from Miss Christmas Cake over here with absurdly high standards."

Unfortunately, said victim had a skin forged from divine steel. Her attack did little but create the sparks needed to light the bonfire that was her rage.

"The fuck did you say about me, you damn kusogaki?! I'll have you know that I DO have a boyfriend!"

"Oh yeah? Who is he then?"

Burning rage which got doused by ice-cold water in an instant, where not even embers remained.

"You wouldn't know him! He lives in a different...world..."

He pretended to not hear the sobs accompanying her last words. Saying anything more would've been pouring salt on the wound.

Thankfully, the awkward silence emanating from the loveless woman was quickly dispelled by a sigh from Mizuki, whose brain had finally rebooted.

Questioning her brother's eccentricities was — from personal experience — completely futile, so why bother? Enjoying her delicious milkshake was infinitely better than getting a massive headache.

And so, she melted into blissful serenity, snapping Alice out of her depressive stupor.

"Ahem, so... Do you two have any plans for summer vacation? It starts tomorrow, remember?"

""Slacking off.""

"Now- Eh?"

Her gaze swayed between the two like a pendulum, abject shock plastered on it as if a phoenix had hatched from a pigeon egg.

"Y-you... You two can't be serious, right? You're gonna spend your youth like that?"

"Thanks to the slave driver over here, I've been doing errands nonstop all year."

"Let's not forget about the quest rewards, nii-chan. By completing all the side quests and getting all the reward money, we can splurge on pretty much anything we want. Not to mention, you're probably a Level 99 Swordsman by now!"

"Do I look like Cr*no to you? I'd get bodied by an imp faster than you can say Cyclone."

And so the siblings' bickering continued. While she could continue to play the role of a "responsible adult," something about the scene before her made a smile creep up her face, eliciting a sigh.

"Haaaah... Well, do what you want then. You deserve that much."

She couldn't help but wish for this happiness to last forever.

----------------------------------------

By the time they began walking home, the skies were already dyed a dark shade of orange.

A strange lull hung over the streets, its silence only broken by the sounds of their footsteps; if neither knew any better, the thought of being spirited away would've occurred to them.

Of course, such a scenario only occurred in fantasies.

In the reality they lived in, such wishful thinking was better than what their silent trek truly embodied.

"Hey, Mizuki?"

"...Yeah?"

A single hand gently ruffled the top of her head.

"Did you have fun today?"

"...Mhm."

"I'm glad. Let's have more fun tomorrow, alright?"

She nodded, her eyes containing an unknowable emotion.

And so, they continued moving.

Past a small shrine, where they once prayed.

Past an empty park, where they once played.

Past a riverbank, overlooking a boundless stream.

Past an olden bridge, supporting their daily routine.

All until they stopped at a fork in the road.

An oh-so-innocent fork in the road.

"..."

Wordlessly, they split, walking two different paths.

Until...

"━━━Shiki-nii!"

...her voice made him stop in his tracks, turning back to face a painfully-bright smile.

"As usual, remember to keep your promise! I won't forgive you if you forget!"

Returning her smile, he continued walking down the quiet road.

Once again, another day passed him by.