"You're such a hassle. Ram takes such good care of you, and you're still picky about this and that."
Shin's protest instantly drew Ram's displeasure, her pink lips pouting high.
"That's not what I meant..."
The young girl's adorable sulky expression left Shin momentarily at a loss, and he scratched his head in frustration.
Trying to push past his inner shadows, he stuffed the rest of the sweet potato in his mouth, washed it down with some water Ram had brought, and climbed back onto the rock to his usual spot.
Lying down, he gazed at the clear night sky and muttered softly,
"Well, let the past stay in the past. It's been years, but these days should be over soon. Just a little longer, and I'll turn things around, right?"
"Turn things around? What's that mean?"
"Rem wants to know too!"
The sisters, naturally lying on either side of him, overheard his muttering and turned to him with curious eyes.
"Hm~ It means being independent, not being looked down on, I guess."
"Really? That's great!"
"If that's true, it's obviously good, but... you don't have a fever, do you?"
Rem cheered for him earnestly, while the more rational Ram frowned slightly, reaching out to check his temperature by placing her hand on his stomach.
The sudden warmth of her small hand slipping under his clothes made Shin feel a bit conflicted. Even though he knew she was just concerned—and he'd taught her this way to check temperature—it still felt odd being on the receiving end for the first time.
"... My temperature's fine. Please don't worry too much about weird things or take liberties with me, okay? Men and women shouldn't be so casual."
"No fever, good. But what's this about liberties and men and women?"
"Nothing... don't mind it, just talking to myself..."
Realizing that thinking strange thoughts about a young girl was deeply wrong, Shin felt a pang of guilt and let out yet another sigh, unsure how many times he'd done so.
"Are you okay?"
Hearing his constant sighing, Rem leaned close to his ear, whispering with concern,
"Sister's actually been really worried about you too, so if something's wrong, just tell us, okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine... I know, thanks, Rem."
Looking at the worried young girl beside him, Shin gave a wry but comforted smile, casually ruffling her hair.
This time, Rem didn't protest, but Ram, standing nearby, got a bit upset and stood up, muttering sulkily,
"Too sneaky, whispering behind Ram's back. Ram's the older sister, you know."
"Yes, yes, Ram's the older sister."
"Hey! Why're you calling me sister but still ruffling my head!"
"Don't mind it. This is the last shred of pride from an adult like me having to call a kid like you sister."
Though he sounded reluctant, as an adult, Shin didn't really care about such verbal trifles. After all, getting a stubborn young girl to let him have his way felt like the real win.
Ram thought it over seriously and decided that him calling her sister meant she'd come out on top.
Being the magnanimous older sister, she let him ruffle her hair, proudly crossing her arms and tilting her head up.
But their antics made Rem a bit jealous—not romantically, but because her best friend and closest family were leaving her out.
She didn't say anything, but her gaze turned slightly melancholic, which Shin noticed, making him chuckle. He casually placed his hand on her head.
"Why're you looking at me like that, kid? With our bond, you can just say what's on your mind. How could we ever leave you out?"
"Exactly, Rem. Your sister will always be your sister. Carlos, move your hand—only Ram gets to ruffle Rem's head."
"Even if you're her sister, I'm Rem's brother from another mother!"
"Brother from another mother? You're just a stranger. Shoo, don't get in Ram's way."
As they bickered over who got to ruffle Rem's hair, Rem's gloom vanished instantly. She hurriedly stepped between them, weakly trying to mediate.
"S-Sister, Carlos, stop fighting all the time. Rem's fine with either of you, as long as we're together. Just... don't leave me out, okay?"
...
Under the beautiful starry sky, by the tranquil riverbank, their usual squabbles over trivial matters somehow healed the gloom that had long weighed on Shin's heart.
As the night grew deeper, the sisters couldn't stay up any longer and left hand in hand, while Shin remained by the river, staring at the moon in a daze, eventually falling asleep on the rock.
...
The days that followed were uneventful. During the day, he studied writing, culture, and magic at school with the other kids, played with the twins during breaks, and wandered around aimlessly, drawing scornful glares from others.
From years of being despised, he'd learned that stronger individuals generated more energy, so he often lingered around the clan leader, making the white-haired but still vigorous old man glare and huff at him.
Though young, Ram had power surpassing even the clan leader's, and Shin would occasionally fixate on the hem of her kimono, fighting the urge to lift it while clinging to his moral as a person.
Sure, a brat flipping someone's skirt might seem normal, but as a mental adult in a child's body, he couldn't bring himself to flip a young girl's skirt.
Plus, there was the risk of Ram pinning him down and beating him up... and getting pummeled by a young girl would hurt his pride even more than flipping her skirt.
Time passed quickly in these days of staring at Ram's skirt hem while Rem watched him in confusion.
Just one step away from the 20,000-point milestone, Shin finally reached it one night.
Too excited to sleep, he returned to the riverbank and browsed through the curated list of Machine Kai armaments.
[Access Rule (10,000)] — An armament that can deflect all energy-based attacks.
Extremely high deflection limit. Current armament count: 1.
Can be summoned and used directly.
[No Access (10,000)] — A defensive armament effective against both physical and energy-based attacks.
[Apocrypha: Light Lance Matrix (20,000)] — Derived from the Forest Spirit defense system, a versatile attack-and-defense magic armament.
Can unleash a barrage of light lances to pierce or explode enemies, or form stable, sturdy light lances to trap them.
[Apocrypha: Forest Void Slash (50,000)] — A recreated Forest Spirit magic armament that releases countless vacuum blades capable of slicing through anything.
…
[Apocrypha: Calamity Dragon Roar (100,000)] — A recreation of the "Collapse Roar" of the Calamity Dragon, one of the three Dragon Kings of the Dragon Spirits.
A wide-range destructive armament capable of triggering earthquakes, tsunamis, and altering planetary forces.
***