On the way back, Yuta and Rikka kept their pinky fingers intertwined, never letting go, like two childish kids unwilling to part.
Feeling the lingering warmth on his finger, Yuta returned home with a silly grin.
"Brother, you're so slow, what time is it already?"
"Sorry, sorry, Kuzuha…"
Looking at Kuzuha, who was boiling water for tea, Yuta apologized.
To spend more time with Rikka, the two of them walked very slowly, barely faster than crawling, which resulted in them arriving home very late.
But, Kuzuha is making tea?
And judging by the smell, it seems to be black tea… Does anyone in our family like black tea?
Yuta suddenly had a bad premonition.
He quickly rushed to his room, opened the door, and his gaze landed on his bed.
Sure enough, a young man was sitting there, playing his handheld game console.
"Wuwei! Why are you here?!"
"Eh? The rain was too heavy, I couldn't go back, so I just stopped by to take shelter."
"Never mind that my house and your current house are in completely opposite directions, what kind of 'on the way' is that?! And hasn't the rain stopped now?!"
Yuta went mad.
He took a closer look now, and sure enough, Fang Wuwei's hair was a bit damp, and the clothes he was wearing were his own, clearly indicating he had showered at his house.
Judging by this, he was probably going to sleep here again tonight!
"Honestly, Brother, Brother Wuwei isn't visiting for the first time~"
Just then, Kuzuha walked in, holding a cup of black tea, casually complaining about Yuta's shouting, and then walked straight to Fang Wuwei, handing him the black tea.
"Ah~ Thank you, Kuzuha~"
"Brother Wuwei, you like black tea, right?"
"Yes~ You still remember~"
After Kuzuha brought him tea, she sat on the floor, holding a book and leaning against Fang Wuwei's dangling leg, reading.
Fang Wuwei, with a blissful expression, picked up the black tea and took a sip, then winked at Yuta… Who did he think Kuzuha made this tea for?
Yuta almost rushed over to punch him.
Forget it, forget it… They're brothers, he's used to it… Yuta forced himself to look away, but soon noticed another anomaly…
Toka and his younger sister, Yumeha, who was still in kindergarten, were sitting on the floor, continuing their ultra-realistic game of house.
"Plaintiff, do you still have feelings for the defendant?"
"No, I just want to divorce the defendant as soon as possible."
Looking at Toka sitting on the floor and his sister with her arms crossed, then looking at Fang Wuwei and Kuzuha "leaning together" by the bed, Yuta suddenly felt like he was the most superfluous person in this family.
And Toka couldn't possibly appear here for no reason.
If she came, it must be for something bad… No, it must be because she needed Yuta to do something.
Yuta's body was still half-wet, and he wasn't even given time to change clothes before Toka called him out.
It was already very late, and they also needed to rest early, so saving a bit of time was good.
So Yuta followed Toka and left, giving Fang Wuwei a fierce glare before leaving… But he didn't care.
Watching the two leave, Fang Wuwei took a sip of tea… He should also leave soon.
He didn't plan to stay overnight today; he still needed to prepare for the School Festival tomorrow.
Seemingly sensing that Fang Wuwei wanted to leave, little Yumeha, holding the Cat Chimera, snuggled up to him, jumping into his arms.
"Red Eye!"
"Meow!"
...Forget it, I'll stay a bit longer.
............
Toka drove Yuta to a high-end Western restaurant she frequented, and they each ordered a cup of tea.
Yuta sat opposite Toka, somewhat reserved.
In his eyes, Toka was still that somewhat authoritative older sister.
"Is there anything… that can't be said at home?"
"Rikka can't hear it."
Toka took out an envelope from her pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it over so Yuta could clearly see what it was.
"This was sent from the main branch in Italy, asking if I want to go study… I have no reason to refuse."
"Wow… Toka is really that amazing after all…"
"Hmm? Do you mean you didn't believe it before?"
"No… not at all…"
Toka felt a little insecure about her authority, but it vanished the next second.
"But this is good too, Toka, your career is progressing, and Rikka will definitely…"
Yuta was somewhat happy, happy for Toka's career.
He originally wanted to say Rikka would also be happy, but he quickly thought, if Toka leaves, what will Rikka do?
So he stopped speaking.
Toka saw Yuta's expression and knew he understood.
"It seems you understand… I can't let her live here alone, so I'm going to have Mom come and live with her instead of me."
Rikka's mom…
Yuta had never met her, but he had heard from Fang Wuwei and Toka that Rikka's mother seemed to have hurt her in the past, and they still had difficulty communicating.
What Toka was most conflicted about now was this point: Rikka was unwilling to communicate with her mother, or more precisely… the chunibyo Rikka had difficulty communicating normally with her mother.
But in reality, Rikka didn't dislike her mother, and had long forgiven her.
It was just Rikka's closed-off nature before she entered her chunibyo phase, her unwillingness to communicate with her mother, that made her mother believe she was disliked and unwanted… It was precisely because of this that Rikka's mother left sadly… Perhaps in her heart, she thought she wasn't a good mother.
Rikka's chunibyo was difficult to understand, making it hard to maintain a harmonious relationship with her mother.
To live with her mother again, she would first need to return to normal, to no longer be chunibyo.
But she didn't realize that no matter what her child became, how could a mother dislike them?
Limited by her perspective, she knew that no matter how much she tried to persuade Rikka, she wouldn't stop being chunibyo.
As for Yuta… earlier at his house, Fang wuwei had already told her that they had started dating, even pulling out video evidence, though she didn't know where he got it from…
If it was Yuta, Rikka would definitely listen to what Yuta said.
Thus, for her sister, and for her mother, Toka, for the first time, bowed her head to Yuta…
"Toka? What's going on?!"
"I beg you, please think of a way to help me with this! If it's you who speaks, she will definitely listen! Just tell her to become normal, that's all!"
Upon hearing these words, Yuta's heart became firm… not because he agreed with Toka, but because he wanted to protect Rikka.
He understood all too well what the invisible boundary line meant to Rikka, and he understood all too well that chunibyo was not just entertainment for Rikka, but the motivation for her life to continue…
"Rikka, she is very normal.
I believe that for her, that eye patch is like armor protecting her.
Rikka, she… is so smart, she must know all of this.
But it's because she can't let go that she acts this way.
It's precisely with this appearance that she can hold onto…"
"Hold onto what?"
"I don't know…"
Perhaps it's an ideal, or perhaps it's life.
"But, she probably doesn't want all of this to just disappear.
Listening to Toka and Mom, accepting the present, then everything would end, and she doesn't want to do that…"
This was the first time Yuta had refused Toka.
Now he had a new identity; he wanted to protect Rikka.
He believed Rikka had her reasons for doing this.
But Toka didn't think so… Having experienced the ups and downs of society, she understood the cruelty of reality all too well.
"What's wrong with just ending it? What invisible boundary line or Evil King's True Eye, none of them exist at all!
No matter how much you search, you won't find Dad!"
Facing the cold reality, fantasies were like bubbles, beautiful but bursting at a touch.
Even Yuta couldn't find a point to refute and could only remain silent…
"Affirming everything she says, what problem does that solve?
What she yearns for can never be obtained!
If you insist on affirming her, you will only make her sink deeper into fantasy, even more unwilling to face reality.
Like this, what will happen when she grows up?
Reality is very cruel!
This is really… too irresponsible…"
Yuta stared at his untouched coffee, his eyes somewhat dim…