Chapter 621: Nishimiya Yuzuru: Eriri Can, But I Can't?!
"Okay, Onii-chan, see you tomorrow!" Renge's cheerful voice came through the phone before the line went dead.
"Ren!" another voice called out as he hung up.
He looked up and saw Kaori Miyazono walking into the living room, accompanied by two other figures. It was Shoko and Yuzuru Nishimiya.
"Onii-san, where have you been these past few days? The house was empty," Yuzuru said, sitting down on the sofa with a familiar ease, her camera bag slung over her shoulder.
"Onii-chan, good afternoon," in contrast, Shoko was a bit more reserved, giving a small, polite bow.
"Good afternoon, welcome. I took my family on a vacation to an island," Ren explained.
"An island?!" Yuzuru's eyes lit up with professional interest. "The island must be beautiful, right? Did you take any photos? Show me quickly!"
"As for photos, Neko seems to have taken some." He glanced at Nao, who had been quietly tidying up. The cat-girl had been playing around with a camera out of curiosity during their trip.
"Yes, these are the photos she took," Nao said with a smile, retrieving a stack of developed photos and handing them to Yuzuru.
"Really!" Yuzuru, already passionate about photography, immediately became intrigued. She began to seriously look through the photos, her critical eye assessing each one.
Ren turned his attention to Shoko. "Shoko-chan, how are your ears feeling?"
"Mmm, thanks to Onii-chan's help, they're very good. I can hear clearly," her small face showed a very happy, radiant smile. She truly thanked him from the bottom of her heart.
"Hmm, your hearing is fine, but your language learning is still at an early stage," he noted, observing the slight difficulty in her speech, the disjointed sentences, and unclear pronunciation. Pronunciation and enunciation required practice. But this rule didn't apply to him.
He waved his hand. "Come here. I'll help you improve your language."
"Ah?" Shoko didn't quite understand what "language improvement" meant, but she still obediently walked over to him.
Ren directly picked up her petite body with both hands and gently placed her on his lap.
"Mmm!" At such intimate proximity, Shoko felt no discomfort. Instead, her heart began to race, a feeling of joy and nervousness blooming in her chest.
His fingertip touched her forehead. Faint points of light flickered and instantly poured into her mind. It wasn't a painful sensation, but a warm, overwhelming flood. She felt a rush of techniques for listening, for forming words, for understanding the flow of conversation, all entering her mind as if she had known them her whole life.
"How do you feel?" Ren asked with a gentle smile.
Shoko opened her small mouth, intending to use sign language, but the words came out naturally. "I don't know… I just feel like I can speak very fluently and accurately…" Her voice paused. She stared, her hands flying to her mouth in shock. Her pronunciation was so clear, so perfect! It was as if she had been practicing since childhood.
"Very good," he said, very satisfied.
"Onii-chan, thank you so much! Even though I'm so useless, you still helped me like this…" Shoko wanted to thank him for everything he had done, her words now flowing freely and eloquently.
Ren simply accepted the thanks generously. "I'll accept your thanks. But you're not useless, Shoko-chan. You're beautiful and cute. That's why I helped you."
"Mmm!" Being praised so directly, Shoko felt as sweet as if she had eaten candy, her cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink.
"Uh, what is all this?" Yuzuru's mouth twitched as she looked at the first few photos. They were blurry, with strong dynamic blur, and messy landscapes. This was truly a novice photographer taking random shots. They weren't even as decent as the photos she took of small animals and insect corpses.
"Hmm???" Suddenly, her eyes widened. The style of the photos changed. Suddenly, there were many beautiful women, many women in swimsuits. She recognized Eriri and Sayuri-san among them. The background was golden sand and a blue ocean. This must be the island vacation. But why were there so many unfamiliar yet beautiful women?
However, as she flipped further down, her hand suddenly stopped. She let out a strange, choked cry with her mouth wide open. "Ah!!!"
The photos in her hand were thrown out, scattering across the floor as if she had seen something terrifying.
"Hmm?" The flying photos slowly drifted down, one landing right on Shoko's hand. "What's wrong?" Shoko asked, her voice now clear and melodic, as she picked up the photo.
Yuzuru, her face flushed a deep crimson, noticed and shouted, "Sister, don't look!!!"
She wanted to stop her, but it was already too late. Shoko saw the content of the photo. It was Eriri, being held from behind by Ren. Her hands were braced against something unseen, her back arched, and her head thrown back in a silent scream of ecstasy. Her swimsuit was in disarray, and it was clear what he was doing to her just out of frame.
"!!!" With a sharp puff of air, a blush instantly spread from Shoko's neck all the way to her cheeks. Steam even seemed to rise from her head. Her small body went dizzy and limp, fainting dead away in Ren's arms.
"…" Ren knew. These were taken by Neko during the villa party. He casually erased the traces of the strange photos from existence. But Yuzuru and Shoko had already seen.
Yuzuru rushed over and snatched at the space where the photos were, only to find nothing there. "Hmm? What's going on? I clearly saw it!"
"Saw what?" Ren greeted her with an innocent, smiling face.
As he approached, Yuzuru frantically stepped back, her hands held up defensively. "Wow! You, you, you, don't come closer!" She felt a surge of pure fear when she thought of Eriri's distorted face in that photo. Oh, and my sister! She looked up and saw that Shoko had fainted in his arms. "Quick, let go of my sister!"
"Ahem, I won't let go," he said, his smile turning mischievous. "Not only won't I let go, but I'll also…" he grinned, as if he was about to devour Shoko the next second.
"Mmm, if you're going to do anything, do it to me! Let go of my sister!" Although Yuzuru was no longer a tomboy, she was still very brave when it came to protecting her family.
"Hey, I'm just teasing you. Don't be so agitated, okay?" She wouldn't really think I'm a bad person, would she?
Yuzuru was stunned for a moment. She still trusted him. But… she thought of Eriri. The image was burned into her mind. A pang of jealousy, hot and sharp, pierced through her. She bravely shouted, her voice cracking slightly, "If Eriri can do it, why can't I?! Are you looking down on me?!"
As she spoke, she puffed out her small, flat chest, trying to look defiant.
"..." Ren was silent for a few seconds, his expression strange as he looked her up and down. "Are you serious?"
Yuzuru, being stared at, awkwardly turned her head away, her face burning. "Of course I'm serious! This… this is to prevent you from laying a hand on Shoko!"
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