Chapter 237: The Toujou Family Matters
After the Rating game ended, Haruto had thought he could rest for a while. However, not only did the Underworld send various temptations and probes one after another, but Mio also brought some "good" news.
Staring at the name "Toujou" on the small villa's nameplate, Haruto calmly glanced at the Naruse sisters beside him.
"Is this... your brother and uncle's house?"
"Mhm."
Mio tilted her head, her slender fingers occasionally twisting her hair ends and then letting go, her gaze shifting uncertainly.
On the night of the full moon, she had witnessed Haruto and Rias's contract process and later even rejected his contract proposal, which left her unsure how to face Haruto during this time.
If it weren't for the two people who claimed to know her biological father showing up, Mio wouldn't have taken the initiative to seek out Haruto.
There was no other way—aside from Maria, the only person she could trust and rely on now was Haruto.
In reality, Mio was closer to Rias, and Haruto was just an afterthought.
But ever since the beginning, it had been Haruto who helped her solve all sorts of troubles. Whenever problems arose, the first person she thought of was Haruto.
Unlike Mio, who had a sensitive constitution but no experience to speak of, Haruto had already participated in countless wild parties and didn't dwell on what happened that night at all.
Ignoring Mio's inner turmoil, he maintained his usual expression and reached out to ring the doorbell.
The appearance of the Toujou father and son was slightly surprising to Haruto, but not too much.
Toujou Jin hadn't managed to engineer a chance encounter. Pretending to be affected by mental magic, the only way to get close to the Naruse sisters was to reveal their relationship upfront.
This left Toujou Basara confused for a while as well. It wasn't until they moved to Kuoh Town and prepared to transfer into Kuoh Academy that he reluctantly accepted the fact that he had gained two younger sisters.
"Hey, just a moment, I'll be right there!"
After the doorbell rang, a cheerful young voice came from inside the house, followed by a series of hurried footsteps. A handsome boy with spiky brown hair and a scar on his face opened the front door.
"It's Mio and Maria! Come in, come in."
Seeing the Naruse sisters, Toujou Basara walked back into the house while scratching his head awkwardly. "Sorry, we just moved in and haven't had time to tidy up yet. It's a bit messy in here."
"Hello, I'm Haruto. Just call me Haruto," Haruto said, extending his hand with a smile.
The spiky-haired youth quickly extended his hand in response, "Ah... Toujou Basara. You can just call me Basara."
Their first impression of each other left both Haruto and Toujou Basara feeling rather positive.
Although Issei Hyoudou possessed a pure-hearted nature, when it came down to compatibility, Toujou Basara's personality suited Haruto's preferences better.
As for Toujou Basara, his first impression of Haruto was quite favorable.
He appeared gentle and refined, plus he was a boy brought over by his sister - and they seemed to get along well.
He might potentially become his future brother-in-law, so of course Basara wanted to maintain good relations with him.
After their initial introductions, the four of them found themselves momentarily at a loss for words. The Naruse sisters were only meeting Toujou Basara for the second time.
Although they had verified from various sources that what the Toujou father and son said was true, becoming familiar with each other wasn't something that could happen overnight.
After sitting for a while, Toujou Basara remembered he hadn't offered the guests any drinks.
"Um... I'll go make some tea."
Just as he was about to stand up, a handsome middle-aged man wearing half-rimmed glasses emerged from the bathroom with a cigarette in his mouth and a newspaper in his hand.
"Oh, Mio and Maria are here."
Toujou Jin smiled, glancing down at his watch. "Perfect timing actually. How about we all go out for lunch together?"
"Dad, it's not even ten yet. Don't make excuses for oversleeping and missing breakfast."
Toujou Basara mercilessly called out his unreliable father.
"Well... by the time we get to the restaurant and wait for the food to be served, it'll be about time anyway."
Toujou Jin smiled cheerfully toward Haruto and the other two. "What do you think, young man? And Mio, Maria?"
"Hey! Don't just ignore my opinion!"
Toujou Basara took a deep breath. Though he'd gotten used to it over the years, it was still frustrating.
"You know, if it weren't for Mio and Maria's situation, I still wouldn't know I actually have two mothers!"
Seeing Basara bring up old grievances, Toujou Jin felt a headache coming on.
"Basara, I didn't tell you for your own good..."
"Right, and all those years of constantly moving around, leaving me home alone - that was for my own good too, wasn't it?"
"That was because of the village's missions..."
Mid-sentence, noticing the dangerous glint in Basara's eyes, Toujou Jin wisely changed the subject.
After that incident years ago, father and son had been exiled from the village, but in truth, Toujou Jin had maintained contact with the village all along.
He'd kept the truth hidden to give Basara an ordinary, stable childhood.
But "ordinary and stable" was relative. Compared to truly normal children, Basara's life after leaving the Brave's Village remained anything but calm.
With no mother to care for him and a father rarely home, just when he'd get used to one place, they'd have to move again.
By age ten, he was already taking care of himself - and occasionally his unreliable father too.
He'd mastered all life skills: laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, cleaning. That's how he managed to grow up healthy and unscathed.
Then, just as he was starting a new high school life, he was suddenly told they were moving again, and that he had two demon sisters... and two mothers...
One could only say that as the original protagonist, Basara had remarkable mental fortitude. After just a brief complaint, he accepted reality and began facing it positively.
Watching the father and son who looked less like relatives and more like carbon copies, Haruto combined what Naruse Mio had told him with his residual memories to piece together the relationship between the Toujou and Naruse families.
Twenty years ago, Toujou Jin, as the strongest genius of the Brave clan, had already reached god-level power.
He single-handedly charged into the Underworld, battled Wilbert - one of the Devil Kings at the time - and defeated him.
Far from being angered, Wilbert - being a pro-peace Devil King - greatly admired Toujou Jin.
During the great war among the three races, Jin unexpectedly entered the alternate dimension "Ancient Dragon Fafnir's" lair along with Wilbert's sister Sapphire and the goddess Raphaeline.
With dragons being inherently lustful and under the dimension's influence, the three became spouses, making Toujou Jin the biggest winner.
Sapphire became pregnant with Basara, but due to her position and the political climate, had to transfer the fetus to Raphaeline's body.
This was the origin of Basara's two mothers.
But Sapphire couldn't stay by Basara's side as his birth mother, and Raphaeline - then one of the Ten Pillar Gods - had also violated heavenly laws.
After giving birth to Basara, she returned to the divine realm and suffered brutal punishment, remaining unable to descend to the mortal world ever since.
Although Toujou Jin was at the divine level, there existed beings even stronger than the divine level.
Whether among the demon race or the divine race, such beings were not limited to just one.
Thus, no matter how unwilling he was, he could only raise Basara alone.
Now that the war across the three realms had ceased, if peace could be ensured, perhaps there was still a chance for their family to reunite.
But before that, the safety of the Naruse sisters needed to be properly addressed.
Naruse Mio was Wilbert's daughter, making her Sapphire's niece, and she and Toujou Basara were blood-related cousins.
To be precise, she shouldn't call Toujou Jin "Uncle Jin" but rather "Uncle" (by marriage).
The same applied to Maria, who was her half-sister.
Although Japan did not prohibit marriage between cousins, knowing the truth in advance, a normal person's first impression would be that of family.
Additionally, given the relationship Haruto and the Naruse sisters displayed, feelings beyond familial affection were unlikely to develop.
With Wilbert deceased and Sapphire unable to appear, all of this was inextricably linked to Toujou Jin.
When Naruse Mio was in danger, even Sheila took action, so he certainly couldn't stand idly by.
Toujou Jin couldn't stay by Naruse Mio's side indefinitely, as the older generation had their own matters to attend to.
Thus, just as Sheila had sent Maria, he planned to have Toujou Basara protect Naruse Mio.
This was also an opportunity for Toujou Basara to confront his own power and return to the hidden world.
As the child of him, Sapphire, and Raphaeline, and a special existence who had inherited the ancient dragon bloodline from the Dragon's Nest, how could Toujou Basara live an ordinary life as a commoner?
After a while of commotion, Toujou Jin suddenly turned serious and said, "Mio, Maria, how are you considering last time's proposal?"