This Saturday, the melody was peaceful, the tone warm—an almost reluctant farewell to the past.
But by Sunday, everything changed; the atmosphere abruptly grew tense.
It was a little past ten in the morning.
The scene was set in Minamoto Senya's room.
At the center of the stage, three people had taken their positions.
Yukinoshita Yukino was lying on the floor, her face turned skyward.
Minamoto Senya had his hands planted on the floor, leaning over her, his face close.
Meanwhile, Yui Yuigahama sat cross-legged right beside them, one hand holding a sketchpad, the other a pencil, her eyes fixed on the pair like a prison guard, refusing to look away.
"I mean… Yuigahama, do you really have to sit that close?"
Yukino had been telling herself to endure it, but now, she was starting to reach her limit.
She knew this girl was just here to stir trouble, but at least at first, she had pretended to be subtle.
Now… Yuigahama had dropped all pretense.
So close that even her breathing was audible—why not just throw away the sketchpad and join in directly?
"Of course I do! Do you think my exquisite drawing skills came only from endlessly practicing my technique with a pencil? You're completely wrong! What's more important is having an eye for beauty, starting from everyday things, deliberately practicing to capture subtle details, training sensitivity to form, texture, and color, analyzing light and shadow, understanding an object's volume and spatial relationships—that's the real core! Do you even get it?!"
Once she touched on her specialty, Yui launched into a long, breathless monologue.
Right now, she was ecstatic that she could disrupt this "wild fox's" little plan.
According to the typical story progression in novels, there would be a scene where the male and female leads accidentally fall on top of each other, sparking romantic tension.
How clichéd. If you wanted to "steal Yukino's tofu," just say so!
With me, Yui Yuigahama, here, that would never happen!
I will protect Yukino until Yukino's elder sister returns!
Yukino let out a cold laugh. "Hmph. Sorry, but I wasn't really listening to most of that. I only saw a certain envious and frustrated person beside me, staring longingly, drooling, yet utterly powerless—a total loser."
Yui immediately bristled. "Who are you calling a loser?!"
"Whoever responds, that's who I'm talking about."
"Yukino!"
"Even your scream sounds like a loser."
"Ahhhh! You foul-smelling, gloomy girl, how dare you say that about me!"
"Your… feet… what are you talking about?!"
"Hah. Looks like you didn't even notice. I wasn't planning on pointing it out, but this is just too rude. You come to someone's house and don't notice such a small thing. Senya might have been too polite to say anything, but I certainly won't let it slide. I smelled it as soon as I came in—that sour, pickled cabbage-like stench. Truly polluting the air."
"You're talking nonsense…!"
"Hahaha, flustered and embarrassed, huh? That's what you get for wearing socks that make your feet stink every day—serves you right…!"
…
Like an overworked salaryman exhausted from consecutive late nights, Minamoto Senya slowly rose from Yukino's side, pressing a hand to his forehead in mild headache, watching the two girls, each glaring at the other with no hint of decorum, their hands locked as if in a fierce duel.
The hostility between them was now obvious even to an outsider.
Senya had anticipated this when he agreed to Yuigahama's earlier request.
This was exactly the scene he had hoped to see.
Not because he had a perverse joy in watching girls fight.
It was simply because now was not the time for him to be honest with either of them.
Moreover… he was in a critical phase with Tohka, and until results were achieved there, he had neither time nor mental space to consider anything else.
A master of time management might compartmentalize emotions, but he couldn't.
He wanted both outcomes: a successful resolution and a perfect, happy ending. The complexity of achieving this rose exponentially.
Everything had to be handled step by step.
So for now, let them counterbalance each other.
A little quarrel could even serve as an alternative way to strengthen bonds.
Besides, both Yui and Yukino were relatively harmless—any conflict between them was mostly fluffy, inconsequential scuffles.
Like little kittens rolling together.
Hardly dangerous, and somewhat endearing.
In simpler terms: outdoor, rain, playful duel.
Thunderous in noise, light in consequence. Nothing to worry about.
"Well, take a short break. I'll get you some water."
Seeing the two press their foreheads together, hands locked, Senya suppressed the urge to push their heads apart with his hands and simply said that before leaving the room.
"Senya, are you done?"
In the living room, Saeko Busujima held a cup of hot tea, watching her favorite variety show with Rikka.
Hearing footsteps, she turned and softened immediately at the sight of Senya.
"Not yet."
"And Yukino and Yuigahama?"
Rikka also looked back at him.
"They're still upstairs… a little accident happened."
Saeko and Rikka exchanged knowing glances.
Those two usually didn't get along; now they were probably bickering again.
Senya went to the kitchen, poured two glasses of water, and handed them to Rikka.
"Take these up to them."
"Okay."
Even in this situation, Rikka behaved obediently, asking no questions, and went upstairs directly.
This was one of the reasons Senya always treated her so kindly and indulgently.
No playful little sister antics as often seen in light novels.
Once Rikka left, Saeko immediately pulled Senya to sit beside her, pressing close.
With Aunt Junko and Tohka out, the downstairs was empty, and she cherished this rare moment to be alone with him under everyone's eyes.
A little thrilling.
Also, it had been a few days since they'd been intimate.
The original agreement was twice a month—but that referred to more private matters. Simple hugs and kisses weren't included.
They pulled apart slightly, a thin line of perspiration glistening between them.
"Mmm… so sweet. Did you just have candy?"
Senya brushed aside Saeko's loose hair, tucking it behind her ear.
"Yeah…" Saeko buried her flushed face against his chest. "Rikka gave me some soft candy just now."
Senya clicked his tongue, savoring the taste. "Pretty good."
"Want some? There's more here." Saeko reached toward the coffee table.
Senya smiled, unusually childish. "Then feed me."
Saeko handed it over, then playfully pulled it back, leaving him biting air.
Seeing his dissatisfied gaze, she wiggled her eyebrows mischievously and gently bit the candy with her teeth, as if saying, come get it yourself.
Senya's heart warmed. He leaned forward, their fingers intertwined, and they collapsed together on the sofa.
Moments later.
The black wings at the stair railing let out a soft "caw" with a flurry of wings.
Followed by "thump, thump, thump" footsteps descending.
The pair on the sofa scrambled upright.
In that instant, Saeko felt a slight weightlessness.
Realizing what had happened, she quickly braced herself with one hand, glancing at Senya with surprise and embarrassment.
She hadn't even noticed it happen.
Senya chuckled smugly.
Rikka returned to the living room, visibly excited, suppressing a grin.
Completely absorbed in her own mood, she hadn't noticed anything amiss between Senya and Saeko.
Senya pointed upstairs. "How are they doing?"
"They were hugging when I went in. I left, and they immediately separated."
Rikka withheld some details—like the red mark on Yuigahama's thigh or the stretched black stockings of Yukino.
It was enough to let the two cool down temporarily.
"I'll go up first."
Time to pacify those natural-born rivals. Wrap it up quickly. After lunch, he still planned to visit the Touma household.
He had a feeling that next week's beach trip might involve Miyako wanting to bring Fuka along, out of concern for her.
But he felt it was better if he extended the invitation himself.
Saeko and Rikka resumed their chatter happily, though Saeko still worried quietly about Senya.
Their earlier intimacy had been intense—Senya had seemed almost eager to devour her.
She realized her original plan had backfired, leaving Senya more agitated than relieved.
Some emotions hadn't eased, but rather stirred more restlessness.
Saeko reflected on this. She had assumed that Yukino's enviable looks and figure, combined with the mutual feelings between her and Senya, would make things easy.
Helping Yukino slightly would supposedly smooth her progress with Senya—just like how things naturally developed between her and him.
But it hadn't worked out that way. Progress was slow, and unexpectedly, Yuigahama had intervened. Things were far from her prediction, leaving an awkward stalemate.
What now?
Continuing to help Yukino would be a tough hurdle with Yuigahama in the way.
Or… perhaps find another solution—Yuigahama wasn't impossible either.
Maybe get them to reconcile, and then… together…
Hmm… the last idea sounded nearly impossible.
While Saeko brainstormed, the doorbell rang, and Rikka ran to the entrance.
Seizing the moment, Saeko adjusted her bra and followed.
It was a delivery: a medium-sized fish tank, lots of accessories, and a large bag of ornamental fish.
When Rikka asked who bought it, the delivery worker didn't know—just that a customer had ordered yesterday, and today he was delivering and installing it.
Rikka invited him in, placed the tank near the living room's floor-to-ceiling window, and let the worker handle the rest.
"Of course, Senya bought it."
Rikka found a receipt inside the package, bearing Senya's signature.
Saeko commented, "So he likes this stuff too."
Rikka shook her head. "No idea. He never seemed interested before. Maybe when he went out yesterday with Tohka, she wanted one for home decoration. It looks nice in the empty living room."
Words spoken casually, but Saeko noticed the gap.
"Senya went out with Tohka yesterday?"
"Yeah."
"Rikka, why didn't you go?"
"Don't remind me! I was so mad. They went to a great restaurant, then the arcade—won tons of prizes, even took photos—and didn't take me along!"
"Oh… I see."
Saeko looked at Rikka, arms crossed, pouting.
She glanced at the ceiling, then the fish tank filling with water.
Her intuition sensed something off—but lacking evidence, she couldn't be sure.
For the next week:
Yukino and Yuigahama remained at daggers drawn.
Yet a peculiar tacit understanding emerged:
Wherever one of them appeared near Senya, the other would inevitably follow.
Verbal sparring became routine.
But the hand-to-hand contest from last weekend never repeated.
Perhaps after that encounter, they realized neither could overpower the other alone.
Two evenly matched rivals had no need for futile exertion—both wasted effort and lost dignity.
On Thursday, Senya completed the first volume of his Four Bodies series and officially submitted it to the Hayakawa Science Fiction Award Committee.
If not for the word count restriction, he would have combined volumes one and two.
In his view, together they were greater than the sum of their parts.
But rules were rules. The Japanese tended to be traditional, yet not overly fussy about such things.
Main task accomplished—now, only the results remained.
Soon, Saturday arrived.
Senya finally had work again, heading to the newly developed seaside resort to shoot an advertisement.
The group of girls closest to him would accompany him.
…