The storm roared outside, enclosing the four of them in a bubble of forced intimacy and electric tension.
After a brief moment of uneasy cordiality, both sisters decided to enter the red room where their Onii-sama was comforting his new friend. They remained silent, respecting the intimacy of the scene—despite the jealousy burning in their chests at the sight of their brother behaving so gently toward the dancer.
The gazes of Catherine and Katherine were blades of ice and fire stabbing into their older brother's back. He had already noticed their presence, of course, but he did not yield. His hand—large, long-fingered—continued to move in slow, hypnotic strokes across Mina's trembling back, feeling the aftershocks of her emotions ripple beneath her skin.
He, more than anyone, understood the weight of a past that had to be hidden, a mask fused so tightly to the flesh that one nearly forgot what lay beneath. His sisters understood that as well. That was why, despite the urgency flickering in their eyes, they did not intervene. They waited in silence, allowing the ex-heroine to exhaust her tide of grief while clinging to her Onii-sama.
He did not ask. Among those who carried deep scars, there was an unspoken rule: one does not probe the wound until the bearer chooses to reveal it. Yet a part of him—driven by a reason he could not, or would not, name—burned to know. He needed to understand the story behind the shattered look in the girl's eyes, a reflection of his own monstrosity.
It was Mina who finally pulled away, breaking the contact abruptly as though burned. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, movements clumsy as she attempted to reassemble the hardened persona she had refined over years of surviving alone. It was a heavy armor, and the effort to lift it again was visibly painful.
"Sorry," she muttered, eyes dropping to the filthy floor of the room. "I don't know what came over me."
Her voice tried to sound rough—but only managed to break. Then, as she lifted her gaze, she noticed the two new figures standing in the room with them. She did not flinch at their sudden intrusion; she simply stared with a rekindled curiosity.
"You… don't look like you're from around here," she observed, her eyes lingering on Catherine's emerald-green hair and Katherine's cobalt blue—colors impossible in the monochrome decay of Daten City. "Though honestly, even if you were, chances are we still wouldn't have crossed paths."
Catherine frowned. Katherine adjusted her glasses. Neither denied the statement.
It was Devyus who, after a calculated moment of silence, chose to let a sliver of truth slip into the air. A measured risk that made both sisters hold their breath.
"That's correct," he admitted, his voice a low whisper competing with the rain. "We're… travelers."
The word, vague but truthful, hung in the air. Not the full story—not even close—but enough to loosen the tension slightly in his sisters' shoulders. He had not mentioned dimensions, spiritual energy, nor demons.
And though his heart had softened at the glimpse of the girl freed from her hardened mask—and at the sight of her aura, once clouded black, now glowing pink like her hair, beautiful and rare—his duty as elder brother came first, well before the insistence of his ancient heart.
Mina nodded slowly, as if the explanation fit perfectly into the puzzle of strangeness they represented. Then, her survivor instincts resurfaced.
"I hope you've got money. A place to stay," she warned, arms crossing. "The streets get bad after curfew, and safe housing here is… extremely expensive."
Devyus felt the almost laughable weight of the few coins in his coat pocket—the pitiful spoils taken from the bandits on the road.
Upon closer examination, the coins differed drastically in material, shape, and age—likely outdated currency. And even combined with the thieves' coins, they would not be enough to afford even the cheapest room.
Though he still carried the treasures he had displayed in the safehouse, he knew that revealing them here would draw far too much attention. Greed was as common as the smog-choked air in this city.
And any merchant might try to undervalue them—or worse, ask questions that could lead to authorities. A distant risk, but one he refused to take.
"We appreciate the concern," Katherine said, her voice formal and cold, though tinged with a faint trace of… pity? Directed toward the pink-haired girl. An unusual sentiment, born of jealousy toward the bond formed with her brother—and a distant recognition of her vulnerability.
"But we'll manage. We always have. The three of us."
Catherine nodded firmly beside her, golden eyes flickering with jealousy—jealousy that Mina could walk freely in her natural form without being hunted as a beast, jealousy that she had drawn out a moment of genuine vulnerability from their Onii-sama.
"Don't worry about us," the incubus murmured, stepping slightly away from the dancer to ease the burning stares of his sisters. "We've traveled far. We can find a place to shelter from the rain."
"Thank you for your concern, but it seems you have your own problems to deal with," Catherine added with polite venom, her eyes still burning. "We can take care of ourselves."
"Seriously, be careful. Foreigners are not welcomed by the authorities here," Mina warned again. "You really should find somewhere safe. Otherwise, you could get into trouble."
"Thank you. Truly. But I doubt you can help us," Devyus replied, signaling his sisters to follow as they stepped out of the room.
Mina watched them leave, hesitating.
She didn't know if it was gratitude, lingering instinct as a former hero, or simply the memory of who she once wished to be that made her speak.
Finally, with a tired, soul-deep sigh, she called after them.
"Wait. Come with me," she offered, gesturing toward the back door leading to the alleyways. "Where I stay is… small. It's nothing special. But it's better than what's waiting for you out there."
Three demon gazes turned toward her.
The sisters exchanged a look heavy with disbelief and silent disapproval.
Devyus kept his amethyst eyes locked on her—evaluating, calculating the risks and the potential gains in accepting her offer.
The decision, heavy and full of consequences, lingered in the poisoned air of that hallway.
"If you've reached this far… thank you for walking through Devyus's silence."
"Your thoughts matter — even one word helps me keep building this world."
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