Chapter 36: Momo: No! Something is Wrong!
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"Let me officially introduce myself! My name is Kyoko Kirisaki!"
"My name is Kihara. The girl on the left is Momo, and on the right is Nana. They are my friends who came along to see our mysterious female lead."
"I'm not mysterious at all! Kihara-kun, please stop teasing me."
Kyoko Kirisaki's medium-length black hair and soft blue eyes gave off the impression of a sweet, gentle girl at first glance. However, the moment she opened her mouth, her lively and outgoing personality shone through completely. Rather than saying she was acting as the magical girl Kyoko, it was more accurate to say the character was modeled after her actual self.
"Speaking of Baking Hot Magical Girl Kyoko... that seems to be the show big sister has been obsessed with lately..."
Prompted by Nana's casual remark, Momo suddenly realized it too. Without a second thought, she whipped out a pad of paper and a pen, holding them out in front of Kyoko.
"Um! My big sister is a huge fan of yours! Could you give me an autograph!"
'Curse it! I was clearly the one who thought of it first! Why did Momo beat me to the punch again?!'
Nana ground her teeth in frustration. It wasn't that she wanted to take the autograph back to brag to Lala; she simply hated Momo's habit of stealing the credit right out from under her.
Before she could go over and pick a fight, a warm, broad hand gently rested on top of her head, stroking her hair softly.
Immediately after, a signed card was slipped right into her view.
"Don't worry if you didn't get Kyoko's autograph. I have a special signed card from Kihara right here. Taking this back to Lala will make her happy too."
"Y-Your autograph is not something big sister would ever care about!" Nana feigned disdain, giving a light hmph. However, with a slight blush spreading across her cheeks, she awkwardly accepted the card anyway.
"Still... if I don't take it, throwing it away would be polluting the environment, so I'll reluctantly accept it."
"Thank you, Miss Nana, for your outstanding contribution to environmental protection."
Because the large hand stroking the top of her head felt entirely too comfortable, she completely forgot to swat it away. It wasn't until Momo snuck over with a mischievous grin and whispered, "Does it feel good?" that Nana frantically pulled her neck back and took a few steps away.
"Don't go petting a girl's head so casually!!"
"Got it."
"Kihara-kun, let's run through the script."
"Mmhmm, coming right over."
As Kihara and Kyoko began reviewing their lines, Momo clasped her hands behind her back, flashing a devilish little smirk as she sidled up to Nana, winking at her playfully.
"How did it feel when Mr. Kihara stroked your head?"
"Annoying, of course! Petting a lady's head without her permission—how utterly impolite!"
"A lady? You?"
Momo heard what sounded like the joke of the century. Her good upbringing kept her from bursting out loud, but she covered her mouth as her shoulders shook with silent laughter, her eyes curling into crescent moons.
A twin sister who failed every single palace etiquette class—and had even been praised by their father for possessing his straightforward, head-on style—was actually calling herself a "lady" just to hide her blush.
For a brief moment, Momo genuinely wanted to submit this story to the Galactic Hilarious Column. However, considering that doing so would result in Nana hunting her down for a full year and damaging the royal family's reputation, she gave up on the idea.
With her cheeks burning hot like fire, Nana forced herself to act cool and ignore her sister's teasing. Fortunately, they were standing by the lake, and the cool breeze sweeping across the water washed away a good chunk of the heat from her face.
Momo swallowed her laughter back down, pressing her pink lips together to keep a straight face. "I heard big sister mention that Mr. Kihara's head-stroking skills are amazing. He can even stroke your head while washing your hair."
"You'd better be talking about a normal head-stroke," Nana muttered. Not wanting to continue a topic that made her toes curl in embarrassment, she seized the chance to ask a question that had been bugging her.
"Why do you call him 'brother-in-law' to his face, but keep calling him 'Mr. Kihara' behind his back?"
"Because I haven't officially accepted him as my brother-in-law yet."
"Huh?"
"Did you really think our evaluation was over?"
"Otherwise?"
Looking at Nana's wide, dazed eyes, Momo let out a deep, heavy sigh. "Of course we have to keep watching him! Why do you think Father hasn't sent a reply back to Zastin yet?"
"Isn't it because he's busy?"
"Of course not!"
Momo wished she didn't have to experience the frustration of trying to teach a hopeless student, but the reality was staring her right in the face.
Placing her hands firmly on Nana's shoulders, she turned back to look at Kihara, who was still running through the script. She stated every word clearly: "The reason Father hasn't given an answer is so we don't enroll in school too early. He's giving us plenty of time to investigate Mr. Kihara."
"Why do we still have to investigate him? Isn't that Zastin's job?"
"Let me ask you: is it easier for a girl to get close to Mr. Kihara, or a warrior clad in skull armor?"
"The former, obviously..." Nana blurted out. The moment the words left her mouth, a look of sudden realization flashed across her face, quickly followed by a disgusted frown.
"Are you saying we should use his trust to investigate him? I'm not doing something like that!"
"How can you call this using him?!"
Momo genuinely wanted to crack open her twin's head to see what was inside. The second princess of Planet Deviluke had been completely bought over by a few meals from an Earthling.
"Wait... when you said today that we should come help his career rise, was that also just a lie to win his trust?"
"I already told you, it's not a lie..."
"I'm not taking part in this. Figure it out yourself!"
Spitting out those words in a fit of anger, Nana ignored Momo's attempts to hold her back and stomped off toward the lake alone. Having nearly brought an assassin into her mother's bedroom as a child because someone had tricked her trust, she deeply despised such scheming.
However, Momo was her twin sister, and she was doing this out of concern for Lala. All Nana could do was turn a blind eye.
If Momo's scheme to win his trust went too far, Nana resolved that she would step in to protect Kihara.
"Stupid sister... you really didn't have to use a method like this..." Nana muttered quietly under her breath. Squatting by the lakeside, she began furiously plucking at the poor wild grass near her feet to vent her anger.
Failing to keep her sister by her side, a complicated expression flickered across Momo's face. However, it vanished just as quickly, replaced once more by a bright smile as she turned around.
As long as it was for her big sister's happiness, she didn't care about playing a little dirty.
'Mr. Kihara, you are the highest-scoring male in history. Please don't disappoint me.'
With that thought in mind, Momo picked up two bottles of chilled mineral water and walked over to the pair. "Kihara-kun, Miss Kirisaki, how is your progress coming along? Why don't you take a drink of water and rest for a moment?"
"Thank you! I feel like everything is going smoothly! Even though it's my first time working with Kihara-kun, I feel a strange familiarity, like we've been partners for a long time. It's truly amazing!"
Kyoko Kirisaki shared her thoughts with excitement, completely missing the sharp flash of vigilance that flickered deep within Momo's purple eyes.
'She isn't trying to get closer to Mr. Kihara by taking on the role of the female lead, is she?'
....
Thank you for reading.