-Vol 3: Enemies in The dark-

-Bonds!-

“Huh! Thief! Who the hell are you to say I am a thief? It is my phone. You have dialed the wrong number. But you are saying I am a thief! How shameless can you be?” Akari said while snorting. The gull of this woman, she was calling her, the owner of this phone’s sister, a thief!

How dare she!?

On the other side, Maria was fuming with rage. Here she was calling her friend, and then some girl picks the phone and talking shit. Suddenly her anger redirected towards Kenshin.

‘Kenshin, that bastard’ she scolded him in her heart. Here she was worried about him, but he was somewhere enjoying his day with a girl! It was simply unacceptable. She would have a word with him about this later.

Fuming in rage, she hanged the phone and threw it to the wall opposite to her. How could a fragile phone handle the force of a high-leveled hunter? It broke down to pieces upon impact.

Smiling like a Cheshire cat, Akari put down the phone and skipped to Kenshin’s side. She was very happy after chasing off that shameless woman. But her actions were noticed by Mrs. Yui, who knew her character very well. She made a mental note to inform Kenshin about this later.

She was well aware of the alliance formed by her daughter and Akari; the motive was to keep boys away from her and girls away from Kenshin. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the cuteness of the two girls.

Although she didn’t need the company of a man, Kenshin was after all still young. He should have a social life. Having a girlfriend to spend time with was not a bad thing. Whenever she thought about the brother sister-couple, she couldn't help but feel sad.

They had lost their parents at a very young age, Kenshin had to take the mantle of family’s head. He left school during his golden period of youth. At the time, when he should be making friends, fooling around with them, experiencing relationships and heartbreaks, he was instead held a sword and dived into a dungeon. All of this so that he could take care of his little sister.

She had seen the struggles this pair of brother and sister had to go through in their life. At times she would feel indignant towards their fate. Just what did this pair had done wrong to deserve this?

Even so, she had never seen this duo ever complain to their fate. If there was a problem; they would depend upon each other to solve it. Most of the credit goes to Kenshin, who despite being playing with death every day, still managed to smile at night when they are together.

It had a psychological impact on Akari. It made her believe that there was no problem in their life that they together couldn’t solve. In a situation where a girl of her age would have grown up to be timid and introvert, she grew up with a dauntless character. Her will was unusually strong, to the point that she wasn’t afraid of facing any problem in her life.

Kenshin may not have helped her by much, but he had helped her build a character that would never retreat in the face of a setback.

Suddenly a faint smile formed on Mrs. Yui’s face. She and her daughter were very fortunate to meet this unique sibling in their life. Secretly, this sibling duo gave her enough courage to face the difficulties in her life. Every time she faces some problem in her life, she would spend some time with this duo.

As such, she had developed maternal feelings towards this sibling duo. Like a mother, she would always worry about them. She would often call Akari to ask about her health and life. As for Kenshin, it was secret, but she would often stay awake until Kenshin returns home from his dungeon raid. Most of the time, she would prepare food for him after he returns from his work.

Shaking her head to get rid of her scattered thoughts, she resumed her cooking while occasionally staring at the brother-sister duo with a smile.

XXX

“Food’s ready now. Everyone! Go and wash your hands in the sink. I will serve the food in the meantime” Mrs. Yui called out to everyone.

“Hai!!!” all the girls shouted while raising their hands. Then they hopped like rabbits to wash their hands and eat some food. Since they were in a hurry to come here, they didn’t have any food since they had left the train this morning.

“Mom! What did you make?” Ellie asked with a cute look on her face. As she was the youngest, she was the first to have her hands washed. Akari helped her in that.

“Niratama donburi, stir-fried vegetables, and sala. And you are going to eat salad.” Mrs. Yui said while smiling. She knew her daughter the best. She would never touch dishes with vegetables in them.

Ellie would never touch a dish with vegetables in them, and the dishes she made today was all made of vegetables.

“Ehhh!!” like she had predicted; Ellie pouted while making a funny face after hearing to the menu.

“Haha!!” her pout and face prompted everyone to laugh.

Finally, they started eating.

“Wow! It’s so tasty!! Aunty, your cooking is very good” one of Akari’s friends complimented her while eating.

“Thank you!” Mrs. Yui smiled.

“Wow! Big sister’s cooking has improved again” Akari said while licking her fingers.

“She improved her skills in just a few days?” Kenshin was flabbergasted.

“Really!?” now even the usually composed lady smiled shyly. Who wouldn’t appreciate a compliment or two!

XXX

Finally, after the meal was over, the girls retired to Akari’s room. Now only Kenshin, Doi and Mrs. Yui left at the dining table. They were sipping on some tea while engaging in random talks. Actually its Kenshin and Mrs. Yui who are talking, Doi was just a silent listener.

“Kenshin, you should check your phone. I think that time some girl had called you. Knowing Akari’s habit, she must have been very rude to her. You should check it out” Mrs. Yui said while getting up from her seat. Now that her work is over, its time to open her shop.

“Really! Shit! I should have checked it earlier. No wonder she looked very happy.” Kenshin sweated. He had forgotten about her peculiar habit of being rude to women. But what done is done, he would deal with it later. For now, there were guests at home.

In the spacious room, only Kenshin and Doi remained.