Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  Some seconds later, a cell phone ringing broke the silence.

  It was Hisashi's cell phone.

  He slowly took out his cell phone, but paused in surprise when he saw who the caller was on his caller ID.

  His ringtone, which was Honey Candy Girl's newest ending song, continued without stop.

  Hisashi didn't pick up the call, nor did he reject it. He simply waited in a daze for the ringing to stop.

  Then, Seiji's cell phone began to ring.

  The caller was Kaede Juumonji.

  Seiji looked at his cell phone for several seconds and chose to accept the call.

  "Good evening, Harano-kun."

  "Good evening, Juumonji-sensei."

  "I apologize for suddenly calling you like this so late at night… I just felt… like something was off," Kaede said in a light voice.

  Seiji remained silent.

  "Harano-kun… what's the matter?" Kaede sharply perceived that something was the matter on his side.

  Seiji looked towards Hisashi.

  Hisashi continued to lower his head.

  "Harano-kun?" Kaede raised her voice slightly. "You… could it be that you're currently together with my brother Hisashi?"

  She guessed it right on the mark.

  Seiji could only inwardly sigh.

  "Yes."

  "What happened?" Kaede's voice became rather tense.

  "Your oldest brother… something bad happened to Zankita Juumonji."

  Kaede rushed home to the Juumonji residence.

  She felt chills all over her body upon seeing her oldest brother's abnormal condition and her second brother's depressed state.

  "What exactly happened here?"

  Seiji gave her an explanation.

  Kaede's expression became grim as she listened to Seiji.

  "Idiots… the both of them…"

  While in her apartment room at the Uehara apartments, Kaede suddenly felt anxious inside, as if she had forgotten something important but couldn't recall it no matter what. It made her feel quite uneasy.

  Then, she recalled that she hadn't contacted home in a long time. So, she decided to call Hisashi just to chat a little, but Hisashi didn't pick up her call.

  Then, she called Seiji, also intending just to chat, but she didn't expect that…


  Kaede really wanted to get angry at her two idiot older brothers but was unable to do so. In the end, she simply sighed.

  "Second Brother, what are you just sitting around in a daze for? Aren't we going to save our brother Zankita? Hurry up and become more spirited."

  Hisashi slowly raised his head.

  "Yes, I'm going to save him… Sister… If I fail, I leave Father's care up to you."

  "Hmm?" Kaede frowned. "You… intend to try saving him by yourself?"

  "Yep."

  "Stop being stupid! Harano-kun just said that with only one person—"

  "I know! But I can't have you taking the risk as well!" Hisashi suddenly raised his voice and began shouting. "Someone needs to stay behind and take care of Father."

  Kaede fell silent for a moment as something flashed in her eyes.

  "Then you stay behind, and I'll go save our brother," she stated calmly.

  "You… what are you saying!?"

  "If Second Brother and Eldest Brother are both gone, I alone won't be able to run the Juumonji Group! That also means I won't be able to take good care of Father. But if Second Brother stays behind instead, you'll be able to accomplish it!"

  "Stop saying something so stupid! It's all my fault that everything became like this, since I didn't stop Eldest Brother in time. So that's why only I should take the responsibility to save him. It has nothing to do with you!" Hisashi scolded Kaede severely.

  "You're the one saying something so stupid! If saving Eldest Brother is your responsibility, isn't running the Juumonji Group also one of your responsibilities!? Staying behind and making sure that the Juumonji Group continues to function is your greatest responsibility!" Kaede spoke in a cold tone.

  "That's not my responsibility at all! That's Eldest Brother's responsibility! I shall drag him back to us!!"

  "What if you fail!? If it's the same no matter who goes to save him, I should be the one to do it. That's far more logical—"

  "Logical, the hell! Are you able to bring back that idiot with you!? It's far more likely that I'll succeed compared to you!!"

  "My idiot Second Brother who didn't stop the idiot Eldest Brother in time doesn't have the right to say such a thing!!"

  The siblings began to argue.

  Seiji silently walked off and left them alone.

  He felt that there was nothing he could say to them as it was a family decision for Hisashi and Kaede to make. He could only wait for the result.

  He could feel the deep connections in the Juumonji Family from this argument that regarded saving a person's life.

  "Yomi, apart from casting the spell for them, is there really nothing else that we can do?" Seiji tried asking his bonded female spirit.

  "If the two of them try to save their oldest brother together, and both of them truly accept you, you'll be able to help them. However, the time that you can assist them is truly short. It's a maximum of one minute."

  "One minute…"

  "Yes, that's the limit."

  Seiji fell silent.

  He listened to the argument continue in the distance for quite a while.

  After the argument quieted down, he walked back to see that the Juumonji siblings were standing facing each other, but neither of them was looking at the other.

  "What's your decision?" Seiji asked them softly.

  "I'm the one who's going to save him!" Hisashi and Kaede looked at him and spoke simultaneously.

  They then both started glaring at each other.

  "I wanted to give you both some more time to come to a decision, but the longer we wait, the worse things will be for your brother." Seiji sighed.

  Hisashi and Kaede's expressions both darkened as they both turned to look at the abnormal black being's figure.

  "Also, I would like to say…" Seiji paused for a moment. "This isn't a recommendation, but an addendum—if the two of you try to save him together, I'll be able to help you guys out. However, the time limit's really short, and I'll only be able to help for a maximum of one minute."

  "Hmm?"

  "One minute?"

  "Yes, because both of you treat me as a good friend, so even though I'm an outsider, I can assist. However, I can only assist and not do the main part."

  Seiji checked his system just earlier and saw that both Hisashi and Kaede had high friendship/favorability ratings and connectivity ratings towards him. He figured that was probably similar to what Yomi meant when she said that they needed to "truly accept" him.

  The siblings looked at him.

  "Basically… it means that since we have a good relationship with you, you'll be able to help us save him?" Hisashi adjusted his eyeglasses.

  "You could say that."

  "In that case, if I have an even better relationship with you, will you be able to help out for even longer?" Something flashed in Kaede's eyes.

  "No, one minute is the upper limit." Seiji denied this possibility.

  "I see. How regrettable." Hisashi sighed.

  "Yeah, it's really regrettable… if at all possible, I would have been quite happy to… have a more intimate relationship with you, Harano-kun… no, Haruta-kun." Kaede's face flushed slightly red.

  Seiji was rendered speechless.

  "I would also be quite happy to have a more intimate relationship with you, Seigo… no, Seiji." Hisashi added that on as well.

  Seiji: "!?"

  Hisashi chuckled at Seiji's expression of astonishment from his joke.

  Kaede giggled as well.

  The atmosphere finally eased up slightly.

  The Juumonji siblings glanced at each other and communicated nonverbally through their eyes.

  "Let's do this, then."

  "Yeah."

  They turned towards Seiji after coming to an unspoken agreement.

  "We've decided to save Eldest Brother together."

  Seiji looked at them.

  "Why's that?"

  "Of course, because of what you just said," Hisashi replied.

  "I said that it wasn't a recommendation… I can help out for at most one minute, and it's quite possible that it won't even be one full minute. It might only be thirty seconds, or even ten seconds…"

  "From the very start, you said that it would be best if two people worked together to save him. If you can help us out as well, even if the time is very short, it'll be enough." Kaede smiled.

  "She doesn't believe in me, and I don't believe in her. However, both of us believe in you. Even if you're only helping out, that's something reassuring to know." Hisashi smiled.

  Seiji was rather moved by their trust in him.

  "You guys… are really certain?"

  The siblings nodded in unison.

  "Alright then… I wish you the best of luck." He sincerely hoped for the best.

  He decided to make a save file here. If things didn't work out, he would have to load to an earlier save file.

  "I need to risk my life here, but I'm only getting one simple little wish of good luck… I feel slightly unsatisfied." Kaede looked straight at Seiji as something flashed in her eyes. "Haruta-kun… can I ask you for a little something?"