While the two of them were chatting casually and waiting for the banquet to end, someone from the Shirakawa Family suddenly came over and whispered something in Shushi Shirakawa's ear. A look of surprise crossed his face.
Maki Shijo set down her glass. "If something urgent has come up, please go take care of it. Don't worry about me."
Shushi Shirakawa thought for a moment, then decided to be direct. "Actually, this matter concerns you as well."
Maki Shijo gave a soft, surprised "Huh?" "Me?"
"Yes. Someone came to tell me that they stood up for you, only to have the eldest miss of the Yukinoshita Family set a trap for them. The Special Investigation Department has now charged them with economic fraud, and it looks like they'll be arrested any moment."
Shushi Shirakawa smiled. "If you know them, I can pass a word along to the Special Investigation Department."
Maki Shijo: "..."
What sort of random people had decided to stand up for her? Did that mean the whole world had heard that she liked Tanuma-kun?!!
She'd always wondered why, despite immediately clearing things up every time anything like this came up, the rumors just wouldn't go away. Now it seemed those self-proclaimed geniuses had been tirelessly stirring up trouble all along.
Maki Shijo waved a hand, utterly speechless. "No need. I don't know them."
Even if she did, casually dismissing the law and abusing one's privilege to pardon scum was the sort of thing only those people from the Shinomiya Family would do.
Shushi Shirakawa nodded. "Then, what would you like to do about the Yukinoshita Family...?"
He smiled, his meaning clear. "The Yukinoshita Family has been expanding aggressively lately, but at the same time, their cash flow must be stretched to its limit..."
"No!"
Maki Shijo rejected the idea at once.
Normally, Maki Shijo wouldn't get involved in something like this. She held on to a basic sense of integrity and morality, but she was still a cold-blooded capitalist at heart. When the family of someone she disliked got into trouble, she'd be more than happy to watch.
But...
But she couldn't stop thinking about the moonlight she'd just shared with that girl.
And the secret they'd shared beneath that moonlight.
When the black-haired girl had suddenly appeared on the terrace, Maki Shijo had looked up and seen her reddened eyes, and the sorrow and loneliness hanging over her.
She was hurting and humiliated, too, yet she'd been willing to sit down on the ground, heedless of appearances, and listen to Maki Shijo's bitter complaints to the end.
She'd faced the very worst, most despicable version of her.
Once they stepped out of the moonlight and back into the dazzling banquet hall, they should have been strangers again.
But Maki Shijo still couldn't bring herself to accept Shushi Shirakawa's suggestion.
Perhaps the moonlight had simply been too gentle that night.
"I have no particular grudge against the Yukinoshita Family. Please don't do anything unnecessary on my account."
Shushi Shirakawa looked up at her in surprise, then smiled.
"Of course."
After the banquet ended, Yukino said goodbye to her sister's friends, who had added her on Line.
Even after they got into the car, Haruno barely said a word.
Yukino poked her arm.
Haruno stared straight ahead without reacting at all.
Ah, she really was drunk.
"Mr. Ito, I think my sister's drunk. I'll wipe her face."
Yukino pressed a button on the back seat. A metal partition slowly descended, screening off the space between the front and back seats.
She took some wet wipes from her bag and opened the package. After lifting Haruno's hair away from the back of her neck, she wiped her neck and chest for a while, then massaged her neck and forehead.
As she wiped Haruno's neck, she noticed a small wooden charm hanging there.
Since when had Haruno believed in spirits? Wasn't she an atheist?
Yukino picked up the charm. She saw that it was meant to ward off evil and banish wicked spirits, and was just about to laugh when her smile froze.
A thought suddenly occurred to her.
What if Haruno had noticed the switch when someone else took over this body?
She might have believed that an evil spirit had possessed her little sister's body and tried everything she could to exorcise it. And when all those efforts proved useless, in her despair, she must have reminded herself over and over never to give up.
Normally, she would surely have realized that the person in front of her was her real little sister.
But that conviction had persisted until now. Whenever a sense of familiarity or a moment of confusion arose in her heart, she could only have taken it as proof of her own weakness and ruthlessly stamped it out.
"Foolish big sister..."
In her drunkenness, Haruno murmured, "...I'm not your big sister."
If she'd been sober, her emotional defenses would have been flawless. She wouldn't have said something like that.
Drunk Haruno had let down almost all her defenses. She turned her head and saw the person she knew better than anyone.
Her voice drifted. "So it was a dream."
Yukino was just about to tease her when Haruno leaned in. Like something out of a dream, her lips brushed Yukino's mouth, warm and gentle.
It was as if shattered moonlight had fallen across Yukino's face.
"If it's a dream, I can be a little bit naughty, can't I..."
The next morning, Haruno Yukinoshita's powerful body clock soon woke her. She opened her eyes to the familiar ceiling of her room.
She rubbed her head. Other than feeling a little groggy, she didn't have much of a headache or any of the usual discomfort of a hangover.
The maids must have given her something to sober her up.
Her clothes had been changed, and her makeup had been carefully removed.
Ah, the maids at home had really gone to a lot of trouble.
Yawning, Haruno rubbed her teary eyes and got up.
She quickly showered and washed up in the private bathroom attached to her room, then put on an emergency hydrating face mask.
If she didn't take proper care of her skin after a night of drinking, Miss Haruno's dark circles would look even worse today.
After swiftly freshening up her hair, face, neck, and hands until she looked radiant again, Haruno finally made her way downstairs.
When she reached the second floor, she saw Yukino Yukinoshita sitting alone at the dining table.
She was already dressed in her Sobu High School uniform. Her hair fell smoothly, and she sat upright and composed, like a lush green pine standing in the snow.
Just as Haruno had imagined her little sister would look in a Sobu High School uniform countless times.
The Sense of Discrepancy Haruno had deliberately ignored seemed to spread like a shadow.
In other people's eyes, Blonde Yukino and Yukino Yukinoshita were indistinguishable: the same face, the same body. The changes they'd noticed before could probably be put down to a belated rebellious phase in high school.
But to Haruno, her little sister and that person were completely different.
The way Yukino furrowed her brows when she was angry and embarrassed, how she became even more serious when she was secretly happy, how she hastily changed the subject when she was shy, the curve of her smile, the way she walked.
Yukino had grown up under Haruno's watchful eye. Haruno remembered every little thing about her.
But now... Was it because she was still hungover?
She couldn't shake the feeling that the Yukino Yukinoshita in front of her really looked like the "little sister" in her memories.
Haruno looked away, sat down, and let the maid bring her breakfast. Then she took out her phone.
It was only seven in the morning, so no one had called. But there were a few more messages in her inbox from her company's subordinates.
During the banquet yesterday, they'd excitedly reported that everything had gone smoothly. If nothing unexpected happened, those people would be formally indicted by the Special Investigation Department before long.
Yukino quietly pushed the milk in front of her a little farther away.
Only after swallowing her tamagoyaki did she ask casually, "Is the company really all right lately?"
Haruno clicked her tongue inwardly, but her face revealed not a trace of emotion.
"There are a few complications. I've been so worried lately~"
That was a lie.
Those conceited, overconfident fools were pretty ridiculous, but since they'd inadvertently helped the company secure several orders, Haruno supposed she wouldn't laugh at the prospect of them going to prison.
Haruno's intense vigilance had never been focused on those people. As far as she was concerned, the real threat to her and Yukino came from the families aligned under the Shijo Family.
The Shirakawa, Eguchi, and Takeda families.
Although construction projects remained a highly profitable part of Yukinoshita Corporation's business, its other subsidiaries were money pits. So, even though the group's accounts looked excellent, its cash flow really was tight.
At any other time, they might have been fine. But now, if even one of those families put in a little effort and spoke to the banks, the Yukinoshita Family could easily find itself in danger of a cash-flow crisis.
That was why the whole Yukinoshita Family had been busy lately. Mr. Yukinoshita was off in the United States, Madam Yukinoshita had even flown to Tokyo overnight, and Haruno had been working around the clock too.
Of course, they weren't only preparing for a crisis that might happen but hadn't yet. They were also working to take the Yukinoshita Family to the next level.
While those pests schemed behind the scenes, Haruno Yukinoshita had already come up with countless ways to deal with whatever trouble the three families under the Shijo Family might cause.
But Haruno habitually told people three parts lies for every seven parts truth, and she had no desire to say more to someone she disliked.
Yukino looked up at her.
Maybe it was her imagination, but Haruno felt that Yukino was looking at her with a rather exasperated expression.
Just like her.
Yukino had never liked milk. But because of the way she'd been raised, she wouldn't deliberately be picky about food. She'd just save the thing she disliked most for last, then force it down with a frown.
Just like now, with Yukino pushing the milk away and dealing with her tamagoyaki and fried fish first.
This person was cool and reserved, rarely showing her feelings. Even her occasional little acts of stubbornness were concealed beneath her calm, restrained exterior.
Just like Yukino.
Memories stirred like churning mud on the ocean floor, sweeping up with them the gloom and dampness she'd never dared to face.
It must have been some day, some month, some year when they were young. Yukino had just gone abroad to study. It was her first time leaving home and her sister, and she was alone in a foreign country, feeling terribly insecure.
Meanwhile, Haruno had just entered the social circles of Japan's old-money families. To avoid bringing shame on her family, she'd gritted her teeth and memorized the names, ages, interests, and faces of everyone in those circles.
On top of that, there had been so many other things to keep track of. That was why she'd missed Yukino's first birthday after she left home.
Haruno had been so, so sad that time.
In previous years, on Yukino's birthday, Haruno had always taken her to Hokkaido to see the snow and set off fireworks just for her.
But that year, Haruno couldn't see Yukino smile at the fireworks.
It was Yukino's birthday that she'd missed, yet Haruno was the one who fell into a deep funk.
Yukino had called Haruno childish, then, for once, given her a mischievous smile.
"Then this year, I'll set off fireworks for you."
She raised both hands above her head, then suddenly spread her fingers.
"There, I've set off fireworks for you."
She grinned like a child who'd just pulled off a successful prank.
"I even set off two."
They were standing on a bright street abroad in broad daylight, yet Haruno felt as if day and night had suddenly turned upside down. Behind Yukino, the night sky bloomed with magnificent fireworks.
Coming back to herself, Haruno saw Yukino looking at her with exasperation. "Why are you so down again?"
She rested her chin on her hand. "Want to see the finger fireworks again?"
With a clatter, the chopsticks fell from Haruno Yukinoshita's hand onto the table.
The fireworks that had once resounded across the night sky of her world three years ago now burst into bloom all over again, filling her world without end.
Before you continue