My Cute Cousin Pouts / An Ambiguous Moment ...

"This..." After Ryumonbuchi Toka discarded a tile, she stared blankly and said, "I'm in tenpai..."

Kunihiro Hajime's chains suddenly snapped taut, the clink of metal cutting through the frozen air. "You're in tenpai?"

With Amae Koromo controlling the table, even getting into tenpai should have been a pipe dream.

Especially since neither Ryumonbuchi Toka nor Kunihiro Hajime had much desire to win, playing only as company. They hadn't even been deliberately playing around with their hands, which was why this turn of events seemed so incredible.

It couldn't have been a problem with Amae Koromo. After all, it was a full moon tonight, and even when it wasn't, her ability had never failed.

That left only one possibility...

Ryumonbuchi Toka and Kunihiro Hajime exchanged a glance, then looked at Kageyama Sora. It had to be this man.

As the next round of tiles came around, Kageyama Sora deliberately slowed down when he drew, letting his fingertips linger on the cloud pattern on the back of the tile for two extra seconds.

When he discarded the two of characters he'd held onto for so long, Kunihiro Hajime's chains clattered to the floor.

Her maid's lace skirt fluttered, and she didn't even care that her white panties were visible. Trembling, she pushed over the wall of tiles. "I won! I actually won!"

"You won?" Ryumonbuchi Toka looked just as astonished.

A thunderous gasp erupted in the dead silence.

Amae Koromo's tile slipped from her fingers, landing on the mat with a crisp clack.

She stared at Kageyama Sora's calm expression, utterly stunned.

"Cousin's playing style..." Ryumonbuchi Toka stared at him in disbelief, wondering if he'd been playing them all along. "Cousin... you've been hiding your true strength. You're a luck-based player too?"

Before Kageyama Sora could answer, Amae Koromo shook her head. The red bow in her hair blazed like a flame. "No. I didn't sense even the slightest trace of aura from him..."

"Koromo's right. I'm not a luck-based player, and I don't understand any of this mysterious aura business. I'm just a businessman... a man who likes money and is extremely sensitive to numbers." Kageyama Sora turned his bone china cup, the condensation on its sides spreading across his fingertips. His smile carried the confidence of someone who had already won. "I remember the order every tile appeared in very clearly... When you were trapped by Koromo's ability, all I saw was a game of probabilities that could be quantified. So if you hold back some tiles and discard them at just the right moment, you can break out of a situation where you can't call a tile or get into tenpai. Then you can deliberately deal into someone's hand at the right moment to break Under the Sea."

Ryumonbuchi Toka was utterly astonished. She murmured, "So it's... a purely data-driven style."

Kageyama Sora didn't object to the category Ryumonbuchi Toka had put him in. "Maybe. This style still won't let me win, but if I want to catch my breath under Under the Sea, it's undoubtedly the best approach."

"So this is how you break through?" Amae Koromo shuffled the tiles faster and faster. "You're using pure data to counter my ability?"

Kageyama Sora gently pushed a three of characters into the wall. Its pattern just brushed Amae Koromo's fingertips, making her heart inexplicably skip a beat. "No, this is only the first step. I want to know, when calculable probability collides with unpredictable fate..." He looked up, his eyes shining with the mingled light of hunter and prey. "Who truly rules the table?"

A Cute Cousin Begs for Help

Moonlight poured through the windows like water, quietly illuminating the wooden floor of the villa's mahjong room. It shone on their flushed cheeks and their still-unsteady breaths.

Kageyama Sora leaned against the table. His bangs were damp with sweat, and though he hadn't managed to beat Amae Koromo, his eyes still gleamed with excitement.

The mahjong match against Amae Koromo had been an extraordinary feast of inspiration for him.

Amae Koromo propped her chin on her hands, looking unbearably cute. Her cold, powerful aura as the Demon King, bright as a full moon, had completely vanished. Looking at her now, she seemed like nothing but an adorable little girl—not the fearsome Great Demon King she was known to be.

A happy smile curled her lips as she looked at Kageyama Sora with a little more respect. "Cousin Kong, your playing style is really interesting..."

Her voice was gentle, with a faint note of anticipation, as if she were looking forward to their next match.

Amae Koromo had never thought mahjong was all that fun. Or rather, the people who played with her never enjoyed it, so over time, she stopped finding pleasure in mahjong too. She simply played.

But this time felt a little different.

Perhaps it was because, even though Kageyama Sora hadn't beaten her, he had managed to survive against her full-moon aura control. She thought that was incredibly impressive.

Kageyama Sora was taken aback, then smiled. "It's an honor to have Koromo's approval... If I get the chance, I'd like to ask you more about it..."

His gaze was sincere. He was thinking about how he could use Amae Koromo's experience as a luck-based player to improve his mahjong software.

Amae Koromo was in a good mood, and so was everyone else.

Ryumonbuchi Toka's eyes sparkled. She'd completely forgotten that Kageyama Sora had accidentally barged into the bathroom while she was bathing, and that he'd reminded her about her pink strawberry underwear when they'd been at each other's throats earlier.

She hurried over to Kageyama Sora, the faint scent of bath products wafting from her to his nose.

Ryumonbuchi Toka tugged at his sleeve and gave it a gentle shake. Her ahoge swayed as the proud young lady pleaded, "Cousin~ Your ability to remember the tiles and where they are is amazing. Teach me, please? Okay~?"

Ryumonbuchi Toka didn't think she was doing anything wrong. She'd experienced what it meant to be purely data-driven. Though Kageyama Sora wasn't a mahjong player but a businessman, she knew very well that if he devoted himself to mahjong, he'd become a terrifying Great Demon King.

She tilted her head up, fluttering her eyelashes as her ahoge bobbed. Her eyes were full of anticipation and a desire to learn his secrets.

If she could use data to win mahjong matches, she'd become a real mahjong idol—and defeat her nemesis, Haramura Nodoka!

Kageyama Sora was a little flustered by Ryumonbuchi Toka's sudden closeness. He'd already seen things he should and shouldn't have, but he still wasn't used to being treated so affectionately!

Kageyama Sora took a small step back, only to bump into the table behind him.

Ryumonbuchi lost her balance and tipped forward. Her soft chest accidentally brushed against Kageyama Sora's arm. His extraordinarily sensitive skin could even feel the slight protrusion graze his arm.

They both froze. A blush instantly spread across Ryumonbuchi's cheeks, and Kageyama Sora felt his ears grow hot.

Most of all, the intimate contact made them both wonder, Why does this keep happening? Inevitably, they thought of the bathroom incident when they'd first met, making them blush even harder.

Ryumonbuchi Toka's face turned scarlet, and her ahoge stood straight up.

"S-sorry!" Ryumonbuchi Toka stumbled backward, instinctively covering her burning cheeks with both hands. "Why does this keep happening..."

Kunihiro Hajime caught the key detail. "Keep happening?"

Oh... The bathroom incident came back to mind, and Ryumonbuchi Toka's face turned so red it looked like it might catch fire.

Kageyama Sora hurriedly waved his hands. "N-no, it's fine. I wasn't careful. Don't worry about it... Don't worry about it..."

Though her own questions remained unanswered, Kunihiro Hajime watched the scene before her and smiled with amusement.

Kunihiro Hajime wasn't all that mature herself, but seeing Toka and Koromo so happy after a mahjong match filled her with joy too.

She wanted to sound like an old man and say, "Ah, youth..."

After that flustered, intimate encounter, Kageyama Sora cleared his throat, pretending to be calm as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "Actually, this ability isn't all that difficult. It's mainly about gathering and analyzing a lot of data to find patterns in the game..."

He began to explain in detail, trying to distract himself.

But who could possibly listen to him in a situation like this?

Oh, Ryumonbuchi Toka could. Was this what it meant to resonate with someone who was data-driven?

But... perhaps it was as tedious as a math class. Amae Koromo immediately began to doze off, and eventually she fell right into Kageyama Sora's arms.

Kageyama Sora stopped talking. Carefully, he picked Amae Koromo up in his arms and lowered his voice. "Where's her room?"

"Koromo lives in the villa outside..." Ryumonbuchi Toka said as she stood up. "But it's too late. Let her stay here..."

"The villa outside?" Kageyama Sora noticed something was off from the complicated look that flashed across Ryumonbuchi Toka's face.

Ryumonbuchi Toka's expression grew complicated. "Yes. Rather than saying she lives there, it's more like she's being confined to that villa."

As Kageyama Sora carried Amae Koromo to a guest room, he happened to see the lonely-looking villa standing by itself in the night.

"Confined? Why would they do that?" Kageyama Sora immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. His arms tightened around Amae Koromo, and his heart ached for her.

Seeing that Kageyama Sora had misunderstood, Ryumonbuchi Toka hurried to explain. "When I say confined, I just mean she lives there by herself. She's still free... As for the reason..."

She glanced at Kageyama Sora, her expression playful, as if she were waiting to see what he'd do. "My father told me not to go near Koromo, or something terrible would happen..."

She watched Kageyama Sora, curious to see how her cousin would react to those words.

A Little Too Close

It was already late at night.

Kageyama Sora carried the sleeping Amae Koromo as he walked beside Ryumonbuchi Toka along the path to her villa. Dry leaves crunched underfoot, giving everything an inexplicably lonely feeling.

Kageyama Sora was still thinking about what Ryumonbuchi Toka had said: "My father told me not to go near Koromo, or something terrible would happen..."

Kageyama Sora turned his head to look at her. The streetlamp cast shifting shadows from her eyelashes. He didn't rush to judge, but leaned a little closer instead, his warm breath brushing her flushed ear. "Did something happen... to make your father say that...?"

His low, enticing voice trailed off, coaxing her to reveal more.

Kageyama Sora deliberately set this kind of mood when asking people questions.

He was good-looking, and he'd found that when he spoke to people this way, he could easily get the answers he wanted.

Toka's cheeks warmed. She turned away and kicked a pebble off the path. "Well, I think it's all nonsense. Koromo's really cute."

She twisted her skirt without thinking, her fingertips brushing Kageyama Sora's hanging sleeve before darting away as if shocked.

It was clear that Ryumonbuchi Toka didn't necessarily believe her father's words. She simply didn't want to believe them because of Amae Koromo herself.

Or perhaps it was the proud young lady's own sense of style: so what if Koromo had a problem? She was someone Ryumonbuchi Toka would protect.

"I'm starting to see you in a new light." Kageyama Sora chuckled and brushed her hair aside with one hand, his fingers grazing her burning earlobe. "I never expected a haughty young lady to save someone. How could that not change my opinion of you?"

Those words struck Toka like lightning, and her ears turned bright red.

She stumbled half a step backward and bumped into the streetlamp behind her. The metal railing gave a soft clink. "I-I'm not saving anyone! I'm n-not!" Her voice grew quieter and quieter, and her eyes darted around, unable to meet his.

Kageyama Sora watched her flustered expression, his eyes bright with amusement. Then he suddenly leaned closer and lowered his voice. "By the way, I think I'll enroll at Ryumonbuchi High School."

The warm breath and scent of pine rushed over her. Startled by his sudden closeness, Ryumonbuchi Toka stepped back until her back pressed against the railing. She looked up at him.

"You're going to study here?" Ryumonbuchi Toka's voice trembled, her throat tight.

She was surprised, but even she didn't know if what she was feeling at that moment was joy or something else.

"Yeah." Kageyama Sora walked toward her step by step, moving lightly despite carrying Amae Koromo.

He was tall, and though he wasn't doing anything deliberately, it seemed as if he'd trapped Ryumonbuchi Toka in the crook of his arm. "Because of Koromo, I've become incredibly curious about luck-based mahjong players. I really want to know how they work... And if I remember right, there are two others like Koromo?"

His assistant had looked into it before they came here and found that there were three Child Loved by the Tiles.

As he spoke, his gaze burned so brightly that Ryumonbuchi Toka couldn't meet it.

Ryumonbuchi Toka felt there was something magical about Kageyama Sora. Whenever he looked directly at someone, he gave them the impression that he was in love with them.

Ryumonbuchi Toka turned her face away and tried to steady her heartbeat. "Yes. Miyanaga Teru, Jindai Komaki, and Amae Koromo are the three most notorious national-level monsters these past few years... You've already seen Koromo's ability... As for Jindai Komaki, a goddess possesses her when she's asleep. She's a shrine maiden. And then there's Miyanaga Teru... an absurdly powerful woman."

"Huh? Are you really playing mahjong? You've got shrine maidens and possessions..." Kageyama Sora teased with a smile. His thumb unconsciously rubbed against the railing, barely a hair's breadth from Toka's hand.

"You've already seen Koromo's ability, and you still ask something like that!" Toka flushed with embarrassment and anger. She raised a hand to push him away, but Kageyama Sora gently caught her wrist. The warmth of his palm made her whole body tingle, and she felt a current of electricity shoot across her wrist...

"Sorry. You and I are both data-driven, so you should understand how shocking it is when you first encounter things like this." Kageyama Sora let go of her hand, but his fingertips seemed to brush her palm, leaving a hint of intimacy behind.

Ryumonbuchi Toka blushed a little, but she agreed with what Kageyama Sora had said. "Meeting monsters that go against common sense really can turn your whole worldview upside down."

"But it's interesting too, isn't it? That's why I decided to stay... I really want to see these players for myself." Kageyama Sora looked at her flustered but stubborn expression, his mood brightening. He was curious about the other players too.

Seeing Kageyama Sora's reaction, Ryumonbuchi Toka said, "I can introduce you to the other members of the Mahjong Club tomorrow..."

But she fell silent before she could finish, because...

Ryumonbuchi Toka looked toward the villa in the distance. "We're at Koromo's villa."

Kageyama Sora followed her gaze. The white building looked like an island in the night. "It's quite luxurious, but it feels so cold and lonely."

"A witch confined to a villa. Doesn't that sound a little nicer?" Ryumonbuchi Toka chuckled softly. She turned to look at him, but Kageyama Sora was standing so close that the tips of their noses nearly touched.

Ryumonbuchi Toka's heart pounded. She turned and hurried toward the villa, her skirt fluttering in the breeze like a butterfly fleeing in a panic.

Kageyama Sora made no comment and carried Amae Koromo back to her room.

Moonlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting dappled silver light across Amae Koromo's room.

Kageyama Sora carried the sleeping Amae Koromo in his arms. Her soft hair brushed his wrist, carrying a faint, sweet fragrance.

She was impossibly light, curled in his arms like a kitten that didn't feel safe.

He gently laid Amae Koromo on the bed and straightened up, about to leave, when his arm suddenly grew heavy. At some point, Amae Koromo had stretched out both arms and wrapped them tightly around his arm, her face pressed against his sleeve and her eyelashes casting butterfly-wing shadows beneath her eyes. "Don't go... Don't leave me..."

Her voice seemed to drift from deep within a dream, so soft it made his heart ache, its ending trailing into a long sob.

Kageyama Sora froze in place, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily.

In the dim light, Amae Koromo's cheeks were faintly flushed. Her lips were parted, and her breath brushed lightly against his skin.

He didn't know who Amae Koromo mistook him for—some indistinct figure in her memories, perhaps a family member or someone important to her.

But that plea, full of fear and dependence, was like a tiny needle gently piercing the softest corner of his heart.

As if in a daze, he reached out and brushed his fingertips over Amae Koromo's hair, then slowly traced them down her temple. His touch was as gentle as if he were handling a fragile treasure.

"I won't go," he whispered, his voice carrying a tenderness he hadn't even noticed in himself.

Sharing a Bed

Just as Kageyama Sora was at a loss over Amae Koromo's sleeping, utterly dependent appearance, he finally gave in to instinct and decided to stay. then...