Editing Kaze no Stigma:Volume2 Chapter 2 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

While she was walking home after school, Ayano’s eyes caught a small shadow about ten meters away from her.

“Hey–”

She was just about to call out when she suddenly stopped, and a mischievous smile crept onto her face.

Ayano snuck up on the shadow slowly, step by step, it not having yet noticed Ayano’s presence.

“Wh–wha!”

Standing immediately behind her target, she grabbed her victim in a bear hug, as if to envelop the entirety of the small figure. Ayano secured the youth caught in her embrace – now giving off a cute scream and struggling to escape with all his might – so that he couldn’t move.

“Nee... Nee-sama?!”

“Completely off-guard. That means you still need more training, Ren.”

“To say that now is really... Anyway, just let go of me first, Nee-sama!”

“No way~ Free yourself!”

Looking at the two fooling around, passersby couldn’t help but crack faint, bittersweet smiles.

Judging by their appearance, the two were a rare and beautiful pair of “sisters.” Though one of them only looked to be around the age of ten, they were still pleasing to the eyes.

“Nee... Nee-sama! Really...”

Realizing that they had become the center of attention, Ren’s face reddened. Despite all appearances, he was, after all, a twelve-year-old boy. So, it wasn’t strange for him to feel shy about female physical contact.

After finally being released from confinement, Ren demanded, “Seriously... What are you thinking?!” as he gasped for air.

However, his expression, along with wet, pleading eyes, instead generated the feeling that he was really cute, and not scary in the least. More than likely, it wouldn’t have scared even a three-year-old.

“Ahahaha! Sorry. Sorry. This is a display of love for you too.”

It goes without saying that Ayano was not in the least bit afraid. She patted Ren’s shoulder and cheekily ignored Ren’s complaints.

“Honestly!”

Unable to vent his displeasure, Ren’s expression soured instantly.

This method was very effective. Because it was simply too cute, there was no way to ignore him.

“I’m really sorry. How about I treat you to a meal?”

“I won’t let you change the subject.”

Ren’s mood showed no sign of improvement. He turned his head to the side, unwilling to meet Ayano’s eyes.

Ayano used both hands to grab Ren’s head and forced him to turn his face back toward her.

“If you still won’t listen...

She slowly moved her face closer, almost touching his nose.

“Then I’ll kiss you! ♥”

“Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

This was how easily Ayano toyed with the youth, who was dancing in the palm of her hand.



“Huh? So something like that happened.”

On the second floor of the hamburger shop near the station, the two were chatting about the victory banquet that had happened a few days earlier.

Hearing Ren’s innocent reaction, Ayano revealed an evil smirk and answered.

“Yeah, when you were asleep.”

“...Geez. Don’t bring that up anymore!”

Ren’s cheeks flushed red. He’d been asleep that day, from beginning to end. The shock and shame of waking up on Ayano’s lap showed no sign of subsiding even now.

For the first time, he truly felt what it meant to want to hide his head in the ground.

“What will I do if Father finds out about this...”

Seeing the uneasy Ren, Ayano grabbed a french fry and said with ease, “What else can you do? He already knows doesn’t he? There seems to be quite a few people visiting him these few days.”

Ren’s father, Genma, had not participated in the battle against the Fuugas, having earlier lost to Kazuma in a quarrel between father and son, and was still resting in the hospital.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

Ren collapsed on the table, hugged his head, and moaned.

Genma, already very strict with himself, was even stricter with his relatives. It wasn’t hard to imagine his reaction when he finally heard of his son’s blunder.

“It’s fine. Don’t be so down.”

“But I ''am'' ‘so down.’”

Ren reproached Ayano’s irresponsible remark in an incomparably downhearted voice.

“Because once Father’s angry, he’s really strict.”

“...I guess!”

Ayano replied in a carefree tone. Whether or not he would be angry was another matter entirely. The image of an “easygoing Genma” was beyond imagination.

(Will that guy smile in front of Ren’s face?)

Even though she had only ever seen him either mocking or whole-heartedly laughing.

“When the time comes, you can just place all the blame on Kazuma.”

“Placing blame on someone else would only make Father even angrier.”

“...That's true... He's the kind of person who's really hard to deal with.”

“Awuuuuuuuuuh!”

Ren spread himself out on the table and moaned.

“Huh?”

It was a coincidence, but...

If he had been sitting upright, his view would have been blocked by protruding branches, causing the scene to have escaped his notice, but because he had collapsed on the table in despair, he instead became witness to an incredible sight.

“What is it?”

“That woman...”

Ayano lowered her head to look in the direction that Ren was indicating.

Lying directly ahead, at the edge of her field of vision, a woman was standing. A beautiful, mesmerizing woman with shiny black hair, wearing a clean, pure white coat, the starkly contrasting colors making her even more attractive.

Ayano smiled at Ren, with mischief in mind.

“What a beautiful woman. Do you know her?”

Ren ignored the implication, and muttered, “That woman, isn’t she Misao nee-sama?”

“Eh? Ehhhhhh?”

Ayano quickly looked back to inspect the woman below more closely. After a few seconds...

“It seems to be her...”

Indeed, it was Misao Ogami. However, she had changed completely from how she was three days ago. Even the simple fact that she was not wearing a kimono made her give a completely different impression. Though Ayano had known Misao ever since they were little, as far as she could remember, this was the first time that she has ever seen Misao in Western clothes.

Perhaps because of that, what could be seen of her legs extending below her coat looked exceptionally appealing.

To describe the feeling in a single word, it would be coquettish. Though normally she seemed plain, as if wanting to escape notice, now she made a magnificent impression. Actually, within the five minutes the two had been watching, there had already been three attempts to pick her up.

Misao serenely rejected their advances, and as she had showed them respect despite the rejection, all left without causing trouble. If Nanase and Yukari had seen this scene, they would have chastised Ayano, saying “Learn from her.”

After staring, awestruck, for a while, Ren grumbled.

“She seems to be waiting for someone.”

“That... is really surprising.”

Ayano sounded as though she still could not believe her eyes because this was unimaginably different from what she had thought earlier.

“Is it a date?”

“...Is it not?”

A girl like Misao would not dress up in such an extravagant manner to meet a friend of the same gender!

Ayano’s interest grew.

“I wonder who she’s dating.”

Inattentively sipping her orange juice, Ayano observed the scene outside the window with great interest. Given the intensity of her gaze, anyone watching from the side would have found her actions very suspicious.

“...Nee-sama.”

Ren looked at Ayano, who was spying on Misao with a bitter smile. He himself turned to follow the scene outside. At that moment, the other party appeared.

“Nii-sama?!”

He couldn’t help but doubt his own eyes. But it was indeed Ren’s brother, Kazuma. His appearance was no coincidence – the proof being Misao, smiling broadly and running to meet him.

Before Ren, who was dumbstruck, the two intimately held hands and walked off.

Even after the two disappeared from view, Ren was still frozen, staring dumbly at the window. It was an absolutely impossible occurrence, because to Misao, Kazuma was “the man who had killed Nii-sama.”

A faint sound brought Ren back to his senses.

–squish– [SFX: something being squashed]

Something light and soft was being squashed. Not a rare sound by any means, and yet hearing it fills one with unease.

Ren faced Ayano with unease. As he did not dare look directly at her, he shifted his eyes upward from below, following the table upward toward Ayano.

The first thing he saw was Ayano’s hand. Her slender fingers ''gripped'' the paper cup, still full of juice, and crushed it into the shape of her fist. The juice spilled out, forming an orange-colored ocean. Her fries and hamburger were completely soaked and no longer worth eating.

Ayano’s hand crackled – the sound of ice, unable to escape from the cup, being pulverized by her hand, which continuously trembled.

Ren was so frightened that he dared not look up.

Though he didn’t understand the cause, he recognized Ayano’s extreme anger. If he wasn’t careful, he might just become her target.

Pak!

Suddenly, Ayano slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

“Argh!”

To the cringing Ren, Ayano said softly...

“...I’m going to follow them.”

“...Huh?”

Before Ren could open his mouth, Ayano had already run out of the shop.

“Wait... Wait a minute...”

Ren hurriedly picked up their plates, and, in one go, handed them to the shop assistant lady waiting at the trash bin.

“Thank you for your patronage.”

With his back to the shop assistant, who showed a professional smile, Ren swiftly ran toward the restroom.