Animania: Everyone Loves Me

"President, you seem to look very tired?"

The time was 8:45 on a Sunday morning. The high-speed train roared faintly as it sped along the tracks.

The morning light slanted in through the train windows, carving out bright patches on the deep gray seats. When the first ray of sunlight climbed onto the hanging straps, the metal surface glowed with a warm amber hue, as if tiny golden sands were flowing over it.

A girl with long blue twin ponytails gently tucked the loose strands near her ears, her profile turning to look at the boy beside her, golden pupils revealing unrestrained concern.

"Last night… could it be that you didn't rest well?"

Kaito snapped back to his senses, met the little secretary's worried gaze, and shook his head slightly.

"It's nothing."

With his level of cultivation, even if he didn't sleep for several months, he wouldn't feel tired.

So the reason he looked listless now, rather than "tired," it was more like the hunger of a beast hadn't been satisfied.

The kind of story where they shout things like "friendship!" and "bonds!" while rushing in to defeat the Demon King only happens in manga.

In a situation where the power gap was too great, facing an invincible Demon King, even if two heroes attacked together, it would still only end in mutual defeat.

"…Let's not talk about this," Kaito turned back to look out the window and casually asked, "Any news from the client?"

His attempt to change the subject was quite clumsy.

Seeing that the president clearly didn't want to talk more, the secretary Sakiko could only suppress her worry and shift into work mode, replying, "They has been waiting for a long time, and just sent another message asking how much longer we'll take. They sounded rather anxious."

"Did something unexpected happen?"

The blue-haired girl shook her head, looking at her phone screen, "The client didn't mention anything, but since they're still able to send messages, the situation should still be within controllable limits."

There were about ten minutes left on the train ride. In such a short time, nothing should go wrong.

Kaito didn't dwell on it, it was just a passing question.

"Speaking of which, I still don't know the client's name this time."

This time, the little secretary answered very quickly, it seemed she had been prepared in advance.

"It's Yukinoshita, from Chiba. Yukinoshita Haruno."

———

"Little Yukino, why do you look so down? Cheer up~"

The cheerful older sister with short black hair was wearing a well-fitted lady's suit. At this moment, she clasped her hands together, smiling as she looked at the beautiful girl in front of her who resembled her by about ninety percent, except with a frosty expression and an inexplicable little-devil aura.



"Nee-san."

Yukino didn't match her teasing tone. She just took a deep breath before frowning and said, "You're not taking your safety seriously."

"Hmm?"

The woman named "Yukinoshita Haruno" tilted her head, those obsidian-like eyes glittering with a hint of confusion, "Little Yukino, why do you say that?"

"I told you a long time ago, I know a real exorcist. Yet you still insist on spending time on those outsiders of uncertain authenticity."

Yukino's brows furrowed deeper, "Is it that you don't trust me, or do you still see me as a child? Do you think I have no right to offer suggestions?"

"How could I not trust my cutest little Yukino?", Yukinoshita Haruno still wore her smiling face, winking her left eye at the girl, "After all, you're my number one favorite little sister."

That mischievous wink was enough to make most men clutch their hearts and cry "Kawai," but to Yukino, who was also a girl, its damage was approximately zero.

She had long known what kind of personality her sister had, scheming and unpredictable. When you peel off one mask thinking you're finally seeing her true face, what awaits you is just another mask.

The girl simply looked coldly at the woman in front of her, like a harsh critic watching a clumsy performance. It was only out of good upbringing that she didn't speak harshly.

Perhaps hurt by her little sister's cold attitude, Haruno pouted, showing a slightly aggrieved expression, "Little Yukino, you know, this incident is really important for our family. Even mom is paying close attention."

"Don't be fooled by how I can still joke around with you, Nee-san is actually under a lot of pressure too, you know?"

"What's more, the exorcist chosen this time was personally recommended by Lady Mizusaki. The reason the Yukinoshita family could enter Tokyo's circle was thanks to her help, it's really hard to refuse…"

The "Lady Mizusaki" mentioned by Haruno was also the current family head of the Yukinoshita family, and a college classmate of both Haruno and Yukino's mother.

Madam Yukinoshita had long wanted to expand the family's influence into Tokyo, but accomplishing this wasn't easy.

Tokyo is a very exclusive circle. For outsiders to integrate, they either need enough power or enough money.

Unfortunately, the Yukinoshita family had neither.

Although the "Yukinoshita" surname was considered a prestigious family in Chiba, with several construction companies under their name and a family member serving as a prefectural assemblyman…

But in Tokyo, the heart of the Japan, they were no different from rural nouveau riche.

They had no power. As for wealth… it was just passable, not nearly enough to pave the way with money.

In the end, it was thanks to Lady Mizusaki, who lent a helping hand for the sake of an old classmate.

When faced with such a benefactor, even someone as sly as a fox and eternally masked like Haruno found it hard to say "no."

She reached out and wrapped her arm around her little sister's shoulder, trying to curry favor as she said, "So it's really not that I don't trust you! How about next time? Next time for sure."

Yukinoshita Yukino gazed into the woman's eyes, as if trying to discern something.

After a long while, she let out a soft sigh, "I understand what you mean. But saying 'next time for sure'... aren't you just cursing yourself?"

'Situations that require an exorcist… only happen when you encounter a ghost, right?'

'For an ordinary person, experiencing a single supernatural event is already terrible enough. And you actually want a second time?'

"Ehehe~", Haruno stuck out her tongue. Clearly a well-developed mature older sister, with a body that was the polar opposite of her younger sister, yet her every move still carried girlish charm, it didn't even feel out of place.

"However," Yukino had long since gotten used to her sister's deliberately cutesy antics and felt nothing, but her tone shifted seriously, "if the exorcist you hired this time still fails to act, then you must agree to take my suggestion."

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