Chapter 112: The Fujiwara Sisters
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Tokyo — Fujiwara Residence
A girl appeared in a room.
With soft pink hair and the kind of breathtaking beauty that could silence a crowd—not to mention eyes that could literally split mountains and seas—who is this otherworldly girl?
"You guessed it."
"It's me, Fujiwara Chika, DA☆ZE!"
Admiring her bright blue eyes in the mirror, Chika struck a quick pose. With no one else around, she indulged in a tiny bit of narcissism, humming a cheerful little tune as she left her room in high spirits.
"Morning, Big Sis~"
"Morning, Moeha~"
Coming downstairs and spotting Fujiwara Toyomi and Fujiwara Moeha in the living room playing with string figures, Chika greeted them with a smile, then skipped happily out the door without even waiting for their replies.
"..." ×2
Toyomi and Moeha exchanged glances. No words were needed—they both knew what the other was thinking.
Something's wrong with Chika.
"She's been in this weirdly good mood for… months now, hasn't she?"
Toyomi paused her string game and spoke while untangling it.
"Longer than that," Moeha replied, shaking her head slightly. "You've been busy with college, so you haven't been around as much, but honestly, this started a couple years ago."
"There were times I'd just be talking to her normally, and she'd suddenly burst out laughing for no reason. Then she'd come up with some dumb excuse, like, obviously fake.
"For real, so fake that you'd have to be brain-dead not to tell she was lying."
"So… what? You think she's in love or something?"
"I think she's already done something with some mysterious guy."
Moeha declared boldly, and quickly backed it up with 'evidence.'
"Remember when we all went to the hot springs together? You noticed it too, right? Her chest—yeah, there—was clearly different."
The younger girl gestured vaguely in front of her own chest, her cheeks turning pink.
"She's definitely not the same as before! She's practically catching up to you now, Big Sis! And I heard… if that area gets… you know, touched a lot, it develops faster!"
"…If what you're saying is true, and she's been in this 'weird' state for years already…"
Toyomi reached up to adjust her long tied-back hair thoughtfully.
"Then whoever the guy is, he's really got patience."
Moeha: →__→
Toyomi: ←__←
"Let's follow her." ×2
They said it in perfect sync.
---
Ten minutes later.
Fujiwara Chika: "..."
Okay, to be fair, Toyomi and Moeha were surprisingly decent at tailing someone.
Your average person wouldn't have noticed a thing with how quietly they moved, keeping at least fifty meters away at all times, and making sure never to lock eyes with their target. Very stealthy.
But unfortunately for them… their target was the only and only Super Chika. With the Tenseigan.
So, all their sneaky little tricks? In her eyes, it was about as subtle as waving torches around in a pitch-black cave.
"Come out."
Leading them into a quiet corner of the park, she stopped, turned, and called out toward their hiding spot.
"..." ×2
Holding their breath, the sisters didn't move, unsure if she was bluffing.
"Seriously? You're still holding your breath like that's gonna work? I've literally seen you already."
Chika rolled her eyes.
"Well… uh…" Moeha awkwardly stepped out of hiding, scratching her cheek.
"We were just, y'know, passing by. Then we saw you, and thought it'd be funny to sneak up and surprise you a little, that's all!"
She let out a nervous laugh. "Haha... Buuut since you found us, we'll just… head home and let you get back to whatever you were doing. Don't mind us."
"Ooh? So you followed me all the way from home just to give me a jump scare. Impressive commitment."
Chika gave them a small smile.
"What can I say?" Toyomi sighed dramatically, stepping out as well. "If you'd just give us a proper chance once in a while, we wouldn't have to go this far."
Chika narrowed her eyes. "Now that I've caught you red-handed, you're not planning to pretend to leave and then double back to scare me anyway, are you?"
"Who's to say?" Moeha smirked.
Chika: (ಠ_ಠ)
Toyomi & Moeha: (¬‿¬)
"Ahem!" Moeha coughed, breaking the awkward silence after the extended stare-down. "Alright, fine! Since you already figured it out, we'll stop pretending."
The three sisters exchanged a look, and Moeha leaned in dramatically. "Let's cut to the chase, Second Sis."
"Big Sis and I know you've been hiding something. And unless you want us dropping cryptic clues at dinner in front of everyone, it's time to fess up."
Chika frowned slightly, but didn't look surprised. She'd been expecting this. "When did you start noticing?"
She wasn't too worried about whatever her sisters might reveal at the dinner table.
It's not that she underestimated her family. But come on—even big shots like the Ancient One, who could probably juggle planets for fun, had no clue about the existence of the Dimensional Chat Group.
So what was a well-connected, old-money family in Japan supposed to do about it?
Still, if Toyomi and Moeha had already picked up on something, then maybe... just maybe, it was fine to let them in on a sliver of the truth. After all, they might joke around a lot, but when it came to serious stuff, she trusted her sisters.
"Three years ago," Moeha replied. "Although... it might've started even earlier. That's just when we realized something was off."
"Three years ago? That far back?"
"No, wait—I joined the chat group right around then." They probably noticed changes in my behavior recently, then traced it back to when it all started. Classic backward deduction."
"Well, sure, if you say it's been three years, I'll go with that," Chika said casually, then gestured to a small gazebo about ten meters away. "Wanna sit down over there and talk?"
"Yeah, that works."
Moeha and Toyomi exchanged glances and nodded. A moment later, the three sisters were seated at a table in the gazebo.
"So spill," Moeha urged, leaning forward with barely contained excitement. "How far has this secret thing gone?"
Chika crossed her arms and leaned back slightly, unfazed. "Shouldn't you tell me what you've figured out first? I mean, what if I lay everything out and it turns out you were just suspicious because I walked funny one day? I'd feel totally scammed."
"…Your walk did look kinda weird that time," Moeha muttered under her breath, exchanging a stiff look with Toyomi.
Moeha took a deep breath, then said, "Alright, cards on the table. It started with noticing your body. Stuff didn't add up. Then, well… there's today."
She pointed toward her own eyes.
Chika gave a knowing nod. "So it was the eyes, huh?"
She raised her hand toward the nearby flowerbed. With a small tug of gravity from her Tenseigan, a fist-sized stone shot up into her palm. Without any magic, just pure strength honed from meat-heavy diets and hypergravity training rooms, she clenched her hand—and crushed the rock into dust.
Toyomi: "?!"
Moeha: "?!! Wha—?!"
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