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Scene shift—the familiar bedroom.
Bokue lay on his apartment bedroom's large bed, gazing up at the ceiling he hadn't seen in ages as he breathed a gentle sigh.
"Feels like it's been forever since I last lay in my own bed."
"Of course it has,"
The moment he finished speaking, a pair of black cat ears perked up on his chest, followed by a shapely girl in a black kimono rising slightly with a hum.
"After all, for over a month now you've basically been on Itogami Island, Bokue. You haven't even spent a few days total in the Underworld. Am I wrong, nya?"
"True, but..."
The one complaining was naturally Kuroka.
She was sprawled seductively on top of the youth as usual, her kimono's neckline loose from rolling around on the bed, hanging open with gravity to reveal the snowy valley beneath. Like inverted mountains, the peaks pressed lightly against the youth's chest through the kimono's thin fabric.
Bokue wrapped his arms around the cat-eared girl's soft waist, giving the fullness that stretched the black kimono below a light pat.
"But now we've moved to Itogami Island too. Things will be much more convenient from now on."
"Convenient? Convenient for what?"
Kuroka deliberately lowered her voice, crawling up on all fours and narrowing her eyes.
"This convenience you're talking about wouldn't happen to mean it's more convenient to see your childhood friend, would it, nya?"
"Of course not for me..."
Bokue rolled his eyes slightly and gave Kuroka's bottom another pat.
"For me, it doesn't matter much where you all are. The convenience I mean is for you, Kuroka. Like how you always used to complain I stayed at school too long and didn't come home early enough. Now that won't be such a hassle."
"Well, that's true, nya..."
Kuroka pouted and unusually climbed off the youth, rolling out of bed to the bedroom window and grabbing the curtains.
She expertly pulled them aside.
Swoosh—
With the sound of curtains being drawn, noon's brilliant sunlight streamed in from outside, cool sea breeze lifting the fabric.
Looking against the wind toward the distance, numerous cargo-laden tankers could be seen moving orderly in and out of the artificial island's port.
And directly below the apartment stood Itogami Island's largest and tallest building—Keystone Gate.
That's right, they'd successfully moved to Itogami Island, including the apartment, old school building, and numerous other structures, forming a new complex atop Keystone Gate.
It was somewhat like building houses in The Legend of Zelda, though not simply stacking layer upon layer. Instead, all buildings were arranged according to their original style and characteristics at various positions on Keystone Gate's top floor.
Gathered yet not cramped, maintaining closeness while preserving a degree of private space.
In Rias's words, this was to maintain their previous living environments as much as possible, minimizing any discomfort from relocation.
Of course, Rias was just relaying the message—it was actually Venelana's idea.
Worth mentioning was that since Bokue's apartment, like Nagisa's home, had a two-unit-per-floor design, to avoid the awkwardness of stepping out to find the opposite door opening onto nothing, they'd moved the apartment across the hall as well.
Normally this wouldn't be possible—it was someone else's home after all.
But after investigating through the real estate office, they found the apartment across from Bokue's seemed unoccupied, so they simply moved it too.
The outdoor elevator originally connecting lower floors to the rooftop helipad was preserved, still providing direct access to Keystone Gate's interior below.
In other words, if Bokue wanted, he only needed to leave home, enter the elevator, and go down one floor to directly reach Itogami Island's largest commercial plaza.
Below was a bustling commercial center, above was a private residence with open views and excellent lighting.
How to put it—it was like building a miniature Marina Bay Sands on Itogami Island, complete with a private sky garden on top.
But since only Bokue's apartment, Rias's old school building, and the hotel suite where Mio and Maria had stayed were currently moved, most of Keystone Gate's rooftop remained empty, presumably able to accommodate more residents later.
But that was a matter for the future.
"At least I won't have to wait at home for you anymore, Bokue,"
Kuroka glanced through the window at the old school building also located on Keystone Gate's rooftop, then as if quickly losing interest, she yawned lightly behind her hand. Leaving the window open, she returned to the bed and climbed back on, straddling the youth and lying down with a muffled complaint:
"Didn't Rias say she'd connect the space in the old school building upstairs with Saikai Academy? So in the future, Big Sister only needs to take the elevator up, then can go directly to your school, nya?"
"...What would you go to school for?"
Bokue couldn't quite understand her cat logic.
"Obviously to find you when I'm bored and have some intense fun, nya!"
As if thinking of something wonderful, excitement flashed through Kuroka's golden vertical pupils, her kimono-clad twin tails swishing in the air behind her.
"After all, our Bokue is such a good student, still attending school every day with perfect attendance. So I'll be the bad big sister who corrupts you thoroughly, skipping class on the astronomy building rooftop for intense sessions every day!"
Was "intense" becoming some kind of designated adjective now...
Bokue couldn't help complaining internally.
"I'm not going to school just for the sake of it. Kuroka, did you forget why I went to school in the first place?"
"To pick up pretty female classmates?"
The black-haired cat-eared girl tilted her head.
Bokue nearly coughed up blood at her response.
"Wake up—it was to earn money to support you!"
"Eh? Was it?"
Kuroka tilted her head another five degrees.
Hmm, thinking about it carefully, that really was the case. After all, their only income source back then came from commission fees from Rias, and all of Rias's activities were in the old school building, which forced Bokue to attend school daily.
But now he didn't need to bother with that anymore.
If calculated that way...
"So you can stay home with Big Sister every day from now on, nya?!"
"Mm."
Bokue thought for a moment and added:
"Provided you can handle it."
"Don't worry! The power of desire is invincible, nya!"
The cat-eared girl was full of confidence.
"Oh right, perfect timing since there's still time before lunch. Come on, Bokue, let's have an intense session first—"
Before she could finish, spatial magic fluctuations rippled through the air beside the bed. Two girls emerged, accompanied by Nagisa's cheerful voice:
"Big Brother! Yukina-chan and I have finished tidying our rooms and can move to Keystone Gate anytime... Eh, why is Kuroka-neesan pressing down on Big Brother?"
"..."
Silently looking at the suddenly-appeared curious Nagisa and the bright red Yukina Himeragi beside her, Kuroka's mouth twitched, thinking—did you really have to appear right now?
And why were these two little girls moving to Keystone Gate too?!
But before she could say anything, Rias's slightly teasing voice came through the window from outside:
"Miss Kuroka, please refrain from doing anything too extreme in front of children. Also, you forgot to close the window you opened earlier. Though this is the highest point on Itogami Island, please remember to close the windows and draw the curtains before doing such things next time."
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