Rowen had spent the entire day helping clean up corpses, urging people to repent, earning both cash and Depravity Value.
It was only at the end of it all that he finally remembered—there was still a little one waiting at home for him to bring back dinner.
He scolded himself inwardly for forgetting the cutest part of his day, and hurriedly ditched the idea of getting anything fancy.
Instead, he bought two boxes of sushi that were ready to go and sprinted home.
In the courtyard on that winter night, cold winds swept through the bare branches, making faint rustling sounds.
Rowen scaled the wall and stood just outside the door, clutching the two boxes of sushi.
His breath came out in pale clouds, quickly vanishing into the frigid air.
From where he stood, he could already see clearly—inside the wooden house, it was pitch-black.
This made him wonder: had the Kocho sisters not gotten up yet? Or had they already gone out?
Because when Kanao was alone, she wouldn't bother turning on any lights.
"Even though the most important thing right now should be racking up more Depravity Value, and I've already found a way to make money, it still doesn't feel right to neglect the people who give me food and shelter... Maybe I really should pay someone to help look after the kid."
Rowen mentally braced himself for a possible scolding as he mulled over his future.
Most of the good stuff seemed to be with these girls, so staying with them was still the plan. But once he actually hired someone...
A grown man like him, tagging along with three unrelated girls... That'd definitely raise eyebrows.
If people started thinking he was some kind of creep with ulterior motives, that could be a real problem.
"What the hell should I do..."
He sighed and pushed open the door to Kanao's room.
Moonlight spilled in with his movement, lightly outlining the delicate figure of the girl inside.
She sat calmly in the center of the tatami mat. Her black side ponytail hung over her shoulder, and her porcelain skin glowed with a cold, glazed sheen under the moonlight. A loose white cloak wrapped around her petite frame.
Kanao.
The moment she heard the door open, the girl—who was still more loli than lady—lifted her eyes ever so slightly. Her violet gaze was as calm and still as a frozen lake, showing neither joy nor sorrow.
"Kanao, are your sisters up yet? Did you eat?"
"..."
"Never mind, I'll check myself."
He called out tentatively, but silence was the only answer.
Helpless, and not wanting anyone to know he'd neglected his responsibilities, Rowen had no choice but to imitate Shinobu—getting down on the floor and pressing his ear gently against Kanao's stomach to check for any noise.
After listening carefully for a moment, he quietly pulled out the sushi and whispered, "So they're still asleep... Then you eat first."
Kanao said nothing, but her fingers lightly touched the edge of the food box. Her movement was slow and precise, as if following some preset sequence.
In theory, if she responded at all, there were plenty of ways to give her instructions.
Things like: "Eat when I leave," "If you haven't eaten, then eat," or "Eat if you're hungry." But none of those had ever worked.
Otherwise, the Kocho sisters wouldn't be constantly stressed out about her.
"...How did this kid even grow up?"
Rowen changed into fresh clothes and returned. He turned on the light and sat nearby, resting his chin on one hand, his eyes fixed on the little loli in front of him.
Her ten fingers, barely peeking out from her sleeves, had neatly trimmed nails, but the backs of her hands still bore old scars that didn't belong on someone her age.
Unfortunately, asking her wouldn't get any answers. And asking the older two… well, that would be awkward, given his current position.
So he said nothing more. He simply reached out and gently stroked her black hair, passing the time that way.
To be honest, Nezuko wasn't the only cute one. Kanao, also a black-haired loli, was clearly a rare beauty in the making. Even if she lacked expression...
"She feels really nice to touch too..." he thought to himself, both regretting how he'd handled the evening and quietly enjoying this little work perk.
Kanao remained silent, only pausing her chewing ever so slightly when touched before continuing to eat peacefully.
The room fell quiet again, with only the soft sounds of Kanao eating filling the space. The atmosphere was surprisingly... harmonious. Probably.
"Come to think of it..." With nothing better to do, Rowen suddenly spoke up. "Kanao, did you know?"
"..."
"I'm a good guy, you know? Even though your scary sister always looks at me like I'm up to no good—like, 'This guy is definitely a creep'—you can totally trust me!"
Kanao lifted her eyes. Her violet gaze calmly met his.
Then, without a word, she pulled a coin from her sleeve and flicked it into the air.
It spun once, then landed back in her palm. She glanced at the result, then fell silent again.
That was how she always made decisions—leaving things up to a coin flip. It was probably the same choice she'd made earlier about whether to eat on her own or not. And the coin had landed on "don't react."
"No response means you agree~" Rowen grinned, unfazed by her silence. With nothing better to do, he kept talking:
"Remember now, you said you trusted me, so you can't take it back. Taking it back makes you a puppy! Yeah, if you take it back I'll write it on your face—'You're mine...'"
"—What exactly do you think you're doing to Kanao while we're sleeping?"
He didn't even finish before a voice suddenly cut in from behind him, cold and sharp like it had crawled straight out of Hell.
He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.
Fortunately, Kanao had just finished eating by that point.
So after taking a second to compose himself, he turned toward Shinobu with a serious expression, completely ignoring her glare, and fired back:
"—Shinobu, you're a girl too. You shouldn't be living like this—up all night and never coming home. Kanao and I were both really worried about you."
"?????"
Between the "Shinobu," the "never coming home," the shameless topic change, and the completely baseless "we were worried about you," Shinobu didn't even know where to start.
Not that she particularly wanted to argue, because from experience, it was exhausting.
And if she tried to teach him a lesson with her fists... well, he did technically say he was worried about her. And it didn't even sound like a lie. That made it harder to justify hitting him.
But if she did nothing, she felt this weird suffocating frustration bubbling up in her chest, getting worse the more she thought about it.
Noticing her staring daggers at him, her breathing getting heavier, Rowen quickly handed over his own sushi box.
"Don't be mad all the time. Come sit and eat something. I even brought sushi just for you."
"...Do you think a box of sushi is enough to buy me off?" Shinobu asked flatly, unmoved.
"Shinobu~" Kanae's gentle voice rang out right on cue.
She stood behind her younger sister, eyebrows soft and smiling gently, though there was a hint of reluctant kindness. "Mr. Rowen meant well, okay?"
Shinobu pressed her lips together, her chest heaving with rage. In the end, she ground out a reluctant, "...Thanks, I guess."
"You're welcome!" Rowen's grin widened, utterly unfazed by her reluctance. In fact, her frustration only seemed to please him more.
That triumphant smile on his face made Shinobu even more furious. She glared at him as she bit into her sushi, like she was chewing him instead.
Moonlight continued to bathe the room in a quiet glow. After Kanae finished her own takeout meal, the two sisters stepped out together, one behind the other, walking into the moonlight as Rowen and Kanao watched them go.
But unlike usual, tonight Rowen couldn't hold back his curiosity. After sending Kanao back to her room, he quietly slipped out and followed behind the sisters from a distance.