Oh right, Yuzuriha forgot to mention that these kids were orphans, same as her apparently. And the person at the door was the closest to an adult they had in this apartment.
Well, except for her—mentally speaking. Not that it counted now anyways.
The time now was six in the evening, which meant…
"Big sis's back!"
A muffled voice exclaimed in the next room. It was high pitched so it was probably from Willow. Those light footsteps rushing across the floor only confirmed it.
She got there first and practically launched herself at Marcille before she could even step inside properly. Her small arms wrapped around her waist in a tight hug…at least that's what Yuzuriha imagined.
'No doubt that's how it went. Almost cliche at this point'
Hana and Haru often jumped at her like that whenever she got back from work. So, it was probably the same.
Next up was Leo, he was already moving toward the other room, but he stopped, hesitating for a second. She suddenly felt the boy's hand tugging hers along.
"Come on Yor. Let's go and welcome big sis together!"
He's so full of energy!
'Oh, right. I forgot I'm supposed to feel excited too, but how would Yor have responded to this? Well since he didn't react much to my indifference, I suppose I'm doing it right.'
Strangely enough, Marcille was the only person between Willow and Leo whose face came to mind so clearly.
Her full name was Marcille Drapes, she had ashen hair framing her youthful face, cut short in a practical, almost military sort of fashion.
Her eyes were a striking shade of deep grey and the one thing that always stood out about her was that pale scarf wrapped tightly around her neck.
The person she saw in her memories seemed to be a lot younger than the one before her.
Well, she couldn't see her, but that voice was unmistakable that of a woman—teenager—young adult. Take your pick.
She was also…
'My older sister'
And so, by the logic of nature. Yuzuriha's current appearance should look like that.
As it stood, she had no idea how she looked, only the feel of the width and weight of her body.
'She was so cute! Then I must be two times as adorable! But wait… Some siblings don't look much alike. Don't they? Well, whatever. If I do look like that, then I'll be drop dead gorgeous when I grow up!'
She grinned at the thought while she was getting dragged by Leo. Despite his rush, he wasn't too rough in handling her and she could keep up just fine.
The only problem now was how to react when meeting Marcille.
'Wait, hold up…'
A thought popped up in her head.
'Why am I trying so hard to be someone else?'
That question made her pause but before she could ponder on it even further, there was a sudden rush of movement, a pair of strong arms around her almost in an instant.
"Poof—"
A tight squeeze pressed her head into something warm.
'Too tight!'
Yuzuriha felt her ribs getting crushed and a startled wheeze forced its way out of her throat.
"Yor! Yor! Yor! I couldn't wait to get back. I missed you all so much!"
Shouted the young woman enthusiastically while squeezing the life out of her younger sister.
Yuzuriha didn't get a chance to respond or even think properly because the pain was just that great.
To show that she meant no animosity, she was nudging her head with hers in an affectionate way. Same as how a cute little kitten might do it.
It might have been adorable, but in this case, it was pure torture.
'So strong. I get it. She's the dotting older sibling type!'
Was she trying to crush her?! Her lungs desperately screamed for air.
"That's a little dramatic. I mean, you just saw us this morning"
Leo said while laughing beside them. Thanks to that, Marcille loosened her iron grip—just a bit, and reached out one hand to the boy.
This was followed by a messy rustling sound and a slight grumble. Not actually annoyed, but put upon, like this was something he had gone through too many times.
Yuzuriha didn't need to see to put the pieces together.
'Ah. She's ruffling his hair'
"Bless the Stars, all of you are fine. Leo, I hope you've cooked something good cause I'm starving!"
Marcille said as she released her victim. Yuzuriha gasped for air while inspecting whether her ribs weren't broken, finally free from her captor's bear hug.
'Phew, I'm still alive!'
She sighed at the same time as Leo, but their reasons were different.
"Well, you're in lu—"
"Big sis, big sis! Today I helped fold the laundry all by myself!"
Willow interrupted, practically bouncing with excitement.
"Oh, oh, oh. I also helped in making clothes for church!"
"Did you now? That's my big girl! You're growing up fast, huh? Aunty Grace is going to be so proud!"
Yuzuriha swore she could feel the way Marcille's energy shifted. The warmth in her voice was practically radiating.
Willow let out a giddy giggle.
"Yup!"
Leo, still beside Yuzuriha, simply sighed as if this was nothing new. Even though he was rudely interrupted and ignored, he didn't seem to hold any grudges.
How matured!
'This is…'
The reincarnated woman could feel the warmth in the air. It was…strange.
But also, just a little bit…comforting.
"Okay, that's enough, we should probably get to it now. I'm in a good mood today so let's start with training before dinner. But first, is there anything else that happened?"
The moment Marcille asked that question they all went quiet.
Willow's bouncing had come to a sudden halt and Yuzuriha's breath hitched.
'Anything else that happened was that incident in the alleyway. Leo told us to keep our mouths shut'
Such a task was child's play for her. Keeping secrets wasn't difficult if you just keep the attention away from you.
'I won't tell, but can she hold it in?'
She turned her head toward the direction of the girl—a pretty pointless action. She still couldn't see her facials which made her face reading skill utterly useless.
'Dang it'
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you…"
To what seemed like a tense situation, Leo took up the stage!
"You won't believe it. When Yor ate one of my desserts, she actually shouted for joy. The taste was so good she couldn't resist expressing it!"
Leo said that with such enthusiasm it even caught Marcille off guard.
"What, no way!"
She gasped as she leaned in closer to Yuzuriha's face, feeling her forehead with a rough hand.
"Yor, are you ok? Are you feeling sick? Your temperature is normal, and your vitals seem to be in working order. But you don't usually react to Leo's delicious cooking! If something's wrong, please tell me!"
That rough hand had left her forehead and landed at her shoulders with another as an assistant. Together they wiggled her ceaselessly while screaming at her face.
'Yep, she's definitely the dotting older sibling type!'