The mont Haruno opened her mouth, Haru was instantly reminded of his childhood.
Those years when she used to tease and trick …
A flood of mories washed over him—not of youthful romances, but of Haruno's endless mischief, pranks, and provocations.
Oddly enough, instead of embarrassnt, a tinge of nostalgia crept into his voice.
"I rember when I'd just gotten to know Yukino, you were already trying to talk us into skipping class together."
Haruno paused, her playful deanor softening into sothing warr.
"I rember that too. You were so sly even back then. After all these years, I don't think I ever managed to fool you."
"That's because I've been learning too. You're not the only one who's leveled up," Haru replied as a matter of fact.
Haruno chuckled and gave up on getting water for now. She walked behind the sofa, her graceful figure leaning slightly forward. The collar of her robe slipped just enough to reveal a patch of snowy skin beneath her collarbone.
She rested her arms on the back of the couch, smiling down at Haru.
"Sotis I forget how fast ti flies. One mont I'm teasing a cheeky little boy, and now… you're all grown up."
Haru's eye twitched. "Don't talk like so nostalgic granny. You're barely older than Yukino."
"You're right. I'm not Shizuka, after all."
"…I'm going to report you to Hiratsuka-sensei."
"Ehh~ I was just kidding~"
Haruno's smile was radiant.
Yet even as she joked, her eyes couldn't help but wander down to Haru's torso.
"You really won't let touch those muscles, huh?"
"Sa move won't work on a Saint Seiya twice," Haru quipped, throwing in a classic ani line.
Haruno made no secret of her admiration. She openly took a mont to appreciate the sculpted lines of his upper body before finally heading to the kitchen to pour so water.
"Sha. I really wanted to know what a guy's muscles feel like."
Haru, knowing she was mostly ssing around, stood up to dry his hair.
Haruno sipped her tea but didn't imdiately return to her room. She paused at the doorway, watching him in silence for a few seconds. Then, as she turned to go, her fair cheeks suddenly flushed.
"So good-looking."
That thought just popped into her head.
She was a healthy, normal woman, after all—of course she had certain needs and fantasies.
And it just so happened that she and Haru had shared many mories—so silly, so ambiguous, and a few that made her heart soft.
Now it was late at night. The lighting dim. The air quiet. And she was admiring a guy she genuinely liked, at such a close distance.
Of course she felt flushed. Which was precisely why she didn't dare keep looking.
Back in her room, she sat down, touched her burning cheeks, and gently bit her lower lip.
She'd just learned—from Yukino, no less—that Haru would be sleeping in the bedroom tonight.
"My little sister's all grown up... and so is he."
She glanced toward the door, but it was closed. Nothing to see.
Still, a closed door couldn't stop her imagination.
Just the thought that Yukino and Haru were alone together, in the sa room, both in the pri of their youth—Haruno's mind went wild, playing scenes that made her cheeks even redder.
After wrestling with herself for a while, she finally gave in to curiosity.
She crept out of the room.
This ti, though, she moved instinctively—quiet steps, careful breaths. Her slippers barely made a sound as she tiptoed down the hallway.
Just as she'd guessed, the door to the master bedroom was shut tight.
Her expression shifted subtly, cheeks flushed with anticipation. She gently leaned her ear toward the door.
The house had good soundproofing. Even pressing her ear right against it, she could barely hear anything.
Barely.
Until—
Yukino's voice ca through, faint but clear enough:
"Too fast! Can't you stop rushing all the ti?"
Haruno's brain short-circuited.
"Too fast"…?
Fast in what way…?
Wait… are they already doing those kinds of things when they're alone?!
Heart pounding, Haruno backed away from the door. She didn't dare listen anymore.
She practically fled back to her room, face burning.
anwhile, inside the bedroom…
Yukino paused mid-ga, a puzzled expression on her face.
"Did you hear sothing?"
Haru's eyes stayed on the screen, fingers deftly dodging a boss's attacks with his controller.
Once the boss collapsed from their teamwork, he finally answered,
"Probably just Haruno-nee putting her cup down. Pretty sure I heard the slippers on the floor."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Yukino nodded.
The sound really did co from the hallway floor…
She turned back to the screen.
They were playing Contra. Level three.
This level required synchronized jumping. If one player jumped too far ahead, the other could get dragged off-screen and lose a life.
Which had just happened to her.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" she said with narrowed eyes. "Jumping that fast—were you trying to drag down?"
Haru grinned. "Gas are ant to be played with smiles, rember?"
Yukino deadpanned, "Great. Now I know how to play."
Later in the level, when it was her turn to get revenge, she grinned after forcing Haru to lose a life."You're right. I really do enjoy smiling while playing gas."
Haru clicked his tongue. "Where's the kind, gentle Yukino I know?"
"She's always been like this," she replied coolly.
As they played on, Yukino gradually shifted from playful vengeance to focused gaplay.
Not because she was suddenly into the ga…
But because she noticed sothing odd.
My five senses felt sharper than usual.
That mont earlier, when she heard Haruno walking in the hallway—
Normally, in a house this well insulated, she shouldn't have been able to hear that.
Yet she had.
After thinking quietly for a few minutes, Yukino decided to pause the ga.
Haru set down his controller as well. "Ready to call it a night?"
Yukino shook her head. "Not yet… It might just be my imagination, but I feel like my hearing has gotten sharper."
She paused, then added thoughtfully, "Actually, not just my hearing—my vision too. While we were playing just now, it felt a lot easier to spot enemy ambushes than it used to."
It was like her senses had honed themselves to the point where she could register every important detail in an instant.
Haru gave a calm nod. "It's probably because of all the training."
Yukino blinked, looking thoughtful. "The training…?"
He smiled. "Think about how you used to struggle with stamina. But ever since we started working out together, you've improved across the board. No more weak points."
A slight blush touched Yukino's face as she considered that.
Haru's voice remained gentle. "You know it's true. There's a huge difference between soone who trains regularly and soone who doesn't. Even in terms of energy and alertness."
Yukino tapped her chin, nodding slightly. "That's sothing I can agree with. So… this is all thanks to sticking with a routine, then."
"Exactly," Haru said, offering a simple example. "Rember those elderly people we used to see at the park? Even if their faces were wrinkled, they looked healthier and more energetic than so younger folks—just because they kept up their exercise."
Yukino was convinced.
Her earlier doubts vanished, replaced by a spark of joy and excitent.
This kind of noticeable growth was imnsely satisfying.
Haru watched her quietly and, without drawing attention, exited the ga screen.
He already knew the truth: Yukino was getting stronger.
It was the hidden effect of the [Steel Body] skill.
That was why he always insisted on including her in their training sessions. The eyes, the ears—every part of the body could evolve through this power. He'd anticipated this mont long before she asked the question.
And now, he found himself wondering—had Utaha or gumi noticed any of this too?
Later that night—
gumi sat on her bed, typing into her phone's notes app.
"Today, when Mom nearly dropped the dinner tray, I caught it without even thinking. My reflexes and overall coordination… they've definitely improved."
After turning off the screen, she buried her face in her blanket and murmured:
"I really want to study Amamiya-kun more closely…"
anwhile, Utaha was already fast asleep—still dreaming about what kind of "surprise" Haru might have prepared for Yukino.
~~~~~~~~~~
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