After handing a robe to his sister, who just rose from the bed of the
psion wave examination device in nothing but her underclothes,
Tatsuya watched the examination results while his customary,
machine-like poker face contained slight traces of concern that could
not escape Miyuki's eyes.
"......Are you troubled by something? Onii-sama, please feel free to
tell me anything. No matter what Onii-sama needs to say, I am always
willing to listen."
Rather than calling this an overreaction, this was more like overly
motivated.
As this thought ran across Tatsuya's mind, he was mystified as to how
to respond and what expression to greet this with, and in the end only
adopted a dry chuckle.
"No, rather than saying what troubles me, I think this time it's my own
problem. Since the upper ceiling of the scale of magic design
exceeded original expectations, the processing power of the CAD can
no longer keep up with your Magic Power. I was planning on setting a
larger magic calculation area inside...... You're over thinking this."
"I apologize."
"What are you apologizing for? I should be the one praising you."
Gently caressing his sister's hair as she kept her head bowed, Tatsuya
smiled warmly at Miyuki when she raised her head.
Miyuki followed her brother's lead, more like mirrored her brother's
smile. Everything was fine up until this point --
(......This is not the time to start blushing.)
Cognizant of the inherent danger -- largely presented by the cleavage
peeking through the gaps in the robe -- Tatsuya quickly picked up the
conversation.
"Looks like Lina transferring into the same class became an excellent
stimulus."
Upon hearing Lina's name, the brilliant blush across Miyuki's face
immediately faded.
"Indeed...... This may sound a little arrogant, but I've yet to meet an
opponent of her caliber before."
This was not because the mood had been ruined. Miyuki wasn't the
sort of woman who would be upset that another woman's name came
from Tatsuya's lips. Her expression contained a visible degree of
transparency for another reason altogether. A quiet, burning fighting
spirit lurked in Miyuki's eyes.
"Oh yes, Onii-sama, your question earlier this morning was indeed?"
"You noticed?"
Tatsuya chuckled lightly as he said this.
"As I suspected, Lina is "Sirius"."
Tatsuya declared this as his smile was replaced by a sharp expression.
"As surmised, there's no way to hide these things from Miyuki."
Seeing Tatsuya laugh once more and raise his arms to stretch, Miyuki
couldn't keep a straight face any longer and smiled mischievously
while raising a finger towards Tatsuya.
"Of course, because Miyuki watches Onii-sama more closely than
anyone else."
Tatsuya intentionally laughed aloud. There was no way to tell whether
he felt that Miyuki was joking or he was simply trying to regard it as a
joke.
Seeing her brother laugh, the only thing on Miyuki's mind was how
badly she really wanted to know what Tatsuya was truly thinking
about.
Rather because the basement (more like underground facility) air
conditioning was still running, it was more like a flimsy robe covering
her undergarments was the true reason why neither one of them could
relax.
Miyuki needed to return to her room and change, so the two of them
returned to the house.
What covered Miyuki's slim and exquisite legs were not a pair of
black leggings or tights, but black stockings. The clothing around her
upper body was rather loose and there was a hint of Miyuki's pale
flesh between the mini-skirt and stockings.
This was all well and good while standing, but the moment Miyuki sat
down, he immediately noticed that, wasn't this a terrible situation? --
And exactly why was this terrible, Tatsuya calculated.
Unaware of her brother's feelings -- not that he had any way of telling
-- Miyuki placed the coffee mug in front of her brother.
Except today, she sat across from Tatsuya rather than on the sofa next
to him.
She did not adopt a lotus-like posture and place her legs atop one
another.
Rather, she placed her knees together and kept them slanted
diagonally.
This was a very amorous posture which hinted at the secret charms
beneath her skirt.
Uncertain of Miyuki's intention (the superficial intent was obvious,
but the true meaning remained elusive), Tatsuya elected against
focusing on that.
After making that decision, Tatsuya's gaze ceased wavering.
Across the table, he could detect a trace of displeasure from Miyuki,
but he chose not to call her on it and began to speak while watching
Miyuki.
"Continuing our earlier conversation, I believe there is a high
possibility that Lina is "Angie Sirius"."
Last month, Tatsuya had received a warning from his aunt Yotsuba
Maya that the USNA's Army Magician unit Stars had begun
investigating the Magician responsible for the Strategic-Class Magic
"Material Burst". At the time, Maya had made it very clear that
Tatsuya and Miyuki were likely to be included