After the successful yet tiring completion of Steely’s Blood Transfusion, it was now time for the Noble Akane Household to finally take in some well-deserved rest in their own home.

  “I told you two that I can already walk on my own! You don’t need to carry me anymore!” Enrei snarled.

  The old foxian kept on protesting throughout their walk that he can walk all on his own but both Yagito and Aki know that it was far from the truth, Enrei just doesn’t want to be embarrassed.

  “Dad, we’re already here. There’s really no need for you to keep on protesting.” Aki commented, deadpanned.

  “Haha. Enrei still hasn’t changed much throughout the years. He’s still the same shy foxian who refuses to get help even though he’s already struggling.” Yagito chuckled.

  “Hey! Don’t make fun of me!” The old foxian shouted.

  “Alright, alright, that’s enough from the three of you.” Shiranui interrupted.

  “Some of us are completely exhausted right now and you three starting an argument at this time isn’t going to help. Let’s just get inside first and then you three can continue. Steely here was really limping a lot when he walked.”

  The motherly foxian pointed towards her son, who was being carried by the shoulders of both Amber and Stella, his face showing his tiredness.

  “Let’s get inside now, make sure that the kids get their well-needed rest, and then you three can start having a conversation or an argument or whatever.” Shiranui added.

  Knowing that the foxian wife has a point, everyone entered the Noble Akane Household—removing their wooden sandals in the process—before they went to separate rooms.

  Amber and Stella carried Steely upstairs to rest in both his and Stella’s room; Aki, Enrei, and Yagito entered the living room to continue chatting over some sake; and Shiranui entered the kitchen to make snacks for the drinkers.

  In Steely’s and Stella’s Room…

  “Are you sure that you’re feeling alright, bro? You still look a bit weakened.” Stella asked with concern while her chin was rested on their bedside.

  “I’m alright, Stella. I’ve already told you that a couple of times. The state that I’m in is one of the side effects of the Blood Transfusion, I’ve read it in one of the books that Gramps used to teach me.” Steely answered, reassuring his twin.

  “Be that as it may, we can’t rule out the possibility that there are other side effects that may be more severe than fatigue.” Amber retorted with crossed arms.

  “I’ll head down to the kitchen and make you some chicken soup, get a thermostat to check your temperature, and probably a towel dumped into some cold water.” She added before walking out of the room.

  “You make it sound like I’m sick or something, Amber-nee!” Steely shouted.

  “That’s because you are! A sign of extreme fatigue is a sign of sickness, little bro!” Amber shouted back, her voice far.

  Without any word to counter, Steely sighed and shook his head while Stella let out a giggle out of her mouth before crossing her arms on their bedside and grin cheekily.

  Knowing his sister’s look, Steely was quick to shut down any of Stella’s upcoming teasing that may or may not come out.

  “Not. A. Word. Stella.” He glared coldly.

  “Wasn’t going to say anything, bro~.” Stella raised her arms in surrender.

  “Yeah right, like I’ll believe that! You were clearly about to say something to tease me!” Steely shouted while pointing his right index finger at her.

  “Hmm~. I don’t know what you’re talking about, bro.”

  The foxian maiden whistled while looking away from her brother’s glare, this ticked him off enough to strike her head with a karate chop—and this time, he made sure it hurt.

  “Ow! Okay, okay, I won’t say it! No need to hit me, jeez…” Stella finally admitted while rubbing her hurting head.

  Steely let out a small huff before closing his eyes and laid flat on their bed. It wasn’t long when he closed his eyes when he felt something moving beside him and when he opened his eyes, Stella was now lying beside him.

  When she felt his gaze, she stared back at him with a raised brow and confused look.

  “What? I can’t sleep on OUR bed now? I am tired too, you know. It’s not just you.” She argued.

  “I wasn’t going to say that, Stella.” Steely retorted before closing his eyes once more.

  Stella just scooted closer to his side before hugging him gently. When Steely felt his sister’s hug, he hugged her back before patting her head, which made her tails flutter side to side.

  “You don’t need to pat me on the head, you know.” Stella said.

  “And you don’t need to hug me, so I guess we’re both stubborn on that.” Steely answered back.

  Stella let out a small chuckle before grinning while staring at Steely, the young boy followed with a grin of his own. It was then when their gazes met that both knew what they were going to say to each other.

  “Dense idiot.” Stella teased.

  “Yeah, as if, you cheeky numbskull.” Steely teased back.

  “I’m not that dense, you know. Unlike some other people, I can easily tell whenever someone actually has feelings for me or not.” He argued.

  “Yet you can’t tell what I’m feeling for you right now, can you?” She argued back.

  “Oh, I can tell what you’re feeling for me right now. You just don’t want to say it because you want me to keep guessing.”

  Steely flicked Stella’s forehead, which in turn made her let out a small “ouch” sound; and as payback, Stella pinched Steely’s cheeks, which hurt him and her because of his cold body.

  “If you’re so smart, why not tell me what I’m feeling for you then?” Stella challenged.

  “Alright then, fine.” Steely accepted as he began.

  “Firstly, you’re clearly worried about me and my condition—hence the tight embrace; and lastly, you want to make me feel better—which is the reason why you’re teasing me.”

  “Damn it… I can’t believe you got that in one go.” Stella sighed in defeat.

  “Fufu~. Never underestimate the mind of a samurai trainee, my dear twin sister~. For prediction is one of the most important parts of battle.” Steely proudly proclaimed with a grin and a huff.

  “Alright, then, little samurai~. It’s your win today.” Stella got up from the bed and sat on one of the chairs in their room.

  “I’m back, you two!”

  It was then that Amber finally entered the room again while carrying a silver tray with the essential needs that she told them about earlier with cotton mittens.

  Steam was still coming out of the soup, with the thermostat and the spoon right next to each other, and the towel already dipped inside the bowl of cold water with ice.

  “Ah! Onee-chan’s back!”

  Stella turned her head to Amber once the older foxian caught their attention. Steely also turned his head to Amber before sitting upright on the bedside.

  “I see that you weren’t joking when you were going to pick things up to make a small check-up on me.” The boy of three commented.

  “I told you that you’re feeling sick, didn’t I? With a fatigue like that, there’s no way that I can’t be worried about your situation. So it’s natural for your Onee-chan to take care of you.” Amber said.

  Without another word, Amber placed the tray on the bedside table before grabbing a small soft-padded stool to sit on. She then carefully grabbed hot soup with her gloved hands before using her other hand to spoon feed Steely.

  Steely didn’t hesitated to drink the soup on the spoon that Amber brought close to his mouth, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t protested though.

  “I can eat this by myself, Amber-nee. Is there really a need for you to spoon feed me like I’m a baby?”

  “As your Onee-chan, it is my duty to help out my little siblings. Spoon feeding you like I did in the years back then is something that I can and will do if I ever knew that any of the two of you are ill.”

  Amber argued back before spoon feeding Steely once more, he didn’t argued back this time and just let it happen, so he ate in silence with a clear small blush of embarrassment on his cheeks.

  Stella was clearly grinning from the sight but she can’t help but also feel jealous since she was also spoon fed by Amber back then when both she and Steely were small babies.

  This then continued until the bowl was completely empty and Steely laid down on the bed once more per Amber’s instructions as she was about to take his temperature.

  Amber asked Steely open his mouth, and when he did, Amber placed the thermostat over his open mouth before asking him to close it and gently bite into it—to which, he did.

  It took about five minutes or maybe three minutes before the thermostat let out a small dinging sound—no one was really paying much attention—Amber then took the thermostat out of his mouth and checked the results.

  “Thirty-six point two degrees Celsius… Not the regular temp for someone who’s sick, but it could be if we consider your natural low body temperature.” Amber informed.

  “Bro’s body temperature is naturally lower than most people. So could a thirty-six and up temperature could be considered a sign of cold?” Stella asked curiously.

  “I don’t think so.” Steely answered, which confused the two foxian maidens.

  “What do you mean “I don’t think so”, Steely? Care to explain?” Amber asked.

  “My natural body temperature is usually in the thirty-four degree marks in Celsius, but I don’t really feel THAT weakened. Fatigued, yes; but really weakened? No.”

  “That doesn’t explain much about your condition, bro.” Stella argued and Steely sighed.

  “Like I said earlier, a feeling of fatigue is a natural thing to happen once someone’s Blood Transfusion is successful to happen. There’s really no need for you to worry too much about me.” Steely argued back.

  “Even still, that doesn’t excuse that fact that you need rest for tonight. Like mom said earlier, you were limping a lot when we carried you by the arms while walking.” Amber retorted, not backing down.

  Amber then stood up and placed the thermostat on the silver tray before grabbing the cold towel, squeezing it to make the excess water drip down, before folding it and placing it over Steely’s forehead.

  The cold feeling tingled Steely a bit, but it wasn’t something that he wasn’t used to. Before he could grab the blanket to cover himself, Amber got to him first and covered him before patting his head.

  “There. Now you’re all snuggled up and ready to fall asleep like a little baby.” Amber teased lightly.

  “Seriously?”

  Steely glared at his big sister with squinted eyes, completely unamused by the tease, which made Amber chuckle lightly and Stella giggle for a few seconds.

  “What~? Can’t your Onee-chan tease you to lighten up this dim mood that we’re having?” Amber asked with a grin.

  “I’ve already had enough teasing thanks to Stella, Amber-nee. Adding you into the mix is merely you joining in on the fun without proper permission from the vendor.” The boy answered back.

  The irony caused Stella to let out a burst of laughter while Amber was ticked off at Steely’s words, which earned the boy a karate chop on the head by Amber’s own left hand.

  “Ow! Okay, I’m sorry!” Steely apologized while caressing his head.

  “Hmph! You better be sorry. I’m here trying to lighten up the mood and you’re being all negative about it.” Amber huffed before pouting.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Now, now, Onee-chan~. Steely is such a big meanie, isn’t he?” Stella patted Amber’s back, comforting her.

  “I’m the victim here!” Steely shouted.

  The two foxian maidens shared a laugh together and Steely got angry at them again to the point that he sat upright before trying to grab on Amber’s wrist, which was deflected by Stella as the two maidens teamed up against the boy.

  Things only managed to calm down was Amber had enough and Stella was becoming tired. So with their little banter over, Stella laid beside Steely on the bed to get some rest as well while Amber left the room and went to her own room.

  Silence came into the twins’ bedroom as Steely had his eyes closed and Stella was staring at the ceiling. That silence was only broken when Stella spoke.

  “So, bro… How does it feel?”

  “Hm? How does what feel exactly?” Steely asked, eyes still closed.

  “I don’t know… The anticipation of waiting for your transformation maybe? Perhaps the excitement of newfound Akane powers appearing? You know, the stuff you’d really anticipate once you’ve completed your Blood Transfusion.”

  “Oh, that… Um… I’m not really sure what to say exactly.” Steely admitted with a chuckle.

  “With my transfusion now complete, and now that I’m finally becoming a true member of our clan and family… I kinda feel… Uncertain.” He added.

  “Uncertain? Why? Shouldn’t you be excited instead?” Stella asked, confused.

  “I guess, you could be right about that. But, it’s just that… *SIGH* I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve been really only anticipating my Blood Transfusion that I’m not certain of what to expect now.” Steely said before he continued.

  “Maybe the next thing that I’ll be anticipating and excited about is getting to use my abilities in training and actual combat or maybe learning new stuff about our clan that Gramps hasn’t taught me about.”

  “But in all honesty… I’m not sure what to really expect now that my transfusion is finished.” He concluded.

  “Hmm… Maybe an admission for the Starfell Academy would suffice?” Stella suggested.

  “As much as I’d like to agree, that’s a no for me since we both know we’re already admitted with the grades that we have. Our middle school years would start their though, so maybe that’s something?” Steely suggested back.

  “No, it’s more of a headache rather than anticipation with all of the schoolwork that we’ll have to do once we’re there.” Stella answered.

  “Then I’m at a lost for anything to anticipate… But I guess the excitement of being able to use my new powers as an Akane would suffice for now. I’m even excited to get my foxian traits already, if I’m being honest.” He admitted with a smile.

  “That’s what you’re most excited about—? Then again, it is one of the first things that’ll appear once the transformation is complete.”

  Turning to face Steely, Stella adjusted herself on their bed for a bit before gently snuggling around his arms as she tried to go to sleep in her brother’s cold yet also warm embrace.

  “You going to sleep now?” Steely asked.

  “Yeah… I’m not much of a night owl anyways, so I’m going to sleep already.” She yawned as she snuggled closer to him.

  “Then go ahead and sleep, Stella. We can continue talking about this topic some other time. I’m tired as well either way…” Steely yawned as well as he hugged Stella and went to sleep.

  The twins laid on their bed comfortably in the silent night, with the cold air coming in to give them the right temperature to fall asleep while they were under their blanket together.

  It was peaceful, it was warm, and it’s something that can be considered another one of their traits of being inseparable twins.

  Downstairs…

  As the children of the Noble Akane Family were in their room sleeping, the downstairs of their household—most notably, the living room—was lively because of the men drinking and taking with Shiranui bringing in snacks.

  “Hahahaha! And then— *HIC!* And then I said to him: “Go and find your own mate, because this one is mine!” I can even remember the face he made when I wrapped my arm around the waist of Aki’s mother! Hahahaha!” Enrei laughed.

  The old foxian wasn’t completely drunk from the sake that he drank, but he was STILL drunk nonetheless, and he’s telling all three of them one of his stories about his wife and Aki’s mother, Sumire Akane.

  “Really?! That’s what you told that bastard back then?! Hahaha! No wonder when I saw his face once more, he looked completely defeated and angry at the same time!” Yagito laughed as well, though he wasn’t drunk.

  A priest mustn’t get drunk no matter what, after all. It doesn’t matter what kind of priest you are at that, for although drinking isn’t a sin; getting drunk is. The foxian kannushi merely drank a few sips of his own sake.

  “Oh, you better believe he felt completely defeated back then! I even kissed Sumire on the lips RIGHT IN FRONT of him! And, boy, was he enraged to the point that he even tried to hit me but the guards stopped him!” The old foxian added.

  Shiranui then arrived with another silver tray with snacks, she then placed the tray on the table before she sat right next to Aki’s side and spoke to him.

  “So, what am I missing? Is Father-in-Law talking about one of his stories from back then when he was a young adult?”

  “Yup… Dad is always enthusiastic when it comes to talking about his past, merely because he had quite a lot of fun back then before he became a father and then a grandfather.” Aki informed.

  The couple watched as Enrei kept on telling stories to Yagito about his time at one of the Royal Noblesse Parties that he was invited to, which was either a birthday party or a special ceremony where both nobles and royals were invited to join.

  As the two old pals were talking to each other, the couple were having their own conversations as well, since the two of them couldn’t really understand much of the contexts in Enrei’s stories since they weren’t born yet.

  “Come to think of it, Mother-in-Law told me once that back then she was called “The Purple Siren” by nearly all of the people that knew her or that ever came across her.” Shiranui reminisced with a smile.

  “Ah, I remember that story very well. Mom used to tell me that back as well when I was little. She said she was called that not just because of her beauty but also because her voice rang beautifully whenever she sang.” Aki reminisced as well.

  “And that very much is that truth.” Shiranui commented.

  “Oh? Have you heard mom singing back then, dear?” Aki asked, intrigued to hear her wife’s answer.

  “Yup. It was a cold evening night. I couldn’t sleep properly back then, so I went for a walk in our garden. There, I saw Mother-in-Law dressed in only a white kimono with pink petals, singing softly in the night. Ah~… It was beautiful.”

  Shiranui answered, her face showed the captivation that she had back then, as she still vividly remember the soft tune of Sumire’s voice echoing through the calm yet cold night as cherry blossom petals fell from their cherry blossom tree.

  “Like an Atlantic Siren singing on top of a massive rock on the beach shore, she captured me in her tune and made me want to stay to listen her finish, not knowing that she was fully aware of my presence.” Shiranui added.

  “It would seem like mom’s title wasn’t merely a title to show her beauty. Hehe… One’s title truly shows a person’s side that others may not know about.” Aki giggled while circling his cup in his right hand in the air.

  “I couldn’t have said it any better myself, my dear~! Now, let’s start drinking our own spirits and snacks already. They’re not going to drink and eat themselves after all!”

  With a swift movement of her hand, Shiranui quickly grabbed one of the snacks on the silver tray before she opened it and started eating. The sight of her eating so enthusiastically made Aki shake his head and sight with a small smile.

  But even so, the Current Noble Akane Head drank his own sake in his cup before he too took one of the snacks on the silver tray, opening it, and started eating away slowly.

  In Amber’s Room…

  Amber laid flat on her bed while staring silently at the ceiling of her room, the light of the moon outside shined through her window, and a cold breeze came in and out.

  She felt relieved that her little brother’s Blood Transfusion came out as a success, but as the older sister of her younger siblings, she still couldn’t stop herself from worrying—hence the reason why she couldn’t sleep properly yet.

  “The Blood Transfusion went well... Despite the spectacle that happened during the process, it still went well. But this led to Steely becoming weakened.” She turned to stare outside the open window.

  “If the process didn’t succeeded… There could’ve been severe consequences. Consequences that… I don’t even want to think about.”

  She then stood up from her bed before walking towards the open window and stared at the starry night sky with her chin laying rest on top of her right hand.

  “Though I knew that both Grandfather and Steely could do it and survive, it’s mostly going to be the kannushi’s fault if he or she ever failed to successfully manage the ritual.”

  “…And Yagito-san nearly failed when he struggled to control the massive orbs of blood that came out of both Grandfather’s and Steely’s bodies.”

  Amber reminisced the sight at the time of the Blood Transfusion when she saw the struggle that Yagito was having during the performing of the ritual. She clenched her fist tightly at the time when she saw it.

  She then shook her head from one side to the other before letting out a sigh as she continued to gaze at the stars in the sky.

  “No, no, that won’t do, Amber! Don’t think about these negative thoughts right now. It’s going to make it harder for you to sleep.” She let out another sigh.

  After gazing at the stars one last time, Amber took a step back before closing her window and lighting up the small lamp on her bedside table with flames that she summoned from her left index finger.

  “What matters now is that Steely and Grandfather are alright after the ritual, and that little bro is going to be a foxian from now on.” She thought before laying on her bed.

  “What you need to do as his Onee-chan is help him during his training with Grandfather once his transformation is completely finished, while also helping out Stella in her training as well! Negative thoughts merely get in the way!”

  Amber took her blanket and covered herself before she closed her eyes to try and sleep… But try as she may, she just couldn’t sleep properly; which annoyed her immensely.

  “Am I still too excited…? Am I still a bit too worried…? Too concerned…? Goddess damn it… Maybe playing one of the records that Viola gifted me can help me relax and sleep.”

  So, Amber stood up once more before taking out a vinyl record from her bag and playing it on her turntable that her mother gifted to her. Once the music started playing, she then tucked herself in her bed once more and soon slept soundly.