(Kirasaya) (Meariri) Harlequinade

Mary and Sayaka

Sayaka sat on Kirari's lap comfortably as the Kitsune Queen read her a book.

"Ahem. The first person I saved was a dog. My mother thought he was dead, but he was too young to die, just born, still wet and glossy, beautifully really, but not breathing," Kirari read.

Sayaka's eyes shone with interest Kirari continued to narrate the story. The two seemed to be in their own world of fantasies, with the main character discovering an outcast witch and a wild mountain boy.

That is, until a loud noise broke them both out of their thoughts.

"YAKA!"

Kirari frowned. "Is it me or does that boisterous voice sound familiar?"

Mary stood at the entrance of the library, her finger pointed at Sayaka. Ririka stood behind her, trying and failing to quieten her down.

Mary ran towards Kirari and Sayaka, hopping onto the couch and grabbing the toddler's arm.

Sayaka's eyes widened in momentary surprise at this action before tears sprung up in her eyes and she started to tremble.

Kirari, seeing this, tried to calm her down and get Mary to release her arm, but to no avail.

Sayaka let out a small noise of discomfort before she burst into tears and started to bawl.

Mary withdrew her own hand in disbelief and confusion.

"Shh..." Kirari said softly as she pat Sayaka's back in an effort to calm her down. "Riri, please hold back your animal. Of all the things she has to be here while we're reading Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk."

Sayaka's sobs reduced to soft whimpers after a while and she stared at Mary with slight annoyance.

As Ririka watched the exchange between the trio, she suddenly remembers something.

"Rari! The both of us are going on a business trip for a week!"

"Oh?" Kirari said in slight surprise. "Ara~it seems like I've forgotten about it."

Mary scoffed and babbled something which could've meant 'yeah, no shit.'

"So..." Ririka dragged, hoping her sister would get the hint. She knew that there would be chaos if she said it out loud and hoped that her sister would realise what they had to do as a result of the business trip by herself.

"So?"

Ririka sighed.

She should've anticipated this.

"We're going to have to entrust the care of Mary and Sayaka to someone else."

Thereafter, Ririka covered her Kitsune ears by flattening them against her head, preparing herself for what was about to happen next.

Sayaka burst into tears and started to kick her legs in anger as she realised that she wouldn't be with Kirari for a week.

Mary stared into space for a while before she let out an enraged sound and pounced onto Ririka, biting her hair and clinging onto her.

"E-Eep!" Ririka squeaked in pain and surprise.

Kirari desperately tried to calm down the toddler in her arms by patting her back. When that didn't work, she used her Kitsune tails to lift the toddler up and cradle her in the air.

Sayaka seemed to like the softness of the Kitsune Queen's tails and their familiar scent. She calmed down and closed her eyes, falling asleep comfortably.

Meanwhile, Ririka managed to throw Mary up in the air and catch her, repeating the process until Mary somehow fell asleep midair.

The Momobami twins shared a look of relief before they resumed their conversation telepathically.

'So what are we going to do?' Ririka thought. 'I don't feel safe entrusting them to the servants here simply due to the fact that Midari lives here.'

'Touché, little sister. I actually have a good plan. The person I have in mind owes us after losing in a gamble against us,' Kirari replied. 'And she can't hurt these two or we'll come after her, not that I'm worried about Saotome or anything.'

'Hey! I don't want Mary to get hurt! Also, I'm the older one.'

'Nice try, but did you know that a scientific study proved that the twin who comes out first is younger? The older twin is supposed to come out first but at the last moment their position switches and the younger one comes out first.' (This is true btw.)

'W-Whatever! Anyway, who are you talking about? The only person I can think of is——'

Ririka froze and her jaw dropped, her eyes staring at Kirari.

"I've heard many of your ideas before, but this one seems the most idiotic one yet. Are you an idiot?!"

"I don't see the problem with my idea," Kirari chuckled. "As I transmitted just now, no harm can come to these two."

"But...!"

Ririka yelped as Mary woke up from her shouting and tugged at her hair using her hand.

"Owowowowow!!!!!"

"I'll take that as a yes. You seem to be saying 'wow' in awe and admiration of me and my plan, which I very much appreciate," Kirari laughed. "Go get Mary's stuff ready. Our trip is tomorrow after all."