It had already been a week since Sis put her bold plan into action and made Jupiter a Shimizu.
At first, Jupiter seemed full of uncertainty. I figured she was still struggling to come to terms with both her new life and the fact that Keraunos was now sealed away. But as time passed, she started to soften up. Before long, I frequently spotted her happily playing games with Albi in the living room.
This was all thanks to Fumika’s efforts. She was practically a pro when it came to helping people fit in with a group—the glue that held people together. She was great at making sure everyone felt included.
Thinking back, I realized that the same thing had happened with Albi a year prior. I tended to take every little thing seriously, while the wicked goddess was, well, exactly that—wicked. Outside of training, we didn’t really get along that well. Despite that, Fumika had done a great job of smoothing things over between us.
She’d given us simple things to talk about and thought up fun, little seasonal events for us—like bean throwing for the Setsubun holiday or flowing somen noodles in the summer. Before long, Albi and I were practically like old friends… Well, okay, maybe we weren’t that close, but it had gotten us talking about things other than battle and training, at least.
Fumika was more than just a good communicator. How to put it? My sister had a gift for creating a comfortable atmosphere and facilitating conversation.
And when it came to Jupiter, they got on almost comically well. Fumika’s eagerness to take care of others and Jupiter’s tendency to feel lonely were like a match made in heaven. It wasn’t long until they became each other’s confidant.
Within half a day, Jupiter was asking Fumika to do things with her. And by the second day, Jupiter was so comfortable with Fumika, she was asking to take baths with her. As Fumika’s younger brother—or rather, as her biggest fan—I was practically grinding my teeth with jealousy.
I was even more surprised by how quickly Jupiter started getting along with Albi. The craziest part was that the wicked goddess herself was the one to initiate things.
While they were chatting, Albi’s face was as blank as ever (Jupiter’s face was equally lacking in emotion, mind you). To an observer, it might have seemed like these two expressionless girls were totally uninterested in talking to each other (if I didn’t know any better, I might even say they looked bored). But according to the two of them, they got along really well.
“Regardless of the official family registry, I am her adoptive sister. I plan to act in a way befitting of an elder sister and look out for her.”
I could see—for once—the slightest hint of motivation in the wicked goddess’s eyes. It made me wonder if there was something about being a sister that Albi felt drawn to.
I decided to ask her as much. “Hey, Albi, do you have a little sister or something?” But she just called me a pervert and refused to answer. For some reason, she never seemed to warm up to me.
In any event, the Shimizu household proved to be the ideal place for the silver-haired girl. Not having to constantly worry about that damned lightning beast inside her was probably a big help. But either way, Jupiter really seemed to be enjoying herself.
It was a good sign. I was in awe at how well my sister had helped her feel at home, and I wanted things to go on this way forever. But if I wanted to make that happen, I still had a job to do.
First, I had to solve the problem of Keraunos. The Sublime spirit of black lightning had been given paternal emotions by a group of mad scientists, and Jupiter would never know peace until we found a way to permanently put an end to its rampages.
We knew our enemy and that the answer was a cleansing ritual. Despite having a clear goal, we couldn’t accomplish it yet. We still needed more power.
We had to get stronger—to improve physically, technically, and tactically. And we needed better Astral Skills, too. Not to mention higher-grade equipment and a wider network of contacts. Basically, we were going to have to improve our situation across the board to meet the challenge ahead.
And to get stronger, I would need to go back to doing the same thing I always did when faced with my weakness. Something basic and boring. Something akin to physical and mental torture. Something comparable to selling off my self-esteem to the highest bidder.
I needed more training.