“Oh you two are just as cute as ever!” Daji squealed and hugged Xuan and Wu in her arms.

“B-Big Sister Daji…!” Xuan squirmed.

“C-Cannot… breathe…!” Wu strained, trying to pull herself free.

“Ah! Sorry!” Daji quickly let the identical sisters go. But as soon as she did, she pulled out a phone and said, “Hold on! I need to take a picture of this!”

Xuan trembled, her black twin tails shaking. At the same time, she smoothed down her new frilly white dress.

Wu mirrored her sister, smoothing down a lacy black dress, but she also adjusted her white hair. “Big Sister Daji is as affectionate as ever as well…”

Daji took a picture of the girls and then smiled.

After running across Xuan and Wu walking with the two men that were John’s Shadow Servants… or rather, the two strange men that were partly his servants but who also had lives and souls of their own, Daji insisted on taking the girls out shopping and having fun.

While the bear of a man and the stern man that reminded Daji a bit of a dragon were on guard at first, Little Xuan and Little Wu managed to convince them otherwise.

…Well, it probably helped that the two seemed to sense that Daji wasn’t quite a normal mortal.

Anyway, shopping.

At the moment, the group had huddled together in a clothing shop to pick out new clothes for the two young girls.

The bear of a man… Saji, was it? Yes, Saji. That man said that they had bought some new clothes for Little Xuan and Little Wu, but Daji couldn’t pass out on the chance to buy the cute little girls some cute matching outfits.

Especially when it was all on her Big Brother’s card.

Daji smiled and then grabbed the bundle of clothes that they had already tried on and put it in her shopping cart. It was mostly filled with dresses, but there a few cute t-shirts and pants, as well as some cute turtle onesies that Daji found mixed in there.

After making sure nothing would fall down, Daji looked at the girls and said, “Well, I think that’s enough dress up for now. We shouldn’t spend too much time in one place when we have this entire shopping district to explore, right?”

Xuan’s eyes lit up and she nodded. “Yes!” She looked at Saji and said, “Is this not great, Saji Aniki? We can explore even more! And now we have these colorful clothes that Big Sister Daji chose for us!”

Saji smiled and patted the young girl’s head. “That’s great, kiddo. But, uh…” He looked at the small mountain of clothes in the shopping cart and said, “Are you sure you’re good paying for that, Anego?”

“Hm?” Daji blinked and then clapped her hands, letting out a foxy smile. “Are you offering to pay then, Kid?”

Saji started to sweat.

Kiri chuckled and said, “You shouldn’t tease him too much, Miss Daji.”

“Oh fine.” Daji pouted her lips and then said, “Mister Serious Spoilsport.”

Wu tilted her head and then looked at Kiri. “Mister Serious Spoilsport…?”

Xuan stared as well and nodded. “I can understand Aniki being Mister Serious… But what is ‘Spoilsport?'”

Daji headed to the checkout and said, “It means someone who’s no fun, Little Xuan.”

Xuan walked after Daji and said, “But Aniki is a lot of fun, Big Sister Daji!”

Wu followed after Xuan and nodded. “He has a lot of funny stories! Like the time he was a carriage driver and raced through the streets! Vroom, phew, kaboom!”

Daji paused in the middle of placing some clothes on the countertop and then turned to look at Kiri. “Is that so?”

Kiri shrugged. “A legacy of a misspent youth.” He looked at the young girls and said, “Do not be like me. Understand?”

“Yes, Aniki!”

“We will be good girls, Aniki!”

Xuan and Wu chimed in at once and smiled.

Kiri smiled back at them.

Daji watched the exchange and then turned back to the counter, shaking her head. “Big Brother always draws similar people to him, doesn’t he?”

Troublemakers, but all of them kind and caring at heart… if a bit awkward about it at times.

“U-Um, Miss?”

“Hm?” Daji looked up and tilted her head. “What?”

The salesclerk, an average-looking auntie type woman let out a nervous smile, eyeing Kiri and Saji. She looked like she wanted to say something, but then shook her head. Instead, she forced a smile and said, “W-Will you be paying with credit or cash today?”

Daji pulled out her card… Or rather, the card that Xuannu sent over after that goddess was finished using it last night and said, “This.”

“Y-Yes. Then would you like me to bag-“

Saji walked over and smiled at the salesclerk. “Don’t worry, Ma’am. I’ll bag the clothes.”

“Y-Yes! E-Excuse me!” With those words, the salesclerk quickly and furiously started scanning the clothes.

…Daji wasn’t sure why the woman was acting like that, but either way, they managed to get things sorted out pretty quickly.

And then they were back out into the Roppongi Hills Mall, walking around to look at the stores.

Xuan clutched a shopping bag with some of her dresses to her chest and then let out a gasp. “There are so many different stores here!”

Wu nodded, making her white bangs bounce up and down. “Yes! And look! Is that not a candy shop?”

Xuan’s eyes widened. “It is! And look at that treat! A rainbow swirl… so colorful!”

Saji chuckled and walked over towards the girls, carrying a bundle of shopping bags with him. “Sure is. You girls want to take a look inside?”

Xuan looked at Saji with sparkling eyes. “Can we, Aniki?!”

Wu turned to look as well. “Yes! May we, Aniki?”

Saji looked over at Kiri. “Kiri-san?”

Kiri turned to look at Daji.

Seeing that, the girls turned to look at her as well.

Xuan fidgeted with her shopping bag and said, “Big Sister Daji? Can we? Please?!”

“Yes!” Wu nodded. “May we please go look?”

Daji let out a bright smile and said, “Of course! But stay close to Mister Saji, alright?”

“Okay~!”

“Yes, Big Sister Daji!”

Like that, the girls ran into the store, Saji following after them with a low chuckle.

Daji watched them enter, smiling. And then her smile faded and she looked around. Seeing that there weren’t any bystanders, Daji quickly placed down some privacy formations and then turned towards Kiri. “How did you find them?”

Kiri nodded. “I was wondering when you’d ask.”

Daji frowned and said, “Big Brother doesn’t know, does he? Or are you taking care of them for him?”

That would make sense considering that he was trying to make sure nothing went wrong considering Big Sister Yue’s pregnancy, but…

Kiri shook his head. “Boss doesn’t know about them. At least, not that we’re aware.” He rubbed his chin and looked towards the candy shop. “To be honest, we’ve only known about them for a couple of hours.”

“A couple of hours?”

Kiri nodded. “Maji-san… One of my comrades found the girls wandering out in the cold by themselves. They asked him for help and then we took them in. We were planning on asking the Boss for more information since they mentioned he was their ‘big brother’ and father figure, but…”

“But he’s with Big Sister Yue right now.”

“Hn.”

Daji’s frown deepened. “Weird… Is this a result of Big Sister Yue’s tribulation from before then?”

John mentioned that the giant mess in the Three Realms had overlapped with this world for a while because of the new baby, but he also mentioned that karma had been a giant mess since he arrived.

Maybe Big Sister’s path caused those two to show up? Now that she was going to have her ‘perfect’ family after all, were her past mistakes and karma catching up to her?

“Hey.” Kiri frowned and said, “About those girls… Is everything alright with them?”

“Hm?” Daji blinked and looked up at Kiri. “I don’t think so. Why?”

Kiri crossed his arms and said, “The girls mentioned being trapped in a dark place and then being recently freed from a contract. At first, we thought it was because they were normal young girls being kept as… ‘shows’ in the soaplands here. But they aren’t normal girls, are they?”

Daji let out a wry smile and stared at the candy shop.

Xuan and Wu were watching one of the staff members inside carefully cutting fudge with wide eyes.

“…They are now.”

“…Now?”

Daji shook her head. “I don’t know what happened, but… Right now, those two are normal girls. Normal girls who have probably been through a lot recently.”

“Ah.” Kiri nodded. “Then…”

Daji smiled and said, “Let’s just let them play for a while before asking too many questions, okay, Mister Kiri?”

“…Of course.”

Daji’s smile widened and she dismissed the privacy formations. Just then, a bell chimed as the doors to the candy shop opened.

Xuan ran out with a new bag stuffed with colorful candy. “Big Sister Daji! Kiri Aniki! The nice auntie inside gave a lot of candy!”

Wu followed after her, grinning. “I got chocolates! Big Sister Daji, you should try some!”

Daji laughed and said, “Of course I will! Ah, but did you thank Mister Saji for paying?”

Xuan gasped and quickly turned around. “Sister! We forgot Aniki!”

“Oh no!” Wu turned around as well and said, “Quick, Sister!”

With panicked steps, the two ran back in the store.

Kiri chuckled.

Daji smiled. But as she did…

‘Big Sister Yue… I hope you are strong enough to face your dark past.’

…She couldn’t help but think about the one responsible for the two being sealed away for so long.

Big Sister Yue was different now. She had softened and stopped obsessing over perfection. But even so…

What was the saying in this world?

Ah yes.

Karma was a-

_________