My stepsisters are sexy demons, and I must protect them

«It took you a long time to recover, old man. At your age it's much safer to stay inside the HESPARC offices doing paperwork than to go out into the field,» Chantal says with a sarcastic grin as Shin steps over the threshold.

Almost two weeks have passed since she and Hakuto recovered, but she has, for the moment, chosen to remain with them. With Shin in the HESPARC medical center and Hakuto away from home for three days, she couldn't just leave Rika, Yuzu, and Kagura on their own without anyone to protect them. Of course, before he left, Hakuto had made sure Chantal would stay.

Chantal throws open the door to their room without even knocking first and—

«Aaaah… aaah… yes, like that, big sis… it's so exciting…»

Yuzu's moans of pleasure overwhelm Chantal like a wave, leaving her frozen on the spot.

The two of them are completely naked, straddling a dummy eerily resembling Hakuto—Rika sitting at the level of the huge pink rubber shaft standing between the doll's legs, while Yuzu sits on its face. Rika leans forward, her face buried between her sister's breasts. She licks and squeezes them with passion, rocking her hips up and down on the rubber dildo.

It's the same doll Yuzu ordered online months ago, the one they've kept using to "practice together," as she said, "to make Hakuto even happier to be with his beloved sisters, so that he'll never need to find a girlfriend."

Rika jerks back the moment she sees the door wide open, while Yuzu just throws an annoyed glance at Chantal. «Didn't anyone teach you it's polite to knock before entering someone's room?! You ruined our training! We were definitely going to score a perfect hundred this time!»

Chantal freezes for a second, her face flushed red with a level of embarrassment she'd never felt before, then immediately pulls herself together. «Shin's back, and he urgently needs to talk to you two! Get dressed, now! We're waiting in the living room!» she blurts, slamming the door shut.

A moment later, the two sisters rush into the living room—waiting for them are Chantal and Shin, and also Kagura, sitting on the couch with an unusually serious expression that makes Rika and Yuzu worry even more.

«Daddy, you're finally back! I'm so happy you're finally out of the hospital!» Yuzu exclaims, overjoyed. She's about to jump into his arms, but Shin, just as serious as before, raises a hand to stop her.

«Mom…? What's going on?» Rika immediately asks, worry written all over her face.

«Shin wants to talk to you about something very important,» Chantal replies, patting the spot on the couch beside her—a gesture inviting the girls to sit down.

They obey at once. Their eyes are curious yet uneasy, fixed on Shin as if waiting for him to speak.

Shin takes a deep breath while Kagura rises from the couch, standing beside him, facing the two stepdaughters.

«There's no point beating around the bush—there's no way to soften it, so I'll be direct,» he begins. Yuzu and Rika swallow hard at his serious tone, their unease deepening with every second.

«The Monster Reaper who killed your father fifteen years ago… was me,» Shin begins. «I decapitated him right in front of your mother. Kagura was holding you tightly in her arms as it happened. She cried desperately, but after the long escape, she was too exhausted to even stand. I was a step away from killing all three of you—my sword stopped just a breath away from Kagura's head. Something stopped it—it was you two. Your sweetness, your innocence, the way you smiled at the sight of my Sacred Flame, thinking it was some kind of fun light show, not the weapon that had just ended your father's life. That smile… my son was your age back then, and the association was inevitable. I saw him in you, and my hand stopped on its own, a second before striking the final blow. That's the reason I was expelled from HESPARC—and also why I agreed to protect you when your mother asked me…»

A heavy silence falls over the room. Chantal knew the reasons behind Shin Tendo's dishonorable discharge—her father, Vincent Carreaux—the director of HESPARC France—had told her. But those deeper, more personal details were completely unknown to her, and a chill runs down her spine.

Yuzu and Rika's eyes are blank, expressionless, fixed on Shin, yet it's as if he's transparent, their gaze seeming to pierce through him, fixed on some vague point beyond. Their eyes are heavy, glossy, and red. They burn—barely able to stay open. Their eyes grow more swollen with each passing second until silent tears begin to stream down their flushed cheeks.

«I knew it…» Rika finally murmurs after what feels like an eternity of silence, broken only by the quiet sobs of the two sisters. «I'm only seventeen, but I'm not stupid. I've always suspected it was you who killed him, otherwise it wouldn't make sense that you and Hakuto risked your lives for us so many times… It was unthinkable that you did all this just to have a roof over your own heads. I knew this day would come sooner or later, and I thought I'd be ready—that I'd accept it with a smile, that I'd still be grateful for everything you've done for us, and yet… and yet…»

Rika can't hold back anymore and bursts into a heartbreaking, desperate cry. «…and yet… I just can't! Deep down, I kept telling myself that what drove you to such lengths was love for us. I know it sounds selfish, but that's how I felt. I… I fooled myself into believing that Hakuto risked his life for me, for Yuzu, out of love—because he didn't want to lose us, because he wanted to spend the rest of his life with us… but it seems I misunderstood everything. It wasn't love—it was guilt, his way of atoning for what his father had done… it's so unfair!»

Hakuto doesn't know anything about this,» Shin cuts in, his voice firm yet weary, tinged with pain.

«Really?» Rika sobs, a hint of relief in her trembling smile.

«Shin's right,» Kagura says, sitting beside Rika and wrapping her in her arms. «Hakuto has been kept in the dark about everything, specifically to avoid something like this. Shin and I truly wanted you, Yuzu, and Hakuto to become a family united by love and affection, and we're genuinely happy that our dream came true.»

«Yes, Mom, I really am happy about that…» Rika sobs, letting herself fall into her mother's embrace.

Yuzu, who hasn't said a word all this time, rises from the couch in a stiff, almost mechanical motion, and…

…large, blood-red demonic wings burst from her back. Her eyes blaze with hatred and rage, fixed on Shin.

«You… you killed our father…» she growls through clenched teeth.

Then, with a sudden motion, Yuzu extends her arm toward him—a vivid crimson sphere of energy takes shape around her hand.

«I… I'll kill you, Shin!»