Rion and Kotomi Amami were cowed by his imposing manner.
But either their long-cultivated arrogance or pride was able to support them.
After their negative feelings crossed a certain point, the twin sisters were actually able to calm down.
It was a disadvantageous situation for them, but so what?
They... could deal with it!
"Kotomi, what's he saying? I don't really understand~"
"Rion, this person's saying something idiotic; we don't have anything like what he's describing~"
"Besides, how could we possibly... harm our cute little brother~"
The twins cackled and acted cutely; they'd returned to speaking in this manner as it was only natural for them.
However, in the next second.
"Don't laugh like that."
A light yet icy short sentence pierced through their hearts like an arrow!
Seigo Harano's current gaze was piercing, icy, and distant; it was almost as if... he were looking at two people who had already died!
Rion and Kotomi's expressions froze over.
"Just seeing that disgusting act of yours makes me want to beat you up." Seiji coldly stared at the twins in front of him. "So stop laughing like that."
'Otherwise, you'll die.'
Although this sentence remained unspoken, the twins could almost imagine him saying that out loud.
It couldn't be possible! No matter what, he wouldn't dare do something like kill them... But the look in his eyes confirmed the twins' suspicion!
Their terror resurfaced.
The twins were forced to retract their fake smiles as they exchanged glances and forced the fear back down within themselves.
Several seconds of silence passed.
"Don't make me repeat myself." Seiji broke the silence. "Getting rid of your materials on Hoshi is something you absolutely must do, or else there's no need for further discussion!"
"...Kotomi, I still don't know what he's talking about."
"Rion, I don't know either, since we really don't have such a thing, and we've never done it either."
"Even if we have... we don't have it anymore." They said the last sentence in unison.
Seiji furrowed his brows in displeasure.
"So this counts as your answer?"
The twin sisters didn't reply, and only looked at him calmly.
"Responding in such a roundabout fashion... I get it; you're currently recording this conversation, aren't you?" Seiji calmly stated the truth.
They were seen through.
But that wasn't important; they already anticipated that this little trick would be seen through. The twins still didn't waver.
"If I had come up and started out by insulting you, it would have been perfect for you," Seiji said lightly. "I unintentionally avoided a trap... it seems that I'm quite lucky."
'Lies!' Rion and Kotomi didn't believe him one bit; they felt as if he expected them to record him, which was why he was able to remain so calm.
Recording a conversation and guessing that it would be recorded was only a normal exchange of attacks between them. This wasn't particularly at a high level yet.
"If you like recording, then go ahead. It doesn't matter to me if you want to publicize this conversation or do something else with it. As long as you promise me the most basic request, we can continue our discussion.
"Now my second request is for you to delete or destroy all of Genhana High School's... No, all blackmail material you possess! This is to reflect on yourselves and forever stop you from getting involved in shady business."
A cold breeze blew over.
Rion and Kotomi wore grim expressions as an unreadable light flashed in their eyes.
Seiji stared at them wordlessly.
Silence... A long, dead silence followed.
Rion and Kotomi didn't even exchange glances as they began walking off in unison.
"You want to leave?"
Seiji was still staring at them.
"I simply gave you my price, and you're just going to leave without even haggling?"
The twins stopped at looked at him with a distant expression on their faces.
"You think that you can't accept my terms? I think you can. Rion Amami, Kotomi Amami, you should know that you're a pair of very fortunate girls. You were born into a well-off family, you have parents that love you, you have a nice brother, you have excellent appearances, and you're talented in various aspects...
"People praise you, idolize you, envy you, and seek to befriend you. You have just about everything people your age could want, so you should be happily living your lives under the bright sunshine.
"Yet... You prefer doing those shady deeds, forcing yourselves into the darkness! Why? Simply because those things are fun, they're interesting?"
Seiji took a deep look at those two beautiful faces. "You've never even once doubted yourselves. Is it... really that fun!? Perhaps from the very beginning, due to your naivety, you mistakenly enjoyed such an act.
"But today, starting right now—from this moment—you're no longer naïve. You've matured, so you should be able to see clearly and think clearly: these 'interests' of yours aren't really that fun at all!
"They're actually boring and pointless; there's never anything new about it, plus you have to take huge risks in order to 'enjoy' it. Perhaps one day you'll have to pay a painful price you can't handle!
"You've already been tightly bound by darkness of your own creation... Haven't you realized this yet? Has this thought never even come into your heads!?"
Seiji made a wholehearted attempt to convince the twins that their actions were wrong.
At first, he never even considered it.
A few minutes ago.
When Seiji hung up Hoshi's cell phone, his heart was filled with rage and all he had in mind was how to ruin these twin sisters' lives.
Perhaps it wasn't completely their own fault that they became like this, but every time he thought back to the pitiful way Hoshi died in the previous timeline, he felt zero pity for them.
However...
"Senpai... I'm sorry..."
"Hoshi? Why are you apologizing?"
Seiji was wondering why Hoshi Amami was slowly kneeling to him.
"What are you doing?"
"Senpai... I... I know, this request is unreasonable... It will definitely give you a hard time..."
Tears dripped down Hoshi's face as he kowtowed to Seiji.
"But... please, I still want to make a request—don't... don't completely destroy my sisters!"
His voice was a hoarse, pained sound which sounded as if he'd squeezed it out of his soul.
Seiji slowly furrowed his brows.
"Hoshi... You..."
His tears had accumulated into a pool on the floor around Hoshi's knees.
"Being... abused... by my sisters... it was painful, and I had times when I hated them to death... But... but... no matter what, no matter what they did to me, or how much I cursed them at the time...
"They're still... my sisters that I grew up together with... my family... my sisters... Ahh!!"
Seiji heard the painful sound of crying.
He was moved by the complex, murky, yet deep emotions contained within Hoshi's crying.
The other students on the rooftop noticed the commotion and were beginning to look in their direction.
"It's okay to get up, Hoshi." Seiji clasped his arm with a firm hand and helped Hoshi rise.
"Senpai... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Hoshi had a tearful face as he continued to apologize repeatedly.
He asked his senpai for help, yet he'd made such a difficult request. He knew how unreasonable he was being.
But that was how he felt.
Even if he had been abused extensively and treated as a puppy and a plaything.
He still considered Rion and Kotomi as his family.
"You... you're such an idiot..."
Seiji let loose a deep sigh as he watched his junior.
If any other person had requested mercy for Rion and Kotomi Amami, he wouldn't be moved. The person currently in front of him was the only one who could change his mind.
'Hoshi Amami... only you have the right to give your twin sisters a chance.'