After school, John went to his house directly.

He realized that his sisters already arrived home, so he greeted them and asked,

"Ey Cindy, did Girl num-- Err, Chloe and Elssie arrive here already? I didn't see them at school after lunch."

"Yes. They're upstairs right now. Apparently, your school principal told them to go home early. That's what Elssie told me," replied Chloe as she watched the TV, not even sparing John a glance.

Meanwhile, Joan did not pay attention to John and just danced to the tune while immersing herself in watching the performance of the singer being shown on the TV.

"Sing with your hearts~!" sang Joan while swaying side to side as she focused on the TV.

"Dancing like staaa~rs!" followed up Cindy, also swaying in sync with Joan as they both focused on the TV.

The two sisters followed the tune of the singer performing live on the television.

"But before everyone starts, let me mend your hea~~rt's... ScaaAaaAaAAAa~rs!"

Unexpectedly, with a failed attempt at a high-pitched voice, John continued where Cindy left off with the song, all while dancing accordingly to the tune.

"--Big Bro!?"

"--Wah!? John?"

The sisters only gave him a shocked look after they moved their gazes to John.

"...What? I do listen to Hielo's songs from time to time," said John in a relaxed manner while showing a smile on his face. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to say, "Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"This is the first time I've heard Big Bro sing..."

"To even know the official dance moves... Are you secretly a Hielo fan?"

Joan and Cindy both gazed at John with perplexed looks as the said those words.

"...Hey. What's with those looks? It's embarrassing me. I regret doing it in your presence already so please forget what you just saw."

John blushed while he covered his face. After that, he proceeded to go upstairs.

<><><><><><><><>

All right, Elssie and Chloe should be staying in my old room. What should be the first thing I ask to Elssie...?i

John thought that as he stood in front of the door to his old room.

His hand reached for the door handle but then he retracted it just before touching its tip. And reached again, and retracted it again, and again, and again.

This showed his obvious hesitation in facing the girls just behind the door.

"Sigh... Whatever. All I have to do is ask."

He knocked on the door.

"Who is it? Come in, the door's unlocked," said a female voice from inside.

"It's me. I'm coming in."

John opened the door and went inside.

"..."

...Now what? Should I ask something like 'You got money, right'? ...No, wait. I can't do that.

John thought that as he stared at the two girls inside the room.

Elssie played with Chloe's hair. Meanwhile, Chloe herself just slept on the bed without being aware of it. Both of them donned clothes borrowed from John's sisters.

"Ohoho~ I'm enjoying this. Chloe is just like a puppet because she always obeys my commands! She even played dead when I told her to act like a puppet with its strings cut!" said Elssie while staring at John as she combed Chloe's hair using her hand.

I think you meant 'Marionette with severed threads'... Never mind that! I have to say something.

Thinking that, John racked up his brain to come up with the appropriate words in this about-to-be awkward situation. And so, he decided to ask a random, but quite appropriate question,

"Uh, umm, err... Since you girls didn't bring anything when you came and it's been quite a while already, I just wanna ask if you're planning to get some of your old clothes from your house..."

After she heard this, Elssie's expression turned sour. John saw this as a bad sign.

Without waiting for a reply, John shut the door and went back downstairs.

"Oh man. I can't ask her just like that. I think it's better to ask when we're alone. Her problems must be serious because even Ivan seemed concerned about it."

While sitting on the stairs, John just muttered to himself as he pondering about something.

Sigh... Now that I think about it, I haven't asked my sister anything yet. Why are they so suddenly nice lately? If only they do something so that I can have an excuse to punch them.

John thought that while cupping his face with his hands. For some reason, his recent thoughts steered towards being malevolent.

All of a sudden, the image of a girl in a red ballerina dress flashed inside his mind. He remembered the violence of the girl in red as she did things inside that certain room. The kind of things that, when you look at it objectively, actually help reduce stress as long as she ignores the consequences.

This memory sparked something inside John's heart.

He began wanting to do the same. He wanted to do things similar to what the girl in red did.

"...Oh, that's right. I forgot about it. I haven't had my revenge against them yet."

John clenched his fists as he looked at the direction of the living room. The room where his sisters currently lazed around.

Wait, I can hear my sisters. What are they talking about right now?

He closed his eyes and focused on the voices of his sisters.

"Hey, Cindy. Have you noticed?"

"Noticed what? What are you talking about, Joan?"

"I feel like someone is always following us every time we walk outside."

"...Now that you mention it, I also feel like there are lots of people watching us."

"So, it's not just me, huh?"

Oh, that's right. Ivan mentioned something about guards and surveillance assigned to each of us. So this is what he meant, huh?

While thinking that, John stood up and walked towards the living room.

How will they react when I piss them off? They're so nice nowadays that I'm not even sure anymore. Maybe I should try doing this...

Thinking that, John steeled his resolve in doing something that he might regret later.

"Hey, my lil sisters! What's up?"

John waved at the sisters who watched TV as he greeted them. Of course, the sisters did not see John since they have their backs turned towards him.

"Huh? Not now, Big Bro."

"Yeah, not now, John."

The sisters still ignored him while gluing their eyes on the television.

Suddenly,

Someone slapped Joan's back. A slap strong enough to create a loud noise.

"Ack! What the hell!?" angrily yelled Joan as she looked behind her with clenched fists, only to see John with a smug smile on his face.

"Hey, I said, what's up?" said John with a sadistic smile on his face while waving his open palm in front of Joan's face.

Seeing John's figure, Joan only said, "Oh, it's you... What did you do that for?"

And then she returned to her previous position without even waiting for John's reply.

After seeing his sister's reaction, instead of the relief that a normal person would usually feel when being forgiven for doing something wrong, John felt intense anger for some reason.

"Tsk! ...Hey, what's with that reaction?" asked John with a furious look as he grabbed Joan's shoulder.

Cindy gave a surprised look as she silently watched everything happen.

Joan, reacting to John's question, turned to look at John while having a confused expression.

"Huh? What's with what? What you trying to accom-- Ow! You're gripping too hard! Let go!"

Joan swatted John's hand away from her shoulders as she stood up while facing him.

"What the hell is wrong with you today, John?"

Cindy finally interrupted and got herself in between the two after seeing the tears welling up in Joan's eyes.

Meanwhile, Joan kept putting on a brave front as she faced the angry John.

"Sniffle, hic... Why are you suddenly angry, Big Bro?"

After John saw his sister's pathetic almost-crying face, his anger immediately subsided.

Everyone became silent. Only the television made sounds as it broadcasted a breaking news about people being found dead on their beds.

So this is how she reacts when someone does that to her? How unlike the usual her... Wait, w-what am I doing!? Oh no!

John thought that as he panicked upon realizing what he just did.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't think you would react like that... I'm only testing you because this isn't like you at all. You would normally retaliate violently..."

"..."

"..."

Even after John's apology, the sisters only gave him a silent stare.

This made John feel awkward.

The doorbell suddenly rang.

"...I'll go get it."

Seeing this as an opportunity, John immediately excused himself the get out of the awkward situation.

"Damn, I should apologize properly later... Shit! Why would she even act like that anyway? I can't bring myself to have my revenge if she's like that."

John only talked to himself as he walked towards the house's main entrance.

The doorbell rang again. And again. And again. Like a child pressing a doorbell for the first time, someone continued mashing the doorbell button without mercy.

"I'm comiiing!"

He then opened the door, only to see...

"Yo! What's up? Starting today, I'll be staying with you, Johnni boi."

Carrying a small luggage, the huge and muscular Tyrone stood in front of the entrance while wearing casual clothes as he smiled towards John.

After a whole night of silent treatment from his sister, Jason finally went to bed.

"Phew! Not talking at all is surprisingly tiring. I can't stand the pressure at all."

He laid down on the bed as he recalled what happened earlier.

"...On second thought, I don't wanna recall it anymore," said Jason as he covered himself in blanket.

He then closed his eyes and went to dreamland.

<><><><><><><><>

Jason found himself sitting inside a small office room.

"What was I doin-- Ah, right. I'm here to interview a newcomer," he said to himself as looked at his surroundings.

When he looked at his body, he saw that he wore nothing but underwear. However, he did not feel cold despite being almost naked.

"Oh, what a nice couch. I like to have one just like that on my home some time."

Jason muttered to himself while looking around the small room.

"Speaking of home... I wonder my sister works in something similar to this kind of place."

Someone suddenly knocked.

"You may come in," said Jason as he stared at the door, excited to see who will enter.

"E-excuse me for being late. Is this the right room?"

The knocking person turned out to be Jason's sister.

"S-sis!? Why are you here?"

"Are you the one who will interview me?"

"Hey, don't ignore my last question! Why are you here!?"

"What!? Y-you want me to start right now?"

Jason's sister blushed while glancing at him from the side. She then placed her hands on her clothe's top-most button.

"H-hey! Big Sis! Stop ignoring my words!"

"I-if you say so, I'll do it then..."

"What the!? Why are you stripping your clothes!? S-stop that!"

"I'm doing this for my brother so that we could have a meal three times a day..."

"No, no, no, no! Put your clothes back on! I'm right here! You're brother is right here and is thinking that you're disgusting!"

"If it's just this, then I can endure... For my brother."

"I said stop ignoring my words! No! Don't go near me! Halt your footsteps! Stooop! Aaah! Why can't I move from this chaair!?"

All of a sudden, just when the sister's distance became three feet away from Jason, her naked body immediately bloated and turned into a huge orange ball.

"...What the?"

Jason could only stare at the ball with a dumbfounded look as he struggled to stand up from his chair.

Despite wanting to get away from the odd looking ball, his butt felt like it got stuck to the chair with a super glue.

"Dammit! I have to get away from this chair!"

Jason forcefully pulled himself away from the chair, however, his attempt failed.

He flailed around as hard as he could.

The orange ball suddenly started to show signs of movement.

It vibrated and slowly melted. Then, the orange molten liquid slowly molded itself back. This time however, it molded itself into a shape of a giant humanoid beast with goat horns and rough looking hands.

"Oooh shiit! Mama, help mee! Big Sis turned into a scary monsteeer!"

Jason started screaming and then struggled even harder as he attempted to stand up from the chair holding him in place.

The orange colored monster's hands suddenly excreted a red liquid. Then, it reached for Jason and grabbed his arm.

"N-noOooOO!!!"

And then Jason woke up.

<><><><><><><><>

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Jason screamed as he got up from the bed.

"...Huh? It was all a dream?"

He then started looking around his room and covered more parts of his body with his blanket.

"What a scary dream... And my sister is in it too... I should probably not mention this dream to any-- Ow! Why is my arm hurting?"

Jason held his left arm.

To him, it felt like a someone just finished squeezing it hard.

Busy with examining his mysteriously injured arm, he did not notice the low-visibility orange mist slowly escaping through the window.