My Twin Stepsisters Are Way Too Yandere!

Chapter 196: Chapter 195 - The Little Illustrator

It was the first snow of the winter season.

While the city was buried under the blanket of snow, inside the hospital it felt as if time was moving much slower.

Kuro was sitting in the waiting room clasping his hands.

Usually, he was the calm one.

The psychologist who could help others in times of anxiety.

The person who knew how to breathe through difficult times.

But today...

None of that knowledge seemed to help him.

He looked at the clock, probably for the hundredth time.

Three minutes had passed.

He chuckled nervously.

"So this is what everybody else feels."

His phone kept buzzing with messages.

Twelve texts from Akari.

Akari: Is the baby here already?!

Akari: Tell us right away!

Akari: I’m more nervous than you!

A calmer message from Aoi.

Aoi: Take your time. We’re all thinking of you.

From Mina,

Mina: Tell Rika that she’s doing fantastic.

And from Minami even.

Minami: You guys are going to be great parents.

Kuro smiled softly before putting his phone in his pocket.

Then...

The door of the delivery room opened.

A nurse came out of the room with a kind smile on her face.

"Mr. Kurogane?"

He stood right away.

"Congratulations."

"You have a healthy baby girl."

For a moment...

His mind went blank.

"A..."

"A daughter?"

The nurse nodded.

"And your wife is fine."

Without even noticing...

Tears started forming in Kuro’s eyes.

---

Several minutes later...

He quietly entered the hospital room.

Rika looked tired.

Her hair was somewhat messed up.

Dark circles were under her eyes.

However...

She never looked happier.

In her arms was their tiny baby girl dressed in a soft white blanket.

Rika smiled.

"...She’s finally here."

Kuro moved closer to her slowly.

He looked at the girl.

She lazily yawned, then grabbed one of his fingers with her tiny hand.

His heart softened right away.

"...She’s so small."

Rika giggled.

"I know."

"What are we going to call her?"

They talked about many names in the months past.

However...

Looking at her changed everything.

Rika softly looked at their baby girl.

"...Sora."

Kuro repeated it quietly.

"Sora..."

"It fits."

Their baby girl opened her eyes for a second.

As if confirming the name.

---

The next several months were full of chaos.

Sleep became luxury.

Coffee became necessity.

Their house was filled with tiny clothes, toys, bottles, blankets...

And constant laughter.

One night...

Kuro was rocking baby Sora in his arms in the living room.

She didn’t want to sleep.

He tried humming.

Nothing.

Soft lullabies.

Nothing.

Finally...

He started telling her one of those stories he imagined in his counseling sessions.

"Once upon a time..."

"There was a little fox who believed that each star in the sky was a drawing that needed to be completed..."

In several minutes...

Sora fell asleep quietly.

Rika was staring at them.

"...Really?"

Kuro whispered,

"I think she likes the stories."

---

Many years passed.

Before they realized it...

Sora became a happy four-year-old.

One rainy day Rika entered the living room holding the fresh manuscript pages.

Then abruptly stopped.

"...Kuro."

He looked up from the psychology book.

"Hm?"

She pointed at the wall.

Their baby girl somehow managed to get the box of crayons.

Colorful circles, smiling cats and enthusiastic stick figures decorated the walls which used to be white.

Sora turned around happily.

"Look!"

"I drew our family!"

Silence.

Rika looked at the wall.

Then at Kuro.

Then at Sora.

"...This is..."

Kuro smiled.

"...Creative."

Rika sighed dramatically.

"I can’t even be angry."

She moved closer to Sora.

"Who is this?"

Sora pointed at the tall stick figure.

"Daddy."

"And this one?"

"Mama!"

"And this little one?"

"Me!"

Rika smiled brightly.

"Perfect."

She kissed the top of her head.

"Next time..."

"We’ll draw on the paper."

"Okay!"

---

A few months later...

Rika noticed something unusual.

Sora still couldn’t write her name.

However...

She kept filling her sketchbooks with drawings.

Cats.

Birds.

Flowers.

Little adventures shown through pictures.

One evening, she proudly showed Kuro a page.

"Daddy!"

"It’s a story!"

He looked carefully.

The first picture was a rabbit.

The second one...

The rabbit meeting a turtle.

The third one...

Sharing an umbrella with him.

The last page was them watching the sunset together.

Kuro smiled.

"What happens next?"

Sora climbed on his lap.

"You tell me."

He chuckled.

"That’s how it goes?"

She nodded energetically.

"Stories are better when you tell them."

From that evening...

It became their favorite tradition.

Sora was drawing.

Kuro was creating a story for her.

Rika quietly observed them from the sofa, adding the two of them into her notebook.

Sometimes she even stole some of his bedtime stories for her own manga.

He always noticed.

She always pretended that he didn’t.

---

Soon enough...

Weekends became sacred in the Kurogane house.

The dining table was crowded with colored pencils, sketchbooks, markers, psychology books and cups of hot chocolate.

Rika was teaching Sora how to hold a pencil properly.

"Don’t worry about making it perfect."

"Just draw whatever makes you happy."

Kuro was sitting near them, imagining different adventures for each new drawing.

"This dragon isn’t scary."

"He’s just lonely."

"This princess doesn’t need to be saved."

"She’s searching for her lost library."

"This fox..."

"...Gathers forgotten dreams."

Sora was listening attentively, adding new features to every picture.

"No, Daddy!"

"The fox loves pancakes!"

Kuro chuckled.

"Of course he does."

Rika quietly smiled watching them.

Many years ago...

She fell in love with a quiet boy who could listen to other people’s hearts.

Now...

She was watching this very kind man becoming the best father she could imagine.

Their house was still filled with manuscripts.

Was still overflowing with psychology books.

Was still cluttered with coffee mugs and incomplete ideas.

Now...

There were colorful crayons lying on the floor.

Stacks of tiny sketchbooks near the sofa.

And the joyful laughter of a little girl who loved drawing long before she could write.

It was a little noisier.

A little messier.

And somehow...

More beautiful than either of them could have ever dreamed.

Morning sunlight shone brightly through the same old windows of the Kurogane household.

Over the years...

So many things in this house have changed.

However...

In some way...

Nothing really changed at all.

There are more books on the shelves.

More family photos on the walls.

Once clean dining table is now marked by the years of family meals, drawings and brainstorming sessions.

The hallway walls are still lined with Rika’s old drafts.

Kuro’s books of psychology occupy a separate room.

Even now...

Strange coffee cups appear in random places without anyone knowing when they appeared there.

Rika glanced around the living room.

"It still feels wonderfully messy."

Kuro chuckled.

"I’ve given up trying to organize this house years ago."

"You’ve done the right thing."

---

Upstairs...

The same familiar scratching sound filled the room.

Sora Kurogane sat at a large drawing desk.

No longer was she the little girl who used to draw on the walls with colored crayons.

Now she was a young woman sitting with an open sketchbook on her knees, lost in it.

Colored pencils laid around her.

Beside the sketchbook, there were a number of reference books.

Small vase with flowers lay between them.

Two photos were framed and hung on the wall.

One was of the cover of Rika’s first manga book.

The other photo was of Kuro’s favorite quote.

"Every story begins with someone willing to listen."

Sora smiled at both photos and returned to her illustration.

---

That afternoon...

A delivery arrived.

Rika opened the front door.

Several neatly packed boxes were placed before her.

Label on one of them read:

Author: Sora Kurogane

Title: The Little Fox Who Collected Stars

Rika placed her hands over her mouth.

"... They’re here."

Kuro brought one of the boxes into the living room.

Sora carefully opened it.

First printed copies of her first children’s picture book lay inside.

There was silence.

Sora slowly lifted one of them and ran her trembling fingers over her own name printed on the cover.

"... It’s real."

Tears gathered in Rika’s eyes.

"I know how that feels."

"You do."

Rika smiled.

"My first manga."

"I couldn’t look away from my own name."

Sora laughed.

"I guess I’ve inherited that tendency."

---

Quietly, Kuro opened the book.

Every single page was filled with watercolor drawings of a little fox.

Little fox went through the forest gathering falling stars carrying people’s dreams.

The story was simple.

Gentle.

Hopeful.

When Kuro came to the last page, he smiled.

"I know that fox."

"You do?"

"He loves pancakes."

Sora burst into laughter.

"You noticed!"

"Certainly."

"I grew up hearing those adventures."

Sora nodded.

"And now..."

"I wanted another kid to hear them too."

Kuro closed the book.

"I’m proud of you."

Sora smiled.

"... Thank you, Dad."

---

That evening...

The family was gathered in the living room.

Next to one of Rika’s early manga books lay her new picture book.

Two completely different generations of books looked oddly alike.

Rika noticed first.

"... Look."

Sora followed her gaze.

Both covers had the same gentle smile.

The same atmosphere.

Even the fox was the same.

"I didn’t even notice."

Rika smiled proudly.

"You have your own style."

"But your heart..."

She lightly tapped the cover of the book.

"... is unmistakable."

---

As the sun began to set, Kuro slowly walked down the hallway.

Family photos covered the wall.

His graduation.

Rika’s first serialization.

Their wedding.

The day Sora was born.

Drawing sessions on weekends.

Entrance ceremony into school.

Festivals.

Vacations.

Birthdays.

Many ordinary moments of life.

He stopped before one particular photo.

Young Rika was sitting amidst the sketchbooks and laughing at something out of the frame.

He remembered that day.

She was frustrated over her manuscript.

Five minutes later...

She managed to turn their conversation into a new manga Chapter.

He smiled to himself.

"So many stories..."

---

That night...

Dining table was more crowded than it had been in years.

Sora invited her husband.

Their little boy was sitting between his grandparents and happily drawing on a piece of paper.

Rika laughed.

"He’s drawing already."

Sora smiled knowingly.

"I wonder where he got it from."

Kuro looked at the little boy.

"What are you drawing?"

"Dad! Dragon!"

The boy proudly showed him the picture.

It featured big wings.

A tiny crown.

And...

For some reason...

A pancake.

Kuro blinked.

Rika immediately burst into laughter.

"The family tradition continues!"

Everybody at the table laughed.

Little boy smiled without understanding why.

For him...

It was just another dinner with his family.

Kuro looked around the table.

Rika, smiling still after so many years.

Sora, now telling her own stories.

Their little boy, drawing already on a blank page.

He silently understood something.

People knew Rika because of her manga which has inspired millions of people.

They knew him as the psychologist who has spent decades helping others heal.

These accomplishments were important.

He was grateful for them.

But they were not the greatest accomplishment either of them have achieved.

That honor belonged to something different.

To this house.

To these conversations.

To these shared meals.

To stories being told every evening before bed.

To laughter ringing throughout the dinner table.

To the family they have created.

As their little boy proudly announced he was going to draw an even bigger dragon tomorrow, Rika leaned lightly against Kuro.

She whispered with a satisfied smile,

"I think..."

"... this is my favorite Chapter."

Kuro looked around at the people he loved most.

Then gently took her hand under the table.

"I think so too."

While evening slowly fell over the neighborhood.

Three generations continued to talk, laugh, draw and dream together.

And for Kuro...

There could never be anything more beautiful than this.