After Reaching the Happy Ending, I Was Locked up by the Extremely Possessive Heroines I Had Conquered - Chapter 63: Setsubun Turns into a War Between the Heroines

Chapter 63: Setsubun Turns into a War Between the Heroines

“Setsubun season is here again this year, Onii-chan!”

“Y-yeah.”

“This year I’m definitely winning. No matter what it takes!”

“Got it. Do your best.”

“Why’re you acting like it’s got nothing to do with you?! We’re brother and sister—you’re supposed to cheer me on!”

“Even if you say cheer… I dunno.”

Today was February 2nd. The day before Setsubun.

It was a regular weekday, so I finished work, came home, and was finally soaking in a nice hot bath when suddenly Mahiru barged in and here we are now.

Still fully dressed, Mahiru was standing there in the bathroom, passionately telling me all about her feelings toward Setsubun while I sat in the tub.

It’s great that she’s so motivated, but seriously, read the room a little. TPO, y’know? TPO.

But to Mahiru—who’s already flunked credits at uni because she overslept—business etiquette probably means nothing. She planted both hands on the edge of the tub, eyes blazing like fire, and declared,

“This year I’m winning Setsubun for sure!”

※

—Setsubun.

It’s the event held every February 3rd, mostly to drive away bad things.

The classic way is shouting “Demons out! Luck in!” while throwing beans to chase away ogres. Eating ehomaki rolls is pretty common too, I guess.

But in our house, Setsubun means war.

Yeah, we still do the bean-throwing part, but it’s definitely not about getting rid of demons.

It’s straight-up war between the three of them: Mahiru, Satori, and Toa.

Sounds confusing, right? So let me explain the rules first.

Each of the three starts in her own room as her “base.”

They each get one bag of beans as weapons. Everyone tapes a paper balloon to their chest, and the match begins.

Basically it’s the same idea as regular bean-throwing: you hit someone’s balloon with a bean and when it pops they’re out. Each player has three “lives” (balloons). When all three are popped, game over.

Think of it as a bean-shooting FPS.

You wanna yell “Don’t waste food!” but like… Setsubun is literally an event where you throw beans around, so take it up with tradition, not me.

That’s what Mahiru always insists anyway. I personally don’t care either way, but cleaning up afterward is a pain, so it’s annoying.

And the winner gets the right to make one request—anything at all—to everyone else.

By the way, last year Toa won and kicked both Mahiru and Satori out of the house.

So Toa and I spent the whole day messing around together at home.

The year before that, Satori won.

She said her shoulders get super stiff from work, so I ended up giving her massages all day long. It was actual hell. My arms went dead; pretty traumatic, honestly.

So yeah, ever since we started doing this, Mahiru has never once won. That’s why she’s so fired up this year.

From my point of view, whoever wins just means I get hit with some annoying demand, so honestly I wish we’d cancel the whole thing for compliance reasons or whatever.

But judging by the vibe, it’s definitely happening tomorrow too.

Still, barging into the bathroom like this is going way too far.

Anyway, since it was the day before, the other two were also burning with fighting spirit. They were sitting on the sofa, sharpening their focus.

“This year I’m going for back-to-back titles, y’know? Senpai, look forward to it, okay?”

“Y-yeah.”

Toa looked super confident she’d win.

Last year she played dead, waited for the others to drop their guard, then stabbed them in the back—super dirty tactic. Wonder what she’s planning this time.

I doubt the same trick will work twice, though.

While I was thinking that, Satori spoke up.

“Akira, start practicing your massages now, okay?”

“Huh? Massages again this year?”

“Yep. I literally can’t live without Akira’s massages.”

She’s gotta be joking… right? But the look in her eyes was dead serious. While Toa was all loud confidence, Satori was quietly burning with determination.

“Onii-chan, look forward to whatever I’m gonna demand from you, okay?”

“Y-yeah.”

And Mahiru, of course, was acting like winning was already decided.

Wait, why do all three of them automatically assume they’re demanding stuff from me?

I’m not even allowed to participate in the bean-throwing.

Normally in these kinds of contests the participants just bet penalties or demands among themselves. That’s how games work.

Yet somehow in our house it’s taken for granted that I’m the one getting demanded from. That’s just unfair.

But by the third year, I didn’t even have the energy to complain anymore.

Plus I deliberately took paid leave tomorrow. Skipping work just to watch people throw beans at each other… that’s already a punishment game in itself.

Damn it. Should’ve put my foot down the first year.

But regretting it now is pointless.

So the night before Setsubun ended in this crackling, tense atmosphere.

…Or so I thought.

“Mahiru, what’re you doing over there?”

“O-Onii-chan?!”

In the middle of the night. I woke up to go to the bathroom and caught Mahiru doing something super suspicious. She was putting something under the sofa.

Is she setting traps or what?

“It’s not against the rules. The whole point of this game is that as long as you pop the balloons, anything goes. It’s basically MMA.”

Ah. So yeah, she’s setting traps after all.

Mahiru really is easy to read. She just confessed everything herself.

“Onii-chan, it’s okay, right? We’re brother and sister—we don’t choose means when it comes to winning, do we?”

“Is that so?”

“It is! Right, Onii-chan?”

Mahiru crept closer with this intense aura, probably planning to shut me up.

“Onii-chan? It’s fine, right?”

“I’ll keep quiet to the other two, so can you please stop grabbing my shoulders?”

“Are you really sure? I don’t think Onii-chan can handle torture from both of them. You’re always the one getting pushed around normally, aren’t you?”

“…That’s different. I’ll be fine. I’ve grown too, y’know.”

“Really? For real?”

Mahiru shook my shoulders hard for emphasis. How does such a tiny body produce that much strength?

I always think this, but it’s seriously baffling.

※

The next morning.

After getting tortured by the other two, I was completely drained, staring blankly into space. The bean-throwing was about to start.

But there was no sign of the match beginning because Satori and Toa were busy removing all of Mahiru’s traps.

“Ah! Found one here!”

“There’s another one over here too.”

“……………………”

They kept discovering trap after trap.

Mahiru watched with a super dissatisfied look.

“…Onii-chan, you idiot.”

“Sorry.”

I had no choice but to apologize. After all, I’m the one who spilled that Mahiru set traps.

“I wanted to make some crazy demands on Onii-chan too!”

“Crazy ones?”

“That’s why I stayed up all night setting traps! How am I supposed to win now?”

“Just hit them with beans normally?”

“…Onii-chan, you idiot.”

Huh? Isn’t that literally the game? Did I say something wrong?

About an hour later—probably because the other two had zero trust in Mahiru—they finished a full-on spring-cleaning-level search, and finally the game started.

Our family’s Setsubun had officially begun!

※

“Fufu, Onii-chan! I’m absolutely winning!”

“Aren’t you way too hyped?”

“Of course I am! If I win I’ll be a millionaire!”

“Well, yeah, the dream is there.”

The place was buzzing with excitement.

Amid all that, I turned toward where everyone’s eyes were glued.

On the green turf, eighteen racehorses were thundering past. People were going wild, completely caught up in the heated race.

Yep. We were at the racetrack. Horses run, you bet on finishing order, money goes up or down. Public gambling spot.

In the end, Mahiru won Setsubun.

She actually had one more trap hidden, and Toa got caught in it early and had to retire.

The final showdown was a heated one-on-one between Mahiru and Satori, but then Mahiru pulled out the forbidden move—she scattered black pepper everywhere. The second Satori sneezed, the match was decided.

If it means winning, no tactic is off-limits.

That phrase fit Mahiru’s victory perfectly, and she finally claimed her first-ever win.

So now Mahiru and I were at the racetrack together, but… why the racetrack? That part I still didn’t get.

“Number one! The horse in frame one, number one is the strongest! It’s gotta be!”

Mahiru was clutching her betting ticket and screaming next to me.

I was feeling kinda conflicted thinking my little sister had turned into a full-on gambler when she muttered in a small voice,

“I have to make back the tuition I wasted from repeating a year… otherwise I’m socially dead.”

Yeah… classic gambler mindset.

“It lost… lost again.”

“Yeah, figures.”

“What do you mean ‘yeah, figures’?! I’m seriously trying to win here! Buy a ticket too, Onii-chan!”

“I’m kinda…”

If I lose too much Satori’s gonna get mad at me.

Since she used to be the heir of one of the big three families, Satori is super strict about money.

“It’s about lunchtime—wanna grab something to eat?”

“But my part-time pay is already…”

“Today’s on me. Winner’s privilege from Setsubun, right?”

“Really?!”

Mahiru’s eyes sparkled like crazy.

I didn’t wanna see my own sister go broke at the racetrack, but basically, just do stuff other than betting. Eat food, walk around the place, whatever.

“Eat whatever you want. As much as you want.”

“Got it! Let’s eat a ton. I want fried chicken, and frankfurters are a must. Maybe I should drink beer to sharpen my judgment too.”

“Probably better to skip the alcohol.”

“It’s necessary to speed up my thinking.”

“…Right.”

“Onii-chan, let’s hurry!”

With that, Mahiru grabbed my hand.

Winning Setsubun and ending up on a racetrack date was pretty out there, but honestly? I was okay with it.

Because at the racetrack, I got to see so many different expressions on Mahiru’s face.

Seeing her happy, angry, sad, excited—it was fun.

And that’s how our Setsubun came to an end.