Breakfast Time for a Troubled Mind

The next morning, when Anjing Zhen finished washing up and came to the dining room, his parents had already prepared a traditional Japanese breakfast.

Steaming miso soup, grilled fish, rice, and natto were neatly laid out on the table.

He had barely sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and taken a few bites when he noticed that his mother, Kikou Misuzu, had been watching him the entire time. Her gaze carried curiosity and a hint of... regret?

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable under her stare, Anjing Zhen could not help touching his face. "Is there... something on my face I didn't wash off?"

"Oh my, not at all."

Kikou Misuzu came back to herself, propped her cheek up with one hand, and let out an exaggerated sigh.

"It's just that I never expected you to really come home and sleep last night. I thought you'd find some excuse to stay over at Little Kita's place."

The moment she said it, Anjing Kouichi, who had been quietly eating, nearly choked on his rice. He shot his wife a helpless look.

Anjing Zhen froze as well, his chopsticks suspended in midair, his face full of astonishment.

Watching their reactions, Kikou Misuzu blinked with an entirely matter-of-fact expression.

"Isn't that right? Little Zhen and Little Kita should be a perfect match, shouldn't they? You can bring her back to the family home already, and Little Zhen said before that he'd been to Little Kita's house too. With that kind of relationship... do I really need to spell it out?"

"...Misuzu!" Anjing Kouichi set down his bowl, reproach in his voice. "Don't talk nonsense."

"How is that nonsense?" Kikou Misuzu immediately retorted, turning to her husband. "Didn't you say before that Little Kita was a very good girl?"

Anjing Kouichi looked even more helpless. With a