"Whoa."
Kitagawa Hotaru nodded very seriously, then asked just as seriously:
"Whose hair was longer, yours or Mom's?"
"Hmm, we never compared. Probably about the same."
Kitagawa Ryo could barely remember how long Horikita Suzune's hair had been back then. It had been more than ten years ago, after all. For all those years, Horikita Suzune had always been known for her short hair. Now that he was trying to picture it, he really couldn't.
"Back then, I even made a special trip to Tokyo to help fix Suzune's awkward personality and sort out the marriage contract. Suzune was really the kind of person nobody liked, but she thought there was nothing wrong with her and treated everything her brother said as gospel."
Kitagawa Ryo was reminiscing about his passionate younger days, but Hotaru was only eight. It would've been a miracle if she could understand any of it. She tilted her head and put on an adorably thoughtful expression, but in the end, she gave up trying to make sense of it and leaned softly against Kitagawa Ryo's shoulder.
"Daddy, I don't understand."
"It's normal not to understand. Anyway, when we graduated, the representatives from all four classes took a group photo as a memento."
Kitagawa Ryo picked up a couple of hair ties from the bedside table and began tying his daughter's hair. Today, he went with twin tails. Before long, two ponytails hung down over Kitagawa Hotaru's chest, making the little girl look even sweeter and more well-behaved.
"But, Daddy, there are five people in the picture, including you."
Kitagawa Ryo had clearly meant to end the conversation, but Kitagawa Hotaru still shook his arm earnestly, determined to get to the bottom of it.
"Well... that's a secret."
Kitagawa Ryo stared into his daughter's dark eyes, then