"Mom! Where did you go? I looked all over for you!"
Seeing her mother sitting on the bed after searching for her for ages, Ayano sat down beside Suzuran Mari, a little annoyed.
She'd searched high and low, but hadn't seen Suzuran Mari anywhere or heard so much as a peep from her.
And now Mari was sitting here as if nothing had happened?
"Yeah, yeah! Aunt Mari, where did you go?" Fukayama Natsuki chimed in.
She scanned the entire bedroom, opened the closet, looked under the bed, and even lifted the covers over Suzuran Mari.
She couldn't find the blond-haired guy she was worried about.
"S-sorry, Ayano. I was half-asleep earlier and think I wandered into your room. I didn't hear you."
She'd never expected that one day she'd have to lie to her daughter because of a male classmate she'd brought home.
Mrs. Suzuran lifted a hand to tuck the strands of hair by her ear, her face bright red.
"Really? Mom, you need to know your limits with work. I know you're famous for writing scripts and all, but you still need to take care of yourself. Look at the time! And you've still got the curtains drawn."
Suzuran Ayano didn't read too much into her mother's explanation.
She was more or less used to her mother being unreliable. Her mother had always been like that.
Having a mother like that was what had made Suzuran Ayano the way she was.
"Look, Mom, the window's open. Why didn't you open the curtains, too?"
"You're impossible! The floor's a little damp, too."
"My classmate's here today. He's a boy, so you can't go outside wearing a see-through nightgown like that! Got it?!"
But it was already too late, Ayano.
Your mother had already met that classmate of yours.
Behind your back, too.
"I understand. Don't worry." Suzuran Mari replied with great dignity. "Do you think I'm a child? I know all that."
"Good," Suzuran Ayano said helplessly.
Just when Suzuran Mari thought she'd managed to preserve her dignity as a mother, she noticed Fukayama Natsuki staring intently at her.
Why had that girl's eyes suddenly become so sharp?
Unable to withstand Natsuki's piercing gaze, Suzuran Mari smiled at her. "What is it, Natsuki? Why are you looking at Auntie like that? Do I look pretty just after waking up?"
"Aunt Mari is always the prettiest person in Natsuki's eyes!" Fukayama Natsuki answered firmly.
The admiration she felt for Suzuran Mari was unmistakable.
But then she suddenly asked, "Aunt Mari, have you already met that scary blond guy?"
"H-huh? What are you talking about, Natsuki?" Suzuran Mari's heart lurched, but she kept her composure.
"Then why is the window open, but the curtains still closed?"
Fukayama Natsuki stood right where she was, watching Suzuran Mari.
"I opened it last night and forgot to close it."
Suzuran Mari replied.
"Then why was Aunt Mari's bedroom door open when we came in?"
Fukayama Natsuki continued pressing her, her gaze sweeping over the entire bedroom.
"Yeah, Mom! Your door was still closed when I got up this morning," Suzuran Ayano added, sounding puzzled.
"What's strange about that? I came out once after you got up," Suzuran Mari answered calmly.
She didn't specify when, and there was no need to explain every little detail. Suzuran Mari's answer sounded perfectly reasonable.
"Oh, right."
Ayano nodded, understanding.
Looking at her daughter, Suzuran Mari could only laugh helplessly.
The girl really had inherited her genes. Sometimes she could be so scatterbrained.
"All right, Natsuki, stop asking questions. I want to rest."
The biggest problem right now was Fukayama Natsuki.
Suzuran Mari and Natsuki were so close that Mari was practically Natsuki's adoptive mother.
That was why Natsuki was so at ease around her and felt bold enough to look all over the room.
"Natsuki, let's go and let Mom rest a little longer," Ayano said, giving her another assist.
She tried to lead Natsuki out, and Suzuran Mari hoped she would.
But Fukayama Natsuki ignored them both. She picked up a pair of slippers beside the bed and asked in a low voice, "Then what are these slippers? They aren't Aunt Mari's, are they? They look like a guy's. These are the ones that blond guy wore, right? Why are they beside Aunt Mari's bed?!"
When Suzuran Ayano saw the slippers, she recognized them as the ones Akimoto Yoichi had worn.
She was puzzled, too.
Both girls turned their eyes toward Suzuran Mari.
"Didn't I say I got up? I went out barefoot, and when I saw these slippers on the way to the bathroom, I put them on and wandered into Ayano's room to rest. What's the problem?"
Suzuran Mari's expression gradually turned serious as she assumed the air of a mother.
After being questioned again and again, she couldn't just keep answering their questions.
Her gaze sharpened as she stared at Fukayama Natsuki, who looked a little intimidated.
"Natsuki, what's gotten into you? Why are you acting so strangely today?"
"First the window, then the bedroom door, and now the slippers?"
"If you keep this up, Auntie won't like it. Maybe I should stop letting you come into my room whenever you want."
Only someone who had been falsely accused knew how unfair it felt.
Under Fukayama Natsuki's relentless questioning, Suzuran Mari counterattacked by playing the authority-of-an-adult card.
Sure enough, as soon as Suzuran Mari said that, Natsuki turned into a little kitten.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Mari! I was just worried that someone might bully my favorite Aunt Mari! Auntie, give me a hug!"
The clingy Fukayama Natsuki flopped onto Suzuran Mari's bed and buried her little head in her arms.
Suzuran Mari and Ayano didn't notice Natsuki's nose twitching repeatedly.
"All right, all right. Don't do that again, or Auntie will get mad, too." Suzuran Mari patted Fukayama Natsuki on the back.
At last, Suzuran Mari's anger had settled. Ayano and Natsuki obediently left the bedroom and closed the door.
"Natsuki, don't say things like that to Mom again. She really will get mad," Ayano cautioned her.
She could tell that Natsuki had been acting strangely.
Natsuki had been suspicious from the start.
She suspected something had happened between Akimoto Yoichi and her mother, but Ayano wouldn't believe it for a second.
"No! I wasn't trying to make Aunt Mari mad. I really found something wrong! That blond guy is seriously suspicious!" Fukayama Natsuki protested.
The moment she entered Mrs. Suzuran's bedroom, she'd smelled a familiar scent.
It was the aroma of the beef and potato curry Natsuki had made herself, with her special garam masala.
The curry had been spilled all over that blond guy, so its smell should only have been on him. Of course, it was on Natsuki, too.
It shouldn't have been in Mrs. Suzuran's bedroom.
Ayano wouldn't notice it, and Akimoto Yoichi wasn't very perceptive, but Fukayama Natsuki had a keen sense of smell and had made the curry herself. She'd caught it.
Although Suzuran Mari had given what seemed like perfectly reasonable answers to every question, Natsuki had been even more certain she was right when she hugged her just now.
That blond guy had really touched Mrs. Suzuran—and not with something as innocent as a handshake.
Otherwise, Suzuran Mari wouldn't have had the smell of curry on her!
And on top of that, they couldn't see Akimoto Yoichi now—only Suzuran Mari.
Earlier, Ayano had heard Akimoto Yoichi's voice but hadn't seen Suzuran Mari.
Wasn't this exactly like the plot of one of those little adult comics Fukayama Natsuki had read?
The girlfriend invited her boyfriend over for the night. Then, in the middle of the night, she discovered he was gone, while her mother's room was locked from the inside.
"Are you still suspicious of Akimoto-kun? Natsuki, that's not nice."
In Fukayama Natsuki's eyes, Ayano, standing there and saying that, was just like the girlfriend in one of those comics!
Even so, Fukayama Natsuki couldn't believe that the Suzuran Mari she admired and adored would willingly do something like that.
The blond guy must have made the first move! He'd been planning this all along!
Natsuki had thought the blond guy was after Ayano. She'd never imagined he'd make his move, change his position, and steal Ayano's "home" instead.
Because she was worried about losing face and damaging her reputation, Aunt Mari had lied to them and suffered in silence.
"B-but, Ayano..."
Just as Fukayama Natsuki tried to explain, a voice came from downstairs.
"Ayano! I'm here!"
"Maya's here."
"Mm, and Nishida's here, too. Akimoto-kun's in the yard talking to her about something."
"Nishida? Akimoto-kun is already downstairs? I hope he doesn't argue with Nishida. We're all working hard together for the Student Council selection."
As she spoke, Suzuran Ayano left Fukayama Natsuki behind and headed downstairs.
Watching Ayano's back, Fukayama Natsuki could only stamp her little foot.
Before you continue