"All right, all right, I was wrong," Kanae said with a smile. "I'm sorry I made you wait outside in this cold."
Kiyo Terauchi murmured from the side, "You were the one waiting outside. You wouldn't even let me knock. You said those two had been apart for a while and would want some time together, so we should be patient..."
Shinobu Kocho's face turned bright red. "That's not true."
Tetsu no Sosuke and Kanae exchanged a glance and couldn't help laughing.
Shinobu Kocho huffed. "I'm not talking to any of you. You're all mean."
With that, she got up and left.
"She seems to have grown up a little," Kanae said, smiling faintly as she watched Shinobu Kocho walk away.
"You mean her height?" Tetsu no Sosuke shaded his eyes with one hand. "Doesn't look like it."
"...If you keep doing that, she really will get angry."
"I'm only telling the truth."
After breakfast, Tetsu no Sosuke and Kanae went out for a walk.
They had just reached the doorway when Big Hammer came trotting over, a huge bone in his mouth and delight all over his face. The moment he spotted Tetsu no Sosuke and Kanae, he screeched to a halt, spun around twice, and pretended he hadn't seen them. He carried the bone to a corner by the wall, set it down, and lay there as if nothing had happened, pinning it beneath his big front paws.
Tetsu no Sosuke was so exasperated his hands shook. "Who's going to steal it from you?"
Big Hammer rested his head on his front paws and gave Tetsu no Sosuke an innocent look. His eyes darted about before he finally closed them.
Kanae doubled over laughing, and Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho hurried to steady her.
"That's