In the rented villa, Kotegawa Sayaka sat in the living room with a lollipop in her mouth, her legs crossed, eyes closed as she rested.
Of course, the current calm was merely a facade.
From the constant clinking of the candy against her teeth and the phone in her hand that was nearly polished smooth from rubbing, she was actually panicking inside.
Whether it was Yuu, Nanaka, or Chisa, all the messages she sent were "Read" but never replied to. How could she be at ease!
If it weren't for the fact that you can't report an adult missing until they've been gone for forty-eight hours, she would have used her "reputation fruit" powers to ask acquaintances to search the water park!
Screech, phew...
Just as Kotegawa Sayaka's scalp was tingling with distress, the sound of an old vehicle braking came from outside. If there were no surprises, it should be her beat-up van.
"In the end, they slept the whole way back. Couldn't wake them up at all. Wait, Iori, you bastard, did you leave the lights on?!"
"Impossible! I even pulled the main breaker!"
"...What about the fridge then?"
Looking at Iori like he was an idiot, Miyazawa Yuu dashed upstairs in a few steps, pulled the key from his pocket, and twisted open the garage door.
There were two possibilities: the more unbearable one was that all the ice cream and meat he bought had spoiled; the other was that a thief had broken in.
Fortunately, the worst-case scenario didn't happen. However, no masked thief appeared either. The only person greeting his sight was his mother-in-law.
"Mother-in-law, why are you here? The stuff in the fridge..."
"It's all frozen solid. Should still be edible."
Sayaka let out a sigh of relief with her arms crossed. This was the first time she had seen Yuu so happy; after all, his appearance meant her two daughters were definitely fine.
But what was with focusing on the fridge immediately after entering? Shouldn't he at least ask why she came over?
"Ah~ that's good. As expected, Mother-in-law is reliable. Wait a second..."
Giving a relieved thumbs-up, Miyazawa Yuu didn't care why his mother-in-law was there. They were family anyway—what was wrong with a mother-in-law wanting to see her daughters?
He turned and waved to Iori, who poked his head out to say hello before ducking back into the semi-basement garage door.
Clang!
Kotegawa Sayaka had overheard their conversation and knew they might be going down to carry the sleepers up. However, just as she stood up, she was startled by the sound of a steel pipe hitting the ground.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on her back. She was very glad that, in order to maintain her dignity before the juniors, she hadn't rushed up to help open the door.
Otherwise, forget Yuu—if that kid Iori got a stress response and gave her a whack, Chisa and Nanaka might have to stay for a few more months.
Speaking of which, including her own husband, she had heard the guys at Grand Blue were more "martial" than the next. They even saved on security costs; it was truly convenient!
Huff... puff...
Within two minutes, Iori was carrying Kohei on his shoulder. Of the remaining three, Nanaka was being carried in a princess hold, while the other two were tucked under armpits and brought up.
Seeing both her daughters safe and sound, Kotegawa Sayaka finally relaxed and asked casually, "Why did you play so late? They're all exhausted like this?"
"Helped a friend with a favor first, then dropped off two idiots we ran into at a hotel..."
After placing the girls on the sofa, Miyazawa Yuu boiled some water to make tea for his mother-in-law before sitting down to explain further. "As for the exhaustion, it's because Aina and Chisa worked very hard today. They might be a bit mentally fatigued."
"Worked very hard?"
Mulling over the ambiguous answer, Kotegawa Sayaka looked at Kohei, who had been slapped awake by Iori and was groggily being instructed to go wash up and remove his makeup. She immediately understood what had happened.
Sure enough, besides the two Cakey, even Nanaka and Yuu had clearly visible hickeys on their necks, still tinged with red marks.
"Ah~ while it's good for young people to be enthusiastic, you must also know moderation."
"Understood, Mother-in-law!"
"I was talking about Kohei and Aina, not Nanaka and Chisa!"
Really having no way to deal with Miyazawa Yuu's one-sided claim of kinship, Kotegawa Sayaka noticed another detail: Chisa was frighteningly "clean."
It wasn't to say that was bad. In fact, from Sayaka's perspective, Nanaka shouldn't have been so impatient to decide her future.
But amidst the chaos, the "immaculate" Chisa always gave off a faint sense of detachment, as if she naturally kept a distance from others...
Her eyes dimmed. This was also why Kotegawa Sayaka was unwilling to support Chisa's dream; the "iceberg" attribute the latter inherited from her was naturally incompatible with the service industry!
"Chisa... and Iori?"
Taking advantage of Iori's temporary departure, she pushed aside the implication of pushing her daughter away and asked the question of her confusion.
"Who knows? But don't worry. These two always give me the feeling that they might just get married on the spot at any second."
"Married on the spot?!"
"Married on the spot?"
Kitahara Iori, who was tidying the beds, heard something interesting and immediately poked his head out. Seeing Kotegawa Sayaka shaking with anger, he figured Yuu must have angered her by saying he and Nanaka were getting married on the spot.
Really, he hoped his aunt's heart was strong enough, or she'd eventually be angered to death by her son-in-law...
"Why do you say that? Even if they are interested in each other, it wouldn't go that far!"
"If I really had to say, I can't quite explain it clearly. But Chisa is slowly becoming more honest, so..."
Changing the subject, Miyazawa Yuu looked at the fitfully sleeping Chisa and comforted with a mischievous smile, "How about you stay in Tokyo for a while, Manager? It'll save the trouble of traveling back and forth when they get married~"
"...I'm going home!"
With a bitter face, Kotegawa Sayaka stood up and walked out. She highly suspected Yuu was bluffing her, but she didn't dare to gamble!
Perhaps as a mother, she really should spend more time with her daughters, lest they be tricked away by bad men!
"No problem! Aina, I'll leave it to you to move Chisa and Nanaka to their beds!"
Knowing his scheme had likely succeeded, Miyazawa Yuu stood up with satisfaction and followed Sayaka toward the garage, shouting a direction toward the bathroom along the way.
"Mm, I got it..."
With a toothbrush in her mouth, Yoshiwara Aina poked her head out, her "ahoge" hair standing up wildly, but all that greeted her was the sound of the door closing.
"I'm never wearing makeup again, it's such a pain..."
After washing up sleepily, she grumbled as she walked to the sofa. With a look of envy, she first hoisted Kotegawa Nanaka and moved her to the bedding.
However, when she turned back to carry Chisa, Kohei had already entered the room with Iori. Before entering, Kohei had politely and habitually turned off the living room lights.
In the darkness, who else could the swaying, sleepy figure walking toward her be but Chisa?
"Chisa, you're already awake? How about washing up before going to sleep?"
"..."
Though her eyes were open, Kotegawa Chisa was oblivious to Yoshiwara Aina's inquiry. She just kept advancing mechanically before finally grabbing Aina's shoulders amidst her confusion.
"Aina? Actually, I have some questions I want to ask you."
"Questions? How about we sleep first and... tomorrow?"
Staring blankly at Chisa, Yoshiwara Aina saw that she was a bit unsteady, so she simply stepped forward and hugged her.
This way, she could prevent Chisa from falling while also making it easy to pat her head and coax her into bed to sleep.
However, to Aina's surprise, Chisa didn't respond to this, but instead repeated herself once more.
"Aina? Actually, I have some questions I want to ask you."
"Huh? Um... okay?"
She waved her hand in front of Chisa's face and finally discovered what was wrong—Chisa wasn't awake at all! No, it should be said she was sleepwalking!
Could it be that there was something very important at the water park she didn't ask, so she was still muttering about it even in her dreams?
Thinking this, she guided Chisa back to the bedding. However, the other girl's hand tightly gripped her pajamas; Aina couldn't break free for the time being and could only follow her wishes and agree to answer.
Sure enough, upon hearing the word "okay," Kotegawa Chisa's expression relaxed significantly. Questions like "What is 'liking'?" and "What does it feel like to love someone?" began to spill from her mouth.
Every time Yoshiwara Aina answered a question, Chisa's grip would loosen a bit, until... "Aina, what should I do for the first kiss?"
"Eh? That... stick your whole tongue out?"