It's a romantic comedy for everyone, so why am I the only one single?

But when she was introduced to Hoshino Ai and Motoko, she suddenly felt a little shy.

"Aren't you really going to come in and sit down?"

Hori Kyoko quickly looked away from Hoshino Ai and Motoko with a slightly flustered and guilty expression, and looked back at Iura Hide, saying, "I'll have dinner ready soon. If you don't mind, you can stay and eat with us."

"No need," Iura Hide explained with a smile, "Tonight is our family dinner day, so let's do it another time."

"That's it"

Upon learning that it was a family dinner day, Hori Kyoko did not try to persuade them to stay any longer.

"See you at school tomorrow?"

"Okay, see you at school tomorrow!"

Iura Hide smiled and waved goodbye to her, forgetting about the incident before even getting home.

Although he felt a little regretful that Miyamura Izumi had missed the opportunity to 'exchange secrets' with Hori Kyoko, he couldn't really blame himself, could he?

Miyamura Izumi, fearing being recognized, turned and ran away first, without him even calling her back.

However, Kyoko Hori was still somewhat absent-minded even when it was time to eat. While cooking, she almost cut her hand several times or nearly burned the pot dry. Even a child like Sota Hori noticed that something was wrong with her.

"Nei-chan, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Me? Nothing's wrong."

Once she came to her senses, Hori Kyoko calmly said...

Fooling a child is a piece of cake, isn't it? Besides, his younger brother Horita is an idiot.

Hori Sōta was unaware that his older sister was internally criticizing him. After glancing at Hori Kyoko, he didn't press the matter further. Instead, he asked expectantly, "So when can we invite that older brother to our house to play next time?"

"Huh? Coming to our house?" This time, Hori Kyoko couldn't help but be taken aback.

"Yeah, didn't you say you'd invite that older brother over for dinner next time?"

"That was just a polite gesture!"

Kyoko Hori was speechless when she saw Sota Hori's 'innocent' expression.

Unfortunately, young Hori Sota doesn't seem to understand what politeness is, or rather, even if he did, he wouldn't care at all.

"I want to play with the older brother!"

“I’m afraid that won’t work. Mr. Iura is usually very busy,” Hori Kyoko said.

She wasn't entirely fooling Hori Sota.

Because they've been having lunch together every day recently, she's gotten to know more about Iura Hide during their casual conversations, so she knows that Iura Hide has indeed been quite busy lately.

However, children are usually quite willful.

Even though Hori Sota is usually quite well-behaved and obedient, he can become willful in situations like this.

"I don't care! I just want to play with the older brother!"

Hori Sota didn't make a fuss, but just stared at Hori Kyoko with teary eyes, which made Hori Kyoko feel annoyed.

After a minute-long, mutually exclusive stare, Hori Kyoko finally chose to compromise.

"Okay, okay, I'll try my best to invite him, but I can't guarantee he'll come, since he's usually really busy," Hori Kyoko said helplessly.

Unfortunately, Hori Sota only heard the first half of the sentence and cheered happily, so naturally he didn't hear the second half.

Fortunately, at this time, Iura Hide was unaware that his brother-in-law's "assistance" had been transferred to him, otherwise he might not have even been able to eat, since he really didn't need Hori Sota's help to get him and Hori Kyoko together.

"Onii-chan, don't we need to put these vegetables in?"

"Yes, we're having Chinese hot pot today. These vegetables and meats were added after the broth boiled."

"That's it"

Seeing the adorable way Kiko unconsciously twitched her little nose, drawn by the delicious aroma, Iura Hide couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, let it keep cooking for now. I'll teach you how to make the dipping sauce."

Although they opted for a clear broth hot pot base because neither Motoko nor Hoshino Ai can handle spicy food, the addition of authentic Chinese dipping sauces made this hot pot meal more Chinese-style than sukiyaki.

About ten minutes later, after he had guided the two of them to prepare the dipping sauce, the hot pot was already bubbling away.

"Okay, you can cook it now. Just simmer it for a little while."

The three of them sat around the dining table, watching intently as Iura Hide put the sliced ​​beef into the boiling hot pot.

The room was filled with the enticing aroma of hot pot. Not to mention Hoshino Ai, who had never eaten anything good since childhood, even Motoko couldn't help but secretly wipe her mouth, staring longingly at the beef in the pot that was gradually changing color, and then turning to look at Iura Shu. Her expression was quite amusing.

Even the usually dignified and composed Hisako Iura couldn't help but laugh when she saw this.

"Alright, let's eat!"

"Ah! Itadakimashi!"

As if they had heard the starting gun, the four of them couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks and start eating.

To be honest, because the soup base was not authentic and was a clear broth, the taste of this hot pot was only so-so in the opinion of Iura Hide.

But eating is often not just about the taste.

For Hoshino Ai in particular, this was probably the best meal she had ever eaten in her life.

When Kiko and Hisako Iura learned that this was not impolite but normal Chinese dining etiquette, they followed Iura Hide's example and kept putting beef into her bowl.

Hoshino Ai looked at the bowl of beef that had been piled high in no time, and then at the three people's gentle, friendly, and loving gazes, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Xiao Ai, what's wrong?"

Sitting opposite her, Kiko noticed her unusual behavior and couldn't help but ask her with concern.

“No, nothing.”

Hoshino Ai sniffed hard and hurriedly raised the back of her hand to wipe away her tears, but at that moment, a soft, white tissue was handed to her.

"Onii-chan?"

Hoshino Ai subconsciously turned her head, and the moment her eyes met Iura Shu's gentle, smiling gaze, the tears she had managed to hold back fell uncontrollably once again.

"Idiot, why are you crying? You should be happy right now!" Hoshino Ai shouted in her heart.

At that moment, she was incredibly grateful to have met Iura Hide and to have become a member of this family.

This feeling of being surrounded by love gave her a happiness she had never experienced before.

But that wasn't enough; she was a greedy child, so she wanted even more!

Reaching out to take the tissue, Hoshino Ai vigorously wiped away her tears, and a bright smile returned to her face. First, she placed a slice of freshly cooked beef on the plates of Motoko and her mother, and then placed a slice on the plate of Iura Shu.

This time, however, she didn't just put it in a bowl.

"Onii-chan, ah~~~"

""

Iura Hide glanced at his mother out of the corner of his eye, feeling a little guilty. Seeing that she didn't seem to notice, he quickly ate the beef that had been fed to him.

Across from her, Kiko was slightly taken aback upon seeing this, feeling a little jealous, but more than that, she looked like she had learned something. She then followed suit, picking up a piece of beef and feeding it to Iura Hide.

So he barely touched his chopsticks after that, because he was already too full to eat anymore.

"I'll clean it up!"

"No need, let's go together! Consider it exercise after dinner~"

After dinner, everyone first took all the pots and pans to the kitchen to wash them clean.

Then, Iura Hide first gave Ai his laptop so she could use it temporarily, and then planned to call Motoko to take a shower.

There's no way around it, hot pot is delicious, but after eating it you'll not only sweat a lot, but you'll also have a strong smell on you, even if it's a clear broth.

Although he doesn't have any obsessive-compulsive disorder or germaphobia, writing "April" while covered in sweat and smelling of hot pot feels somewhat disrespectful to this masterpiece in his heart.

But as soon as he grabbed his change of clothes and opened Kiko's door, he saw Hoshino Ai in Kiko's room, chatting with her.

"Nei-chan is talking to me about things to be careful about when going to school tomorrow."

Before he could ask, Hoshino Ai took the initiative to explain why she had come to see Motoko.

Iura Hide suddenly realized, and smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, Sakuragaoka Junior High is a pretty good school. Although the teaching quality is hard to say, the management is quite standardized. Motoko used to be a gloomy person at school and didn't even have any friends, but she was never bullied."

Upon hearing Iura Hide mention her embarrassing secret, Motoko blushed and became displeased.

"Onii-chan!"

"Okay, anyway, don't worry~"

"Ok!"

Hoshino Ai covered her mouth and chuckled, then nodded obediently.

Although she transferred to a completely new environment, this meant that no one knew about her past or her mother.

Furthermore, since she was in the same class as Kiko, she wasn't worried about going to school tomorrow. Her purpose in coming to find Kiko was actually...

"Is Onii-chan here to take a bath with Kiko-chan?"

Hoshino Ai blinked her big, sparkling purple eyes, quickly glanced at the clothes Iura Shu was holding, and casually asked, pretending to be nonchalant.

Iura Hide knew that Hoshino Ai had discovered yesterday that he and Motoko had taken a bath together, so he wasn't surprised.

But not Kiko.

As soon as Hoshino Ai finished speaking, Motoko froze instantly. Then, with her impure thoughts to begin with, she nervously glanced at Hoshino Ai as if she had done something wrong. Seeing that Hoshino Ai did not show any unusual expression, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Uh, yeah."

This time, Iura Hide keenly noticed the eager glint in Hoshino Ai's eyes, and with a sudden thought, he roughly guessed what she was thinking.

Sure enough, Hoshino Ai then said quite naturally, "Then I'll come too!"

"Eh!?"

Before Iura Hide could even speak, Kiko had already instinctively gasped in surprise.

Hoshino Ai is going to take a bath with Iura Shu? How can that be? They're not even biological siblings!

The problem is, if we reject Hoshino Ai for this reason, won't Hoshino Ai feel that she is being treated differently because of her status as an adopted daughter?

Seeing the tension, trepidation, and anticipation in Hoshino Ai's eyes, Iura Shu couldn't help but frown slightly, feeling somewhat conflicted.