Tokyo: After years of stagnation, the heiress of the yakuza arrives.

Bulgari Hotel, Tokyo.

"Sashimi?"

"squeak?"

"Sushi?"

"squeak?"

Tempura?

"squeak?"

In the living room of the presidential suite, Yoshiko Sawamura sat cross-legged on a soft carpet, with three small white porcelain dishes lined up in front of her. To her left was freshly sliced ​​bluefin tuna sashimi from the hotel kitchen.

In the middle were several pieces of sushi that she had picked up with her chopsticks and moved far away, while on the right was fried shrimp tempura, which had just been taken off the food cart and was still steaming hot.

Big Black squatted on the edge of the coffee table, the light blue bow on its back swaying gently with its breath. Its beady black eyes glanced at the sashimi first, then at the sushi...

Finally, looking at the yellow tiger-eared old woman who had asked the question three times in a row, each time as if she were conducting a major diplomatic negotiation, a question mark seemed to slowly emerge from her pointed head.

No, buddy.

Why don't you bring the food over here? Asking from this distance, how can a rat eat it?

You've given me the things!

Yoshiko Sawamura completely failed to grasp Daikoku's true thoughts. She only felt that the repeated, questioning "squeaks" must mean that the noble fancy mouse in front of her was seriously considering tonight's menu. After all, true nobles pay attention to the order in which they eat, unlike a certain pink-haired girl who would elbow an old lady first.

"Want to eat them all?"

"squeak."

Big Black took a small step forward.

Yoshiko Sawamura's eyes lit up, and she immediately pushed all three plates forward at once: "I knew it! You're different from those smooth-headed ordinary rats outside. Come on, pick whatever you like, there's more if you're not satisfied. I brought back a whole fish today!"

Dahei lowered its head to sniff the sushi, and just as it was about to get closer, its nose suddenly touched a bit of wasabi peeking out from under the rice. It jerked its head back and turned to leave...

Without the slightest hesitation.

Sushi is poisonous.

This family also has problems.

At least one of the two people, a human and a rat, was almost killed by sushi, and the other was nearly attacked with wasabi as soon as he got close. Why can such dangerous food be placed openly on the table? What exactly is the Tokyo food safety department doing?

Yoshiko Sawamura watched as Daikoku quickly moved away from the sushi, her admiration deepening: "You're really smart. You know sushi isn't a good thing, right? I've been killed by it three times in the last two days. The first time I choked, the second time I choked again, and the third time I almost died."

Big Black: "..."

It couldn't understand the whole thing.

But judging from Yoshiko Sawamura's complete performance of pointing at the sushi, touching her neck, rolling her eyes, sticking out her tongue, and finally lying down on the carpet with her hands clasped together, this human female should also know that the thing is very dangerous. It's just that I don't know why she would eat it three times in a row knowing the danger. Maybe this is what Shido Kuroba usually refers to as the special entertainment of the rich.

"Look, one bite and the person is gone!" Yoshiko Sawamura got up from the carpet again, picked up the piece of sushi with her chopsticks, stretched her arm out straight, and placed it in the farthest place in the room from her.

Big Black nodded seriously.

Yoshiko Sawamura froze.

Did you nod just now?

Unsure, let me take another look.

"Can you understand me?"

Big Black tilted its head.

Yoshiko Sawamura picked up a slice of tuna sashimi that wasn't dipped in soy sauce: "Nod if you understand."

Big Black nodded immediately.

Yoshiko Sawamura: "!!!"

So smart?

This is not just about being able to understand; it also knows how to adjust the answers based on the food available to humans. If placed in the Sawamura family, it would be at least 300 times more sensible than some unfilial pink-haired girl who eats food bought by her mother, sleeps in hotels booked by her mother, and then beats her mother in the end!

Yoshiko Sawamura handed over the sashimi. Dahei didn't pounce on it immediately. Instead, it glanced at the surface of the fish to make sure there was no soy sauce, wasabi, or other pungent smell before taking it with its two front paws. It sat back on the edge of the coffee table and began to chew. Its movements were skilled and steady, and the light blue bow on its back twitched slightly. For some reason, it really did have the feel of a delicate pet mouse.

"They'll also inspect the food?"

"squeak."

"Can't eat too much salt?"

Big Black nodded.

"You can't eat spicy food either?"

He continued nodding.

Yoshiko Sawamura became more and more excited as she asked questions. She broke off a small piece of tempura batter and handed it to him. Dahei sniffed it but didn't take it. Instead, he raised his paw and scratched at the exposed shrimp meat next to him, his meaning quite clear.

No, not from outside.

The details inside are negotiable.

"I understand!" Yoshiko Sawamura broke open the fried shrimp, took out the shrimp meat in the middle that wasn't coated with too much seasoning, blew on it to cool it down, and put it on a small plate. Only then did Dahei reach out its paw and take it away, eating it little by little with its pointed head, looking quite satisfied with the service.

The hotel kitchen had just finished processing the whole bluefin tuna. In addition to sashimi and sushi, they also brought out a small portion of tempura, chawanmushi, grilled fish, and clear soup. Originally, I was just worried that Yoshiko Sawamura had just survived a sushi incident and would be hungry again to challenge herself for the fourth time that night, so I prepared some safe food in advance. Who knew that my great mother hadn't even eaten a few bites herself before she started a private tasting session for a big black rat in the presidential suite.

Yoshiko Sawamura rearranged the plates, placing the unseasoned fish on the left, the shrimp on the right, and a small piece of white rice she had salvaged from under the sushi in the middle. Then, with her hands on her knees, her expression gradually turned serious: "Daikoku, now I'm going to test your intelligence. Listen carefully: if you want to eat the left side, say it once; if you want to eat the right side, say it twice; if you want to eat the middle, stand up."

Big Black hugged the shrimp meat and chewed.

test?

What test?

Didn't they say you could eat whatever you wanted? Why do you have to answer questions after just a couple of bites? No wonder the boss always says that the free food for rich people is the most expensive. There are tricks everywhere in life.

Yoshiko Sawamura waited for a long time without getting a reply, so she picked up the fish on the left and gently waved it in front of Daikoku: "This one, say it."

"squeak."

The fish meat fell into the dish.

Yoshiko Sawamura picked up the shrimp meat on the right again: "This one, two sounds."

"Squeak, squeak."

The shrimp meat also fell back down.

"What about in the middle?"

Dahei glanced at the rice, then obediently stood up on its two hind legs, placing its two front paws on its belly, revealing the light blue bow on its back. Sawamura Yoshiko gasped, as if she had discovered some new species that could shock the Tokyo pet world.

"genius!"

Big Black: "?"

Isn't this what I just taught you?

Yoshiko Sawamura's ears practically stood up with excitement, and she immediately increased the difficulty of the test: "Then let me ask you, do you want to eat another slice of sashimi?"

Big Black nodded.

"Am I the gentlest, prettiest, and youngest beautiful girl in all of Tokyo?"

Big Black looked at her.

I looked at the fish again.

Finally, he nodded earnestly.

well.

The question isn't important; what matters is getting food if you answer correctly. Having followed Shido Kuroba for so long, Kuroba has long understood a fundamental survival logic: there are no absolutely correct answers in the world, only answers that those who control the distribution of food want to hear.

"Good eye!" Yoshiko Sawamura beamed, and the third piece of fish arrived on the spot.

Big Black lowered its head and started eating.

Yoshiko Sawamura glanced towards the bathroom again; the sound of water was still going on. Behind the frosted glass, she could vaguely see a long, pink-haired figure. Then, lowering her voice and speaking mysteriously to Daikoku, she asked, "One last question, is the pink-haired girl very fierce?"

Big Black stopped eating.

It doesn't recognize any little pink fur.

However, when this human female asked the question, her eyes kept looking towards the bathroom, her voice suddenly became softer, and there were still faint marks on her face from the previous beating. Combining this with the method of judging dangerous people in Tokyo taught by Kuroba Shido, the answer should be quite obvious.

Big Black cautiously glanced towards the bathroom.

Then he nodded.

Yoshiko Sawamura almost burst into tears.

A true friend!

After so many days in Tokyo, finally there is a living creature that can understand the hardships of the great mother. The hotel staff don't understand, the sushi doesn't understand, and although Amamiya saved her, she chose to leave temporarily after seeing the little pink-haired girl clench her fists. Only this purebred noble fancy rat that she has only known for a short time has stood firmly on her side under the dual test of food and life safety.

"Were you bullied by her too?"

Big Black: "Squeak?"

"No need to say anything, I understand!" Yoshiko Sawamura stretched out a hand. Dahei looked at her palm, then remembered the process of food being delivered to the account, and tentatively raised its front paw and gently placed it on her hand.

Snapped.

A man and a mouse completed a historic handshake.

The Sawamura Anti-Germany Alliance is officially established!

The sound of water in the bathroom stopped.

Yoshiko Sawamura and Daikoku turned their heads at the same time.

The great mother reacted quickly, grabbing the small plate and placing the last two pieces of unseasoned sashimi in front of Big Black: "Eat up, or there won't be any left when Little Pink Hair comes out!"

Big Black also sensed a dangerous change in the air. He immediately grabbed one in each hand, puffed out his cheeks rapidly, and bobbed his head back and forth, while the light blue bow on his back swayed wildly.

The bathroom door opened.

Warm steam wafted out as Ritsu Sawamura walked into the living room wearing a loose nightgown. Her long, wet pink hair hung down her shoulders, a towel was draped over her head, and her face was flushed slightly from the steam. After taking a bath, the fatigue that had accumulated during the day had finally dissipated.

Then he stopped walking.

Beside the coffee table, Yoshiko Sawamura sat cross-legged on the carpet, holding a slice of sashimi in her left hand and a small plate of shrimp in her right. Her face was beaming with a bright smile, as if she had found a half-brother. Dahei squatted directly opposite her, each of its two front paws holding a slice of tuna, chewing rapidly. Between the two of them were sushi, tempura, rice, clear soup, and a chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) that had been brought over at some point.

Ritsuki Sawamura: "..."

What is this?

A human-rat buffet?

She just went in to take a shower, how did this old lady manage to establish diplomatic relations with a giant rat of unknown origin? At the current rate of development, if she showered for another half hour, would she come out to find a person and a rat kneeling on the carpet, kowtowing and becoming sworn brothers to a whole bluefin tuna?

"Auntie"

Yoshiko Sawamura stiffened, then casually placed the piece of fish she was holding into the large black dish, as if she hadn't been the one urging the black dog to destroy the evidence just moments before: "All done washing, little pinky?"

"What are you doing?"

"Feed Big Black."

"I can see it." Ritsuki Sawamura dried her hair with a towel, her gaze falling on the paws of the large black dog that had stepped over the coffee table, grabbed fish, and just shaken hands with Yoshiko Sawamura. Her brows furrowed slightly. "My question is, why are you so close to a mouse?"

Big Black paused in its eating.

Yoshiko Sawamura immediately raised her hand to cover Big Black's two ears. Although the mouse's ears were on the side of its head, her covering them only made the pointed head even more pointed and had no practical effect: "Keep your voice down, don't let it hear you. The noble fancy mouse has a very strong sense of pride."

Ritsuki Sawamura: "???"

"What is it?"

"A purebred aristocratic fancy rat!" Yoshiko Sawamura corrected earnestly, adjusting the light blue bow on the back of the large black rat as she did so. "When I left the restaurant, I specifically asked the staff, and that's what they wrote on the registration form. It's not an ordinary rat."

As Ritsuki Sawamura recalled the conversation before leaving the store, her expression gradually became complicated.

At the time, Yoshiko Sawamura was holding a large black pet cushion and standing at the front desk asking what breed the black animal was. The staff member looked down at Kaoru Amamiya's room registration and quickly replied in a professional yet polite tone: "This pet guest's registered breed is a purebred fancy rat."

The sentence continues with the second half: "[This information was provided by a fellow guest upon entering the private room.]"

Ritsuki Sawamura heard it all.

Yoshiko Sawamura only heard the first half of the sentence.

Because the words "purebred," "noble," and "fancy rat" were like three precision-guided high-level cannonballs, crashing into the brain of the silly beauty with a bang, everything that the shop assistant said afterward was automatically blocked out by the happy aftershocks of the explosion.

"That's just what the guest registered himself!" Ritsu Sawamura walked to the bedside, sat down, picked up the hair dryer and plugged it in: "He said he was a nobleman, so the system wrote nobleman, it has nothing to do with what he actually is."

"Why doesn't it matter? Can ordinary rats be registered?"

"Even an ordinary mouse can be portrayed as an aristocrat."

"Then why doesn't anyone portray ordinary mice as nobles?"

"Because a normal person wouldn't write it like that."

"So the person who registered is not legitimate?"

Ritsuki Sawamura pressed the hairdryer button, and as soon as the buzzing sound started, she remembered the strange man from the zoo earlier that day—the one with a crooked mouth and eyes, leaning on a cane, who ran faster than anyone else after hearing Onodera's lingering voice call "Shido-kun." Her hand paused involuntarily.

It does seem a bit abnormal.

"In short, it's just a mouse."

"Noble Flower Mouse".

"The last word is still 'rat'."

"Human names end with 'human,' so can you say all people are the same?"

Ritsuki Sawamura: "..."

What kind of illogical reasoning is this?

At first glance, it does seem to make a little bit of sense. To refute it, one must first seriously discuss the meaning of the suffixes of "human" and "rat" in the naming system. If this continues, this old lady might even propose on the spot that there is an insurmountable class difference between aristocratic fancy rats and ordinary fancy rats.

Ritsuki Sawamura wasn't about to enter the territory that the idiot beauty excelled at, and coldly reminded her directly: "You just touched its paws, so wash your hands before eating. Also, don't let it on the bed, don't let it touch my things, and definitely don't put it under the covers."

Yoshiko Sawamura asked incredulously, "Does Mom look like she'd stuff a mouse into the blanket?"

Ritsuki Sawamura turned off the hairdryer and looked at her expressionlessly.

meeting.

That's amazing.

Not only would the old woman stuff it in, but she might also lift up the big black dog in the middle of the night, lean close to her ear and ask, "Little pink hair, look what Mommy found." Then, because Sawamura Ritsu was startled, she would instinctively elbow him, and both of them would fly out at the same time. The next day, she would blame everything on the loser little pink hair for not knowing aristocratic etiquette.

Feeling guilty under her gaze, Yoshiko Sawamura moved back a little while holding the small plate and said, "I won't stuff it in, Mommy is just having a bite to eat with her new friend."

It's not your friend.

"We just shook hands."

"handwashing."

"It won't kill you to shake hands."

"Auntie"

"Okay, okay, I'll wash up after I eat." Yoshiko Sawamura agreed verbally, but her hand picked out a small piece of unseasoned chicken from the chawanmushi and asked, looking down, "Daikoku, do you want some?"

"squeak."

A piece of chicken arrived.

"Where's the fish?"

"squeak."

Another piece of fish arrived.

"rice?"

Big Black stood up.

Yoshiko Sawamura slapped her thigh excitedly: "See? It remembers the code Mom taught us!"

Ritsu Sawamura turned the hairdryer back on, her long pink hair fluttering gently in the warm air, but her gaze remained fixed on the person and the mouse beside the coffee table. Before eating, Dahei would check the taste, shaking its head if it was too salty or too spicy. It would only meow once if it wanted fish, and twice if it wanted shrimp. When it was time for rice, it would stand up. Even after Yoshiko Sawamura secretly switched the two plates, it still accurately chose the one without any seasoning.

Very clever indeed.

They are unusually intelligent, unlike normal mice.

But no matter how clever it is, it's still a mouse, and it doesn't look like a so-called purebred aristocratic fancy mouse at all. Its black fur isn't particularly smooth, its pointed head is full of sewer survival wisdom, and its claws and body are more powerful than those round, clumsy fancy mice in pet stores. The only thing that can be called exquisite is the light blue bow on its back.

Ritsuki Sawamura looked at it for a few seconds: "Who tied that ribbon?"

Yoshiko Sawamura glanced down as well: "I don't know, it was there when I brought it back."

"Does the store provide these for pets?"

"It could be a mark of aristocratic status."

Ritsuki Sawamura: "..."

She didn't ask any unnecessary questions.

The hairdryer started humming again. Riki Sawamura stopped participating in the human-mouse communication, but Yoshiko Sawamura had completely gotten into the swing of things. She first made an agreement with Daikoku that one sound meant she wanted to eat, two sounds meant she wanted to change to something else, and patting the plate with her paw meant she didn't like it. She then laid out all the remaining light foods and began a large-scale food compatibility test.

"Grilled fish?"

"squeak."

"chicken?"

"Squeak, squeak."

"Chawanmushi?"

The big black dog lowered its head to sniff, then looked up at Yoshiko Sawamura, and finally stretched out its paw to gently pat the small dish containing the chicken.

"I don't like this. Would you like to eat chicken instead?"

Big Black continued slicing the chicken.

"Understood, add more chicken!" Yoshiko Sawamura picked up her chopsticks as if she had received the highest priority order from the kitchen. She immediately searched for unseasoned parts in the chawanmushi, muttering to herself, "I've eaten three pieces of fish, two pieces of shrimp, and a little rice. I can still have some chicken. I understand that I can't eat too much since I'm in a new environment today. Nobles pay attention to nutritional balance."

Big Black: "..."

It's just looking for food.

However, this human female is indeed very efficient at providing food. She doesn't need to play dead, foam at the mouth, or rehearse heatstroke before her senior arrives. At most, she just needs to nod, shake her head, stand up, and occasionally answer simple questions like "Am I the prettiest?" or "Is the little pink-haired girl fierce?" The workload is much lower than when she's with Kuroba Shido.

The man and the mouse quickly entered a honeymoon period.

Yoshiko Sawamura was in charge of asking the questions.

Big Black is in charge of squeaking.

If you answer correctly, you get fish; if you answer incorrectly, you get chicken. If you really don't know the answer, just glance at the food and nod. The needs of both parties are highly complementary, and the communication efficiency is astonishingly high. Even language differences cannot stop the two foodies from achieving a high-speed connection on a spiritual level.

Ritsu Sawamura dried her hair, put down the hairdryer, and draped a towel over the back of the chair. She originally wanted Yoshiko Sawamura to tidy up the table quickly, but then she saw the old lady holding a plate in one hand and handing chicken to Daikoku with the other. Daikoku was holding the food with both paws and occasionally looked up and squeaked. She inexplicably felt that there were two strange creatures in the room.

Forget it.

As long as we don't go to bed together, it's fine.

Ritsuki Sawamura threw back the covers and lay down, her back supported by a soft pillow. She picked up her phone and glanced at the time. There were no new messages on the screen, and her chat with Shido Kuroba was still stuck on the message from yesterday confirming their meeting.

Okay, I'll contact you after school on Monday.

tomorrow.

Only one night left.

Ritsuki Sawamura stared at the line of words. The tension she had deliberately suppressed during the day suddenly resurfaced, first a little bit, then like the bubbles rising up when a bottle of soda is first opened, filling her entire head in just a few seconds.

We're going to meet.

We're really going to meet.

Having known each other for so many years, from game characters on the computer screen to bantering with each other in voice chat, and occasionally opening the chat box when she couldn't sleep at night, Kuroba Shido was no longer an ordinary online friend to her. However, the two of them had never actually exchanged photos or stood face to face to talk.

In the past, we could say anything through the internet.

She can say that she lives in a manor, how many people are in the Clay family, what she bought today, and when Kuroba Shido boasts that he is the most handsome man in Tokyo, she can rudely reply, "Turn on your camera first, let me see what kind of fat otaku you are."

But tomorrow afternoon, the person who has always existed in voice and words will become real, standing near Kamikawa University, perhaps wearing very ordinary clothes, perhaps completely different from what she imagined, and perhaps the first thing he will say to her will be to mock her for having pink hair.

Ritsuki Sawamura gripped her phone, her fingers slowly tightening.

It's okay.

It doesn't matter what they look like.

She didn't know Shido Kuroba because of his face, nor did she chase him to Tokyo just to see his face. As long as the voice is right, as long as that person is still the same Shido who played games with her when she was a child, said annoying things to her when she cried, and then pretended to stay with her until late at night, there's nothing to be nervous about.

It was just meeting someone I met online.

What problems could there be when good brothers who have known each other for many years meet up?

Ritsuki Sawamura repeated the thoughts to herself. Her nervousness didn't lessen. Instead, she started thinking about what clothes she should wear tomorrow, how far in advance to leave, whether to say "long time no see" when they met, or to casually ask, "You're that dead lolicon," and whether Yoshiko Sawamura would suddenly chime in, "Shido, Auntie has finally caught you."

Thinking of the last scene, Ritsuki Sawamura slowly turned her head.

Yoshiko Sawamura was leaning over the coffee table, holding the last piece of fish and starting a new round of negotiation: "Big Black, when that pink-haired girl meets her online friend tomorrow, should I go with her the whole time, just in case that slut suddenly runs off with her?"

Big Black looked at the fish meat and nodded seriously.

"Auntie"

Yoshiko Sawamura froze: "What?"

"You are not allowed to say anything out of line tomorrow afternoon."

"When did Mom ever say anything out of line?"

Ritsuki Sawamura looked at her expressionlessly.

Today at the zoo, the old lady almost revealed everything about her online crush, how she sought out Shido when she was bullied as a child, how she sought out Shido when she lost at video games, and how she sought out Shido when she couldn't sleep at night. Later that night, she and her newly acquainted friend, Amamiya Kaoru, became sworn brothers at the restaurant. Now, she's even lying next to the hotel coffee table, trying to recruit a mouse to join their offline meetup tomorrow afternoon.

If this kind of person isn't considered talking nonsense, then there's no one left in Tokyo who is.

"In short, you are not allowed to mention the past, you are not allowed to call me a loser, you are not allowed to ask strange questions, and you are not allowed to say that you want him to date me as soon as we meet."

Yoshiko Sawamura retorted, "When did Mom ever say she wanted him to date you?"

Ritsuki Sawamura's eyes gradually turned dangerous.

Yoshiko Sawamura quickly changed her tune: "I understand. Tomorrow, Mom will keep quiet, stand by and smile, and give you young people plenty of space to communicate. If necessary, we can go to eat nearby. I definitely won't disturb you."

Daikoku looked up and glanced at Yoshiko Sawamura.

Just now, when facing it, this human female looked like a powerful figure who controlled the distribution of food in the entire room. Now, the little pink-haired girl only took one look and immediately surrendered, made promises, and planned an escape route. It seems that the danger assessment was correct. The pink human who came out of the bathroom is indeed the real boss of this temporary family.

Ritsuki Sawamura then looked away and lay back down on her pillow.

Outside the window is the Tokyo night view. The city lights shine into the room through the floor-to-ceiling windows. In the distance, the traffic never stops, like countless luminous threads moving slowly in the darkness. The events of the day gradually resurface in my mind after things quiet down.

zoo.

The panda enclosure was crowded.

A strange man with a crooked mouth and slanted eyes.

Standing beside her, gentle and flawless, Onodera Tsuneo calmly said, "Shido-kun will become my boyfriend in the future, and he will be the one who accompanies me for the rest of my life."

And that name.

Shidou-san.

At the time, Ritsuki Sawamura thought it was just a coincidence. Tokyo is so big, it's perfectly normal for there to be a lot of people with the same name. Besides, the person she knew was Shido Kuroba, while the person next to Zanne Onodera was just a strange male college student whose surname she didn't even know and whose face was so abstract it looked like a group of people going on strike on Monday mornings. Apart from both of them being named Shido, there was absolutely nothing between them that could be compared.

But thinking about it now, it still feels a little strange.

Why today of all days?

Why did she meet another boy called Shido the day before she was about to meet Kuroba Shido, and why did he also live in Tokyo and also frequent the circle near Kamikawa University?

Is it...

Is this some kind of preordained arrangement?

Ritsuki Sawamura's heart suddenly started beating a little faster.

No, it's not that the strange man and Kuroba Shido have any relationship. There can't be such an outrageous coincidence in the world. Besides, the two of them give off completely different vibes. One is a strange male college student whom I just met by chance during the day and don't even know his surname. The other is an online friend I've known for many years through a screen. Even though we've never met in person, we're very familiar with each other.

This should be a sign.

It was as if fate had delivered the name "Shido" to her ahead of time, telling her that she had found the right place, that she hadn't made a mistake coming to Tokyo, nor to Kamikawa University, and that she would definitely be able to meet the person she truly wanted to see tomorrow afternoon.

Correct.

It must be like this.

Ritsuki Sawamura tried her best to hypnotize herself, and her nervousness finally turned into a little anticipation. Holding her phone, she turned over in bed, her long pink hair spread out on the pillow, but her eyes were still fixed on the message in the chat box: "Contact me after school on Monday."

Tomorrow afternoon.

When you meet Shido Kuroba, your first words should not be too strange.

She also shouldn't appear to be looking forward to it.

It's best to be natural and aloof, like meeting an ordinary online friend for the first time. Just nod slightly, say "It's so nice to finally meet you," and then wait for Kuroba Shido to take the initiative to be shocked, explain, and apologize for not posting photos all these years.

As for why my heart is beating faster and faster...

The hotel air conditioning is too hot.

It must be an air conditioning problem.

Beside the coffee table, Yoshiko Sawamura and Daiko had finished their last round of feeding. The two of them collapsed onto the carpet at the same time. Yoshiko Sawamura rubbed her slightly bulging belly, while Daiko sat next to her grooming its beard. The two creatures, having eaten their fill, moved in a strangely synchronized manner, causing Ritsuki Sawamura's eye to twitch slightly.

strangeness.

too weird.

After the old lady and Dahei stayed together, for some reason, they were even more harmonious than when they were acting crazy on their own. Maybe this is the unique way that idiots communicate. They don't understand each other, but they won't fight because the other said something wrong.

Just as Riki Sawamura was about to put down her phone, the bedside table suddenly vibrated.

buzz-

It wasn't her phone.

Yoshiko Sawamura was still lying next to the coffee table, practicing high-fives with Daikoku with one finger after they had finished eating, completely unaware of the screen that had lit up on the bedside table.

Ritsuki Sawamura glanced over instinctively.

A new message pops up quietly at the top of the lock screen.

Caller ID display...

[Onodera Zan'une]!