Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

"How could that be? I think the apricot sauce is the real key, you know?"

—Clearly, this time they couldn't get away with it.

"Besides, isn't Apricot Sauce a friend of Xiaojun's? That girl is really something, she never explains things to her friends. We can take this opportunity to chat more, right? Hehe, after all, I'd really like to talk to Apricot Sauce more. Maybe we both have things we don't know about each other?"

Nagasaki Motoyo reiterated her stance with seemingly serious but actually purposeful words—that is, she still wanted to keep Hanami tied to her body and never leave her side in this situation.

Oh dear, this is a bit difficult.

What should I do if that inexplicable system causes trouble again when I'm with Su Shi and Li Xi?

While hurriedly stuffing food into her mouth, Banami's brain was racing to devise a countermeasure.

If it's just a simple social occasion, Anna Hanami has absolutely no chance of being stage-frightened.

However, if, halfway through a social interaction, photos or videos leak out of her pockets or phone, that would be a real problem.

"Ah...it seems Xiaojun will be there too."

However, just as Banami was having an internal struggle, Suze's subconscious reflection, as if waking from a dream, pulled her out of her chaotic thoughts.

"Eh?"

The blue-haired girl stopped her frenzied display of matcha ice cream, finally willing to seriously consider accepting the invitation. Su Shi, on the other hand, had just received the news and, feeling uncertain, suddenly changed her approach—

"If, for example, Almond Sauce doesn't want to go... then maybe we should just skip it?"

This was a rare concession for her, but unfortunately, at this moment, Banami suddenly changed her mind.

"If Kazama is here too, then I want to go!"

Banami's idea was simple: it was better to tell Kazama about these things sooner rather than let him passively bear the consequences of the system.

"Ah, this..."

This time, however, her and Su Shi's positions were completely reversed.

"………Why."

Nagasaki Motoyo rubbed her slightly throbbing temples with a hint of helplessness.

It's time for her to pay the price for her extraordinary wisdom.

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Blue-Haired Female Passerby's Counterattack!

"Well... in short, that's it."

Two hours later, at the cafe downstairs from the Kazama house where Nagasaki Motoyo and Shiina Tatsuki had arranged to meet.

Ms. Su Shi, who could be considered a regular here, nervously explained why the blue-haired girl sitting next to her was here, while pretending to be busy and taking a sip of red tea to calm her nerves.

"Hello—long time no see, Riki-chan! The last time we met was at the dessert shop where you worked, right? How's everyone in MYGO doing lately? Aine-chan told me you guys are still training hard! It's amazing that you can play musical instruments~"

Once she's made up her mind to socialize, she puts in a lot of effort and acts very lively and outgoing. Anna Hanami waved enthusiastically at the bewildered Riki—at the same time, she turned her head and smiled at the black-haired boy sitting next to Riki, who was directly opposite her.

"Kazama, it's been so long!"

Her seemingly casual greeting didn't make Lixi and Xiao lower their guard; instead, it inadvertently raised the same question in both of them—

"...Su Shi, when did you start hanging out with Banami-kun?"

The first to express confusion was Shiina Tatsuki, who had no idea why Anna Hanami was there.

"If I remember correctly... I think I was supposed to get along better with Aine."

Next up was Kazama, who was observing Sue and Banami with a subtle expression.

"This, this..."

Even the eloquent Nagasaki Motoyo has lost her composure a bit because she is now at a loss for words.

Whether the situation she had been worried about had actually happened remains to be seen, but in any case, Nagasaki Motoyo was constantly on edge.

She glanced at Kazama out of the corner of her eye, and only felt a little relieved after confirming that the boy didn't seem to want to argue with her.

Actually, there was nothing to worry about about bringing Banami to meet Riki. Nagasaki Motoyo was quite confident in her social skills. Her only concern was that Kazama, who was present, might be unhappy that she had brought Banami.

After all, no matter what... Xingcai-chan is still closer to Xiaojun and Aine's side, right?

Nagasaki Motoyo was secretly sweating bullets.

Teenagers often form small groups based on shared interests. Naturally, they may feel uneasy when friends in these groups get along better with others, and may even show some dissatisfaction and suspicion in their actions.

To put it bluntly, her act of avoiding Kazama and Aine to find Hanami alone was enough for someone with ulterior motives to take as irrefutable evidence of overstepping social boundaries—anyone with a slightly sensitive and meticulous mind would likely express dissatisfaction with her behavior. (For example, someone like Mikasa Mika.)

Fortunately, Kazama is generally a carefree and easygoing person, and he seemed to have noticed the embarrassment beneath Sose's feigned reserve.

"Okay, I almost forgot that both Suze and Banami are very sociable and outgoing. Well, it's not surprising that pretty girls of similar age become friends."

He patted Riki's shoulder, who was sitting next to him with a suspicious look on her face. Although she still had doubts about why the two of them were together, since Kazama, one of the parties involved, had accepted the existence of Banami, she had even less reason to hold a grudge here.

"Ahem... well. It's nothing to brag about... but..."

Li Xi cleared his throat and then glanced at Su Shi with a somewhat cryptic look.

“I’m not sure if our next conversation is appropriate under these circumstances.”

This successfully piqued the curiosity of Soseki and Kazama.

"Ah—in that case, how about I take Kazama to catch up?"

Looking left and right, Banami suddenly blurted out this nonsensical remark.

"If Suze-chan has anything she wants to say to Ritsu-chan, this is a good time to clear things up! Let's go, Kazama, it's been a long time since we caught up, and how about we go to the restroom while we're at it?"

"Hey, do you really think we're the kind of high school girls who can go to the bathroom together?"

"Okay, come on over—I had something very important to tell you earlier! After we finish, it's okay if we each go to our own restrooms!"

In short, no matter how unwilling Kazama was, Hanami very tactfully pulled him away from his seat and led him to the corridor leading to the restroom in the cafe without further ado.

"Hmph... You're quite good at reading people. In that respect, Banami is definitely on your side."

Li Xi watched the two leave, one in front of the other, and just smiled softly.

She could understand that Banami was trying to create a space for them to chat alone, so Riki didn't tease Banami about it. Instead, she focused her attention on Nagasaki Motoyo.

"Kazama will probably talk to her for a while. Anyway, let's talk about our own business first, shall we?"

“Our matter… I thought it concerned Xiaojun, so his friend Banami could also get involved.”

"Hmph, it's hard to say whether Banami knows the inside story. However, there are others who already know the inside story."

Lixi rarely gains the upper hand in her confrontations with Sushi, so she now even has a mysterious expression on her face, her words full of hints and sarcasm.

"Someone else knows the inside story... Lixi, who are you talking about?"

"Hmph... Let me start from the beginning."

Su Shi looked puzzled, but the long-haired girl, satisfied with this, snorted and tossed her hair, bringing the story back on track.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

And the other side.

"So, what's going on that's all the mystery? We haven't seen each other in so long, are you just going to keep me in suspense like this?"

Kazama, who had been dragged to a secluded corner of the corridor by Banami, put his hands on his hips. He didn't start making any unfounded guesses, but calmly asked a question.

"...Kazama, aren't you going to ask me what I want?"

Once they reached a secluded corner, Banami, who had released her grip on his sleeve first, looked away guiltily, her voice growing softer and softer.

"I want to ask you something. Why are you hanging out with Su Shi, or why did she bring you to this kind of event?"

Kazama shrugged dismissively.

"That's your freedom, it's not my place to care whether you want to or not."

"Hmm...you seem pretty easygoing even in weird places."

"But my curiosity is universal, you know. Aren't you going to take out the medicine from your gourd and let me try it?"

"……All right."

It wasn't until Kazama brought up Hanami's secret again that she nodded solemnly and relented.

"Then I'll tell you something, but you absolutely mustn't laugh."

Chapter 49 Nagasaki Motoyo: Pride comes before a fall!

"Hmm... Taki-chan, you mean, Hatsuka just ran to Mutsumi's house and told her everything... So Mutsumi and Shoko also know Akatsuki's secret?"

In the pleasant atmosphere of the café, Su Shi put down her teaspoon, the soft clinking sound echoing in the air. Her tone held a hint of disbelief, and the sound of the spoon hitting the teacup perfectly conveyed her surprise.

"That's about right. But I didn't see it with my own eyes. By the time I arrived, Xiangzi and Mu already knew the truth."

Lixi took a sip of her latte and calmly nodded in response. Without embellishing anything, she told Su Shi everything she knew.

"That guy was blinded by impulse. After calming down, he realized he had done something wrong, so he shamelessly ran away on the spot. Xiangzi tried to stop him but couldn't—I only found out about this after I rushed to the scene after receiving Kazama's message."

"Chu Hua... you actually did something like this. It shouldn't be like this..."

"Do you think she's so calm and composed that she couldn't possibly do something like this? That's hard to say. People who seem calm and gentle on the surface often make a bigger impact when they reveal their abnormal side."

"Oh dear... I hope Taki-chan isn't being sarcastic."

Lixi waved her hand dismissively, clearly reserved about her explanation of this point.

"In short, that's how it is. Mutsu and Shoko both suffered quite a shock, but now they should be slowly accepting the identities they will have in the future."

As she said this, her eyebrows twitched slightly, almost involuntarily.

"Heh... at least Mutsu's acceptance attitude seems pretty good. She adopted Kazama's mother much faster than I expected."

"Eh? Taki-chan, what do you mean?"

"That Kazama guy came back from Mutsumi's house today."

The short sentence that Li Xi uttered with a frown successfully froze the expression on Miss Su Shi's face.

“………Eh?”

"When I rushed back from Mu's house yesterday, this guy had no intention of going back to his own house to sleep. He actually had the nerve to stay overnight at Mu's house!"

When she got angry, Miss Lixi even slammed her fist on the wooden tabletop, showing that she was still holding a grudge about the matter.

"Even if they were mother and son in another timeline, the idea of ​​a lone man and woman sleeping together in a room... that's going too far! Mu Ke in this world doesn't even remember that kind of mother-son relationship between them!"

"Well, well, calm down, Taki-chan. It's true, just like how we in this world don't remember anything about our past as aunt and nephew of Akatsuki..."

Su Shi spoke calm and soothing words, but even though she seemed gentle and refined, she couldn't stop trembling when she picked up the teacup.

Yeah... Inviting Kazama to my house is no use; I need him to stay overnight to deliver the decisive blow!

Thinking about this, Ms. Nagasaki Motoyo felt that she had missed a great opportunity, and she was sincerely impressed by Ms. Wakaba Mutsumi's self-taught talent.

As expected of Xiao's mother, it seems she still has much to learn from Mu's virtues.

"...Hey, I'm filled with righteous indignation. Su Shi, what's with that expression?"

"Ah, um... it's nothing. I was just trying to think about what Taki-chan said... Yeah, I also think it's really inappropriate to do that. Mutsu is really something, even if the other person is your son from another timeline, you can't just let him be alone with you for a whole night like that."

"Yeah! Seriously, I just can't figure out what she and Xiangzi are thinking."

Li Xi shook her head angrily, while Su Shi smiled slightly without saying a word.

Judging from Kazama's expression, he probably didn't have anything worth discussing with Mutsu.

In that case, thank you Ms. Wakaba for the wonderful idea.

She, Nagasaki Motoyo, will figure out a way to do the same thing someday in the future.

However, now is not the time to worry about such things.

"Speaking of which, Chu Hua just ran away yesterday... Even Xiangzi's attempts to win her back were unsuccessful."

"Ah, that's how it is according to Kazama. But this is ultimately an Ave Mujica family matter, and I have no intention of meddling... Or perhaps you, Sose, want to interfere?"