People in Mygo are emotional firefighters.

A muffled groan, clearly tinged with frustration, escaped from beneath her cheek buried in the soft pillow.

Today...everything is going wrong!

The plan to recruit Deng was thwarted, and then a girl with long, straight black hair and a hostile attitude appeared out of nowhere.

Of course, what annoyed her the most was...

They even bumped into Miss Tsukimori, who seemed to have a close relationship with Ishikawa Mayu!

The way that girl named Nagasaki Motoyo looked at Mayu, and that natural "the same as always"... their relationship is definitely more than just "neighbors"!

And they must be sitting together on the tram right now, right?

A gentle and kind girl like Su Shi might be turning her head to talk softly to Zhen Yu.

They might even be wearing the same pair of headphones, one for each of them, chatting naturally while listening to music.

Just imagining that scene made her feel a tightness in her chest, and her lonely figure walking home made her seem even more desolate.

"Ugh... Why do I have to think about these things?"

Their relationship is none of my business...

Chihaya Aine told herself this in her heart, but she subconsciously grabbed her phone...

The screen was completely black, with no new message notifications.

"cut……"

She opened her LINE chat with Ishikawa Mayu, staring at the previous conversation, feeling increasingly frustrated.

—Is Su Shi gentler?

—Is it because her cooking is better?

—Will Mayu be going to her house every time from now on?

Lost in thought, my phone suddenly vibrated.

It's news from Ishikawa Mayu.

Are you home yet?

"Huh?!"

Chihaya Aine was stunned.

You're home already? So fast? ...Shouldn't you still be on the train with Su Shi?

A sudden panic gripped her heart, and the next second, she frantically typed on the screen.

[Hmph, so free? Weren't you having a great chat with Su Shi on the train?]

It was also accompanied by an ambiguous emoji at the end.

A moment later, a new message popped up.

【…】

You forgot, I came here on a motorcycle.

However, Su Shi is still on the train and probably won't be back for quite a while.

Aine paused for a moment, then realized. Oh right, Mayu-kun rides a motorcycle! He must have come back first.

And from what he said... Nagasaki-kun took the train home by himself?

In other words, they didn't ride the tram together, share headphones, or whisper to each other as she had imagined...

So it turns out I wasn't the only one going back alone.

In that instant, the bitterness in Chihaya Aine's heart subsided somewhat.

Her fingers flew across the screen, a hint of smug satisfaction in her triumph, as she sent another message:

[So, Makoto-san, you only contacted me because Suze-san hadn't gotten home yet, right?]

Hmph, I see right through you!

The video ended with a cute, puffed-up hamster emoji.

After sending the message, she imagined that when Ishikawa Mayu saw this "accusation," she would definitely have that helpless expression of "here we go again."

The lingering anger in my heart transformed into a mischievous kind of pleasure.

The screen lit up quickly.

[I haven't even started cooking yet.]

Aiyin stared at the line of words, her heart tightening slightly.

In any case, in the end he'll still have to eat with Su Shi.

Her fingertips hovered over the keyboard, typing each word carefully:

"I won't bother you any longer, you go and cook."

However, before he could finish typing, several more lines of text appeared in the dialog box.

I'm not so idle as to arrest a passerby to chat with me.

So, Aine's accusations against me are unfounded!

It's not that I can only chat with you, but...

Ai Yin stared at the ellipsis on the screen, her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but start thinking wildly.

If it's not just "only", then what is it?

The next second, Ishikawa Mayu's message completed the second half of the sentence:

I just wanted to make sure you got home and had your mom's dinner.

Chihaya Aine stared at the words, her cheeks suddenly burning as she recalled the scene from before.

Using that excuse to run away was really making a big fuss.

What is she running away from? What is there to run away from? She hasn't done anything wrong.

"It's all his fault...!"

Chihaya Aine buried her burning face in the pillow and lightly punched it twice in frustration. If it weren't for Ishikawa Mayu, she wouldn't be here without dinner and going crazy in her room.

[...we're eating now.]

"That's good." Ishikawa Mayu seemed oblivious to the chaos on her end. "If I don't go cook soon, I might really faint from hunger in the kitchen."

Upon hearing his honest words, which carried a hint of pitifulness, Aine's lingering awkwardness and embarrassment vanished completely, and she even felt a subtle sense of guilt, as if she were being unreasonable.

"Go quickly, go quickly!" she replied hastily, her tone already back to its usual cheerfulness.

Just when she thought the conversation would end in this ordinary way, Ishikawa Mayu sent another message:

Come to think of it, you haven't used many emoticons today.

Chihaya Aine paused for a moment, her fingers instinctively stopping.

Emoticons?

She blinked and quickly scrolled up to look at the chat history...

It seems that's really the case.

This subtle emotional change that she herself hadn't even noticed... how could he have noticed it?

All the previous annoyance, speculation, and minor embarrassment became insignificant at this moment.

She pursed her lips, her eyes sparkling brightly again, and her fingers danced merrily across the screen:

【Hehe~ You figured it out? Here it is now! (★ω★)】

Go cook! Don't starve yourself~ (?o?o)??

This time, her words of advice were filled with genuine concern, without a trace of stubbornness or testing.

After successfully sending the message, Chihaya Aine gently pressed her phone against her chest, feeling her own clear and slightly faster heartbeat beneath her palm, as well as the cool touch of the phone's casing.

She let out a long sigh of relief, lay back on the bed, and closed her eyes.

The room was quiet, with only the sound of her own breathing and the faint noise of the city outside the window, but she felt exceptionally at ease. Her previous restlessness and wild thoughts had been completely dispelled by that seemingly casual yet thoughtfully detailed message.

A faint, unconscious smile crept onto her lips. She even began to hum a tuneless yet incredibly cheerful melody in a nasal tone, her delicate white feet dangling by the bedside swaying gently to the rhythm.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Just Like That Night

Looking at the replies on the screen, Ishikawa Mayu could see that Chihaya Aine had become more lively. He then breathed a sigh of relief and placed his phone face down on the counter.

Finally... things are back to normal.

Although he still didn't quite understand where Chihaya Aine's sudden outburst of emotions this afternoon, a mixture of grievance and dissatisfaction, came from.

Is it the frustration of repeatedly failing to recruit Takamatsu Akari? Or the anger that built up when confronting that girl with long, straight black hair? Or is it simply that she's tired and throwing a tantrum?

But at least the result was good!

He rolled up his sleeves and refocused his attention on the ingredients in front of him. The knife blade made a rhythmic and crisp sound as it struck the cutting board, and the kitchen gradually filled with the enticing aroma of food.

After some time, a faint sound of a key turning came from the entryway. Ishikawa Mayu didn't look up, her hands still chopping scallions, and simply asked casually, "You're back?"

His tone was so natural, as if he were at home.

"Yes, I'm back."

Nagasaki Motoyo responded softly, changed her shoes, and walked into the living room.

Her gaze unconsciously drifted to the busy figure in the kitchen.

Under the warm yellow light, he wore that dark apron, his figure appearing somewhat hazy in the rising steam. The spatula sizzled against the pot, mingling with the aroma of the ingredients, creating an ordinary yet slightly unsettling scene for her.

In just a few days, she became so familiar with the scene of someone cooking for her that she developed a near-dependence on it.

Not long ago, she was practically the only one left in this apartment, accompanied only by the cold air. This sudden sense of familiarity should have warmed her heart, but a deeper bitterness quietly crept into it—

She had grown accustomed to this warmth, but Ishikawa Mayu might not stay here forever. He had his own life, his own friends…

Nagasaki Motoyo quickly lowered her eyelashes, carefully hiding the fleeting vulnerability and unease that crossed her mind.

When she looked up again, her face had returned to its usual smile. She walked to the kitchen counter, smelled the fragrance in the air, and the corners of her lips curved up.

"It smells so good. Is there anything I can help you with, Shinba-kun?"

When Ishikawa Mayu heard the natural "Mayu-kun," his hand, which was chopping vegetables, paused.

He turned his head and met Su Shi's smiling eyes, and that inexplicable feeling of guilt welled up in his heart again.

"Need not,"

His voice was faster than usual, and he almost frantically gestured for her not to go near the stove, "Just... sit and wait a little while, it'll be ready soon, really."

The slight unnaturalness in Ishikawa Mayu's tone might not have been fully noticed by himself, but it was clearly discernible to Su Shi. She watched his slightly hurried turn, his focus on the food in the pot, and her eyes flickered slightly.

Was he... embarrassed? Because of what happened this afternoon?

This thought seemed to lessen the bitterness in her heart a little, and she didn't insist anymore. She readily agreed and gently said "Mmm" in a gentle tone: "Alright, then thank you for your trouble, Zhenyu-kun."

After saying that, she turned around and returned to the dining table. Her hands were folded on her knees, her head slightly tilted, and her gaze quietly fell on the figure in the kitchen.

Before long, delicious food was served on the table, and it was as plentiful as ever.

While serving rice to Su Shi, Ishikawa Mayu casually asked, "Didn't you say you had plans to have dinner with friends tonight? How come your plans suddenly fell through?"

Su Shi took the rice bowl he handed her and explained softly, "That was indeed the original plan. She works at a coffee shop, and I was thinking of going there to find her."

"And then?" Ishikawa Mayu picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks, feeling that something seemed a little off. "She took the day off today, didn't you see her?"

“No, that’s not it,” Nagasaki Motoyo shook her head slightly and took a sip of soup. “The friend I’m going to meet is named Shiina Tatsuki, the girl with long black hair you met at the Ring entrance this afternoon.”

She paused, looking at Ishikawa Mayu's sudden stillness, her tone tinged with helplessness, "I had just gotten nearby and hadn't even had a chance to call her when I saw her... she seemed quite angry with you and Aine, and she walked away without looking back."

"Cough! Cough cough cough...!"

Caught off guard, Ishikawa Mayu choked on her rice, turning sharply to the side and coughing, looking utterly wronged.

"It's not that we're angry with her! That guy just suddenly rushed over and started yelling at us... I didn't even understand what was going on!"

Seeing his eagerness to clarify, and even his somewhat animated gestures, Nagasaki Motoyo couldn't help but chuckle.