Chapter 401: Autumn Night Anecdotes |
"Brother~ Can I stay at your place tonight?"
Shortly after Akizuki Youka left, Hoshino Gen and the others departed as well. He first drove Sasaki Ayane home, and while dropping off his little female cousin, Monica affectionately made this request.
Hoshino Gen remained unmoved as he drove, showing no intention of stopping or changing direction. "Your sister isn't home."
"I know, but Kyukyu-chan is home, right?"
That was indeed true. After all, when Hoshino Rin left home this morning to catch her flight, the little girl hadn't even woken up yet. When Hoshino Gen left for the company, she was still curled up in the closet.
Silently pulling into the turning lane, Hoshino Gen replied, "Call her and explain it yourself."
Monica instantly giggled. She happily took out her mobile phone and called the nanny auntie at home...
......
On the lawn of the courtyard interior, illuminated by warm lights, two snow-white canines were chasing each other and playing...
Shifting her gaze to the main villa within the courtyard interior, she noticed the lights on the first floor were on. 'So, is he home?'
Shimizu Yu felt a bit tempted. 'Maybe I should go over and mediate the dispute between those two woof-chans to stop Shiro from being bullied, and then casually see what he has been busy with lately?'
Speaking of which, that guy hadn't been to school for days, and he was nowhere to be seen at the antique shop either. Not having seen him for so long, she felt as if something was missing from her life.
She was the type to act on her thoughts. Aside from the times her mind wandered into wild imaginations, Shimizu Yu generally had a lot of initiative.
Turning around, she left the room and went to the dressing room, changing out of the pajamas she had put on right after her shower into a short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts for going out. Greeting her mother as she passed through the living room on the first floor, she rushed about and dashed out of the house.
The dispute between Daihaku and Shiro did not require Shimizu Yu's mediation. By the time she arrived, the large dog Shiro was already huddled submissively in a corner, while Daihaku was exclusively enjoying the fresh meat chunks in the food bowl.
Her mouth twitched. Since they weren't actually fighting, Shimizu Yu felt it would be hard for her to judge such domestic matters. Walking over to comfortingly rub Shiro's head, she then went and rang the villa doorbell.
Light, bouncy footsteps quickly echoed from behind the door. Anyone listening could tell it was definitely a child coming to open it. Sure enough, the door swung open to reveal Tamamo-no-Mae standing inside, wearing a loose white T-shirt and a pair of rabbit slippers.
Her lustrous white hair draped slightly messily over her slender shoulders. She wasn't surprised to see Shimizu Yu outside and simply giggled in greeting, "It's Yu-chan!"
"Good evening, Kyukyu-chan." Shimizu Yu kept her hands behind her back and peeked inside, asking curiously, "Are you home alone?"
"Yep!" Tamamo-no-Mae stepped aside to invite Shimizu Yu in. "But A-Gen should be back very soon."
"Very soon?"
"Probably in about three minutes?" Tamamo-no-Mae tapped her chin with a finger, saying with slight uncertainty, "Although I don't know his exact location, I can feel A-Gen approaching really fast!"
"I see..." Shimizu Yu entered the house. She first stepped on the automatic shoe cover machine, then turned back to see Tamamo-no-Mae still standing by the door. However, the little girl was reaching out a hand, remotely maintaining control over a few meat chunks from the large white wolf's mouth and floating them over to Shiro. Seeing the large white dog drooling as if it hadn't touched meat in years, sticking its tongue out to roll the food into its mouth, Tamamo-no-Mae took a satisfied step back and closed the door.
With brisk steps, she returned to the living room, where a TV drama was still playing on the television. Tamamo-no-Mae kicked the small slippers off her little feet and jumped back onto the sofa. Hugging a panda plush toy, she waved at Shimizu Yu. "Hurry over, Yu-chan!"
As Shimizu Yu walked over, she could not help but look around. It certainly wasn't her first time visiting the Hoshino residence, but it felt like certain things changed every time she came.
For example, compared to her last visit, a large section of the living room wall had now been turned into a photo wall. At a quick glance, she could see many photos of Hoshino Rin and Tamamo-no-Mae, and seemingly even a scattered few of Hoshino Gen.
She wanted to go over and get a closer look, but since this was someone else's home, Shimizu Yu felt too embarrassed to do so.
The moment she sat on the sofa, Tamamo-no-Mae shifted her small body closer. "Do you want something to drink, Yu-chan?"
Without waiting for Shimizu Yu to answer, she raised her hand toward the refrigerator. The fridge door swung open, and two glass bottles of cola floated over, buoyed by an invisible force.
Tamamo-no-Mae grabbed one for herself, while the other stopped right in front of Shimizu Yu.
"This was sent to me by Tilina—A-Gen and Rin-chan's mother. She said it's some sort of special edition. It seems pretty precious, but it really does taste way better than normal ones!"
Shimizu Yu instantly felt a surge of curiosity. She reached up and grabbed the floating cola, noticing that the bottle was beautiful, with a crystal-like texture. However, the surface of the bottle lacked any labels whatsoever; she couldn't even tell if it was Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
Right then, Tamamo-no-Mae snapped her fingers, and the caps on the two bottles popped off with a crisp "Pop!"
Just as Shimizu Yu was about to taste the difference between this so-called special edition and regular cola, she suddenly saw Tamamo-no-Mae put down her bottle. The little girl happily jumped off the sofa and ran toward the front door on her bare little feet.
Shimizu Yu blinked, having a slight premonition—
Sure enough, the door opened, and an expressionless Hoshino Gen appeared at the entrance, leading a beaming and seemingly delighted Monica.
"A-Gen!"
Tamamo-no-Mae threw herself toward Hoshino Gen's embrace, only to be stopped in midair. The little girl puffed out her cheeks and flailed her small hands, looking as though she was trying to swim through the air, but she couldn't move forward an inch.
Although it was far from Monica's first time witnessing such a miraculous supernatural phenomenon, she still found it novel. Without even changing her shoes, she couldn't resist walking over to try and drag Tamamo-no-Mae back down to the ground.
Hoshino Gen ignored the interaction between the two kids. He had noticed Shimizu Yu sitting on the sofa the moment he entered the house. Looking up now, he saw the idiot smiling somewhat sheepishly in his direction, offering a small wave of greeting.
After changing his shoes and releasing the sword control method that had suspended Tamamo-no-Mae in midair, Hoshino Gen walked into the living room. He looked at Shimizu Yu and asked in confusion, "Are you here... for business, or just hanging out?"
Shimizu Yu scratched her cheek. "I wouldn't exactly say it's business—"
Hoshino Gen headed for the stairs, planning to go to his second-floor bedroom for a shower. "Then take your time hanging out."
Shimizu Yu instantly stood up, the bashfulness that had built up over the past few days evaporating in a flash. She exclaimed in frustration, "Can't you let a person finish talking?!"
Hoshino Gen glanced back at her, surprised. "Didn't you just say it wasn't business?"
"No..." Shimizu Yu choked on her words before finally puffing out her cheeks. "Fine! I just wanted to ask you why you haven't been going to school lately..."
Hoshino Gen rolled his eyes, his answer remarkably brief. "Busy."
"Busy with what?" Shimizu Yu blinked, pressing him out of curiosity.
Hoshino Gen was quite used to this idiot's nosy habit of getting to the bottom of things. Casually throwing out, "Company stuff," he stepped directly onto the stairs. "Don't ask what company stuff either. It can't be explained in a few words, and you wouldn't be interested anyway."
"Wait a second—"
Hoshino Gen didn't stop walking, prompting Shimizu Yu to call out directly, "When will you be done and come back to school?"
"I don't know. We'll see when I'm done."