"Excuse us."
"Ah, it's been a while, Utaha-chan."
"This is just a little something for you. Please accept it."
"Oh, you really didn't have to. Next time, don't worry about bringing anything. Come on in."
Mrs. Spencer welcomed them into the living room.
She brought out some traditional Japanese sweets and served them tea on a tray.
When she placed the teacups on the table, it was obvious that her hands were unsteady—the liquid inside rippled heavily.
"Mom, your wrist still hasn't healed? You should really go to the hospital and get it checked out."
Eriri voiced her concern.
"It's fine. It's already much better than yesterday. I can tell it's healing. You two just relax and watch some TV. I'll go start preparing dinner."
Utaha slowly stood up and called out to her.
"If you don't mind, why don't Eriri and I cook dinner tonight?"
"Huh? You two…"
Seeing this, Eriri quickly stood up as well.
"That's right, Mom, just rest here. Leave it to us. We have cooking classes at school, so it's no problem."
"Is that so? Well, I won't hold back, then."
"Yeah, just wait and see what we come up with."
Eriri gently pressed her mother's shoulders, making her sit down, then she and Utaha headed into the kitchen.
"Eriri."
"Hm?"
"Can you get me a hair tie?"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot."
Eriri hurried into the bathroom, grabbed a brand-new hair tie, and handed it to Utaha.
Utaha took it, wrapped it around her wrist, and smoothly gathered her loose hair, tying it into a single ponytail.
Watching her move with such elegance, Eriri chuckled softly.
"Thanks."
Utaha grabbed an apron hanging to the side and put it on.
"I'm just trying to get on Mrs. Spencer's good side. Why are you thanking me?"
"Winning over my family is the same as winning over me, so I appreciate it."
Eriri said this straightforwardly, without any hint of embarrassment, which ironically made Utaha feel a little awkward instead.
"Idiot. That kind of sentimental talk isn't like you at all—it gives me goosebumps."
"You'd better start getting used to it. After all, I've already included Chisato and… you in my definition of family."
Eriri finally showed a hint of a blush, lowering her head as she slowly peeled a potato.
Utaha shivered and looked at her with absolute disbelief.
"Ugh… See? That's why I keep telling you, don't just pick up random things from the street and stuff them into your mouth. An upset stomach is one thing, but if you mess up your brain, there's no cure for that."
"You! I knew I shouldn't have been nice to you!"
"Ah, there we go, back to normal."
"Hmph! Unbelievable! There's no way I can have a heartfelt conversation with someone like you!"
"…"
Inside the kitchen, their expressions shifted constantly as they bickered back and forth.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Mrs. Spencer observed their interaction with some curiosity. It seemed so natural… and rather close.
Though she tried her best not to let her thoughts wander in that direction, she couldn't ignore how often Eriri had been spending the night at Utaha's place lately. Could it be that they…?
No, no, that couldn't be it. They were probably just really good friends—not to that extent.
Besides, she still had a certain video of her daughter's… dream stored on her phone.
And in that video, judging by the… positioning, it was clear that her interests lay firmly in the realm of men and women.
If it were two girls, things wouldn't look quite like that.
…
There was an unexpected incident at the Starry Performance Hall tonight.
Around seven in the evening, just as the place was starting to fill up and the atmosphere was getting lively, the entire venue suddenly plunged into darkness.
The rhythmic music cut off abruptly.
White emergency lights flickered on, illuminating the large hall, and the previously unnoticed exit signs became strikingly obvious.
The guests stirred in confusion, their chatter growing restless. To make matters worse, the manager wasn't even in the building at the time.
In the end, it was Chisato who quickly found the cause of the outage—it seemed that an aging wire in the electrical panel had short-circuited.
Unfortunately, he knew nothing about electrical work, and there was no quick fix.
Since the issue couldn't be resolved immediately, they had no choice but to start processing refunds for the increasingly impatient customers.
By the time the venue had been cleared out, Seika had finally arrived. She called an electrician, but he wouldn't be available for another two hours.
That was it—tonight's business was officially dead.
But Seika took it in stride. Thinking back, it had been a while since they had a proper break anyway.
So, she simply shut the doors and took the staff out to a yakiniku restaurant for a gathering.
"Dinner's on me tonight. Eat as much as you want—you all work hard, and I appreciate it. I hope we can continue working well together."
With a cheerful clink of beer mugs, Seika downed her drink in one go.
"Hey, Seika."
A cool-looking woman with long black hair, passing by the private rooms, paused when she recognized the familiar voice and turned back.
"Ah, Shizuka."
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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