Tick~ Tock! Tick~ Tock!
The clock's hands pointed precisely at the position representing "12", and the "sleeping" Kaito also opened his eyes accordingly.
"Mutsumi, good morning."
His attitude was very natural, and his expression showed no flaws at all. He even paused for a moment, feigning puzzlement when he noticed that there was no trace of a certain little blue-haired secretary on the bed, and deliberately asked, "Why don't I see Sakiko?"
"Sakiko has already gotten up."
Mutsumi blinked her eyes, those amber-colored pupils full of concern, "Onii-chan, last night... did you sleep well?"
Kaito's mood was a bit subtle. He of course understood where the concern in Mutsumi's eyes came from, but at the moment he could only act as if nothing had happened, and said casually, "Slept very well, what about you?"
"I also slept very well," The corners of her cherry blossom-like lips curved slightly into a smile, her slender white hand gently pressed against her chest, Mutsumi said very earnestly, "It's all because, I have my Onii-chan by my side."
The attachment and longing in the girl's eyes were not concealed in the slightest, making Kaito feel a bit guilty inside.
Just now, he had actually suspected that Mutsumi's feelings for him as family were not pure, and even worried that she would take advantage of him being fast asleep to secretly do some... unspeakable things.
Fortunately in the end Mutsumi did not let him down, she had only reached out to tuck in his quilt, and from beginning to end had no transgressive actions. Forming a stark contrast with a certain White Haired girl who had taken advantage of others' vulnerability.
Rubbing the girl's head, Kaito also felt much more relieved inside.
'Mutsumi, as expected, only regards me as a reliable elder brother, and does not harbor other thoughts.'
The bond between them as family was still unbreakable, shining like gold.
———
After chatting with Mutsumi for a bit, Kaito did not delay further, and came to the living room.
Breakfast was rice porridge personally prepared by secretary Sakiko, along with golden fried eggs, paired with bread spread with jam, a mix of Eastern and Western styles.
The taste could only be said to be average, the porridge was rather bland, and the fried eggs were a bit overcooked, but it was barely edible.
Perhaps because she felt guilty from doing something wrong... throughout the entire breakfast, Sakiko kept her head down eating, not even daring to glance in Kaito's direction, wishing she could lower her sense of existence as much as possible.
This appearance that clearly showed a guilty conscience made Kaito secretly sigh.
'Sakiko is still too young... sometimes the more you've done something wrong, the more you need to act calm and collected. As long as you refuse to admit it no matter what, it's the other party who will feel awkward.'
Neither of the two girls spoke, and Kaito also did not take the initiative to open his mouth, so breakfast ended in this rather gloomy atmosphere.
———
Like usual, he took the train, came to Shuka, walked into the classroom, but did not see the familiar pink dragon come up to greet him.
The girl named "Chihaya Anon" was at this moment lying on her desk, no one knew what had happened, she looked listless, like an eggplant that had been hit by frost.
"Kaito-kun, you're here huh?", Seeing his figure, she only weakly greeted, the expression on her pretty face visibly dejected.
'Is she sick?'
Kaito furrowed his brows, worriedly probed with his divine sense, but did not find anything strange.
She was neither haunted by evil spirits, nor had any illness, in fact her body was even healthier than the average person.
If anything had to be said... at most it was just some underdevelopment?
But this was a genetic issue, born this way, besides, being small was also cute, not really a problem.
"Why so downcast?", Casually clearing the love letters from the desk compartment, Kaito looked at her with some puzzlement, "Like you just had a breakup."
"It really is a breakup," Chihaya Anon nodded vigorously, then pouted, face crumpled, "My first love sumimi! They're going to disband!"
She pulled out her phone, found a news article, and right at the top were several large bold red characters: [Super popular group sumimi facing disband crisis! Member Sumita Mana has been silent for a long time, suspected discord within the group?]
Kaito roughly glanced over it, although the headline looked like clickbait, the content was actually quite credible, not only analyzing in detail the frequency of sumimi's recent activities and performances, but also listing a lot of strong evidence, at first glance quite convincing.
He had no interest in idol-chasing, had only vaguely heard of this popular girl group sumimi, and didn't care about this kind of trivial matter.
But seeing Anon looking like the sky was falling, Kaito still raised his brow and suggested, "Rather than believe these rumors that are most likely baseless gossip, why not just ask the person involved? I remember you have Miss Sumita's contact info right?"
Anon hesitated a bit, looking troubled, "But... wouldn't Mana usually be very busy? To bother her over this kind of thing, I feel kind of embarrassed~"
Kaito didn't think much of it, "No matter how busy, surely she would have time to at least reply to a message."
But Anon still looked hesitant and shy, unable to make up her mind.
"Say...", Kaito seemed to understand something, and sighed helplessly, "You're not actually scared, are you?"
Having her thoughts seen through, Anon stuck out her tongue, "Ehehe~"
After all, Mana was a superstar in the spotlight, although Anon-chan considered herself a super cute girl too, in front of a true top idol, she still lacked some confidence.
"Forget it,".Kaito shook his head, took out his phone, and opened Sumita Mana's chat window, "Since you're too shy, I'll ask then."
"Kaito-kun! love~", Anon cheered, happily pounced over, the invisible big tail behind her was already wagging like a propeller, while nervously staring at the phone screen.
[Miss Sumita, morning?]
An ordinary opening line, even a bit cliché.
But Mana quickly replied.
[Kaito-kun, good morning.]
[Miss Sumita sounds too distant~ Just call me Mana.]
[So is there something you need help with? Please feel free to say it.]
Three messages in a row, it was easy to imagine how happy she was to receive this message.
And... Anon felt something odd in her heart.
'Is it just my imagination? Mana's eager attitude doesn't feel like that of a superstar in the spotlight, instead feels a bit like... a small nobody, thrilled to suddenly be noticed by her crush?'
'It must be my imagination.'
The pink-haired girl shook her head quickly, patiently looking at the chat.
[Okay, Mana.]
Kaito didn't have the habit of beating around the bush, and directly typed, [There's indeed something I want to ask you, about the recent rumors that sumimi is going to disband, is it true?]
This time, Mana was silent for a particularly long time.
At the top of the chat window, it kept showing "Mana is typing", but no reply came.
After a long time.
Finally a message popped up.
[About this... Kaito-kun, are you free today?]
[I'd like to talk to you about it in private.]
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