At the dinner table, as Miyamura Shizuka chewed her food, a thought suddenly struck her. She swallowed, turned toward her son across the table, and asked with a skeptical tone:

"Did you do something that made Shouko upset?"

She was about 90% sure something had happened.

This afternoon's downpour was intense—but only for the first ten minutes. After that, the skies had cleared. Normally, Shouko would come over to hang out, especially on a quiet evening. But today? Nothing. Not even a visit.

So, odds were high something had gone wrong.

Miyamura Daiki, seated beside them, gave Akira a brief glance but said nothing and kept eating in silence. The dog, Hachiko, however, paused mid-bite, looking between mother and son with what could only be described as curiosity.

Akira's first thought went straight to the awkward incident that had occurred earlier with Shouko. But he was absolutely certain his mother had been in the bathroom at the time—there was no way she had seen anything.

She must have been guessing.

Recovering quickly, Akira replied calmly, "No. Maybe Shouko had to help her grandmother with something. That's probably why she didn't come over today."

Miyamura Shizuka nodded thoughtfully. That sounded plausible. She had only been asking casually, anyway. Her son didn't seem the type to upset Shouko—and even if something had happened, surely he wouldn't do anything excessive.

With that, the matter was left unresolved and drifted into silence over dinner.

Around 8:00 p.m., the sound of the front door unlocking echoed from the hallway. Hachiko was the first to dash out to greet whoever had arrived.

"Hachiko! Did you miss me?" came Yuzuru's cheerful voice.

"Excuse me..." Shouko's softer voice followed right behind her.

Yuzuru ran straight to the living room with Hachiko by her side and politely called out, "Miyamura Auntie, can I take Hachiko with me to watch TV? Grandma's already asleep, and it's scary by myself."

But before Shizuka could even respond, Yuzuru had already guessed the answer and vanished with the dog, only tossing back a cheerful, "Thanks, Miyamura Auntie!"

Watching her disappear, Shizuka sighed. That child asked permission every time—but never waited for the answer. It was polite… technically. But just barely.

She couldn't help but chuckle.

Shouko, meanwhile, was still changing her shoes at the entrance. Seeing how fast her sister had run off, she frowned slightly.

"Yuzuru, slow down. The ground might still be wet—don't slip!" she called out in concern.

Yuzuru waved dismissively over her shoulder without looking back. "Got it, Sis!"

Shouko shook her head and smiled helplessly. Once her sister and Hachiko were safely across the street and inside, she quietly closed the front door.

When Shouko entered the living room, she instinctively avoided looking in one direction. She gave the room a quick glance and asked instead:

"Where's Uncle Miyamura?"

"In the study," Shizuka replied. "He's working on something tonight."

She patted the tatami mat beside her, inviting Shouko to sit.

Shouko walked over naturally and sat beside her, but Miyamura Shizuka's sharp eyes didn't miss a thing. Something was off.

Normally, when Shouko arrived, she and Akira would lock eyes right away—like magnets. But tonight? Not a single glance between them.

Akira hadn't looked at Shouko once. His eyes were glued to the TV.

And Shouko, from the entrance to the tatami, hadn't once looked his way either.

Combined with the strange feeling she'd had during dinner, Shizuka's intuition was ringing alarm bells. These two were definitely hiding something.

Shouko, noticing Shizuka thoughtfully rubbing her chin, asked with concern, "Auntie, is something wrong with your chin?"

She didn't forget to sneak a side glance toward Akira either—only to see him still focused on the television. That added a small flicker of frustration to her chest.

Shizuka blinked, startled by the question. "Oh—no, no, nothing," she said quickly, brushing it off. Then she leaned closer to whisper—but paused, realizing Shouko might not catch her words clearly.

So she pulled back and instead raised her hand to sign something.

'Did something happen between you and Akira?'

Before Shouko could respond, she added:

'Did that brat bully you? Tell Auntie—I'll deal with him.'

As she signed, Shizuka felt a twinge of pride. Years ago, she had enrolled in a sign language class, just in case communication was difficult. Turned out she hadn't needed it much—Shouko could read lips and speak clearly—but now, finally, it came in handy.

She did wonder, though, if her signs were a bit rusty.

Shouko stared at her, puzzled. Why the sudden switch to signing? Why not just talk?

Just as she raised her hand to reply, Akira's voice came from across the room—dry and a little annoyed:

"Mom. Please. I would never bully Shouko, okay? Stop jumping to conclusions."

He wanted to add something snarky like "Are you hitting menopause early?" but wisely kept that thought internal. That kind of comment might've earned him a one-way trip to the ER.

Shizuka narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I suppose you wouldn't dare. But are you hiding something from me?"

Akira waved it off with a casual excuse, then stood up from the tatami, walked over to Shouko, and gently pulled her up.

"Let's go. You promised to help me with my homework, remember?"

Without giving her time to respond, he took her hand and led her toward the stairs.

"You brat! Stop making Shouko do your homework for you!" Shizuka's voice echoed behind them.

Shouko didn't quite catch the words, but Akira's expression made it clear: it had been a scolding.

She laughed quietly to herself.

Back in Akira's room, they sat facing each other, one on each chair. The mood was still a little awkward—quiet, but not tense.

Akira rubbed the edge of his chair and gave her a faint smile.

"Did you forget something?"

Shouko blinked. Her mind went straight to that awkward moment earlier in the rain—but that couldn't be it, could it?

She paused and began mentally scanning all the promises or favors she'd agreed to recently.

Akira didn't speak again. He simply watched her think, letting her sort it out on her own. His gaze, however, wandered for a moment—landing unintentionally on her soft cherry-pink pajamas.

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POWER STONE!!!

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