Faced with her mother's question, Kotomi Izumi froze for a moment, then replied with a silly grin:
"What special meaning could there be? We just happened to be in Kyoto, so I brought Yui along to mooch a meal~"
After hearing that, Akina Izumi immediately felt the urge to teleport to Kotomi's side and give her little butt a harsh spanking.
"You may act dumb most of the time, but sometimes you're very smart. So at a time like this, stop pretending to be stupid," Akina said faintly.
In response to her mother's words, Kotomi could only give an awkward laugh.
"Haha."
Middle-aged adults were seasoned veterans. Even if certain things were not spoken aloud, one could roughly see through them with a single glance.
If Kotomi had truly just brought Yui over for a simple free meal, as she claimed, then why would Third Uncle and Third Aunt have handed Yui a congratulatory gift envelope the moment they met? And the money inside had not been a small amount.
The key point was that Kotomi had let Yui accept the envelope. Was that not a silent acknowledgment that Yui was her girlfriend, that she had brought her this time to meet the family?
Thinking of this, Akina's feelings grew extremely complicated. She could not help but wonder: Had this little scumbag finally decided to settle down? Out of the three girls, had she chosen Yui Yuigahama?
After imagining such a possibility, Akina felt both gratified and somewhat regretful. Gratified that Kotomi had finally learned to take her feelings seriously. Regretful because if she chose Yui, did that not mean giving up Megumi and Iroha?
Of course, no matter whom Kotomi chose, Akina would feel some regret.
If Kotomi had brought Megumi to Third Uncle and Third Aunt's house for dinner today instead, Akina would still have felt regret, thinking that Kotomi was giving up Yui and Iroha.
Kotomi, of course, had no idea her mother was thinking along those lines. If she knew, she would definitely burst out laughing and say, "Mom, you don't need to feel regret. I never planned on choosing anyone, because I want them all!"
Naturally, if Kotomi really dared to say that out loud right now, then without question Akina would take a flight to Kyoto overnight just to spank her little butt.
"Still, Third Uncle and Third Aunt are really not loyal. They promised to keep it secret for me, but then turned around and told you and Dad. I even bought them so many gifts before going over. I even specially picked out a wooden stick for beating Yuyu—great grip, excellent impact."
Kotomi spoke with a hint of mock grievance, deliberately putting on an act. Even before going, she had known Third Uncle and Third Aunt would definitely inform her parents.
Even if they had not, once she returned from Kyoto, she would have found a way to let her parents know that she had taken Yui to their house for dinner.
"Your Third Uncle and Third Aunt did it for your own good. You just started high school and you're already dating. As elders, how could they truly feel at ease? If Yuyu dared to date right now, her butt would probably be beaten into sixteen pieces," Akina said.
"If they used the wooden stick I carefully selected, maybe they could round it up to twenty pieces."
Kotomi let out a mischievous chuckle. If Yuyu heard that, she would probably argue with Kotomi for an hour, followed by two hours of cold war.
"Enough of that. After you come back from Kyoto, find a time to bring Yui over to our house for dinner. By the way, when are you coming home?" Akina asked.
"Miss me?" Kotomi teased shamelessly before continuing, "We'll be back in a few days."
"Enjoying the hot springs at Harugamo Inn that much?" Akina asked with a smile.
At that, Kotomi immediately protested:
"No. Although the hot springs at Harugamo Inn are very comfortable, I'm not too satisfied with the bath right now. Because..."
Kotomi had just been about to complain to her mother about how she had gone to soak in the hot springs yesterday and there had not been a single pretty big sister in the bath—only a group of kindly grandmothers.
Before she could finish, however, her mother cut in first:
"Because there weren't any pretty big sisters in the hot spring pool?"
"Exactly! I even fantasized for ages about having heartfelt conversations with pretty big sisters in the bath. But the moment I stepped in, it was full of kindly grandmothers. Yesterday I was asked for a full half hour, 'Such a pretty young girl, do you have a boyfriend?' Anyone who didn't know better would think I'd wandered into a matchmaking corner at the park. Wait a second...
Mom, I hadn't even said anything yet. How did you guess it in advance?
Don't tell me you really can read minds?!"
It was only after she finished speaking that Kotomi realized something was off. She had not even explained why she was dissatisfied with the hot spring, yet her mother had already said it first.
"Nonsense. When you were little and I took you to hot springs or swimming pools, you clearly already knew how to swim, but every time you pretended you couldn't. You would deliberately drift over to pretty big sisters, act cute and coquettish, and try your hardest to burrow into their arms. And you only ever chose the ones with good figures," Akina could not help but complain.
As early as when Kotomi was still in kindergarten, Akina had discovered that whenever they went to hot springs or swimming pools, Kotomi loved pretending she could not swim. She would then start scouting for targets. Once she spotted a pretty big sister to her liking, she would deliberately float into the woman's arms.
"...Mom, if I ever bring a girl home for dinner in the future, please don't tell her about that dark history."
Kotomi tugged at the corner of her mouth. She had not expected her parents to remember such an ancient "black history" so clearly.
After chatting for a few more moments, Kotomi sensed that her mother was getting sleepy, so she said:
"Mom, I'm going to soak in the hot springs. Go to bed early."
Kotomi hung up directly. After slipping her phone back into the pocket of her yukata, she shook her head helplessly and smiled to herself.
"I know exactly what it means. I know what it represents to bring Yui to an elder's house for dinner right now. I'm just trying to find a balance. After all, you have to keep the bowl of water level."
...
"Kotomi hung up way too quickly."
Listening to the beeping busy tone, Akina said helplessly to Kaneyoshi Izumi.
"She could tell you were sleepy and wanted you to rest earlier," Kaneyoshi said with a smile.
"If she would just cause me a little less worry, I'd be able to rest properly! Sigh... I really don't know what to say about her. The Sakayanagi family just proposed marriage to the Izumi family, hoping to match Kotomi and Arisu together.
And what does Kotomi do? The moment she arrives in Kyoto, she brings Yui to Third Uncle and Third Aunt's house for dinner.
It's a good thing Kotomi doesn't know about the Sakayanagi proposal yet. Otherwise, her current behavior could be directly interpreted as rejecting the Sakayanagi family."
Kaneyoshi rubbed the corner of his eye and said:
"Yesterday, Aoshi came to the company to see me. He said he hopes to find a time for our two families to sit down and have a meal together."
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