Looking around, he indeed didn't see Rito's figure. Sensing for his presence, it was the same.
In fact, there were only traces of Ringo and Mikan living in this house.
So the question was, where was Rito?
He couldn't have just disappeared, could he?
"Mikan-chan, is it just you and your mother living here?"
Kaito took a small sip of the tea Mikan had brewed, looked around, and asked with slight curiosity.
Mikan didn't overthink it. She looked up at the very handsome older brother Kaito, nodded first, but then shook her head.
"It wasn't like this before."
"It wasn't like this before?"
'So that meant Yuuki Rito did exist after all?'
"Makes sense. Your father lives here too, right?"
"...Father and mother divorced. Father took onii-chan with him to Osaka."
"I see. Sorry, I might have brought up something painful."
'How unexpected.'
'So the storyline had indeed changed.'
'But...'
'Since they were divorced, why was the surname still Yuuki?'
'Was it possible that the father had married into the Yuki family?'
...
Thinking about it, it was indeed possible.
"So now you live with your mother?"
"Yes. Mother came back from abroad three years ago and has been living with me since."
"I see. Isn't that tough?"
"Not really... when mother isn't home, I can take care of myself now."
'So Mikan was still the same Mikan.'
'At this rate, even though Mikan was still very young, her independence was indeed quite high.'
'Even if Ringo had returned to live with her, the nature of her work probably meant she had to go out often.'
'Especially when designing things, she might even need Mikan to look after her!'
"Mikan-san, do you miss your father and brother?"
"I don't miss my father... because he's a manga artist and almost never came home to take care of us. As for Onii-chan... I'm not sure."
A complex expression appeared on Mikan's face.
She really had no fondness for her father. As a manga artist, he was always busy working in his studio and rarely came home.
Her mother?
She was always going abroad. Since she was little, a maid was hired to take care of her and her brother.
Then her mother came back. She and her father argued for a long, long time, which led to the divorce.
It seemed they both felt that continuing like this was bad for their children's growth, so they wanted the other to give up their career.
But since neither was willing to give up, they ended up divorcing.
If neither would give up, then each would take one child to raise!
Thus, her father chose her older brother, Yuuki Rito. After the divorce, he took the father's surname.
Her mother kept her, continued living in this house, even worked hard to improve her cooking skills, no longer making perfunctory meals like before.
Also, her mother was quite wealthy. She had always lacked for nothing, and after her mother returned, she had more companionship.
The only drawback was that whenever her mother, Ringo, needed to spend time and energy designing clothes, Mikan had to step up and take care of her.
Well, now Mikan was used to this life. It was pretty good. When her mother had time, she did take her out to play, to travel. Overall, it was much, much better than before.
"Lunch is ready! Kaito-kun, please come sit! This is a meal I prepared with great care!!"
"It looks delicious."
Kaito went to the kitchen to wash his hands and sat down where Ringo had pulled out a chair.
Although it was the head seat, since Ringo had him sit there, he didn't mind.
After sitting down, Ringo sat opposite him, while Mikan sat in the middle seat on the side.
There were six dishes and one soup in total, looking very abundant and appetizing.
After tasting a few dishes, while they weren't as good as Baal's cooking, and slightly inferior to Kie's skill, overall, it was top-notch for a homemaker.
At the very least...
Women like Sayuri, Shodai, and Misuzu definitely couldn't cook as well as Ringo.
"Kaito-kun, is it to your liking?"
"Not bad. It has a very characteristic local flavor."
"Is that so? Thank you for the compliment."
From Kaito's demeanor, Ringo could tell he was no ordinary person. He had likely visited many high-end hotels and tasted gourmet food.
Generally, his tastes would be somewhat discerning, but seeing Kaito eat her cooking heartily made her think her skills were at least somewhat satisfactory.
Seeing this, Ringo felt much happier inside.
Having the food she personally prepared be eaten quickly was far more direct and pleasing than verbal praise.
"Mikan, you should eat too. Have some of this."
Ringo pretended to serve Mikan some food, then stood up and served Kaito as well.
It seemed normal. Hospitable people often served their guests.
Some people even piled food so high you couldn't see the rice underneath.
"Thank you."
"Please, don't be so polite."
Ringo sat down and began eating.
But while eating, she kept sneaking glances at Kaito, desperately thinking of topics that would engage him.
But as she thought, she realized why she was doing this.
She was only supposed to be thanking him. Besides, he was just traveling here and would return soon.
So why was she feeling reluctant?
No way!
"Is something wrong, Mrs. Yuki?"
"Hmm? No, no, nothing's wrong! I just suddenly remembered, where in China do you live, Kaito-kun?"
She asked! She blurted out the question she was most concerned about!
"Well... let's just say I live in Shanghai."
Even if it wasn't the same world.
"Shanghai? I know that place! My fashion design company actually has a branch in Shanghai! I've even been to China's Shanghai. It's really, really bustling!"
Mentioning a familiar place, especially where her company's branch was located, made Ringo excited.
She even started considering whether to take Mikan and move to China!