Yoshiko stepped out from the shadows of the hallway, her usual "Yohane" persona completely absent, replaced by the weary but sharp gaze of a mother who had spent too many nights alone. She leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, and don't forget the rest of the 'Little Demons' waiting back home," Yoshiko said, her voice dropping into a low, meaningful tone. She looked over at Mari with a wry, tired smirk. "You got those beautiful triplets, Mari. Those three are a handful exactly like you—chaotic, expensive, and loud. I don't know how the Ohara mansion is even still standing."
Mari didn't deny it; she simply tilted her head, a flicker of maternal pride softening her fierce expression for a fleeting second.
"Unlike my twins," Yoshiko continued, her expression softening as she thought of her own pair. "A boy and a girl... a perfect mix of fallen angel and human. At least they're a bit more balanced."
She then glanced toward Dia, who remained stoic, though her eyes betrayed a deep, hidden longing. "And then there's Dia's twin daughters. Perfectly disciplined, perfectly polite... and looking exactly like their father when they frown."
The air in the hallway turned heavy as the final count settled into everyone's minds.
* u's: Aoi (7, Umi), Hime (6, Maki), Yuki (6, Kotori).
* Nijigasaki: Kureha (Kanata), Shiro & Kuro (Twins, Ai), Meyrin (Lanzhu).
* Aqours: The Triplets (Mari), Boy & Girl Twins (Yoshiko), Twin Daughters (Dia).
Fourteen children. A small, hidden generation of the school idol legacy, all fathered by the man currently dreaming of "creation magic" and "infinite stamina" just a few feet above their heads.
"Fourteen women... fourteen children," Dia whispered, her voice trembling with the sheer weight of the numbers. "He thinks he's coming here to offer 'leniency' and 'jewelry.' He has no idea that he isn't just facing his wives. He's facing the future he walked away from."
"He's been 'deadbeat' long enough," Yoshiko hissed, her fingers twitching as if she were ready to cast a real spell. "The 'Panda' needs to wake up and see exactly what his 'infinite stamina' is actually going to be used for."
Without another word, the group turned as one toward the stairs. The floorboards of the Takami Ryokan groaned under the weight of fourteen years of collective resentment, love, and exhaustion.
Upstairs, in the silence of Room 4, the "glitch" in the timeline was about to face the ultimate reality check.