"Mom, you're going to Auntie's place tomorrow, right?"
Hearing her daughter's question, Mrs. Yuigahama said with some confusion, "If I'm not mistaken, this is the third time you've asked me that tonight. Does something need my help tomorrow?"
"No, no, it's... just asking casually." Yuigahama Yui said nervously.
"But you really don't look like you're just asking casually." Just then, Mrs. Yuigahama seemed to think of something. She narrowed her eyes and leaned close to her daughter. "Yui, are you inviting someone over to the house tomorrow? Like maybe a boyfriend you've been secretly seeing behind Mom's back?"
"It's... it's not a boyfriend. It's Shirai Mio. You met her before."
"Oh~ That pretty white-haired girl. I thought you were secretly inviting your boyfriend over, especially since you've been pestering me to teach you how to cook lately."
Yuigahama Yui twirled a strand of her hair, then said quietly, "Mio taught me how to make cookies last time, so I invited her over to play. I want to cook a meal for her personally to say thanks."
"I see. Well, if you ever get a boyfriend, remember to tell Mom. And if you really can't find a boyfriend, a girlfriend would be fine too. Mom's very open-minded, you know. Plus, compared to a boyfriend, your dad would probably find a girlfriend easier to accept."
"Don't—don't tease me! I'm going back to my room to do homework." After dropping that line, Yuigahama Yui hurried back to her room.
Watching her daughter's retreating figure, Mrs. Yuigahama showed a thoughtful expression.
After returning to her room and closing the door, Yuigahama Yui leaned against it and let out a long breath. She didn't know why, but when she'd heard her mother's words just now, she'd suddenly gotten nervous.
Maybe it was because she'd unconsciously imagined what it would be like if she really did ask Shirai Mio to be her girlfriend?
Feeling her face gradually heating up, Yuigahama Yui quickly shook her head, then walked to her desk and started on her homework, using it to redirect her attention.
As for tidying her room, she'd already done that after school this afternoon.
Now she just needed to finish her homework, get a good night's sleep, and wait for Shirai Mio to come over tomorrow.
Though that was the plan, her wandering thoughts caused her to accidentally write Shirai Mio's name several times in her homework.
Noticing something was wrong, Yuigahama Yui quickly tore out that page.
She rubbed her cheeks. That burning sensation was back again. If nothing else, her face was definitely red right now.
Just then, her bedroom door suddenly opened. Mrs. Yuigahama walked in carrying a plate of sliced apples. Seeing her daughter, she raised an eyebrow. "Yui, how do you get all flushed just from doing homework?"
"It's... it's nothing. There's just this one problem I can't figure out no matter what. Got a bit frustrated."
"Which problem? Let me take a look."
"No—no need! I just figured out how to solve it. I can do it myself. And next time, remember to knock before entering my room!" As she spoke, Yuigahama Yui pushed her mom out the door.
Looking at the closed bedroom door, Mrs. Yuigahama stroked her smooth chin. No matter how she looked at it, her daughter seemed a bit off.
Could she really be in love?
The next day, morning.
In her sleep, Yuigahama Yui vaguely heard her mother's voice, as if she was chatting with someone.
As her consciousness gradually cleared, she slowly opened her eyes.
After waking up, Yuigahama Yui's first reaction was to grab her phone from the nightstand and check the time.
It was 9:30 AM.
Seeing this, Yuigahama Yui shot upright. She and Shirai Mio had agreed on 10 AM—she'd almost overslept!
Actually, Yuigahama Yui had climbed into bed around 11 PM last night, hoping to sleep early and wake up early.
However, lying in bed, her wandering thoughts kept her tossing and turning until around 3 or 4 AM before she finally managed to fall asleep.
Maybe that was why the alarm hadn't woken her up.
Regardless, she needed to get up now.
As Yuigahama Yui got out of bed, she heard her mother talking to someone again. She raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Wasn't Mom supposed to visit Auntie today? Based on past experience, she should've already left by now. Why was she still home? Was she on the phone with Dad?
Puzzled, Yuigahama Yui pushed open her bedroom door.
Arriving in the living room, she immediately spotted Shirai Mio's distinctive white hair—and today, Mio had even styled it in a half-bun like Yui usually wore.
Wait, now wasn't the time to focus on hairstyles. What she should be focusing on was why Shirai Mio had showed up early at her house and was chatting so happily with her mom!
Just as Yuigahama Yui noticed Shirai Mio, Mio naturally noticed her too. She smiled at Yuigahama Yui and said, "Good morning, Yui~"
"G-good morning." Yuigahama Yui awkwardly smoothed down her disheveled hair, then quickly said, "Um, I'm going to wash up now. I'll be quick!"
With that, Yuigahama Yui fled into the bathroom like she was escaping.
Looking at herself in the mirror—wearing pajamas with messy hair—Yuigahama Yui silently covered her face. This wasn't how she'd pictured it last night at all.
Why did it turn out like this?
After washing up at maximum speed, Yuigahama Yui returned to her room to change clothes.
"You know, Yui's been pestering me to teach her how to cook lately. And sometimes she'll just randomly giggle to herself. I thought she'd fallen in love~" Mrs. Yuigahama said to Shirai Mio with a smile, chatting about her daughter.
Just as Yuigahama Yui stepped out of her room, she heard her mom's words and quickly rushed to the living room, asking nervously, "Mom, weren't you supposed to visit someone today? Why haven't you left yet?"
"Your auntie had something come up this morning, so I'm planning to go after lunch. But why are you so nervous?"
"I'm... I'm not nervous."
To prevent her mom from continuing to tell Shirai Mio about her, Yuigahama Yui directly grabbed Mio's hand and said, "Come on, follow me into my room."
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