"Good afternoon."
When a server approached the table, Hayasaka simply handed over a red-and-black card.
The server accepted it with obvious respect and immediately withdrew.
Yuto glanced at the card but did not think much of it.
A high-end restaurant like this naturally had different levels of service depending on the customer, so he assumed it was simply some kind of membership or status card.
Tohru, however, looked curious.
"Eh... what was that?"
Hayasaka smiled faintly. "Just a card used to verify my identity. If Miss Tohru wants one, I can have one issued for you."
"Hmm... I probably don't need it." Tohru shook her head with surprising seriousness. "I normally eat Boss's cooking anyway, so I wouldn't come to a place like this for food."
There was an inexplicable note of pride in her voice.
"Compared with Boss's cooking, the food here truly can't compare. It isn't worth mentioning."
Hayasaka immediately agreed with her.
That naturally made Tohru even happier.
Yuto could not help smiling as he lifted the glass of water the server had poured earlier and raised it toward Hayasaka.
"Thank you for helping me and Tohru choose clothes today. I'll use water instead of wine."
"You're too kind. It was only a small matter. Please don't concern yourself with it, Boss."
The two lightly clinked their glasses.
Not long afterward, the food began arriving.
The restaurant worked remarkably quickly, and Yuto could not help wondering whether the red-and-black card Hayasaka had shown earlier had something to do with it.
The moment the dishes were placed on the table, Tohru eagerly began eating.
After only one bite, she delivered her verdict.
"It's not as good as Boss's cooking, but it's acceptable."
Yuto laughed.
Hayasaka could only smile helplessly.
This was already one of the most prestigious restaurants in Shinjuku, with an excellent reputation and a kitchen staffed by talented graduates of Tōtsuki.
Yet according to Tohru...
All of that only qualified as "acceptable."
If the chefs in the kitchen heard her evaluation, they might very well come marching out to demand an explanation.
Halfway through the meal, Yuto casually changed the subject.
"By the way, is everything still going smoothly with Kaguya?"
"Thanks to the assistance you provided, Boss, everything has been proceeding smoothly."
Hayasaka answered with genuine gratitude.
Yuto smiled and waved it off.
"Kaguya mentioned before that her eldest brother is the only opponent left. If that's the case, it should probably be over pretty soon."
He picked up another bite of food and placed it in his bowl.
Judging by how efficiently Kaguya had dealt with everyone else, handling one remaining brother probably would not take very long.
Perhaps before much longer...
The entire Shinomiya family would truly be under Kaguya's control.
But the instant Yuto mentioned it, Hayasaka's expression faltered.
It lasted for only the briefest moment. Her breathing became slightly uneven before she immediately recovered, but Yuto still noticed.
A trace of doubt appeared in his mind.
"Mm. I believe in Milady."
Hayasaka smiled as she answered.
This time, however, Yuto paid closer attention.
The almost imperceptible tremble at the corner of her lips did not escape him.
Her smile was unnatural.
"Is something wrong?"
He asked tentatively.
Hayasaka did not give him the answer he was looking for.
Instead, she quietly hid everything behind an elegant, perfectly composed smile.
Yuto understood immediately.
She was deliberately concealing something.
And if Hayasaka had already decided not to tell him, then casually pressing her for answers would accomplish very little.
So he did not push.
He merely smiled and moved the conversation elsewhere.
Eventually, lunch came to an end.
The three left the restaurant together and prepared to part ways.
Hayasaka gave Yuto a respectful bow.
He had already told her several times that she did not need to be so formal around him, but she showed absolutely no intention of changing.
Helpless, Yuto could only return the courtesy before leaving with Tohru.
Once the two disappeared from sight, Hayasaka slowly straightened.
One hand unconsciously moved toward her chest.
The calm expression she had maintained in front of Yuto gradually faded, replaced by something distant and uncertain.
The struggle within the Shinomiya family was already approaching its conclusion.
Which meant that sooner or later...
She would have to decide what happened to her.
On one side stood Milady, the person closest to her and someone she had spent so many years beside that the boundary between servant, friend, and family had long since become difficult to define.
On the other...
Was her own family.
Hayasaka lowered her gaze.
What...
Was she supposed to do?
...
Elsewhere, Yuto and Tohru were already making their way home.
Even after leaving the shopping complex, Yuto could not stop thinking about Hayasaka's strange reaction.
He carefully replayed their conversation in his mind, searching for the exact point where her expression had changed.
It had happened when he mentioned Kaguya's eldest brother.
Shinomiya Oko.
A possibility gradually occurred to him.
Could Hayasaka... actually have some connection with Oko?
In a powerful family like the Shinomiyas, planting spies around one another would hardly be unusual.
Powerful families competing over inheritance and influence were exactly the kind of environments where something like that could happen.
At least, that was how these family power struggles always worked in television dramas.
Still...
After considering the possibility more seriously, Yuto temporarily dismissed it.
Every time he had seen Hayasaka interacting with Kaguya, the loyalty and affection in her attitude had always looked genuine.
Whatever secret she might be hiding, Yuto did not believe the bond between the two girls was fake.
Making baseless assumptions about someone else's relationship simply because of one strange reaction... wasn't right.
...
By the time Yuto reached the entrance to Ichinose Street, it was already a little past one in the afternoon.
The bright midsummer sun spilled across the road so intensely that it was almost dazzling, while a faint humid heat lingered in the air—the unavoidable discomfort that came with living relatively close to the coast.
Every establishment lining the street was tightly closed.
The businesses here opened in the evening and operated throughout the night, so at this hour most of their owners and employees were still sleeping.
Yuto and Tohru continued farther down the street.
When they approached Hanako's nightclub, however, Yuto suddenly slowed.
The doors were open.
That was unusual.
Curious, he kept walking until he reached the entrance and looked inside.
Only one woman was watching the place.
She sat with one cheek propped against her hand and looked so sleepy that she seemed ready to collapse onto the counter at any moment.
Yuto gave the interior a quick glance and was about to continue on his way when the woman finally noticed him.
The drowsiness vanished from her face instantly.
"Yuto-chan! Perfect timing! I've finally been waiting long enough to go get some sleep."
Yuto blinked in confusion.
Only after talking with her for a while did he understand what had happened.
Hanako had come back.
And right now, she was upstairs.
A surge of happiness immediately rose inside him, quickly followed by curiosity.
He could not help remembering the phone call from yesterday.
Hanako had already behaved strangely then.
Yuto told Tohru to return to the restaurant first while he went upstairs alone.
The woman who had been watching the club immediately closed the doors behind him and finally went off to get some sleep.
On the second floor, Yuto had barely reached the landing when he heard conversation and laughter coming from one of the nearby rooms.
The voice was unmistakably familiar.
His expression softened.
He quietly walked toward the door, drew in a small breath, and knocked.
"Who is it?"
"Aunt Hanako, it's me."
The moment Yuto heard her voice again, a strange sense of peace settled over him.
Footsteps approached from inside.
Then, with a soft creak, the door opened.
Hanako stood before him.
There were a few more fine lines on her face than the last time he saw her, subtle marks left behind by hard work and the passage of time.
Yet they did not make her look ugly or worn down.
If anything, they gave her an even more natural and approachable warmth.
Hanako looked at Yuto with a gentle smile filled with affection, and seeing that familiar expression alone made him feel strangely reassured.
Chiko stood beside her.
Compared with Hanako, Chiko's features were arguably a little more refined, but she lacked the same effortless warmth and vitality Hanako seemed to carry.
"Aunt Hanako, it's been a long time."
Yuto greeted her with a smile.
Hanako naturally reached out and took his arm.
"Yuto's still as cute and lovable as ever."
The corners of her lips curved upward, giving her an almost grandmotherly kindness that seemed slightly at odds with her actual age.
"Come inside and talk."
Chiko smiled at them.
Yuto followed the two women into the room.
A low table stood inside, with two cups of freshly brewed tea resting on top.
Once Yuto sat down, Chiko went to fetch another cup for him, but when she reached for the teapot, he took it from her first.
He could pour his own tea.
Chiko was still one of his elders, after all.
"Aunt Hanako, have you been doing well?"
After filling his cup, Yuto looked toward her with a smile.
Her letter had already given him a general idea of how her life was going, but reading words on paper and sitting face-to-face with the person who wrote them were completely different experiences.
"You don't need to worry about Auntie, Yuto. I'm very satisfied with my life now."
Hanako smiled gently.
That simple question seemed to open the floodgates.
She began talking about her life in the countryside: working in the fields, running the little general store, and all the quiet, uneventful things that belonged uniquely to rural life.
Yuto did not interrupt.
He simply listened.
At a moment like this, being a listener was enough.
When Hanako finally finished, she lifted her tea and took a small sip to wet her throat.
Sensing that the timing was right, Yuto refilled her cup.
"Then Aunt Hanako... did you come back this time specifically to see how everyone at the club was doing?"
Hanako fell silent.
Chiko turned toward her former boss as well.
She was clearly just as curious about why Hanako had suddenly returned.
Hanako drew in a small breath.
The expression on her face became difficult to describe.
Conflicted.
Complicated.
And beneath all of that, there seemed to be traces of sorrow and lingering resentment.
Neither Yuto nor Chiko spoke.
They could both see that Hanako was struggling with something, so they simply waited.
"Haa..."
Hanako slowly breathed out.
She closed her eyes briefly before speaking.
"That old man you mentioned on the phone yesterday... do you know where he is?"
Yuto and Chiko both frowned slightly.
"Hanako-san, what's wrong?" Chiko asked carefully.
Hanako did not answer, she merely shook her head.
Yuto thought back over the past several days.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him around much lately."
Hanako's expression changed immediately.
"Does he go anywhere else besides here?"
There was a faint urgency in her voice.
Yuto and Chiko exchanged glances before both shaking their heads.
Neither of them had ever cared enough about the strange old man to keep track of his movements.
Seeing their reaction, the tension in Hanako's expression tightened for a moment before her eyes dimmed.
"I see..."
Her quiet murmur sounded unexpectedly weak.
"If you want to find him, Hanako-san, I can spread the word downstairs and have people look."
Chiko spoke decisively.
She had once run wild alongside Hanako back in the day. Even though she had settled down considerably since then, the influence and connections she possessed had not simply disappeared.
Finding one old man would not be particularly difficult if she seriously mobilized people.
Hanako hesitated.
Worry remained clearly visible in her expression.
"If Aunt Hanako doesn't want to attract too much attention, I can help instead."
Yuto offered after studying her face.
Hanako remained silent for a long while.
Eventually, she sighed.
"No. Forget it."
She forced a smile.
Chiko stared at her in confusion.
"What exactly is going on, Hanako-san? If there's a problem, we can solve it. Finding one person isn't difficult!"
Hanako drew in another breath.
The weakness that had briefly appeared on her face disappeared.
In its place came a calm, firm expression carrying unmistakable pressure.
"I said there's no need."
For a moment, the Hanako of the past returned.
Chiko immediately shrank back and stopped pushing.
Yuto remained silent as he watched the exchange.
Outwardly, his expression stayed calm.
Inside, however, his thoughts were anything but.
Hanako abruptly changed the subject and brought her smile back as though the previous conversation had never happened.
She began talking about amusing recent events and casually mentioned that she was not planning to leave again immediately.
She intended to stay at the club for a few days.
After chatting for a little while longer, Yuto finally stood and said he should get going.
Hanako walked him outside.
Once they said goodbye, Yuto headed down the street.
After going some distance, he glanced back.
Hanako was still standing at the entrance, smiling as she watched him leave.
"Aunt Hanako, go back inside. You don't need to keep standing out there."
Yuto raised one hand and waved.
Hanako waved back before finally turning and disappearing inside.
Only after the doorway closed behind her did Yuto slowly lower his hand.
His thoughts remained fixed on everything that had happened upstairs.
Hanako's reaction had left far too deep an impression on him to ignore.
After thinking it over for a while, Yuto made a decision.
This time...
He was going to be a little disobedient.
He would find that old man himself.
There were some things he wanted to ask him properly.
And more importantly, his instincts were telling him something very clearly.
Hanako and that old man shared a relationship that was anything but ordinary.
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