Pop! Pop!

With the salute bursting like twin fireworks, the room warmed like spring sun on paper screens—no gloom, no clinging goodbyes, only a tide of bright enthusiasm. Everyone pushed hard to leave Sham’s mom a good impression, like polishing jade till it gleamed.

All in all, we came with honest hearts, like clean water in a clay bowl.

Sham lived in a small apartment; on a floor plan it wasn’t big, yet for mother and daughter it was snug as a teahouse booth. Staring at the hall we’d visited often—lately, too often—Yun Shi drifted, like mist over a familiar bridge.

Maybe it was the thought of someone leaving; even the walls felt lonely, like a lantern in a wind corridor.

“P-please… please accept our… our little gift!”

Mizuki stood stiff as a stalk of bamboo, waist bent, cheeks red as hawthorns, eyes squeezed shut like a startled fawn; even her breath hid itself. She looked exactly like a bride meeting her mother-in-law, a shy sparrow on a branch.

Honestly, maybe she and Sham really had a thing—Yun Shi watched her prim little act, suspicion fluttering like a moth to lamplight.

“All right, little Mizuki, thank you. I’m very happy~”

The white-and-violet-haired beauty—Sham’s mother, Lucy Einaphiel—accepted with a smile like soft moonlight on a lake.

“Mizuki, don’t be so tense. My mommy’s easy to talk to, right, Mommy~”

“Hehe, only your mouth is that sweet; it drips honey like an apricot. I’m so glad my daughter has friends like you. A mother wants nothing more than her child’s joy; seeing her live so well in Japan, my heart rests like a boat in a calm bay. Please keep looking after her—this is a mother’s request.”

Lucy’s words were gentle as warm tea; the sincerity hit like a bell tone, and Mizuki froze like a rabbit in dew.

“N-no, I wouldn’t dare say I look after Sham-chan. She always looks after me, really…”

Mizuki’s blush deepened like sunset on peach clouds, her voice tripping over itself like river pebbles; she looked exactly like a girl approved by her future mother-in-law, all flutter and steam.

Yes, she’s naturally soft-spoken, but not helpless; usually she’s the one fussing over Sham. Yet now she…

Maybe meeting your crush’s family makes you stiffen up, like a crane folding its wings to look proper.

Maybe.

“Okay, Mizuki, breathe. You’re making me itch in my own skin, haha.”

Another Mizuki stepped up and patted her shoulder, a light tap like rain on bamboo; the joke cracked the tension like a twig.

“Y-yes, um, Mizuki-chan, I’m not nervous—”

“Calm. Mommy’s watching you, you know.”

“S-sorry! Spacing out is a terrible sin!”

“Hahaha~”

Lucy laughed, clear as chimes; Mizuki flushed even brighter, redder than a ripe tomato, a little kettle about to whistle.

“Forgive me, forgive me. Little Mizuki and little Mizuki are just too cute; I couldn’t hold my laughter. I was all set to leave Japan, and I didn’t expect you to come see me off. I’m truly happy for my daughter, to have friends like this.”

Lucy’s smile was a lantern, steady and warm.

“You flatter us. As friends, of course we show up when family’s heading home; for Sham, time with family is precious like rain in drought. Auntie, please just accept it.”

Mai smiled, words smooth as silk on a loom.

“Feels like Mai-san’s built to say stuff like that,” Yan Er chimed in, her tone like a teasing fan flick.

“Yan Er-chan, why do I hear malice dripping like ink?”

“No malice. I’m just shocked that our usually-yuri Mai can sound that cool. You sure you’re not out to pick up girls?”

As she spoke, Mai caught a flicker—Yan Er’s mouth tipped up, sour-sweet as green plums. A tiny alarm rang in Mai’s chest like a sparrow twitching.

Uh-oh, Yan Er-chan’s favorability is dropping like autumn leaves!

“Nani! Mai-chan, you like Sham-chan?!”

Before Mai could answer, Mizuki snapped her head around, gaze sharp as flint, a thin edge of hostility glinting like a knife in frost.

What the heck! How did this become a battlefield of jealousy!

“N-no, that’s not it…” Mai forced a wobbly smile, words skidding like shoes on wet stone.

“I think you owe us an explanation, Mai-san.”

“Mai-chan, I think you should explain.”

Two unhappy gazes pressed in, heavy as storm clouds, and Mai felt the pressure like a mountain on her shoulders; even knowing it was a joke didn’t stop the chill.

“Enough. Don’t make a scene. Mom’s watching; don’t leave a bad taste.”

Yun Shi, quiet till now, stepped in like a fan cutting the heat; the three snapped awake like birds at a clap.

“What are you three doing?”

Mizuki rubbed her temple, headache pulsing like a drum.

“S-sorry!” x3

“Forget it. Sham, stop spectating. Say something.”

Yun Shi tossed the ball to Sham. Caught mid-show, Sham blinked, then met her mother’s encouraging look, and her courage melted like sugar in tea.

“U-um, Little Yun, I wasn’t spectating…”

Feeling every gaze land like snowflakes, Sham broke into cold sweat; she peeked at Yun Shi, awkward as a cat in rain.

“Oh, I know. I didn’t say anything.”

Yun Shi kept it casual, a flat lake face.

“Little Yun, don’t be like that. I don’t want a jealousy war, uuu…”

“I did nothing. You stirred this pot yourself.”

“Little Yun, I was wrong.”

“Where?”

“I shouldn’t have been watching.”

“Serves you right. Look at your harem going off the rails.”

Yun Shi snorted, a tiny frost puff. Jealous? Correct. She’d seen guys gather harems; she never expected Sham to have a harem day too. Even as a joke, it needled like grit under a lid.

“Ooh~”

Seeing Yun Shi’s look, a sly light rose in Sham like a fox’s lantern. Yun Shi felt eyes on her back like a hawk’s shadow; she turned, stiff, and found Mizuki’s placid face leaking black aura like ink smoke. Beside her, Yan Er shivered as if a draft curled through bamboo. The other Mizuki said nothing, face ashen like winter ash—unnerving.

Inside, that Mizuki was tangled like vines. She liked someone already, yet watching Yun Shi and someone else flaunt intimacy made her sour, and she didn’t know why; in that muddle, silence hardened on her face like frost.

Mai lifted both hands—none of my business—and let the dust settle where it would.

Yes, girls hugging girls is normal like rain in spring. But people saw Yun Shi as a boy now; a girl clinging to a “boy”? Minds ran downhill like water, especially Mizuki; her heart was about to boil over.

“Yun Shi-kun, you’re winning at life. You won’t even spare Sham-chan.”

Her voice was calm as still water, but black steam rose behind her like a storm. Yun Shi’s gut tightened, a rabbit under an eagle’s shadow.

“I—I can explain.”

For some reason, Yun Shi even raised her hand like a guilty student in class.

“Explain what.” Mizuki spoke cold as a blade; even the question mark froze.

“Sham, let go, okay? Your girlfriend’s mad.”

Yun Shi turned first to Sham, but Sham only tightened her hold, wicked as honey.

“What are you saying, Little Yun? Aren’t you my girlfriend!”

Pfft!

I truly regret meeting this gremlin—she’s doing this on purpose!

“Yun Shi-kun!”

“She’s making it up, don’t believe her!”

“I—I… Sham-chan, you big idiot! Uuu!”

Out of words and out of face, Mizuki covered her eyes and bolted like a startled deer.

Only then did Sham sense the disaster; she released Yun Shi and sprinted after Mizuki, feet light as scattering leaves.

“You misunderstood, Mizuki! I was joking!”

“I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”

“Mizuki, wait for me!”

The door slammed, a clap like a gavel; the street would now host a couple’s drama under neon, even if both leads were girls.

Heh. They played too hard and blew the roof off, didn’t they.

“Youth is lovely~”

Lucy sipped tea with a smile like steam curling from a cup.

You’re the mom, aren’t you? Saying that with a grin like a fox… Truly Sham’s mother—black-bellied to match.

“Why do I feel like I became the bad guy…”

Yun Shi sagged, squatting in a corner to draw circles like a sulking child; she hated being pegged as the villain, especially by friends she’d marked into her heart like a seal.

“I’m the bad guy, the bad guy…”

She collapsed into gloom like a drizzle that wouldn’t quit.

“Isn’t that a bit much…” Yan Er sweat-dropped at the wall-squatter, lost for words. The other Mizuki had returned to normal, but awkwardness clung like damp, and she could only give a weak smile.

“All right, stop the kiddie tantrum.”

At the key moment, Mai stepped up and used the oldest, sharpest technique: the headpat kill. Her palm fell like a blessing on a kitten.

“Don’t touch me, you fiend…”

Yun Shi glared back, teeth bared like a tiny tiger.

“Yesss, ma’am~”

Mai spread her hands, helpless before this little tsundere storm cloud.

“By the way, my darling told me your school’s holding a sports festival? I’d love to see it~”

Out of nowhere, Lucy tossed the topic like a pebble into a pond; ripples spread, and the other Mizuki answered smoothly:

“Yes. Our Student Council’s been preparing, though it’ll take a bit more time.”

“Student Council, huh… Yun Shi, you handling it too?”

Mai asked, and Yun Shi swatted her hand away, then stood to straighten her clothes like smoothing wrinkled silk.

“Yeah, it’s busy season. Our shameless president is a headache like a knot in bamboo.”

“Hehe, the president can be… speechless, but she’s a good person,” Mizuki said, defending her with a smile like a fan flick.

“No, no. That one’s a lamb’s smile on a big bad wolf,” Yun Shi said, shaking her head like a bell.

“Really? I think the president’s great…”

“That’s just you. She’s a queen, that’s all.”

“Queen? What’s that…”

“You wouldn’t get it…”

Truth is, Yun Shi’s impression of a certain Student Council president was poor as stale tea—especially after that incident; only a fool wouldn’t stay wary.