Under the alternating comfort of her mother and best friend, Ran's emotions finally calmed down a bit.
Eri thought for a moment, then offered her advice: "After we return to the real world, you can remind Kudo Shinichi, or try to persuade him to withdraw from the investigation team."
"Would he listen?" Ran blinked.
Eri and Sonoko exchanged a glance and pressed their lips together in unison.
To be honest, they didn't think that boy would listen.
Shinichi's personality was like that. He was used to being arrogant and had never been able to take anyone else's advice.
Even if it came from Ran, it would probably be the same.
After all, for the first ten-plus years of his life, things had gone too smoothly for him.
Thinking of this, Eri added earnestly, "Ran, if the two of them ever really come into conflict in the future, you must not get involved."
Although Makoto's trust in her daughter had surprised her a bit, she still didn't want her daughter to get too close to this 'murderous maniac'.
Today, when he was in a good mood, he might share his most important secret openly.
But who knew if tomorrow, when he was in a bad mood, he might turn around and stab her?
In short, Eri didn't like either of these two people.
She preferred they both stay far away from her daughter.
—That was what she thought, but Sonoko thought the opposite.
If you set aside the 'murder' part, Makoto actually fit Sonoko's ideal partner criteria quite well.
Strong, handsome, powerful, and gave a sense of security.
Completely unlike that emotionally clueless reasoning maniac, Kudo Shinichi.
Moreover, his attitude of being honest and open with people he trusted, in Sonoko's eyes, was bursting with boyfriend material.
'Sigh, what a pity.'
'If I were still a Ninja, maybe I could have become Makoto's student too.'
...
The next day.
Yui's biological clock pulled her out of her sleep right on time.
She opened her eyes groggily and saw her roommate Ebina Hina already dressed and ready to go out.
"Hina, so early?" Yui was a bit surprised.
Ebina Hina turned back and smiled: "I'll make breakfast from now on. You're all official Ninjas now, with missions to run. Just leave these chores to me."
Hearing this, Yui immediately felt embarrassed.
She was a people-pleaser by nature. The more others did things for her sake, the more she felt she couldn't accept it.
"No, no, I'll do it—"
The two of them started deferring to each other, like best friends fighting to pay the bill during an outing, which woke up Yumiko, who was still asleep.
After finding out what was going on, Yumiko looked utterly speechless. Finally, she waved her hand and said, "Alright, alright, the three of us will do it together."
With the big sister giving the order, Yui and Hina naturally had no objections.
"Hey, wait, where's Chizuru?"
Just then, Yui noticed someone was missing from the room. Chizuru wasn't there.
"Maybe she went to the bathroom?" Yumiko said casually.
Although they had been roommates for four years, Chizuru had never been able to integrate into their little group of three.
It was only recently, since she had been placed in the same team as Eriri, that their relationship had gotten a little closer.
The three girls put on their clothes and walked out of the bedroom.
They hadn't taken two steps before hearing some commotion from the master bedroom.
"Sis, move over a bit—"
"Airi, you're too bossy. We said it was my turn today—"
Hearing the Aizono sisters' voices, Yui instantly remembered what had happened before. Her face turned bright red in a flash, and she went into full Hinata mode.
But this time it was even more extreme—
Because they saw Chizuru, who had been missing in the morning, kneeling at the master bedroom door... digging, digging, digging.
She seemed to sense the gaze behind her.
Chizuru slowly turned her head and locked eyes with Yumiko and the other two.
Instantly, time seemed to freeze.
"Kyaaaa—!"
Chizuru let out a scream and scrambled away.
The Aizono sisters inside the room were also scared half to death by the scream.
Marina quickly spat out what was in her mouth, her eyes wide with shock: "Was that... Chizuru just now? How long has she been listening?"
Airi's eyes were also wide.
Although her personality was much tougher than her sister's, being caught eavesdropping like that was still explosively embarrassing.
Thinking about how everything she had just done had been overheard, she grabbed the blanket and covered herself, letting out a wail of social death.
Meanwhile, the trio of Yumiko, Yui, and Hina outside the door stood frozen, not knowing whether to leave or stay.
Looking at the Aizono sisters, whose faces were full of disillusionment, and then looking down at his own brother, which had yet to be released, Makoto also had a pained expression.
'Should I continue? But the two clearly had no mood left.'
Helpless, he put on his clothes and prepared to take a cold shower to cool down.
As he went out, he ran right into the clueless trio at the door.
Makoto's gaze lingered on them for an extra two seconds. He said nothing, turned, and headed to the bathroom.
The trio was once again dumbfounded… because Makoto's bulge looked like it was about to burst through his pants.
'If he was like this at twelve, when he returned to the real world and turned sixteen... wouldn't he take off?'
Makoto arrived at the bathroom door and heard the sound of splashing water coming from inside. He couldn't help but click his tongue.
'Damn, why was nothing going right this morning?'
"Is... is that you, Makoto-sama?"
Chizuru inside the bathroom heard the click and quickly asked.
"Are you done washing?" Makoto's tone was impatient.
"I-I'm done!"
Chizuru quickly turned off the water and hurried out. Like Makoto, she had come to cool down with a shower.
But the moment she saw Makoto's pants, Chizuru's breathing became rapid again.
"Th-that... Makoto-sama... I-I'll help you."
At that moment, Makoto vaguely saw Chizuru's eyes turn into heart-shaped pupils.
Since she was offering, he didn't stand on ceremony.
…
In the kitchen.
Yui, Yumiko, and Hina finally started preparing breakfast.
All three were blushing, heads down, working in silence.
But their bodies still wouldn't stop heating up.
"Th-that... I've finished cutting the vegetables. Yui, can you put them in the pot? I-I want to take a shower."
Hina was the first to flee.
"Th-that... Hina, can I go first this time?"
Yui, always a people-pleaser, refused for the first time ever.
"I go first!"
Yumiko also joined the fight.
The three rushed out of the kitchen in a competitive speed-walk and arrived at the bathroom door—
And then they saw it.
"Gulp... gulp... gulp... burp~"
Hearing Chizuru's satisfied belch-
Yuigahama Yui and the other two felt utterly awful.
'You are truly hungry. You can eat anything.'