The comments section all think I'm a really good person.

After all, I've always been Aunt Mahiru's favorite child since I was little, firmly occupying the spot in her arms and behind her. Even Aunt Mahiru's nephews and nieces couldn't take me away from her.

So, when Aunt Mahiru has to go on business trips, she'll give me her house key and ask me to water her plants. She also often comes to stay at her house during summer vacation, and sometimes she doesn't even want to go home…

Logically speaking, I should be the only one with a key to Aunt Mahiru's house.

But the truth is, Aunt Mahiru asked the question, "Who is it?"

She gave the other keys to other people.

—Has it progressed to this point? Have you already given the keys to your fiancée? Is that why you're uncertain about who will be visiting at this time?

I took a shallow breath and replied, "Aunt Mahiru, it's me."

"Yuna? Isn't it curfew now... wait a moment!" She seemed to be busy packing something up, and the door was tightly closed, showing no intention of opening it for me anytime soon.

But I know she wasn't wary of me at all.

So the door wasn't actually locked.

【9】

I'm getting married soon.

Rusaki Mahiru still doesn't quite feel the reality of this. She was unusually calm when she accepted his proposal, but she still feels empty inside.

She thought she would remember many things, the illusory tenderness she had fallen into when she was a teenager, the warmth beside her when the nine of them took a group photo, the faint bitterness in her heart when she looked at Karen Aijo and Hikari Kagura... but she didn't.

So much time has passed. She is now twice the age she was back then, and even Hua Lian and Xiao Guang's child is about the same age as her back then. She has successfully been admitted to Sheng Xiang Music Academy and started the Starlight role selection process.

She looks a lot like them back then.

From the child's eyes and brows, Mahiru Rosaki could always see the fifteen-year-old Karen Aijo.

They will take her hand when she gets lost and tell her that everyone will always be there for her.

However, this is a lie.

Everyone else is married and has their own lives, but I am still shrouded in the shadows of the past, with a lingering cloud of sorrow in my heart that I can't shake off.

Accepting that person's marriage proposal wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

In short, let's tidy up the things that belong to Karen and Hikaru in the house first, just as a way of tidying up our feelings...

Thinking this, I picked up the group photo from the table just as I heard the sound of the door being unlocked.

Rusaki Mahiru was startled, and an inexplicable sense of guilt made her panic.

Fortunately, it was Yuna outside.

She was very obedient and always listened to her. In Mahiru's mind, the child posed no threat whatsoever.

But, the next second—

—Aisho Yuna burst in through the door, pounced on him, and pinned Rusaki Mahiru firmly against the table.

It was only at this moment that Mahiru Tsukizaki realized that the little, soft child she once was had grown up to be so big.

She was slightly shorter, but when she looked up at her, she was still dazzling. Her features vaguely overlapped with those of Aijo Karen and even Kagura Hikari. Her eyes, which were very similar to Aijo Karen's yet completely different, were very close to her, and their noses almost touched.

This is an absolutely dangerous distance; their breaths are mingling, and if they lean in even slightly, their lips will touch.

The young girl had grown up under Mahiru Tsuki's watchful eyes, but when she looked at her stubbornly, she felt a little unfamiliar with her.

She has grown taller and stronger, and her body lines are well-proportioned and healthy thanks to exercise, exuding amazing girlish beauty.

Rusaki Mahiru's breath hitched.

This pause and hesitation led to a slight misunderstanding by Yuna Aijo.

She moved closer, and Ruki Mahiru couldn't help but back away, acting like a trembling little animal despite being an elder.

"Is the person standing in front of you now Karen Aijo or Hikari Kagura?" Yuna Aijo asked bluntly. "...It doesn't matter, Aunt Mahiru."

I know you've always wanted to do that kind of thing to mothers, haven't you?

Hikari's daughter and Aunt Mahiru temporarily joined the queue.

【10】

"Little Yuna, come to Karen's mom~" "Come to Hikari's mom."

My two mothers stood on either side of me, arms outstretched, their faces beaming with expectant smiles, hoping that I would, whether decisively or hesitantly, run into one of their arms in the next second.

Perhaps parents all over the world ask their children the same question: "Do you like Dad or Mom more?"

However, in our family, this question has become something like, "Yuna, which mom do you like better?"...

Teasing infants seems to be a favorite pastime of elders. They enjoy seeing the bewildered and confused expressions on the child's face, watching the child furrow their innocent eyebrows, puff out their soft cheeks, and suck on their fingers in thought... and then happily holding the child in their arms and rubbing them for a while.

My two mothers were just teasing me like this on a whim.

Aunt Mahiru, however, had a different opinion. She was quite exasperated by the childish behavior of the two mothers: "Honestly, you're asking too bluntly... This will make it difficult for Yuna to choose."

She was holding me, one hand supporting my back, and the other hand gently cradling me in her arms, letting me lean slightly against her chest so she wouldn't have to worry about me falling.

Aunt Mahiru is very good at taking care of children; after all, she has six children in her family, and she is the eldest daughter. Because she often helps her parents take care of her younger siblings, she has developed a habit of caring for others.

I can feel her thoughtfulness in these subtle ways, whether it's the reassuring hand that holds me, the indescribable pleasant scent on her body, or the gentleness with which she protects me, a little child, at times like these... I like being closer to her even more.

So, after the mothers asked me who I liked more, I just stared at them blankly.

Then, turning his head away, he buried his face in Aunt Mahiru's arms like an ostrich: "I like Aunt Mahiru the most."

"Huh?!" The mothers were taken aback by the answer and were quite shocked.

Aunt Mahiru also showed a somewhat flattered expression.

I just clung to her clothes, sullenly seeking refuge in her embrace from the pitiful, disheartened gazes of the mothers.

Her hand rested on my back, and warmth seeped through the soft, thin fabric.

I still like Aunt Mahiru the most.

I think.

【11】

Aunt Mahiru is my favorite elder.

She's someone I like too.

These two positions seem to have no overlap, but in my view, they are indeed the same person.

In the year I was about to graduate from junior high school, I began to consider whether I should attend Shengxiang Music Academy in the future.

I invited Aunt Mahiru to go out with me one weekend, and the wording in the text message was "I have something I want to discuss with Aunt Mahiru".

Sure enough, although she was still busy preparing for next week's stage play performance, she still rushed over after rehearsals ended.

We went to the indoor sports hall to play ball together, and planned to have dinner together afterwards.

It was like a date, but it was actually just an elder taking a favored younger relative out for fun and to have a heart-to-heart talk during the process.

Aunt Mahiru loves baseball. She taught me how to swing and hit the ball, and she would take me and the others, including Oba, to watch baseball games.

However, Oba prefers to watch Nana's filming sessions from the sidelines, and spends the rest of his time at home quietly reading with Junna. Hanayagi, on the other hand, is rather lazy and doesn't like going out... so most of the time only Mahiru and I arrive at the competition venue.

I'm not really interested in baseball, but when Aunt Mahiru taught me, I always found this ball game very interesting, and time always seemed to fly by without me realizing it.

Perhaps this can be considered a kind of interest.

After Aunt Mahiru gave me a baseball bat on my eleventh birthday, I grew to love the sport even more.

She liked to chat with me during breaks after playing ball. It was from her that I learned that Hua Lian's mother was actually better at hitting the ball than her. She had specially trained this skill to win a prize doll for Guang's mother back then...

These days, I rarely see Hualian's mother playing baseball.

"What are you thinking, Yuna?" Aunt Mahiru asked me as she put on my protective gear. "Don't you want to go to Seisho?"

“…Hmm.” I nodded, then hesitated and shook my head.

At home, I find it difficult to express this confusion.

Both of my mothers were inspired by the stage from a young age and were willing to spend their entire lives chasing after the superheroes on stage... but I am different.

Influenced by my family environment, I do indeed like the stage and possess the so-called talent of a stage girl. However, to me, all of this seems too natural, which is somewhat boring and makes me rebellious.

Why is it that my mother is Karen Aijo and Hikaru Kagura, and I have to enter Seisho and become an actress?

I voiced my confusion to Aunt Mahiru, and she couldn't help but chuckle: "Has Karen never told you this before? She usually says such touching things, but now she's acting like the most clueless parent in the world..."

I just quietly looked at Aunt Mahiru with a questioning look. She raised her hand to wipe the sweat running down her neck, her face flushed from the strenuous exercise.

She carefully straightened the corners of my clothes, which were a little messy from swinging the baseball bat too hard.

"As for Yuna, whatever kind of person you want to become, Karen, Hikaru, and I, your aunties, will all support you." Aunt Mahiru lowered her eyelashes slightly, a smile playing on her lips. "When you were just born, Karen told me that she hoped you would have more choices in the future."

That's why I get to experience more things besides the stage, and I have incredibly free time on weekends, allowing me to run around freely.

...Although I spent all that time sticking to Aunt Mahiru's butt.

Then Aunt Mahiru saw that I was interested, so she gave me vocal and baton lessons, taught me to play baseball, and even worked in the fields with me... Thinking about it now, it seems like I brought this on myself.

Because I enjoy spending time with Aunt Mahiru, I've learned so much. Perhaps Karen's mom and Hikaru's mom feel a little disappointed that their own child doesn't visit them, while they are pleased.

"So, does Yuna like the stage?" Aunt Mahiru asked softly.

I blinked, momentarily at a loss for words.

I like it.

But my favorite is the stage where Mahiru Rusaki is.

It was Mahiru Rusaki who swore to live on there with all her might, radiating the most dazzling light in the world, that bewitched me, a moth drawn to a flame—

--stage.

Hikari's daughter and Aunt Mahiru finished their temporary queue cut

【12】

I know very well that Aunt Mahiru will never have any feelings for me—Aisho Yuna—that go beyond those of an elder for a junior.

She watched me being born and accompanied me as I grew up.