Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

A husband who, for various reasons, is unable to be with his wife, is forced to witness her being flirted with by a blond... oh wait, a white-haired guy on the street, and he has to put on a smiling face at their behavior.

Worse still, Chu Hua doesn't even qualify as a "husband" now; at best, she can only claim kinship with Xiao and become his "aunt."

"However, you can borrow some from Lixi."

Lena blinked, and no one knew whether she had seen the turbulent hostility surging beneath Chu Hua's seemingly kind smile—anyway, she took advantage of the situation and hooked her arm around Xiao's neck.

"What, are you trying to charge me a friend fee? By the way, aren't you two getting a little too close?"

Lixi looked away, pouting slightly in dissatisfaction. She didn't know why watching Wildcat and Kazama being so intimate made her feel irritated—

The only explanation is that she had been acting as Lena's matcha parfait feeder all this time, and she couldn't accept that the stray cat she was feeding had suddenly become attached to someone else and even recognized her as its owner... Well, that should be it.

Otherwise, there's only one other possibility: Shiina Tatsuki simply doesn't want to admit it.

Lixi quickly pulled his thoughts away and turned to Xiao with a sarcastic tone.

"...Kazama, you're really something, you seem to be enjoying it quite a bit."

"Can you stop looking at me like I'm trash, Lixi? No matter how you look at it, this wasn't my idea."

Of course, although Kazama did not reject Rakuna's expressions of affection and care for him, the sensation from her thigh still gave him a slightly strange feeling.

As a child who was raised by everyone, Xiao naturally knows what it means for Lena to be kind to someone.

Like an innocent child, they push all their favorite toys into the other person's hands, hoping that these things that make them happy can also work their magic of happiness on the other person.

Aunt Lenai had done these things to him before.

During the time when Aunt Lena was instructing Ruoye Xiao on how to play the guitar, she would always secretly help Xiao avoid the "no sweets" rule that Lixi had set for Xiao during his teething stage after practice, and take him to eat a super-sized matcha parfait and then go to the mall to have some fun.

Although the result was that Xiaoxi got two cavities and cried as her upright mother, Xiaomu, took her to the hospital to have them pulled, Aunt Lenai, the culprit, looked completely innocent.

But regardless, Aunt Rina's care and love for Akira in the past were all based on one foundation—

They are an aunt who watched her child grow up and a nephew who longed for his aunt.

As for Kazama Akatsuki and Kazama Kazama, they have only met a few times and can barely be considered as companions...

Why is Lena suddenly being so nice to me?

"To put it another way, Lenai, don't you think we're getting a little too close?"

Unable to figure it out, Xiao also tried to distance herself from the two, which made Chu Hua secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Li Xi, who had been silently watching the two, also relaxed his brow with slight relief.

Xiao's thinking was simple: even if the girl in front of him had the face of the aunt who raised him, she was still sitting on his lap with the body of a genuine young girl.

It's really strange for an aunt and her nephew to do this kind of thing!

"Xiao, do you hate this?"

Lena didn't get off him immediately, nor did she answer Xiao's question. She just blinked and stared at him intently.

"I don't really dislike it."

No one would refuse a beautiful girl their age like a kitten sitting in their lap, right? Surely no one would?

But the feeling was still quite strange. To travel back decades and maintain such an ambiguous relationship with his aunt from his teenage years... Luckily, none of his aunts had married or started families decades later, otherwise he would have truly become a Cao Mengde (a legendary figure from Chinese history) who had traveled through time.

Can a romantic comedy involving an aunt really be called a romantic comedy?

However, Lena didn't notice the boy's evasive gaze at all.

She glanced at Chu Hua, then at Li Xi, and then gently hugged him, easily shortening the distance between herself and Xiao.

"I won't tell."

She whispered something softly in the boy's ear, her clear voice mingling with the girl's unique fragrance, filling Kazama's ears and nostrils before quickly moving away.

"My secret with A-Xiao".

When the familiar voice called him by this name that belonged exclusively to the aunties, Kazama felt a little dazed for a moment.

Is the girl with beautiful heterochromatic eyes in front of him Miss Wildcat Rakuna... or his Aunt Rakuna?

Chapter Twenty-Five: Arrogance, Preference for Women, and a Naturally Dark Side

"Really... I never thought this stray cat would be so difficult to deal with."

When Lena took off Kazama's clothes and ran briskly to the food serving area, eagerly waiting for the kitchen to bring out the matcha parfait, Riki watched her back with a slightly helpless expression.

However, the next second, when her gaze shifted from Renai to Kazama's face, the helplessness and doting she felt towards this child was replaced by a sharper and less confident aggression.

"Hey, Kazama. If a girl sits on your lap, you should at least politely ask her to get off, no matter what."

Lixi looked slightly displeased, and Kazama didn't obediently bow his head and accept the scolding this time.

Knowing his family well, he could completely understand where Lixi's unreasonable tendency to blame everything on herself came from.

"Even if you, Lixi, raise Lena like a child, it doesn't mean I'll treat that child like a sister's brother—or even a parent—in the same way you do now, right?"

"How...how did you know what I was thinking...do you have mind-reading abilities?"

"...That's all Lixi's fault for showing all her feelings on her face."

Kazama shrugged. He didn't intend to delve any further into the matter, otherwise his deep understanding of Riki's personality would surely arouse suspicion.

"Besides, that's just the kind of person I am; I can't say no to cute girls. Lixi, if you want to abandon your unreliable companion, it's never too late, is it?"

"What nonsense are you spouting... Don't take my solemn promise for granted, you bastard."

"Hey, what if I was someone who wasn't raised properly by my family and just liked to toy with other people's feelings?"

Perhaps because Lixi was both funny and adorable when she got serious, Xiao couldn't help but have a mischievous thought of teasing her.

"Oh no, my cherished companion turns out to be a scumbag with terrible upbringing and no gentlemanly manners—I wonder if Lixi will think that?"

Li Xi, who had belatedly realized that the boy was just teasing him, gritted his teeth, while his cheeks uncontrollably turned red.

"...Even if you're a hopeless scoundrel with terrible upbringing, who spends his days flirting with girls—I still won't abandon you. You'd better be prepared!"

However, she still blushed and gritted her teeth to reveal her most genuine feelings at that moment.

"Oh dear... this is really..."

Xiao curled the corners of his lips; he hadn't intended for his smile to be so obvious.

But given Li Xi's blatant favoritism and unwavering affection, it's hard for anyone to suppress a smile.

"It's a pity. I also want to be a carefree man without any moral burden. Unfortunately, the guy who raised me is too rigid and conservative. I'm afraid he'll turn into a dissolute and useless son of a bitch."

"Ha...it seems your family keeps a pretty tight rein on you, Kazama."

"No, it's just that one person who's stricter with me. But rather than being strict, she's just stubborn but soft-hearted and not good at expressing her emotions."

"Hmph...sounds like a rather difficult guy."

Lixi snorted dismissively, but then looked away guiltily—she herself didn't know why this had happened.

Perhaps it was simply because she subconsciously identified with the character Akatsuki was talking about, yet could only secretly mock herself for never becoming such a mature being, someone Kazama admired and longed for.

"So, my difficult nature is inherited from her, right?"

Xiao smiled and leaned back, quite pleased with Li Xi's expression. He actually enjoyed the feeling of having a cross-time conversation with Aunt Li Xi.

However, this wonderful time did not last long—

"Is it another case of lowering others' expectations of oneself through excessive self-deprecation, using this awkward self-protective mechanism to achieve behavioral consistency, Xiaojun?"

On the other side, Chu Hua, not to be outdone, smiled slightly and regained her sense of presence.

Since Lena voluntarily left Xiao, her expression has become much more normal and gentle, and reason and logic have returned to her mind.

"Wait, could you please stop with the psychoanalysis, Miss Chuhua?"

"No, because Xiaojun is now my companion, so I need to understand you more thoroughly. Of course, please also tell me about your tutoring."

Chu Hua's smiling face, with her eyes crinkling at the corners, resembled a golden retriever wagging its tail and waiting for its owner's approval—endearingly naive. But only she knew whether her true thoughts were as harmless as they appeared.

Okay, putting aside Rana's uninvited physical contact just now, Hatsuka is genuinely happy for Akatsuki that he has found a like-minded partner.

The premise is that this person will only ever remain in the position of "comrade" and will not try to seize the special identity she desires. Chu Hua will also treat this kind of person as her friend, and together with Xiao, they will confide in each other and be completely open with each other.

However, it is clear that Shiina Tatsuki does not belong to this type of person.

Kazama may only see her as a "younger version of an aunt" like himself, but her determination to stand behind him even at the cost of her life, making her a partner he can entrust his back to...

Chu Hua's sixth sense, a trait she possessed as a woman, was clamoring within her; Li Xi was also a formidable opponent.

“Hey, Xiaojun. Now that Mujica has started taking action, we should also start preparing for our upcoming performances. I’ve been writing lyrics for some new songs lately… If you’re interested, I’d like to show them to you first, so you can give me your feedback.”

So she ignored everyone else and stared into the boy's eyes, her eyes crinkling as she made a request that only members of Mujica were entitled to interrupt.

"........."

Just moments ago, Riki had been confidently asserting that Kazama was her comrade, but suddenly fell silent. This was because, due to Hatsuka's words, she had suddenly noticed a fact.

Kazama is not just her—not just Mygo's companion, but also a partner belonging to Hatsuka and Mujica.

For Shiina Tatsuki, he was the only one with such a special companion. But for Kazama, there were far more companions than just her who needed protection.

In a situation that belongs to Mujica... shouldn't she leave first?

The mastermind behind Li Xi's thoughts, Miss Chu Hua, seemed quite pleased with her expression, and her smile widened even further.

However, Chu Hua, who was focused on treating Li Xi as a potential enemy to be guarded against, clearly forgot about the existence of another key figure.

"Xiao, and my Parfait—are here!"

Because she was so eager to eat the matcha parfait, Lena, who had volunteered to be a waitress, rushed between the three of them with two large cups of parfait, interrupting the conversation.

She placed the parfait across the table between Hatsuka, Riki, and Kazama, separating the three of them.

"Please eat, don't be shy."

Lena politely shrugged at Xiao, completely unaware that her actions had inadvertently eased Lixi's embarrassment.

"........."

This almost caused Chu Hua, who was originally confident of victory, to lose her smile.

What's wrong with this unpredictable child...?

Chapter Twenty-Six: A Song Written for You

What does it feel like to be treated as a cat's possession?

“Here. If that’s not enough, I can give this one of mine to Xiao.”

If I had to put it into words, it would probably be a blatant favoritism of "what I have, you must have too."

The white-haired girl who served the matcha parfait naturally sat down next to Xiao. In front of Chu Hua's piercing gaze and Li Xi, who was somewhat more at ease because of her joining in, she put the first spoonful of parfait to Xiao's lips.

"what."

The girl ignored the two other gazes around her and opened her cherry-like mouth as if teaching a babbling toddler to speak.

As we all know, the most delicious part of an exquisitely presented and beautifully arranged ice cream dessert is the very first bite when it's served.

Lena gave the most delicious bite to Kazama, completely unlike the usual child who racked her brains just to eat the matcha parfait.

"You actually gave me some... Thank you, Renai."

Although Kazama was pleased with this blatant favoritism, something was definitely not right.

In his memory, Aunt Renai only treated him like this when he was a child. After he grew up, she would only try to find ways to squeeze out "military funds" from Xiao's allowance to buy parfaits. Not to mention Renai-chan, the girl he was with after he transmigrated, whose relationship with him was far less than this.

But who cares? Why not try something delicious that's offered to you? Besides, it's been a long time since Aunt Lena has treated me like a child, so why not indulge me this once?

Therefore, Xiao not only did not resist, but also gladly accepted Lena's open and aboveboard expression of favoritism and care.

"—"

Chu Hua, who was sitting right across from them, had a momentary lapse in judgment.

Wait a minute, she's always kept to herself and never crossed the line between the two of them as friends... So Kazama is actually quite happy to accept girls' advances?

Forgetting all about feeling down, Chu Hua, watching the two's intimate actions, buried her head between the menus, seemingly still choosing her favorite desserts, but actually racking her brains to think of a solution.

The reason I hesitated to make a move before was simply because I was worried that my excessive enthusiasm might scare away Kazama, who has a strong sense of propriety, and backfire by pushing him further away.