Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

To everyone's surprise, Lena nodded, and then, without thinking, threw out another topic that was likely to cause a dispute.

"So, Xiao must have learned her guitar skills from my future self."

At this point, the girl, who was like a wildcat, even proudly puffed out her budding breasts.

She didn't continue speaking, but her face was full of a smug little expression that said, "I was so amazing in the future, aren't you going to praise me?"

It seems that Miss Renai is not curious at all about where this memory came from, or whether her relationship with Kazama will have any impact on her real life—instead, she is more concerned about this matter.

"Even though Lena only remembers the one thing that happened in that video, does she think that Akatsuki's abilities are all thanks to her?"

For some reason, Chu Hua, who is usually gentle and humble, also got excited. Although her approach was still the same as always, using softness to overcome hardness, her underlying intentions were still successfully deciphered by Kazama.

"I believe this is the result of Xiaojun's own hard work and growth."

As she said this, a gentle and bright smile appeared on her face, but the force with which she gripped Kazama's wrist subtly increased.

"Of course, even if there are elders guiding them, there must be more than one mentor imparting all their knowledge, right?"

—After all that talk, this is her real intention.

Kazama shook his head, looking a bit of a headache.

I finally managed to calm these two down, and now they're arguing about this inexplicable thing again.

Rakuna remained silent, only sending Kazama a look that seemed to say, "Akira, say something!"

"Alright, stop it, you two. Actually, everyone has taught me how to practice guitar, you know? Rakuna, Hatsuka, even Aine, who seems off-key, taught me everything she knew. They're all my mentors, so stop arguing here—"

He pulled his hands away from the two girls, and like a referee calming the tension between the two contestants on the field, he stood between them with his hands outstretched to keep them at a distance.

"Besides, Mu is actually the one who has guided me the most in this regard."

"Well……"

Upon hearing this, Chu Hua pursed her lips somewhat unwillingly, but knowing that her opponent was Xiao Mu, she chose to keep quiet and remain silent.

An elderly mother who is skilled at guitar has far more opportunities to guide her novice son in learning guitar than other women like her.

As fellow aunts, she and Lena could still compete for supremacy, but faced with Xiaomu, a mountain that was currently unshakeable, Chuhua could only choose to temporarily avoid the limelight.

There was no particular reason; simply because Xiao Mu was Xiao's mother, she knew that no one could stand against her.

—At least for now, that's still the case.

"Mu?"

However, Rakuna, who knew nothing about the relationship between Mutsu and Kazama, raised an eyebrow with interest. It seemed that she had not yet met this band girl who was also proficient in guitar.

“…Ah, that’s right.”

Seeing this, Chu Hua suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea.

"Lanna, you haven't met Xiaomu before, have you?"

She glanced at Kazama, who seemed a little surprised by her sudden outburst, then calmly put her thoughts into action.

"It's only natural that Xiaojun will learn more about guitar knowledge and practical skills from Xiaomu, after all, Xiaomu will be Xiaojun's mother in the future."

"........."

Lena blinked and fell silent. The impact of this news on her was no less than that of a matcha parfait that had been served and only after taking a bite did she realize that all the matcha in the parfait had been replaced with bitter melon.

Now that things have come to this, the smiles in Chu Hua's eyes are even more pronounced.

As expected, Lena, who only possessed the memory of that video, didn't know as much about the ins and outs as Chu Hua did. Only now did Chu Hua finally feel a sense of real triumph.

"Xiao, is Mu's son...?"

The white-haired girl muttered to herself as she looked at the boy in front of her, while Kazama quickly explained his relationship with Mutsu before she could think further.

"Please allow me to add that he is an adopted son—not related by blood."

Speaking of which, why did Chu Hua tell Le Nai about this? Not long ago, she was using these secrets to blackmail him into staying by her side.

"So, have Xiao and Mu recognized each other?"

Lena remained unmoved; knowing these secrets, she seemed much calmer than Chu Hua had been back then.

"Uh? Of course not... and it would be difficult for me to directly explain to Mutsu that I am actually your son from the future."

Even if we put that aside for now, the thought of having to explain to Mu that Aunt Xiangzi in his world was killed by the Great Wall decades ago, just before Mujica was founded, makes his head ache uncontrollably.

It is clear that now is not the time to reveal the secret.

"Oh, that's not Mu's son yet."

Lena nodded.

"Where did this logic come from?"

Kazama couldn't help but complain out loud.

"The current Mu doesn't know, and Xiao isn't Mu's biological son from the memories, so you are not Mu's son."

Lena miraculously connected these completely illogical words with unwavering certainty, and even more miraculously, Kazama and Hatsuka both roughly understood what she was trying to express.

The next second, Lena, who had been calm, said something that left the two of them speechless.

“What Mu can do, I can do too. So, I can also be Xiao’s mother.”

"...?"

Kazama seemed to have anticipated her outrageous words, managing only a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth to maintain his composure. Hatsuka, however, was completely unable to control her expression; her once bright and dazzling amethyst eyes suddenly shrank into empty voids.

—Yeah, how come she didn't think of doing that?

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Are you two-timing, kid?

If Mutsu, who is far away, heard Rakuna's astonishing statement, he would probably think it was a bold declaration of a raid.

The drama of stealing boyfriends or husbands has been common throughout history, but the drama of stealing children is relatively rare.

However, Xiao was also very glad that Mu wasn't there. Otherwise, if she had heard such words, she certainly wouldn't have just sat there and waited for her fate. The situation might have really gotten into a complete mess and become uncontrollable.

"Well, you can have many aunts, but normally you can only have one mother."

Kazama forced a smile as he explained worldly wisdom to Rakuna.

"Well, what does that matter?"

Lena seemed to be thinking about something, and then resolutely gave her answer.

"Anyway, Xiao won't agree to call Guan Mu 'Mom' now."

Knowing that only she and Chu Hua were aware of the truth, Le Nai confidently pointed to herself with her thumb.

"But I will agree."

"Hey, hey."

"Xiao, call out 'Mommy' twice."

No way! Who would do something like this?!

"Ahem, ahem... It's not because Xiaomu taught Xiaojun to play the guitar that she's qualified to be Xiaojun's mother, Lena-kun. Your thinking is a bit backwards, isn't it?"

Just as Kazama was feeling utterly exasperated, Hatsuka cleared her throat and quickly spoke up to save the day.

"Otherwise, I'd actually like to do something like this too... It's nothing."

You let it slip! You definitely let it slip just now!!

"I don't want to—even if Mu isn't my biological mother, I won't call you 'Mom'!"

Kazama stated his position firmly and righteously. He never imagined that he would one day be reduced to having to repeatedly declare to Hatsuka and Rakuna that he could only have one mother.

Besides, he felt extremely awkward even calling the two aunts, Renai and Hatsuka, who had truly accompanied him as he grew up, "Mom," let alone the two girls in front of him, Renai and Hatsuka, who were in the prime of their youth and even looked younger than him.

"Xiao, you're such a cheapskate."

Seeing that her requests had not been met despite repeated orders, Lena felt a little aggrieved and lowered her head, but her cat-like eyes were still fixed on Kazama.

“I don’t think it’s petty to refuse to give up my mother’s position. I’m defending my mother’s unique position, okay?”

"Mingming doesn't even remember you."

"So what? Whether Mu Ji remembers me or not, she is still the person I love most."

Kazama's confident answer cast a shadowy shadow across Hatsuka's seemingly friendly gaze. She was somewhat relieved that "Aunt Rakuna's" appearance couldn't shake Mutsumi's position; at least that meant one less rival.

On the one hand, he felt a sense of desolation, wondering why Mu's position in his heart was so unshakeable.

Kazama, standing in front of the blonde girl, didn't see the complicated expression on Hatsuka's face. He continued speaking, following what he had just said.

"Moreover, even though Mu doesn't remember me, she still takes great care of me—doesn't that further prove that there is actually a bond between Mu and me that transcends time and space?"

"Bonds... are they something you can eat?"

Lena raised her head in confusion. It seemed that cats really had a hard time understanding these profound and abstract concepts in the human dictionary.

"I don't know, but is the bond between me and Akatsuki not as strong as Akatsuki's bond with Harmony?"

"It's not fair to say it's inferior..."

"Then why not?"

No matter how hard Kazama tried to sort out his thoughts, Miss Rakuna had her own impeccable logic, leaving him no room for further rebuttal.

"Anyway, I'm not Xiao's aunt anymore. Having another mother won't be a loss for Xiao."

"Well, having another mother is much more serious than having another aunt."

And do these two things have any mutually exclusive, either-or attributes? Renai-chan, are you deliberately trying to lead your little nephew into a logical dead end?

Akatsuki had never felt that Rakuna was such a troublesome person before, and she cast a pleading look in Hatsuka's direction.

Deep in his memory, when he was just over ten years old, he was taken to Aunt Lena's house and fed matcha parfaits all night. He had shown a similar distress signal to his own Aunt Hatsune Miku.

Without saying a word, Aunt Hatsune rushed to Rakuna's house that very night and took Akira back to her own home before Rakuna could feed him so much that he got sick.

Now, Misaka Hatsuka, blushing, mustered up the courage to give him a new response.

"Then, then, I want to be Xiaojun's mom too... Is that okay?"

"No! Neither of you can!!"

.........

.........

"Ugh... I'm so tired."

After finally resolving the conflict between Hatsuka and Rakuna and preventing them from arguing again, Kazama pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache and carried Rakuna back to RiNG's beverage shop like a cat.

In short, he stopped their farce in time amidst a chorus of voices from the mother.

Because Kazama refused to give in to any of them, neither the self-centered Ranna nor the agreeable Hatsuka got what they wanted. Ranna had already been dragged into the store, while Hatsuka was now standing outside, waiting for him to return, looking rather sullen.

"Let this guy stay in your shop. Don't let the scorching sun outside bake Lena's head."

Kazama teased Miss Wildcat a couple of times, but still considerately led her to the girl with long black hair before letting her go and restoring her freedom.

"Anyway, Lena is still in your care as before—Lixi? Are you even listening to me?"

"........."

Strangely enough, Li Xi, who was standing at the front desk watching him enter, did not respond to his banter. Instead, she stared at him with a very complicated look.

I always felt that Lixi's eyes weren't looking at a good person.

"...What? Do you expect me to pay you any alimony if I ask you to look after Lena?"

Kazama subconsciously used his usual banter to arm himself, while belatedly taking a step back—if Riki suddenly started vying for the right to be a mother like those two, he would truly break down.

"...Ming Chuhua is still waiting for you outside?"

Instead of answering his question directly, Li Xi revealed a subtle smile, raised his chin, and looked directly at the blonde girl who was still obediently waiting for him to go home together outside the door.

"Uh... I just have something to talk to Chu Hua about before I go home, so I'll let Rana stay here with you for a while longer."

With a sense of smell as keen as a golden retriever, Kazama keenly sensed that something was wrong with Riki.

More importantly, there was now a terrifying, murderous aura in Li Xi's eyes when he looked at him.