Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

"So, Lixi, you really didn't know that you're actually my aunt?"

"Who's your aunt... um."

Initially, Riki thought Kazama was just making another clumsy joke about age, and she wanted to raise her chin to deny his statement—but then she saw a serious and earnest look in the boy's eyes, and her deliberately loud, boastful tone gradually became barely audible.

Wait a minute, this guy seems to be seriously trying to establish a family connection with her.

"...What exactly happened?"

Chapter 47 I am your nephew who is not related to you by blood!

Well, actually, Kazama never imagined that something like "bringing girls home one after another" would happen to him.

However, since Lixi had already found her downstairs without explanation, and there were still many issues between them that needed to be resolved, confronting her downstairs in the sweltering heat was not a good solution.

Out of a sense of responsibility as the head of the Kazama family, and also out of courtesy to entertain the guest, Riki, Akira invited Riki to her home to sit down and chat.

"Would you like to come to my place for a visit?"

When Riki first heard the suggestion, she seemed a little flustered. It was obvious that she was only thinking about getting an explanation from Kazama and had not considered the possibility of entering Akatsuki's room.

"Well... it's not impossible. But let me make it clear beforehand, I'm not here to visit your house without giving you any advance notice."

However, she quickly regained her composure and nodded in agreement, although her stammering tone and ambiguous manner betrayed that she was not so rational and calm at the moment.

In short, Shiina Tatsuki, who was as nervous as if he were banging a gong, followed Kazama Akira and took the elevator with him to Kazama's house.

Around 9 or 10 pm, I arrived at the home of a person of the opposite sex and the same age, and found myself alone with them in a room.

She was actually very clear about the subtle points that could easily be misunderstood.

"I don't have shoe covers here, only some disposable slippers. Of course, Lixi, if you don't mind, you can just walk in barefoot."

"Uh, um..."

Even so, she still gritted her teeth and followed Kazama into the house, and gently closed the front door behind her.

Barefoot on the tatami mats, Lixi, sitting solemnly at the table, began to glance out of the corner of her eye at this somewhat unfamiliar room belonging to a boy.

Perhaps it was because Kazama's personality was too lazy compared to his own, or perhaps boys just don't care much about whether their rooms are tidy or not, but in any case, everything in Kazama's single student apartment seemed a bit messy.

Comics, novels, and sheet music were casually scattered on the desk, and the bed sheets were in complete disarray, showing no signs of being tidied up. The whole house, like its owner, maintained a casual and unpretentious style.

Lixi wouldn't criticize this; she just suddenly felt an urge to help Xiao tidy up the house—call it a sudden outburst of her motherly nature or the meddlesome, overly kind nature at play.

She just felt that cleaning this guy's room was like something ingrained in her DNA; in her eyes, it was a matter of course and her duty.

However, Li Xi did not put it into action immediately, since there were more important things to ask Kazama about right now.

“Kazama, you just said that you treat Hatsuka, the stray cat, and even me as an aunt.”

As soon as the boy took out chilled drinks from the refrigerator to serve the guests and sat down, Li Xi hurriedly continued the conversation that had been interrupted downstairs.

"Uh, I didn't mean anything by it..."

Perhaps realizing that her way of speaking was a bit aggressive, Li Xi toned down her eager attitude and adopted a relatively gentle, rational, and easy-going tone.

"...Do we look that old to you? Or do we seem too mature for your age?"

As expected of Riki, even when Kazama lays bare the facts in front of her, she automatically avoids or even denies the part of the supernatural setting.

Seeing Lixi's complicated expression, which showed that even she herself couldn't convince, Xiao shook her head helplessly.

To be honest, the moment after Miss Wildcat Rakuna discovered the truth, Kazama suspected that the next person to learn the truth from her might be Riki, who always took care of Rakuna during his part-time job.

He had worried that if his true identity were accidentally revealed to Li Xi, how would he explain this illogical situation, and how would he continue to interact with her?

In retrospect, this idea was completely unnecessary and a case of worrying about nothing.

"Oh, I mean Lixi."

Kazama leaned forward, sitting upright, and laid out the whole truth in its entirety.

"Actually, you really are my aunt."

"........."

Despite staring directly into the boy's eyes without a trace of pretense, Li Xi still couldn't quite understand why he twitched the corner of his mouth.

"...Kazama, are you insulting me, or are you trying to get closer to me with this clumsy attempt to claim kinship?"

See, it’s true.

Kazama shook his head, somewhat amused and exasperated. It seemed that if he didn't explain the whole story to Riki properly, she wouldn't be able to figure it out at all, given her intelligence.

Well, it's come to this now. Since Chu Hua and Le Nai both know his secret... one more Li Xi shouldn't make much difference, right?

After all, secrets can't stay hidden forever. Since Lixi and Lena had a fairly good relationship in the past, it's possible that Lixi might sense clues about the secret from Lena, who already knows the truth.

Rather than being questioned by her later, it's better to tell her now.

Sigh, it seems I'll have to deal with my secret identity myself.

Having made up his mind, Kazama took a deep breath.

“I’m not joking or teasing you, Lixi.”

He spoke out, word by word, the truth he had originally intended to keep hidden for a lifetime—or at least the truth he intended to keep hidden from the girl in front of him for a lifetime.

“You are my aunt, Shiina Tatsuki. And I am your nephew from the future, who is not related to you by blood but is closer than family to you.”

Xiao paused for a moment at this point.

"My name is actually Ruoye Xiao."

"………ha?"

He watched helplessly as Lixi's pupils gradually contracted, only to return to their original size as she forced herself to remain rational—and this series of incoherent words did indeed strike Lixi like a ton of bricks.

"What are you saying... what do you mean by my nephew from the future? Are you having a fit of hysteria?"

As a staunch and simple materialist with firm values, Shiina Tatsuki directly denied the facts that Akatsuki had presented.

This was actually within Xiao's expectations.

"Really? Am I having a fit of hysteria? Lixi, why don't you think about why I knew so much about your private affairs when we first met?"

He lazily lay back, resting his upper body against the soft bed.

These words made Li Xi frown deeply.

That seems to be true.

She never questioned why Kazama knew so much about her and everyone else, nor did she ever imagine whether there was some earth-shattering secret hidden behind it all…

Could it be that what he said was the truth?

Chapter 48 There's Only One Truth: You Are My Aunt

Logically speaking, when a person of the opposite sex of similar age says with a serious face, "Actually, I am your nephew from the future, and you are my aunt in the near future," one would only suspect that he is either playing a prank with ulterior motives or talking nonsense.

That's what Shiina Tatsuki is thinking right now.

"He's not even drunk, yet he's already talking nonsense? How interesting."

Lixi barely managed to maintain the basic logic of rational thinking. Facing the serious-looking Kazama, she merely gave a couple of bluffing laughs to cover up her panic.

Most importantly, she had absolutely no desire to be Kazama's aunt.

“There’s something I need to clarify, Kazama. Although you seem to be quite good at dealing with girls, calling a girl ‘auntie’ is essentially no different from calling her ‘old lady’—neither is very respectful.”

Riki, with her normal human thinking, still believed that this was just Kazama, who liked to be mischievous, trying to tease her again.

Not one to be easily fooled, Lixi naturally proceeded with caution, and at the same time, she wouldn't so easily believe this guy's one-sided story.

"I know this truth is a little beyond the comprehension of normal people, so how about this? Lixi, you can ask me some secrets that no one else would ever know except my family."

Kazama didn't seem to care whether her cautious attitude would affect his credibility. He placed the still-dampened canned drink in front of Riki and spread his hands, revealing a nonchalant and open-minded expression.

After much thought, I believe that actions speak louder than words.

"Lixi, just ask me anything, I will answer everything I know."

Seeing the boy's confident expression as he spread his hands, Li Xi narrowed his eyes with a hint of suspicion.

"...Kazama, do you think you know me well? Or have you come up with some new trick to pretend you have mind-reading abilities?"

"I may not know Shiina Tatsuki well, but I know her Aunt Shiina Tatsuki quite well—after all, as an elder, Aunt Tatsuki is actually quite open-minded and likes to confide in the younger generation."

The boy smiled confidently, and it was precisely his nonchalant demeanor that made Li Xi a little uneasy.

Well, if it were the usual Shiina Tatsuki, he would definitely be so provoked by such intriguing words that he would have been unable to remain calm and would have directly asked something like, "What do you mean by that?"

Hmph, this kind of provocation won't work this time.

"Oh? It's good to be confident. But if you're too blindly confident, you should be prepared to be proven wrong."

Lixi squinted and straightened her back. She also felt that Kazama's calm attitude was definitely a bit strange—but compared to that, she was more unwilling to believe that the boy's words were indeed true.

Shiina Tatsuki was thus ensnared by her own limited understanding, step by step willingly walking into the trap that Kazama had prepared for her.

When is my birthday?

"August 9th, a very typical Leo."

What are my favorite desserts and snacks?

"You've made chocolate-flavored panda panna cotta and almond tofu, and you've also learned a lot about making desserts while working at the beverage shop. But your understanding of cooking proper meals is rather strange. To you, even if it's just instant noodles or heated curry, you consider it no different from cooking a proper meal—is there anything else you want to test me on?"

"Hmm... all correct..."

The girl with long black hair shifted back a little uncomfortably, it seemed that Kazama really did understand her better than she had imagined.

Li Xi himself had mixed feelings about this.

"...Kazama, when did you gather all this information about us? It's terrifying and disgusting."

"Why are you scolding me when I clearly answered the question correctly?"

Despite his ruthless words, he somehow knew these little details that others would never know—and Shiina Tatsuki's heart, unfortunately, was filled with mixed feelings because of these little details.

Of course, the feeling of happiness and joy probably outweighs the majority.

"Then continue. What else do you know about me?"

"Hmm—that's way too much."

Since Riki still remained skeptical, Kazama simply sat up straight and decided to continue playing along.

Since you've asked so sincerely, I'll mercifully tell you.

"Lixi, you were influenced by your older sister Maki in the brass band when you were in junior high school and played the trumpet for a while. Later, you transferred to a high school because you felt inferior to your sister and didn't want to stay in the same school as her. Your favorite band is Afterglow, and your favorite animal is the panda. You like it so much that you have a panda name tag with your name on it hanging on your bedroom door at home."

"Although I might stay up late to study music theory, I would never skip class. Instead, I would sleep soundly in class. I'm a complete social loner, and I'm used to going to live shows and karaoke alone. If I'm recognized by someone I know while karaoke, I'll go to a different karaoke bar next time."

"you……"

Kazama rattled off a bunch of interesting facts about Shiina Tatsuki, which were obviously secrets that no one else could possibly know from observation alone.

Almost all of them are secrets that only she knows.

Shiina Tatsuki was truly speechless.

How could he know so much... and in such detail?

"Isn't that enough? Then let me continue. Lixi, you love pandas so much, but you get so upset because you can't understand panda language that your voice even sounds like you're about to cry."

Xiao was very pleased with the wonderful expression on Li Xi's face, so he pressed his advantage and continued speaking.

"The reason I like pandas is that they make me feel at ease. For Lixi, who is always composing or working, sleeping is one of the few and most effective ways to relax."

"Wait...wait...!"

"I like almond tofu but I'm not a total fan of almond tofu. For example, if McDonald's or KFC released an almond tofu burger, I would definitely strongly boycott it and wouldn't even let my nephew eat it."

"I'm telling you! Why—"

"Lixi, who was used to working as a waiter, would subconsciously greet customers when dining out, and even a year or two later, he still had this habit. So he kept urging his nephew to go and work to experience life, at least that way he could develop the character of enduring hardship and biding his time."

"Shut up! Don't say another word!!"