Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

He took the initiative to get straight to the point and brought up a topic that Su Shi and Chu Hua had never discussed openly before.

"Regarding the fact that you two are actually the aunts who will raise me together in the future."

Oh no, this sounds so fitting as a light novel title!

"........."

Chu Hua and Su Shi exchanged a glance, their expressions both revealing a complex and intriguing quality.

“I have completely accepted this. But it seems that Su Shi is still in the early stages of understanding the truth. Xiao Jun, do you think I should explain the whole story to her again?”

Chu Hua spoke first. Although she kept looking at Kazama with questions, Su Shi still responded to her suggestion with a slight smile.

"I don't think it's necessary. Actually, before Chu Hua arrived at my house, I already knew the whole story from Xiao. It seems that Chu Hua still owes me an explanation. We're not the kind of people who would visit each other's houses privately—why did she knock on my door today of all days?"

Su Shi, who usually pays attention to her quiet, gentle, easy-going and approachable image, actually asked such a long string of questions in one breath without taking a breath.

Oh no, the conflict between these two women seems irreconcilable, and Nagasaki Motoyo seems to be really going all out.

Of course, Kazama had no idea that Su Shi's brows had been furrowed the entire time, simply because Chu Hua hadn't let go of his arm.

"Hmm...that's true. From Su Shi's perspective, my behavior is indeed quite strange."

Chu Hua chuckled apologetically, then with exceptional sincerity, withdrew her hand and placed it in front of her with both hands clasped together.

"I'm sorry, Su Shi. I just guessed who Xiao Jun is with based on some simple logic... but I was worried about revealing the secret and didn't feel comfortable leaving you two alone, so I kept following you. I'm really sorry if my behavior has caused you any trouble!"

Chu Hua lowered her head sincerely, and Kazama seemed to accept her explanation after hearing it.

Well, he did indeed repeatedly tell Chu Hua that he was a time traveler and that she should never tell anyone—it's understandable that he would go to such lengths based on his intuition to avoid breaking the agreement.

Furthermore, when Su Shi tempted Chu Hua with the condition of exchanging secrets, she did not break her promise to herself out of any selfish motives.

Overall, her explanation holds water with Kazama—especially since Akatsuki has already come to accept the extremely heavy side of Aunt Hatsuka.

However, this explanation simply doesn't make sense for Su Shi.

"Oh? Chu Hua's logic is so clever that you could guess Xiao Jun was at my house right away—even though you've never been to my house before."

She toyed with the ends of her slightly wavy brown hair with a playful look in her eyes, a teasing expression that Nagasaki Motoyo rarely showed.

"I see. Your intuition is quite sharp, you guessed it right away. I thought it was just because Chu Hua put a tracker on Xiao Jun - hehe, of course, I was just joking, please don't mind."

What a load of nonsense! This guy was clearly making malicious speculations about why Chu Hua was here, and also hoping to make Xiao wonder if Chu Hua was secretly watching her.

It was a clever little trick, but unfortunately, Su Shi's cleverness was misused.

Chapter Three: The Most Harmonious Trio?

"How did I know Xiaojun was here...? Actually, it was just a little deduction based on my understanding of him."

Compared to Su Shi's provocative expression, Chu Hua's expression was much more moderate.

"Compared to Su Shi, I knew about this secret earlier. I could also guess who he would be traveling with, but the result of the investigation required a bit of luck—I originally came to him with a bit of wishful thinking, but luckily, I stumbled upon the answer by accident."

Chu Hua smiled faintly and shrugged, intending to attribute his stalking behavior towards women to "good luck".

"Of course, it would be great if Xiaojun would allow me to put a GPS tracker on him."

"?"

Kazama slowly typed out a question mark.

"Hehe, maybe others will believe it, but I don't really believe this kind of statement."

Su Shi gave a cold laugh without any mercy, a subconscious reaction stemming from her understanding of her kind.

"Alright, alright...you two stop talking. In this respect, it's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black—well, that's not what I meant."

Kazama waved his hand, once again stopping the two girls' confrontation, though at the cost of their gazes shifting from staring at each other to looking at him together.

"Xiaojun, what does this mean?"

Chu Hua looked excited, her eyes sparkling like purple gemstones, as if she was simply curious about the hidden meaning in Kazama's words.

"Hehe, yeah. What does it mean to say I'm the pot calling the kettle black?"

In comparison, Su Shi was not so gentle. She had completely abandoned the mask of being easygoing, generous, dignified and polite in front of outsiders. Her cold gaze as she looked at Xiao Yin gave her a vague feeling of returning to her childhood.

In my memory, Aunt Su Shi had also shown this kind of stern and authoritative expression to Aunt Ai Yin and to me when I had done something wrong.

"Ahem... You two should know your own personalities very well. As someone who was raised by you, I've seen your true colors quite a bit, haven't I?"

Kazama scratched his cheek a little embarrassedly, but finally mustered up the courage to say what he had always wanted to say under the different gazes of the two girls.

His gaze swept between Su Shi and Chu Hua.

"One is an aunt who goes to the teacher and the other girl's parents as soon as she finds out I've been confessed to... She's super responsible. The other is an aunt who calls me like crazy if she can't see me for half a day during the holidays, canceling all her work to pick me up and take me to the beach for vacation. I really can't choose between you two—cough, no, I can't refuse either of you."

"Would I really become this kind of person in the future...? Well, it's actually understandable..."

Su Shi felt a little guilty after Kazama gave her this example, because not everyone could accept such an overbearing desire for control—nor could everyone enjoy it.

But Chu Hua's reaction seemed to be something else entirely.

"Hey... Xiaojun, do you like being bossed around by us?"

Her eyes crinkled into crescents, seemingly unconcerned about whether others perceived her as a terrible person; she only cared about Xiao's opinion of her.

"It's not a matter of liking or disliking... I've been treated like this by you all since I was a child, and it's become completely natural."

"So that's love?"

"Well... after all, there's no option that you don't like."

"Hehe...that's good."

Chu Hua covered her face and smiled slightly. She seemed only concerned about whether her actions would cause Xiao discomfort or resentment.

"I've been curious for a while now. If it were someone else, they might not be able to accept the side of me that I hide, but you're so accepting..."

Perhaps feeling a little annoyed that Chu Hua was taking the matter so lightly, making her seem overly calculating, Su Shi interrupted their conversation, while awkwardly fiddling with her hair.

"...It seems I'll have to put in a lot of effort in raising my children in the future."

She tried her best to hide the upturned corners of her lips, even using her slightly curled brown hair to cover it up in a rather futile attempt.

No way, why are you so smug? Is being manipulated into the shape of a submissive woman something to be proud of?

"In short—the truth has come out, and we no longer need to pretend to be riddle-makers and hide things."

Within just a few days, Kazama's secret had spread to different people for various inexplicable reasons, so he himself waved his hand in a somewhat resigned manner, ready to accept the status quo.

"Since that's the case, we're all partners who know each other inside and out. Let's get along well—get along well."

It's unclear whether such advice will be of any use to these two girls who once went all out against each other, but Kazama carefully stands in the middle of the scales, maintaining the balance between the two sides.

"My answer came entirely from a combination of information sources and reasoning. How did Chu Hua know this secret?"

Su Shi placed her hand lightly on her chest with an air of seriousness, and even straightened her back slightly with a hint of pride.

Relying on some sources of information... that sounds nice, but it's really just information they extracted from some wildcat girl.

While Kazama was inwardly criticizing Su Shi for suddenly becoming so eager to show off, Chu Hua responded indifferently.

"As for me... I'll just rely on my intuition."

"………ha?"

Su Shi once again mimicked Li Xi's expression, which was quite rare for her.

"Yeah, Chu Hua just guessed based on his intuition and tricked me into revealing my secret."

Kazama waved his hand helplessly. Being so easily guessed by Hatsuka's thoughts was still a somewhat shameful detail in his secret files.

"Well………"

It can still be like this.

The little bit of ambition that had quietly risen in Su Shi's heart, "Maybe I really can stand up to this guy," also vanished without a trace.

It seems that if she wants to be compared to Mitsumi Hatsuka, she still can't underestimate her opponent.

"Alright, alright, it doesn't matter how you found out my secret—the important thing is that from now on you're all accomplices in keeping my secret."

Kazama casually reached out and patted the shoulders of the girls sitting on either side of him, pushing them closer to him with a warm smile, as if he were exchanging pleasantries with an old friend.

"Of course, although I sometimes see a bit of the past in you—I won't confuse my feelings for you with my feelings for the aunties! As companions and friends, let's take good care of each other from now on, okay?"

"Hmm... if you insist on saying it that way..."

"Yes, please take good care of me in the future, Xiaojun."

The two girls gave different answers, but when they looked up, their eyes met.

That was a gaze that showed absolutely no intention of giving up on competing with the other side.

Yueyi Yi】lingqi (eight) is Nisiwu Liu's leave slip

A leave of absence note! The author had a great time this last weekend before National Day 乀(ˉεˉ乀)... Updates will resume tomorrow! Let me know in the comments what kind of plot you'd like to see next! (ˉ▽￣～) Update will still be at noon tomorrow. Have a great weekend everyone!

Chapter Four: What good is a quick glance at your ass?

In conclusion, although this chaotic situation caused quite a stir, it ultimately ended on a positive note.

"Hmm... So now I'll have to work with Su Shi to help Xiao Jun keep her secret. In a way, we're practically partners, right? In that case, please take care of me from now on, Su Shi."

At Kazama's insistence, the two girls, who previously disliked each other, finally put aside their differences and extended hands to each other as a symbol of friendship.

Yes, at least that's how it seems on the surface.

"Hehe... I'm also very happy to be able to become your true companion."

Su Shi was equally impressive, extending her hand in return for Chu Hua's welcoming smile.

The two girls shook hands symbolically, at least reaching a superficial consensus to be allies.

"Phew—that's great, I can finally relax a bit more. Ah, of course, you shouldn't reveal secrets about time travel to people around you, okay? Especially you, Su Shi—don't use it to exchange secrets with anyone again."

"Cough, cough... Of course I won't do that again."

"Okay, okay, of course I believe you too... hiss."

Kazama, who was about to get up, suddenly gasped for no reason, which made the two girls, who were originally focused on each other, turn their attention to him.

"What's wrong, Xiaojun?"

"what happened?"

"Oops... I just slipped and fell in the bathtub. Did you hit your tailbone?"

"without--"

"Are you alright? Is it very painful?"

Upon hearing this, Su Shi instinctively stood up to offer her words of comfort—but Chu Hua had already taken the lead, even placing her hand on the boy's waist without any hesitation.

"What happened? Is there any broken skin or bleeding?"

Faced with Chuka's overly concerned and somewhat clumsy attempts to touch him, Kazama immediately and reflexively rejected her seemingly enthusiastic and considerate advice.

"I just fell on my butt, there's no scrape or bleeding at all! And even if my tailbone were bleeding, I wouldn't take my pants off to show you!"

"—"

Chu Hua's eager actions made Su Shi, who was originally planning to make a move, frown. Even her gaze towards Chu Hua carried a hint of ill-intentioned speculation and probing.

"...I'll go get the first-aid kit; maybe something will come in handy."

Despite feeling a little uneasy, she didn't rush to offer any comfort like Chu Hua did. Instead, she stood up and turned to walk towards the storage room, where a rarely used first-aid kit was kept, containing emergency medications such as bandages, alcohol, and anti-inflammatory drugs.

"Oh, then I'll help too."

Seeing Kazama blushing and clutching his belt tightly, refusing to let go, Chu Hua smiled and got up as well, taking small steps to follow Su Shi. They walked along the corridor, turning left and right, until they arrived at the door of the storeroom.

“I can do this myself, so I never asked you to help me.”