"Auntie?"
Uesugi Shio noticed Uesugi Nobuko sneakily with her ear pressed against the bathroom door, not sure what she was up to.
As she approached, Uesugi Nobuko looked at her suspiciously, "Shio—"
The last syllable dragged on for a long time.
"Um, what's up?" Uesugi Shio replied while sucking on a lollipop.
Uesugi Nobuko's gaze locked onto her eyes, gradually focusing intensely: "Didn't you say before, nothing was going on between Sakura and Hanamaru Hanabi, hmm...?"
"Are you helping them hide something?"
"What and what?"
Uesugi Shio hadn't caught on yet, but she glanced at the bathroom, then at her aunt's highly unusual expression.
—And ever since she got home, she hadn't seen Uesugi Sakura or Hanamaru Hanabi.
The light from the bathroom leaked through the crack.
In an instant, she understood a lot.
The lollipop stick in Uesugi Shio's mouth came to a halt.
She pointed at the bathroom and whispered, "Inside...?"
"That's right."
