When Chihaya Anon and Nagasaki Soyo walked through the front door, Chihaya Tetsuya was on the living room sofa, reading a book on architecture.
Although he often read in this spot, today there was a very clear difference—
"Onii-chan, why are you wearing that mock neck shirt again?"
Anon said with surprise.
"It's so hot today, won't you feel stuffy wearing that at home?"
"Er..."
Faced with her question, Tetsuya thought for a moment before answering.
"Actually... Ai came over this afternoon."
"Eh?! Hoshino Ai?!"
Anon couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
"Why would she suddenly come here?"
"To see me, and she also brought some good news..."
He briefly told her about [TGC] and the [First Look].
"I see."
Anon nodded somewhat reluctantly.
"Since she came bearing good news, I'll forgive her crime of trespassing without the owner's permission for now."
"It wasn't exactly trespassing. I was the one who opened the door for her, after all."
Seeing Anon's slightly dissatisfied expression, he continued.
"Anyway, she first noticed this shirt on the windowsill and then said she wanted to see what it looked like on me..."
"Ugh... that woman is really unwilling to be at a disadvantage when it comes to you, Onii-chan."
Anon rubbed her arms with a look of exasperation.
Meanwhile, Soyo noticed the tray and teacups on the coffee table—
"...You actually went out of your way to brew tea yourself?"
"Ah, about that... I'm sorry, Soyo. My technique is so bad that I wasted your tea leaves."
Tetsuya said with a guilty expression.
"Although I did manage to drink it, the taste... was nowhere near the level you usually brew for me."
"Well, of course... a dunce like you who can make even a tea bag taste bitter isn't suited for loose-leaf tea in the first place."
Soyo said as she collected the empty cups and tray from the table.
"Anyway, if I'm not home in the future, just serve guests drinks from the fridge."
"Okay..."
He hung his head like a scolded child.
At the same time, Anon sat down right next to him and casually propped her feet up on his lap.
"By the way, Soyo, is it true what you said about Wakaba-san possibly moving in?"
She called out loudly toward the kitchen.
"I don't know for sure. Sakiko was the one who told me."
Soyo replied as she washed the teacups.
"And it hasn't been decided if it's a permanent move or just a temporary stay, so we'll have to wait for Mutsumi to make a decision."
"I see."
"...Wait, what did you two just say?"
It took Tetsuya a good ten seconds to fully process the casual exchange. Then, he quickly asked with a shocked expression:
"What do you mean, Wakaba-san is moving in?"
"Mhm... I'm not too clear on the details, but yesterday's meeting seems to have had a big impact on Mutsumi."
Having finished washing the cups, Soyo returned to the living room. She first moved Anon's unladylike feet off with a look of disdain, then sat down between the two of them. Anon, long accustomed to Soyo's periodic corrections, simply curled up her legs, still lying there and scrolling through her phone.
"According to Sakiko, she seems to be planning on sending Mutsumi over to us to 'relax' for a while, and then let her decide what to do next."
"Huh..."
Hearing this explanation, Tetsuya's eyes widened in surprise.
"Would that Minami-san really agree to something like that?"
"Well... she probably wouldn't. So if I'm not mistaken, Sakiko is hoping that Mutsumi can 'escape' from that house with her."
At this, Soyo couldn't help but shake her head with emotion.
"I never thought Mutsumi's family environment was so complicated... I never imagined that famous actress would be like that at home."
"I heard a lot of celebrities are super scary at home, especially comedians!"
Anon suddenly interjected.
"Because they've already burned up all their passion and humor on stage, so when they get home, there's nothing left but a gloomy atmosphere."
"...The more I hear, the more pitiful it sounds."
Recalling the oppressive feeling he had felt when confronting Mori Minami, and the cold side she showed to her own daughter and grandniece, Tetsuya couldn't imagine how awful Mutsumi's home atmosphere must be if she also had a gloomy father.
"If she really decides to move in, you have to be gentle with her, Anon."
He reminded her.
And Anon agreed without hesitation.
"Mhm, don't worry, I'm always gentle with people!"
"...You should probably not stare at your phone when you're answering someone."
Seeing his sister immediately glued to her phone the moment she got home, he couldn't help but start to lecture her.
"Speaking of which, haven't you been a little too obsessed with your phone lately?"
"I'm not just playing around! I'm in charge of managing our band's social media account now. Right, Soyo?"
"...Mhm, that's true."
Soyo nodded.
"Since none of the rest of us wanted to deal with such a troublesome thing, we had no choice but to leave it to her."
"It's just that you guys can't handle a job that requires high emotional intelligence and adaptability! Anyway, thanks to my careful management, our band's follower count has completely stabilized at fifty thousand!"
Anon proudly showed her phone screen to the other two.
"Yah~ the popularity of [Summer Zodiac] is so delicious! I wonder if we can break into six digits after the May live show! If we can reach a hundred thousand followers, we should be one step closer to a major debut, right! Huhu~"
"...She's getting carried away again."
Soyo shook her head with a speechless expression.
Meanwhile, Tetsuya was completely astonished by the achievement his sister revealed.
"You've already gained this much of a following after just one live show..."
"Well, we have to thank Uika for that."
Anon scratched the back of her head, a little embarrassed.
"I was the one who asked her to share the edited clip of our live show... Oh, right, speaking of this account, Onii-chan, you said before that you wanted to ask [Nyamuchin] to promote your brand, right?"
"Yes."
"In that case, how about we try contacting her on behalf of our band first?"
As she spoke, Anon opened Nyamu's social media profile—
"I don't know when it happened, but she's following us back now."
"...Huh?"