"Rice Shower-chan, why don't you stay here tonight?"
Kazuo said as he greeted everyone. Rice Shower-chan was startled at first, but then shook her head, "Um... my family..."
"It's fine, I've already called your mother here."
Kazuo said, holding up his phone, "Well, don't worry. It's already so late, it's not convenient to go back, right?"
"Mom..."
Seeing Kazuo mention her mother, a trace of panic flashed in Rice Shower-chan's eyes, but then she pursed her lips, looking a bit at a loss.
"Just as Kazuo said, it's already this late. It's not safe to go back alone by train!"
Aoi, seeing Kazuo say this, was naturally happy and raised both hands in agreement.
"Eh!? But..."
Rice Shower-chan still looked a bit hesitant. Kazuo gently patted her head and said, "It's fine, just relax for once."
"Little Rice Shower-chan, come sleep with me tonight~ Ouch!"
She was once again punished by Miko's hand chop.
Seeing that both of them said so, Rice Shower-chan composed herself and slowly nodded, "Okay, I've caused everyone trouble..."
"What about you two? Xiao Hai Wan, you said you're staying with Daijin and her family, right?"
After settling matters here, Kazuo then turned to Xiao Hai Wan. After dealing with Rice Shower-chan, Kazuo planned to personally send the two of them home.
"Hmm, but I don't know if Daijin-chan has explained the situation to her mother..."
Before Xiao Hai Wan could finish speaking, Daijin, who had been looking at her phone, suddenly let out a whimper, like a sound of being choked.
"What's wrong?"
Xiao Hai Wan curiously looked at the phone screen in Daijin's hand, only to see Yuriko's concise message:
"No one's home tonight. I have to go to Chiba temporarily. Take good care of yourself."
Apparently, this was a message sent to Daijin earlier at the bathhouse.
But—
"Oh no... the house key is at the shop."
It seemed that Daijin had originally planned to come out to pick up Xiao Hai Wan today, and all her belongings except her phone were left in the flower shop.
Now, the shop was closed, and her mother had temporarily gone to Chiba... This meant the two of them couldn't go back to Daijin's house at all.
However, Daijin really didn't expect her mother to be so carefree, just sending a message and leaving Tokyo... And she probably misunderstood that she was having dinner with Asama Kazutomi or something... Did she really leave so confidently? But this is troublesome... If she couldn't get the key, she and Xiao Hai Wan would have nowhere to sleep tonight, especially Xiao Hai Wan who had rushed back from her hometown.
Daijin looked troubled, clearly not having thought of a good solution.
"Hmm... Daijin-chan, what should we do now?"
"...It seems I can only call my mother first to explain the situation and see if she can contact the last employee who left to come back and help me open the shop to get the key..."
But that would be too much trouble for others, and Daijin didn't want to ask for too many favors from people she barely knew.
Just as she was in a difficult situation, Aoi's eyes lit up, and she smiled, "Then why doesn't everyone just stay here overnight?"
"Eh?"
"There's a spare bedroom on the second floor, and futons for sleeping on the floor. Miko, Rice Shower, Xiao Hai Wan, Daijin, and I—two in one room, three in the other—two rooms are perfectly fine!"
"I have no objections."
Miko remained unyielding, but she readily agreed to Aoi's request.
Aoi, who loved lively gatherings, became more and more excited, almost bouncing with enthusiasm.
In her eyes, this felt as exciting as a club training camp, like having guests over, and they could even hold a small 'girls' night' in the evening.
For Aoi, who loved Uma Musume, if the four other girls stayed here tonight—
Just thinking about it made her excited.
"This..."
Daijin subconsciously wanted to refuse, wanting to maintain a certain distance.
But Xiao Hai Wan had already shown a similar look of interest. "Oh, that's indeed a good idea! We can all gather tonight and enjoy a girls' night!"
Daijin had forgotten that there was another leisurely person beside her, and that was Xiao Hai Wan, who also loved lively gatherings.
"How about it, Daijin? Just stay for one night! I'll go make up your beds and futons right away!"
Aoi was as excited as a child whose classmates had come over to play.
"I've rented some movies recently. If you like, we can go to the supermarket now to buy some snacks and drinks. Oh! Right, I also have Truth or Dare, Ludo, and Uno in my room. Are you interested?!"
Aoi's enthusiastic attitude even made Kazuo smile.
He patted Daijin's shoulder and said, "Then, as Aoi said, relax well tonight and have fun with these friends, won't you?"
The word 'friends' seemed to touch Daijin.
She looked up at them, and even Rice Shower was looking at her with expectant eyes, as if all it took was her nod of agreement for the girls' night to begin.
She was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"...There's really nothing I can do... Then, let's do this?"
Daijin scratched her head. Although not entirely decisive, she still agreed.
"Oh!! Then let's start preparing without delay!!"
"Xiao Hai Wan, Daijin, I'll leave it to you two to go to the nearby supermarket to buy some party snacks and drinks!"
"We'll be responsible for getting the futons and blankets ready. As for pajamas, if you don't mind, you can wear mine or my mother's. How does that sound?"
Seeing everyone agree, Aoi nodded excitedly.
"Great! It's rare for everyone to gather here. Usually, it's my older brother and Hua-jie who have parties here! Today, we finally have a girls' night with people our own age!"
However, Kazuo smiled wryly and raised his hand, saying, "It's still not safe for two girls to go out to buy things at this time. I'll go with them, anyway."
Seeing the only male present speak up, Aoi immediately invited him, "Kazuo, do you want to play with us tonight?"
Of course, this referred to playing Ludo, Uno, and so on... Kazuo merely touched his nose slightly, smiled wryly, and shook his head.
"Forget it, Aoi, have you forgotten what else I have to do?"
Every evening was his time for review and study. Besides, Kazuo had already gone out and relaxed well today.
Kazuo planned to return to his room to study diligently after they came back.
Although there was some regret, the exams were more important, so Aoi also nodded readily.
"Exams are important, so we'll try not to disturb you!"
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