It took no time at all after that for Mao-chan and Yuuri-kun to make up. By now they were back to their lovey-dovey self. How envious. I hope she spent her whole life away from the Forever Alone Village.

Thanks to us sharing both a mutual enemy and a mutual problem, the bonds between Mao-chan and I rapidly deepened.

Mao-chan told me, “I’m not going eating with Haruto-niisama anymore!” which was a sentiment that I shared. It wouldn’t be nice to Erika-san after all.

“Besides,” she said, “If Haruto-niisama likes trying restaurants so much then he has Erika-san. She’s his girlfriend after all, so she should go. And then, all we have to do is wait for her to get fat… Ku ku ku ku ku!”

Nooooo! Stop ittt! Stop using your adorable face to laugh like a villaaain! Go back to being the innocent Mao-chaaan!

But right after that her expression turned a little anxious.

“Even if I don’t have Haruto-niisama, you’ll still go out with me, right, Reika-oneesama?”

It was so cute that I hugged her just on instinct. What a cute little sister I have!

Unable to bear her cuteness, I invited her to come over and play during the summer. We were going to have a lot of fun, the two of us. Oh, and Yuuri-kun too, of course.

As for Ichinokura-san, apparently he had received quite a shock from being suddenly hated by his beloved niece. I got a panicked phone call from him.

“Mao-chan is angry at me, and says she won’t come eat with me anymore…”

“Oh my.”

“What should I do, Reika-san? Can’t you talk to her somehow?”

“I apologise, Ichinokura-sama, but Mao-chan is more important to me than you are, so I am on her side in this.”

“Reika-san…”

“You need not worry. Once she calms down a little I am sure she will forgive you. Mao-chan loves you very much, Ichinokura-sama.”

“I hope so… The other day when I met her, she told me that since I was her mother’s brother she would call me Ojisan from now on. It was quite a shock…”

I could hear the emotional damage even over the phone. It must have been rough for a man of only 26 to be called an ojisan. But the punishment for hurting a maiden’s feelings was severe. Ukekekeke!

Today, Mao-chan told me she wanted to try visiting the salon of the Pivoine proper, so I brought her and Yuuri-kun with me. On the way though, she started to get cold feet.

“Maybe I shouldn’t after all… I wouldn’t want to bother anyone.”

“No need to worry,” I rea.s.sured her, “We are all members of the Pivoine, after all. And did you not visit once before?”

“I guess…”

I remembered her coming all the way to the salon to invite me to her birthday party. n.o.body had any problems back then either, so there was no need to worry at all.

Sure enough, the adorable couple were welcomed the moment we arrived.

“My! How cute! These two are from the Pet.i.te, aren’t they? I am Okis.h.i.+ma Fuyuko, the current President of the Pivoine, and I’m very pleased to meet you.”

“Yes! I hope we’ll get along!”

“They really are so cute.”

Since the President was fond of them they could expect smooth sailing at school.

We were entertaining my tiny guests when Enjou and Kaburagi came along. The two of them looked confused about the two kids in the room. Mao-chan on the other hand had lost her cool because the famous Emperor and his friend appeared.

Enjou must have noticed because he put on a kind smile and spoke to her.

“h.e.l.lo. Might you two be from the Pet.i.te Pivoine?”

“Yes!”

“Do you know my brother then? His name is Enjou Yukino.”

“Yes! I talk to him quite a lot in the salon!”

“I see. Thanks for getting along with him. You’ll keep looking after him, won’t you?”

“Yes, I will!”

“So what’s he like in the Pet.i.te Pivoine?”

“Ummm…”

Enjou’s charming smile was causing her to flush.

“Huh. Friends of Yukino, then?” asked Kaburagi in a rare show of friendliness.

He tapped her on the shoulder lightly.

“If Yukino causes you any trouble, lemme know,” he said.

By now, Mao-chan had turned as red as beetroot. I was just waiting for the steam to start shooting from her ears.

Yuuri-kun on the other hand looked a little sullen. So cuuuuuute!

Oblivious to his mood, the blus.h.i.+ng Mao-chan began telling Enjou all about how Yukino gave it his all at school.

Kaburagi on the other hand did notice.

“You’re jealous?” he asked.

Yuuri-kun looked startled. Kaburagi! Don’t you have any delicacy!?

“Get your act together, man! Are you going to let Shuusuke of all people take her from you!” he joked before mussing Yuuri-kun’s hair.

“That isn’t it at all!”

“In that case tell me all about it. C’mon, let’s hear your love troubles,” he said before dragging Yuuri-kun over to a sofa in the corner.

What the-! Kaburagi! n.o.body asked for your indoctrination! And to begin with, Mao-chan likes him back so Yuuri-kun is already in another realm compared to you! You should be asking him for advice! You haven’t made any progress with Wakaba-chan at all, have you! What’s the meaning of that!

Anyhow, I was worried so I tried to listen in on their conversation. Not that I was expecting differently, but Kaburagi was totally useless at romance so it took no time at all for them to start talking about soccer instead. Thank goodness… It would have been terrible if Kaburagi had influenced him badly.

Mao-chan, finally noticing that Yuuri-kun was gone, rushed over to him in a panic. Maybe she was feeling worried.

Kaburagi seemed to find the little couple amusing, and went over to play the Minute Waltz on the piano.

Mao-chan ended up entranced and excited again, and Yuuri-kun ended up pouting──

That day, Kaburagi took every one of Mao-chan’s requests, and pretty much had his own little piano retical. Thanks to that, all the female Pivoine members begged her to come again.

On the way back, Mao-chan placed her hands on her chest and muttered,

“That was so dreamy…”

but for never lying to her, and always being by her side to protect her, I thought Yuuri-kun was a much more wonderful man.

Still though, the power of music was incredible~ Not that I’d ever heard any rumours of Dite being popular.

The next day, Enjou would tell me with a beaten smile that when Yukino-kun heard that we had gone to the Pivoine proper, he ended up sulking a little. I’m sorry, Yukino-kun!

When I came home, Oniisama suddenly asked me,

“Would you prefer the aquarium or the zoo?”

I had no idea what was going on, but it was summer so I told him the aquarium.

“The damage didn’t seem too bad this time, so maybe just a one day trip…?”

Seriously, what was he muttering about?

Still, did this mean Oniisama was going to take time out of his busy schedule to take me to the aquarium? I’d be so happy if it were true! Oh, I know! I could invite Mao-chan! If the position of Oniisama was taken from him, I could already see Ichinokura-san taking another blow. Ukekekeke.