The door clicked shut behind Airi, but the silence she expected was replaced by the sharp, rhythmic staccato of her mother’s voice echoing from the living room.

"You know better than this, Kaori. Your focus is supposed to be on your future, not loitering in public like you have nothing better to do. And in that outfit? It’s sloppy."

Airi set her keys on the table, her expression flat. 

She found Kaori standing stiffly in the center of the room, still clutching the grocery bags as if they were a shield. 

Their mother stood opposite her, shoulders squared, and eyes narrowed in that familiar, clinical way that made everyone in the room feel like they were under a microscope.

"What’s going on?" Airi asked, her voice level. She wasn't smiling; she knew exactly how draining these lectures could be. "Why are you on her case the second she walks through the door?"

Her mother didn’t turn around immediately, her gaze remaining fixed on Kaori’s flustered face. "Because your sister seems to have forgotten the importance of her own time," she replied, her tone like a sheet of ice.

She finally glanced toward Airi, her disapproval shifting but not softening. "I found her at the gate with a boy. Some local boy, she apparently felt the need to walk with. I will not have her distracted by people who clearly don't share her priorities."

Airi’s gaze flicked toward her sister. She remembered the guy she’d passed on the sidewalk just a minute ago, the one with the annoyed, stoic expression. She looked back at her mother, her jaw tightening slightly.

"She was just at the store, Mom," Airi said quietly, though she could see the familiar, stubborn set of her mother’s shoulders that meant the conversation was already over. 

"He isn't just some random boy, Mom," Kaori interjected, her voice tight as she tried to reclaim some shred of her dignity. 

She adjusted her grip on the grocery bags, the plastic handles crinkling sharply in the silence. "He’s my classmate, and we just happened to run into each other at the store. He was helping me, that’s all."

Her mother’s eyes didn’t soften; they sharpened, zeroing in on the situation with a cold, analytical focus. She didn't look like a parent concerned for her daughter; she looked like a prosecutor looking for a weakness.

"A classmate," her mother repeated, her voice dropping an octave as she took a slow, deliberate step closer, her shadow falling over Kaori. "Fine. What is his name?"

Kaori swallowed hard, the tension in the room making the air feel thin. "Asahina Nagi," she murmured.

Her mother didn't blink. She kept her gaze locked on Kaori, her expression remaining a mask of frozen disapproval.

"And where," she asked, the words clipped and demanding, "does this Asahina Nagi live?"

Kaori’s grip on the grocery bags tightened, the plastic biting into her palms as she met her mother’s piercing gaze. "He lives at a Dojo," she managed, her voice steadier than she felt. "It’s only a few streets up from here."

The room seemed to grow even colder at the mention of a dojo, her mother’s lips thinning into a line of pure, aristocratic distaste. 

Just as she opened her mouth to deliver what was surely going to be a scathing dismissal of "delinquent martial artists," Airi shifted her weight against the doorframe, her flat expression finally flickering with a spark of recognition.

"Asahina? A dojo?" Airi interjected, her voice cutting through the tension. She looked away from the ceiling and directly at Kaori. "Wait. Could he be the grandson of Asahina Shūhei?"

Kaori blinked, surprised by the specific name. She thought back to the way Nagi had spoken about his grandfather, with a mixture of deep respect and occasional exasperation. "I... I think so," she murmured. "He mentioned his grandfather runs the place."

The effect was instantaneous.

The sharp retort died on their mother's lips. The oppressive, looming energy she had been projecting seemed to stall, replaced by a sudden, heavy silence. Even she couldn't immediately find a way to sneer at that name. Asahina Shūhei was a figure whose reputation reached far beyond the neighborhood, a man of traditional discipline and immense standing in the community.

Her mother’s eyes flickered, the prosecutor's fire dimming into a calculated, thoughtful stillness as she processed the fact that the "undesirable" boy at the gate was tied to such a prominent lineage. 

Airi uncrossed her arms, her posture losing its defensive edge as she leaned forward, a spark of genuine interest replacing her flat expression.

"No way!" Airi exclaimed, her voice cutting through the heavy silence that had settled over the living room. "That cutie outside is the grandson of Asahina Shūhei? You have to be kidding me. That man is a legend; he’s personally trained multiple Inter-High champions across all of Japan! His dojo is practically a shrine for martial arts."

Kaori didn't even process the information about the national champions or the legendary status of the dojo. Her brain snagged on a single, jarring word like a sweater on a nail.

‘Cutie...?’ She blinked.

The heat returned to Kaori's face, but this time it wasn't just from her mother's lecture.

"Airi, don't call him that," Kaori muttered, her voice muffled as she looked down at the floor, though her heart gave a traitorous, confusing little thud at the description.

Airi straightened up, her eyes narrowing as she caught the specific shade of crimson deepening on Kaori’s cheeks. 

A slow, knowing smirk played across her lips, the kind that usually signaled a long, relentless night of interrogation for her younger sister.

"Oh?~ 'Don't call him that'?" Airi repeated, her tone dropping into a playful lilt. She took a step closer to Kaori, invading her personal space just enough to see the way Kaori’s eyes darted away. "What's the matter? Is he your cutie? You got pretty defensive pretty fast for someone who just 'happened' to run into him."

Kaori squeezed the plastic grocery bags, the sound of crinkling plastic filling the room. "I’m not being defensive! It’s just an inaccurate description! He’s... he’s just Nagi!"

"Nagi, huh? First name basis already?" Airi leaned in, her voice a stage whisper. "I have to admit, he does have that whole 'brooding, disciplined' look going for him. Very traditional."

"Airi, enough."

The voice was cold and sharp, effectively slicing through Airi’s teasing. 

Their mother had finally found her footing again. Though the mention of the Asahina name had momentarily stalled her, she hadn't lost her edge. She looked from Airi’s mischievous face to Kaori’s flustered one, her expression settling into a mask of stern caution.

"Regardless of his grandfather’s reputation," her mother said, her voice echoing with an air of finality, "that does not change the facts. You are at a critical stage in your studies, Kaori. A boy—no matter how 'distinguished' his lineage may be—is a distraction you cannot afford."

She walked over to Kaori, her gaze level and unyielding.

"Do not get too chummy with him. Being a classmate does not permit him to occupy your time or your thoughts. Is that understood?"

Kaori nodded. 

The heavy tension of the afternoon finally dissolved into the low hum of the air conditioner and the steady chirp of crickets outside. 

Their mother had left an hour ago for a late-night committee meeting, leaving the house feeling cavernous and quiet.

Kaori sat on the sofa, her notebook open on her lap, though she hadn't written a single coherent sentence in twenty minutes. Her mind was a chaotic loop of grocery aisles and stern lectures.

The sound of the bathroom door sliding open broke her trance. 

A moment later, Airi appeared, a cloud of steam trailing behind her. She was clad in a simple cotton yukata, towel-drying her damp hair with one hand while holding a chilled bottle of tea in the other. Without a word, she sauntered over and plopped down next to Kaori, the sofa cushions dipping under her weight.

"Finally, some peace," Airi sighed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes for a second. "Mom’s been on a warpath lately. I don't know how you handle it without going gray."

Kaori didn't look up from her notebook. "I just keep my head down. It’s easier that way."

"Yeah, well, 'easier' looks exhausting," Airi countered, taking a slow sip of her tea. 

She turned her head, observing her younger sister with a neutral, unhurried gaze. "So, how’s the rest of summer break actually going? Aside from the grocery-store ambushes and the looming threat of exams? Doing anything that doesn't involve a textbook?"

"It’s fine. I’m studying. Keeping up with the schedule," Kaori replied mechanically.

Airi hummed, unimpressed. She reached out and flicked the corner of Kaori's blank notebook page. "Riveting. Truly. You're a thrill-seeker, Kaori-chan."

She let the silence stretch for a few beats, the playful atmosphere shifting ever so slightly into something more focused. 

Airi set her tea down on the coffee table and shifted her position to face her sister fully, her damp hair clinging to her neck.

"Alright, enough with the script," Airi said, her voice dropping to a more confidential volume. "Let’s talk about the 'distraction' that made Mom’s blood pressure spike. How did you actually get close to Asahina Nagi?" 

"He's just a friend from my class, Airi," Kaori said, her voice forcedly calm as she kept her eyes fixed on her notebook. "There's nothing special about it."

Airi let out a short, dry laugh, the sound echoing in the quiet living room. She leaned closer, her damp hair smelling of citrus and soap, as she propped her chin on her hand.

"A friend? Kaori, I saw how you reacted earlier when I called him a ‘cutie’. Friends don't act like that. You were way too worked up for it to be 'nothing.' And I’ve seen you around guys who try to talk to you. You don't turn into a human radiator and start tripping over your own feet for 'just a friend.'"

Airi’s gaze sharpened, her playful demeanor receding to reveal the perceptive older sister underneath. She poked Kaori’s shoulder gently but firmly. "I want the real reason. How did you actually get close to him? And how long have you even known him?"

Kaori went quiet.