Looking at the fuming Eriri before him, who resembled a bristling golden retriever, Luo Shu felt both exasperated and amused as he said:
"So, Eriri, are you jealous?"
"Hah?"
Eriri froze momentarily, her golden twin-tails seemingly bouncing along with her mood.
"Me? Jealous?"
She suddenly raised her voice before letting out a cold laugh:
"Jealous my foot!!"
"Have you no shame at all? Hugging someone else's mum the whole way, and when I call you out, you accuse me of being jealous? Jealous of your big head!!"
"Hugging her the whole way is a bit of an exaggeration, no?"
Luo Shu made a wry face at Eriri's complaint. Though he'd shamelessly not refused, he'd merely had his arm held - it wasn't like he'd been carrying Sayuri Sawamura the entire time.
Sayuri covered her mouth, suppressing giggles, her eyes crinkling like crescent moons as she spoke in a knowing tone:
"Our Eriri's finally grown up~"
"Hah?" Eriri tilted her head dumbly before glaring at Sayuri with utter disdain: "Honestly, I understand you less and less these days."
"We're almost home - aren't you going to let go?"
Luo Shu chimed in: "So you do know she was just holding my arm?"
Eriri barely resisted rolling her eyes: "Shut up, you were enjoying it too, weren't you?"
"Well, yes." Luo Shu nodded, shamelessly admitting his flaw before adding salt to the wound: "Frankly, if you'd inherited all of Sayuri's best qualities, Utaha might have to worry about me cheating."
Eriri's face immediately darkened, her small fists clenching involuntarily:
"So sorry I don't take after her!!"
"Ahahahaha." Sayuri finally couldn't hold back any longer, releasing Luo Shu's arm as she turned away laughing.
Her laughter proved contagious, and Luo Shu's lips also curved upwards: "Eriri, you do have your good points too."
"Too late for apologies now." Eriri snorted, but still waited to hear what virtues Luo Shu would name.
"Knowing you don't measure up to Sayuri - that self-awareness is one of your few redeeming qualities."
Eriri's foot lashed out to stomp on Luo Shu, but he nimbly dodged.
Her leather shoe slapped against the pavement tiles, sending a jolt through her foot. She looked up at Luo Shu with tearful, furious eyes, her small canine teeth bared as if ready to bite:
"Say that again and I'll punch you!"
Faced with this utterly non-threatening threat, Luo Shu smiled before saying:
"Alright, we're even now. I'll stop teasing you."
"Even? How could we possibly be even?" Eriri barely restrained her urge to retort, crossing her arms indignantly.
Luo Shu reached out and patted Eriri's head with a smile:
"I mean, we're square for Sayuri dragging me here against my will."
"Eh?" Eriri blinked in confusion before turning to look at Sayuri beside them.
At this moment, Sayuri Sawamura's face broke into a beaming smile as she said:
"Oh dear, it seems I didn't explain to you, Eriri... Hmm, how should I put this..."
Sayuri Sawamura tilted her head and spoke with feigned innocence:
"Luo Shu seems to have mistaken today's meeting with Robert as a son-in-law meeting his father-in-law, so he kept trying to run away~"
"But don't worry, Eriri, Mummy has successfully dragged him here by force, so rest assured, your matter will definitely be resolved."
Eriri stood dumbfounded, her mouth gradually falling open before she suddenly took a sharp breath. With a loud 'smack', she tried stomping on Sayuri Sawamura's foot again, but the prepared Sayuri swiftly dodged. Undeterred, Eriri kept stomping while angrily shouting:
"Stop dodging!!"
"Who asked for your help?! And what's this about a son-in-law meeting his father-in-law? You said you had something important to confess to Dad - I thought it was about me joining the SDS, not some nonsense about me dating Luo Shu?! Dating my foot! The one dating him is that gloomy girl, damn it!!"
Watching Eriri's furious outburst, Sayuri Sawamura dodged around Luo Shu while curiously asking:
"But Luo Shu clearly told me he has a lifelong promise with you, Eriri?"
Hearing this, Eriri's face immediately turned red as she pointed at Luo Shu and shouted:
"Hah? Who made any lifelong promise with this guy?"
Luo Shu nodded repeatedly in agreement and chided:
"Exactly, exactly. If it were Sayuri, that'd be more like it."
Eriri glared at Luo Shu and snapped, "Shut up! You pervert!"
She finally understood - this bastard god Luo Shu was trying to become her father!!
My dad's still alive, damn it!!
After glaring angrily at Luo Shu, Eriri turned back to see Sayuri's smiling face and suddenly found her anger dissipating.
She opened her mouth but couldn't find the right words. Turning away, she kicked a small roadside pebble to vent her frustration before calming down and saying:
"So Luo Shu, you told Mum about the things you couldn't explain by using things you could explain, making her misunderstand our relationship?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu looked somewhat surprised at Eriri: "It seems Kurumi has really been working hard..."
To have managed to give even a bit of brains to this idiot, Miss Kurumi Tokisaki must be truly extraordinary!
"Don't treat me like an idiot!!"
Eriri shot Luo Shu an annoyed glare, then looked at the pretending-to-be-clueless Sayuri beside them before grabbing her hair in frustration:
"Argh!!! This is so annoying!!"
"Anyway, although this guy and I will definitely be inseparable in the future, we're absolutely not in some boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, understand?"
Sayuri looked utterly shocked:
"Eh? So it's already become familial love?"
"Yeah, pretty much— Wait, that doesn't sound right either?"
Just as Eriri was about to agree, she suddenly realised something was off and eyed Sayuri suspiciously:
"Mum, can you tell me what exactly you're thinking?"
"No!" Sayuri cheerfully refused.
"You're definitely imagining something weird again, aren't you?" Eriri asked with growing unease, her expression visibly uncomfortable.
"Correct." Sayuri nodded in admission before immediately changing the subject: "But Eriri, rather than convincing Mummy, don't you think the more important thing right now is convincing Daddy?"
Sayuri Sawamura pointed to the iron gate nearby and said with a smile:
"We're home!"
Eriri froze for a moment, slowly turning her head to look at the villa before her—both intimately familiar and strangely alien. Her lips parted slightly before snapping shut again. Finally, she hung her head in defeat:
"Just kill me!!"
"Death won't solve anything."
Luo Shu patted Eriri's head and said exasperatedly:
"Besides, if I'm not scared, why should you be?"
Hearing this, Eriri immediately recalled how Sayuri had been dragging Luo Shu along the entire way and couldn't help but retort:
"Looks to me like you tried to run but couldn't get away! You jerk!"
"You're the instigator here, yet you still have the nerve to talk back!!"
"Should I leave now then?" Luo Shu turned as if to walk away, but was instantly stopped by Eriri, who grabbed his sleeve.
When he looked back, he saw Eriri's mortified expression that clearly said, 'If you leave, I'll die right here.'
At this, Luo Shu laughed:
"Just so you know, I'll only explain once."
Eriri puffed out her cheeks and huffed in annoyance:
"Fine!!"
"Now hurry up and come inside with me!"