Leo

The first night

"Wait...!"

While she made a stop gesture with her hand, Chouchou abruptly said when she saw her mom going inside the house carrying a small tote bag, as if she had come back from a quick shopping.

"I thought only your father would be an issue."

Chouchou heavily sighed

"Mitsuki... It's a given my mom would tell my dad if she finds out I'm hanging with a boy..."

When the topic appeared, Mitsuki took the opportunity to clear his doubts

"I don't understand why we can't hang out together."

"What's wrong about being male when it comes to hang with girls?"

"Come on, Mitsu! It's obvious!"

He continued staring and Chouchou had to remind herself of Mitsuki's condition as an artificial human

"Hah... They will think we are going out as a couple."

Mitsuki frowned his little brows

"So when girls hang together, they aren't a couple?"

Now it was Chouchou frowning brows, displaying a thoughtful mannerism

"Uhh... Well, that can... happen too??"

"Still! It's more common to assume when two girls or two boys hang together, it's because they are friends, as opposed to a girl and a boy hang together, people assume they are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Since Mitsuki still had a confused face, Chouchou added

"Like... You know! As if they are in love..."

Mitsuki kept staring at her as if he didn't understand what she had said and Chouchou frowned. "Wait, does he know what romantic love is, right?" she questioned in her mind, realizing there was a big chance he didn't. Chouchou brought her hand to her chest when she felt a sting, together with a displeasing feeling. The pale boy looked down thinking about her words

"Love..."

"O-oh you don't have to worry! We can talk about that another time."

"So this wasn't going to be a love confession," Chouchou thought feeling disappointed. Quickly she shook her head and said

"Look, I'm going inside first, so mama won't suspect."

"I will give you a signal from my window for you to come over, OK?"

Mitsuki nodded looking serious, as if this was a mission

"Alright, I will hide in the nearby trees then."

Chouchou gave him a thumbs-up and ran inside her house

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"That much?"

Karui kept staring at how her daughter crammed several treats into a medium size tray, while her favorite drama was playing in the background. A variety of seasonal wagashi they had stored when visitors would come over and a bottle of green tea was a weird choice for her, especially at that hour.

"It's a craving mama, just for today."

"Just for today," is something Karui would hear often inside the Akimichi household but when it came to Chouchou, she was left to trust. Her daughter knew her own limits when it came to food and she would respect them.

"Alright, alright. Just be sure to bring down that tray and wash it."

"I will, mama. Don't worry!"

With a quick step, she left. Karui just shook her head and continued to watch her drama