When they left Eri Kisaki's law office, it was already past three in the afternoon.
"I want to go back."
Little Ai let go of Heiji's hand and walked ahead in silence—small, solitary, and unusually withdrawn.
Heiji gave a brief wave to Kazuha, who stood by the window, then quickened his pace to catch up with Ai.
Kazuha watched quietly as her boyfriend got into the car and drove away.
Eri Kisaki walked over with a cup of coffee, leaned against the wall beside the window, and smiled with practiced elegance.
"Kazuha, you seem quite taken with Mr. Hattori."
"Huh? Teacher…"
Kazuha snapped back to herself, her cheeks flushing.
"If you like him, you like him. That's nothing to be embarrassed about." Eri's smile remained faint.
Kazuha smiled shyly, her gaze drifting to the scenery beyond the glass, a little dazed.
"Heiji and I have been together since we were kids. We used to argue all the time back then, but… he was always so capable. Little by little, I started to feel something for him. But what really made me fall for him was a few months ago. He suddenly felt like a different person—confident, charismatic… and not nearly as dense as he used to be."
Eri nodded.
"Childhood friends, plus Mr. Hattori's strengths. For a girl your age, it would be difficult to resist."
Kazuha blushed harder.
"Teacher, I—"
"Do you know why I agreed to take you on as my student in the first place?" Eri cut in.
"Wasn't it because you lost a bet with Heiji and had to agree?"
"That wasn't the main reason." Eri took Kazuha's hand and led her to the sofa. In her eyes was a trace of apology. "To be honest, at first I intended to break the two of you up."
"What?" Kazuha's eyes widened.
Eri set her coffee down, pinched Kazuha's nose, and smiled indulgently.
"Relax. That was my earlier thinking. I won't do that now."
The tension drained from Kazuha all at once. She threw herself into Eri's arms.
"Teacher, you scared me to death."
Over the past period, Eri's place in Kazuha's heart had grown significant. If this beloved mentor had interfered in her relationship with Heiji, Kazuha would likely have walked away—yet heartbreak would have been unavoidable.
Eri stroked Kazuha's hair, her expression complicated.
"Do you want to hear about what happened between me and Ran's father?"
Kazuha hesitated.
"Teacher… is it really alright to talk about it?"
"He and I were childhood friends too," Eri said quietly. "We studied together, grew up together…"
"So jealous," Kazuha blurted, her imagination instantly running away with her. Heiji and I will have a cute daughter too, won't we…?
Eri tapped Kazuha lightly on the head, mildly annoyed.
"Jealous of what? You don't understand. It's precisely because we were childhood friends—because we were too familiar—that we became accustomed to each other's flaws. When you're apart, you don't notice. But once you build a family and start living as if the other person 'belongs' to you, you realize there are habits you simply can't tolerate."
Kazuha pouted.
"But you still had a daughter as cute as Ran."
Eri sighed, helpless.
"That was… an accident. I didn't expect it either."
"What 'accident'? You clearly enjoyed it," Kazuha muttered under her breath.
Eri didn't know whether to laugh or scold. She gave Kazuha a light swat.
"Alright. Back to work."
The red Mazda sped along the highway.
Ai kept staring out the window, expression unreadable.
Heiji glanced at her.
"Ai, I'll take you home."
Ai answered with silence.
She's off today, Heiji thought. Even for her.
The car remained quiet, the air heavy.
"Brother-in-law… have you really already forgotten Big Sister?"
The voice was soft—almost trembling.
Heiji's heart tightened. He couldn't help a bitter smile. Big Sister… can you please let this go? One lie really does force you into a thousand more.
He didn't even want to imagine what would happen when Ai learned the truth.
"Have I?" he asked carefully.
Ai lifted her head and looked at him, coolness and disappointment flickering in her eyes.
"Actually—"
"Don't say it." Ai cut him off abruptly, closing her eyes. Her long lashes trembled, betraying the unrest she tried to hide. "I want to sleep."
Heiji froze. He'd been ready to break the lie, but the timing clearly wasn't right.
"…Alright. Sleep."
Half an hour later, Heiji drove Ai back to Haibara Mi's home.
"Mr. Hattori, sorry to trouble you again," Haibara Mi said with a polite smile.
Heiji shook his head.
"Ai, I'll head back now."
Ai walked forward, then paused when she heard him.
"…Will you come tomorrow?"
Tomorrow? Heiji hesitated, then shook his head.
"Probably not. I'll come the day after tomorrow."
Ai fell silent for a moment, then nodded and went inside.
Haibara Mi watched the two of them with quiet curiosity, then gave a small shake of her head.
"Drive safely, Mr. Hattori."
By the time Heiji returned to the Suzuki residence, it was already past five.
The moment he stepped through the door, Sonoko launched herself at him, clinging to him without restraint.
Heiji caught her carefully and lowered his voice.
"Your parents are watching."
Sonoko lifted her chin, smug as can be.
"I'm not worried. I made a big contribution today—Dad and Mom won't scold me."
"A big contribution?" Heiji asked, surprised.
"Sonoko negotiated a two-hundred-million-yen contract on her own today," Ayako Suzuki said warmly from the side.
"Only two hundred million and you're this happy?" Tomoko Suzuki shot Sonoko a look. "Seems we should have you go out with Ayako more often."
Sonoko stuck out her tongue and hugged Heiji tighter, beaming.
Heiji pinched her nose affectionately.
"So our Sonoko is impressive now."
"Hmph. Just you wait—when Kazuha gets back, we're going to teach you a proper lesson."
Sonoko rose on tiptoe to kiss Heiji, then slipped from his arms and threw herself into Tomoko's embrace, acting spoiled.
Later in the room, Heiji held Kazuha and Sonoko close and told them, in detail, everything that had happened with Sato Miwako.
Kazuha and Sonoko exchanged a look—helplessness flashing across their eyes—then nodded in quiet acceptance.
"Heiji," Kazuha asked, "when are you going to let Miwako meet us?"
"Meet?" Heiji repeated, glancing at her.
"We want to talk to Miwako," Sonoko said, rolling her eyes at him.
Heiji fell silent, then pulled both girls tighter against him.
"I'll find a time."
A quiet night.
The next day, the case of Officer Shiratori's alleged intentional homicide was still making waves.
Today was the court session.
As the prosecutor, Reiko Kujo整理ed her materials, preparing to deliver a decisive blow to the "killer cop."
"Prosecutor," someone reported, "Shiratori Ninzaburo has defense counsel for this case."
Kujo didn't react.
"Taking money to defend the indefensible. That's nothing unusual."
"The defense attorney is Eri Kisaki."
Kujo's movement paused. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"This case just got interesting."
-------------------------
Note; Thank you to everyone who waited for me, and I'm sorry for taking so long to update on WebNovel.
I thought my PC was finally fixed, but it started getting blue screens again, so I couldn't upload the chapters properly.
However, I found out that if I use a different browser on my phone, the chapters can be pasted without any problems. So I'll be publishing them from there from now on.
I'm sorry again for the delay.
Patreon hasn't had this problem because the chapters there are scheduled automatically, and there is also a moderator taking care of everything.
Thank you for your patience and support.
Special Thanks to Everyone Who Has Supported Me ❤️
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