Unlike the drive up the mountain, the drive down was different.
Maruzensky's car drove smoothly and slowly, as if everything that had just happened hadn't existed.
And with such slow movement, Maruzensky and Tokai quickly returned home.
Or rather, to Maruzensky's residence.
After parking the car in the garage, the atmosphere between Maruzensky and Tokai seemed to return to how it was when they first set out.
But... "Do you want to stay the night?"
A short and direct question.
Maruzensky, who asked the question, looked at Tokai, who had just gotten out of the passenger seat.
And Tokai, who was asked the question, raised her head.
Her not-so-tall body was just enough for her head to be above the car roof.
The two of them stood on opposite sides of the car, looking at each other.
Their gazes met for a brief moment.
Then... "Mm, okay."
There was no intention of refusal.
Tokai accepted Maruzensky's invitation.
And hearing Tokai's response, Maruzensky simply closed the car door.
Then, she walked into the residence through the inner door of the garage.
Tokai followed behind her.
There wasn't much communication between the two of them.
Maruzensky understood what had caused the current situation.
After all, what had happened earlier was indeed... Understanding this, Maruzensky also didn't know how to resolve the current situation.
So, the atmosphere between the two remained tense.
And in a moment of silence.
Maruzensky pondered how to resolve the current predicament.
Tokai, on the other hand, was thinking about other things. After all, she was completely defenseless against Maruzensky, so in this situation, Tokai was thinking more about her daughter.
After all, she hadn't returned home for a day.
Even with Roman by her side, she was still quite worried about her daughter.
Thinking of this, Tokai simply turned her head to look at Maruzensky: "Maruzen, I'm going to rest first."
Hearing this, Maruzen wanted to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.
Noticing this, Tokai simply continued: "I won't lock the door."
The information revealed in her words was everything Maruzensky had once known well.
When she realized this, Maruzensky didn't know how to respond.
After all, everything was back to how it was then, and Maruzensky didn't know if it was good or bad.
But whether Maruzensky responded or not, Tokai didn't care. She simply went upstairs and opened the room where she and Mochizuki had once lived.
The room was still the same as it had been years ago, and from the floor, one could even conclude that someone had cleaned it regularly.
Noticing this, Tokai simply took a deep breath and then sat on the bed.
The room's interior hadn't changed at all.
The events of today made Tokai feel as if everything had returned to the past.
But... seeing the bed without Mochizuki lying on it, Tokai felt as if she had returned to the present.
Looking at the room, Tokai simply took a deep breath, then gradually undressed.
She felt she should rest.
After turning off the light and curling up in bed, it wasn't long before...
The door opened again.
Tokai knew who had opened the door, but just as she had said before, the reason Tokai deliberately didn't lock the door was because she was powerless to resist, so she could only make the simplest defense.
Beyond that, she could do nothing.
The person who opened the door didn't hesitate and directly slipped into Tokai's bed.
After a corner of the blanket was lifted, Tokai felt a body, without any covering, touch her.
As for why she could feel it, of course, it was because Tokai had no pajamas, or rather, Tokai had never bought clothes at Maruzensky's house at that time, so naturally, she had no pajamas.
Therefore, the moment their skin touched, Tokai perceived that the other person was also not wearing much covering.
Realizing this, Tokai didn't speak.
She just remained silent.
And soon, the person holding Tokai spoke.
"I'm sorry..."
"...It's okay."
Then, Tokai was embraced by Maruzensky.
Unlike the feeling with Representative Chiaki, the temperature difference between Maruzensky and Tokai's bodies, pressed together, was not significant.
After all, Representative Chiaki had no bedding at the time, so her body temperature was relatively lower.
Therefore, the two bodies felt different to Tokai.
These slight differences led to Tokai having different impressions of the two people.
"I'm sorry, I originally wanted to take you back to my hometown today."
Saying this, Maruzensky tightened her embrace slightly, pulling Tokai's body closer to her.
"Back to your hometown?"
"Is it a ranch?"
"Yes, it's a ranch; but, suddenly..."
Maruzensky didn't continue, because she didn't know how to explain that matter.
Listening to Maruzensky's voice, which carried a great deal of apology, Tokai didn't respond immediately. She just managed to turn around in Maruzensky's embrace.
And then... the two looked at each other in the faint light.
Looking at each other, Tokai was silent for a long time before she spoke: "I know."
Extending her hand and embracing Maruzensky with the same motion, Tokai continued: "I understand both your thoughts and Representative Chiaki's intentions, it's just..."
A pause, just like Maruzensky's.
After her words stopped, what made Maruzensky look at her was Tokai's next words.
"It's not time yet, Mochizuki hasn't grown up, and Teio also..."
Her words suddenly stopped, then she vaguely skipped over: "They all need me to spend time and energy to take good care of them, so, it's not time yet."
Tokai's words made Maruzensky nod, "I... understand."
After speaking, Maruzensky pressed her head close to Tokai's body.
She didn't leave marks on Tokai's body like Representative Chiaki had.
Maruzensky simply pressed her face close to Tokai.
"Let me hold you, okay?"
"Aren't you going to do anything?"
The overly direct question made Maruzensky pause for a moment, then she responded:
"No, I won't do anything. Just holding you is enough..."
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