Evan was focused on finding cameras on the street, while Kiana continued to be a lazy bum. No, besides being a lazy bum, Kiana also followed the combat training methods her father had once taught her, hoping to improve herself and defeat her violent aunt, Theresa. However, every time she thought of the other's unreasonable brute force, Kiana felt disheartened and would revert to being a lazy bum after a short period of training.
Is that aunt of mine human or a Honkai Beast in human skin? Why is she so terrifying? Even Dad doesn't have that kind of strength, right?
While Kiana was sighing, feeling that she might be forever under Theresa's thumb, Mei, who was supposed to be in class at Senba Academy, took the initiative to come to the dormitory building where Evan lived after school.
Yesterday, Evan had received a text message in the middle of their time together and had left in a hurry. Mei was a little concerned about it. Plus, it had always been Evan who came to find her, so this time, Mei decided to take the initiative to find him.
She had long known that Evan was the only male student at Tachikawa Academy and that he should be the only one living in the dormitory, so she didn't feel shy about coming to his dorm.
By this time, Evan had already received a text from Mei saying she was coming over and was on his way downstairs. But the one who reacted faster was Kiana, who lived on the first floor. Hearing someone enter the dormitory, she thought her violent aunt had come back and was already prepared for a fight, but it turned out to be someone else.
A girl with the air of a young lady, who, compared to her violent Aunt Theresa, had a completely different, gentle-as-water feeling.
For Kiana, whose young heart had suffered a tragic blow from Theresa's lesson just yesterday, this was a real beautiful girl. Love, love, love.
By the time Evan got downstairs, he saw Mei looking troubled, with Kiana hovering around her, clumsily trying to show concern and get closer to her.
Perhaps because of his previous series of interactions with Evan, Kiana didn't exactly fall in love with Mei at first sight, at least not to the point of confessing on the spot, but her overly familiar attitude was making Mei a little flustered.
Seeing this, Evan pulled Kiana away while introducing them.
"This is Kiana. Her personality is a bit reckless. She was in a bit of a predicament after accidentally losing her bank card, so I took the liberty of letting her stay in this dormitory."
"Don't talk about me like that! I have my good points too!"
In front of Mei, Kiana seemed to become very conscious of her image and began to make unconvincing excuses to refute Evan's definition of her as "reckless."
As Kiana went on, Mei's initial distress gradually turned into a smile. She had been a little down just now, thinking that Kiana was Evan's girlfriend, since they were living together. Although with the current gender ratio, it wasn't a problem for an outstanding boy like Evan to have a harem, the fact that he had hidden it from her still made Mei a little sad. It turned out she had been overthinking things.
Kiana had only just arrived in Nagazora the day before yesterday and met Evan. And yesterday, her relative had come to find her, but only to arrange her living situation, not to take her away.
After getting a rough idea of the situation from Evan, Mei now looked at Kiana with a sense of shared misfortune. Although she didn't know the specifics of her family situation, her circumstances were similar to her own; they were both in an environment lacking in familial affection.
"You're enrolling in Senba Academy next semester? I'm a student there too."
"Eh? Really? That's great!"
Mei's words brought an undisguised look of joy to Kiana's face. She had been planning to find all sorts of excuses to avoid going to a boring place like school, especially since Evan was at Tachikawa Academy, not Senba. If she had to go to school, she should go to Tachikawa Academy.
But if Mei was also there, then she wasn't so resistant anymore.
With Evan's introduction, Mei accepted Kiana's presence. Looking at the girl who had shown such familiarity towards her since she appeared, Mei thought for a moment and quickly guessed her feelings.
She must be longing for friendship, right? It's more comfortable to make friends with someone of the same sex than the opposite. Best friends can talk about anything, but with Evan, a boy, as their relationship grew closer, she might actually become more reserved.
But Evan thought further than Mei. Combined with his knowledge of Kiana's childhood, he realized that Kiana's feelings for Mei were less about yuri and more of a manifestation of her longing for family affection.
In the past, Kiana had always been looked after by Siegfried; she had only received a father's love and lacked a mother's.
Kiana was probably hoping to feel a mother's love from Mei, and Mei was indeed a girl full of maternal warmth. Kiana had a good eye.
Evan, who had been pondering the philosophical question of who was cheating on whom in the triangle of himself, Kiana, and Mei, now breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost been ready to give up his search for street cameras and focus on how to establish a normal sexual orientation for Kiana.
Kiana was excitedly talking to Mei, and Mei responded with a smile. Although it seemed like a happy scene, a short while later, a protest from Kiana's stomach made the atmosphere awkward.
Kiana felt her image in front of the gentle Mei had been damaged again and lowered her head in annoyance. Mei, for a moment, didn't know what to say to ease the atmosphere, so Evan once again played the role of mediator.
"Since you're hungry, let's all go out to eat."
Naturally, no one objected. After all, Evan's dormitory didn't have a kitchen or anything like that. The refrigerator had been bought by Evan himself later on, and it was a good thing the dorm had no power usage restrictions.
They ended up at the same familiar restaurant. Seeing the restaurant, Kiana finally remembered something she had casually ignored before. She looked at Evan, then at Mei, and asked.
"Are you his girlfriend?"