Before Crazy Aunties and Parents - II

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If there was anything Sonoda Umi couldn't handle, it would be loud guests. Even better were those of guests in her living room.

Muttering to herself ranting about how no one understood what 'I've no time, let's hang out later' meant, she was already in front of the front door. It was annoying in Umi's book because she had to change her plans, specifically her cleaning duties. But it couldn't be helped, friends were friends even if they made trouble.

As she opened up the door, the blended voices quieted down and took a look at her.

''Hey Umi!''

''U-Umi-chan.''

''Umi-chan~''

''..Umi.''

''Umi-chan! Here comes the daddy ny-AH'' Rin was about to spill the words while everyone greeted Umi. Thanks to Nico's hands covering her mouth, they nearly avoided the grave misadventure.

Umi looked at her quizzically.

"Come in, everyone else is in the living room."

As her friends greeted her and came in one by one, Kotori was unexpectedly waiting outside of the door. When Umi spotted the ashen-haired girl, butterflies began to grow inside the pit of her stomach.

"You are going to freeze out there, you know?" Umi uttered worriedly. Kotori nodded as she slowly stepped in.

Umi quickly took her by hand and pulled her towards herself on impulse, trying to warm Kotori up while savouring her scent.

Flabbergasted by the sudden action, Kotori set her eyes on Umi, who nuzzled her pink nose at her collarbone softly. Utterly happy at the warm embrace, she reciprocated by gently wrapping her arms around her fiancée's back. She basked in the close contact, yet bitterly thought how she would be able to tell the big news.

"I missed you," Umi whispered in her reddened ear, unfortunately she didn't see her bittersweet expression at the moment.

Blushing madly at her straightforwardness, Kotori looked down. She felt uncertain whether it was the right time to tell until she saw a gentle smile upon Umi's lips. "Umi-chan, the truth is I'm-"

A snort of amusement interrupted their conversation and they noticed pairs of eyes peering. That brought about leaping away from one another. Eli commented, snickering, "...Aaaand I'm convinced you can't do anything without her. You are pretty attached to her."

Not giving any chance for Umi to complain about the teasing, they were cut off by Nico's grumbling. "Hey, idiot couple! I don't need a romcom show here," she called out from the living room, sounding unduly impatient. She was already sitting on the couch with crossed legs, ready to nag at how grimy the place was.

"I'm sure they need private time right now," Nozomi said calmly. As if she had learned before others told, she gave a knowing nod.

As soon as Nozomi not-so subtly implied, everyone groaned and turned back to the living room. Maki, Hanayo and Rin huddled near Nico; Nozomi and Eli stood, chatting back and forth.

"What did they mean?" Umi inquired, looking at her skeptically. "Are you going to tell about your abroad plan?" she reasoned, lifting her eyebrow.

An uneasy silence settled as Kotori didn't have the heart to answer her directly, so Umi slightly scooted closer to her side and put aside her questions. "Well, let's go back to everyone then. We can talk about it later," she offered a smile before going back to the group of friends. Since she would make no concession to her hospitality while her guests were babbling in the living room leisurely.

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