Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner

This remark was like a slap in the face for Mr. Deer. He was about to argue that dreaming about losing limbs didn't count when he heard the toilet flush, and Taira Sakurako pushed the door open weakly with a pained expression.

"How are you feeling, any better?" Minamoto Tamako asked.

Taira Sakurako shook her head, crawled back into her small bed, lay down flat, and placed her hands on her stomach, trying to warm it.

Fushimi Roku gloated from the side, "Maybe you have parasites too!"

Minamoto Tamako slapped his shoulder lightly, scolding him for speaking carelessly, "It's one thing not to care about your sister, but why curse her? If she does have parasites, wouldn't you be paying her medical bills eventually?"

Fushimi Roku scoffed but didn't argue about paying for medical bills. He just said, "I'm teaching her a lesson."

With that, he lay down with his hands behind his head, one leg crossed over the other, looking just like Nobita Nobi taking a nap, "This is what happens when you don't listen to your elders. I did remind her, but she just wouldn't listen and has no basic respect for her elders."

Minamoto Tamako thought this made sense and turned her head to lecture Taira Sakurako, telling her to listen to her brother.

As they say, an elder brother is like a father, which means Fushimi Roku is her dad.

"..."

Taira Sakurako pulled the blanket over her head, unwilling to speak.

Minamoto Tamako continued to nag on the side. She loved to meddle in these matters. She even thought the clothes Fushimi Roku bought for Sakurako were ugly and went shopping herself to buy new ones for Taira Sakurako.

Taira Sakurako couldn't stand it anymore. She knew Tamako's personality; if left unchecked, this matter would never end, and then Fushimi Roku would truly become her dad.

This was absolutely unacceptable. To her, men become bad when they become fathers, let alone that Fushimi Roku was already a bad guy. If he were her boss, it would be better. She could work and learn at the same time, growing her skills with her boss, leading to a harmonious family.

But if it were a father-daughter relationship, Taira Sakurako felt her life would become bleak.

"Why should I listen to him?" she retorted, pushing off the blanket.

Minamoto Tamako thought she was going through a rebellious phase and was about to lecture her with some worn-out phrases about filial piety when Taira Sakurako continued questioning, "So if your grandpa opposed you dating Fushimi Roku, would you listen to him?"

"Eh?"

Minamoto Tamako was stunned, unable to answer momentarily.

If she said she would listen, wouldn't it break the sunny boy's heart?

Despite how Fushimi Roku looked deadpan, he was surely eavesdropping! If she dared to say she'd listen to her grandpa, Fushimi Roku would probably start with a metaphor about a pegged plank leaving a hole, or even demand another stamp…

But if she said she wouldn't listen, how could she educate Sakurako?

She had just talked about respecting elders and that listening to them wouldn't lead to loss, that youth is prone to making mistakes; now if she said she wouldn't listen to her grandpa, wouldn't she be contradicting herself?

Minamoto Tamako had no choice but to kick Fushimi Roku's butt lightly, "Sakurako is asking you, if grandpa opposed our relationship, what would you do?"

Fushimi Roku indeed was eavesdropping but didn't expect Minamoto Tamako to pass the ball to him, wondering with whom she learned this bad habit of Tai Chi-like deflection, "Opposition invalid, we have two veto votes."

Taira Sakurako seized the opportunity, like a victorious general, and with a small proud face, said, "Isn't that disrespecting elders? You don't listen to grandpa, so why should I listen to you?"

Fushimi Roku replied, "Listen or don't; your butt's on you, and what you pull is in your pocket."

Minamoto Tamako kicked him again, criticizing him for being impolite, saying he shouldn't speak like that when meeting her grandpa.

Educating children requires method and manners.

Inspired by Mr. Deer's words, Minamoto Tamako thought of how to respond. She beautified it a little, "It's different; Mr. Deer and I are adults, capable of taking responsibility for our actions. Some matters aren't about right or wrong but about choice. I chose this path, ready to bear its risks."

Fushimi Roku added appropriately, "Did you consider the risk of getting an upset stomach before eating seafood? No? That's the gap between us, an insurmountable gulf."

Taira Sakurako stubbornly said she'd thought it through and wanted to taste seafood even if it caused an upset stomach.

Fushimi Roku asked if she'd eat it again tomorrow, and she fell silent.

"Alright, let's sleep early," Minamoto Tamako thought it was late enough. Her hair had dried completely, so she pulled the pull string for the light, got into bed, and said, "There's a lot to do tomorrow."

The room plunged into darkness; it quieted down immediately.

The sound of the waves outside the window could faintly be heard, endlessly.

Minamoto Tamako urged them to sleep, yet she couldn't fall asleep herself. She lay in bed, tossing and turning, with Taira Sakurako's words echoing in her mind.

'What if grandpa opposes your relationship?'

Right, what if? What if grandpa opposes?

The more Minamoto Tamako thought about it, the more anxious she became. Although it wasn't a situation where she had to meet her lover's parents, her stress was equally high.

Because she wasn't familiar with her grandpa, having only met him a few times, her memories of him were strict and very old-fashioned, making her uncertain.

Perhaps it was because her biological clock hadn't reached sleep time yet, Minamoto Tamako wasn't sleepy at all. She lay in bed for two or three hours, not coming up with any solutions, only making her anxiety worse.

Minamoto Tamako turned to her side; Taira Sakurako's head was tucked under the blanket; she should be asleep. She turned the other way and looked at Fushimi Roku, unable to help but ask softly: