HIDDEN THOUGHTS. saiki kusuo

S1-17

[CHAPTER 17]

"Welcome home, Ayi!" Yui welcomed her daughter, who had just gotten home from school. As usual, Airin removed her shoes and lazily sat on the couch in the living room.

"Oh, right! You should go pack your things. We're going to London later evening!" Those words caught Airin's attention.

"Huh? I thought we were staying here for good?"

"No, silly. We're just visiting."

She blinked twice while removing the necktie, "Oh, Dad and Grandma." 'I forgot...'

"Yeah. It's her birthday today." Yui noticed Airin's mood, 'Was she stressed by the school?'

"Go take a rest in your room and pack up. I'll call you when dinner's ready." She got no response. Yui took a sigh and returned to the kitchen.

Meanwhile somewhere in London, in a different time zone, but occurring at the same time...

"Good evening, Mr. Maehara. You're going home?" A blonde-haired guy asked the middle-aged man, fixing the files back in order. A lot of people thought they were related, but they're completely not. It was just a coincidence they were blondes. Did I also mention they're both Japanese? Yeah, that.

"Yeah. I'm taking a day off. They're visiting tomorrow."

"Oh, Mrs. Maehara and Airin? I see." He felt Mr. Maehara frown when he mentioned Airin's name, "Oh, sorry. Was calling her by her first name seems rude to you?"

"Not really. Anyway, what're you doing here?"

"Just gonna retrieve some things here. My family's going to visit me tomorrow. There's some... problem they want me to fix." 

"I see." He grabbed his briefcase and fixed the collar of his shirt. "I'll be going now. See you."

"Yes, sir." When Mr. Maehara finally left, he went to his desk to get the tools he needed for tomorrow. He was looking for something until a piece of a transmitter got his attention.

"Huh, this thing might be useful..." He smirked, put the transmitter in his pocket, and left the place.

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜

"We've finally arrived!" Yui sighed in relief when they reached London.

"I get that we're going through an airplane, but why are we in Business Class earlier?" Airin asked, adjusting her glasses while carrying a suitcase. No that wasn't a mistake, she is wearing glasses. 

"Oh, that? Your father was the one who booked the flight. I told him not to bother, but he insisted." She answered, "Let's go! He's waiting at the London Eye."

They went to the London Eye by walking (and a little help with psychic powers lmao), and luckily, he was just easy to find.

"Akihito!!" Airin's mother called. The tall figure looked in their direction and approached them with a smile on his face. Yui ran to hug him for a second and kissed him on the cheek.

'I'm getting tired of these two being lovey-dovey with me being the third wheel...'

"Did you wait too long?" 

"Not really." He looked at his daughter, "What's with that gloomy face? You used to be glad when you saw my face"

"No, not that. The thing is why did you put us in Business Class earlier, that was a waste of money. Actually, the whole airplane thing is a waste of money when I can just tele..." Airin stopped talking when she felt him looking at her seriously.