| Izumi | (Masumi-kun might get mad if he finds out I did this without asking…) |
| (There’s no guarantee that it’ll go over well. She might turn me away, and that might be the end.) |
| (But…) |
| (It’ll be all right. If there’s a chance, I’ll make it mine, no matter what…) |
| (I don’t want to regret not having tried.) |
| |
| Izumi | Masumi-kun’s family? |
| Tsumugi | Unless she passed away, Masumi-kun should have a grandmother. |
| Masumi-kun told me about his memories with his grandmother. |
| Apparently, they’ve lived apart for all these years, but she does reside in Japan…. |
| I think her name was Hatsue-san. |
| Izumi | Usui, Hatsue-san…. |
| Tsumugi | She might be able to help us solve this problem. Maybe she could become his guardian… |
| Izumi | (Masumi-kun said it was fine, but…) |
| I’ll try looking for her! |
| Tsumugi | But I don’t know if we can even find her in this short period of time…. |
| And if she’s not his paternal grandmother, her name might not even be Usui…. |
| Izumi | Ah, that’s right…. |
| Tsumugi | ...If we could somehow ask Masumi-kun. |
| Izumi | That might be impossible…. |
| Tsumugi | Hmm…. |
| Izumi | How about we go one-by-one searching for an Usui Hatsue-san? |
| Tsumugi | I guess…. |
| Itaru | Director-san, you’re probably spot-on. |
| Izumi | Eh? |
| Itaru | I searched the Internet to see if I could find anything about Masumi’s dad. |
| Turns out that Masumi’s dad and his company are both pretty famous, so a lot of information popped up. |
| His family information was posted on an anonymous forum. There was even information on Masumi himself—made me feel sick…. |
| Tsumugi | Did you find out about Hatsue-san too? |
| Itaru | Yeah. Turns out Masumi’s dad and Hatsue-san have pretty much cut off relations entirely. But she doesn’t live far from their home. |
| Izumi | Really!? |
| Itaru | The source is what it is, so I don’t know if it’s true. |
| Tsumugi | But it seems like our only option now. When you say “not far from home,” where could that be…. |
| Izumi | Maybe we should look for every single person named Usui...? |
| Itaru | That’s a no-win game even if we use human wave tactics…. |
| Misumi | Huh, what’s wrong~? |
| Izumi | We want to look for Masumi-kun’s grandmother, but we don’t know how to…. |
| Misumi | I have an idea~! |
| Izumi | ? |
| Misumi | Let me use my triangle network~! |
| Izumi | Triangle network…? |
| |
| Izumi | (I didn’t think we’d really find her through the grandmothers Misumi-kun gets along with… the triangle network is incredible…) |
| Taxi Driver | We’re here. |
| Izumi | Ah, yes. Thank you. |
| |
| Izumi | (Perfectly on time.) |
| (...It’s a more modest apartment than I imagined. Completely different from the impression I got of Masumi-kun’s father’s company…) |
| (I wonder what sort of person Masumi-kun’s grandmother is…) |
| (Well, all I can do is dive in headfirst.) |
| *Doorbell rings* |
| ??? | Yes. |
| Izumi | Ah, um, I’m Tachibana—. |
| Hatsue | Yes, yes. All right. Please wait just a moment. |
| *Door opens* |
| Izumi | ——. |
| Hatsue | Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Usui Hatsue. |
