Eri never thought that Ran Mouri would come to her home today, and Ren Itadori happened to be at her home as well.
However, unlike Eri, Ren didn't look worried at all. He got up and went to the door to open it for Ran.
"Mom, why did you open the door so late today? I..."
Ran Mouri did not finish her sentence because she saw that the person facing her was not her mother, Eri, but Ren from next door.
"Why are you at my mother's house, Ren? Where is my mother?" Ran immediately became wary and asked him directly.
You know, Ren was now a college graduate, and from her appearance, her mother did not look like a person in her thirties at all. Therefore, the current Ran Mouri was much more vigilant than she used to be.
"Sister Eri is having breakfast in the dining room now. Ran, why are you here?" Ren answered Ran's question naturally.
This made Ran a little unhappy. She remembered clearly that when she came here in the past, Ren always called Eri Kisaki "Lawyer Eri." Now that she had not visited for a while, he had changed her title to "Sister Eri."
Then wouldn't she, Ran Mouri, have to call Ren her uncle? She didn't even want to think about it.
"I had something to do yesterday so I didn't come over. What's going on with you two? Why have your forms of address changed?" Ran stared at Ren and asked. If Ren did not give a satisfactory answer, she might take action against him.
"I might work in Sister Eri's office in the future, so there's no problem in changing my title for her. Yesterday, Sister Eri came to my house to pay the rent. She came back to rest after eating. But because she's been so tired recently, she asked me to come over and make breakfast today." Ren was still as calm as before, completely unbothered by what Ran might be trying to find out.
At this time, Eri also came out of the dining room and said to Ran, "Ran, you have been suspicious of him for almost ten years, and it should be over by now. Why did you come here today?"
After hearing what Eri said, Ran was a little embarrassed. After all, she practically had suspected Ren for ten years.
"Yesterday I participated in a karate tournament, and after winning the championship, I went out to celebrate with my dad, so I didn't come over to your place, Mom," Ran immediately answered her mother's question.
In the first three years, Ran Mouri had never visited Eri much, but she knew that Eri rented Ren's house very cheaply. This must have been the information Kogoro Mouri told her.
In the following six years, Ran would always come over on the day Eri paid the rent. The first reason was to accompany Eri, and the second reason was definitely to investigate Ren. After all, Ren at that time was almost the same age as Ran was now.
However, Ran didn't find anything suspicious out of her investigation at all, but was instead conquered by the feasts of the Itadori household. After that, the number of times she and Eri appeared at Ren's house naturally increased.
Ran's words made Eri look a little unhappy, because having to work meant she had missed her daughter's match.
"Ran, this time it's my fault. I will go and support you when you compete in the future," Eri said to Ran.
"Mom, if you came back, wouldn't it be better for our family to live in harmony?" Ran still held onto the idea of getting her mother, Eri Kisaki, to go home and get back together with Kogoro Mouri.
"Ran, think about your father's abilities. If I hadn't been helping him in private all these years, his business might have gone completely bankrupt long ago."
When it came to Kogoro Mouri, Eri Kisaki immediately changed her attitude, and Ran didn't know how to refute her words, because what Eri said was completely true.
"Ran, have you had breakfast? If not, I'll cook some for you," Ren asked Ran at this time.
"I came here in a hurry today and haven't had breakfast yet. Thank you, Brother Ren." Ran immediately responded to him with a smile.
At the same time, she was very grateful to Ren. If mother and daughter continued to confront each other over this topic, their conversation would probably break down as usual.
Moreover, Ran deliberately addressed Ren as a peer ("Brother"), just to establish a generational gap between him and Eri.
It was a pity that this was not a problem at all for Eri Kisaki or Ren Itadori. At worst, they could just address each other separately based on their own relationships.
Ren went to the kitchen to cook breakfast for Ran, while Eri asked Ran to wait with her in the dining room. Of course, she didn't just sit and wait silently, but asked Ran:
"Was it just you and your dad who celebrated your victory yesterday?"
After hearing this question, Ran certainly knew what her mother was getting at. She felt a little embarrassed, but she still answered honestly, "Originally, I wanted to invite Shinichi to come with me, but my dad said it was too much of a waste, so we went to have dinner alone to celebrate."
After listening to Ran's words, Eri was speechless. How much more money could it possibly cost to add one more person? But Kogoro couldn't even bear that expense, which showed that his finances were truly in trouble.
However, Eri breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Ran hadn't gone to celebrate with Shinichi Kudo. After all, Ran was her biological daughter. Although Shinichi was considered a childhood sweetheart, Eri did not really approve of the two of them ending up together in the future.
Because she hadn't lived with Ran for the past ten years, there were some things that were not easy for her to say. "Your father really hasn't changed a bit. Ran, are you facing any financial difficulties in your own life?" Eri asked.
If Ran was struggling, Eri would definitely help her. As for Kogoro, Eri couldn't be bothered to care.
Ran knew what her mother meant, so she replied, "It's fine, I always have Sonoko by my side to help. Mom, why are you letting Ren work at your office? Doesn't he usually prefer to stay at home?"
Over the past few years, Ran and Eri had visited Ren's home many times and knew exactly what kind of existence he led. Aside from going to school, he spent all day at home, almost as if he thought something outside was trying to kill him.
However, today Ren gave off a completely different feeling—as if he had never been disconnected from society despite his years of staying indoors.
"Now that Ren has graduated, he can't just stay at home forever; he still has to go out and work. But since he's been a homebody for so long, I was a little worried about him going to some unfamiliar place, so I arranged for him to join my office." Of course, this was only one of the reasons behind Eri's arrangement.
"Mom, you are too good to Ren." Ran felt a little sour hearing this. Her own mother hadn't even made such careful plans for her daughter's future yet.
"Ran, your noodles are ready. I just heard you say that Sister Eri was too good to me. Did Sister Eri make another decision for me?" Ren brought out Ran's breakfast, placing it in front of her as he asked.
Although Ran was slightly annoyed with him, she was still extremely satisfied with Ren's cooking skills as she looked at the delicious breakfast in front of her.
"Ran said that I planned out your life, but I think of it as just a suggestion. In the end, it is up to you, Ren, to make your own decision," Eri said to him.
"Yeah, but I will go to Sister Eri's office to have a look. If I can handle it, I'll stay and work there," Ren responded.
At this point, Ran put down her chopsticks and said to Ren, "I call you Brother Ren, so my mother should be your elder." Ren clearly knew how forms of address worked, yet he continued to call her "Sister Eri," which made Ran feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Ran, we can all use our own preferred titles, so you don't have to overthink it," Eri said to her daughter.
Hearing this, Ren smiled and said, "Ran, actually, since I call her Sister Eri, you could technically call me 'Uncle'."
"Don't even think about it," Ran refused directly.
At the same time, she realized it was better to listen to Eri and just handle the forms of address separately. With that settled, she immediately focused on devouring the breakfast in front of her.
Seeing Ran's attitude, Eri and Ren looked at each other and shared a silent, amused smile before continuing to eat. Fortunately, this exchange of glances happened while Ran had her head down eating. If Ran had seen it, she definitely would have made a fuss again.
After finishing breakfast, the three of them remained seated, wanting to let their food digest first.
"Ran, if you came here to ask me to go out and have fun with you today, I'm really sorry. I still have work to do," Eri took the initiative to bring up the topic, though Ran didn't look happy hearing it.
Seeing Ran's disappointed expression, Eri didn't feel guilty but continued, "Don't I know you by now? You probably just wanted to go out with that Shinichi Kudo boy anyway. It's fine to go, but you have to learn to protect yourself, you know?"
Having her true intentions guessed by her mother, Ran's face turned red, but she still defended herself, "Mom, Shinichi and I are just going to Tropical Land to hang out like normal. What are you thinking?"
"I don't know what's going through that Kudo boy's head, but you are my daughter, so of course I understand you. I agree to let you go this time, but Ran, you have to agree to a request of mine. Otherwise, you'll just have to come to the office with me today, and I'll keep you company there," Eri laid down her condition to Ran.