Caught eavesdropping

"Do I need to answer? It was me who achieved divine magic. I used it when I fought with Sebath and then proceeded to complete Sakura's research." 

'Research?' This was my first time hearing of it, but I can assume this relates to why she was killed. 

"Amazing, If you are not careful, I'm sure you can imagine who will be after your head. They already suspect it's you, but I doubt they will make a move without knowing for sure it was you." 

"I know and I don't intend to challenge them, I was just fulfilling a promise." 

It occurred to me that Tomoe's life could be in danger, but thankfully everything seemed to be okay for now. 

"Fufu~ don't think you are safe yet, my dear Tomoe~. By all means, I might let it slip that its you if you don't spend time with me." 

"Absoulte witch you are you." 

'This is just blackmail!' My opinion of Ayase suddenly dropped to the floor. At first, it was cute she was flirting and being cheeky, but this is straight up manipulative. 

"Hey, if you are not willing to come visit me, then I have to resort to my more underhanded methods, hmph." 

"As if I could see you if I wanted to. Going to the Highlands right now would be a death wish." 

"So you don't mind me visiting you then~?" 

'Yikes am I going to have a crazy aunt that always comes over now?' 

*Sigh* "You know you did write in the contract that you are not to speak the truth to anyone in the council, right?" 

"Damn it!" It was clear that Ayase's plan crumbled apart as the contract they made was brought up again. It confirmed that there must be some kind of majour consequence to breaking it since Ayase backed off pretty quickly. 

"But I suppose I won't say no to you visiting me. Maybe I might change my mind about you." 

'Ohhh? I still don't approve of Ayase, but the fact that Tomoe is showing interest has got me hooked on how this will turn out.' 

"Careful what you say, there has been a pair of ears listening this whole time~."

'Wait what? Does she know I'm awake? There is no way right? She may be a god, but I haven't moved an inch.' I was still pressed up against the wall listening in, but I have made sure to keep still and not make any sounds. 

"Since when?" There was a bit of panic in Tomoe's voice and it made me worry that I was about to get in trouble. 

"Hmm, probably ever since I started talking about Sakura. Your Ayame has had her head

l pushed up against the wall, listening to everything~." There was a cheeky undertone, like she knew from the very beginning and only now is she revealing it to tease Tomoe. 

"Ahhh! That's creepy!" Hearing such an accurate description of what I was doing, I couldn't help but scream and fall back off my bed, creating a loud thud sound. 

*Slam* 

My door slid wide open and Tomoe stood in the doorway, looking furious. 

"U-umm hey mum?" I prepared myself for a scolding, but for a moment I saw a bit of relief on Tomoe's face when I said Mum. It quickly returned to furious, though, but then Ayase appeared behind her. 

"Ohhh~ so this is the cutie daughter you have, she really does look like Sakura and you back then." I was blown away by the appearance of Ayase. I didn't know what to expect, but she was incredibly beautiful. 

'How can Tomoe say no to that.' It made me almost forgive the blackmail. 

"Shut up, will you? I didn't want to tell Ayame about her mother yet, but here we are." Tomoe threatened to hit Ayase over the head, but she stood there completely unfazed. 

"Still, there is no reason to look so angry. I can tell you are actually extremely nervous." Ayase leant up against Tomoe's arm and squished her cheeks. 

"S-stop it." 

"..." I was utterly speechless, this was probably the first time I have ever seen Tomoe blush and look so defenceless. 

"Whoops, it looks like I just exposed a side you've never shown hehe~." Ayase quickly let go of Tomoe whose eyebrow was constantly twitching like she was about to explode. 

"Ayame, meet Ayase. As you might of heard, this is my ex-girlfriend and current goddess of love." There was an immense amount of strain in Tomoe's voice as she introduced Ayase, who had taken it upon themselves to pose. She also was mouthing some words

[Call me step-mum <3] < p>

Barely making out what she was saying, it clicked in my head and now I had a decision to promote them getting together or leaving as it is. 

"She has the ability to read every emotion of a person, so right now she knows the exact way you are feeling. She is also hypersensitive to anything around her so that's how she could tell you were awake." It was beginning to make more sense as to why Ayase was a lot more pushy. 

What she was seeing compared to how Tomoe felt must of been different, which is crazy to think about. 

'How did she truly feel when Ayase asked her out on the date?' Suddenly I had questions filling my mind, but my attention was quickly brought back to the almost dancing Ayase wanting me to call her step-mum. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Tomoe turned to see what Ayase was doing, but she quickly straightened up to pretend like she was doing nothing. 

'Maybe I should say it for fun. This might be the only time I get to tease Tomoe.' I was still on the fence about how I felt about Ayase, but the more I learned about her, the more it felt like she was just trying to tease Tomoe rather than take advantage of her. 

"S-so umm… Is Ayase going to be my step-mum?" For some reason, Ayase and I are on the same wavelength so in the end, I said it because I was dying to see Tomoe's reaction. 

"Fufu~." 

Tomoe remained silent while Ayase was trying her best to hold back any laughter. 

Soon Tomoe's face slowly turned more red, to the point where I thought I saw steam coming out of her head. Suddenly, Tomoe grabbed Ayase by the shoulders. 

"Oh, getting rough now, are we? Not in front of our child~." Ayase already accepted the role of step-mother, which only served to embarrass Tomoe further. 

*INHALE*

"Please and respectfully go die in a ditch." Once again I questioned how Tomoe was truly feeling, as surely she didn't mean that. 

'Ayase face kind of says it all.' Her face continued to remain neutral, but then it turned into a smirk. 

"Old tricks like that don't work anymore, Tomoe~. I still know how you are truly feeling." 

'Okay, this has gone completely off the rails.' I really wanted to know more about my real mother, but at the same time, I couldn't pass up on this rare moment. I felt like I should care more, but because I have little to no memories of my real mother, it was hard to really feel anything. I didn't have the right words, as I did want to find out the truth, but at the same time, maybe its better if I don't.

'It feels like there is a lot more to it, so it was probably inevitable that I would find out. Plus, it seems like I will need to avoid my dad in the future if he was the one who killed her.' 

"Urghhh p-please just stop, not in front of Ayame. I am meant to be talking about her real mother." Now Tomoe sounded like she was on the verge of tears, another emotion that I thought she wasn't capable of. 

"She practically heard everything about her mother anyway. You can have your proper talk later, but as for now, I want to enjoy this moment." Ayase cupped Tomoe's chin and I instantly thought they were about to kiss. 

Besides that, it was good to know that there wasn't much else about my real mother. I'm sure there is more that Tomoe would like to say, but I wasn't in a rush to find out. I was content with Tomoe being my mother, as she had looked after me my whole life. 

"F-fine, but did you have to grab my face?" Tomoe tried to pull away, but with such a small grip, Ayase kept her still. 

"Yes, because I want your heart to go ba-dum. Is it working?" 

Okay, now this is reaching a level of cringe that I don't know if I can stand. 

"Do I have to even answer? You pretty much know exactly how I am feeling." Tomoe averted her eyes and I couldn't believe it. Was every advance Ayase was making working against Tomoe? 

"Fufu~ true, I just like hearing you say it." 

"You know I am right here right?" I felt like my presence had been forgotten and a reminder was in order. 

"Hmm? Whats wrong with your new step-mum showing your mother some love?" Hearing Ayase declare it so boldly confused me for a moment. Especially since Tomoe didn't try to deny it and was at the very least considering it. 

"Woah, I said it for the joke. Is this for real?" I looked at Tomoe for answers, as she usually is a bit more stone cold, but right now she was an embarrassed mess. It reminded me of when Kasumi confessed to me…

"Maybe… I haven't decided yet." Giving her answer in a low, quiet voice, caused Ayase to raise an eyebrow. 

"This is a dream, right?"