The sky was already dark, well past curfew time. It was simply too dangerous to let a little girl go home alone, so Minamoto Tamako grabbed Mayu's backpack and pulled her back.
Mai poked her head around the other side of the entrance, and seeing Mayu caught, she quickly withdrew her head.
Minamoto Tamako noticed Mai and, pulling Mayu, entered the living room to see pizza boxes, burger wrappers, and some empty Coke bottles strewn all over the coffee table. Taira Sakurako was aiming a fan at the TV, likely trying to cool the screen.
"What did I say before I left?!"
Minamoto Tamako put on a stern face, calling the three elementary students over and making them stand in line for criticism one by one.
Their expressions varied.
Mai, the timidest, hung her head low, uneasily tugging at her clothes, looking as if she was about to cry;
