Arriving home without incident, Erina hung her coat while leaving her shoes, side-by-side, in their little space by the door. Walking around looking for Miyuki, Erina poked her head into the living room where Suzuki was reading a book, asking, "Suzuki? Do you know where Mama is? I want to ask her some questions about the party tonight… I heard a lot of families will be coming!"
Putting down her book and running over to hug Erina, Suzuki answered, "Mama's cleaning the kitchen right now, so I can answer your questions~!"
"E-En, that'd be nice~" Erina thanked, surprised by the spontaneous hug, "Let me go tell Mama I'm home though, I don't want to worry her."
Prying an unwilling Suzuki off her, Erina meandered her way to the kitchen, stopping along the way to greet Garret.
"Hi, Mama! I'm back!" Erina exclaimed, running over to hug Miyuki, "I'll talk to you more later but thanks for letting me go out with Yuiko!"
Catching the speeding Erina in her arms, Miyuki chuckled, "Don't worry about it Erina~ I'm glad you had fun~! You can tell me a bit more later~ I still need to finish preparing for the party."
"Got it!" Erina replied, detaching from Miyuki, "I'll go hang out with Suzuki for a while~!"
Running back to the living room where Suzuki was relaxing, Erina dived into a pile of cushions while murmuring, "Hi Suzuki~ I'm back~! How are you? I saw you seemed a bit annoyed earlier."
Climbing into the pile of cushions with Erina, Suzuki reassured, "I'm doing well right now~ and have recovered from my… annoying jaunt to the training grounds with Dad. How do you beat him?! It just doesn't seem possible no matter what I do."
"How are you though, Erina? Did you have fun spending the day with Yuiko in town?" Suzuki asked, relaxing into the pile of cushions, "If it wasn't so easy to fall asleep here I'd read here… sleep is so nice~"
"I'm also doing great!" Erina answered with a beaming smile, "I��m really excited about the party tonight~! Though I don't remember who's coming… is it the usual people?"
Nodding, Suzuki explained, "The people who'll be here today are the Mitsuyas, our good buddies, the Seigis, the family Mom's from, the Kuznetsovs, the famous military family, and the Yatsushiros… the really extroverted family..."
Giggling into a cushion she was burying her face in, Erina teased, "Why are you so resigned? They're not going to bite you!"
"I WISH they bit me," Suzuki groaned while rolling over, "I'm confident in my ability to withstand attacks of the physical variety… not… talk for hours on end… I'll just let Shousuke talk to them~"
Struggling to stifle her laughter watching Suzuki's antics, Erina asked, poking Suzuki's cheek, "Why are you making Shousuke entertain the guests… isn't that our job? Since the party takes place here after all…"
"You raise… compelling points little sis," Suzuki sighed, getting out of the cushion pile, "I should go neaten up my appearance… can't go to a party looking like I just got out of bed after all~ Want to come with me? We can chat while I'm doing my stuff~"
"Yeah~! I wanna come along~" Erina answered, stars beaming from her eyes, "Though… can you help me get out of the cushion pile?"
Watching Erina struggle to get out of the cushion pile, a grin broke on Suzuki's face before being hidden by a cough.
"No problem~" Suzuki laughed while burning the scene into her mind, "Up you go~"
Thanking Suzuki after getting pulled out of the cushion pile, Erina held hands with Suzuki as they made their way upstairs towards Suzuki's room. Catching up with each other as they walked down the fancy, yet not too opulent halls, Suzuki ushered Erina into her room once they arrived.
"You rearranged your room again Suzuki… waooo…" Erina marveled, looking around Suzuki's room, "Why do you rearrange your room so often? It feels like every other day~"
Scratching the back of her head in embarrassment, Suzuki answered, "Uh… well... It's because I like the change of pace, and… like to procrastinate~"
Hugging a plushie she found on Suzuki's bed, Erina complimented, "It's always cool to see how you rearrange your room~ each time it's unique~"
"Thanks, Erina~!" Suzuki exclaimed, sitting down in front of a mirror to comb her hair and do her makeup, "Ah… how nice it is to have a little sis as nice as Erina~"
Bewildered by the off-hand comment made by Suzuki, Erina asked, "Suzuki wait wha-"
"Anyway~" Suzuki continued failing to hide her grin while pretending her previous words were innocuous, "What questions do you have about the party~?"
"Uhm… hmm… What's going to be the schedule of the party? If there even is one," Erina pondered, not bothering to pursue Suzuki's previous words, "Knowing Mama, she'll probably have made a schedule, but I doubt the party will follow it."
Putting some finishing touches on her light layer of makeup, Suzuki explained, "We're going to be eating dinner together, then just… relaxing~! Though everyone should be gone by the time we go to sleep~"
"That's a… surprisingly loose plan," Erina murmured, watching Suzuki hold up a few different dresses in front of herself, considering which one to wear, "especially considering it's Mama… but it seems like a good plan!"
Snorting in amusement, Suzuki revealed, "Nah that's not Mom's full plan… I just told you the parts I thought would probably work out… Mom's plan has an itinerary laid out for every 30 minutes… some parts by the 15!"
"Ohhh… yeah that's probably not going to work out," Erina agreed, turning around to let Suzuki have some privacy while changing, "Mama gets really into the party… I don't even know if she'll remember her party plans… not until after the party that is."
Doing a fancy twirl to appear back in Erina's line of vision, Suzuki asked, "What do you think~? Don't I look spry~ beautiful and graceful~?"
"Yeah! You look great! So much better than your usual messiness!" Erina exclaimed, staring in wonderment, "Now I'm just excited for the party to start~! I can't wait for my friends to arrive!!"
"I feel attacked! How critical of you Erina~" Suzuki retorted in mock anger, wiping a fake tear from her eye, "My own little sister~ calling me messy!"
Pausing to stroke her chin, Suzuki conceded, "You do have a point though… I really don't care about my appearance if there isn't a party of some sort…"
"It's fine~ you're Suzuki no matter what~!" Erina reassured while giggling, before hugging Suzuki and asking, "You wanna come with me and sit by the door? I'm just going to wait for the guests now… as they should be arriving soon if I recall correctly?"
"Yeap! They'll be here soon if they arrive on time~!" Suzuki affirmed, pulling Erina towards the door, "Let's go wait together!"