[Her Uncle and Aunt looked at each other, then, almost snickering. Mami stared at both of them, wondering what the heck they were thinking of.]
...Well, about that, Mami-chan...We were sort of thinking about things, and - Have you talked to Hatsuda Rikako-san yet?
[Her Aunt asked. Mami twitched, remembering when she'd mentioned that particular relative in front of her aunt and uncle by mistake.]
...No, not yet.
[Her Aunt tut-tutted, then.]
- Well, you see, she's in a a pickle too, financially speaking, the poor dear - She really wants to rebuild the clinic she and her husband owned before their son becomes a doctor too, but they don't have the money for that, see?
[Mami groaned inwardly, then. So Rikako-san was going to want a piece of her money, too, probably? Cripes - Were all her relatives only after her money? Who could she ask to be her legal guardian now?]
[And that was when Mami's lawyer came running toward them, panting. Mami stared - She'd never seen her lawyer run like that before, to be honest.]
...Mami-san! If you could come here for a moment, please?
[Mami bit her lip, and then followed him to a small room, Nagisa coming after her worriedly.]
[And about 20 minutes later...Mami was facepalming.]
...So, um, the gist of it is - My uncle and aunt and also Rikako-san has offered to let you be my de facto legal guardian in return for a really big chunk of money. Is this correct, Mitsurugi-san?
[Her lawyer nodded, wiping his brow.]
Well, your uncle and aunt would prefer you buy a house and some lands they own up in the mountains for a inflated sum, while Hatsuda Rikako-san says that she's willing to be your legal guardian on paper but let me do all the things that legal guardians should do. She does want quite a large amount of money too, though...
[Mami nodded, and looked at the papers again. Wait a minute - She knew this place, she thought.]
...It's the place with the onsens and the cottage.
[And then, she smiled - It had been so much fun, up in the mountains with her parents and her friends...]
[And then, she leaned over, and gave Nagisa a hug.]
- I don't want to lose that much money, of course, but it'll be worth it if I could stay with you and live the way we want to, Nagisa-chan.
[And then, Mami made herself grin.]
...Say, have you ever been to an onsen, Nagisa-chan? We'll be owning our very own onsen very soon now, it seems - It'll be a shame if we never went and enjoyed ourselves there, right?
Re: The continuation of Path 2
...Well, about that, Mami-chan...We were sort of thinking about things, and - Have you talked to Hatsuda Rikako-san yet?
[Her Aunt asked. Mami twitched, remembering when she'd mentioned that particular relative in front of her aunt and uncle by mistake.]
...No, not yet.
[Her Aunt tut-tutted, then.]
- Well, you see, she's in a a pickle too, financially speaking, the poor dear - She really wants to rebuild the clinic she and her husband owned before their son becomes a doctor too, but they don't have the money for that, see?
[Mami groaned inwardly, then. So Rikako-san was going to want a piece of her money, too, probably? Cripes - Were all her relatives only after her money? Who could she ask to be her legal guardian now?]
[And that was when Mami's lawyer came running toward them, panting. Mami stared - She'd never seen her lawyer run like that before, to be honest.]
...Mami-san! If you could come here for a moment, please?
[Mami bit her lip, and then followed him to a small room, Nagisa coming after her worriedly.]
[And about 20 minutes later...Mami was facepalming.]
...So, um, the gist of it is - My uncle and aunt and also Rikako-san has offered to let you be my de facto legal guardian in return for a really big chunk of money. Is this correct, Mitsurugi-san?
[Her lawyer nodded, wiping his brow.]
Well, your uncle and aunt would prefer you buy a house and some lands they own up in the mountains for a inflated sum, while Hatsuda Rikako-san says that she's willing to be your legal guardian on paper but let me do all the things that legal guardians should do. She does want quite a large amount of money too, though...
[Mami nodded, and looked at the papers again. Wait a minute - She knew this place, she thought.]
...It's the place with the onsens and the cottage.
[And then, she smiled - It had been so much fun, up in the mountains with her parents and her friends...]
[And then, she leaned over, and gave Nagisa a hug.]
- I don't want to lose that much money, of course, but it'll be worth it if I could stay with you and live the way we want to, Nagisa-chan.
[And then, Mami made herself grin.]
...Say, have you ever been to an onsen, Nagisa-chan? We'll be owning our very own onsen very soon now, it seems - It'll be a shame if we never went and enjoyed ourselves there, right?