Shu was excited for the sleepover. After spending most of his childhood years feeling like an outcast, having a friend in Valt and Rose made him feel happy.

On the day of the sleepover, Valt arrived with a basket of his mother's famous bread.

"Doesn't this look delicious? I can't wait to dig in."

"It does look good," said Shu. "I should thank your mother."

Rose arrived later on. She hadn't seen much of Shu lately because Seina wouldn't allow him to see her.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you something," said Shu. "My cousins have come to visit. I want to introduce you to them."

"Cousins?" asked Valt. "How big is your family?"

Just then, two boys came into the living room. One of them was their age while the other one was two years younger.

"Shu!" said the younger boy. "Are those your friends?"

"Yeah," said Shu. "This is Valt Aoi, and that girl is Rosalie Charmille. She goes by Rose."

"Is she your girlfriend?" asked the older boy cheekily.

"What? No, she's just my friend," said Shu. "Rose, Valt, meet my cousins, Akeno and Fubuki Sumiye."

"Yeah. You sound like Adrien Agreste from the Miraculous series," said Akeno.

Shu sighed. "Please ignore Akeno. He's always teasing me."

"That's what older cousins do," said Akeno.

"I don't do that to Fubuki," said Shu. "Besides, you're only a couple of months older than me."

"I'm twelve. You're eleven," said Akeno.

"I'll be twelve in September," said Shu. "And I already have a girlfriend. Her name is Seina."

"Shu, where's Kirika? I want to see her," said Fubuki.

"She's having a nap now," said Shu. "I'll let you play with her when she wakes up."

Later, Shu was teaching Fubuki how to make spaghetti carbonara. Little did he know that Akeno was telling embarrassing stories to Valt and Rose.

"Once when Shu was five, he wanted to be a princess for Halloween. So my aunt bought him a princess Aurora dress and wig. He was so convincing that everyone thought that he was a girl. I still have the photos."

"I would love to see Shu in a dress," said Rose.

"Another time, we played hide-and-seek at my birthday party. None of my friends wanted to talk to Shu as they found him too quiet. Well, Shu was a really good hider, and the seeker couldn't find him. But then he completely disappeared and even though we all looked for him, we couldn't find him."

"How... How did you find him?" asked Valt worriedly.

"My mother went to do the laundry, and she screamed when she found Shu sleeping in the laundry basket. Now that I think about it, he could have died."

"That is scary," said Valt.

Sora went into the living room carrying Kirika. "Look who finally woke up!"

"Fubuki! Kirika is here!" yelled Akeno. Fubuki quickly ran towards Kirika.

"Hi there baby," said Fubuki.

Kirika pouted cutely. "Me no baby. Me big girl."

Sora giggled. "Kirika has been obsessed with growing up."

Shu came in carrying a bowl of pasta. "Oh. Does Kirika want spaghetti too?"

"Yeh!" said Kirika.

"Alright," said Shu. "Though you have to wait. The food is still hot."

Fubuki asked Shu questions about acting. "You were so amazing. I couldn't believe that it was you when I watched your show. Do you get used to it?"

"Well, I felt really awkward at first, but acting can be fun sometimes. It's mostly tiring though. I would arrive home super late sometimes."

"I want to act too," said Fubuki.

"Well, maybe you can audition for the next season," said Shu. "Auditions for Season 3 are happening next Thursday."

"No way," said Fubuki. He looked at his parents. Mom, Dad, can I act? Please?"

"Well..." started Mr Sumiye.

"Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please?"

"Okay, fine. Just please stop with the puppy dog eyes," said Mrs Sumiye.

Shu wanted to laugh. Fubuki was famous for his puppy dog eyes. Honestly, Fubuki was super adorable. Kirika also had the same trait.

After dinner, Shu and his friends had changed into their pyjamas and watched a movie. It wasn't a horror one, but it had werewolves in it. So...

"Boo!" said Akeno.

The three of them screamed and held on to each other. Shu got cross when he recovered from the shock.

"Akeno, why did you do that for?"

"Sorry, it's just funny. You should have seen the looks on your faces."

Shu groaned. "Do you always have to tease? I don't like it."

"Come on, I wanted to play Truth or Dare. Our siblings can join in as well."

"I want to play!" said Valt.

"Me too," said Rose.

Shu sighed. "Fine. But don't you dare embarrass me. I know that you were telling embarrassing stories to my friends earlier."