Night passed, the sun rose, and when the sunlight began filtering through the curtains into the room, the sleeping Ichin slowly opened his eyes.
"What time is it…?"
He reached for his phone on the nightstand and saw that it was just a few minutes before ten.
"Feels like I barely slept at all…"
Turning his head, he saw that Utaha was still sound asleep beside him, not stirred in the least by his movements.
Quietly getting up, Ichin ruffled his slightly messy hair, tucked the blanket back around Utaha, and got out of bed to wash up.
The night before, after playing around for a while, everyone had gone for another soak in the baths. Afterwards, they had gathered again to play cards, and didn't head back to their rooms until past one in the morning.
As for what exactly happened between Toyama Rin and Yagami Kō, Ichin didn't know—and he hadn't had the time to ask. After all, once he and Utaha returned to their room, they had spent quite a bit more time "busy" themselves.
After taking a shower in the bathroom, Ichin returned to find Utaha awake, sitting on the bed still drowsy.
Seeing him walk in, she yawned, stretched, and said, "Ichin, I'm a little hungry."
"Of course you are. We only ate a few snacks last night while playing so long. How could you not be hungry?"
Walking over, Ichin pinched her cheek with a smile. "Go wash up. I'll message everyone to see who's awake. Let's all find a restaurant for lunch together, then head home afterwards."
Utaha nodded, slipped out of bed in her pajamas, grabbed some clothes, and went to the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Ichin boiled some water in the kitchen, sat on the sofa, and sent messages to everyone.
Replies came back quickly.
Most were awake, though only a few had actually gotten out of bed. The rest were still buried under their blankets.
Since it was the weekend, and there was plenty of time left before checkout, Ichin told them it was fine to sleep more—as long as they came out before lunch. So, some stayed wrapped up watching TV or chatting, others just scrolled on their phones.
Of course, there were still a few completely knocked out—like Sakura Nene, Aoba, and Shinoda Hajime. They'd been the wildest at cards last night, and it seemed after everyone else had finished, the three of them went back to their room to keep playing. Who knew until when?
Soon enough, Utaha emerged, washed and changed. They shared some snacks and coffee that the hotel provided, and by then it was about time.
Heading downstairs, they waited in the lobby for a little over ten minutes before everyone slowly gathered.
Ichin's eyes naturally fell on Yagami Kō and Toyama Rin.
Rin had her usual smiling face, but her bright mood was obvious at a glance. Kō, however, flushed uncontrollably the moment she met Ichin's slightly teasing gaze.
Judging by that, the two of them had quite the pleasant evening.
They checked out together, then piled into cars to head to the restaurant for lunch.
The hotel's cuisine had been good, but everyone agreed a change of place and flavor would be better.
After a shared lunch, the group split up to go home.
Ichin and Utaha drove the three Gokou sisters back.
Inside the car, Utaha glanced at the backseat where Gokou Hinata and Gokou Tamaki sat on either side of Gokou Ruri, and smiled.
"Hinata, Tamaki—did you have fun?"
"Yeah!"
The two little girls beamed.
Ruri also had a small smile, but still reminded her sisters:
"If you had fun, then make sure to study properly at home today, alright? Keep your grades up. If you both manage to get into the high schools and universities you're aiming for, I'll take you on a trip myself. Anywhere in the country you want to go."
Ruri's salary had risen, and with her year-end bonus, taking her sisters on a trip after their entrance exams next year wouldn't be a problem at all.
Hearing their sister's promise, the two girls happily nodded again and again.
Soon, they arrived at the Gokou house. Ichin and Utaha greeted the sisters' parents, chatted briefly, then bid the family goodbye before heading home.
At their own place, their two cats weren't the least bothered by their owners being away all day. With plenty of toys and food, and as cats hardly required much fussing over, their quality of life was more than comfortable. Besides, they had each other for company.
Only George seemed a little pitiful—unlike Peppa, who'd been neutered after leaving behind a litter, George had been neutered shortly after being adopted, so he would never sire kittens of his own.
After rubbing the cats' heads, Ichin tossed their used clothes into the washing machine, then settled onto the sofa with his tablet and turned on the TV.
It was Sunday. Tomorrow, classes resumed at school.
But beyond collage-work, there were also plenty of work-related tasks waiting. First and foremost was the GARO game adaptation. After Hazuki had reached out, it was decided that next week they would head to New Northeastern Pictures for a meeting. The other side wasn't against the idea of a game adaptation, and they knew full well the studio's development capabilities. Since the meeting was set, Ichin felt optimistic.
Before then, though, he planned to rewatch GARO from the beginning, review the story, and consider carefully how best to adapt it into a game.
Besides that, he also needed to draft the proposal for Tales of Berseria and work on the main character designs. Unlike most games, this one had a female protagonist—a rarity in the medium. That meant the portrayal had to be handled differently from usual, and Ichin didn't have much experience there. He would need to think it through carefully.
Lastly, there was preparation for Fall Guys' testing. It was May now, and the public network test was scheduled for next month.
The first test would be on NS and Steam, with the second test in August expanding to additional platforms.
Right now, the dev team was focused on optimizing performance for NS. With levels growing more elaborate—large maps, complex mechanisms, plus multiplayer elements—there was inevitable strain. Optimization was critical.
Ichin's requirement was clear: the game needed to run stably at 30 FPS on NS with no drops. Anything higher would be even better.
As for Dark Souls and Titanfall, their development no longer demanded his immediate attention.
After finishing writing up the work plan on his tablet, Ichin rubbed his temples.
"Looks like time is going to be tight again…"
*
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