The TV played in the background, but Ichin's attention was fixed on his tablet, where GARO was streaming.
A moment later, Utaha came out of the room, now changed into a loose set of loungewear for home.
She sat down beside him, glanced at his tablet, and asked:
"Ichin, what should we do about dinner?"
"Dinner, huh?"
Ichin swiped at his tablet to check the time.
"It's already two in the afternoon. Do you have anything in particular you want tonight? I'll run to the supermarket later."
"Nothing in particular." Resting against his shoulder, Utaha said, "We've had so much good food these past two days—especially meat. I need to slow down a little. I was planning to start working out with the fitness ring."
"I see. Then let's keep it simple. How about pasta? I'll go buy some, along with mushrooms and pork, and make pasta with mushroom meat sauce."
"Pasta sounds good."
"Alright, it's settled. I'll head out and buy the stuff later."
Since he only needed to prepare pasta, Ichin didn't have to rush to the supermarket. He could watch a few more episodes of GARO before going.
He continued watching while Utaha pulled out her laptop and started typing away.
By half past three, Ichin finally set down the tablet, told Utaha he'd head out, grabbed his wallet and car keys, and left.
Pasta was easy enough to find anywhere, but when it came to pork and mushrooms for the sauce, he wanted to pick high-quality ingredients.
As soon as he got downstairs, he saw Rin heading out as well.
He quickened his pace to catch up.
"Rin, you're heading out too?"
Hearing his voice, Rin smiled.
"Yeah, I'm going to buy ingredients for dinner. We're out of food at home. Ichin-kun, do you want to come eat with us tonight?"
"No need."
Ichin shook his head.
"Any other day, maybe. But tonight, better to leave the time for you and Kou's little world. By the way, how did things go last night?"
At that, Rin's cheeks flushed red as they walked toward the parking lot. She whispered:
"Kou was pretty startled, but in the end… it turned out well."
"That's good to hear."
Ichin didn't press for details. His relationship with them was close, and he genuinely hoped their bond would only grow stronger.
Since they were heading to different places, they each got into their own cars and drove off.
---
On Monday, after class, Ichin went straight to the Fall Guys dev team at the company.
Walking over to the programmers, he asked:
"How's the NS optimization coming along?"
"Boss," one of them answered immediately, "we're making steady progress. Most maps already run at a stable 30 FPS on NS, but the larger ones still need work. Don't worry, we'll have it finished before the June test."
Ichin nodded.
"Good. No need to rush, there's plenty of time. Keep it steady."
He patted the man's shoulder, then moved on to Hazuki's desk.
Glancing at her screen, he asked:
"Hazuki, still working on new levels? Don't we already have quite a lot?"
"There are," Hazuki said, pushing up her glasses. "But the June test lasts ten days. We'll need plenty of levels to keep players engaged throughout. Otherwise, we won't get enough useful data."
Ichin picked up a nearby tablet and skimmed through the list of completed stages. Satisfied, he said:
"At this pace, we're fine. There are still plenty of designs we haven't built yet anyway. Oh right—how many skins for the beans are finished?"
Hazuki handed him a stack of sketches.
"Besides the two starter sets, we've designed fifteen additional outfits. The ones with checkmarks are done. Five will be added for the second test, and the rest will wait until the official release."
Flipping through them, Ichin saw all kinds of designs. They would definitely make the game's visuals livelier.
"Good. Keep pushing forward, Hazuki, but remember—optimization comes first."
After that reminder, he asked another question.
"When are we heading to New Northeastern Pictures?"
Hazuki tapped her fingers lightly on the desk.
"I'll call again later, but most likely Thursday. Once it's confirmed, I'll let you know. That timing work for you?"
Ichin flashed an OK sign.
"Of course. Getting leave from collage is no problem."
His grades had stayed at his high school standard—last term's finals had earned him first place in the department. Professors valued his ability highly, and when it came to requesting time off for work, approval was easy.
Before the workday ended, the plan with New Northeastern Pictures was confirmed—Thursday afternoon.
"Thursday it is. Just don't forget to file for leave on Wednesday."
After reading Hazuki's message, Ichin glanced over at Utaha, who was busy typing in the office.
"Utaha, want to come with me to New Northeastern Pictures on Thursday?"
"Where's their company?"
"They've got several branches, but the headquarters is in Tokyo, Minato Ward."
"Oh, so it's nearby."
Utaha mused, then shook her head.
"Still, I'm not that interested. You and Hazuki-nee go. After class, I'll probably hang out with Yukino. If you finish before dinner, come join us."
"We'll see."
Ichin rubbed his chin.
"If the meeting goes well, they might invite us to dinner. Let's decide Thursday."
With the schedule set, Ichin used the last bit of the day to wrap up his tasks, then got ready to leave with Utaha.
But just as he stepped out of the office, Hajime Shinoda blocked his way.
The expectant look in her eyes made it clear what she was after.
Ichin flicked her forehead with his finger.
"Not this time. We haven't even confirmed the partnership yet. Once the deal is done and we start discussing the game details, you'll definitely come along."
"…Fine."
Hajime sighed, but didn't push. She knew negotiation wasn't her strong suit and didn't want to cause trouble for Ichin and Hazuki.
*