Yukino's cooking had improved by leaps and bounds—thanks to both her experience living alone after high school and the guidance of Ichin's mother.
Her dishes were still on the lighter side, but the taste was excellent.
After eating their fill, the four of them brewed tea and sat together in the living room to relax and chat.
The cats, having had their dinner too, were all curled up together, eyes half-closed in lazy contentment, unwilling to move.
Taking a sip of hot tea, Ichin said,
"Yukino, your cooking's gotten even better. I think you've already surpassed me."
"Of course she has."
Haruno grinned.
"Godmother's passed on everything she knows to Yukino—not just to you and Utaha."
"That's true."
Looking at Yukino, Ichin suddenly remembered what he had discussed with Utaha before leaving work, and added,
"Yukino, are you free Thursday afternoon? I'll be tied up with work and probably won't make it back for dinner, so can you keep Utaha company?"
Yukino, who had just been about to scoop up one of the cats, looked at him and nodded.
"Work, huh? Got it. I don't have many classes Thursday afternoon—I can go with Utaha-senpai."
Utaha smiled, surprised that Ichin brought it up before she could.
"In that case, Thursday afternoon we'll go shopping, then find a nice place to eat dinner. And we won't bring Ichin."
Haruno perked up, looking interested.
"I'll be stuck at work so I can't shop, but count me in for dinner!"
And so, the three women launched into plans for Thursday's outing, paying no mind at all to Ichin sitting right there.
Not that he minded—he'd be busy anyway—so he let them chat about restaurants and shopping as much as they liked.
Around eight in the evening, Ichin and Utaha left Yukino's place and drove home.
After letting the cats out of their carriers, Utaha glanced at him.
"Ichin, I'll go take a bath first, okay?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
Ichin opened the laptop on the coffee table.
"I'll work on a few things in the meantime."
He intended to use the time at home to push forward with some game project plans.
After a good night's rest, he and Utaha got up at eight sharp the next morning.
They didn't have first-period classes today, so they could head to school a little later.
Once they'd washed up, had breakfast, and played with the two cats a bit, it was time to leave.
But as soon as they stepped outside, they noticed that the apartment next door was in the middle of a move.
The neighbors had been a family of three. They hadn't interacted much, but whenever they did, the relationship was friendly.
After a morning greeting, Ichin asked what was happening.
It turned out the father had received a promotion, requiring him to transfer to the company's Kyoto headquarters. So they were moving out these few days, and the apartment itself was being put up for sale.
Ichin and Utaha watched as the family loaded their belongings onto the moving company's truck, then drove off in their own car.
Smiling, Utaha said softly,
"What a nice family atmosphere."
"Yeah, it really is."
Ichin nodded, then glanced at her with a teasing smile.
"What's this—are you feeling a little envious?"
Utaha clasped her hands behind her back and shook her head.
"Not really. It's not like our relationship is any weaker than that family of three."
"I'll agree with that."
Ichin crossed his arms, thought for a moment, and analyzed,
"Hmm… could it be about marriage? Or children? But I'm not at that stage yet—we'll have to wait a while."
"There is a little of that."
Hugging Ichin's arm, Utaha smiled.
"Even though I like kids, I'm not in a rush. I still want to enjoy more time with just you first."
"And if my mom starts pushing us?"
Hearing that, Utaha frowned slightly, looking troubled.
"In that case… maybe we'd just have to hurry up and have kids."
"If you don't want to in the short term, you can just tell her directly. She won't force you."
"I know. I don't dislike the idea—I just think it should happen naturally."
She looked at Ichin, her eyes narrowing in a smile.
"Honestly, I'm kind of looking forward to our child. She'd definitely be beautiful, don't you think?"
"You're already assuming it'll be a daughter?"
"That's called intuition."
Ichin chuckled, twirling his keyring.
"Alright then, intuition it is. Anyway, we should get going."
That morning their classes were fully scheduled, so by the time they finished, there wasn't much time left to head to the company.
When the last class ended in the afternoon, Ichin packed up, picked up Utaha from her class, and the two went home together.
As soon as they got upstairs, they saw two real estate agents inspecting the apartment next door.
When Ichin unlocked their own door, he could still hear their conversation faintly.
"We need to check this carefully, no cutting corners."
"Don't worry, I'm not about to miss out on a bonus."
After closing the door, Ichin said in surprise,
"Didn't expect that. Just one day, and the place next door is already sold."
Utaha nodded in agreement.
"That really was fast. Remember, before you moved in here, this place had been empty for nearly half a year. And yet the unit next door found a buyer so quickly. I wonder what kind of new neighbor we'll get."
"Who knows? We'll find out soon enough. Anyway, I'll start dinner—you go ahead and rest."
Sure enough, by Wednesday, as the two were heading out, people had already arrived to begin renovations on the apartment next door. They'd brought plenty of materials, even new flooring. Clearly they planned a full remodel, rather than keeping the old owner's style.
By Thursday, Ichin had finished his morning class and headed straight to the company to prepare for the afternoon meeting with Tōhoku Shinsha. Utaha, meanwhile, stayed at campus since she still had classes.
At lunch, Utaha naturally ate with Yukino.
The two went together to the cafeteria. With plenty of students sneaking glances at them, they each ordered food, found an empty table, and sat down to eat.
Utaha had ramen. After sipping a little of the broth, she looked at Yukino's face and said,
"Do you have a lot of coursework lately? Even with makeup, I can still see a bit of dark circles."
Yukino didn't deny it and nodded.
"Mm. These past few days, with classes picking up, there's a lot more to memorize. Some of it is pretty difficult."
Utaha recalled something.
"When Nene was still in college, she said the same thing. Not only did she have to memorize the material, she had to organize it all clearly in her mind, and go through tons of case studies so she could tell them apart when similar ones came up. I got curious and looked at their law textbooks once—no wonder, it was ridiculously complicated. So Yukino, it's good to take things seriously, but don't push yourself too hard."
"Mm, I won't."
Taking a bite of rice, Yukino said, "But this way, it's more of a challenge."
*
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