Driving two cars, they quickly arrived at the mall where Utaha and the others had been before.
Inside the pet supplies store, their appointment time was only minutes away, and since there was no one else waiting, they could start immediately.
Among all the cats, the eldest, Mochi, was first to be bathed.
Ever since Yukino brought her home, Mochi had lived without any worries. After Sesame had kittens, Mochi sometimes helped look after them, but most of the time she lazed around the house, snacking and sunbathing, enjoying a good life.
This wasn't her first time being bathed either. When she was carried onto the professional bathing table, Mochi simply looked at Yukino waiting nearby, then glanced at the staff member who was about to bathe her, and calmly sat down.
The staff girl smiled in surprise. "So well-behaved! Most older cats, unless very well-trained, usually squirm around restlessly their first time here."
Yukino smiled. "She has a calm personality. Pretty easy to care for. It's the two little ones that are more troublesome."
The bathing began.
Ichin and the others didn't go in. They sat outside with the remaining cats still in their carriers, chatting casually.
Noticing Ichin scribbling away on his tablet, Haruno nudged Utaha. "In this situation, shouldn't you ban him from the bedroom tonight?"
Hearing that, Ichin immediately looked up. "Eh? Haruno-nee, don't set me up like that."
"I'm not. Utaha said it herself at lunch."
Utaha shrugged. "Relax. I wasn't planning to restrict him right now. As long as he doesn't keep doing this when we're shopping later, it's fine."
"You're going shopping afterward?" Ichin glanced at the carriers. "What about the cats?"
"You'll take them home, of course." Utaha smiled. "We'll start first, and you can meet up with us after dropping them off. It's not far anyway."
Ichin's mouth twitched. "Yeah, not far."
Neither he nor Utaha had thought of leaving the cats at the store. That would mean keeping them in carriers the whole time, which was worse than Ichin driving them back. The round trip wouldn't take too long anyway.
Haruno, sitting on Utaha's other side, narrowed her eyes with anticipation. "Last time you went shopping, Utaha and Yukino picked out clothes for you. I'm very interested in this part. Today, I must experience it too. Ichin, be ready to play dress-up model!"
"Uh… I already have plenty of new clothes."
"That's fine! It's getting hotter—time to pick some summer outfits. You can never have too many!"
Haruno thumped her chest grandly. "Big sis will pay!"
"..."
Ichin gave up resisting. Three against one—no way to win.
One look at Utaha's expectant gaze told him everything: this afternoon, maybe even all evening, he was doomed to endless shopping.
Luckily, it was Saturday, with Sunday still free. At least he could sleep in a bit… no, wait, he'd already planned his workout schedule. He'd have to get up early after all.
When Yukino came out carrying freshly bathed Mochi, she saw Ichin slumped in a chair looking lifeless.
Puzzled, she glanced at Haruno and Utaha. "What happened to him?"
After Haruno explained the shopping plans, even Yukino showed a faintly tempted expression, which made Ichin's heart sink further.
One by one, the cats were taken in, bathed, dried, their fur trimmed neatly, nails clipped, even paw fur groomed—each coming out fresh and renewed.
Though it took time, the quality of service was impressive. Their coats looked smooth and silky—completely different from before.
Once all the cats were tucked back into their carriers and the bill was paid, the four of them left the mall and loaded the carriers into Ichin's car.
Opening the door, Ichin looked at the three women. "Alright, you go shop first. I'll drop the cats off and come back."
Haruno waved happily. "All yours then~ Utaha, Yukino, let's go! Shopping time!"
And with that, she pulled the two along into the mall.
Ichin scratched his head, exhaled with a wry smile, and slid into the car.
---
After being "tortured" most of Saturday, Ichin finally enjoyed a proper rest on Sunday.
Compared to being dragged through endless outfit changes by Utaha, Haruno, and Yukino, collage and work truly felt relaxing.
He didn't hate shopping per se—just not when he was the one being dressed up, especially with three people picking for him. That was real suffering.
After class, he went to the company with Utaha. She watched him head straight into the Dark Souls programming group, fully absorbed in work.
Aoba noticed and asked Yagami Kou curiously, "Have we run into any development problems lately? Why does Ichin-kun look so urgent?"
Kou, who knew what had happened Saturday, chuckled and shook her head. "Relax. It's not a work problem. Just a 'happy kind of trouble.'"
"Huh?"
Aoba tilted her head in confusion and turned to Momiji beside her. "What does that mean?"
Momiji was equally baffled. After thinking hard, she said, "No idea. Maybe he really does have sudden work issues."
Her mind was simple—aside from drawing and food, she didn't care for other puzzles.
Utaha, of course, had no intention of explaining. After chatting a bit with Toyama Rin, she went over to the Fall Guys team to check their progress before public testing. She was genuinely interested in the game and definitely planned to play it when testing opened.
As for the Dark Souls team, Ichin had hurried there partly because of a real technical issue.
"The boss is acting up?"
He frowned at the code for Pontiff Sulyvahn on the screen.
"Looks like we'll have to comb through everything. On the surface it seems fine, but something else must be interfering. Don't worry, Narumi, leave this to me. You go handle other tasks—we've still got plenty."
Reassuring the troubled Narumi Tsubame, Ichin sat down and began tackling the issue himself.
*
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