After about ten minutes, Ichin finished reviewing Shinoda Hajime's work and nodded in satisfaction.
This new Soul of Cinder was far more complex than the one in Ichin's memory. He had designed three full combat phases, packed with style and flair — each transition more intense and spectacular than the last.
And Shinoda Hajime had perfectly executed everything he'd asked for.
Handing the seat back to her, Ichin said, "Very nice. Every move matches exactly what I envisioned. Considering how well you finished this, I'll overlook that little 'break' you were taking earlier. Keep up the good work."
Shinoda's expression fell a little, but she still nodded. "Got it~~~"
The rest of the programming team, who had watched the whole thing, were all holding back laughter, heads down to avoid being noticed.
They had warned her earlier to be careful — the boss might drop by. Ichin was easygoing most of the time, but everyone knew he didn't tolerate slacking during work hours. And it was well past afternoon break time already.
But Shinoda, as usual, hadn't cared about their warnings… and sure enough, barely two minutes later, Ichin had appeared.
As soon as he left, Shinoda turned to the now-silent group.
"Okay, which one of you snitched?"
"No, no, no!"
"Absolutely not!"
"We'd never betray you, boss!"
…Why were there bootlickers in every department?
Still, to be fair, with Shinoda's straightforward personality and tall, curvy figure, she was quite popular among the male employees. A few even secretly liked her.
Unfortunately for them, she'd already made her stance clear during a previous company dinner—she wasn't interested in dating anyone. That declaration had shattered quite a few hopes.
After getting "ganked" by Ichin, Shinoda dropped the idea of browsing GPU listings and went back to work, picking up the next task at hand.
---
By 6:30 p.m., Ichin and Utaha returned home.
When they arrived, Yukino and Haruno were already there, busy preparing dinner.
Seeing Haruno standing in the kitchen as well, Ichin blinked in surprise. "Haruno, what are you doing in the kitchen? Aren't you just getting in Yukino's way?"
"What's that supposed to mean? I can help chop vegetables, you know!"
She protested while proudly lifting her kitchen knife to show off.
"I might not be great at cooking, but my knife skills aren't bad at all!"
…Seriously?
Ichin glanced at the cutting board in front of her — the slices of meat were actually perfectly even, not a single one thicker or thinner than the rest.
That earned Haruno a look of genuine surprise from him.
Noticing it, Haruno straightened her back triumphantly, puffing out her chest.
"Hmph, impressive, right?"
Of course, this was something she had only recently practiced.
Back then, her chopping skills had been… disastrous.
But naturally, she wasn't about to tell Ichin that—because that would ruin the moment.
Sure enough, Ichin nodded sincerely.
"Yeah… that's actually pretty impressive."
However, before Haruno could bask in her own pride for long, Ichin immediately followed up with—
"But that's about all you can do. Since you're only good at chopping vegetables, you can go relax in the living room. The rest of the cooking can be handled by Yukino and Utaha."
Before Haruno could even react, Ichin took the knife from her hands, handed it to Yukino, and gently but firmly pulled her out of the kitchen.
"Eh? Hey—wait, wait, wait a second!"
As Haruno was being ushered out, Utaha leaned closer to Yukino and whispered, "Haruno-senpai didn't cause you any trouble, did she?"
Yukino shook her head with a small smile.
"Not at all. She actually practiced her knife skills when I wasn't around. I was surprised when she started cutting the meat—it was really neat. But just like my brother said, once the meat was done, there wasn't much else for her to do."
"I see. All right then, Yukino, just hold on a minute—I'll finish up here and come help you."
---
After dinner, Ichin sat on the sofa, sipping a cup of tea with a satisfied smile.
"Yeah, I'm definitely feeling better now. Food actually tastes good again. The night before last, I couldn't taste anything—it was miserable. Yesterday was a bit better, but still dull."
Haruno nodded in agreement beside him. "Right? That's the worst part about having a cold—everything tastes like nothing. But since you're mostly recovered now, how about we go check out that office building in the next couple of days?"
"Sure," Ichin replied readily. "It'd be best to settle that before the year ends."
He wasn't worried about the finances. Titanfall had met its sales expectations, and Fall Guys continued to generate steady revenue—bringing in a fresh wave of funds.
Even after setting aside two months' worth of payroll, he still had more than enough to secure a new office property.
Despite still driving the same car he bought two years ago and living in the same apartment he'd moved into back in high school, Ichin was, in truth, very wealthy.
His accumulated assets had long surpassed those of people his age—and even outstripped many established business professionals several years older than him.
Even if the new office required a significant investment, there was always Haruno and Yukino—the sisters were both shareholders. He could easily borrow a bit from them, or transfer a small portion of shares to them or the Yukinoshita family in exchange for liquidity.
Given his relationship with the Yukinoshita family now, there was nothing to worry about on that front.
If this new building turned out as good as Haruno claimed, it could serve as the company's headquarters in Japan for the next five to ten years.
---
After chatting and drinking tea at Ichin's place until eight o'clock, the Yukinoshita sisters finally took their leave.
On their way downstairs, Yukino turned to her sister and said, "Sis, I've been thinking about something."
"Hm?" Haruno looked at her curiously. "What is it?"
"Your apartment—it's two bedrooms, right? Would you mind if I moved in?"
"Move in?"
Haruno's eyes lit up instantly. She grabbed Yukino's hands with delight.
"Of course you can! That spare room was always meant for you! You can move in anytime! But wait—what's brought this on? You usually don't even like me dropping by your apartment."
Yukino gave her sister a sidelong glance and replied, "Because you're too lazy, that's why. You made Ichin cook your lunch for two months under the pretense of 'helping find an office,' when you could've just agreed to a deal straight away. So I figured, fine—if I move in, at least you'll have breakfast in the morning and won't ruin your health skipping it all the time."
"Uuugh! Yukino, you're the best! Come here, let your sister hug you!"
But before Haruno could lift her arms, Yukino sidestepped neatly and walked straight toward the elevator.
"Then it's decided—I'll move in this weekend."
As the elevator doors closed, Haruno lowered her arms, thoughtful for a moment, then shook her head with a small smile and headed back into her apartment.
---
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