With the arrival of the new year, Ichin had already gotten used to spending the first couple of days accompanying Utaha and her parents to visit their relatives.
On the evening of January 3rd, after a family dinner out, Ichin drove Utaha and her parents home.
Utaha's father had drunk quite a bit, so after returning, her mother helped him back to their room to rest. Ichin and Utaha then returned to their own place.
He poured two glasses of water, turned on the TV, and the two of them sat together on the sofa, each holding a cat in their arms.
As for Haruno and Yukino, they had naturally returned home to Chiba for the holidays—the Yukinoshita family tended to have far more New Year's visits to make.
Taking a sip of tea, Ichin said,
"It's the third today, and the gathering's scheduled for the sixth. So we've got two free days before that. Utaha, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
"Somewhere to go?"
Utaha thought for a bit, then shook her head. "Nah, we've been out so much already these past few days. Let's just stay home. We've been to all the usual spots anyway—movies, shopping, everything. And during New Year's, it's so crowded outside. Let's skip the chaos."
Clinging lazily to Ichin's arm, she smiled softly.
"Going out is nice, but I still prefer staying home with you, Ichin."
"I see. Then we'll stay in and rest."
And so, for the next two days, aside from occasional grocery runs, they spent all their time at home—playing with the cats, watching TV, gaming a little, and putting work aside for once.
Every night after dinner, Ichin would check on the sales numbers for their games.
With the new year's arrival, all major titles had kicked off discount events. Among their catalog, Slay the Spire and Hollow Knight saw the biggest price drops, followed by BattleBlock Theater and The Binding of Isaac.
Their biggest title, Persona, was on a 30% discount, and Fall Guys had 20% off.
The newest release, Titanfall, wasn't discounted at all.
Meanwhile, Dark Souls's pre-orders had climbed slightly during the New Year sale period—still decent, though far behind the discounted titles, naturally. After all, its release was still three months away, and no media reviews had been published yet.
Just as Ichin was reviewing the sales data, the bedroom door opened behind him.
Utaha, freshly out of the bath and wearing her pajamas, stepped into the room.
Her long hair, still slightly damp from the dryer, carried a faint, sweet fragrance that reached him as soon as she got close.
As Ichin turned around, she wrapped her arms around him from behind, plunging his vision into darkness.
"It's a new shower gel—rose scent. What do you think?"
Ichin chuckled, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply before replying,
"Smells great. You should keep using it—I like this one better than your old one."
Seeing him nuzzle her lightly, Utaha couldn't help but laugh.
She patted his head, then sat down on his lap, letting him hold her as she looked at the computer screen.
"So, how are the game sales doing these days?"
"Pretty well," Ichin said. "The discounts helped a lot. Slay the Spire and Hollow Knight hit their lowest Steam prices ever. The Switch discounts weren't as steep, but sales still climbed noticeably. And games like Isaac and BattleBlock—the ones that fit the Switch well—got a nice bump too."
The company's development strategy was now clearly defined: big single-player projects, online multiplayer titles for long-term support, and smaller, high-quality indie projects.
Once the upcoming release schedule was properly arranged—staggered to avoid overlap—they could keep steady momentum each year with a few new titles always in rotation.
Holding the soft, warm Utaha in his arms, Ichin thought aloud,
"For the next few years, I'd say we'll maintain the long-term online titles, release one large single-player game every two years—or two in three years—and small-scale ones like BattleBlock and Isaac at a rate of one or two a year."
He intended to try nearly every genre except sports—and was already doing so.
Leaning back against his chest, Utaha smiled. "With that pace, other developers are probably going to lose their minds."
"Of course, that's just the ideal pace," Ichin laughed. "We'll adjust according to reality."
He gave her a quick kiss on her smooth cheek, then got up to go shower.
But before he left, Utaha said,
"By the way, Ichin, Haruno and Yukino will be back tomorrow afternoon. Since they left early, we didn't get to celebrate Yukino's birthday at all. Should we make it up to her tomorrow?"
"Oh, right—her birthday. I totally forgot."
Ichin smacked his forehead and looked at her. "You already have something planned?"
"I sure do!" Utaha grinned proudly. "I ordered a limited-edition Mr. Pan body pillow. It'll arrive tomorrow. I checked—Yukino doesn't own that one, and it's super rare."
"Wait—why are you only telling me now?"
Ichin sighed in exasperation. "You're really making it hard for me. How am I supposed to prepare something in just one night?"
Yukino's favorite things, aside from cats, included "Mr. Pan," a niche panda character with a perpetually grumpy face. No one quite understood her taste, but she adored it.
Now that Utaha had already bought a Mr. Pan item, it'd be awkward for him to get something similar.
"Ugh… what do I do?"
He sat cross-legged on the carpet, thinking hard, the idea of showering now completely forgotten.
Utaha watched him struggle, smiling, then sat down beside him.
"How about baking a birthday cake? Tomorrow's the party anyway—let's surprise her with a mini birthday celebration too. Her birthday's on January 3rd, and we didn't get to celebrate it properly. A cake would make up for that."
"That's a good idea," Ichin nodded. "We've got all the ingredients at home. Should we let Kō and the others know?"
"No need. We don't all have to bring gifts—just us is enough. The others can play along for atmosphere. But we should tell Aoba and the rest to come a bit early to help with setup."
"Okay, sounds good."
With the plan set for tomorrow, Ichin finally stood up and headed for his long-delayed shower.
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