Ichin picked up a steaming piece of fried chicken and popped it into his mouth. The crispy coating and the juicy leg meat made him narrow his eyes in pure satisfaction.
"Eating something after working overtime… that really hits the spot."
After swallowing, he looked at Yukino and Utaha.
"You two eat some too. I can't finish a whole box by myself. Oh right—what about Haruno-nee? She's at home?"
Yukino speared a piece of chicken with her fork and took a bite before replying,
"Big Sis seemed really tired from work today. She originally wanted to come along, but I didn't agree. I left her a portion of the fried chicken and told her to rest at home instead."
"I see… yeah, Haruno-nee's been really busy lately."
Ichin nodded. He knew very well how packed Haruno's schedule was these days—on top of her company projects, she was still making time to supervise the interior work on his new office building.
It was already mid-February, and the renovation was nearing completion. Since the new building could be considered partly their own family's project, Haruno naturally took it seriously.
Ichin thought for a moment—maybe he should cook her a big dinner this weekend as thanks.
Alright, that settles it.
As he ate, Ichin asked Utaha about her screenwriting negotiations earlier that day.
He'd been busy all afternoon, so Utaha hadn't called to disturb him, and only now did he have a moment to ask.
Utaha smiled and said,
"The meeting went pretty well. In a couple of days, I'll meet again with the drama's director and investors to discuss the writing schedule and what elements they want included."
Ichin nodded. "Do you need me to come with you?"
"No need," Utaha replied. "You focus on your work, Ichin. Sonoko and the editor-in-chief from the publishing house will be there, and Aunt Sayuri will come too. This offer came partly through her connections anyway, so with her around, I don't have to worry about getting taken advantage of."
Hearing that, Ichin finally relaxed.
The TV screenwriting job was a great opportunity, but he still didn't want Utaha overworking herself. Some production teams and investors gave writers little to no time for creative work—then blamed them when the show turned out bad. Ichin absolutely didn't want that happening to her.
Right now, Utaha was Fujikawa Fantastic Bunko's golden author—one series finished, another still serializing, with both adaptations and merchandise earning the publisher tons of profit. There was no way they'd let anyone push her around. Not to mention, she also had Sayuri Sawamura backing her.
Still, if Utaha took on the drama's script, then Tales of Berseria's script—
Ichin shook his head and kept that thought to himself. At worst, he'd just handle it himself. Utaha should focus on what she wanted to do.
Seeing him shake his head like that, Utaha gave Yukino a puzzled look.
Yukino also tilted her head slightly, signaling that she had no idea either.
After finishing their food, it was finally time to call it a day.
Ichin arranged for the girls who lived far away to share cabs home and expense it through the company. Then, he, Utaha, and Yukino headed home together by car.
When they arrived and went upstairs, Ichin discovered that when Yukino had said Haruno was "watching the house"… she meant his house.
Sitting comfortably on the sofa with a can of cola in hand, straw between her lips, Haruno took a sip and greeted them cheerfully,
"Welcome back!"
Ichin changed into his slippers and looked at her helplessly.
"Haruno-nee, if you're tired, why didn't you just rest early instead of hanging around here?"
Haruno laughed.
"I just ate the fried chicken—if I sleep this early, I'll definitely gain weight. So I thought I'd wait for you all to come home first. So, Ichin, finished your work?"
"Yeah," Ichin nodded, sitting beside her and scooping up Peppa the cat.
"We found a nasty bug this afternoon—high trigger rate, caused major performance drops. Tracking and fixing it took quite a while. A rare overtime day."
Haruno leaned back, and Ichin added, "We're in the final stage now—can't afford to slack off."
She was also eagerly looking forward to Dark Souls' release. Out of the previous games—Persona, Titanfall, Fall Guys—she'd liked Fall Guys the most for its competitive online fun. But grim, atmospheric titles like The Binding of Isaac and Dark Souls were far more her style—she even had a soft spot for slightly Lovecraftian aesthetics.
And like Yukino, Haruno was a natural-born genius. Her gaming skill was nothing to scoff at—any game she wanted to learn, she picked up quickly. She'd even played Battlefield and CS:GO with Umiko and Nene before, and performed impressively.
Seeing her eager expression, Ichin chuckled.
"Just wait, this one will definitely give you a real challenge. Also, the Shanghai studio's already developing Apex. That game should be right up your alley too—it's basically a battle royale."
Stretching lazily, Haruno wrapped an arm around Yukino, who'd sat beside her.
"You guys really make great games, but I barely have time to play. Honestly, just Dark Souls alone will probably take me a month or two to finish."
"Take your time," Ichin said with a smile. "I don't get much time to play games myself anymore."
He pulled out his phone and skimmed through the latest gaming news.
"Like Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2—it came out last year, and I still haven't finished it. I've just been playing it bit by bit. And the new Pokémon Scarlet and Violet? I probably won't have much time for those either. I haven't even looked at the newly designed Pokémon yet."
Right now, Dark Souls was at a critical stage. After release, Ichin would still be involved in the DLC development, the Garo project, and Tales of Berseria. He'd likely have to handle Berseria's script personally too. His schedule was packed.
Given that, it was no surprise he barely had time for gaming anymore.
Thinking about it made him sigh a little.
This year was going to be full of interesting releases—Pokémon moving closer to open-world design after Arceus… Starfield from Bethesda finally coming out after years of hype…
And Elder Scrolls VI, supposedly launching by year's end—it felt like every major title was piling in at once.
As for GTA VI, they said it was still in development… but who knew if it'd actually make it this year.
After going through the lineup in his mind, Ichin realized—if Dark Souls wanted to compete for TGA's Game of the Year at the end of the year, it would face some serious competition.
---
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