"I didn't give you too much. This 10,000 yen is your allowance," Ichigo said, waving his hand and not taking the banknotes. "That's precisely why I asked you to open it now; otherwise, you might feel uneasy opening it after you go back."
"I can't take it… You have already taken such good care of me, how can I still accept your allowance?" Ai refused.
"I am your guardian now, so naturally I need to take care of you. But these past few days, I've been negligent and forgotten to look after you. This 10,000 yen is also a token of my guilt, a debt of gratitude. Please accept it; don't refuse. Because I truly don't have time to spend with you, this 10,000 yen can't really buy much. Even a decent outfit costs more than this," Ichigo persuaded Ai to accept it.
"If you don't accept it, I'll have to make another trip to buy you a gift. Just let me be lazy for a bit."
"Ai, just accept it. If you feel uneasy, then make sure the group members get along. That way, uncle can save a lot of energy to do other things," Hiko also advised. "If you don't accept it, he will have to put thought into choosing a gift for you."
"Since both the President and Hiko-kun said so, then I'll accept it. Thank you, President." Ai originally wanted to decline, but Hiko-kun's persuasion left her with no choice but to accept.
She worried that if she didn't accept the President's gift, it would really be as they said, and Ichigo would personally go pick out a gift. The cost would definitely be more than 10,000 yen.
"Alright, if there's nothing else, you two go do what you need to do…" Ichigo pulled out some unprocessed documents from his desk and started reading them.
Ai looked at Hiko-kun.
Hiko-kun noticed Ai's gaze and felt that she had something to say to him, so he had no choice but to leave the office first and wait for her outside.
Ai folded the received items and put them into the pocket of her skirt. After bowing slightly to Ichigo, she left.
"Is there anything on your mind?" Hiko asked when he saw Ai come out.
"Hiko-kun, thank you." Ai originally wanted to ask Hiko-kun some things, but when she spoke, she forgot them again.
"No need to thank me. This is something you advocated for yourself," Hiko pushed all the credit for the persuasion onto Ai, wanting her to become more confident.
"Never mind, I'll go back and tell Watanabe and Niino about this," Ai didn't dwell on the matter and walked towards the dance studio.
"Since you still have to practice, I'll head back first." Hiko watched the spot where Ai walked away, then he also lifted his leg, preparing to leave the company and go home first.
"Bye-bye, see you tomorrow." Ai waved goodbye to Hiko.
"Remember to bring your assets tomorrow," Hiko said instead.
"Bring money? What for?" Ai asked curiously.
"Of course you need money to go out and have fun," Hiko couldn't help but look worriedly at Ai, who was speaking so vaguely.
She wouldn't be late tomorrow or forget tomorrow's appointment, would she?
If she couldn't remember, a phone call would do… No? Ai didn't have a phone yet.
If all else failed, he would call Miyako and ask her to help call out to her.
"You're not thinking of something rude, are you? Like thinking I'm unreliable and will forget about tomorrow?" Ai saw Hiko's worried expression and puffed out her cheeks indignantly. "I definitely won't forget!"
"Haha… Not at all." Hiko, whose thoughts had been guessed, laughed awkwardly to gloss over it.
"Really, don't underestimate me!" Ai saw Hiko's reaction, knew she had guessed correctly, and stomped her foot indignantly.
"That's not what I meant," Hiko said, realizing his slip-up and trying to salvage it. "I was just thinking about other things."
"Never mind, I'm in a very good mood right now. I won't bother with you." Ai thought about how she had easily persuaded Ichigo thanks to Hiko's analysis and felt grateful. "I'm going to practice. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," Hiko said to the distant Ai.
So, he went straight home.
After returning home, he didn't look at the new documents sent by the detective.
Instead, he took out a notebook and pen and began to research nearby amusement facilities, as well as movies showing in cinemas for the next two days… Then he wrote down several outing plans.
He also prepared several contingency plans for special situations.
For example, if Ai wasn't awake at home.
Or if he was dressed too plainly, he planned to add a search for information on nearby stores to buy clothes, as well as prices.
After conducting more research and drafting some plans, he checked the time and realized it was getting late.
He could only temporarily set aside the document organization and research, prioritizing getting the outing plan sorted out.
Saturday, 9:21 AM
Hiko and Ai had agreed to meet today, at 9:30 AM in front of the station, but he had already been at the destination for a while.
But Ai still hadn't arrived, making him worried. He thought that if he didn't see her in a little while, he would call to ask.
"I'm so sorry… I'm late…"
When Ai arrived and saw Hiko already waiting there, she thought she was late and apologized profusely.
Hiko saw that Ai was wearing the same outfit she had on the first day he met her, so he tried asking, "Why did you choose this outfit?"
Hiko, who had originally thought of this as a date, couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, as the situation was pretty much as he had expected.
"This outfit is more comfortable to wear," Ai looked at Hiko confusedly and asked curiously, "Why are you asking that?"
"…"
Hiko was a bit surprised by Ai's comment. "Although casual clothes are comfortable to wear… you should at least… wear something nice."
"Why? We're not on a date, isn't it fine to dress casually?" Ai twirled a strand of hair between her right thumb and forefinger.
'Even your school uniform would be better than this outfit…' Hiko could only think this to himself; he couldn't actually say it.
He then said, "That won't do, I feel like you're not making an effort to look nice!"
"You didn't tell me beforehand…" Ai saw Hiko trying to get angry, so she took the initiative and said, "How can you even talk about effort? We're just going out for a casual stroll! Why are you making such a big deal out of it? If it's going to be like this, I'd rather go back and continue practicing."
"Alright, I can't win against you. Let's meet halfway. We won't go shopping today; we'll just go buy clothes. You'll inevitably have to attend various events in the future, so you'll need a few suitable outfits, right?"
"I agree that different occasions require different clothes." Ai didn't understand what Hiko was trying to do now, so she just replied to test the waters.
"So, today's mission is to go shopping together," Hiko waved his hand and walked ahead to lead the way.
Ai didn't know what Hiko was planning for today, so she just followed him.
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