'It's all property my father left behind. I don't have much talent, so I can only scrape by on these houses.'
Sen Getsusa played with her cuff, indifferent, while Yuno Gasai covered her mouth and giggled beside her.
The manager rolled an enormous mental eye-scrape by?
How big a scrape?
Rich people always talked like that, so the manager wasn't surprised.
It was either:'Sigh, I don't work hard for money! It's for my ideals and everyone who follows me.'
Or: 'I don't like money. I even hate it!'
'What do I need money for? What for?! Am I sick?!'
Hard to say… Looking at it that way, the girl's 'scraping by' was almost acceptable. 'You've remodeled here, haven't you?'
The man kept making small talk while Yuno Gasai wandered over, took two bottles of water from the fridge, and handed them to Sen Getsusa and the man.
'Mm, that's right. Since the kids live here, the conference room and massage room were useless, so we tore them out,' Sen Getsusa said, and the man went on.
'Forgive my bluntness—may I ask the price?' the manager cautiously probed, and Sen Getsusa nodded and tossed out a number.
'F-five hundred million?!'
The man's jaw dropped—not because it was expensive, but precisely because it was too cheap.
'That's a steal! You must've bought it ages ago; you couldn't get that price now.'
'If the land's over six hundred, the interior should be about four hundred, right?'
He estimated the size of the house and kept sighing: 'Over four hundred square meters, right here on Shibuya's commercial street… only five hundred million, sigh.'
Middle-aged men usually start resenting their lot in life over two things: houses and women.
The manager, his eyes now lifeless, didn't want to talk to Sen Getsusa anymore; he stood up and began wandering around, trying to look at the house one last time before they left.
'Even at five hundred million he couldn't afford it—he's just a manager, talking as if he'd missed some huge opportunity,' Yuno Gasai murmured, lounging on the sofa with her head on Sen Getsusa's shoulder.
'That's how people are: always thinking "I missed another chance," regretting while telling themselves "if only I'd grabbed it," then encouraging themselves "next time I'll seize it—if I seize it…" See? That's how people start daydreaming.'
And in fact, the next chance will still be missed, and in the end they still won't grab it.
Some people live an immersive life—immersed in their own fantasies.
Yuno Gasai laughed until she shook:'Such a sharp tongue. I'm starting to feel Tsukisa loves jabbing people where it hurts. Where's that gentle, quiet girl from a moment ago?'
'Once I'm back here, I get wild,' Sen Getsusa summed up her personality: 'Anyway, my mess and bad temper are all dumped on Aria and the kids.'
'That's what you call "real,"' Yuno Gasai blinked. 'Be like that with me from now on, okay?'
Sen Getsusa turned her head and looked at Yuno Gasai.
The girl's slightly upturned lips were glossed, crystal-clear up close, and her pale sparkling pupils gave off an indescribable sense of something.
Sen Getsusa twirled a strand of her own black hair, reclining on the sofa as she gazed at her.
The two of them leaned closer without a word, the pounding of their hearts thudding loud in their ears.
Yuno Gasai's berry-sweet scent mingled with Sen Getsusa's faint grassy aroma, a certain cheek-burning desire sinking into the sofa.
The tension rose between the two girls.
Family, family, family, family, family, family, family!
Sen Getsusa scratched her fluffy hair vigorously.
"Hey, hey! Sister Yuesha, what are you guys doing?"
"Come play games! I found a swimming pool on the fourth floor, but it hasn't been filled with water yet."
Sen Getsusa suddenly snapped back to her senses, stood up with a start, and bowed respectfully to Yuno Gasai. "I'm going to go play with them! See you later! Family!"
Behind her, Yuno Gasai's tongue flicked across the corner of her mouth, looking like she hadn't quite had her fill.
Aria was tidying up the kitchen utensils—those high-end items were all brand new. As an old person who was practically one foot in the grave, she really couldn't keep up with the times.
There were some things she didn't even know the purpose of.
She had intended to bring them out to ask Tsukisa... but ended up witnessing the whole scene.
Aria:... Yuno Gasai:?
...Dinner was prepared by the children together. As it was their first day moving in, everyone pitched in.
One person sprinkled salt, another poured a bit of oil; every Child participated in this dinner, and the kitchen was incredibly lively.
Fortunately, the place was quite large, so Aria and the children had enough room to move around. Sen Getsusa put aprons on them one by one and took photos. Someone opened the mustard and smeared it everywhere, and for a while, the sound of sneezing was constant.
"Here, pumpkin, oyster mushrooms, green beans." Sen Getsusa sorted the cut vegetables into baskets. In her other hand were peeled and washed black tiger prawns.
After handing the two baskets to Miko, she took out the Wakasagi fish and oysters they had bought yesterday from the refrigerator.
Yuno Gasai stood behind them, pulling out tissues and wetting them with water to wipe the mustard off the children—it was also a way to stop them from bothering the elderly woman and Sen Getsusa further.
"Rub the tempura flour into crumbs, yes, add water, and then stir." Sen Getsusa guided Miko in making tempura on one side, while Aria was on the other side shaping sushi.
This girl, Miko, didn't recognize anything. Whenever an unlabeled bulk ingredient appeared, the girl would turn her head and look to her sister for help with her watery, big eyes.
For example... Miko: "Sister, sister! What is this?"
(Stare—)
Sen Getsusa said helplessly, "This is an oyster mushroom, a type of mushroom."
Miko: "Sister, sister! What is this?"
Sen Getsusa replied numbly, "This is tempura flour."
Miko: "What is this?"
Sen Getsusa's eyes were vacant: "This is dark miso."
Miko: "Sister, sister! This—"
Sen Getsusa:...She glared at Miko, gritting her teeth as she squeezed out a few words from between her lips.
"...This is a fan, dear."
Yuno Gasai watched eagerly. Although she was very skilled at cooking, she didn't participate this time and only helped Sen Getsusa with some minor tasks.
"Once the eggplants are scored and dipped in tempura flour, they can be fried in the pan."
Miko picked up an eggplant with a look of distaste, reaching her hand out over the pan—but her body stayed far away, and her neck was tilted back as far as it could go.
Sizzle—
"Ah!"
...No oil actually splashed out.
But the children still hid far away, afraid of the noise from the pan. Seeing that her'student' Miko had also disappeared, Sen Getsusa had no choice but to hold the pan herself and put the eggplants into the oil one by one.
Next were sweet potatoes, oyster mushrooms, black tiger prawns, and oysters.
Each piece, dipped in tempura flour, sizzled in the oil pan, emitting a rich aroma. They were then picked out with long chopsticks and placed on a plate, arranged in a color sequence like a palette.
Like a flower in the middle of spring.
"It looks so good! It's such a blessing to be able to eat Sister Yuesha's cooking!"
"I can smell the aroma!"
"Get ready to help." Sen Getsusa mixed soy sauce with grated radish and handed another bowl filled with minced ginger to a nearby Boy who was eager to help.
"Take this to the table and wait. You guys too, go sit down at the table."
Dish after dish was brought to the table by Yuno Gasai and the children: the fried items had an explosive aroma, the seafood and sashimi had a crisp saltiness, and there was the fragrance of rice and the freshness of the simmering chicken soup pot.
Yuno Gasai happened to pass by Sen Getsusa, sniffed the scent from the pot, and unconsciously swallowed with a 'gulp'.
Sen Getsusa heard it clearly: "Hahaha! If you're hungry, go ahead and eat at the table. We're almost finished here."
Dinner in the new home passed amidst playful banter and Aria's hearty laughter.
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