After a whole night of Dark Souls followed by Apex, Ichin was completely hyped—he hadn't played this freely and this happily in a long time.
Normally, during workdays, he might only squeeze in an hour of gaming after finishing everything at night before having to wash up and rest.
After saying goodbye to the viewers and shutting off the stream, Ichin stretched lazily.
At that moment, the door opened again—this time, Utaha walked in.
"Ichin, finished streaming? It's time to rest~"
Ichin glanced at the time—it was almost midnight.
"Yeah, I'm about to. You're done over there too?"
"Everyone already went home."
Utaha walked in, hugged him from behind around the neck, and said with a teasing smile, "Tonight was totally Kō and Haruno's battlefield. The rest of us were just there for the fun. I even won enough for an afternoon tea set today."
"That's pretty good."
Rubbing his cheek against hers, Ichin said with a laugh, "Alright, go take your shower first. I'll go after you're done."
"Mm~ then I'll go ahead~~"
Picking up her change of clothes, Utaha gave him a mischievous look.
"Ichin, want to join me?"
"Did you forget what condition you're in right now? Better not~~"
Hearing him say that, Utaha stuck out her tongue at him before turning and leaving the room.
---
After the Christmas weekend, just a few more days of work passed, and the calendar moved toward New Year's.
Ichin's plans were the same as previous years: spend New Year's Day at Utaha's place, then go home together for Lunar New Year.
But this New Year… seemed a little different.
Thinking about it carefully—it really was different.
Because after his birthday this year… Ichin turned 22.
Ichin thought about it.
He really needed to get the proposal done.
And then, while going home for New Year, he could start planning the wedding as well.
But to propose… he needed a ring.
So one day, while Utaha went to the publishing house, Ichin quickly called Yagami Kō and Toyama Rin, asking them to accompany him to buy the engagement ring.
"Oh! So you're proposing!?"
Sitting in the back seat, Kō's eyes were sparkling.
"I wondered why you suddenly called us out. At first I thought it was for work, but it's THIS!?"
Rin laughed. "Makes sense. You and Utaha have been together for years. And now that you're at this age, it's time to take the next step."
Driving in front, Ichin wore an excited, slightly nervous smile.
"That's why I'm counting on you two to help me pick the ring today."
Soon, Ichin parked outside a jewelry store. After going in, he directly told the staff he wanted an engagement ring. The clerk immediately began introducing options.
Ichin didn't know much about diamond rings—he'd only looked up some information that morning at the office. But Kō and Rin were well-versed; they had researched diamonds and jewelry before.
With the two of them assisting, Ichin avoided being ripped off and successfully picked out a beautiful engagement ring perfect for his proposal.
After swiping his card with satisfying decisiveness, Ichin left the store with the ring in hand, thoroughly pleased.
Walking beside him, Kō asked curiously, "So when are you planning to propose? I want to watch!"
Unlocking the car with his key, Ichin laughed. "Sorry, Kō, but you won't get to see it. I'm planning to propose when we go back home for New Year. Those days happen to be around Utaha's birthday, and her parents will also be there. Perfect timing, perfect setting, perfect people."
The moment he said this, Kō instantly deflated.
"What!? You're not even letting us watch!?"
Rin didn't seem bothered and smiled softly. "Utaha will definitely be surprised."
"Of course she will."
Ichin looked genuinely excited. "Utaha does talk about future marriage with me from time to time, but I doubt she'd expect me to prepare this early. We spend almost all our time together—anything I do, she notices. As long as you two don't tell her, she'll never find out. So Kō, please keep this a secret!"
"Don't worry, I'll keep it secret. But why are you reminding me specifically? Doesn't Rin know too?"
Toyama Rin narrowed her eyes gently. "Because I don't sabotage important things. But Kō… well, who knows what she might do?"
"Hey! That's discrimination!"
Laughing and fussing around, Ichin drove the two of them to a restaurant. Since they helped him pick the engagement ring, treating them to lunch was the least he could do.
After finishing lunch, the trio returned to the company to resume their afternoon work.
Seeing Kō and Rin return after the entire morning away, Aoba asked curiously, "Kō, where did you all go this morning?"
Sitting down, Kō leaned close to Aoba and whispered, "We went on a date with Ichin-kun~~"
"Eh? Eh!!?"
Aoba's startled cry drew the attention of everyone nearby. Seeing her blushing face, people around them looked even more curious.
Aoba's reaction made Kō burst into laughter. She happily patted Aoba's head and said, "You really believed it? We just helped Ichin with something, and then he treated me and Rin to lunch."
Aoba thought about it—right, she was overthinking. Something like that would never happen.
"Kō-nee! You can't just say stuff like that!"
"Hahaha! Who knew you'd actually believe it? Aoba, you're really too pure!"
Aoba puffed her cheeks, glared at Kō, and turned back to work. She was still curious about what they had done all morning, but it was obvious Kō wasn't planning to say anything. So she simply stopped asking.
It must've been something important.
---
Meanwhile, after returning to his office, Ichin looked at the ring box in his hand. He thought for a moment, then placed it in his desk drawer and locked it.
Utaha never touched his drawer, so it was safe. When it was time to head home, he could secretly move it into his luggage or slip it into his laptop bag.
Leaning back in his chair, Ichin flipped through the calendar with a big smile.
"Mm, about half a month left… It's getting close."
After roughly planning the proposal he'd make once they returned home, Ichin got back to work.
Since he would be away for two weeks, he needed to finish as much of Tales of Berseria's workload as possible beforehand.
He worked nonstop until nearly four o'clock, then packed his things and left the company to pick up Utaha from Fushikawa Publishing.
---
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