A few minutes later, Yukino sat on Ichin's lap, panting slightly as she raised her hand and smacked his chest several times in a row.
"We're already going back, and you still do this!"
Holding Yukino in his arms, Ichin wore a broad grin, taking all the hits without dodging at all.
"Didn't I say it just now? This is my response to your sneak attack this morning. And besides, you were pretty into it too, weren't you?"
Her already rosy cheeks grew even hotter. Yukino shot Ichin a glare, quickly climbed off him, and returned to the passenger seat. She opened her bag, took out a compact mirror, and checked her complexion.
She hurriedly touched up with a bit of powder, just in case it would be obvious when they went upstairs.
Watching her, Ichin smiled and raised his hand to gently tidy her hair.
He let Yukino carry the milk tea and the groceries they'd bought, while he himself took out the cat food and canned food from the trunk and carried everything alone. Only then did they head up together in the elevator.
Once upstairs, they put Yukino's share of the cat food in her apartment. After that, the two of them left and returned to Ichin's place.
As soon as they opened the door, they were greeted by a lively scene. Four people were sitting around playing mahjong. Haruno and Kō—who weren't in the current round—were hovering nearby, one next to Utaha and the other next to Rin, offering advice and strategies.
Slipping into his slippers and setting the cat food aside, Ichin walked over and glanced at Utaha's tiles. "Whoa, you're having some good luck today."
Utaha lifted her chin proudly. "Of course I am."
The moment she finished speaking and discarded a tile, Rin's eyes lit up. "Thanks, Utaha—Ron!"
"Uh…"
Utaha was left speechless by the sudden turn of events. She could only glance at Ichin. "It's all because of your jinx, Ichin."
"Alright, my fault," Ichin said helplessly. "Since this round's over, let's have some milk tea first."
At that moment, Yukino walked over and handed the milk tea out to everyone.
After taking a sip through her straw, Kō said cheerfully, "Ichin-kun, do you want to come play a round later?"
"I'll pass," Ichin replied with a smile, shaking his head. "Since I don't need to spend time cooking tonight, I'm planning to write up some planning documents. If I get a bit done this afternoon, I won't have to be busy tonight and can just relax and play games."
"You're still planning to work on the weekend?" Kō said with a wry smile. "If even the boss says that, what are we employees supposed to think? We won't even dare to have fun properly."
Ichin shrugged. "Who says that? Kō, didn't you forget? You've got company shares too. Not just you—Rin, Umiko, and Hazuki all do as well. Every one of you is a little rich lady now. And besides, today's the weekend. I just can't sit still and want to think about future projects. This isn't something you need to worry about at all. Just relax and enjoy yourselves, then get back to work on Monday."
With that, Ichin took his milk tea and leisurely headed into the bedroom.
Seeing him go inside, Haruno took a big gulp of her milk tea and said, "Alright, let's just leave Ichin alone. He was never that into mahjong anyway. Come on, come on—let's continue! It's my turn this time!"
The living room returned to the sounds of mahjong, while Ichin went back to the bedroom and began writing the planning proposal for Bloodborne.
Although Bloodborne and Dark Souls came from the same lineage, their action systems and overall styles were quite different. That was something Ichin needed to carefully think through at the planning stage.
Then there was the whole Cthulhu aspect. Whether it was the game's background setting or the design of the various monsters and bosses, all of it needed thorough consideration.
Half an hour later, the bedroom door opened, and Utaha came in alone.
"So you really are working, Ichin?"
"What else would I be doing?" Ichin turned around and beckoned to her, letting her sit on his lap.
Holding Utaha, Ichin pointed at his computer screen. "It's a new project. There's still a lot that needs to be decided. Later on, I'll need to look up more information about Cthulhu online. By the way, you came over just now—did you stop playing mahjong with them?"
Looping her arms around Ichin's neck, Utaha smiled. "I just finished my round and switched with Yukino, so I came to check on you. I also wanted to ask—how was it when you went out with Yukino earlier?"
"When we went out?" Ichin thought for a moment. "It was mostly Yukino having fun. I didn't expect a new cat café to open near the supermarket. She spotted it, and since we still had plenty of time, I took her there to hang out for a bit and relax."
Picking up his phone from the desk, Ichin showed Utaha the photos he'd taken of Yukino at the cat café earlier.
After flipping through them, Utaha nodded. "Mm, Yukino really is quite photogenic. Ichin, send me a few of these."
She took out her own phone and selected a few photos to transfer over.
Although he had no idea what Utaha was planning, Ichin figured it wouldn't be anything serious. After thinking for a bit, he asked her a question.
"Utaha, among your headbands… do you have any with cat ears?"
"Hm? Cat ears?"
Faced with Utaha's puzzled look, Ichin nodded and pointed at the image of Yukino hugging a cat on his phone.
Utaha instantly understood, her eyes lighting up.
"Ichin, that's a great idea!"
She climbed off his lap and opened the drawer of her vanity, rummaging through it. "Mm, I bought a lot of headbands. I don't really remember having cat ears… yeah, I don't. But I know where we can buy them."
After confirming she didn't have any herself, Utaha smiled and said, "There are a lot of people at home right now. Ichin, let's go buy them tomorrow when we go out."
"Alright, it's settled."
The two looked at each other and broke into perfectly synchronized smiles.
At that very moment, Yukino—who was playing mahjong outside—suddenly felt a chill run down her back for no apparent reason. Her hand slipped, and she discarded the tile she'd just drawn, directly feeding someone else.
"Woohoo! Ron! Thanks, Yukino!"
"..."
Yukino felt that today just wasn't a good day for mahjong. She immediately gave up her seat to the eager Rin, then hugged a cat and started watching TV instead.
A few minutes later, Utaha came out of the bedroom, her face still glowing with an unmistakable smile.
Seeing her expression, Yagami Kō asked curiously, "Utaha, something good happen? Or did you two do something naughty in there?"
Utaha rolled her eyes and pointed at her lips. "Ten minutes or so isn't enough for anything naughty. We just kissed, that's all."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is this the composure of married people?" Kō shook her head. "Impressive, impressive."
She went back to playing mahjong, while Utaha headed over to the sofa, linked arms with Yukino, and watched TV together.
----
RedX43's Note:
➤ Want More? Get up to +70 Extra Chapters on Patreon!
➤ [email protected]/RedX43
➤ +300 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter Drop!
➤ Thanks for the support! 🙌