After dinner was ready, Ichin packed it into lunch boxes and set off to deliver it to Haruno.
As for himself, he had only taken a few quick bites earlier and wasn't in a hurry. Utaha and Yukino had left him some food, so he could take his time eating when he got back.
Driving over, Ichin headed straight to the Yukinoshita family's company building in Tokyo.
Although it was already close to the end of the workday, quite a few employees were still busy inside. Normally, it wouldn't be like this, but with so many major projects lately, overtime had become unavoidable.
Even so, Haruno didn't treat her employees poorly. Overtime pay was fully provided, dinner was covered by the company, and there were also subsidies for taxi fares after late shifts as well as fuel costs for private cars.
So when it came to working overtime, morale here was actually quite good.
After parking in the underground garage, Ichin took the elevator upstairs.
The receptionist already recognized him. Recently, he had been coming by often to deliver meals, so after greeting him, she let him pass without question.
Familiar with the route, Ichin made his way to Haruno's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Hearing her voice, he opened the door and saw Haruno in business attire, sitting at her desk and working seriously on her computer.
"Haruno, I brought your dinner."
"Mhm, just put it there. I'll be done in a moment!"
Two minutes later, Haruno finished what she was doing, stretched, and walked over to the sofa in her office, looking expectantly at the lunch boxes Ichin took out of the bag.
"What's for dinner today?"
"Sweet and sour ribs, tomato scrambled eggs, shredded pork with water bamboo, and salted pork winter melon soup. Sound good?"
"Sounds great!"
Picking up her chopsticks, Haruno happily grabbed a piece of ribs and popped it into her mouth, narrowing her eyes in satisfaction.
Ichin poured her a bowl of soup and placed it on the table beside her.
"Alright, take your time eating. I should head back and have my own dinner."
"Mhm! Thanks for the trouble!"
After spitting out the bone from the rib, Haruno smiled and reached out toward him. "Come here, let your big sister give you a hug?"
"I'll pass. Don't think I didn't see the sauce on your fingers."
Glancing at the hand she had tried to hide, Ichin shook his head and stood up.
"Ah~~ you caught me." Haruno sighed, then waved him off. "Hurry back. I should be able to get off a bit earlier today, around nine."
"Alright, I'm heading out then."
Leaving the company, Ichin made a quick stop at Miyamura's family bakery to pick up the cake he had ordered earlier. As expected, Miyamura wasn't there. He had gone to Hori Kyoko's house for dinner.
"Yep, looks like they've really settled into that old married couple vibe. Not bad at all."
Thinking that, Ichin drove back home.
"I'm back, and I brought the cake too~~"
In the living room, Utaha and Yukino had already finished eating. Ichin's portion was kept warm for him.
Utaha came over to put away the cake, while Yukino went to the kitchen to bring out his dinner and set it on the table.
Sitting down, Ichin picked up his chopsticks and started eating right away. Even though he had eaten a little earlier, the trip had made him hungry again.
As he ate, Utaha and Yukino sat across from him, smiling as they watched him.
Yukino poured him a bowl of soup and asked, "Is my sister very busy?"
"Not too bad, better than the past few days," Ichin said after taking a sip. "She said she should be home around nine tonight."
Yukino nodded. Nine was still acceptable. If she kept working until ten or even eleven every day, Yukino might really have to talk to their mother about it.
Even if Haruno was running the company now, it couldn't go on like that forever.
After finishing dinner and resting for a while, the three of them went upstairs to the home theater room and relaxed while watching a show together.
Of course, it wasn't a horror movie, just a regular drama series.
As for horror films, they preferred to watch those during the daytime on weekends. Watching them at night was just asking for trouble.
With one arm around each of them, Ichin watched the show in a good mood, chatting with both of them.
Utaha took a bite of an apple, then fed a piece to Ichin as well.
"Ichin, are you going to attend TGA in person this year?"
"I am," Ichin nodded. "This time our games have received quite a few nominations. I didn't go last year, so this year I should attend. It'll also be a good chance to catch up with people in the industry. Do you two want to come along?"
Yukino shook her head. "I'll pass. The jet lag is exhausting. I'll just watch the livestream at home, and I still have studying to do."
"Same here," Utaha added. "There's not much to do over there anyway, and the food is just average. You should bring others from the company instead. Who's going this time? Hazuki is definitely going, right? What about Kō and Rin?"
"Those three," Ichin replied. "Just like you said, there's not much to do in the U.S., and it's… a bit too free. Feels like there's trouble every day. Most people aren't interested in going. This time we're planning to book a hotel as close to the venue as possible, just go back and forth between the hotel and the event, and head back right after."
Ichin valued his life quite a bit. That place was chaotic every day. If it weren't necessary to attend and announce a new game, he wouldn't want to go at all.
So after thinking it through, he decided to just stay near the venue and not wander around.
Bring a laptop and a Switch, play games in the hotel during downtime. That was way more enjoyable than roaming outside.
His words made Utaha and Yukino laugh.
At 9:10 p.m., Haruno returned home as expected. After taking a shower, she joined the three of them in watching the show. They ate the cake Ichin had brought back while continuing to comment and complain about various parts of the drama.
Looking at Yukino nestled in Ichin's arms, Haruno said enviously, "Ichin, let me hold Yukino for a bit?"
Without hesitation, Ichin replied, "No. She's my girl now, of course I'm the one holding her."
Huh?
Haruno was full of confusion. Isn't that my sister? I can't even hold her now?
She stopped watching the show altogether, pounced over, and started fighting Ichin for Yukino's "ownership."
Meanwhile, Utaha watched with a bright smile, even taking out her phone and turning on the recording function, while Yukino sat stiffly between them, her expression completely frozen.
...