Looking at Sato pinching Shin-chan's cheeks, Yoshinaga Midori opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but in the end she closed it again without speaking.
"Ugh, I was wrong, Uncle…"
"So now you know you were wrong?"
"I was wrong, I was wrong!"
"What exactly were you wrong about?"
"Well… um…"
Looking at the little brat stammering and avoiding his gaze, Sato sighed and let go of his cheeks. The thumb and index finger of his lowered right hand rubbed together lightly.
This kid's face was really firm. Looks like his sister-in-law had trained him plenty. His skin was definitely thick enough.
"This kid really caused you trouble."
Sato bowed slightly to Yoshinaga Midori once again.
"Ah, it's fine!"
Yoshinaga Midori answered with an awkward laugh.
Since she did not even bother with polite formalities, it looked like the trouble Shin-chan caused really was not minor…
Sato's expression became a little complicated for a moment.
Was inherited behavior really this strong?
At that moment, Kazama Toru looked around curiously and asked,
"Since Uncle didn't come alone, did you come with a friend?"
"A girlfriend?"
Sakurada Nene immediately added, looking at Sato excitedly.
Uh… well…
"Just a normal…"
"Sato!"
Isshiki Iroha's voice suddenly reached his ears. Everyone turned and quickly saw the youthful and lively girl walking over with two bottles of drinks, looking slightly confused.
"Who are these people?"
She slowly walked over. After glancing at the little kids staring at her, she looked at Sato with a strange expression.
"This is my nephew."
Sato first pointed at Shin-chan.
"Yo!"
Shin-chan raised his hand to greet Isshiki Iroha, his thick seaweed-like eyebrows twitching.
"And these are his classmates and teacher."
He then pointed at Kazama Toru and the others nearby.
"Hello!"
The little kids bowed politely toward Isshiki Iroha.
"H-Hello."
Isshiki Iroha hurriedly returned the greeting, then handed the two drinks to Sato before smiling at Kazama, Nene, and the others.
"How about big sis treats you all to drinks too? What would you like?"
"Drinks? Yay!"
Masao's eyes immediately lit up, but the moment he spoke, Sakurada Nene glared at him, frightening him into silence.
After shoving Masao aside, Sakurada Nene excitedly looked at Isshiki Iroha and asked,
"Big sis, are you Uncle's girlfriend?"
"Huh?"
Isshiki Iroha froze for a moment, then became shy and fidgety.
Were kindergarten kids these days really this nosy? They were even willing to give up drinks just to gossip about this stuff.
Still… how should she answer?
Isshiki Iroha cautiously lifted her eyes toward Sato. Sato immediately looked away as if he had not noticed her gaze at all.
Don't look at me!
Sato's feelings were somewhat complicated and subtle. The girl's gaze at this moment was like blazing sunlight, making him unable to meet her eyes directly.
He was not a dense person. The girl's feelings were already laid completely bare before him. There was no way he could fail to notice them, but…
Things like this were difficult to explain clearly…
Tch, is this guy even a man?!
Seeing his reaction, Isshiki Iroha secretly bit her teeth lightly. A trace of embarrassment and irritation flashed through her eyes as she looked at Sato.
If that's how you're going to be, then don't blame me!
"That's right."
The girl nodded softly and spoke shyly. A layer of blush spread across her pale cheeks and earlobes.
Sato: "..."
Seriously?!
He turned and stared at Isshiki Iroha in shock, his emotions instantly becoming extremely complicated.
Maybe… he should never have agreed to this in the first place.
"Wow! It really is true!"
"She really is Uncle's girlfriend!"
"Then… may I ask what exactly you like about Uncle?"
Sakurada Nene excitedly pulled out a notebook and pen from her pocket and looked at Isshiki Iroha eagerly.
"Uh…"
Isshiki Iroha froze again and instinctively turned to look at Sato.
Sato maintained the same posture as before.
Yoshinaga Midori looked at the "young couple" in front of her strangely. Somehow, their relationship felt odd. They did not quite look like lovers, but they also did not seem like ordinary friends.
So they were more than friends, but not quite lovers yet?
Then what the girl had just said was basically…
A confession?!
Yoshinaga Midori covered her mouth in surprise, then quickly grabbed Nene.
"Alright everyone, we should go rejoin the others now."
"Huh? But I haven't finished my investigation yet!"
"Monkey! I want to see monkeys!"
"We can see the monkeys later. Right now we need to go find the principal, otherwise if he keeps running around looking for people, others might think he's yakuza again!"
"Isn't the boss already a boss?"
"Don't say weird things, brat!"
Very quickly, Yoshinaga Midori gathered up the little troublemakers under her care. She raised her head and smiled at Sato.
"Then we'll be going now. Hope you two have fun!"
After speaking, she secretly gave Isshiki Iroha an encouraging look before leading the group of children away noisily.
Isshiki Iroha lowered her eyes awkwardly.
…
The flowers of the future had left.
The long line still slowly moved forward, while silence settled between Sato and Iroha.
"Ahem, um… I was just joking with your nephew earlier. Nohara, don't take it seriously, okay?"
Suddenly, Isshiki Iroha looked at Sato nervously.
Sato simply stared silently at the girl without speaking.
Gradually, a faint trace of disappointment appeared in the girl's eyes. Silence once again returned between them as they drifted along with the moving line.
Did Sato have feelings for Isshiki Iroha?
The answer was definitely yes.
But had those feelings truly reached the level of lovers?
Sato could not say for sure.
And because of that, he also did not dare casually accept Isshiki Iroha's feelings.
What a troublesome situation…
…
"Onii-chan, what are you looking at?"
A girl with cute little tiger teeth at the back of the line hopped forward and peeked ahead curiously.
"Shh, quiet, Komachi!"
Hikigaya Hachiman quickly stopped her, his gaze carefully passing through the figures ahead before landing on the two silent figures standing together.