In the morning, busy setting up breakfast, Satomi heard footsteps from the stairs. Turning around and seeing Seiichiro coming down, she briefly set aside what she was doing and walked over to greet him with a smile.
"Good morning, Seiichiro."
"Mhm, good morning."
Tilting his chin up slightly to make it easier for his wife to tie his tie, Seiichiro saw the breakfast already laid out on the dining table and smiled at her.
"Thank you for your hard work, preparing breakfast so early in the morning."
Hearing this, Satomi paused slightly, then gently pulled her husband's tie a bit tighter, her tone carrying a hint of teasing.
"I don't usually hear you say things like that to me. What's gotten into you this morning?"
"Is that so?" Looking away slightly unnaturally, Seiichiro replied with a touch of embarrassment, "Nothing, I just suddenly wanted to say thank you."
Finished speaking, Seiichiro quickly walked past his wife, who wore a teasing smile, and with a calm yet somewhat eager motion, pulled out the chair at the head of the table and sat down.
And just as Seiichiro picked up his bowl and chopsticks, preparing to eat his breakfast as if 'nothing just happened'.
Satomi, who had also sat down beside him, picked up her chopsticks and asked in a very casual manner.
"So, what were you two father and son discussing last night? Being so mysterious about it."
As soon as the words fell, Seiichiro, who had just picked up a piece of salt-grilled mackerel, suddenly stiffened. The fish slipped from his chopsticks and fell back onto the plate.
"...It was just a trivial matter."
After a brief pause, Seiichiro picked up the fallen fish again and said casually.
"Miyahito wants to buy a motorcycle and asked if I had any way to help him get his motorcycle license before the end of summer vacation. That's all."
"Oh~~"
Drawing out her response, Satomi thought for a moment and asked curiously.
"Why does Miyahito suddenly want to buy a motorcycle?"
"What other reason could there be? He just wants it to be more convenient to come home in the future." Wearing an expression that said 'that kid is still too green', Seiichiro said nonchalantly, "Whether he's coming back to Chiba or his little girlfriend is going back to Wakō City, having a motorcycle is very convenient."
"So, your son wants to ask you to help him get an Ordinary Motorcycle License in one month?"
"No, a Heavy Motorcycle License."
Looking up and meeting his wife's surprised gaze, Seiichiro shrugged helplessly.
"I didn't misspeak, and you didn't mishear."
"To use your son's exact words: 'An ordinary license only allows up to a 400cc motorcycle, which is nowhere as comfortable as an 800cc'..."
Having said that, Seiichiro didn't continue the topic, shutting his wife's mouth with a "Hurry up and eat, the food will get cold."
Watching her husband change the subject somewhat unnaturally, Satomi raised an eyebrow, feeling that the father and son were probably still hiding something from her.
But she didn't plan to press further. Let the two of them be.
"By the way, Satomi, is Miyahito not up yet?"
"Mhm, I just checked on him, he's still sleeping."
"It's already 8:30, isn't it? It's rare for him to sleep in this late."
"He's probably not used to it and couldn't sleep well. Last night around 3 or 4 AM, when I got up for a glass of water, I could still hear him making noise in his room."
....
(Rewinding time by about half an hour.)
Wearing slippers and dragging her feet, Utaha pushed open her door with messy hair. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she swayed groggily toward the stairs.
"Miyahito, I want toast....."
Still completely in a sleep-daze, Utaha mumbled unconsciously as she walked down the stairs.
Just then, a voice full of playful amusement suddenly reached the ears of the thoroughly groggy Utaha.
"Mhm, isn't this my bed-loving daughter, actually up at this hour?"
"..." The instant she heard the voice, Utaha's foot, about to step on the next stair, suddenly froze in mid-air.
Then, she slowly opened her heavy eyelids.
"Good morning, Utaha-chan."
"Tch...." Looking at her mother, who was greeting her with a bright smile, Utaha clicked her tongue in sheer, subconscious disgust.
Then, remembering that she had just seemingly, apparently, probably said something she shouldn't have (mainly because it wasn't the right time to say it yet), she was startled and quickly wiped the disgust off her face, replying in a very polite and courteous tone.
"Good morning, Mother."
"...Did you take the wrong medicine?"
How incredibly rude! What kind of mother says that to her daughter?
Asking her daughter first thing in the morning if she's out of her mind. Believe it or not, I'll call Grandma right now and have her teach you some manners?
"What's with that look? A mere Utaha dares to be so arrogant?"
"Heh...."
"What's that attitude! Stop right there."
"Shut up, you perverted, incompetent, useless doctor."
"Ah! (Stomps foot) Naoki! Look at your daughter!!"
Inexplicably dragged into the mother-daughter war, Naoki lowered his newspaper with a helpless expression. He glanced at his furious wife, then at his daughter, who stood with her arms crossed, wearing an utterly composed expression.
Mr. Naoki let out a heart-tired sigh, then raised his newspaper again, covering his face.
Out of sight, out of mind. Let the mother and daughter resolve their own conflicts.
Kao and Utaha, mother and daughter, glared at each other in a standoff for a short while before simultaneously turning their heads away and letting out a cold snort.
"Hmph!" "Hmph."
Afterward, Kao returned to the dining table and sat back down, while Utaha turned and headed into the washroom to freshen up.
"Kao."
Watching his wife sit back down in indignation, Naoki, who had just remained neutral, put down his newspaper and advised her in a somewhat earnest, well-meaning tone.
"Your daughter just got back, so just yield to her a bit. Don't act like mortal enemies the moment you two meet, throwing sarcastic remarks at each other."
"You don't understand." Glancing at her worried husband, Kao said lightly, "This is my love for my daughter."
...Love? Are you sure you haven't got the concept wrong?
His expression successfully shifting from worry to questioning his entire life, Naoki froze for a good while, then speechlessly supported his forehead and shook his head.
"Forget it, as long as you two are happy."
Turning his cheek slightly and glancing at the phone by his hand, Naoki also reached out and picked up his bowl and chopsticks.
While eating his breakfast at an unhurried pace, he asked.
"By the way, why is Utaha up so early today? Doesn't she usually sleep until lunchtime?"
"Well, who knows?" Reminded by her husband's words, Kao blinked, her tone carrying a profound meaning. "Perhaps it's a habit she picked up while living in Tokyo."
Am I right? That Miyahito-kun... tch, toast for breakfast.
'Maybe I should give Utaha a talk about biology in a couple of days?'
Planning this, Kao looked up, a playful glint flashing in her wine-red eyes as they landed on the washroom door.