An hour later, Ichin drove back with Hiratsuka Shizuka, who had her luggage with her. After greeting Ichin's parents, they went downstairs to the place where Haruno and Yukino were staying.
"Wow~~ so this is where you've been living the past few days? Not bad at all!"
Looking around at the place, Hiratsuka was impressed.
"Your mom really treats you two well. Perfect, I'll just freeload for a while. Sorry for the intrusion!"
Since the apartment was mainly for living, it hadn't been fitted with a study—just three bedrooms. The spare one was now Shizuka's.
After dropping her luggage, she joined everyone in the living room and explained why she'd suddenly appeared.
"Simple. My mom wanted to drag me into more blind dates. After seeing the profiles of the three candidates, I couldn't be bothered—I just ran away. Summer break is long for teachers, so I figured I'd vacation in Shanghai instead."
She bit into freshly cut watermelon with satisfaction.
"I was bored after dinner and thought I'd call Haruno, since she hadn't sent me a single update. Didn't expect to find out you're all in Shanghai too."
"I see."
Utaha nodded, then asked:
"So, Hiratsuka-sensei, have you been wandering around alone today?"
Finishing her watermelon, Shizuka wiped her hands.
"Yep. I was planning to tour around Shanghai for a while, maybe head elsewhere after. But after one phone call I find you're all here—finally, some company! So, what about you guys? What've you been up to? Ichin didn't tell me much after picking me up."
As soon as she finished, Ichin, Utaha, and Yukino all turned their eyes on Haruno.
"…What are you looking at me for?"
Meeting their stares, Haruno shrugged.
"It was just a blind date, nothing worth hiding."
"Huh? Haruno, you went on a blind date?!"
Shizuka was stunned. Haruno calmly nodded and gave her a brief rundown of what had happened.
By the end, Shizuka looked both shocked and thoughtful.
"As expected, this godmother of yours really does care for you. Worrying about your love life makes sense—finding you a partner is probably harder than finding me one. At least if I lower my standards a bit and fix some bad habits, I could find someone. You? Not so sure."
"I know. That's why I'm not in any rush. I'm still young, aren't I?"
Haruno, completely unfazed, grabbed another slice of watermelon and grinned.
"Anyway, enough of that. Shizuka, have you thought about where you want to go tomorrow? Ichin has to check in at the company, and Utaha and Yukino want to rest at home—they wore themselves out today."
"Then we'll need to plan properly. By the way, how long are you staying?"
"About half a month."
"Perfect. I brought my laptop. Let's look up some travel guides and plan our trips."
The two friends quickly got into arranging their schedule.
Meanwhile, Ichin, Utaha, and Yukino broke out a deck of cards and started a game of "Dou Dizhu," sticking slips of paper on their faces as penalties.
Half an hour later, Ichin was completely plastered in notes after the two girls teamed up against him.
Once Haruno and Shizuka finished planning, Ichin suggested the four of them switch to mahjong while he went upstairs to his room to busy himself. Even on vacation, he just couldn't stay idle.
---
The half-month holiday passed in a flash.
Ichin spent two days at the studio to check on progress, then spent the rest sightseeing with Utaha and the others. After touring around Shanghai, they also visited a few places outside the city.
Sakura Nene didn't stay long—after a week she flew back to Tokyo. With the company's group trip over, she had to return to work. Still, her goal had been achieved. She'd spent almost every day with Umiko, even celebrated her birthday with her alone. Of everyone, Nene left the happiest.
She'd arrived with just a backpack but departed with an extra suitcase stuffed full of random purchases.
Haruno and Yukino were similar—their luggage grew from two to three cases, the extra filled with clothes, gifts, souvenirs, and snacks.
Shizuka was no exception—her suitcase was packed to bursting, plus a new backpack.
The longer you play, the more you buy.
Thankfully, with a car, hauling everything to the airport wasn't a problem.
Two hours later, the five of them were back on Tokyo soil.
After collecting their bags, Ichin turned to Shizuka.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, did you park your car here?"
She waved him off.
"Of course, don't worry. I left it here."
Haruno leaned over, bumping her shoulder with a grin.
"Still, you should be worried. Like… what do you think your mom's going to say when she finds out you vanished for days?"
"What could she say?" Shizuka replied with a resigned look.
"She's used to it. Probably won't say much. Anyway, that flight wore me out—time to head home."
After saying her goodbyes, she hopped into her car and drove off alone.
Ichin pulled out his keys and looked at Haruno.
"Are you two going back to Chiba, or staying in Tokyo?"
"Tokyo. I'll rest today, then get back to work tomorrow. No point running to Chiba. Next week I'll probably go back once with Yukino."
Loading her suitcase into the trunk, Haruno walked over and patted Ichin's head with a smile.
"Thanks for keeping us company these days, Ichin. I had a great time. Remember to invite your big sis next time you go traveling!"
"Of course."
Getting into the driver's seat, Ichin and Utaha left the parking lot first.
Watching their car go, Haruno smirked at her sister.
"Come on, let's head home!"
But seeing that smile, Yukino couldn't help feeling a strange unease.
Somehow… something didn't feel quite right.
---
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