Since Haruno had moved into a new home, of course a housewarming party was in order.
A few phone calls later, Hazuki, Hajime, and Aoba all agreed to come, along with Yagami Kou and Rin from downstairs.
As the host, Haruno had to entertain the guests, so grocery shopping fell to her little brother Ichin.
Luckily, Yukino was sensible enough to tag along, and with Utaha as well, the three went shopping together.
After more than an hour in the supermarket, they returned lugging several large bags filled with ingredients, drinks, and plenty of snacks.
Since Haruno's new place came with an oven, Ichin even planned to bake some cakes for the evening.
When he returned, the girls were already gathered together, chatting animatedly.
"Remember the class reunion Godmother hosted the other day? At first we were just waiting to pick her up later, but I got bored and went over early. Turns out, reunions for parents are just like ours—only instead of comparing careers, they compare their children. So I called Ichin, Utaha, and Yukino over. It was lively! Godmother's classmates looked at us with envy. Quite a few even said they wanted to introduce their sons to me or Yukino—but I turned them down flat."
"Oh!"
Aoba's eyes went wide.
"But Haruno-senpai, are you really not planning to date at all?"
"Date? How can I date if I can't find someone suitable?"
Haruno smiled, pulled Aoba into her arms, and teased:
"But if I didn't limit myself to men, I wouldn't mind trying. What do you say, Aoba, interested?"
Aoba shivered, immediately wriggled free, and hid behind Hazuki.
"No way!"
Dumping the snacks on the table, Ichin said irritably:
"Haruno, stop scaring Aoba. And Aoba, don't take her seriously. If Haruno really wanted a girlfriend, she'd have ended up with Hiratsuka-sensei already."
"Oh, right!"
"What do you mean, 'right'?!"
Haruno shot Aoba a glare, then walked over to swat Ichin's arm.
"You know what Shizuka's like, don't you? I don't want to be around her cigarette stench all day."
That was true.
Haruno liked cleanliness—she wasn't a neat freak, but being around someone who reeked of smoke was unpleasant.
Looking at her, Ichin said thoughtfully:
"Haruno, it doesn't matter if you want a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Just don't set your sights on anyone from the company, especially the likes of Aoba. They're all pure-hearted and too easy to trick—you really might bend one of them."
"Relax, I won't, I won't!" Haruno waved it off breezily.
"I was only joking. Besides, no girl is cuter than our Yukino anyway."
Hearing that, Yukino, who had been about to step closer, instantly retreated to Ichin's other side, clinging to his arm and glaring at her sister warily.
"Big sis, you're getting more dangerous by the day. From now on you're banned from my apartment. I'll change the locks the moment I get back."
"Eh? I was just kidding, Yukino! Don't take it seriously!"
In the kitchen, Ichin, Utaha, and Yukino were busy prepping dinner.
Seeing Yukino still on edge, Ichin chuckled.
"Relax. Even if she did swing that way, she wouldn't go after you. You don't like girls anyway, right?"
Yukino nodded, a little relieved.
"Still, I'll tell Mother when we get back. She should keep arranging blind dates for Sister. I'll help her screen the candidates. Let's marry her off sooner."
"Not marry off—bring in a son-in-law."
"Ah, right, that's what I meant."
Meanwhile, Utaha sliced meat with practiced ease, smiling.
"Even if you keep finding candidates, matching Haruno is tough. Harder than getting Hiratsuka-sensei married, I'd say."
"I'd call it even. Both are near impossible."
Somehow, teasing Hiratsuka had become part of their daily routine—not a good habit, but one hard to break.
After a lively housewarming dinner, Haruno was officially settled into her new home. With Ichin, Utaha, and Yagami downstairs, the place was bound to get even livelier.
---
The next day was Monday. Though it was summer break, Ichin headed to the company.
Utaha, meanwhile, accompanied Yukino to fetch her cat from the Sawamura family, then the two of them went to Fushikawa Publishing.
Having taken half a month off with Ichin, Utaha figured it was time to show her face at the publishing house and talk with editor Machida Sonoko about her novels and anime adaptations.
The Love Metronome anime had been a huge success. Ratings, BD sales, and overseas licensing had brought great profits to Kyoto Animation, Fushikawa, and Utaha alike. As a result, her next work's adaptation had already been signed with Kyoto Animation.
But since KyoAni still had one TV series and a movie in production, Utaha's anime had been pushed back slightly.
Now that those projects were finished, it was finally her turn.
While Ichin worked at the company, Utaha brought Yukino along to keep her company. Yukino was also curious about anime production and was glad to sit in.
---
At the company, Ichin was greeted with a warm welcome.
After saying hello to everyone, he headed straight to the Fall Guys dev team.
It was already August, and the early-August update had rolled out—a major patch adding several new maps and, besides skins, a crossover with GARO.
Though GARO wasn't as popular as the "big three" of tokusatsu (Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and Super Sentai), it still had a loyal fanbase.
The Fall Guys GARO skins were especially well-received—chibi versions with the distinct armor of Garo and Shinga. Players went all-out grinding to unlock them.
Just the other day, when Ichin logged in from Shanghai, he saw plenty of players running around in those golden skins. They looked flashy and cool.
Hazuki handed him a report with a smile.
"Thanks to the GARO crossover and our promotions, this update brought in a lot of new players. Plus, in the patch notes we advertised Toei's new GARO project, so their series got extra attention too. A win-win."
Looking over the collaboration data report, Ichin nodded again and again.
With results like this, negotiating future collaborations would be much easier.
---
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