After dinner, Masao Tanaka still drove Yukinoshita Yukino home.
The next day was Friday evening.
After three consecutive days at Masao Tanaka's house, Yukinoshita Yukino had grown somewhat familiar with it.
On the way to drive Yukinoshita Yukino home, Masao Tanaka said,
"Xuezhixia Classmate, I'm going to Tokyo tomorrow. Let's do the tutoring on Sunday. It'll be a good chance for you to rest too. You've worked hard these past few days."
Yukinoshita Yukino didn't ask much about Masao Tanaka going to Tokyo; she remembered he had also gone to Tokyo last weekend.
After a moment of hesitation, Yukinoshita Yukino said,
"Since you're going to Tokyo, you can have a cheat meal there. It won't affect anything."
She ate lunch with Masao Tanaka every day, and for the past few evenings, she had been having dinner at his house. Naturally, she knew how Masao Tanaka's daily situation was.
Watching Masao Tanaka eat boiled chicken breast, boiled broccoli, boiled green peppers, boiled… every day.
Oh, and there was also very fresh, freshly squeezed vegetable juice.
Even Yukinoshita Yukino had to admit Masao Tanaka's strong willpower.
At the same time, she also felt a bit of sympathy for him.
Of course, besides sympathy, another reason was that Yukinoshita Yukino felt that suppressing one's desire to eat too much would have a negative impact on both the body and the mind.
So, this evening, she proactively suggested that Masao Tanaka could have a cheat meal and didn't need to control his diet.
Upon hearing Yukinoshita's words, the happiest person wasn't Masao Tanaka himself, but Kazumi Tanaka.
Her excitement was practically overflowing.
Yukinoshita Yukino even knew to feel bad for her silly son; progress was excellent!
So, Kazumi Tanaka, with a blissful smile, very gently rejected the suggestion.
"Eat a cheat meal? What cheat meal? Only useless people need cheat meals. Masao's willpower is very strong; he doesn't need a cheat meal at all."
Masao Tanaka was incredibly touched by his mother's trust.
His tears and drool had already dried up.
Now, Masao Tanaka was so moved when he heard Yukinoshita Yukino actually suggest he have a cheat meal that he almost cried.
As for why 'almost'?
Of course, it was because his tears had long since been dedicated to his caring mother.
"Xuezhixia Classmate, I can't help but exclaim again, you really are an angel! I truly love you so much!"
In his emotional state, Masao Tanaka couldn't control his mouth and subconsciously blurted out such exaggerated words.
Yukinoshita Yukino coughed awkwardly upon hearing this.
"Good to know."
She chose to ignore Masao Tanaka's later nonsense.
After dropping off Yukinoshita Yukino and returning home, Masao Tanaka found a note on the living room table.
It read:
"Go out and have a good meal tomorrow. It would be even better if you could invite Xiao Baihe along."
"Your loving Mother."
Beneath the note, there was also a 10,000-yen bill.
Kazumi Tanaka would naturally not withhold Masao Tanaka's weekly cheat meal.
Looking at her increasingly thin son, she felt distressed…
Oh, no, in this situation, she should be happy.
Her refusal of Yukinoshita Yukino's suggestion today was partly because the diet meal was already prepared, and if Masao Tanaka didn't eat it, it would go to waste.
Anyway, no one in the family was willing to eat such bland food for him.
On the other hand, Kazumi Tanaka had also researched some knowledge related to weight loss.
She knew that cheat meals were best on a specific day each week, in a continuous cycle, for the best results.
Masao Tanaka's last one was on Saturday, so she wanted to set it for that day.
"Mom is really something, doing this. Who is she trying to move?"
Masao Tanaka shook his head, put away the note and the money, a smile he couldn't hide on his face.
Being cared for by two women at the same time felt truly wonderful.
Regarding this, Kenji Tanaka had something to say.
"Masao, actually, your mother only left you the note. That 10,000 yen was from me. You can thank me a little too."
Father's love is like a mountain; if possible, he hoped for a few more mountains.
…
The next day, Masao Tanaka got up early, packed up, and set off for Tokyo.
Yukinoshita Yukino was still coming tomorrow, so he had to return from Tokyo this afternoon. Time was tight.
Masao Tanaka invited Kashi, but she refused.
Because our Lady Kashi had finally remembered her important mission to collect demon stones and rebuild the Demon Realm.
Now that she finally didn't have to go to school and had time, she naturally had to go find demon stones.
Although he was curious how Kashi found demon stones, Masao Tanaka, short on time, could only wait for another opportunity to ask.
…
After a long car ride, Masao Tanaka stretched his body.
He wondered if he could send the manuscripts by email next time, which would make things easier for him.
However, as soon as he had this thought, he abandoned it.
He didn't just come to Tokyo for the manuscripts.
Improving his relationship with the Sawamura family and, by the way, looking for other anime characters—that was more important and more appealing.
"Today, I'll spend more time exploring Tokyo."
With a plan in mind, Masao Tanaka arrived at the Sawamura family's house.
It was Sawamura Sayuri who came out to greet him again. He heard that Eriri had stayed up all night rushing manuscripts and hadn't woken up yet.
After handing the doujinshi manuscripts to Sawamura Sayuri, Masao Tanaka bid farewell.
Sawamura Sayuri tried to persuade him to stay, but Masao Tanaka refused, using the excuse that exams were coming soon and he needed to go back to study.
Hearing it was for studying, Sawamura Sayuri didn't insist on him staying, telling him to come back to play after his exams.
After Masao Tanaka had been gone for quite a while, Eriri came downstairs, yawning, and asked,
"Where's that Tanaka guy? Hasn't he arrived yet?"
"Tanaka-kun has already gone home."
"Gone home? Why so fast?"
"Exams are coming up, he needs to go back and review his studies."
"Oh, I see."
"What, Eriri, are you disappointed because you didn't see Tanaka-kun?"
"No way! Oh, right, where are the new doujinshi? Let me see them."