He was wearing a dark green short sleeve jacket, and there was a white towel hanging around his neck.
Ordinary features came together into a friendly smiling face, giving people an honest and dependable feeling just by looking at him.
And this middle aged man who looked honest and simple was also sizing up Hikari.
His eyes flickered a little, as if he was very surprised by this boy who seemed close to Sayako.
At this moment, Sayako, who had come back to her senses, quickly started introducing their identities to each other.
She first pointed at the middle aged man and said to Hikari, "Hikari-kun, this is Sakai Yutaka, he is my late husband's younger brother."
"Then, he is Hikari-kun, he is my nephew," Sayako then introduced Hikari to Sakai Yutaka.
"So he is Sayako's nephew, hello, Hikari-kun," Sakai Yutaka showed a friendly smile to Hikari.
"Hello, Uncle," Hikari also smiled politely at the middle aged man in front of him.
After greeting each other, Sakai Yutaka no longer looked at Hikari and instead turned to Sayako, saying, "Sister in law, the business at the izakaya is good today, it's almost catching up to my bar."
Sayako smiled a little and said in embarrassment, "Sakai-kun, you are exaggerating. My izakaya isn't even half as big as your bar. I'm just barely making a living, don't flatter me."
"Speaking of which, Sakai-kun suddenly came by, is there something going on?"
Sakai Yutaka smiled, "It's nothing special, I just suddenly wanted to come to your izakaya for a meal, sister in law Sayako. Am I not welcome?"
Sayako quickly shook her head, "How could that be, if Sakai-kun wants to come over, of course the izakaya welcomes you."
Although he was her late husband Genji's younger brother, Sakai Yutaka came to see Sayako far less often than Ryusei Haruyoshi did.
But that didn't mean Sakai Yutaka and Sayako had a bad relationship. On the contrary, Sakai Yutaka had helped Sayako a few times.
He ran a bar, and when Sayako had just opened her izakaya, he gave her some help. At the same time, unlike Ryusei Haruyoshi who had no boundaries, Sakai Yutaka always kept a proper distance between them as uncle and sister in law, so Sayako naturally treated him politely.
"It's just the meal time right now," As she said this, Sayako turned to Hikari and said, "Hikari-kun, let's go, Auntie will take you to eat."
———
The three came to an empty table, and very soon the server brought over drinks and dishes.
Even though the three of them were chatting, the atmosphere wasn't that lively, since Sakai Yutaka and Hikari weren't familiar with each other.
On top of that, Sakai Yutaka had come without warning, so Sayako, who originally wanted to talk a lot with Hikari, also didn't know how to start.
But while the three were chatting, Sakai Yutaka suddenly asked, "Right, Sayako, how come that guy Ryusei Haruyoshi didn't come help at the izakaya today? He also didn't come to work at my bar."
Ryusei Haruyoshi worked part time at Sakai Yutaka's bar to earn money, and coming to Sayako's place counted as helping out.
Hearing Ryusei Haruyoshi mentioned, Sayako's expression shifted a little, but she quickly returned to calm and shook her head, "There was a fire at Ryusei's house, Haruyoshi kun and little Jun seem to be… gone."
Hearing this, Sakai Yutaka's expression changed, as if very shocked, but he soon returned to calm.
He didn't show much sadness at all, because although he and Ryusei Haruyoshi were both Genji's younger brothers, their relationship had never been very close.
And besides that, there seemed to be some unspoken rivalry between them.
So for Ryusei Haruyoshi's death, not only was Sakai Yutaka not sad, he even seemed a bit relieved.
Sayako didn't really notice Sakai Yutaka's emotions, but Hikari sensed them slightly.
After sighing a bit over Ryusei Haruyoshi's death and lamenting how unpredictable life was.
Sakai Yutaka suddenly said to Sayako, "Sister in law, without Haruyoshi helping out, it must be hard for you to run the izakaya alone."
"How about this, why don't you merge your izakaya with my bar, then we split the profits fifty fifty, how about it?", Sakai Yutaka looked at Sayako honestly and seriously.
In truth, for Sakai Yutaka, this was a business that would definitely lose money.
Because not to mention that his bar business was good, even in scale alone, Sayako's izakaya wasn't even half of his bar.
But the offer Sakai Yutaka made was to do business with Sayako together, sharing both profit and loss, and the profit was still split evenly.
Clearly, if the izakaya and bar merged, Sayako's monthly income would be much higher than now.
But faced with this tempting proposal, Sayako shook her head and turned it down.
"No, Sakai-kun, if we merge, you would be losing too much, it might even affect your business," Sayako said.
"It's fine, I believe that if we run it together, business will definitely be better," Sakai Yutaka didn't mind at all.
"Forget it, my izakaya is comfortable as it is. If I expand it, I won't be able to handle it," Sayako refused again.
"A bigger scale, I'm confident I can manage it. I still have energy to spare right now, and even if I really can't manage, we can hire someone to help," Sakai Yutaka kept speaking, his tone very sincere.
"No need for that. I'm not used to running a shop with other people, I still prefer handling it alone, so don't say any more."
Seeing Sakai Yutaka pestering her like he was trying to force benefits on her, Sayako felt a bit of a headache.
Hearing Sayako say this, Sakai Yutaka didn't continue the topic and instead chatted about other things.
And after ending this conversation, Sayako immediately turned her head and started talking with Hikari, who hadn't been able to join the conversation earlier.
After chatting for a while, a staff member came over and said to Sayako.
"Manager, the account book is full. Do we have a new one?"
Sayako quickly stood up, "Yes, I'll go get one for you."
The account book was something Sayako cared about, and to avoid mistakes, she always used the same type.
Since it was full, she had no choice but to go get another.
But before leaving, Sayako pulled on Hikari, "Hikari-kun, Auntie has some things to grab, come with me to the storage room."
Hearing this, Hikari immediately stood up and followed Sayako away from the table.
———
After arriving at the storage room, Sayako quickly found the account book and had another passing staff member take it to the front desk.
But after finishing that, she didn't leave. Instead she pulled Hikari back into the storage room and closed the door.
Seeing Sayako sigh in relief, Hikari felt a little confused, "Aunt Sayako, aren't we going back after getting the account book, or is there something else to find?"
Sayako shook her head, "Aside from the account book, I don't have anything else to get. I just don't really want to sit at the table anymore, so I want to rest here a bit. I hope you can stay with me, Hikari-kun."
"Because of Sakai Yutaka?", Hikari asked.
"Yeah, although Sakai-kun is enthusiastic, he is too nice to me. I can't accept his kindness. Sorry, maybe Auntie is too suspicious, but I always feel there's always another motive behind kindness that comes out of nowhere, so sitting and drinking with Sakai-kun makes me really uncomfortable," Sayako vented her thoughts to Hikari.
"Auntie's thoughts are normal. I also think Sakai Yutaka is too nice to Auntie, it's right not to accept it," Hikari nodded in agreement.
"Hehe! If Hikari-kun supports Auntie, then Auntie is happy," Sayako laughed.
"There is no kindness without a reason, but Auntie is very good to me too, even better than Sakai Yutaka is to you," Hikari said with a smile.
"How can that be the same? To Auntie, Hikari-kun is different. And Auntie cares about Hikari-kun, and Hikari-kun definitely cares about Auntie too, right?", On Sayako's beautiful face bloomed a charming smile.
Hikari nodded with a smile, "Yeah."
Saying that, he raised his head and looked at Sayako, only to find Sayako had also been staring at his face the whole time.
Under the dim yellow light of the storage room, the beautiful face of the young woman seemed to have a faint blush.
"Um… Hikari-kun…", Sayako stared at Hikari's face, her pink lips twitching a little as if she wanted to say something but felt shy.
Hikari said, "Aunt Sayako, you mean that the two of us staying in the storage room like this is boring, and who knows when that guy Sakai Yutaka will leave. So you want me to start a lesson with you, right?"
Hearing this, Sayako couldn't help but show an embarrassed yet seductive smile that made one's heart beat faster.
"More or less… That's about what I meant. You really understand Auntie, Hikari-kun," As she said this, Sayako felt both happy and a little shy.
Seeing this, Hikari knew he should take the initiative.
He stepped forward at once, closing the distance between them.
Under Sayako's slightly nervous gaze, he reached out and slowly wrapped his arm around her slim waist under her full curves.
Sayako didn't resist at all, she even leaned into his arms.
Very soon, Hikari held her beautiful and perfect body in his embrace.
"Auntie, close your eyes," Hikari said softly.
Sayako immediately closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling under the warm yellow light like fluttering fireflies.
Looking at the cute and tempting figure in his arms, Hikari lowered his head slightly and kissed her soft lips.
———
[Inside the Izakaya]
Sitting alone at the table, Sakai Yutaka was slightly frowning, drinking one cup after another.
Sakai Yutaka picked up a peanut and put it in his mouth, his expression a bit dazed.
"Sayako and that boy, how come they've been gone so long just to get something?", Sakai Yutaka sat waiting for over ten minutes already.
He knew the structure of the izakaya roughly.
Normally, from the dining hall to the storage room and back should take at most seven or eight minutes.
But it had been almost twenty minutes and Sayako and Hikari still had not returned, which he really didn't understand.
After waiting several more minutes, unable to stand it, Sakai Yutaka got up and walked to the back of the izakaya.
Following the hallway, Sakai Yutaka came to the storage room.
"Is there some noise?"
When he was about to reach the storage room, he faintly heard some strange sounds.
But when he reached the door, it seemed completely quiet inside.
He reached out and knocked on the door.
But inside the tightly locked room there was still only silence, as if no one was inside.
Seeing the stillness and the locked door, Sakai Yutaka had no choice but to go back to the table.
But when he returned, the table full of dishes was still empty of people.
He called over a staff member and asked, "Did you see your manager? Where did she go?"
The staff member shook their head.
Feeling helpless, Sakai Yutaka thought a bit and stood up again.
He passed by the storage room again, still no movement.
Having drunk too much and feeling the need, Sakai Yutaka could only go to the restroom.
But while he was in the restroom, he suddenly heard some noises from the next stall.
And they were the kind couples make when they are close, those soft moans.
Sakai Yutaka immediately showed an embarrassed look, muttered a few curses under his breath with a dark expression, and hurried out of the restroom without even washing his hands.
———
Back at the table, Sakai Yutaka found that Hikari and Sayako's seats were still empty, clearly they still hadn't returned.
The big table was still empty and quiet.
He had no choice but to call a staff member again and ask if they saw Sayako anywhere.
The staff member shook their head, "I don't think so, the manager probably went out to buy something?"
Hearing this, Sakai Yutaka was helpless, so he asked the staff member to pass along a message when Sayako came back, then left the izakaya alone.
———
[Ino Village, at the Suzumura House]
A bored Arisa was sitting on the tatami floor, watching TV.
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