At noon, Utaha and Yukino arrived a bit late because they had been at home preparing Ichin's bento. That was also when they learned about what had happened with Eriri.
Just like Ichin, Utaha and Yukino only then realized that over the past few days, they had indeed forgotten to call Eriri along for quite a few things.
Yukino, in particular, immediately fell into a bout of self-doubt.
"I'm only twenty-one… has my memory already started failing?"
Utaha laughed and gently patted Yukino's head. "That's not it at all. It's just that Eriri hasn't shown up much lately and hasn't been talking in the group chats either, so her presence naturally dropped. And it's not just us—didn't everyone else forget too? No one mentioned inviting Eriri when we went to see the movie."
Yukino nodded thoughtfully. "That's good, then. As long as it's not my problem. And lately, Eriri's presence really has been pretty low. If she doesn't fight for more screen time, she'll end up becoming a background character."
"What are you saying?! How did even you get led astray, Yukino?!" Eriri complained, swinging her twin ponytails and pointing at her own face. "Look at this! This face, this cute appearance—how could a beautiful girl like me ever be anything other than a heroine?! How could I possibly be a background character?!"
That… was actually hard to refute.
While everyone nodded along, Ichin was quietly holding back laughter on the side.
The term "blonde losing heroine" was still very fresh in his mind.
Fortunately, Ichin quickly composed himself before Eriri noticed—otherwise, she really would have exploded.
Clapping his hands, Ichin looked at everyone and said, "Alright, it's already noon. Let's go eat first. Eriri, you should head to the cafeteria too. You haven't been around these days, and the cafeteria chef has come up with a bunch of new dishes—there are even desserts after the meal. If you go late, they'll be gone!"
Hearing that, Eriri realized she actually was pretty hungry.
Glancing at the bento bag Utaha was carrying, she asked, "You're not going? Then Yukino, why don't you come down with us? After lunch, how about we go to a nearby mall? I want to buy a couple of hair ties!"
Normally, Yukino might have agreed, but today wasn't quite possible.
She looked at the bag in Utaha's hand and said, "My bento is already made too. After we finish eating, I'll come find you, Eriri, and then we can go together, okay?"
"Ehh~~ You all made bentos?!" Eriri was a little dejected, but she could only agree. Then she headed off to the cafeteria with Kō and the others.
As for Ichin and the other two, they returned to Ichin's office to eat lunch there.
Once inside, Utaha set the bento bag on the table and took out two insulated containers. Each dish had been carefully kept warm after cooking, ensuring the best possible taste.
When Ichin opened them and saw the generous portion of braised pork belly on top, a delighted smile immediately spread across his face.
"Oh! This looks amazing! You can tell at a glance it's going to be delicious."
Utaha smiled as she served Ichin a bowl of rice and handed it to him. "I reserved the meat in advance with the shop owner on the shopping street—the best cut. I went to pick it up this morning. The vegetables too, they were all delivered fresh to the shopping street today. Everything there was really good when I went grocery shopping this morning. I made the braised pork and chicken soup, while Yukino made the minced pork eggplant, sweet-and-sour cabbage, and homestyle tofu. And we didn't just make this much—we also delivered a portion to Haruno earlier. Alright, Ichin, hurry up and try it."
Ichin nodded, picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of braised pork, and put it into his mouth.
The savory flavor, combined with the perfectly tender, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly, made Ichin narrow his eyes in pure satisfaction.
"After working all morning, getting to eat such a delicious bento… this really is a wonderful thing~~~"
Yukino smiled happily as well, eating her own food while also picking dishes for Ichin.
Three dishes and a soup—everything was completely finished in the end. Ichin leaned back against the sofa, rubbing his slightly bulging stomach.
"Ahh~~ I'm full, I'm full~~~"
After tidying up the table, Utaha sat down beside Ichin. Seeing him close his eyes in contentment, she smiled and said, "Now that you're full, want to take a nap later?"
"Yeah, that's the plan. Get some rest so I can work better this afternoon," Ichin nodded, then looked at Utaha. "What about you? If you're not tired, you could go out for a walk and do some shopping with Yukino and Eriri."
"I do kind of want to go out and walk around a bit. It'll help with digestion."
As they were talking, Yukino came back after washing the insulated containers.
"Yukino, let's go down together later. If we're going to the mall, I can pick up a couple pairs of tights while I'm at it."
"Sure, that's fine," Yukino replied easily. After putting everything away, she added, "Shall we go now? Eriri just called me—she's already done eating."
"She's pretty quick," Utaha said. "Alright then, let's go."
Standing up, Utaha looked at Ichin. "Then, Ichin, we'll go out for a bit. You rest here."
"Mm, go on."
Utaha and Yukino went out, closing the office door behind them. They also hung the "Napping" sign they had prepared earlier on the doorknob to prevent interruptions.
With the office quiet again, Ichin stretched, took out the blanket he kept in the cabinet, and lay down on the sofa. After scrolling on his phone for about ten minutes, he closed his eyes and started his nap.
Meanwhile, after going downstairs, Utaha and Yukino met up with Eriri, Kō, and Rin. The five of them went together to a nearby shopping mall.
Eriri bought several cute hair ties, while Utaha, as usual, picked out a few pairs of tights.
After watching Utaha choose, Yukino also tried selecting two pairs for herself, planning to give them a try. When she wore long skirts, she usually paired them with short socks, and back in high school, her uniform skirt had gone with black knee-high socks. She had never really tried tights before and felt it might be worth experimenting.
Seeing both of them choose tights—especially noticing that Yukino had started wearing them—Eriri was extremely surprised.
"Yukino, why are you starting to copy Utaha now?" Eriri said, standing beside her. "I was even thinking about whether I should try white stockings."
"You actually could try them," Kō said, picking up a pair of stockings and looking them over. "I usually just wear pants. The last time I dealt with stockings was probably back in high school."
Hearing that, Eriri nodded thoughtfully.
Then… maybe she should give it a try too?
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