After his parents arrived, although they were technically here for vacation, the very next morning they still woke up early as usual. Ichin's mother even personally prepared breakfast.
Since they had both gotten their driver's licenses long ago, they drove into the city early in the morning and returned with a car full of groceries.
At eight thirty, Ichin came out of his room and heard movement downstairs.
When he went down to take a look, he saw his mother at the dining table wrapping wontons.
"Mom, did you buy these wonton wrappers?"
"Yes," she replied with a smile. "I'm used to waking up early. After getting up, your father and I drove around and found a Chinese supermarket selling wonton wrappers. They looked pretty good, so we bought some to make breakfast. Where's Utaha? Still not up?"
"She's awake. She'll be down soon."
Glancing at the neatly arranged wontons on the table, Ichin said, "I'll brush my teeth and wash up, then come help you wrap more. By the way, where's Dad?"
"He wrapped some earlier and just took a portion over to the Sawamura family. He'll be back soon."
Just as she finished speaking, the villa's front door opened and Ichin's father walked in.
Seeing his son, he smiled. "Perfect timing. I called them first. They hadn't eaten breakfast yet either, so today they're having wontons just like us."
Ichin nodded. "Alright, I'll go brush my teeth."
By the time he finished washing up and came back out, Utaha and the others were already awake as well.
When the last one, Haruno, finally finished freshening up and came downstairs, the wontons had just been cooked and brought out.
After happily enjoying a homemade breakfast from his mother, it was time to take his parents out sightseeing. Tokyo did not have that many new places for them to visit, but since they had not brought many clothes, they still needed to buy a few summer outfits.
They went out shopping for clothes, had lunch, and spent the afternoon at the aquarium. In the evening, they returned home for dinner. Umiko even brought Nenene over to join them for a meal.
After dinner, the two of them left. Ichin's mother leaned closer to her son and whispered, "I really didn't expect Umiko and Nene to be together."
Ichin remained calm. "These days, that's completely normal. As long as they're happy, that's what matters. Besides, you should know that Umiko's previous company was entirely female. Not a single male employee. Even on my side, the number of male staff only increased gradually as we expanded. Even now, about sixty percent of our employees are women."
"That's true. I'm not against it or anything."
After taking a sip of tea, she continued, "You can go back to work tomorrow. Utaha and the others will take your father and me out. On Wednesday, when we go to Chiba, will you come with us in the morning or after work?"
That Wednesday, they would be visiting the Yukinoshita family, so Ichin definitely had to be there.
"I'll leave work a bit early," Ichin said. "I'll be there before dinner for sure. I'll be going back home for a week soon, and the company's project is in its final stage. I can't keep stepping away these few days."
Meanwhile, Ichin's father sat with two cats in his arms, smiling. "Just focus on your work. We'll have plenty of places to explore."
Using a toothpick to spear a cube of watermelon, Haruno nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly, exactly. Ichin, your priority right now is your career. Leave the rest to us."
Ichin shot her a look. "I wonder who it was that was working overtime late into the night just a few days ago, and now suddenly dumps everything on their employees to take a vacation."
Haruno did not argue back. She simply stuck out her tongue at him playfully and continued eating watermelon.
While they were snacking, Utaha and Yukino sat close together with a tablet, researching places to visit in Chiba.
Although Yukino was from Chiba, she had lived in Tokyo for several years and had never been fond of wandering around. In fact, she knew fewer tourist spots than actual visitors.
It made sense. The second daughter had a slight tendency to get lost. When going out alone, she rarely ventured anywhere unfamiliar, even with navigation on her phone.
Seeing them whispering to each other, Ichin picked up one of the watermelon bowls and moved closer, feeding each of them a piece before asking, "Found any interesting places?"
"Yes," Utaha replied with a smile after swallowing her bite. "On the second day in Chiba, Ichin, will you come with us too?"
"I can," Ichin said, "but I might have to head back to Tokyo in the afternoon. There's still a lot of work before I return home."
"We know. We won't keep you from going back."
With that, Utaha took the bowl from his hands and continued eating with Yukino. There was still a larger bowl on the coffee table, more than enough for him.
"Mm…"
Watching the bowl disappear, Ichin honestly felt a little reluctant. He had noticed that this particular bowl had the sweetest center pieces.
Utaha, perceptive as ever, caught his gaze. Smiling, she picked up a juicy piece and popped it into her mouth while looking at him.
"I saw it too. These are mine and Yukino's now. Come on, Yukino, say ah~"
"Alright."
They were both his girls anyway. Let them have it.
After two more days of sightseeing in Tokyo, Wednesday morning arrived. Haruno drove Yukino, Utaha, and Ichin's parents to Chiba.
Ichin planned to leave Tokyo around three in the afternoon to join them.
That morning, after Utaha and the others departed, Ichin headed to the company with Eriri, bringing all six of their cats along.
At the office, seeing only Ichin, Eriri, and the six freshly released cats, Kō Yagami asked curiously, "Uncle and Aunt went to Chiba?"
"Yeah. Utaha and the others went with them. I'll head over this afternoon and come back tomorrow afternoon." Accepting an iced cola from Rin Toyama, Ichin opened it and took a sip. "Kō, I'll be going back to Shanghai on Sunday, and Eriri will come with me. We'll be back next Sunday."
"Got it. We'll take care of things here," Kō said with a grin. "So nice. At the end of the year, I'm going to take a few days of annual leave early and travel with Rin."
"Of course. I didn't give you annual leave to stop you from using it."
By the end of the year, Bloodborne would probably just be in its early planning stage, so there would be no rush. If everyone wanted to take time off to travel, that was perfectly fine.
After chatting for a while, Ichin was about to head to the programming team when he saw Hazuki's cat, gracefully walking over. The cat found Ichin's group of six and began a long overdue feline exchange.
Watching the cats mingle, Ichin stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Hmm… when they went back home in a few days, someone would need to take care of the cats.
But who should he ask?
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