At last, the day to depart for TGA arrived.
After getting up early and having breakfast, Ichin grabbed his suitcase. Haruno drove, taking him along with Utaha and Yukino to the airport.
By the time they arrived, Hazuki, Yagami Kou, and Toyama Rin were already there as well.
After everyone gathered, Ichin checked the time and said, "It's about time. Let's go through security and board. Haruno, you guys should head back too. Maybe catch some extra sleep. It's still early, and it's Saturday today."
Haruno nodded. Since Ichin was heading out on a business trip this time, she didn't tease him like usual. Instead, she looked at him and said, "Be careful when you're over there. If you can avoid going out, then don't. There have been some major incidents recently."
"Got it."
After agreeing, Ichin hugged Utaha and Yukino, and was then pulled in by Haruno for a light hug as well before following Hazuki and the others through security.
Before long, it was time to board. The four of them got on the plane and found their seats in first class.
Since this was a rare business trip, there was no way they would treat themselves poorly. First class was a given, and money wasn't an issue anyway.
After sitting down, Ichin stretched comfortably and glanced at the window. "Twelve hours of flying… this is going to be rough."
Hazuki, seated beside him, smiled and said, "Can't be helped. TGA is held in the U.S., after all. Just bear with it. Sleep a bit and it'll pass."
"Yeah, at least there are movies and music. Otherwise, staying awake would be unbearable."
Yagami Kou and Toyama Rin were seated in the row behind them. Hearing their conversation, Kou leaned forward with a grin.
"I think it's not that you can't endure it, but that you'll miss Utaha and Yukino, right?"
"That's true, but saying it out loud like that is a bit cruel, Kou," Ichin replied, turning his head to look at her. "If I'd known this trip would be like this, I wouldn't have brought both you and Rin. I should've only brought one of you."
"Hey! Ichin, you're a devil!"
Rin simply sat there with a gentle smile, listening quietly as she browsed through movies on the tablet in front of her.
Soon, the plane took off. Ichin, feeling bored, put on his headphones and slowly listened to music. Before long, he fell asleep. Hazuki and the others did the same. There wasn't much entertainment on the plane, and after scrolling through the movies without finding anything interesting, sleeping was the best way to pass the time.
These kinds of flights with heavy time zone shifts were something Ichin really couldn't get used to.
After eating a rather mediocre airplane meal and drifting through the twelve-hour journey in a daze, the plane finally landed smoothly.
Staggering off the plane and seeing the clear blue sky outside, Ichin felt his head buzzing.
"Let's go. Grab the luggage and head to the hotel. I need a full day to properly adjust to the time difference."
After collecting their luggage, two hotel cars were already waiting outside the airport.
Once they confirmed their identities with the drivers, the four of them were taken to a five-star hotel near the venue.
This time, they had booked two premium suites. One was for Yagami Kou and Toyama Rin, and the other was for Ichin and Hazuki.
Kou and Rin's suite had one bedroom, while Ichin and Hazuki's had two.
Originally, Ichin had planned for each of them to have their own suite, but Hazuki said she would feel unsafe staying alone, so they ended up sharing one suite instead.
Unfortunately, there were no three-bedroom suites available, and the presidential suites had already been fully booked. Otherwise, they would have gone with that.
Taking their room keys and riding the elevator up, the four of them found their rooms and walked in.
There was a spacious living room, a master bedroom, and a secondary bedroom. The master bedroom even had its own private bathroom, so there wouldn't be any conflicts.
Looking at Hazuki, Ichin said, "Hazuki, you take the master bedroom. I'll use the other one."
"Hmm? Really?"
Hazuki smiled. "Then I won't hold back."
"Of course. I don't really mind whether I take the master or the secondary bedroom. At this level of hotel, neither will be bad."
"Alright then, I'll take the master!"
Hazuki nodded happily and pulled her luggage into the master bedroom.
Ichin went into the secondary bedroom. Just as he had said, the room was still well-decorated and comfortable, fitting for the price.
After putting down his luggage, Ichin went to the bathroom and washed his face, finally feeling a bit more refreshed.
When he came out, Hazuki had already finished organizing her things and was sitting on the sofa in the living room.
"Hazuki, are you hungry? If you are, we can go grab something to eat."
"I'm not," Hazuki said, stretching lazily as she leaned back on the sofa with the remote in hand. "What about you?"
"I'm not that hungry either. I'm going to rest a bit in my room. If you want something, just have the hotel send it up or go to the restaurant."
Running a hand through his hair, Ichin went straight into his bedroom and lay down on the bed.
He sent a message to Utaha and Yukino on his phone, then put on his headphones and slowly closed his eyes again while listening to music.
When he woke up again, it was already past five in the afternoon. He had slept for over seven hours in one go.
When Ichin came out of the bedroom with his hair all messy, Hazuki was in the living room, working on her laptop.
Seeing him, she smiled. "Good afternoon, Ichin. How did you sleep?"
"Pretty good. Didn't you rest?"
"I did," Hazuki replied. "I had a simple lunch with Kou and Rin at the restaurant, then took a nap in the afternoon. I just woke up about an hour earlier than you."
Pointing toward the bathroom, she added, "Go take a shower and freshen up. We'll head out for dinner soon."
"Yeah, I am getting a bit hungry."
Rubbing his stomach, Ichin went back to his room to grab a change of clothes, then headed to take a shower.
As for dinner… well, Ichin didn't have any expectations at all. He simply ordered a steak and some random sides just to fill his stomach.
Fortunately, the steak was of good quality and tasted quite nice. The grilled wings and fries were decent too, but the cream mushroom soup was something Ichin absolutely couldn't get used to.
After returning to the room, Ichin said to the three of them, "Honestly, starting tomorrow, why don't we just borrow the hotel kitchen and cook for ourselves?"
Hazuki and the others exchanged glances, then nodded in unison. "No problem!"
...
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