Ten minutes later, Ichin came downstairs after finishing his shower.
The moment he stepped down, he saw Utaha, Yukino, and Haruno all turning their heads toward him at the exact same time, startling him badly.
Even his hands, which were using a towel to dry his hair, froze mid-motion.
Walking down the stairs, Ichin looked at the three girls cautiously.
"What's with you guys?"
"Ichin~~~"
Haruno waved at him while speaking in an especially sweet voice.
"Come here, we want your help with something~~"
Ichin immediately felt goosebumps rising all over his body. The caution in his eyes did not lessen in the slightest as he walked over and sat beside Utaha.
"Alright, tell me. What exactly is it?"
Then he watched as all three girls simultaneously raised their right legs.
"Ichin, whose legs do you think look the best?"
"..."
Ichin froze for a full five seconds before blinking a few times and staring at them speechlessly.
"If you're really that bored, go bite a lighter or something."
Utaha smacked his arm lightly, then shook her long legs proudly.
"Hurry up already!"
"You girls really are bored... and how did even Yukino get dragged into this?"
Hearing that, Yukino's cheeks turned slightly red.
"Sister started it. I'm just casually joining in."
"Fine, fine."
Ichin waved his hand helplessly and honestly did not mind much. No matter how he looked at it, this was basically just the girls giving him eye candy.
Though thinking about it carefully, two of them were his girls, while the other was his sister-in-law. The whole situation felt strangely amusing.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Ichin first carefully looked over the two he was most familiar with, Utaha and Yukino, before quickly glancing a couple times at Haruno.
"Mhm... plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum. Each one has her own unique charm. None of you have any flaws."
Utaha and Yukino had only been playing around anyway, so they were not seriously trying to compete with each other. Naturally, Ichin's answer did not bother them at all.
But Haruno was dissatisfied. Puffing up her cheeks, she looked at him and complained:
"Ichin, you're seriously unreliable. All three of our leg shapes are different, you know? Can't you give a more detailed evaluation?"
Ichin spread his hands helplessly.
"Haruno-nee, you should know this kind of thing is completely subjective. Even if you force me to keep judging, there's no way I'd let you win no matter what. Besides, I wasn't lying. Right now, with all three of you bare-legged, each of you really does have your own charm. Forcing a 'best' out of that would just be unfair."
Utaha also nodded in agreement.
"I think Ichin's right. Under these conditions, it's honestly hard to decide a winner. Besides, from a guy's perspective, all of them look great anyway. Even though Ichin never says it out loud, he's definitely a leg lover too."
Seeing Utaha's teasing gaze, Ichin helplessly pinched her cheek.
"Why say it out loud? It's enough if you know it yourself."
Utaha stuck out her tongue playfully before turning to Haruno.
"Of course, if I had my equipment on, things would be different. Haruno-san, between the three of us, you usually don't wear stockings with skirts, right?"
"Uh... yeah. I think I get what you mean now, Utaha."
Haruno was already familiar with the three of their clothing habits.
She herself usually wore skirts without stockings, while Utaha wore black pantyhose all year round. As for Yukino, she normally preferred over-the-knee black stockings, though recently she occasionally started wearing pantyhose like Utaha too.
Looking at it that way, if those two wore stockings, Haruno really would not have much advantage.
Thinking about it, Haruno could not help rolling her eyes at Ichin.
"Hmph, black stocking fetishist."
In response, Ichin simply shrugged and silently admitted it.
That was right, he liked black stockings. So what?
Just like his love for girls with long black hair, his obsession with black stockings was engraved into his DNA and impossible to change.
The meaningless leg comparison contest ended quickly, and since it was getting late, everyone returned to their own rooms to rest.
As the first half of April passed, Yukino gradually adapted to her graduate campus life and no longer felt as exhausted as she had in the beginning.
Meanwhile, Ichin had more or less finished arranging his work schedule. Around the same time, his mother called and told them to make time to come back home over the next few days. It was time to choose formal outfits and discuss wedding photography plans.
Ichin immediately agreed and decided they would head back on Saturday.
"Oh! So next week we finally get to choose bridesmaid dresses?!"
The moment Hajime heard the news, she instantly jumped up excitedly.
Ichin laughed.
"It's only Wednesday today, so you still have a few days. Don't forget to pack your luggage. We'll fly there on Saturday and come back Wednesday. There's still a lot to handle, so during the weekend I'll treat you girls to some good food first as an early reward."
"Yay!"
The foodie Momiji Mochizuki could not help swallowing eagerly when she heard there would be delicious food. Clenching her tiny fists dramatically, she declared:
"Feel free to command me however you want!"
As long as there was food involved, nothing else mattered.
Utaha, standing nearby, added:
"There honestly shouldn't be too much to do this time. We're mostly just looking at dresses. If we can't find suitable ones, we'll redesign them. As for my wedding dress, I've already looked through some designs and picked a few I like. I'll try them on when we get there. And for your dresses, if you want completely custom designs, that's fine too. This time, don't worry about the budget. My bridesmaids should have the best too!"
Her words carried one very clear message:
Money is not an issue.
Iijima Yun calculated her workload for the week before speaking:
"Mhm, three days shouldn't be too much of a problem. Work shouldn't get delayed for long. Oh right, we won't need to take extra leave for these three days, right?"
Ichin waved his hand grandly.
"No need. Consider it a paid business trip. You won't have to spend a single yen yourselves."
Ichin genuinely did not care about this level of expense. After all, during the wedding itself, these bridesmaids would have plenty of responsibilities to handle.
After finishing the discussion about returning home on Saturday, everyone went back to work.
Ichin also took out his phone and sent Yukino a message, reminding her to request leave from university over the next two days.
Ten minutes later, Yukino replied that she had already taken care of it.
"Ichin, don't forget about Haruno too."
"Yeah, I know. I'm calling her now."
One phone call later, Haruno naturally agreed without any issue as well.
After confirming that everyone was free, Ichin arranged the flight tickets for Saturday. Even Utaha's parents would be going back together with them.
Back in the office, Ichin sat down on the sofa with Utaha in his arms and looked at her.
"After today, we'll finally be going back to try on wedding dresses. Excited?"
Utaha happily wrapped her arms around Ichin's neck and nodded with a bright smile.
"Of course I'm excited. I've been waiting for this day for a long time. Oh right, Ichin, besides Western wedding dresses, do you think I should also choose a traditional Chinese-style one? We should probably have a chance to use it too, right?"
"Don't worry. Mom already talked to me about that too. We'll pick them together after we get back."
....
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