"Big haul, big haul!" Wearing a deeply satisfied smile, Yuki turned her head, squinting her eyes happily as she looked at Utaha, who was also wearing a contented, faint smile.
"Right? Utaha."
"Yeah, a big haul." Smiling gently, Utaha looked down at the bags full to the brim in her hands, her tone gaining a hint of anticipation. "I wonder if Ayase will be happy. I accidentally bought so much."
"She'll definitely be happy." Yuki gave a firm nod, linking her arm through her best friend's, and looked at the bags in Utaha's hands with a gaze brimming with quiet emotion.
She really hadn't expected that her best friend, who usually maintained a cold and aloof demeanor at school except in front of a few close friends and her lover, would be so thoughtful in picking out clothes for her boyfriend's little sister.
It seemed Kyoko was absolutely right when she said, 'Utaha is the virtuous wife.'
"With such a virtuous, gentle, and generous sister-in-law, Ayase will definitely be happy. Maybe in the future, she'll want her sister-in-law more than her own brother."
Watching Yuki say this with absolute seriousness and a 'Just wait, what I say is definitely right!' tone, Utaha couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"No way, Ayase is very clingy to Miyahito."
Saying this, she suddenly realized that reality might actually be quite similar to what Yuki said.
Miyahito would complain to her from time to time: "Ayase hasn't called me at all recently. And every time I call her, her first words are 'Where's Onee-san?' Utaha, am I being rejected by Ayase? Or has she finally reached her rebellious phase?"
(Utaha: Hmm... maybe you're just too naggy?)
Thinking about how, when Ayase comes to Tokyo on weekends now, she calls her, the "older sister," directly, without even thinking to tell her own biological brother... Utaha's gaze flickered with a trace of wavering. But the next second, she returned to normal.
"Really?" Not noticing the fleeting hesitation in her best friend's eyes, Yuki gave a small shake of her head, brushing her random thoughts aside. Her gaze caught on a newly opened ice cream shop in the mall, and she pointed at it excitedly, turning to Utaha with a voice bubbling with pure joy.
"Wow! Utaha! Let's go eat ice cream!"
"Eh." Following the direction Yuki pointed, Utaha said with some difficulty, "Ice cream... the calories are so high... Recently, my numbers are looking a bit dangerous."
"It's fine!"
Yuki, who had never worried about her weight, carelessly pulled Utaha's arm.
"Calories only exist in hot fried chicken and hamburgers! Ice cream is refrigerated, and it's cold when you eat it, so it doesn't have calories!"
".....Really?"
I read a lot, don't try to trick me.
"Really, really." Nodding her little head like a chick pecking rice, Yuki was practically slapping her modest chest as she declared loudly.
"I eat ice cream, and my weight hasn't increased in three years!"
"..."
Listening to Yuki's words, for some reason, Utaha's gaze subconsciously drifted to the area where her and Yuki's figures differed so drastically.
Hmm... Yuki's words are probably, maybe, likely highly credible, right?
Just as Utaha was about to be led astray by Yuki, the scales in her heart gradually tipping toward the side of "Yuki is right, ice cream is cold, so no matter how much you eat, it won't increase your calorie intake"...
Tap—!
A palm carrying a faint trace of body warmth suddenly landed on Utaha's right shoulder.
Utaha immediately turned her head to look behind her. The moment the figure of the palm's owner appeared in her wine-red eyes, Utaha completely froze.
Sensing her best friend's strange reaction, Yuki looked blankly at the stunned Utaha, then turned her head while asking, "What's wrong, Utaha?"
Then, Yuki also completely froze.
Who was this woman wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed sun hat in the middle of a mall during broad daylight, dressed in a cyan bohemian-style long dress?
And why was she placing her hand on her best friend's shoulder?
"Mhm? Are you that happy to see your mom~?"
Under Yuki's gaze, the lady, with the corners of her lips curling into a slight arc, withdrew her hand and took off the sunglasses on her face.
"U↗ta↘ha↗-chan↗?"
Eh? Eh!
Ehhhhhhhh!!
... (A short while later)
Inside the cold drink shop.
Kao and Utaha, this mother-daughter pair. The daughter stared at her mother with a grave expression and a look that screamed, "What are you doing in Tokyo?"
As for the mother, she wore a faint smile, seemingly completely unconcerned as she pinched a spoon and stirred the iced coffee topped with ice cream in front of her.
Sitting on the same side as Utaha, Yuki hugged her chocolate parfait like a trembling little rabbit cornered against a wall. She carefully glanced at this mother and daughter, whose styles were completely different, and then imperceptibly scooted her body toward the edge of the seat.
So scary!
Why is the atmosphere so heavy!
Seeming to notice the daughter's classmate's mood, Kao, who had been resting her cheek on one hand while stirring the coffee and ice cream in her cup with the other, stopped her movements and sat up a bit straighter.
Turning her head, she looked at Yuki with a gentle smile, her tone radiating warmth and grace as she asked the little girl.
"Nice to meet you. Are you Utaha's classmate?"
"Mhm, mhm." For a moment, with her cheeks slightly flushed, Yuki replied softly to Kao, while secretly envying her in her heart: 'Utaha's mom is really so gentle!'
"Hello, Auntie. My name is Yoshikawa Yuki."
"Then, may I call you Yuki?"
"Mhm, mhm, mhm, no problem at all, Auntie."
At this moment, Utaha, who had been keeping a tense face and a guarded posture, watched as her mother chatted up the silly Yuki in just a few words. Feeling that this was not good (mainly worried that this silly Yuki would spill all the secrets she had been hiding from her parents), Utaha hurriedly interrupted.
"Are you here alone today? Where's Dad?"
"Oh, your dad went back to the hotel to rest."
After taking a sip of the sweet iced coffee through the straw, Kao blinked her wine-red eyes, which were strikingly similar to her daughter's, and cast a somewhat meaningful glance at her guarded daughter.
Hehe, so vigilant? It seems my dear daughter really is hiding something from me.
Thinking this, her gaze fell on the shopping bags piled on the seat by the two little girls. Secretly sighing, 'Such a huge loophole, let's see how you explain this,' Kao asked in a feigned nonchalant tone.
"By the way, why did Utaha suddenly buy so many clothes?"
"Didn't you hate picking out clothes the most when your dad and I used to take you shopping?"
Hearing this, Utaha paused for a moment, and the next second, she screamed internally.
'Crap! Damn it! I let my guard down and fell for it!'
"Eh? Is that so?"
"Mhm, mhm, it is, Yuki-chan~ In the past, Utaha hated shopping the most. I'm quite curious why she bought so many clothes for herself today."
"No, Auntie, actually most of these are um..."
"Is it really okay for Dad to be alone at the hotel? Mom, you should hurry back and check on him."
"Eh, your dad isn't a child, it's fine. But you, Utaha-chan~~ Why are you suddenly covering your friend's mouth? I don't remember teaching you to be so rude."
"....This is just how Yuki and I interact! What? Is that not allowed?"