Arriving at the classroom, Ichin greeted his classmates and then found a seat to sit down.
After settling in and chatting with a few classmates nearby, he quickly realized that every one of them had enjoyed themselves quite thoroughly yesterday.
They were all guys who already had girlfriends—just by looking at their expressions, it was obvious where they had gone and what they had been up to last night.
He originally wanted to tease these smug fellows a bit, but when he thought about what had happened to him yesterday, it didn't seem like he had much room to mock anyone else.
Better to just focus on class.
There was only one class in the afternoon. After it ended, Ichin packed up his things, gave Utaha a call to let her know, and then went to find Yukino, who was waiting downstairs by the teaching building. The two of them got into the car and drove away from campus together.
While driving, Ichin said to Yukino in the passenger seat, "Let's go to the supermarket first, then head home. The clothes we changed out of yesterday need to be washed too."
Yukino nodded and gave a soft response, but didn't say much else.
Ichin glanced at her and smiled. "Still not used to it? To be honest, I'm the same. There are a lot of things I haven't really figured out yet either. Let's just take it slow—there's still a long road ahead of us."
Yukino turned to look at him and said, "I understand. This is actually quite nice too."
Soon, the two arrived at the supermarket, grabbed a shopping cart, and started picking things out.
As they walked through the aisles, Ichin looked at Yukino beside him. After a moment's thought, he reached out, took her hand, and then let her hook her arm around his.
"Let's walk like this."
Yukino froze for a second, then leaned a little closer to him, her face faintly flushed as the corners of her lips curved into a gentle, pretty smile.
The change in Yukino's mood was something Ichin could clearly feel, and his own spirits lifted even further.
They went to the meat section and picked out some spare ribs, then stopped by the seafood section and chose a fresh sea bass.
After selecting what Utaha and Yukino wanted to eat, Ichin said, "Yukino, give Haruno a call and ask if she's coming home for dinner tonight—and what she wants to eat."
"Okay."
Yukino took out her phone and called her older sister.
The call connected quickly, and Haruno's voice came through.
"Good afternoon~ Yukino-chan! What's this, calling your big sister out of the blue?"
Although she'd been pretty down when she left yesterday, judging by her voice now, Haruno seemed to have bounced back.
Yukino said, "Sis, are you coming back for dinner tonight? We're at the supermarket right now."
"Eh~~ really?"
Haruno sounded even more cheerful. "Looks like Ichin is being quite sincere! Let me think—I want braised pork! And chicken wings too!"
Ichin, standing right next to Yukino, naturally heard Haruno's voice and immediately leaned over. "Haruno-nee, that's too much meat. You can pick at most one meat dish, and I'll make two vegetable dishes to go with it."
"Eh!!! You're so stingy!"
In the end, though, Haruno agreed. After asking what dishes were already planned, she chose braised pork.
"Alright, I got it—braised pork it is. I'll go take a look and buy some pork belly. Haruno-nee, you won't be working overtime today, right?"
"That's right! No overtime! I'll come straight back after work for dinner! Okay then, I'm hanging up—I've got to get back to work!"
With the promise of a big dinner waiting, Haruno was unusually energetic and hung up immediately to continue working.
After the call ended, Ichin looked at Yukino and said, "Haruno-nee has really turned into a foodie now."
Yukino smiled and nodded. "Yeah. She's not as annoying as she used to be."
After finishing their shopping, the two of them paid and left the supermarket together.
As soon as they stepped out, Ichin noticed a milk tea shop open across the street from the supermarket and said to Yukino, "Want some milk tea?"
Yukino had noticed it too. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "Sure, let's go take a look."
With that, the two of them first put the groceries into the car, then went over and bought two cups of milk tea.
After that, Ichin drove while Yukino sat in the passenger seat, holding a cup in one hand. As she drank her own, she also fed Ichin a little from time to time.
It was the first time she had ever done something like this, yet she liked it very much.
Before long, the two of them arrived home.
After putting the groceries away and tossing the clothes into the washing machine, Ichin looked at Yukino and said, "Alright, Yukino, you go rest for a bit too. I need to prep the ingredients for dinner first."
Yukino glanced at the time in the living room, then walked over and tugged lightly on Ichin's clothes. "I-It's still early. Let's stay together for a while."
"Hm?"
Ichin looked at Yukino's expression with some confusion, then thought for a moment. "Ah~ was this something Utaha taught you?"
Seeing Yukino's cheeks grow even redder, Ichin knew his guess was right.
He really didn't know how Utaha managed it.
Shaking his head, Ichin ultimately didn't go into the kitchen. He put the ingredients into the fridge instead—it wouldn't matter if he handled them a bit later. After all, there really was still plenty of time.
Leading Yukino to sit down in the living room, Ichin held her hand and asked, "Your body's really fine now, right?"
Yukino nodded with a flushed face. "Mm, it's already fine."
She then glanced at Ichin a few more times, as if thinking about something.
Ichin didn't notice. He reached behind a cushion, pulled out the TV remote, and turned on the television.
As for the two cats at home, they were sprawled out on the cat tree, taking an afternoon nap. They only opened their eyes briefly when Ichin came back, then didn't move again.
Hearing the TV, Yukino looked at what was playing, then said to Ichin, "It's just the two of us right now."
"Yeah. Are you sleepy? If you are, you can lean over and rest for a bit."
The moment he finished speaking, Ichin felt a sudden force, and the next thing he knew, Yukino had pushed him down onto the sofa.
In the very next second, Yukino leaned down and kissed him. Ichin's eyes widened in disbelief.
Good grief—again? For the second time?
...
At four o'clock, Ichin—having finished showering and changed clothes—was in the kitchen prepping the ingredients for dinner, stretching his lower back as he worked.
He really hadn't expected Yukino to be that bold, to directly pounce on him like that.
Luckily, he hadn't panicked in the end and had relied on experience to get through it—otherwise, that would have been truly embarrassing.
"But this won't do if it keeps going like this. I need to up my exercise and add some dietary supplements. I don't want to be 'not working' in a few years."
While thinking about his future workout plans, Ichin put the sliced pork belly into the pot to blanch it.
Just as he was about to marinate the ribs, the kitchen door opened.
Yukino, dressed in her pajamas, walked in. Seeing Ichin, she wrapped her arms around him from behind.
Feeling Yukino's warmth against his back, Ichin asked gently, "Not going to take a nap?"
Yukino shook her head. "I just wanted to hug you a bit more."
She was a little too soft and cute—just like a kitten.
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