"Thanks for having us!"
The month of July had quickly arrived, meaning that the day of Rin's evaluation exam is quickly approaching. With their schedules finally aligning, Rena, Chiba, and Reina were all invited to the household to aid on Rin's remaining studies.
"I'm glad you're all able to come today~ Come on in."
"Thank you for having us, Auntie!" Chiba greeted rather cheerfully.
"Thanks for helping out my daughter. Make yourself at home, okay?"
"We will!"
"Reinaaa, can you lead them upstairs to my room? I'm going to be bringing up snacks for us."
"Will do. Let's go upstairs, then."
"Hehe, it feels like you live here with how much you know the house, Reina~"
"I just visit quite often, Ane Chiba."
As if a storm just passed, the first floor of the house suddenly became quiet anew in less than five minutes. Aware that there are still a lot of time before lunch, Sumi gingerly sat on the couch, picking up a magazine and heard the clacking of the bedroom's door opening. A chuckle has left her seeing the bedhead on Gin who had just woken up.
"I wanted to say you woke up late but you've always been oversleeping most of your time living here."
"I could hear Chiba's voice from a mile away…
Good morning, Mom…"
"It's nice that you have a day off, isn't it?
Oh, you just called me your mother."
"I… just called you my mother… That would a Freudian slip I guess…"
"Wash you face already before I explode from embarrassment…"
"Why are you getting more bashful than me…"
…
"Mhggh…! It's been so long since we all got together like this!"
While Gin and his presumed soon-to-be mother-in-law clear out the awkward air downstairs, the four girls have begun catching up on the things that they have missed, especially with Rin's absence.
"If you don't mind… can we know what really is the reason why you fell ill?"
Being the one who knows the least of the situation, it was only natural for Rena to be curious about the circumstances in the past few months, especially with the shock of seeing Rin's current appearance.
Hearing that, Rin and Reina looked at each other for a brief moment, and the former straightened up her back to give her response.
"I'm sorry, Chiba-chan, Rena… but my family and I decided that we wouldn't want to disclose the specifics of it, at least for now. But maybe time will come where I wouldn't mind telling you.
Well… only a handful of people know about it, including the hospital and the school, but even then, it's too serious of a matter for us so we asked them to keep it confidential. I say that, but Reina actually knows about it."
Then, Rin moved closer to the two of them as she spread her arms and embraced the both.
"But at least I can say that… it felt like I was one step towards the death's door for so long. Look at me now, though—I overcame it so you don't have to worry about it.
…
Chiba-chan… can you take a page from Rena and not cry too much…? My shoulder is getting soaked…"
"I gan't helb id…!"
"Now, now… Let me wipe your tears," upon Rin's release, Rena patted Chiba's head and wipe the tears of the still wailing girl. Rin and Reina felt a jolt watching the scene, realizing that Rena's maternal instincts have appeared, yet it felt like she is pacifying a small girl more than anything else.
"Maybe she somehow sees Yoru from Chiba-chan…"
"If that's what you decided, then we will respect it. But you can always lean on us if ever you feel like you're in trouble, alright?"
"You guys always are a big help to me."
"Also, I just noticed…" with her hand on her chin, Rena asked, "Were you always fond of wearing necklaces?"
"Hmm?"
"Well… it's just I've never really seen you wear one ever since we first met. A gift from Gin, I'm guessing?"
"Is it? I don't think I would consider it one since we-"
Suddenly, the room went dark with the ceiling light suddenly turning off on its own. Rin then checked multiple times on the switch and confirmed that the light bulb had already reached its lifespan.
"Sorry, give me a second… but I don't think I can reach that."
From one of her drawers, she pulled out a box of a new bulb only to walk to her door and call out from there.
"Giiiiin? Are you awake?"
"Yeah," the three heard the voice very faintly.
"My light died here upstairs so can you replace it for me? I have a new one here so you don't need to get m one."
"On it."
Thus, Rin removed the bulb rather excitedly from the box as she waits for her significant other to climb upstairs.
"Why are you so excited for a bulb, Ringo…?"
"Oh, you've finally calmed down.
In this day and age, I never thought to use a smart light."
"Wait, seriously?! I didn't know you've been living under a rock all this time!"
"My recent trip opened my eyes. I've been missing out."
"Huh… No, wait a second, how come you just called out on Gin just like that?!"
"Uhh…"
Then a knock was heard on the door of the bedroom.
"Rin, came I come in?"
"It's open!"
"Then, excuse me for a bit…"
What met their eyes is a familiar yet still drowsy man holding a stool, but Rena's observant eyes immediately caught the same lace that she saw around Rin's neck also on Gin's.
"It's been a while, Gin."
"Mhm… Good morning, Rena…"
Gin then bowed briefly and placed the stool under the light fixture.
"Don't mind if I do."
The replacement only took removing a secondary diffuser and unscrewing the bulb to fit the new one in, and he was done with the small task. But masked with his silence, he felt pressured and out of place seeing that three of Rin's friends are somehow just watching him replace a light bulb, which added to his dread of suddenly entering a woman's bedroom while they are, as he assumed, in the middle of a girl's talk.
"That's should be good now.
I'm going to start with lunch now so I'll ping you once it's ready. I hope you guys enjoy your stay."
Much more of a storm that the three girls, he was suddenly out of the room. And while Rin was busy controlling the light of the room from her phone with a giddy smile, Rena could not help herself but let out her inquiry as her intuition told her to do so.
"By any chance… does that necklace have a ring on it?"
Chiba flinched hearing the question come out of Rena, while Reina could only awkwardly chuckle as she already knew that it was in fact a ring.
"How did you know?" Rin asked back, as she took out the necklace and hung the lace on her thumb as a lustrous ring spun.
"Well, I saw Gin wearing the same one as yours and something shone when his necklace slipped out. Actually, it's weirder to see him wear an accessory, quite frankly."
"Wait… R-Ringo?!"
"Chiba-chan, chill."
As if things could not get any stranger than it already is, Reina suddenly curled up on the floor with her ears beginning to become red, hiding her face on a pillow she is hugging.
"Ringo-nee… has my brother or Yuka Ginji ever told you that they feel like sometimes a curse has been placed on them…?"
"H-Huh…? Are we all on the same page here?"
"I don't want to jump into conclusions, but that is really cute of you two."
"What are you suddenly saying, Rena- Ahh…
That's not the case. It's not like Gin had asked me about it."
With the other two somehow incapable to hold a conversation, it suddenly became a topic only between Rin and Rena.
"At this point, though… I'm open about the thought, but of course I'm still studying and I'd at least want to be working already before I even properly consider it."
"There's no rush, isn't it?"
"Yeah. You've always given me good advice, and we make sure to keep them in mind."
"That's great, then. While I'm happy with the ways things are now, I don't wish for the same thing to happen to you and Gin. Koba and I are happy now, but it was extremely rough getting to this point."
"Mhm.
Anyway! I'll tell you my stories from when I was in Japan later! Chiba-chan, Reina, wake up! I need your guys' help in studying today! I want to move up to my senior year!"
"If you really want us to get work done, then you'll have to stop making your light blink. It's hurting my eyes already."
"Crap, it disconnected from the Wi-Fi."
~ ~ ~
With only less than an hour remaining until they were called out to lunch, Rin managed to be taught some of the essential parts of her subjects while Reina takes notes as reference for her incoming junior year as they are both in the same division of the same complexity.
However, the small mental fatigue from the cramming has been soothed as the praises of the meal from the dining room has showered Gin as he quietly ate on the living room with Rin's mother.
"Yuka's been really listless today, I noticed."
"Don't mind him, Reina~ He just needs some time to charge his social battery. He's been dealing with students for some weeks now.
Ah, can I talk about this with them, Gin?"
"Suuure."
"He's actually a temp teacher in Blue Ink right now since he's taking a break from Giotto's."
"Really?"
"And hear this, Rena, Reina—since Gin got the heads up to teach there, it follows a trend that us graduates are also eligible to teach! Though legally, we can only teach in Blue Ink."
"Wow, that's good to hear. At least if my plans to open a small resto somehow gets set back a bit, I have a backup."
"But Rena, by that time you'll have a degree which will make it easier for you to teach in universities."
"Oh, I didn't think about that. But I really don't think I'm cut out for that level… and Blue Ink is the only in the country right now pioneering a new system, so that could be my only backup.
What about you, though, Ringo?"
"Ehh… Honestly, I had some ideas but so much stuff got erased from my head when all I could think of was surviving… so I'm back at square one.
Can you give me a refresher here? The reason why these three years are basically all lectures is because we're pretty much doing practicum for the majority of the term, right?"
"That's right. I also learned from Koba that depending on where you are doing your practicum, you can be paid for it or be outright employed for the duration. If you want to know more, he pretty much knows the laws covering that topic."
"Oh, so it's like Nacchi's college too."
"I guess that's what CCI and his school has in common," Gin butted in upon standing up to put his dishes on the sink. "The lectures and a ton of practical basically make you job-ready, but in Nagi's case I personally think they have the edge on this one since you can do filming anytime, anywhere.
Um, Giotto's only accepts WT students."
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"Geez, we know that already. As much as I want to help you on marking your students' works, I can't."
"I'll get on with it…" and so he unfolded his laptop and brought out a paper bag full of A4 boards.
"Sounds like you guys need to go on a date to take a break," Chiba whispered to Rin.
"We kinda decided to hold off on that until I'm done with my evaluation…"
"That's tough…"
The afternoon was greatly different from the somewhat unproductive morning that was more than catching up than studying. Once lunch had passed, Sumi and Gin did not hear any noise at all from upstairs while they worked at each their own agendas that were needed to be done.
At the cost of a strained back, Gin managed to finish grading for his students along with setting up a semester's worth of spreadsheets across two departments and two year levels each.
"They better use this as a template when I'm gone."
With the day just starting to retire, Rena was found climbing downstairs ready to leave minding her duties for the rest of the day, especially with taking care of her son. Before her exit, she had explained that they are still deep in studying for Rin, and that Chiba and Reina is asking if they could stay the night as it is still an academic break for them.
"Now what should I do… Can I trouble you to lend us one of your futons, Gin?"
"Ahaha, that goes without saying. I'll pass it through Rin's room later when they're all done for the day.
I'll go ahead and start on prepping for dinner, then, Mom- Ah. There I go again…"
"At this rate, you'll also call Shuu you dad sooner than later."
"Uh-huh…"
~ ~ ~
Midnight.
"…!"
Reina jolted awake upon climbing down the last step of the staircase as she saw with the small lights from the kitchen counter Gin lying stomach-side down on the couch as though unintentionally imitating a corpse with how messed up his position is.
"I'm awake, I'm awake…" with that, he sat down on the couch as he watched Reina fill up a glass of cold water.
"Sorry for startling you."
"It's okay… You always come off weird seeing you from Ringo-nee's memories."
"…"
Unexpectedly, she sat on the other end of the couch.
"Uh, did you know that I am also a Coincidence like you, Reina?"
"Really…? I thought my brother…"
"Just before my uncle died, I was born then I recently got his memories a few years ago.
This might come out as extremely strange but… I just hope you didn't see things that you weren't supposed to see… not like something actually happened."
"I'm really s-sorry," Reina turned the other way from Gin.
"…
Man, this world is fucked up. Oh, sorry, that shouldn't have come out."
"U-Unable to sleep, Yuka?"
After downing the remaining cold water from the glass, she forcefully changed the topic.
"I… I'm confident that Rin will come out just fine from her evaluation exam… but a part of me is still really anxious for her. I sometimes get these nights."
"Isn't that just natural especially because you're Ane's partner?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Let me guess… you're a thousand times more worried about Ane than your own students, aren't you? Actually, no, you can't even be bothered with them and you just want to get the job done."
"I don't like how you read me like a book just as much as Rin does. While I take the job seriously, there's a piece of crap part of me that's really selfish, I guess.
…
Before this even turns to a longer conversation, you should just go back to sleep, Reina. I sometimes try to lie down on the couch to get some sleep, since I have work tomorrow."
"That's true. Well then, thank you for the lunch and dinner earlier. They were all good."
"Sure thing… Now goodnight again."
"Goodnight, Yuka."
▪ ▪ ▪
July 11th.
The day prior, Gin has announced to all the students he is handling that he will be taking a leave from school, which to no one's surprise made them rejoice for they are granted a free time on that schedule. Quite recently, or rather consistently, Blue Ink has always been straying from the convention of the country's academic norms. In this instance, students are granted autonomy when there is vacancy in their schedules, meaning that they are free to do what they wish to do—even leave the school premises at class hours, which usually would only be observed at tertiary levels in the nation.
However, it goes without saying that such policy was not perfect, as it has already caused problems for the school on a few occasions, but with only minor situations occurring, it was not rescinded as the administration wants to convey that the believe schools must not be too restrictive to their students, and see to it that to some extent, a student must be held responsible for their actions outside the school to some extent, with the administration itself reiterating being held accountable for whatever happens.
"Sir Gin?"
As he was about to close his laptop down, Gin was called out by a student wearing the uniform of a Blue Ink student within the campus of Cotona Culinary Institute.
"What's your name again… Avery?"
"It's Ivory, sir. Francine Ivory. It's been a few weeks and you still don't remember our names…"
"You know, an introverted kid took at least two or three years to remember his classmates' names when he was in high school. As you'd guess he hasn't grown out of it even as a teacher years after."
"So the reason why you were absent is because you came here in CCI, sir?"
"Just dealing with some business. Shouldn't you be on your way to your campus tour?"
"…
You look really restless, sir. The kind of restless where you need to go to the toilet."
"Shush, don't mind me. I heard your tour is going to be starting in a few minutes. Go ahead before you're late."
"Ah, you're right. I'll be going ahead then."
"Hope you get into this school once you graduate."
"Thank you, sir!"
After a sigh, Gin looked at the time on his phone which promptly made him take another deep breath.
Amidst the restlessness in an attempt to do some work earlier, he has been stuck in a loop where time either had felt simultaneously slow or fast for him. For once, his general anxiety had overshadowed his social anxiety as he had been unknowingly watched by CCI students from the dorms earlier walking several laps on the campus's open area without a care to the world but with only one sentence echoing endlessly in his mind.
"I hope she passes."
With the thumping of his heart, he could not make himself be focused on a single thing while the voice in his head could not stop repeating the same words over and over again.
As though his concentration hasn't yet taken a significant low, he noticed that the sky has gotten quite dark as it was blanketed with a dense and gray coat of clouds that shortly poured rain down along with the incessant white noise that comes with it.
"Getting showered over the rain right now sounds reaaally nice, but damn, I shouldn't…"
But then, from the rest area outside where he continuously fidgeted at, he saw from the distance the automatic doors of the nearest building open with Rin exiting from it, and abruptly stopping seeing the downpour, with her eyes then directing towards where he is currently at.
After a lightning, came a roar of thunder as Rin slowly walked towards the roofed corridor connecting the building and the rest area. However, her unusually slow pace began speeding up to a sprint and jumped meters away to the arms of the still anxious Gin with his last sight before catching her being a smile brighter than the one he had envisioned in the event that Rin bears good news to him.
With no words necessary to convey the message to him, he tightened his embrace and spun around hearing his significant other let out a cheerful laugh.
Perhaps, this has been the "brightest" downpour that both of them had experienced.
"Hahh… thank goodness… I knew you would be just fine…"
"Ahahahaha… I'm suddenly sweaty after all that. Let's stop by Chiba-chan's room to cool off and tell her the news."
"She's definitely going to cry enough to flood our street further than it probably already is right now."
"She's going to be really loud…"
"Should I carry you to there?"
"I can walk just fine!"
"Ahahaha.
Let's have a toast for that tonight."
"Don't you have work tomorrow?"
"I'll manage. It isn't like me, but I'm suddenly on a celebratory mood so at least give me that."
"Aaaahhhh, you really are cute, Potato."
▪ ▪ ▪
"Alright, that's a wrap! I'll give you 30 minutes to clean up everything from teaspoons to pots then you can eat what you made for lunch if you want."
Three reverberating claps signaled the end of the first practical lesson of the semester for the second year of the high school's Culinary Arts department. But as Gin was helping out on cleaning up the kitchen, one of his students suddenly approached him.
"You seem to be in good spirits today… and you're much more dressed up than usual, Sir Gin."
"You make it sound like I never do, Ms. Ivory."
"Oh, you remembered my name this time."
"I'm at least not that forgetful when I just talked to you yesterday. Anyway, do you need help?"
"W-Was that your girlfriend that I saw yesterday?"
"What exactly did you see?"
"U-Uhh…" she muttered as her face turned red and turned her gaze away. "Y-You were cute and sweet celebrating something… I couldn't help but watch when I saw you, I'm so sorry!"
"Ah, well, that's fine."
"You don't seem to be the type to smile, but I saw another side of you, sir. It's like I was watching a drama."
"It's already amazing that you were able to see us beyond that insane rain. Go back to cleaning now before I get all shy."
"It's a half-day for you so you're going on a date with her later, don't you?"
"…
Women really have amazing intuition… What even gave it away…"
"How well you're dressed today, like I said~"
"Alright, alright, don't go prying on your teacher's love life anymore. We'll finish cleaning earlier with less talking."
"Okaaaayyy~"
As though getting interrogated by his student was not enough, he had heard students on the way to have lunch talking about a lady with a cap over her white hair that stood out under the shade of the oldest tree found on the open grounds of the school, as he was about to reach the staff room to clock out for the day.
"…Thanks for the hard work, I'm leaving now!"
In one breath, Gin registered his time out, snatched his bag from his desk, and sprinted towards said location where the lady was found.
The small skid from his shoes caught the lady's attention and came upon his eyes is Rin indeed sitting on a stone bench under the large tree, fitting the description of a cap over her head with the addition of glasses that in his opinion suited her really well.
"I thought we're supposed to meet at the station?"
"Your sister asked me to bring something to Akira since she's out with a cold so I thought that I might as well just wait for you. But I just arrived so don't worry about it."
"Sure, that's fine but my students are definitely going to grill me about this on Friday."
Gin stepped aside for Rin to see the many gazes of the students directed towards their area, with some faces he could identify from the several classes he is teaching at.
"Now there's something you can brag about!"
"I don't know how to feel about that. By the way, why are you wearing my glasses?"
"Just because?"
"Also, those are the clothes you got from Japan, right?"
"Yup, they're really good, don't you think?"
"Oh, it's brilliant. Let's just go before we get more eyes on us."
As someone who has gotten spoiled by the service of his previous workplace, Gin was very meticulous on looking for a restaurant that would meet the criteria similar to Giotto's, but at a more expensive price point that can deliver in both quality and quantity.
But while it was difficult in choosing the right place to celebrate Rin moving up to her senior year, all he wishes for is to see her having fun… and that he also wishes that his first bimonthly paycheck would arrive soon.
"You know, just before I left for work, I got questioned a lot by one of my students because they apparently saw us in CCI."
"Ah… there was a campus tour yesterday after all."
"She caught us on our little moment."
"My word, now I feel embarrassed…"
"Doesn't really matter. We have a nice lunch waiting for us, that is if the train arrives on time."
"Looking forward to it."
~ ~ ~
Two cities north of Ginga, there is a commercial building of twenty floors where the restaurant they have made a reservation for is at. Aside from its food, the restaurant's greatest selling point is that it has a large balcony overlooking the mountains on the outskirts of extreme northern Cotona, near to where Chikami Inn is situated at, visible on clear days. Riding the elevator to the 16th floor welcomes them with a reception desk of the restaurant as it would seem that the entire floor is the diner itself.
"Welcome to Claude, may we know if you have a reservation today?"
"I have under the name Sakato."
"Just to confirm, may we please see your identification?"
"Here."
"Thank you very much. We'll have someone lead you to your table. We hope you enjoy your stay."
The restaurant itself was, as expected, very spacious as it occupies the entire floor in contrast to the illusion of being cramped in Giotto's in its peak times that Gin has been very used to. The couple was then led to a table beside tinted windows occupying a backdrop of a hilly horizon together with hot air balloons hovering on the distance.
"You really went and done it, Potato."
"Hmm? Done what?"
"Don't feign ignorance. Even in Japan you didn't bring us to a place this fancy."
"It's not really to a degree of fancy where everything you see would be in italics, you know. I just want to bring you in some place that's new. It's still Claude, not Claude."
"Well, thank you."
"You're always welcome."
A three-course meal then gradually made its way to their table with authentic Indian curry at the center of it all. And as they are savoring the mild spice as they requested, Gin had noticed that one of the restaurant's chefs had come out of the kitchen to give greetings to their customers.
"Oh? If it isn't Ms. Akanami?"
To his surprise, he heard the name of his significant other from the chef as he approached them.
"C-Chef Raien?"
"Long time no see… not really, hahaha. Once again, congratulations on passing your exam."
"Thank you very much!
Ah, Gin, this is Chef Yahiro Raien. He was a guest evaluator at my exam."
"Just call me Chef Raien. I'm the head chef of Claude. Nice to meet you."
"Ahahahaha, of course I totally knew he's the head chef of this restaurant! Ahahahahahahaha…!"
Needless to say, Rin suddenly hid her panic with that discovery.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Gin Sakato, the sous chef from Giotto's. The food is amazing, Chef Raien."
"That's great to hear. And I didn't expect to see a relative of Golden Knife here."
"Ahaha… I see you watched that video."
"And I was a fan of him! It's quite saddening that he had become a forgotten legend."
"He passed on not regretting anything. I can't say I can continue his legacy, but he's played a big part to me as an inspiration."
"Don't feel pressured about it. But I would like to talk with you more," then from his back pocket, he took out a business card that Gin has anticipated as he also brought out his own.
"I won't disturb you any more than this, then. I hope you enjoy the rest of your meal, Ms. Akanami and Chef Gin."
"Thank you."
As they continued to eat shortly after the head chef left, a waiter approached their table with a plate of steak.
"This is from Chef Raien, as a small congratulations for Ms. Akanami."
"O-Oh, thank you."
Having finished an outstanding series of dishes, they went out to balcony welcomed with the cool and consistent winds perfect to fend off against the summer heat.
With the view of the mountains, they sat in one of the tables with dessert wine on their hands as they take in the scenery in front of them.
"That was really good."
"I'm glad I picked this one, then."
"I'll be able to sleep fine now that I got a huge hurdle out of the way…"
"You're going to have to rest a lot since you'll be doing your practicum soon."
"Yeah… I think I'll be out and about already next month."
"Good luck with that."
The direction of Rin's gaze followed the wind to see from beside her the seemingly forlorn, yet actually normal look that Gin wears as he peered on the horizon with his lips occupied by the glass of wine. She then turned back to look at her own glass, and watched the wine playfully move as she spun the stem of the glass with a deep thought.
"Can you bring out your ring, Gin?" she asked of the man, as she also pulled on the string of the necklace.
"What's up?"
"Did we… really seem that way like other people thought we are?" she once more asked as she held to her own ring right in front of her eyes.
"So it wasn't only on my side that it got interpreted like we're engaged, huh…
…
Just so we're getting this clear, we are on the same page, right?"
"Yes. For four years now," she answered immediately with a gaze and smile so sincere, it once more captivated Gin right then and there.
In such uncommonness, his heart raced and he felt his emotions boiling up inside him as he tried to keep the tears from his eyes from falling.
"I'm very happy to know that, Rin.
I really don't want to disappoint you, but can you please give me a little more time? After going through so much hell together, I guess my head's still a mess trying to process a lot of things that have happened. I've been thinking about our future a lot, but I really just need to filter out the unnecessary things before I even act."
"I will wait, of course, but just know that the way I see it is that it's just a formality at this point and that we'll probably just stay the way we are. I'm not in a rush after all!"
"…
Damn, Mato hit the mark on this one, huh…"
“We're too self-aware, don't you think?”
“I honestly don't think that's a bad thing.”
A small groan came out of Gin as he stood up and carefully placed the cap over Rin's head.
"Shall we head home?"
"Mhm."
▪ ▪ ▪
Just shy of almost two weeks passed by in the blink of an eye, and the new academic term in Cotona Culinary Institute has finally started.
The couple surprised themselves for seeing each other at such an early hour in the morning as they both get ready for their own requisite arrangements.
"Don't you have a late schedule today, Potato…?"
"I have something to check with one of the resto's suppliers. I'll see you off at CCI's gates since I'm going the same way before heading to Blue Ink."
"'Kay…"
As though in sync, they both finished brushing their teeth and Gin presented to comb Rin's hair as they are already in front of the mirror. As Rin has decided to, she indeed dyed only the exterior of her hair as Gin gave praise to what was an accident turned a good thing. Whilst feeling the gentle strokes of the comb to her hair, she opened her eyes seeing her face in the mirror as if she had found a revelation.
"Say…"
"Yeah?"
"Did you recently develop a hair fetish?"
Behind her, the man jolted and trembled.
"W-What gave you that idea?!"
"Nothing really. It's just that recently you've been very fond of my hair so I feel like that's the case."
"Can you not…
Sure, I like how you look when your hair turned white and you already know my preference, but it's not like I'm all obsessed about it…"
Rin was nevertheless slightly unconvinced, but she let it go and gleefully left the washroom and took her bag.
"I'll wait for you outside to get some sunlight!"
"…"
"She's teasing you a lot these days, isn't she?" Sumi chuckled as she heard the entire exchange from the living room.
"I honestly don't mind any of it at all."
"So you're admitting to it?"
"Et tu, Auntie? Absolutely not," he reaffirmed as he went back to his room.
After putting his messenger bag on his shoulder, he abruptly stopped from leaving the room and walked back in front of his desk, opening his drawer to bring out a black box containing five silver brooches.
He first took out the one with a rose pattern as he remembers a memory that is not is own, with a brother wanting to attend his little sister's wedding but decided not to.
"One of you four will permanently be on Kei's hands soon," he muttered as though talking to the brooches.
He placed back the silver rose brooch to the box and carefully placed the cover back and left it on top of his table placed over a wedding invitation as he exited the room.
"Sorry for the wait, young miss."
"Oh, it's been a while since you did that bit.
It's finally this Saturday… are you excited, Potato?"
"As if I'm not, it's my actual brother getting married this time."
"What a gorgeous sister-in-law you will have. Well, I guess Ane Shiina will also become one of my in-laws at some point."
"You're suddenly making me feel pressured even after the talk we had two weeks ago and I don't appreciate that," jested Gin.
"Maybe I should pick out a new dress with Mom later."
"I've already sorted out mine in advance that I almost forgot I already did."
"Gee, you're way too busy, Mr. Best Man."