By evening, everyone had gradually headed ho. Aside from Ichin, Utaha, and Kō Yagami, only Hazuki remained in the studio.
Leaning both arms on the desk, Hazuki struck the classic Gendo Ikari pose, silently staring ahead.
After finishing up in the kitchen and washing so cups, Ichin walked out and noticed Hazuki's odd posture. Curious, he leaned over to check her computer screen—only to find it sitting idle on the desktop with nothing open.
"Hazuki-senpai, you've been zoning out all day. Did sothing happen? Trouble with sothing?" he asked.
Hazuki flinched at the sound of his voice.
Dropping her hands, she looked at Ichin, her usually composed face suddenly taking on a sorrowful expression.
"Valen—"
"Valen…?"
"Valentine's Day! No one invited to do anything!"
Oh. So _that_ was the problem?
The three of them looked at Hazuki's dramatic expression and couldn't help but shake their heads.
Ichin pulled out a chair and sat down, saying, "But Hazuki-senpai, weren't you always saying you had no interest in dating? That you were totally content with being single? What—thinking about love now?"
"Eh… it's not that I _want_ to date or anything…"
Hazuki scratched her cheek awkwardly. "It's just that everyone has plans for Monday, and now it feels like I'm the only one with absolutely nothing going on."
From across the room, Kō tilted her head in confusion. "That's not entirely true, right? Didn't Shinoda and Iijima say they'd be in the studio during the day? You'll still have people around. And if you've got nowhere to go in the evening, just head ho like them."
The mont "go ho" was ntioned, Hazuki shook her head without hesitation.
"Anywhere's fine—just _not_ ho. Especially on Valentine's Day! Do you know what'll happen if I go back then? I'll have to face _that_ conversation: 'How old are you now? Still no boyfriend?' And if I say no, then it's, 'Fine, I'll set you up on a blind date!' No thank you!"
Listening to Hazuki's rant, Kō visibly shivered—clearly empathizing.
She was a few years younger than Hazuki, but already 26 herself. Her family had nagged her once during the New Year holidays. That ti, she had managed to dodge the topic by saying she was focused on her career. But if she were to go ho on Valentine's Day? Yeah, Hazuki wasn't exaggerating—those awkward conversations would _definitely_ happen.
Thank goodness she'd agreed to hang out with Rin on Monday. If she hadn't… she didn't even want to imagine what might have happened!
Hazuki looked from Kō, to Ichin and Utaha, realizing that she couldn't really tag along with any of them without becoming a third (or fifth) wheel.
Was she really going to spend Valentine's Day completely alone?
Just then, Ichin seed to think of sothing. "If that's the case, Hazuki-senpai, I think I know sowhere you _can_ go. One sec."
He pulled out his phone and made a call—to Shizuka Hiratsuka.
"Hey, good afternoon, Hiratsuka-sensei! Got a question—do you have any plans for Monday? Yeah, I figured. See, we've got soone here in the exact sa situation as you… Yep, it's Hazuki-senpai."
Nodding, Ichin handed the phone to Hazuki.
She hesitated for a mont, then took the phone and held it to her ear. After listening to whatever Hiratsuka said on the other end, her face lit up instantly.
"No problem! We'll et up Monday afternoon!"
Hanging up, Hazuki turned to Ichin with sparkling eyes full of gratitude. "Thank you so much, Ichin-kun! I finally have sothing to do! Shizuka, Sonoko, and Haruno are all getting together for drinks—and now I'm joining them!"
Good grief. Ichin had thought it might be so kind of matchmaking party—but nope, it was a singles-only drinking etup for won.
Still, at least Hazuki had plans now. The gloomy air she'd been emitting was finally starting to clear.
As for actually getting her to go find a boyfriend?
...Yeah, good luck with that.
Actually, everyone knew the truth of the matter—if she wanted to, she absolutely could find soone. Hazuki had both the looks and the figure, and her skills were exceptional too. The only real question was whether she _wanted_ to or not.
And from the looks of it, she still wasn't interested in romance.
Even knowing that everyone else had plans for Valentine's Day, she was only mildly sulking—it wasn't enough to push her into wanting a boyfriend.
Once her issue was sorted, Hazuki happily grabbed her bag, called for Mozuku, and headed off for the day in a great mood.
After she left, Ichin turned to Kō Yagami. "Kō, what are you doing about dinner?"
"How are _you two_ handling it?"
"Utaha's parents went out to a gathering with their friends, so we were thinking of ordering delivery."
"Count in, then!"
---
Sunday – At Ho
Neither Ichin nor Utaha planned on doing any work today. Instead, they decided to spend a relaxing day together at ho.
In the living room, Utaha lay sprawled out in her pajamas with her head resting on Ichin's lap, casually scrolling on her phone.
Ichin was doing pretty much the sa, currently locked in a heated comnt war with netizens on Bilibili.
The TV in the living room was on, playing a newly released idol drama. Neither of them was actually watching it—it was just background noise to fill the silence.
Suddenly, Utaha shifted onto her side and glanced at the screen. "Ichin, can we change the channel?"
"Hm?" Ichin looked up. On-screen, a typical love triangle was playing out with all the lodramatic back-and-forth. It was cliché to the extre—definitely not engaging.
"Sure. What do you want to watch?"
"Sothing music-related. Just having music in the background sounds nice."
After switching to a music program, the two returned to their own activities, peacefully scrolling on their phones.
Then Utaha's phone started vibrating—it was a video call from Eriri.
Utaha didn't bother sitting up. She answered the call while still lying down.
Eriri's face appeared on the screen. Judging by the background, she was at ho.
"Good morning," Eriri greeted.
After exchanging greetings, she stared at Utaha on the screen, sensing sothing felt... off.
"Where are you right now?"
"At ho," Utaha replied. Then it clicked. Smirking, she added, "Ah, this is sothing single people just wouldn't understand."
She shifted the phone to reveal Ichin's face—clearly showing she was resting her head in his lap.
The mont Eriri saw him appear on-screen, she instantly understood. _Ah. Lap pillow._
Without another word, Eriri's expression darkened, and she imdiately ended the video call.
Utaha burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Watching her laugh like that, Ichin lightly tapped her forehead and said, "Really now, can't you go a little easier on Eriri?"
"It's fine. If she was really upset, she'd call again."
Sure enough, right after she said that, another video call from Eriri popped up.
This ti, Utaha didn't ss around. She sat up and answered the call properly.
...
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