Ichin never would've guessed that when Utaha ran off earlier… she'd return with his mom in tow.
"Mom? When did you get here?"
"Yesterday," his mother replied casually.
She reached out and patted his head, smiling brightly.
"I arrived last night, rested at the hotel, and then this morning I stopped by your place to drop off my luggage. After that, I ca over with Utaha's mom."
"Ah… I see."
Glancing at Utaha, who was grinning ear to ear while still holding her phone, Ichin stood up, walked over, grabbed her hand, and started pulling her toward the edge of the sports field.
"We've got sothing to talk about. We'll be right back."
"Ehh? Ichin?"
Panicking slightly, Utaha quickly stopped the recording and looked up at his emotionless face, her heart racing.
"Umm… where are we going?"
"I think we need to have a serious talk."
"We can talk right here, can't we?" Utaha was clearly flustered now, shooting glances at the group of parents still standing nearby.
"Mom? Auntie?"
But Ichin's mother just smiled and waved them off.
"Take your ti. Just don't be gone too long."
As Utaha was dragged off with a distressed look on her face, Yukino turned to the mothers and asked cautiously,
"Umm… is everything really okay?"
Ichin's mother just waved her hand dismissively.
"Don't worry. Ichin would never actually get mad at Utaha. He's just teasing her. You must be Yukino, right? Last year when I visited and saw pictures from Eriri's side, I didn't get the chance to et you. Hello, I'm Ichin's mother, Jasmine."
Yukino quickly bowed and responded politely,
"Nice to et you. I'm Yukinoshita Yukino."
What a beautiful girl.
Ichin's mom observed her up close and realized she was even prettier than the photos—and her aura was very different from Utaha's. Yukino had more of a cool, elegant charm. And now that she was really looking, the girl wasn't wearing any makeup at all.
Ah, youth is truly amazing.
Then again, she thought to herself, her son's female social circle ever since going abroad had really beco absurd. All the girls around him were incredibly attractive.
She had a few concerns, of course, but she also knew very well that the relationship between Ichin and Utaha was solid and steady.
After musing quietly, she sat down beside Yukino and struck up a conversation.
anwhile, Eriri finally snapped out of her shock and turned to her own mother with a look of disbelief.
"Mom? You ca too? I thought you said you weren't coming!"
"Hm?"
Sawamura Sayuri gave her daughter a puzzled look.
"Eriri, when did I ever say I wasn't coming?"
"That day when I told you about the sports festival—you were like 'Ah, is that so?'… Wait, now that I think about it, you didn't actually say you weren't coming…"
Eriri's mories clicked into place. A few days ago, she had ntioned the event to her mother. Sayuri had asked if she signed up for any competitions, and to avoid her mother showing up, Eriri said she didn't register for anything.
Her mom looked disappointed at the ti and quietly walked away.
That's it!
Seeing that expression, Eriri had assud her mom wouldn't show up—so she didn't ask any further!
Now caught in her own thoughts, Eriri wore an expression of frustration… when click!
Sayuri snapped a picture of her daughter with her cara and bead.
"Eriri, do your best! I'm really looking forward to your match this afternoon!"
Hearing her mother's words, Eriri couldn't help but shiver. With a slightly trembling voice, she asked,
"Wait… how did you know?"
"Heh heh~ Did you really think your mom didn't have any sources?"
Sawamura Sayuri responded with great pride,
"It's not hard to find out if you ask around a little."
As for who exactly she asked, Sayuri had no intention of revealing that—because that's what made it fun.
"Ugh… I'm dood…"
Realizing what this ant for her upcoming event, Eriri shot her mother a sharp glare before suddenly standing up and bolting from the field.
"Eriri, where are you going?"
"To practice! And Mom, don't you dare co over! If you do, I'm dropping out!"
Watching her daughter run off into the distance, Sayuri shrugged at the two other ladies nearby.
"That girl… she's always been this stubborn. What am I supposed to do with her?"
The group let out light chuckles before settling back down to watch the ongoing competitions.
Ichin's mom, looking at the just-concluded 50-ter dash for the first-year girls, said with a hint of admiration,
"This whole atmosphere is really nice. And it looks like quite a few other parents showed up too—not just us."
She turned toward Yukino.
"Yukino?"
Seeing her stand up, she couldn't help but ask.
Yukino exhaled softly.
"I've got a match coming up soon. I need to go get ready."
Just then, Ichin and Utaha returned hand-in-hand, with a faint blush still lingering on Utaha's cheeks.
Seeing Yukino get up to leave, Utaha smiled and said,
"Just stay calm, Yukino. We'll be right here cheering for you."
Yukino nodded, then made her way off the stands and across the field toward the warm-up area.
Once seated beside his mother, Ichin asked,
"Mom, if you were coming, why didn't you tell beforehand? You just wanted to scare , didn't you? You could've stayed at my place, you know."
His mom gave his head a light pat and chuckled.
"It's fine, the hotel I booked is really nice. Super comfortable. And you don't have to worry about being bored either—your aunt took shopping as soon as I got here yesterday."
Hearing that, Ichin turned to look at Utaha's mom.
Oh great. So everyone knew… except .
"Alright, I admit, you definitely caught off guard. I really didn't expect you to co. But if you're here, what about Dad?"
"What? You worried he's going to starve without ?"
His mom laughed, "Even if he doesn't want to eat out, there's still the company cafeteria. Plus, your dad can cook for himself—he won't starve. Actually, in a few days, he's coming here too. We're planning a vacation—gonna visit Kyoto."
"Vacation, huh? That sounds nice."
Ichin nodded.
"Sakura season is still going strong these next couple months. It's a great ti to travel. Is Dad's company not too busy right now?"
"Not really. Over the years, he's trained so very capable staff. Other than making big strategic decisions or handling external collaborations, he's got quite a bit of free ti now."
The family business had been doing well. While expanding further would be difficult, there wasn't really a need to. Stable profits were good enough. And now that Ichin's own company was thriving—especially with plans to launch a branch in China during sumr break—his dad was even thinking of going back to help take care of it.
With everything at ho heading in such a positive direction, it made sense that the parents could finally take ti for a proper vacation.
"Once your dad gets here, we plan to go to Kyoto with Utaha's parents—maybe for three or four days. You two will be on your own at ho during that ti. Is that alright?"
"Uncle and Auntie are going too?"
Ichin turned toward Utaha's mom, who smiled and nodded.
"Your uncle just happened to have so unused vacation days, and two of those days fall on a weekend. So he was able to get ti off. Honestly, we originally thought of inviting you two to co along… but then we figured you'd probably feel too restricted hanging out with us old folks. So we decided not to drag you along."
Ichin and Utaha both nodded in very enthusiastic agreent.
Yes—let us enjoy our peaceful couple life in peace.
As they chatted, the 50-ter sprint for the second-year students was just about to begin.
...
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