By evening, after having dinner, Utaha finally left.
Ichin let out a long sigh of relief and imdiately pulled out his phone to turn it back on. As soon as he powered it up, it rang with a video call from his mother.
Since he was now alone at ho, he didn't bother hitting decline and accepted the call.
As the video connected, his mother's face appeared on the screen, and to his surprise, his father's as well.
"Dad?" Ichin glanced at the clock in the living room and asked curiously, "Weren't you supposed to be busy? How co you're ho already?"
His father smiled at him and said, "Well, your mom ca straight to my office and told sothing big was up. How could I stay and keep working after that? I wrapped things up and ca ho. Now, tell us—what's going on?"
"What's going on? Nothing at all," Ichin tried to play it off.
"Still trying to be tight-lipped?" his mother cut in with a glare. "Explain it—who was that girl's voice I heard earlier?"
Seeing no way out, Ichin knew if he didn't say sothing, his parents might just book the next flight to Japan.
"She's just a neighbor, really. It's not as complicated as you think."
"Not complicated?" His mother leaned closer to the cara. "You're not telling us everything, are you?"
"…"
"Well? If you don't spill it now, I'm booking the tickets."
Realizing she wasn't bluffing, Ichin quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, fine! She's not just a neighbor—she's also a classmate. She sits next to ."
A classmate, huh?
His parents exchanged glances, and then his mother pressed on, "So, what does she look like?"
"Huh?"
"I asked, what does this classmate of yours look like?"
Ichin was stunned for a good three seconds before he looked at his mom and said, "Aren't you supposed to be lecturing about how I shouldn't date early and all that stuff? Why are you asking this?"
"Of course, we need to know. If she's pretty and has a good personality, that's one thing. But if she doesn't et my standards, we'll have to discuss this further!"
Typical Mom—sharp as ever.
But thinking about it, it made sense. He was doing well academically, and their family was well off. His mom's main concern was his health while studying abroad, so the only other worry she had would be his relationships.
If he had been studying in their ho country in a regular setting, this kind of questioning would probably wait until after university. But now, being abroad, if sothing happened, his parents couldn't stop him imdiately. It made sense to talk it out properly.
Understanding his mom's reasoning, Ichin replied, "She's decent-looking, I suppose. I don't have any photos, but I can find so. Give a second."
He carried his phone into his bedroom and logged onto his school's forum through his computer. As one of the top beauties at the school, even though Kasumigaoka Utaha tried to avoid it, there were bound to be so photos of her floating around. Events like the annual sports festival always left behind a few pictures.
Ichin quickly found a photo from last year's sports festival. After saving it, he sent it to his father's phone via the computer.
"I sent the photo to Dad's phone. Take a look, but let be clear—there's really nothing between us."
Well, for now, at least, there wasn't. So technically, he wasn't lying.
His father picked up his phone and opened the image. He was taken aback by what he saw. This is what you call "just decent-looking"?
Ichin's mother peeked at the photo her husband was holding and raised an eyebrow before asking, "What's this girl's na? And her grades?"
"She's Kasumigaoka Utaha. As for her grades, I was ranked first in the year before coming here, and in the entrance exams, I took first place again. She ca in second."
Suddenly rembering sothing, Ichin's mom asked, "Is this the neighbor you sent us that request for tea and a robot vacuum to gift?"
"Yeah," Ichin nodded. "They've been taking good care of since I ca here alone for my studies. They're really nice people."
A pretty neighbor, who's also his classmate and desk mate at school, with excellent grades. Apart from being a foreigner, she seed great in every other way. From her son's answers, Ichin's mother began to consider things more seriously.
Noticing his mother's thoughtful expression, Ichin's face remained calm. His mother then said, "For now, focus on your studies. Your grades must not drop. As for anything else, since we're not there to supervise you, think carefully. Just don't do anything that could hurt this girl, understand?"
"Uh, that's it?"
"What else did you expect?" His mom shot him a look. "Should I fly over to keep an eye on you? I wouldn't mind, but you'd have to let your dad survive on small diner food for a couple of days."
"Let's not do that," Ichin quickly shook his head, stopping her in her tracks. "Flying here and there would be exhausting for you. I'm fine, really. I'll be ho for sumr vacation—uh, actually, I might not be."
"What do you an, 'might not be'?"
Ichin scratched his cheek, regretting the slip of the tongue.
"Well, it's not sothing I can explain right now. I'll have more information by the end of the month. It's nothing bad, though, don't worry."
His mother still wanted to press on, but his father placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Alright, we'll wait until you can tell us more. Your mom and I haven't finished dinner yet, so let's stop here."
"Got it."
After hanging up the video call, Ichin slumped in his chair, rubbing his forehead.
"Dealing with parents is more tiring than developing gas…"
But Kasumigaoka Utaha, huh…
He glanced at the forum page on his computer, where posts featuring Kasumigaoka's photos were frequently bumped up. After scrolling through a few, he closed the browser, collected his thoughts, and got back to working on his ga.
Since he had plans with Kasumigaoka tomorrow, Ichin didn't work late that night and went to bed before midnight.
The night passed uneventfully. The next morning, Ichin woke up on ti and went for his usual run. After a shower and breakfast, he mumbled to himself, "Even though Kasumigaoka said it's for research, I really don't know what to expect… Ichin, focus on developing the ga. Don't let other things ss with your mindset."
Half an hour later, dressed in casual wear, he headed next door and rang the bell.
The door opened quickly, and there stood Kasumigaoka Utaha in a dress with a blue vest over it, her long black hair ticulously straightened.
Seeing her like that, Ichin's resolve wavered.
Mindset? What mindset?
…
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