After finishing the BBQ, it was already past eight.
As they stepped out of the restaurant, the cool night breeze brushed against them, instantly sobering up the slightly tipsy group.
Stretching lazily, Ichin smiled.
"Feels great. I think I can sleep early tonight and fall asleep quickly too."
Haruno nodded.
"Exactly. Once I get back and take a shower, I'm going straight to bed. Let's go, let's go, ti to head ho!"
Hazuki was sent back by Rin and Kō, while, as planned, Yukino took the wheel for Ichin's group.
After arriving ho, Haruno went to take a shower first. anwhile, Ichin lay comfortably on the sofa in the living room on the first floor, resting his head on Utaha's lap.
Utaha smiled as she gently stroked his hair.
"You don't usually drink, so after having a bit today, you seem a little tipsy, Ichin."
Ichin shook his head.
"It's not that bad. It's just that the beer glasses at the BBQ place were pretty big. Three of those are about the sa as three cans. Since I haven't drunk in a while, alcohol hits a bit harder, but I'm not actually drunk."
As he spoke, he reached up and lightly poked Utaha's cheek.
"When we shower later, want to soak in the bath together?"
"Sure," Utaha agreed without hesitation. eting his gaze, she added, "Should we invite Yukino too? The bathtub at ho is big enough for all three of us to lie down comfortably."
Yukino, who was on the other side feeding the cats, heard this and turned around.
"I'll pass. Utaha, you go ahead."
"That won't do." Utaha turned toward her.
"And don't worry, Ichin wouldn't dare do anything inappropriate at a ti like this. Besides, it's two against one, we have the advantage!"
"I… that's not…"
Yukino opened her mouth, but in the end lowered her head.
"Fine. But just soaking in the bath."
anwhile, one of the parties involved, Ichin, was still lying on Utaha's lap, blinking.
Wide eyes. Full of confusion.
Was this really how benefits just… delivered themselves to your doorstep?
But thinking about it again, Utaha's period hadn't completely ended yet, so realistically, there wasn't much he could do beyond just soaking in the bath anyway.
Yeah, forget it. Just a normal bath. He wasn't in a hurry anyway, there would be ti later at night.
After that, Haruno finished her shower and went back to her room to sort out so work materials. When she was about to head downstairs to grab so water, she realized that everyone was gone.
Not in the bedrooms, not in the study, not in the dia room. And no one had gone out either.
Finally, her gaze landed on the locked bathroom door, and her expression instantly changed.
"As expected… a single dog like really doesn't deserve to live here."
Another fifteen minutes later, the bathroom door finally opened. Utaha and Yukino, both in nightgowns, walked out first, with Ichin following behind.
The mont they stepped out, the three of them saw Haruno crouching in the hallway, hugging her knees and staring at them.
"Oh? Finally done? You guys are getting more and more comfortable ignoring , huh?"
Ichin, for once, looked a bit awkward. He coughed lightly.
"Ahem… well, we were just soaking in the bath and chatting. Don't forget, Yukino hasn't fully recovered yet. Also, stop squatting there and stand up already."
Yukino also looked at her sister helplessly, then shot Ichin and Utaha a glare.
As for Utaha, she was the calst among the three. She waved her hand with a smile and said,
"Haruno, you're not… jealous, are you? Maybe you should just hurry up and find yourself a boyfriend?"
"That won't be necessary. Stuff like this… if I see it often enough, I'll get used to it. Yeah… I'll get used to it."
Haruno replied with a lifeless expression, then placed her hands on the ground and tried to stand up.
"..."
Seeing her push herself up once but not move at all, Ichin and the others tilted their heads in unison and exchanged glances.
Legs numb?
Yeah, probably numb.
Definitely numb.
Haruno's face gradually turned red, and she finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Since you've already figured it out, why don't you help up?"
Utaha and Yukino, smiling, reached out and grabbed Haruno's hands, pulling her to her feet.
"Ahhh! My legs are numb, numb! Slow down!"
After so effort, Haruno finally made it back to the sofa on the first floor, sitting down with a look of soone who had just survived a disaster.
"This won't do… staying still for over ten minutes made them completely numb."
Ichin brought out a plate of cut fruit and, watching Haruno continuously rub her legs, said,
"I have to say, Haruno, sotis you're really a bit airheaded."
"Isn't this all your fault?"
Haruno glared at him, then picked up a piece of lon with a toothpick and popped it into her mouth.
Turning on the TV, Ichin found himself completely awake after the bath, so he decided to watch for a while and sleep later.
Utaha, anwhile, hugged his arm and happily started watching entertainnt gossip.
Yukino noticed and wanted to go over as well, but just as she moved, Haruno grabbed her and held onto her arm.
"Yukino, keep your sister company~~"
"Fine, but let go first. I can't eat fruit like this."
"I'll feed you. Say ah~~~"
"That won't be necessary."
...
Since the release of Tales of Berseria, seven days had passed. Sales had climbed from over five million copies on the first day to more than two million additional copies, reaching nearly eight million in total.
The ga's refined and deep combat system, combined with its richly developed main storyline and individual character arcs, kept player discussions at an extrely high level.
It was just that… after experiencing the tragic backstories of each mber of the main cast, players couldn't help but curse Ichin a few tis.
Ichin, for his part, accepted it gladly and even said he would keep up the good work.
Naturally, players weren't criticizing the ga itself. While the story had a darker tone and the heroine suffered greatly, it was well-crafted in every aspect, leaving little to criticize. As Ichin had ntioned during his streams, the narrative tone had been set from the very beginning and couldn't be changed midway.
If they couldn't find fault with the ga, that didn't an they couldn't target the one responsible for it.
So over the next few days, whenever Ichin started streaming Apex, quite a number of players would deliberately try to snipe him in matches.
Ichin himself didn't mind at all. In fact, he had a great ti battling against the viewers who ca after him. But this made things miserable for Eriri, who was just trying to rank up.
"I should never have queued ranked with you! My points…!"
...
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