After finishing their coffee, the three of them left the café and went to meet up with Utaha and Yukino.
The two girls were currently sitting inside a dessert shop in the mall, having just ordered and settled down.
After receiving the message, they also ordered three extra desserts for the others and waited for them to arrive.
Taking a bite of taro balls, Utaha curiously asked:
"Yukino, do you think Hajime's side got settled smoothly?"
"It probably did. There wasn't really any difficulty to begin with," Yukino shook her head and said. "With Big Sis there, there's no way something this simple couldn't be handled."
"Mhm, true enough. Haruno-san is basically a professional when it comes to this sort of thing."
After waiting about seven or eight minutes, Ichin arrived at the dessert shop together with Haruno and Hajime.
Looking at this Chinese dessert chain, Ichin was extremely familiar with it.
After entering, they quickly found Utaha and Yukino sitting over there and walked straight over.
Ichin sat down between the two girls, while the seats opposite were left for Haruno and Hajime.
"Oh! You even ordered some for us too?"
Seeing the extra desserts on the table after sitting down, Haruno happily picked up a spoon and started eating.
"Mhm, this is really good!"
Hajime also felt completely carefree now and happily started eating dessert as well.
On the way over earlier, she had already called her family and explained the situation with the blind date, once again expressing that she didn't want to keep going on arranged dates anymore.
At that point, Hajime's parents had no choice but to give up for the time being. After all, their daughter clearly had no interest in the guy and found him lacking in every aspect.
At the same time though, they also told Hajime to try finding someone she genuinely liked herself instead of continuing to delay things forever.
Hajime could only casually agree for the sake of dealing with them.
As for whether she'd actually meet someone, that wasn't really something she could decide herself.
After briefly explaining what had happened at the café earlier, Hajime happily said:
"Hehe, now everything's finally settled! I don't have to worry about being pressured into marriage anymore!"
Utaha smiled.
"Looks like this blind date candidate really wasn't your type at all, otherwise you wouldn't have made such a huge fuss over it. Though honestly, with your normal work environment, it's hard to imagine you even having time for romance."
"What's the problem with that? I'm still young, you know?"
Hajime said calmly.
"I'm only twenty-seven. That's still early. Look at Hazuki-san. Didn't she only recently find someone too? As long as I'm not later than her, I'm good~~~"
Compared to Hazuki, she was indeed still very early.
Ichin smiled and said:
"Then that's perfect. Hajime-san, work hard for the company for a few more years before worrying about your lifelong happiness. Romance only affects work efficiency."
"Hey! You actually have the nerve to say that?!"
Hajime pointed at Ichin in disgust before looking at the three people across from her.
"If we go by your logic, shouldn't you be the one whose efficiency is affected the most? Other people only have one partner, but you have two!"
Ichin smiled and wagged a finger before wrapping an arm around each girl beside him.
"Don't compare me to yourself. I'm the boss, remember?"
"Tch!"
Hajime resisted the urge to flip him off, lowered her head, and continued eating dessert. She quickly finished one serving and immediately ordered another.
After finishing dessert there, everyone started wandering around the mall, looking at summer clothes.
When they passed by a swimsuit shop, Utaha hooked Ichin's arm and said:
"Ichin, come to think of it, we haven't gone swimming in a long time. Want to find a chance to go to the beach?"
After hearing that, Haruno immediately leaned over with interest.
"The beach? Swimming does sound nice, but summer is way too hot. I don't want to get sunburned. How about we rent out a private indoor pool instead? That way we can play by ourselves without worrying about the sun or random guys trying to hit on us!"
"Oh! That sounds good!"
Hajime's eyes lit up.
"Let's do that then! What do you think?"
Seeing everyone looking at him for the final decision, Ichin smiled and said:
"If all of you want to play in the water, then of course I have no objections. Later I'll find an indoor pool and rent it out for a day so everyone can go together."
There actually was an indoor pool in the villa district, but it couldn't be privately rented, so they'd have to look elsewhere.
After making the decision, the group immediately turned and entered the swimsuit shop.
Even though they all already had swimsuits, they still wanted to look at new ones.
This wasn't Ichin's first time entering a swimsuit store, so he didn't feel nervous or embarrassed at all anymore.
After all, he was already married.
Inside the shop, besides Ichin, there were several other men who had come together with their girlfriends or wives. All of them were sitting in the designated waiting area for men, scrolling through their phones while waiting.
Ichin also wanted to find a place to sit, but unfortunately, Utaha directly grabbed hold of him.
"Ichin, Ichin, give me some advice. What color bikini do you think I should buy?"
After hearing her question, Ichin thought for a moment.
"The one at home is purple, right? This time, how about trying black? Some of the brighter colors don't really suit your figure that well."
"Mhm~~"
Utaha nodded thoughtfully before walking toward the bikini section to look for black designs.
Haruno and Hajime also went off to find swimsuits that suited them.
Only Yukino stayed by Ichin's side instead of going over.
"Yukino, aren't you going to look around?"
Yukino shook her head.
"I still haven't even worn the swimsuit I bought last year. There's no need to buy another one."
"Alright then. Let's head over to the seating area and wait for those three."
As he spoke, Ichin brought Yukino over to the waiting area, and the two sat down together.
Leaning lightly against Ichin's shoulder, Yukino scrolled through her phone while saying:
"Next week, our professor is taking us to court to watch several trials."
"Big cases?"
Yukino shook her head.
"One economic case, one traffic accident case, and another one she hasn't told us about yet. We'll get the materials tomorrow, but I'm guessing that last one is probably a pretty major case."
"That sounds pretty good. You've already studied so much theory, so it really is time to experience things on-site. Once next week is over, summer vacation should start too, right?"
"Mhm, summer vacation is almost here."
When talking about summer vacation, Yukino also showed a trace of anticipation.
"Do you have any plans?"
"Plans, huh? Not really."
After thinking for a moment, Ichin continued:
"After all, I don't really get summer vacation anymore. My focus has to stay on the company. As for the wedding, our parents are helping handle things now, so I don't really need to worry about it. Though if you want to go out somewhere, Yukino, I should still be able to squeeze out some time."
"There's no need. Summer is really hot right now, so let's just stay home, or occasionally go play at the pool. If we do go out, I think evenings after dinner would be better. What do you think?"
"That works."
Ten minutes later, Utaha and the others finished choosing their swimsuits. After paying, everyone left the store and continued strolling through the mall together.
...
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