The car window rolled down, revealing Ichin sitting in the driver's seat wearing sunglasses.
He waved at Yukino and greeted both her professor and classmates.
Yukino happily walked over, opened the passenger door, and then said to everyone,
"Then I'll be leaving now. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow~~~"
After watching the car drive away, the girls immediately resumed chatting excitedly, with the topic naturally revolving around Ichin.
Among the graduate students, only one of them had a boyfriend, so they were naturally quite interested in talking about men.
Their professor smiled helplessly and shook her head before urging everyone to head home early. She then took several students who were traveling in the same direction and went to catch the train.
Inside the car, Ichin held the steering wheel and asked Yukino,
"How was today's study session? Tired?"
"Not at all. Everything went smoothly, and I learned a lot at the courthouse."
It was obvious that Yukino had spent a very fulfilling day.
Ichin smiled and nodded.
"That's good. On the way back, let's buy you a milk tea. When the company was collecting afternoon tea orders at noon, I didn't include yours because I didn't know when you'd finish."
"Sure."
After Yukino decided which shop she wanted, Ichin took a small detour on the way back to the company and bought her a milk tea.
After getting back into the car, Yukino inserted the straw and held the drink up to Ichin's lips.
Smiling, Ichin leaned over and took a sip before starting the car.
By the time they returned to the company, the afternoon tea delivery had just arrived.
The moment he entered the development department, Umiko handed him the milk tea she had already set aside for him.
After letting everyone relax and chat, Ichin returned to work alone. After all, he had been away for a while. If he didn't make up for the lost time, he wouldn't be able to leave work on schedule.
Meanwhile, in the art department, Utaha pulled Yukino over to sit with everyone and began chatting about her recent experiences at the courthouse.
Looking at Yukino, Narumi Tsubame asked curiously,
"Yukino, Yukino, are courtroom debates as intense as they look?"
Yukino shook her head and smiled.
"Not really. Aside from a few questioning sessions, most of the proceedings involve both sides presenting their evidence. It's nowhere near as dramatic as television dramas make it seem.
"After all, it's a courtroom. There are strict rules, and everything follows a specific procedure."
Taking a large sip of milk tea while chewing her tapioca pearls, Nene asked,
"At this rate, you'll become a lawyer in the future and defend people in court, right? I'm really looking forward to seeing Lawyer Yukino!"
"Yeah, yeah! With Yukino's personality, she'll definitely have an incredible presence in court!"
"Maybe she'll even earn the title of the Queen of Lawyers someday!"
Being praised so enthusiastically embarrassed Yukino.
Her cheeks reddened slightly as she said,
"It's not that exaggerated. Besides, not every case ends up going to court. Many disputes are settled privately through mediation.
"And when you're just starting out as a lawyer, it's impossible to immediately receive major cases."
At that moment, Hazuki walked over with a smile.
"You girls should stop. Can't you see Yukino's getting embarrassed?"
Then she added,
"And Yukino's right. Being a lawyer isn't easy at the beginning. But with our company and the Yukinoshita family supporting her, she certainly won't lack clients.
"By the way, where's Ichin?"
"In there working."
Umiko pointed toward the programming department.
"Need something from him?"
"Nope."
Hazuki shook her head.
"I just wanted to ask about this weekend's pool trip. I don't know if everything's finalized yet, and I still need to buy a new swimsuit."
Then she turned toward Utaha and Yukino.
Utaha smiled.
"The pool's already reserved. From ten in the morning until six in the evening.
"Hazuki-san, are you sure you're coming? Aren't you going on a date?"
"Of course I'm coming!"
Hazuki laughed.
"Who goes on dates in the middle of summer? Obviously I'd rather go to the pool with all of you."
"Eh~~"
Kirino looked curious.
"I thought now that you have a boyfriend, you'd spend every weekend enjoying couple time together."
"I'm not some teenage girl who only thinks about romance."
Hazuki sat down and took a sip of her milk tea.
"I'm not that young anymore. Besides, my boyfriend will be busy with university training programs soon.
"You don't seriously think I'd move in with him this quickly, do you?"
Continuing, she said:
"A boyfriend is great and all, but he's not my top priority.
"Family comes first. Work comes second. Everyone at the company comes third. My boyfriend can only rank fifth for now."
"Then what's fourth?"
"Fourth is obviously Mozuku!"
Hearing his name, Mozuku lazily crawled out of a nearby cat bed with a dried fish hanging from his mouth and slowly walked over.
Seeing him approach, Hazuki picked up the chubby cat and placed him on her lap.
"If we're being honest, Mozuku is my first love, right, Mozuku~~~?"
Held in Hazuki's arms, Mozuku simply stared at everyone with his calm, enlightened-looking eyes while steadily chewing on his dried fish.
The sight immediately made everyone laugh.
Kirino smiled as she petted Mozuku's head.
"Then Hazuki-san, let's go buy swimsuits together after work today! It's been ages since I last went swimming."
"Sure!"
Hazuki nodded.
"Just the two of us? Anyone else coming?"
Then she watched as Kirino suddenly grabbed Ruri's arm.
"And her too. Hehe, this time you won't be able to wear your gothic lolita dress~~"
Ruri replied expressionlessly,
"I've already completely come to terms with my figure, so you won't get any satisfaction from teasing me.
"Besides, by Saturday you'll realize just how narrow your perspective is.
"Not even counting people like Utaha and Momo, have you looked at Hajime-san?"
"Hm?"
Turning around, Kirino immediately saw Hajime sitting nearby.
At that moment, Hajime had somehow balanced her milk tea perfectly on top of her chest while sipping through the straw, leaving both hands completely free to browse her phone.
Kirino's eyes instantly widened.
"Oh!!! That's actually amazing!"
Nene, who had also noticed Hajime's posture, immediately copied her.
"Look, look! I can do it too!"
Now it wasn't just Kirino who was shocked.
Yun Iijima, Aoba, and Eriri all suffered a massive psychological blow as well.
A body-image issue that several of them had long since put behind them suddenly resurfaced.
Everyone already knew that a few girls in the company had exceptionally impressive figures.
But wasn't this usage a little too ridiculous?
Could something that seemed like a manga gag actually be done in real life?
Eriri lowered her head and looked at herself.
Then she looked at Nene, who was noticeably shorter than her yet somehow possessed an overwhelmingly impressive figure.
A look of pure envy immediately appeared on her face.
...
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