After leaving the school gates, the group piled into Ichin's car. Utaha sat in the front passenger seat, while Haruno, Yukino, and Eriri shared the back seat.
Wedged between Eriri and Haruno, Yukino adjusted her posture slightly before commenting, "I still can't quite believe it… Mom actually agreed to come out for dinner—and even went to the beauty salon, of all things."
In Yukino's mind, her mother had always been a stern, unsmiling woman. But the events of this afternoon had cracked that long-standing image, and things had only grown more surreal after the sports festival ended.
Haruno nodded in agreement. "Mmm~ Mom really surprised me today too. So tell me, Yukino—was this a good thing in your eyes or a bad one?"
Yukino didn't respond to Haruno's question. But her silence made the answer obvious.
If their mother could always act the way she did today, Yukino would probably be more willing to go home more often. After all, it wasn't just Yukino—even Haruno, in the past, had barely been able to stand a few minutes in her presence. The atmosphere was just too stifling.
With a hand on the steering wheel, Ichin chuckled and said, "Well, regardless, a change is always a good thing. And if you really want to know how things went, I can ask my mom about it tonight. I imagine she and your mom had quite the conversation. Their views on parenting are practically polar opposites."
Yukino nodded, setting the matter aside. She pulled out her phone and opened the live feed from her home surveillance cameras to check on her two cats.
Eriri and Haruno leaned in to look as well, watching the two felines move around on screen.
Since being adopted, the mother cat had grown visibly more relaxed. Her days now consisted mostly of nursing her kitten, then lazily sunbathing on the balcony.
As for the kitten, now well-fed and full of energy, it was thriving—alternating between naps and exploring the area around its little nest, still unfamiliar with its new home.
Watching the screen, Haruno smiled. "Looks like you're doing a great job raising them, Yukino. You even set up a camera to keep an eye on them. I bet you were watching them during your lunch break too, weren't you?"
A faint blush appeared on Yukino's cheeks, confirming Haruno's guess.
But Haruno didn't criticize her for it. Yukino didn't have many hobbies to begin with, and cats were one of the few things she genuinely cared about and stuck with over time.
Nowadays, Haruno had mellowed out when it came to her little sister. She no longer teased her to the extreme like she used to. Though when it came to other people—especially at work—Haruno was still razor-sharp, even starting to resemble their mother in some ways.
Before long, Ichin pulled the car into the supermarket parking lot, and the group hopped out to shop for dinner ingredients.
A single guy walking into a supermarket with four stunning girls—each with a distinct personality and appearance—was bound to draw attention. No matter where they went, they became the center of curious gazes from both customers and staff.
Among the five of them, only Eriri still looked flustered. The others were already used to this and calmly went about picking out groceries.
Since Eriri didn't cook, Ichin didn't bother asking her to pick out ingredients. Instead, he sent her off to choose snacks—something she could handle without stress. Relieved, Eriri happily trotted off to the snack aisle.
Ichin placed two steaks into the cart, then turned to Utaha beside him. "Is there anything else you want to eat?"
"Hmm~~~"
Utaha glanced to the right, spotting Yukino checking out the seafood section. She thought for a moment and said, "How about getting some chicken wings?"
"Sure! How do you want them? Braised? Fried? With curry? Or maybe cola chicken wings?"
"Cola chicken wings? You can make those, Ichin?"
Haruno leaned in curiously and looked at Ichin.
"You know how to make it?"
"Of course," Ichin replied casually. "It's not that hard. If you can braise chicken wings, you just tweak the recipe a bit and you've got cola chicken wings."
As he finished speaking, Yukino returned after picking out some fish. Holding a few trays in her hands, she said, "The cod looked good today. I also saw some freshly cleaned monkfish and grabbed some—but I'm not really sure how to cook this one."
She showed them what she had picked out, then looked toward Ichin.
Since coming to Japan, Ichin had only ever eaten monkfish at restaurants—he hadn't tried preparing it at home before. But seeing Yukino bring it over, he gave her a big thumbs-up.
"No problem. I'll just check a recipe online later. There are plenty of good ones."
In fact, he could look it up right now. A quick search on Bilibili would pull up tons of cooking videos from food creators. Just find a reliable one and follow along—chances of messing it up were pretty low.
Yukino nodded. "Let's go with that, then. I want to learn how to make it too."
As she said this, she put the trays into the shopping cart.
Haruno tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm~ Everyone here can cook. I only know how to make a few simple things… maybe I should learn properly?"
Yukino responded without hesitation. "You might as well give up, sis. Even if you wanted to learn, Mom would never allow it. The moment she hears about it, she'll probably schedule you for a full course in business management instead."
"That's true," Haruno agreed with a nod. "Neither Mom nor I can cook. Yukino's the only one in the family who's actually good at it. Hey, Yukino, how about cooking a proper meal for Mom and Dad next time you go home?"
"We'll see," Yukino replied.
She didn't reject the idea, but she wasn't ready to agree either. She still didn't have full confidence in her cooking skills. If she were to cook for their parents, she'd want to practice and learn more first.
After they finished picking out the chicken wings, that wrapped up all the meat for tonight's dinner.
Next, they went to the vegetable section. Once they had what they needed and felt the amount was enough, they headed off to find Eriri, who was still browsing through the snack aisle.
Compared to groceries, snacks were more of Eriri's specialty. It didn't take her long to load up with a decent haul.
Yukino came over and took one look at her picks—then promptly removed two boxes of chocolate from the pile and put them back on the shelf.
"This should be enough."
"Ehh? But I haven't had chocolate in ages!" Eriri whined.
Despite her pitiful tone, Yukino remained unmoved. Eriri had no choice but to accept her snack haul as it was. Not that it was small—there were already plenty of treats. If they snacked while chatting after dinner, they definitely wouldn't finish it all.
At checkout, Ichin paid for the groceries, while Yukino covered the snacks.
After leaving the supermarket, before heading to Yukino's house, they made a quick stop at Ichin's place to pick up Peppa, his cat.
Technically, it would've been fine to leave Peppa home alone—Ichin had an automatic feeder installed—but after some discussion, everyone agreed to bring her along.
Once back in the car, Yukino took the pet carrier and cradled it in her arms. Inside, Peppa stared up with her big, round eyes, looking confused and unsure of where they were going.
Yukino observed her for a moment and said with a puzzled expression, "Why does she look kind of… dumb?"
...