With those thoughts, Yuuto continued the simulation.
[You were nearing the place at where they usually played at and hear the sounds of fun and excitement of playing as heroes against from what you heard, was an evil black dragon. However, you notice that among the sounds, seemed to be of a young woman, their voice lively and cheerful as they said lines such as, "You're too weak, heroes!" and "Ugh, how are you suddenly so strong?!"]
[You arrive, and immediately, the children notice you as they stop their game for a moment to point at you, exclaiming, "It's big masked brother!"]
Suddenly, memories of the event described by the system panel surfaced into Yuuto's head.
"Big masked brother, you're here!" One of the children said as all of them came over to him.
"Yes, as promised."
"Eh? But you promised us you would come last week but you're so late..." Another chimed, pouting.
"Well, you know how busy I can be..." Yuuto replied with a cough, "In fact, all adults are quite busy. Isn't that right,—"
He then met eyes with the young blonde woman, known in Inazuma for her lively and full of spark personality while also as an expert pyrotechnician and fireworks crafter,
"Yoimiya-san?"
Yoimiya giggled, agreeing with a smile and nodding, "Yep! Especially when festivals come around. I have to buy the materials for the fireworks, wait for them to be delivered, make them... Oh! And,-"
[She loved talking. Perhaps, a little bit too much. To your simple question, her response was several minutes and still going. From talking about her family's methods and business as Inazuma's main fireworks makers, to that one time she had a frustrating customer, and a whole lot more.]
At some point, the children said something along the lines of, "The evil dragon is chanting a long spell!" and started attacking Yoimiya who was surprised.
"Ah- wait! Hey! Agh, fine, take this spell!" She started too then get into the roleplay like her attackers.
[It continued like that, until the children looked at you, asking for your help on defeating such a fearsome foe. You, however, thought so differently. You placed your bag of sweets down near a bench and apologized to them as you... Were a spy for the black dragon this entire time!]
[Without you noticing, thirty minutes passed by as you played with the children and Yoimiya Naganohara.]
[Surprisingly, it was the children who first got tired and went home to "retreat", they promised to get their revenge next time. You of course, didn't forget to give them their sweets while Yoimiya seemed to give them paper slips of a kind.]
[You naturally knew what those meant, a Naganohara fireworks was soon to be held and that it was a special type of "code" for recipes that only the Naganohara family could understand to recreate fireworks of the past.]
Yoimiya laughed as she waved at them, "Ah, that was so much fun!"
Yuuto nodded, "They're quite the bunch, but they do know how to spend the time."
She agreed with him, but then remembered something, "Right! So you're the one they've been telling me about, the big masked brother."
"Oh? They talk about me?" Yuuto was surprised, but when he thought about it, that must probably be why Yoimiya, according to the system, had goodwill towards him.
"Of course! They say that a big masked brother helped them keep in contact with a friend, and then, would visit from time to time. He would always bring sweets and very, very often, play with them."
"Is that so..." He muttered, somehow...
It felt nice to hear such things.
Yuuto made a mental note that next time, he would give even more sweets and play with them.
Yoimiya then giggled, although Yuuto did not say what he was thinking about, she had a feeling that he was happy at what the kids said about him.
"So, whose behind the mask?" She asked with curiosity.
Although it only hid the lower part of Yuuto's face, Yoimiya still had no idea of who was behind the mask even though she knew most people around Inazuma. However, that didn't change the fact that anyone could tell that he looked charming.
"Consider me as a customer, I'm sure Oosumi rings a bell, right?"
Yoimiya nodded, trying to remember which naturally didn't take long. She then made a sound of realization, "So you're from Kaede-san's! She's usually the one who comes to the shop for the fireworks herself."
"Yes, however, this time around, Lady Kaede is too busy with clan matters, and so the higher-ups decided that I should be the one to request for the fireworks." A lie, though, Yoimiya and "Kaede" didn't need to know about.
Since Kaede was actually Yuuto's mother. And he was the Oosumi Clan's heir.
Both would certainly forgive him.
"Alright then, do you have the paper slip?"
"Regarding that, the Oosumi Clan would like a new one."
Yoimiya's eyes sparkled with curiosity, "Must be for a big occassion, huh?"
"Well, the young master will be publicly watching the fireworks show. To the clan, it is something worth celebrating."
After all, the heir of the Oosumi Clan, Yuuto Oosumi, had never made his public appearance.
Instead, when representing the clan in gatherings, it would always be his mother, Kaede Oosumi and later on, also his father Shuichi Oosumi when Yuuto decided to take on the duties.
In fact, even if it wasn't a gathering and just walking around Inazuma, Yuuto would always be in incognito.
And considering Yoimiya only ever heard of stories of the heir from his mother and had never seen him, then it must be true.
However..
"Then what Kaede-san said really was a hundred percent true..." She couldn't help but exclaim.
"Did Lady Kaede say something about the young master?"
Before replying, Yoimiya looked around as if what she was about to say was classified information.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone, alright?"
Yuuto nodded.
Like a gossiping girl, she covered a side of her face by placing her hand on her cheek, her voice a whisper.
"Whenever Kaede-san would bring up her son, she would always say that he was hardworking, kind, thoughtful and handsome..."
To that, Yuuto nodded once more, it was only natural.
He'd always been a good son, he was sure of that.
"But..." She continued hesistantly.
Immediately, Yuuto furrowed his brows.
Did...
Did his mother have a complaint about him?
"But...?" He asked, hoping he was wrong.
"He's apparently a shut-in as he doesn't get enough sunlight and barely goes outside."
Yuuto felt an arrow go straight toward his heart.
What Yoimiya just said was true, he did rarely go outside.
But when it came from his own mother?
Somehow, it just had that effect.
And when that wasn't enough.
"He's also apparently a loner,"
Ugh!
"So, he doesn't have any friends,"
"Especially since when he does go outside, he hides his appearance with his "distasteful fashion sense since he completely covers his body with shady clothing and has a mask on,"
"He's around my age apparently," she then sighed out of pity, "if I could meet him, I'd be his friend."
At this point...
Yuuto was ready to embrace death once more.
What was so wrong with focusing on your clan, work, and ones own self?!
And how was his fashion sense bad in anyway at all!
It benfitted Kaede more than anything, and it's not like he was lonely, he could and is a functional member of Inazuna's society thank you very much.
"Y-Yoimiya-san, is there anything else that she said?"
She nodded, "From what Kaede-san said, he had black hair and grey eyes like yours..."
"Oh, and you're also as tall as him as well."
Slowly, Yoimiya started piecing the resemblance of Kaede's description of Yuuto to the person in front of him as well.
Covering his entire body with black clothing, and had a face mask on.
Rather tall, good-looking, and a lighter skin tone than most.
Today, at this very moment, she realized that,
[Throughout your conversation with Yoimiya Naganohara, she did not know that everything she had said was actually about the person in front of her. While sweating bullets, and now having a much paler face considering what she had said, she immediately apologized to you who was ready to accept the after life due to such remarks.]
[You didn't mind it. Instead, you decided to laugh it off as you changed the subject back to your fireworks order. Especially since it wasn't her own words when it was actually from your own mother]
[After the conversation, once again, Yoimiya apologized as both of you said your goodbyes.]
[You and Yoimiya Naganohara became friends.]