26 - Giving Up a Limited-Edition Taste

RAW

The day after watching a movie with Ayaka.

Haruto rings the Tojo family's intercom amid the chorus of cicadas.

Where in a residential area like this are the cicadas making so much noise hiding?

While standing in the hot sun thinking about such trivial things, a response immediately comes from the intercom.

"Yes. Otsuki-kun, right? I'll open the door now."

It's Ayaka's mother, Ikue, who answers the door.

After the sound of the key opening from the other side, the door swings open and Ikue shows up.

"Hello, Otsuki-kun."

"Hello. Thank you for your help today."

Haruto bows politely, and Ikue smiles.

"It's hot outside. Come on, come inside."

"Oh, yes. I'm in."

Invited by Ikue, Haruto went up to the entrance.

As soon as he entered the house, he felt the cool air and let out a sigh.

"It's really hot these days, isn't it?"

"That's right. We have to be careful about heat stroke."

"Yeah."

While they were having this conversation, the door to the living room slammed open and Ayaka's younger brother, Ryota, came running up at incredible speed.

"Big bro! Are you really going to take me to the zoo?!"

Ryota looked up at Haruto, his face shining with anticipation as he heard the booming voice.

"It's true."

Pat Ryota's head, Haruto answered with a smile.

"Um, I'm thinking of taking Ayaka and Ryota to Animal Crossing Park tomorrow."

"Ayaka told me about it this morning."

After replying to Ryota, Haruto told Ikue about tomorrow's plans.

She then smiled and thanked Haruto.

"Shuichi and I have both been working, so we haven't been able to take Ryota and Ayaka anywhere to play during their summer vacation. So this is really helpful. Thank you, Otsuki."

"No, no, I'm going to have fun too, so don't worry about it."

"That's really helpful to hear you say that. I'm glad for you, Ryota."

"Yes!!"

Ryota nodded enthusiastically, and both Ikue and Haruto smiled.

Ayaka peeked in through the living room door that Ryota had opened.

"Oh, Otsuki-kun...come in."

"Oh, Ayaka-san...hello."

It was an awkward greeting, mixed with a touch of embarrassment.

The two had spent the day together as if they were lovers on their movie date yesterday, and were both blushing slightly as they noticed each other.

Ikue, their mother, naturally noticed the change in their behavior and smiled happily.

Ryota, who was still too young to read their emotions, burst out in joy and ran over to his sister.

"Big sis! Big brother is going to take me to the zoo!"

"You said that this morning, didn't you?"

Ayaka replied with a wry smile, seeing her brother's restless behavior.

"Because Onee-chan has been acting strange since the morning. She kept muttering the word 'bargaining' in a low voice, and after saying my brother's name she made a weird smile..."

"Ryota! Onee-chan isn't weird at all!! And she never said a word of that!!"

"That's a lie! You definitely said it! I heard it!"

"I didn't say it! I didn't hear it!"

Ayaka overreacts to Ryota's words, blushing as she desperately denies what her brother said.

Ryota also counters her sister.

The two suddenly start arguing like siblings, and Ikue puts her hand on her cheek and looks on with amusement, saying "Oh my."

"Ayaka is getting worked up. That's what youth is all about."

Ikue, who is calmly watching the two children argue, smiles at Haruto.

"By the way, you're going shopping with Ayaka for ingredients for tomorrow's lunch today, right?"

"Eh? Ah, yes."

Should he stop Ayaka and Ryota from arguing? However, Haruto doesn't know what the reason for the argument is, and is confused about what to do when Ikue speaks to him, leaving him at a loss for words.

"You don't have to clean the house so much today, so please spend as much time shopping with Ayaka. Here's your shopping money."

"No, no! I can't take this much."

Haruto waves his hand and refuses to accept the bills Ikue hands him.

"I'm not going to help out as a housekeeper tomorrow, I'm going as a friend, so let's split the cost of the ingredients for the lunch..."

"Don't worry about it. You're going to take Ryota out to play. As a parent, please let me do this much."

As Ikue says this, she grabs Haruto's hand and places the money in his palm.

"Right? Otsuki-kun, please."

Ikue tilts her head and looks up.

She's an adult woman, but she has a cute, childish mannerism. That contrast, combined with Ikue's own beauty, makes Haruto blush and look away.

"Um... yes. I understand."

"Ufu, thank you Otsuki-kun."

Haruto can't look Ikue in the eye, so he averts his eyes and nods.

Ikue smiles at him.

A flustered Ayaka then cuts in.

"Hey mom! Why are you holding hands with Otsuki-kun?"

Seeing her daughter's impatience, as if she's feeling a sense of crisis, Ikue smiles.

"Oh my, what's wrong, why are you in such a hurry? I was just giving Otsuki some shopping money."

"Then just hand it over normally, right? Come on! Otsuki is in trouble, so let go of his hand!"

"Oh? Did you hate having an old lady hold your hand? I'm sorry."

Saying this, Ikue lets go of Haruto's hand, which she had been holding. He replies briefly, "No... it's okay," bowing his head slightly.

Seeing Haruto's state, Ayaka gives her mother a sharp look.

"Mom, you have a remote meeting now, right? If you don't get ready quickly, you'll be late for the meeting."

Saying this, Ayaka pushes Ikue's back to try and get her away from Haruto.

"There's still 30 minutes until the meeting, so you don't need to rush, okay?"

"You're the president, so you can't be late, right? Come on, hurry up!"

"Oh, I get it. Well then, Otsuki-kun, you'll take care of it."

Ikue, who is being pushed hard by Ayaka, turns around a little and waves to Haruto.

Then, Ayaka pushes her back even harder.

Ikue whispers to her desperate daughter in a small voice that only she can hear.

"Otsuki-kun, you're a good kid. Do your best not to let the other kids get there first, okay?"

Whether she heard her mother's whisper or not.

Ayaka's ears were red as she continued to push her mother's back desperately.

---…--…--…--…--…--…--

After Haruto lightly cleaned the Tojo house, he got ready to go shopping.

At the same time, Ayaka also started to get ready to go out, and Ryota approached Haruto, saying that he would accompany her shopping, just like last time.

"Hey, hey! Can I come shopping with you?"

Haruto, who had no particular reason to refuse, smiled at Ryota and was about to nod.

However, before he could, Ayaka spoke up.

"Not this time. Ryota, stay home."

"What! Why not?"

Ryota pouted and looked dissatisfied at his sister's words.

"We might buy a lot of things this time, and I'll discuss various things with Otsuki while shopping, so Ryota, stay home. Got it?"

"I want to go with you too!"

"No. Please, listen to what I say this time, okay?"

Ayaka crouched down in front of Ryota, meeting his eyes and pleading.

Despite his sister's plea, Ryota's dissatisfied expression did not change.

"You're saying that, but you want to have him all to yourself!"

"N-no, that's not it. It's not like that. This time..."

"You like big brother, so you want to be with him! I'm in the way!"

"Hey! Ryota, I don't..."

"I like him too..."

Saying that, Ryota looked down in disgust.

"Um, Ayaka-san"

Unable to bear the sight of it any longer, Haruto called out to Ayaka, and she began to speak in a panic.

"Oh, Otsuki-kun, you see! It's not like I want to have you all to myself or anything, I-I-I-like-you-that's just something Ryota said on his own..."

"No, I'm happy that Ryota likes me too."

Haruto said with a bitter smile, and Ayaka looked troubled.

Regardless of what Ayaka herself is thinking, as she said earlier, this shopping trip will likely involve a lot of purchases, and they plan to discuss what side dishes to put in their lunch boxes while they shop.

For that reason, it is certain that they will be able to concentrate on shopping if Ryota is not around.

However, seeing Ryota looking sulky, a sense of guilt wells up within Haruto and Ayaka.

Maybe we should take him along after all.

Just as the mood was starting to move in that direction, Ikue, who had just finished a remote meeting, appeared in the living room.

"Ryota. While your big sister and brother go shopping, why don't you wait and eat ice cream with mom?"

As Ikue said this, she was holding a high-end cup ice cream container in each hand.

The moment Ryota saw it, his face lit up.

"Ice cream!"

Meanwhile, Ayaka looked at the ice cream Ikue was holding and let out a sad cry of "Ah."

"The ice cream I saved for you..."

Joy and despair.

The brother and sister look at each other with conflicting expressions, and their mother smiles.

"What shall we do? Go shopping? Or eat ice cream?"

"Ryota, you can eat my ice cream, but will you stay home and watch the house?"

"Hmm... okay. I'll stay home."

Ryota hesitates as Ayaka makes a heartbreaking decision.

"Well, have a nice trip then."

"Yes, I'm off."

"Ugh... it was a limited edition flavor... I'm off."

After being seen off by Ikue, Haruto and Ayaka go out together to buy side dishes for tomorrow's lunch.