28 - Breakfast at the Tojo House

RAW

It's just after 6am.

Haruto gets dressed and ready to go out, then he sends a message to Ayaka.

--Good morning. I'm on my way there now.

--Good morning! Yes, I'll be waiting for you!

The reply comes immediately.

Haruto smiles and heads to the front door.

"Grandma, I'm off."

When he calls out to the living room, his grandmother pops out with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Okay, okay, have fun."

"Okay, I'm off."

As his grandmother sees him off, Haruto puts on a slightly larger backpack with his belongings inside and heads out.

Even though it's only just after 6am, it's already a little muggy outside.

"Looks like it'll be a good day for splashing around."

Haruto looks up at the sky, and sees the same clear skies as ever.

By the time the sun reaches its zenith, it will surely be so hot that you will want to pour cold water over your head.

Thinking about this, Haruto heads for the Tojo residence.

And it is just before 7 o'clock.

Haruto arrives in front of the mansion that he is starting to get used to seeing, and takes out his smartphone.

--Arrived in front of the house

It is not particularly early in the morning, but Haruto feels a little embarrassed to ring the intercom so early in the morning, so he sends a message to Ayaka.

He immediately receives a rabbit stamp giving the OK! sign.

Immediately after that, the door opens with a click and Ayaka herself appears.

"Good morning, Otsuki-kun."

Ayaka greets him with a shy smile.

Perhaps because she is about to start cooking, her hair, which reaches down to the middle of her back, is currently tied up in a ponytail.

"Good morning."

Haruto was captivated by her unusual hairstyle and took a moment to reply.

Ayaka said, "Come in," opening the door wide and inviting Haruto into the house.

The rest of the family hadn't woken up yet, so the house was quiet.

"I think Mom and Dad will be up soon. I think it'll be a while before Ryota wakes up."

Ayaka said as she headed to the kitchen.

Many ordinary office workers would be busy getting ready for work by this time, but the Tojos are both company owners, so there are probably days when the executives have to come in.

On the other hand, they sometimes come in before it's dark.

"In that case, I'll make breakfast for you all while I'm making your lunches."

"What? No way! Otsuki-kun isn't working today, so you don't have to go that far, okay?"

Ayaka waved both hands at Haruto's suggestion.

"Actually, I thought it would be hard to make breakfast while making lunch boxes, so I prepared a little bit yesterday."

"Oh? Is that so? In that case... I guess I'll ask you to do it. Mom and Dad will be very happy if Otsuki makes breakfast for them."

"Okay. I'll make it quickly."

Haruto said, and took out a baguette that he had soaked in egg liquid from the fridge yesterday and started toasting it in a frying pan.

"Wow! French toast!"

Ayaka's face broke out into a smile at the sweet smell of eggs and sugar.

"Tojo-san, you haven't had breakfast yet, right?"

"Yeah. What about Otsuki-kun? Have you already had breakfast? If you don't mind, would you like to have breakfast with me?"

"Are you sure? Then I'll take you up on your offer and join you."

"Yeah!"

Ayaka nodded happily, and Haruto's mouth naturally turned up.

Next, Haruto takes out the chicken ham from the fridge that he cooked and cooled the day before, thinly slices it, and arranges it on a plate.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"Oh, then can you cut the tomatoes and lettuce and arrange them next to the chicken ham?"

"Okay."

As Haruto takes out the yogurt from the fridge, he also picks up the tomatoes and lettuce and hands them to Ayaka.

The two stand side by side in the kitchen, and while Ayaka cuts and arranges the vegetables, Haruto adds sugar to the yogurt and makes a sauce to pour over the chicken ham.

"Oh, can you boil this in a pot after you've finished cutting the vegetables?"

With that, Haruto hands Ayaka three types of spices: cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.

"What are you making?"

"I thought I'd make chai."

"Wow, you can make chai at home."

"I had all the spices, so I thought Assam black tea would be just right."

"Oh, my mom often drinks milk tea, so she uses Assam black tea instead of Darjeeling."

"Oh, I see."

As they chat like this, the two cook side by side in the kitchen.

Shuichi wakes up and comes into the living room, where he gets excited when he sees Haruto standing in the kitchen.

"Oh! Good morning Otsuki-kun!"

"Good morning Shuichi-san. Breakfast will be ready soon, so please wait a moment."

"What! You're making breakfast for me? I'm sorry, it's not a day for the housekeeping service."

"No, it's not a big deal, so don't worry about it."

"It's amazing that you can say that."

Shuichi sits at the dining table, impressed.

Then he smiles at his daughter standing next to Haruto.

"Good morning Ayaka."

"Good morning Dad."

"You two standing side by side in the kitchen, you look like a newlywed couple. Hahaha."

"Hey! Dad, stop saying weird things!"

Ayaka shouts out in protest at her father, who is laughing in high spirits.

At that moment, Ikue comes into the living room.

"Oh? It smells good, doesn't it?"

"Good morning, Ikue-san. Breakfast is ready, so please enjoy."

Saying this, Haruto arranges the finished dishes on the dining table.

"Oh! You made breakfast? That's a relief! I'm sorry, you're not working today."

Everyone in the Tojo household said the same thing to Haruto, and he gave a bitter smile.

"I'm going to be making lunch boxes soon, and the kitchen will be taken up."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that."

Saying this, Ikue takes her seat at the dining table, and her face lights up at the food laid out before her.

"Oh! What a delicious and lovely breakfast. Right?"

"Yeah. If I eat Otsuki-kun's cooking in the morning, I'm sure I'll be more efficient at work all day."

The breakfast menu is French toast and chicken ham with yogurt sauce. And a salad of raw vegetables.

"What would you like to drink? I made some chai. Would you prefer coffee?"

"Oh, I'll have that then. What about you? Coffee?"

"No, I'll have chai."

The Tojo couple both choose chai.

Haruto asks Ayaka next to him.

"What would you like, Ayaka?"

"I'd like chai too. It's been smelling good for a while now."

Just as Ayaka said, the kitchen was filled with the smell of the French toast that had just been baked, as well as the elegant smell of cinnamon and black tea from the chai that was currently being heated.

"I understand."

Haruto adds milk to the chai, which has now turned a nice color, and pours the chai into a cup while removing the spices and tea leaves with a tea strainer.

"Please, sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Mmm, it smells nice."

"What a luxury to start the morning off."

The Tojos look satisfied.

Ayaka then says.

"You can join us for breakfast, right Otsuki?"

"Of course!"

"By all means, let's eat together."

Shuichi and Ikue readily agree to Haruto having breakfast with them.

Haruto says, "Excuse me for interrupting," and places breakfast for himself and Ayaka on the dining table.

Once everyone is seated, Shuichi puts his hands together.

"Well then, let's eat."

Following him, everyone puts their hands together and says, "Let's eat."

"Mmmm. This French toast is superb. It's crispy on the outside, but soft and flavorful on the inside."

"The chicken ham is also moist and delicious. The yogurt has a perfect balance of sour and sweet. Hey, Otsuki, can you tell me the recipe next time?"

"Yes, it's easy, so please try making it."

Haruto, who made the toast, smiles happily as Shuichi and Ikue praise the breakfast.

Next to him, Ayaka takes a sip of chai and exhales.

"Delicious..."

After muttering a word, she takes another sip of chai.

"Wow, it feels like Otsuki has become a part of our family."

Shuichi says, with a look of amusement on his face.

"That's true."

After Ikue agrees with Shuichi, she smiles at Haruto.

"Why don't we just become a family, Otsuki-kun?"

Ayaka blushes and argues against Ikue's statement.

"Mom! Stop it! Why are Otsuki-kun and I getting married?"

"Oh? Otsuki-kun can become part of our family without marrying Ayaka. He could be adopted."

"Okay..."

Her daughter freezes up and mutters softly, and her mother smiles.

"But if Ayaka can win Otsuki-kun's heart, we'll be very happy. Right?"

"You're right. Then we'll be happy to welcome Otsuki-kun as our son! Hahaha."

Haruto smiles wryly as the Tojo couple happily converse, and Ayaka blushes.

"Come on! You wouldn't normally talk like that in front of the person!"

Despite their daughter's desperate protests, the parents brush them off and continue to eat breakfast happily.

Lively and happily? After breakfast, the Tojos head off to work.

In the kitchen, once again alone, Ayaka apologizes to Haruto while washing the dishes.

"I'm sorry. My parents always say weird things."

"Haha, no, well, it's much better like this than being hated."

Haruto says as he makes tamagoyaki.

"That's true, but... Mom and Dad really like you, Otsuki."

"I'm grateful for that, seriously."

As he skillfully flips the eggs, Haruto replies to Ayaka.

Ayaka blushes a little and speaks in a low voice to him.

"If we let those two do as they please, maybe we'll end up getting married..."

Ayaka ended up speaking in an extremely cheerful voice, trying to cover up what she'd said.

Haruto replied, looking slightly up and looking a bit dazed.

"If we invited grandma to our wedding, she'd be so happy..."

"What!? Grandma?"

Ayaka was taken aback by Haruto's unexpectedly positive response.

Seeing her like that, Haruto came back to his senses and gave a bitter smile.

"Well, marriage is still a long way off for us, so I can't even imagine it."

"Y-You're right! We're still in high school!"

Ayaka nodded repeatedly in response to Haruto's words.

However, what he'd said earlier was still stuck in her mind.

Afterwards, Ayaka continued preparing the side dishes for her lunch, her face reddening as she kept glancing at Haruto.