When it was time to get off work, Ichin left on schedule with everyone else and drove home.
As soon as he changed into his slippers and walked in, he saw Haruno sitting on the living room sofa, happily watching TV.
"Haruno-nee, you're back so early today? Didn't you say work was really busy?"
"Hehe, it's actually not too bad," Haruno said with a smile. "I delegated some of the less important tasks, so I was able to come back earlier."
"I see."
Ichin nodded. He knew Haruno had built up her own team, and judging by how things were now, they were basically trained well enough to shoulder part of the workload for her.
That was a good thing.
After putting down his bag and the snacks he'd picked up on the way, Ichin looked at Haruno and said, "Did Utaha tell you? We're going out to watch a movie this weekend. Want to join us?"
Haruno nodded. "She did, but I'm busy this weekend. I have to attend a class reunion."
"A class reunion?" Ichin was a little surprised. "They actually invited you? Isn't that just asking for trouble? I mean, among your classmates, there shouldn't be anyone who doesn't know about your family background, right?"
Class reunions were pretty much the same everywhere. After graduation, people gathered to talk about their jobs and career development, and then—consciously or not—started comparing themselves.
Especially since Haruno had attended a prestigious university. Her classmates all had some reason to be proud, so their competitive instincts were definitely there, wanting to show off a bit at a post-graduation reunion.
Haruno smiled, clearly agreeing with Ichin's guess.
"That's right. The ones organizing it are those few people from class who used to be kind of obnoxious. I don't really care either way—just going to eat a meal and join in the fun. No one's going to mess with me. I was quite easygoing and friendly back in college, and I got along well with everyone."
"What you mean by 'easygoing' is that you scared people so badly they didn't dare oppose you, right?" Ichin said.
"Oh my, since you know already, don't say it out loud~~"
Haruno laughed as she patted Ichin on the shoulder. "By the way, do you want to come crash the dinner? I can introduce you to some of my classmates. There are two girls I'm pretty close with who work at a large advertising company. If you ever need to advertise your games, it'd be good to get to know them."
"Dinner, huh? I'll pass on that," Ichin replied. "We already agreed to watch the movie and then go eat barbecue. The movie won't be over until almost seven, so it'll be pretty late."
Because the movie's hype was quite high, and there were seven of them in total, they'd spent a long time picking seats so they could sit together, finally settling on a Sunday afternoon 4:30 showing.
But since it was Sunday, being out late wasn't a problem.
"Oh! Barbecue?" Haruno's eyes lit up. "Then I'll come find you after I'm done here. I'll bring those two classmates with me—how about that?"
"It's not impossible, but I'll need to ask the others first."
As he spoke, Ichin took out his phone and sent the message to their temporary group chat of seven.
Haruno leaned over to look at the group members and asked curiously, "If you're going to see the new Ultraman movie, isn't Hajime a big tokusatsu fan? Why isn't she coming?"
"Hajime already bought tickets for the Friday midnight premiere. She insisted on seeing the very first screening, so we didn't plan it together."
"Oh~~ that really does fit her personality!"
Before long, everyone in the group replied. No one had any objections, and they were all happy to have Haruno bring friends along.
Haruno said cheerfully, "Okay, then it's settled. I'll try to bring them over as early as I can."
Since she'd already agreed to the class reunion, she definitely had to show up at least briefly. But leaving early wasn't a big deal for Haruno.
A few minutes later, dinner was ready.
Tonight, Yukino was the main cook, with Utaha helping her. There was pork rib soup, di san xian, scallion stir-fried beef, and shredded pork with green peppers.
After serving herself a bowl of rice, Haruno took a sniff of the aromas from the dishes and said happily, "Hehe, Yukino's cooking just keeps getting better!"
Utaha nodded in agreement. "That's right. Yukino learns cooking much faster than I do."
Being praised by the two of them, Yukino looked a little embarrassed and said softly, "It's not that fast. It's just that godmother's recipes are written very clearly, so they're easier to learn."
Ichin added, "That's true. Mom's recipes are all written in great detail. She said they're meant to be passed down, so they have to be written properly."
And in reality, they really had been passed down—not just Ichin, Utaha, and Yukino, but even Yagami Kō and Rin had consulted his mom on cooking quite a bit.
After finishing dinner happily and brewing some tea, the four of them sat side by side on the sofa, watching TV and relaxing.
Watching the drama playing on the screen, Haruno looked utterly bored. "What kind of garbage is this drama? Utaha, hasn't the TV series you wrote the script for aired yet?"
"It won't be until April," Utaha replied. "Filming just wrapped up not long ago, and they've started editing. If some shots don't work, they'll have to reshoot them. But there's enough time—we'll be able to air it on schedule in April. You can just watch it then."
Haruno happily wrapped her arm around Utaha's. "Hehe, I'm really looking forward to it. It's rare to know someone who's a screenwriter. Utaha, are you planning to keep writing TV scripts in the future?"
After thinking for a moment, Utaha said, "If there's a suitable theme, I'd consider giving it a try. But novels will still be my main focus. And besides, over on Ichin's side, there might be game scripts that he'll need me to help with."
Taking a sip of tea, Ichin smiled and said, "As for game scripts, they're not really that critical. I'd rather you focus on doing what you like. There are plenty of people who can write scripts, and I can do it myself too. Compared to novels, they're much simpler."
"I know," Utaha said with a squinting smile. "But I also want to try out more styles. I've experienced being a TV drama screenwriter already. Next time, I actually want to try writing a movie script. A two-hour film market places much higher demands on the script—I'm curious what kind of result I can produce."
"Then just give it a shot. It sounds pretty interesting!" Haruno said eagerly. "Utaha, if you have ideas, write them whenever you have time. Once it's done, I'll help you find a director! Or we could even invest in it ourselves! And someone like Aunt Sayuri would probably be interested too. As long as the script is good, with her connections, she'd definitely be able to find a solid director to take on your script."
Ichin followed up immediately, "Haruno-nee is right. Whether it's investing ourselves or finding someone through connections, neither is difficult anymore. Just go ahead and do what you want to do."
Listening to the two of them, Utaha's smile grew brighter and brighter.
---
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