The Kogane and Hirano families were sitting inside a room, the atmosphere was weird because, on one side, Ichiro's parents were still looking very nervous while Ichiro was calmly brewing tea. At the same time, Sakurako's parents stopped their chuckling, as they looked impressed at Ichiro showing a perfect demonstration of the way of the tea, while Sakurako found it quite surprising that Ichiro could act that refinedly, in contrast to his usual laid-back acting
"Your tea is done, here take it"
" "Thank you" "
"Thanks"
Ichiro handed a teacup to everyone, with Sakurako and her parents thanking him. Thanks to Ichiro, the atmosphere in the room got more relaxed, allowing for the interview to continue uninterrupted
"Ichiro-kun, can I call you like that?"
"Sure, but I'll call you Hansuke-san in exchange though"
"A fair trade, I must say, you brewed quite an exquisite tea, Ichiro-kun"
"Thank you, I'm particularly demanding on the quality of my tea"
"I could see it, but this is not what I'm here for. I want you to be honest with me, Ichiro-kun. Do you really want to go forward with this engagement?"
"Hmm..."
Ichiro made a thinking face once again, and then answered Hansuke's question
"... Sure, I want to go forward with the engagement"
"May I know the reason why?"
"Oh, it's because I think it'll be interesting having Kogane-san as my fiancée"
" "Hm?" "
Both Hansuke and Emma got confused at Ichiro's answer as he said it with a smile and without any hesitation
"... Are you sure that you're thinking this through, Hirano-kun?"
Emma was the one who asked Ichiro that, and he immediately gave his response
"But isn't Kogane-san here only because she likes my coffee?"
" " "..." " "
Sakurako's parents both turned quiet and looked at her after hearing, while she alternated her vision between them. Then they went back to facing Ichiro
" "Yes" "
"*Clap* And that's why I think it'll be interesting having a relationship with her"
Ichiro clapped his hands together as he said that with a smile on his face and his eyes closed. That made Sakurako's parents stay silent, as they thought that in a certain way, Ichiro and Sakurako were quite similar in a strange manner
"... I see... Then one last thing, Ichiro-kun... If you get engaged to my daughter, will you cherish her and make sure that she's happy?"
"Of course! I will try my best to take care and have Kogane-san like me, but in turn, I want Kogane-san to also take care of me. Is that okay with you, Kogane-san?"
Ichiro had turned his vision towards Sakurako as he said that
"... *Nods* Although I'm inexperienced in this, I will do what I can to have you like me, Hirano-san"
"Don't worry, I'm inexperienced as well"
Ichiro gave Sakurako a thumbs up as he said that with a funny dumb face. Seeing the two like that, was enough to put a smile on Hansuke and Emma's faces. Having his main worries answered, Hansuke decided that they should give the two some time alone to talk about each other
So he got up alongside Emma and called for Ichiro's parents
"Kazumi-san, Niko-san, there are some matters that we want to talk about with you two alone, so if you two could accompany us"
" "Y-Yesh!" "
His parents were still feeling nervous, so they also got up somewhat hurriedly and followed Sakurako's parents, outside the room. And thus the two were left alone in the room, initially, the two stayed quiet, as they both drank the tea made by Ichiro
"Kogane-san, can I ask you something?"
"Hm? Sure, what is it?"
"Can I call you by your given name?"
"... Sure, I don't see a problem with it"
"Great! Then you can also call me by my given name as well, Sakurako-san"
"..."
"Something's wrong, Sakurako-san"
"! N-no, it's nothing... It's just that... I'm not used to having boys calling me by name... Ichiro-san..."
Sakurako was looking a little bashful from having her name being said by someone of her age that wasn't of her family or an acquaintance
"I see, then do you want me to stop?"
"No, there's no need to"
"Okay, then what about your birthday? Can you tell me when it is?"
"It's on the 8th of April"
"Oh! That's quite close, isn't it?"
"Yes"
The room turned silent once again, as Ichiro made a thinking expression yet again as he appeared to mumble something to himself, while Sakurako simply finished drinking her tea
"... *Nods*... Sakurako-san"
"What is it, Ichiro-san?"
"Do you want to go on a date with me on your birthday?"
"A date?"
"Yes, a date. Because if we get engaged, then we're going to need engagement rings, and also it'll serve as my birthday gift to you"
"I see"
"I'll also make you some coffee on your birthday as well"
"At what time we should meet that day?"
Hearing that unrefusable offer, Sakurako asked with a serious face
"You really like coffee... What do you think of we meeting at around 16 o'clock, right at the start of after school?"
"Sounds good"
"Great, as for the place, I think my family's cafe will serve, I will even make sure to have some coffee ready to serve you, Sakurako-san"
"*Nods* I'll make sure to come on time"
"You don't need to rush... Now, on another topic... You're bad with cold, aren't you, Sakurako-san?"
"! How can you tell?"
"You can call it a hunch, but... That scarf around your arms is the biggest giveaway"
"Ah!"
Sakurako looked at her arms, noticing the scarf that she had forgotten she still had with her, so she began unwrapping the scarf, but Ichiro stopped her
"Don't worry about it, in fact, I prefer if you keep the scarf on you as is because it gives you a quite... cute look"
"... Thanks... for the compliment"
"No problem"
Sakurako looked away as her cheeks turned slightly pink from embarrassment she pouted a little. Seeing that made Ichiro smile even more, as he found Sakurako's reaction quite amusing to see
After some time, their parents came back and saw the two getting along perfectly well, which made them feel that Ichiro was being sincere with his words. The two families signed the necessary documents, with Ichiro and Sakurako writing their signatures on the engagement form
"I look forward to our time together, Sakurako-san"
"Nn *Nods* Me too, Ichiro-san"