A good amount had passed since the three girls had entered Ichiro's mother's cafe, and began talking, mostly regarding what had caused the silver-haired girl, called by her friends as Yu-chan, to become dejected. And the more they talked... The more dots Ichiro was able to connect, such as that the girl called Yu-chan, was the same Nanami Yuriko talked about days ago with him and the others.
"..." <I'm sorry, Nanami-san... That part of Takkun avoiding you is partly my fiancée's fault for giving that advice to Takkun>
Ichiro then looked at Sakurako, who was sitting very close to the girls talking and had already finished doing her homework, yet she was completely unaware of their conversation as she was currently having one of her usual spacing-around moments.
"... You need to apologize to Takeru-kun, now"
"I know..."
"Then why don't you call him?"
"... ... ... I forgot to ask for his number..."
" "Ah!" "
"..." <Should I?>
Hearing that comment of Yuriko, Ichiro pondered for a moment on whether he should intervene to help with his cousin's love life. Then he finally concluded.
<Nah, it's more amusing to tease him by asking how he made up with Nanami-san during his summer vacations>
With that decision made, Ichiro remained uninvolved in the conversation between the three girls, but he made sure to remember as many details as possible to mess with Takeru later down the line.
"Then... Why don't you visit him in his apartment since he's your neighbor?"
"... Em-"
"What?"
"I-it's Embarrassing... And he has been returning pretty late this week..."
" "..." "
"..." <Now that I think about it, I think Yasu commented earlier today about Takkun visiting him a few days ago, but there's no way he would visit Yasu and Aunt Kimiko's house every day... ... ... He's probably at that place, huh>
Once again, Ichiro kept his thoughts to himself, and as he did so, the girls continued their talk, but by now since there was nothing much else to talk about Takeru, Ichiro stopped paying attention to them until he was called, of course.
"Great! Hey! Can you bring us the bill?"
Seeing the Orange haired gal calling for him, Ichiro lifted his face and responded
"Sure"
Without any delay, Ichiro prepared a bill, and brought it to the girls, giving it to the orange-haired one.
"Here's your bill, please check to see if everything is correct"
"Thanks, now let's see..."
"..."
Ichiro waited in silence as the orange-haired girl checked the contents of the bill, and then picked up her wallet to take out the exact amount of money listed in the bill.
"Everything is correct, and here's the money"
"Thank you very much, please come again"
The girls got up from their seats and left the cafe. While Ichiro watched them leave as he began to clean the table they had just used, quickly finishing it, and after bringing the cups to be washed, he returned to the counter and saw that the cafe was mostly empty with only the presence of him and Sakurako, preventing it from being completely empty.
Seeing that he didn't have anything to do, Ichiro decided to go around the counter, and towards Sakurako's table, where he then sat down right beside her.
"!"
"Sorry to make you wait, Sakurako-san"
"... Don't worry, Ichiro-san. I know you were busy"
"Thank you for understanding"
"Nn *Nods*..."
Sakurako looked at him with her usual blank face, before looking down and then slowly moving to support herself on Ichiro's shoulder as she closed her eyes, almost as if to take a nap.
"... Heh"
Seeing Sakurako's innocent and cute way of hogging him all to herself, Ichiro couldn't help but happily snicker and pat her head, today was also another uneventful day for the two.
.
.
.
Back into her family's mansion
"..."
Inside Sakurako's personal music studio, the sound of a slow and calming violin melody could be heard, as she played the music, Sakurako demonstrated a solemn yet serious demeanor, at the same time her movements were perfect, making her appear as if she was in a trance between her and the violin.
*Door opening*
"...!"
Hearing the sound of the door to her studio opening, Sakurako turned without stopping her hands from moving and saw that it was none other than her mother. Seeing that she wanted to tell her something, Sakurako closed her eyes and accelerated the tempo and pitch of the melody, raising it until she suddenly stopped it in a high note, yet satisfying, end.
*Clapping*
"..." *Bows down*
Seeing her mom clap to her private practice session, Sakurako bowed to her, before moving to carefully put her violin away inside its case. Once that was done, she approached her mother.
"How can I help you, mother?"
"Ah! It's nothing much, I just came to tell you that this Saturday, we were invited to a party, the usual as you may be aware"
"... I understand, I will make sure to remember"
"But that's not all, Sacchan!"
"Hm?"
"You can also bring Ichiro-san with you for that party as your escort"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! So make sure to tell him until Friday, so that we can confirm his presence and prepare suitable clothes for him if necessary"
"Got it, I'll make sure to tell him about the party"
"Great!... Also, Sacchan..."
"?" *Cutely tilt her head sideways*
"Your violin performance just now was absolutely impressive!"
"Nn... Thanks, Mother"
Emma, Sakurako's mother, suddenly hugged her daughter as she praised her, and in return, Sakurako also hugged her mother, before noticing her father crying tears of joy at seeing the two getting along as always.
Some time later
It was now rather late into the night, Sakurako had just come out of her bath and was now having her hair dried and cared for by Aki, her personal maid. As Sakurako waited for Aki to finish her task, she remembered about what her mother told her to do. So, she picked up her phone and began sending a message to Ichiro.
.
.
.
*Phone rings*
"!"
Ichiro who was reading a manga in his bedroom, noticed his phone notification sound play, and due to it, he picked it up and looked who the sender was.
"Oh-ho?"
Seeing that it was Sakurako, he immediately replied to her message.
.
.
.
//Good night to you as well, Sakurako-san. How can I help you?//
//My mother told me that this Saturday, we'll be going to a party, and she told me to ask if you wanted to participate as my escort//
//I will go//
"..."
Seeing Ichiro's almost immediate reply agreeing to be her escort, caused Sakurako to look at her phone's screen with a bit of confusion, as she didn't expect Ichiro to just accept it without asking further. But at the same time, she felt a little bashful at Ichiro's immediate approval to accompany her as her escort on Saturday.
"..." //Got it, I'll go tell my parents that you'll be going with us//
//Okay!//
"Ojou-sama, I finished here, so if you want to go talk with your parents, you can do so"
Just as the conversation between Sakurako and Ichiro ended for the time being, Aki also announced that she had finished caring for Sakurako's hair.
"Nn *Nods* Thank you, Aki"
"Fufu, it's my pleasure to take care of you, Ojou-sama"
With that, Sakurako got up from the chair and left her room to go talk with her parents. Leaving Aki inside her room by herself
"... Fufu. Very good job, Ichiro-kun. Thanks to you, Ojou-sama has been much happier for quite some time"
Away from the ears of others, Aki gave Ichiro a praising comment about how his presence has been influencing Sakurako.