Chapter 218: Not Convinced? You Can Have a "Coincidence" Too.

'Have I seen that uncle somewhere before?'

Absentmindedly biting the straw, Miyahito, holding a cup of mocha, was still thinking about the uncle he had accidentally bumped into just now.

He just felt like he had seen him somewhere before.

"Hey, Miyahito."

"Hmm?" Hearing Tooru call him, Miyahito briefly suppressed the doubt in his heart, looked up at Tooru, who was walking on the innermost side, tilted his head, and asked with his eyes: 'What is it?'

Tooru narrowed his eyes, looking at Miyahito with an expression that was partly speechless and partly helpless.

Dude, don't you know you almost walked into a utility pole? ...You're so distracted you're at this level, and you're still asking me what's up?

(Ishigami Yu: That's right, Miyahito, you almost walked into a utility pole.)

Somewhat surprised that he understood Tooru's gaze, Miyahito paused, subconsciously turning his head to look at the road in front of him... Yeah, that was close. He almost hit it.

Sidestepping the utility pole he had almost hit, Miyahito nonchalantly took a small step toward Yu, who was walking in the middle, and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, Yu and Tooru exchanged a helpless glance.

"So, where are you guys going next?" Biting the straw, Miyahito asked in a slightly muffled tone. "A bookstore? A model shop? Or continuing to the next arcade?"

"I'm fine with anything." Pushing his side headphone aside, Yu shrugged, saying with an indifferent attitude, "I have no objections if you want to eat dinner before going home. No one is cooking at my place tonight anyway."

"Me too."

Tooru raised his right hand, then as if remembering something, he winked at Miyahito with a teasing expression and said with a mischievous smile.

"However, I think tonight..." As he spoke, Tooru carelessly draped his left arm around Yu's back and rested it on his other shoulder. "...it's probably just the two of us having dinner together, Ishigami."

Hearing this, Yu looked up slightly, his eyebrow hidden under his bangs raising slightly, and said in a tone of full agreement.

"Agreed."

"How about monjayaki? I have a recommended shop."

"OK, how about we head to Akihabara now?"

"No problem, just in time to check if there are any new models."

"Then I'll check if any new games have been released."

"....." Staring blankly at the two blocks of stone who had excluded him and were discussing their upcoming itinerary, Miyahito let out a faint sigh.

"I have a question for you two."

Crossing his arms and enduring the dissatisfied glares of his two frenemies for interrupting, Miyahito half-closed his eyes.

"Excuse me, what about my opinion?"

""Isn't Kasumigaoka waiting for you to come home for dinner?""

The simultaneous answer from Tooru and Yu left Miyahito completely speechless.

Roasting in his heart, 'What the hell? You've only known each other for a few days, and you already have such good chemistry?', Miyahito exasperatedly pulled out his phone from his pocket, held it with the screen facing outward, and waved it left and right.

On the screen was a LINE message Utaha had just sent.

Utaha: [Miyahito, figure out your own dinner tonight. I'll be coming home a bit late.]

"See?" Putting his phone away, with his left hand in his pocket, his right hand holding the mocha, and his mouth still biting the straw, Miyahito tilted his head and looked at the two frenemies he had accidentally made.

"Just like you guys, no one is feeding me tonight either."

"Tsk....."

Tooru-kun... you clicked your tongue, didn't you? You clicked your tongue! You clicked your tongue!!

Is there anything about what I said that deserves such dissatisfaction from you?

"Let's go, Ishigami-kun."

"Yeah."

".....Hey, hey! Wait for me, you two!"

...

In contrast to the cheerful atmosphere of the three boys—one roasting, one playing along, and the other occasionally adding a punchline.

Yuki hugged her parfait, watching the high-level sparring between the mother and daughter in front of her with an expression of 'I don't understand what's going on, but it's impressive.'

"It seems Utaha has 'gained' a lot at school. Mom almost didn't recognize her own daughter just now."

"Is that so? I think it might be that Mom has been too busy with work lately and accidentally blurred the line between work and life."

"Not at all. Mom is very serious and responsible about separating work and life."

"I see. Here, Mom, this is for you."

"Oho, a loving gift from my daughter? Mom is so touched. My little dumpling can finally appreciate Mom's hard work."

"Yeah, exactly. After all, Mom, your eye bags seem a bit heavy. This is a facial mask I often use. It's very effective for dark circles, tightening wrinkled skin, and hydration."

".....Then I really must thank you properly, my good·lit·tle·daugh·ter!"

"You're welcome. It's what I should do."

Watching Utaha and her mother, whose smiles grew stiffer the more they spoke, and whose voices seemed squeezed through their teeth.

Yuki's forehead was already starting to sweat.

This is Utaha, right? This is her mom, right? They are mother and daughter, right?

Can someone tell me why, out of nowhere... the atmosphere suddenly became so tense and hostile?

They're about to start fighting!!

Carefully scooting her body, which was about to shrink into a ball, to the empty seat near the aisle, Yuki quickly finished the remaining bit of her parfait. Forcing a strained smile, she nervously raised her little hand.

".....Um, Utaha-chan, Auntie Kao."

Facing two pairs of very similar wine-red eyes, Yuki's throat unconsciously bobbed up and down. Taking out her phone, she turned the screen toward Utaha and her mother while shaking it slightly.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell my mom not to save dinner for me. It's about time, so I'll be taking my leave now?"

"..."

After Yuki, feeling a sense of relief, left with a lingering fear in her smile, carrying today's shopping haul.

"So." Leaning back against the sofa, Utaha crossed her arms with an expressionless face, looking calmly at her smiling mother, and continued in a somewhat impolite tone.

"Why did you sneakily run all the way to Tokyo?"

"How rude~ Utaha-chan." Casting a coquettish glare at her daughter, who had tensed her pretty face, Kao narrowed her eyes slightly and answered her daughter gently.

"It was just a coincidence."

"A coincidence?" Utaha said with a tone full of suspicion and sarcasm. "A public hospital doctor and a top lawyer from a law firm, the two of you just happened to wander from Wakō City to Tokyo together? And just happened to bump into your daughter who was shopping?"

Tell me how that's a coincidence?

When I get married and have kids in the future, I'll go on a 'coincidence' trip with Miyahito too.

Of course, Utaha didn't say those last two sentences out loud; she just roasted them silently in her heart.

Facing her daughter's questioning and suspicion, Kao didn't waver in the slightest. On the contrary, she nodded with absolute self-righteousness.

"Of course."

I am literally 'coincidentally' wandering from Wakō to Tokyo with your dad right now, and 'coincidentally' bumping into my daughter shopping with her friend.

It's just that coincidental.

"What? Is that not allowed?"

"Not convinced? You can also take a certain boy and 'coincidentally' wander back home from Tokyo, 'coincidentally' bumping into your mom and dad who are out shopping."