The situation at the Yukinoshita household was completely different from Eriri's. Utaha looked at Eriri and commented with a sigh, "You're really lucky. Your family doesn't interfere in these things at all."
"I think so too," Eriri agreed, nodding. She turned to the two sisters and asked, "Haruno, haven't you ever thought about rebelling against them?"
"Rebelling?"
Haruno rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment. "Hmm… I did have that thought before. But now, I don't really care. Of course, if I could meet someone who my family approves of and who I also like—someone truly outstanding—that would be ideal. But for now, it seems pretty unlikely."
Haruno didn't say much about her younger sister's situation. Even Yukino didn't know about it, and Haruno hadn't yet figured out the best way to handle things.
As a hidden siscon, Haruno was more inclined to take care of her sister's future herself so Yukino could live the life she wanted without their family's interference.
Now that she had met Eriri, whose family background was just as distinguished, Haruno thought there might be some room for maneuvering in the future.
Since Haruno didn't want to dwell on this topic, she quickly changed the subject.
"On the way here, I heard from Yukino that you're planning to vacation in Izu soon. Can I tag along? I want to relax too. Don't worry, I'll cover the expenses for both me and Yukino."
Since it was just a casual trip, adding one or two people didn't matter, especially if they weren't paying for anything. Ichin agreed right away.
"No problem. You're welcome to join."
Haruno beamed, pulling Yukino's arm. "See, Yukino? I told you I wouldn't be refused."
"…"
Yukino stepped slightly to the side and murmured, "Even if you were refused, you'd follow along anyway."
"That's true," Haruno admitted without hesitation, her face lighting up with excitement. "It's been a long time since I went to the beach. I need to shop for swimsuits too! I wonder if there are any new bikini styles that look good."
Bikini.
Hearing that word, Yukino's expression shifted slightly. She glanced at her sister's figure.
She couldn't understand why, despite being blood-related and growing up together, there was such a stark difference in their body types. Even when her sister was in her first year of high school, her figure had been far better than Yukino's.
For a moment, Yukino felt tempted not to go to Izu at all. But she held back—after all, she had already promised Eriri, and going back on her word wasn't her style.
While she was still contemplating, Haruno dragged her along to make plans with the others to go shopping for swimsuits that evening.
Although Yukino didn't want to admit it, Haruno was indeed much better at socializing. She had barely been there any time at all but had already become familiar with everyone at the studio.
Mozuku leapt from Yukino's arms and returned to Hazuki's lap, curling up comfortably.
Hazuki gently stroked Mozuku's back, smiling as she watched the sisters. She finally understood why Yukino had been so cold toward her.
She liked cute girls, while Haruno was clearly very fond of her younger sister.
However, the relationship between the two sisters was a bit complicated—quite intriguing, really.
After chatting for a while, Haruno suggested trying out the studio's game. Naturally, the first one to try was Hollow Knight, which had already been released as a demo.
Unlike Yukino, Haruno hadn't had much exposure to video games before—not even mobile games. At most, she had played Tetris as a child.
So when she started playing Hollow Knight, Yukino witnessed a rare moment of panic from her sister.
However, after about ten minutes of adaptation, Haruno's exceptional learning ability kicked in. She quickly went from being a novice to becoming quite skilled. Apart from dying once, she didn't die again and managed to beat the demo boss all in one go.
"Wow!!! That's amazing!"
Eriri clapped her hands in surprise as she watched Haruno put down the controller. "Just like Yukino—both of you are geniuses. You cleared it so quickly!"
"You're too kind."
Haruno gave a modest reply before turning to Ichin. "I'd only read the news and reviews before, but after experiencing it firsthand, I'm even more determined to invest in your studio in the future. When you're looking for investors, keep me in mind!"
Ichin smiled and nodded. "Sure, I'll consider it."
After finishing Hollow Knight, Haruno tried Slay the Spire. She found this game more to her taste and immediately decided to buy a copy when she got home to show her support.
They all went out for dinner that evening. Afterward, the girls headed off to shop for swimsuits, making a lively fuss as they went.
Ichin, however, didn't tag along. Instead, he went home alone.
As expected, even though Utaha had already bought her swimsuit, she still went with the others.
Once home, Ichin finally felt some peace and quiet. He grabbed a bottle of cola from the fridge and headed to his room, turning on his computer and connecting his drawing tablet.
Since the Sony press conference hadn't started yet, he didn't rush to stream. Instead, he decided to use the time to sketch some character designs for his other game projects.
Besides Persona, one of the games at the top of his development list was the Tales series. He was also eager to work on Dark Souls.
Among the three games, the one with the lowest development difficulty would probably be the Tales series. Although its battle system was different, its fantasy style was similar to the Fairies Story series that Ko and the others had worked on before, so the art style would be easy for the team to handle.
Persona, on the other hand, was a modern fantasy RPG with turn-based combat. Its development difficulty wasn't too high, and compared to the Tales series, Persona 5's character designs and art style were likely to be more eye-catching.
As for Dark Souls, just thinking about it made Ichin's inner "old-ass soul" burn with excitement.
Scratching his head, Ichin muttered to himself, Dark Souls is definitely the hardest to develop, but it's the one I want to make the most. What should I do? Roll a die?"
After pondering for several minutes without any bright ideas, Ichin decided to stop agonizing over it. He picked up his stylus and began sketching the character design for one of Persona 5's heroines—Makoto Niijima.
Over half an hour passed when Ichin heard his phone chime. He glanced at it and saw a message from Utaha.
Ichin, everyone dragged me to karaoke. I'll be back a little later. Do you want me to bring you some supper?"
After thinking for a moment, Ichin replied.
"If it's convenient, bring me some McDonald's."
Then he set the phone aside and returned to his drawing.
...