"About that... I can, but I need to let my family know first. Also, I haven't asked Shiro for her opinion yet."
Yusei looked at Shiro, who was playing on her phone nearby, and asked for her opinion.
Shiro stopped what she was doing, looked at Yusei, and rarely gave him a thumbs-up.
"Shiro is fine with anything. Also... Nii was very cool today!"
Hearing his adorable little sister's praise, Yusei couldn't help but smile.
"As expected of my cute Imouto, you completely understand your big bro's skills."
"Skills? Speaking of which, you've been hiding your abilities quite well. When did you even learn Kendo?" Utaha asked curiously.
"Natural talent. I suddenly mastered a lot of abilities. Now I learn everything pretty quickly."
Yusei smiled and told the truth, but Utaha wouldn't believe it.
"Alright then, Yusei-kun is a genius? Then try to move up 300 places in the next exam..." As she spoke, Utaha suddenly remembered something else.
"Doesn't the Kendo Tournament give bonus points? How many points will this championship add for you?"
Yusei raised an eyebrow and said casually, "Probably guaranteed admission, I guess?"
"Guaranteed admission? To what school?"
"Tokyo University, Kyoto University."
"..."
…
On the way back to Shinjuku, Utaha didn't speak to Yusei again, seemingly crushed and fallen into self-isolation.
This situation only ended when they met the legendary editor lady at a café.
The person meeting Utaha was Machida Sonoko, an editor from Fujikawa Shoten.
When the four of them were seated, Sonoko looked at Utaha with a hint of teasing.
"Shi-chan, were you worried I might be some creepy old man, so you brought your boyfriend along for protection?"
Utaha helplessly rolled her eyes at her, "Not at all. He's just a friend who happened to be coming along."
Sonoko clearly didn't believe Utaha's brief introduction. She looked amusedly at Yusei, more precisely at the magnificent katana in his hand.
"A friend who happened to be coming along would bring such a valuable katana? If I really were a middle-aged man, your friend would probably just cut me down, right?"
As she said this, she smiled at Yusei.
"Hello, Shi-chan's boyfriend-kun. I'm Machida Sonoko. I have no relationship with Shi-chan whatsoever! Well, except for work matters!"
"Ah, it's fine. I don't restrict Utaha-chan's friendships. Of course, the prerequisite is the other party must be female."
Yusei played along with Sonoko's banter. The two went back and forth, leaving Utaha no room to interject.
"I said, are you two done?" Utaha looked at Sonoko.
"Sonoko-san, let's focus on work matters first."
"And you too," She glared at Yusei, "Shouldn't you be more concerned about whether Shiro is hungry in the evening?"
Utaha's reaction left Sonoko, sitting across from them, quite surprised.
Her earlier words were just joking, and she hadn't meant them seriously. She was just teasing about the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship between Utaha and Yusei, but she didn't actually believe it.
But now, it seemed Utaha had a problem! Her not objecting or refuting was one issue… the biggest issue was her unnecessary concern!
Based on Sonoko's understanding of this promising new writer, the other party was clearly the type who had no interest in things she didn't care about.
So, the fact that she not only didn't refute the relationship with that boy but also reminded him to take care of his little sister... what did that mean?
It meant she already considered his little sister her own little sister! This was heading towards becoming a family!
'Hmph, on the surface, she acts all 'I just want to write novels, I have zero interest in the opposite sex', but it turns out she already has someone she likes.'
Instantly, Sonoko pictured in her mind the image of Utaha, who appeared calm and aloof when chatting with her, being shyly lowering her head in front of Yusei.
One had to admit, in this line of work as a novel editor, you really needed some imagination.
But she wondered, 'Why did Shi-chan like this boy so much?'
Only then did Sonoko carefully examine Yusei.
Yusei was dressed in black casual wear, had black short hair, and his handsome face still showed some youthfulness. Next to him lay a katana that looked very valuable.
Especially the katana paired with his calm and unruffled demeanor, it gave him the aura of a young master from an ancient family.
Seeing this, Sonoko couldn't help but form a bold guess.
'An older woman-younger man relationship? Shi-chan... So you like them young?'