Chapter 99: Eriri's First Time at Her Boyfriend's House
The next day, morning.
Since Eriri was coming over today, Kaede didn't sleep in too late and woke up on time.
After finishing his morning routine and heading downstairs, he saw his dad yawning while eating breakfast.
"Dad, are you very tired?"
"Yeah... a little." Taking a sip of coffee, Asakura Kiichi said, "Because your mother knew your girlfriend was coming today, she spent a long time last night researching recipes. The brightness of that tablet was right next to me; I couldn't rest properly at all. Then she got up early this morning and is already out buying groceries."
"That's quite early."
He glanced at the clock in the living room; it was just past eight. Usually on weekends, his mom wouldn't go grocery shopping until nine or ten, or they would have bought everything the day before so they could sleep in.
After pouring himself a cup of coffee, Kaede sat down to eat breakfast, and the phone placed to the side rang shortly after.
Picking it up, he saw it was a message from Eriri.
Eriri: [I'm already up! I just don't know how to choose my clothes...]
It seemed Eriri was also taking this very seriously, waking up so early for once.
Then, Kaede smilingly sent a message back to Eriri.
Kaede: [Just wear whatever looks pretty, like usual.]
On the other end of the line, Eriri, who had just finished a shower and was preparing to pick out clothes, saw the message and immediately slumped her head. "As expected, even Kaede-kun is no different from an ordinary boy in this regard. Asking him for fashion advice was definitely me overthinking things."
Afterward, she called for her mom.
Sawamura Sayuri naturally knew about Eriri's itinerary for today. Originally, she had thought about whether she should visit along with her. But on second thought, there was no need; she'd let Eriri go by herself today. As parents, they could find a time when the kids weren't around to go out for a meal together; they'd have more to talk about then.
Of course, there was no rush for this. They'd wait a while and see how the two children progressed.
After helping Eriri pick out the clothes she would wear today, Sawamura Sayuri took her daughter downstairs for breakfast. After eating, the girl still had to put on makeup, so she had to take the breakfast time to explain some precautions for being a guest to her daughter.
Time passed bit by bit. When it reached nine-thirty, Kaede received a message that Eriri had left. After waiting for a while, he said to his mom, who had returned and started tinkering in the kitchen, "I'm going out to pick up Eriri!"
"Got it, Kaede, go quickly."
Asakura Reiko, wearing an apron and holding a kitchen knife and a large piece of steak, said with a face full of confidence, "I'm making a feast for you all for lunch today!"
It was clear that today's lunch would be absolutely lavish.
Heading out in a pleasant mood, Kaede arrived at the station near his home.
Originally, Kaede thought Eriri could just take a car directly to his doorstep, but Eriri said she wanted to see what the neighborhood around his house was like first, so they chose this meeting spot.
However, Kaede always felt this was just an excuse Eriri used to hide her shyness.
After waiting for a few minutes, a taxi stopped in front of Kaede. The rear door quickly opened, and Eriri stepped out, wearing a white lace long-sleeved top and a sky-blue knee-length skirt.
"Good morning, Kaede-kun. Have you been waiting long?"
"Only a few minutes, not long at all." Looking at Eriri, who had come before him and was clearly wearing light makeup compared to her usual look at school, Kaede smiled and took her hand. "You look very beautiful, Eriri."
"Hmph, isn't that a given?"
After a moment of pride with her head held high, Eriri said, "Even though I don't usually wear makeup at school, once I get serious, I'm quite amazing!"
Japanese girls basically start learning makeup techniques during their student years. For someone from a family like Eriri's, Sawamura Sayuri had been carefully teaching her ever since she started caring about her appearance. The reason she didn't show it much was simply that it wasn't necessary at school.
Leading Eriri toward his home, Kaede nodded. "That's true. However, I think it's because you have a good foundation, Eriri. Otherwise, no matter how good the makeup looks, it's a disaster once it's removed. These days, even middle-aged men can use makeup to look like beauties; it's too deceptive. It truly deserves to be called one of the four great sorceries of Asia."
"Four great sorceries?" Eriri shot him a puzzled look.
"Thailand's gender reassignment, Korea's plastic surgery, Japan's makeup, and China's Photoshop. Of course, these are just generalizations; after all, every country has all of them, but each has something that stands out more."
After hearing Kaede's explanation, she couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha, where did these bizarre sayings come from? But they actually seem to make a lot of sense!"
"There are many talented people online; the golden quotes never stop."
Japanese makeup techniques were indeed powerful, but they didn't really apply to Eriri. As Kaede said himself, Eriri simply had a good foundation. Light makeup was just the icing on the cake, a sign of her attitude toward coming over as a guest today.
As they spoke, Kaede looked at the box Eriri was carrying in her other hand.
"You brought something?"
"It's my first visit, after all; I couldn't come empty-handed. So I bought some sweets." Eriri held it up to show him. "The things from this shop are very delicious! My family buys from there often!"
"Then I'll have to have a good taste today."
Next, Kaede took Eriri for a walk around his neighborhood. Besides the residential area, there was also a modest shopping street with many shopkeepers who had watched him grow up. As they passed by, they all cast curious glances toward Eriri, but they were all looks of goodwill and blessing.
Finally, having seen everything there was to see, they arrived in front of Kaede's house.
"We're here. You shouldn't be nervous now, right?"
Eriri said somewhat hesitantly, "Well... there's still a little bit."
But there was no time left for Eriri to be nervous; Kaede directly raised his hand and opened the door.
"We're back!"
"You're here, you're here!"
Asakura Reiko's voice instantly rang out. She took off her apron and rushed to the entrance. His dad, Asakura Kiichi, followed closely behind.
The slightly nervous Eriri quickly bowed. "Uncle, Auntie, it's my first visit. Thank you for having me today. Also, I bought these sweets specially."
"No need to be so polite, Eriri."
After happily taking the items, Asakura Reiko looked at the beautiful Eriri with a face full of joy.
Asakura Kiichi finally got to see Eriri. He nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile, "Hello, Eriri. I am Kaede's father, Asakura Kiichi. You are very welcome here. Please, come in."
After changing into slippers, Eriri finally officially entered Kaede's home.