“10,000 yen really is a lot of money. I wonder how many days’ worth of food expenses that would be for our family.”

“Mom, don’t go incorporating other people’s money into our household budget!”

Yoriko looked at the bill Otowa was holding and began calculating food expenses. Otowa looked at her with a surprised expression.

“I-I’m just joking. How awful of me.”

“Mom, your eyes looked serious though.”

Since they had lived together for many years, Otowa didn’t think Yoriko was joking based on her expression.

“I think it’s fine for you to keep it, but if Otowa feels bad about it, you can just return it.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

What Yoriko said made sense, but Otowa had told Jin she was rejecting him during lunch break, so there were circumstances that made it not easy to return.

“That expression means something happened with Kaneda-kun, doesn’t it?”

“Ugh.”

“I thought so. But if it’s something you don’t want to talk about, Mom won’t force you to tell me.”

(Otowa, please tell me. Otherwise I’ll be in trouble when I see him on Sunday!)

Yoriko spoke gently to Otowa as a mother, but internally she really wanted to hear the details.

“Mom, you say that with your mouth, but you really look like you want to hear about it.”

“Th-that’s not true, is it?”

“Why did that end as a question?”

“You can see right through me, Otowa. Yes, as a mother I really want to hear about it.”

Otowa didn’t miss Yoriko’s subtle expression and pressed her. Then Yoriko gave up and told Otowa she wanted to know.

“There’s no point hiding it from Mom, so I’ll tell you honestly. Actually…”

Otowa told Yoriko that during lunch break, she had told Jin they wouldn’t eat lunch together anymore and had shown her intention to completely reject him.

“Mom thinks that it would be fine to become friends with Kaneda-kun. There probably wouldn’t be anything for Otowa to worry about. It would feel better to be honest and return the money.”

“You think so? I wonder if he thinks I just took his money and cut off the relationship?”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

(Otowa seems troubled, so it might be better to casually ask about it the next time I see him.)

While looking at the dress and other items hanging in the room that had been purchased last time, Yoriko thought that while 10,000 yen was a large sum for the Tsukimizato family, perhaps that money wasn’t so important to Jin.

“Well then, now that you’ve decided what to do, let’s have dinner. Mom is starving.”

“Oh, sorry. I’ll prepare it now.”

Since Yoriko had finished work and came home, she was hungry. When she mentioned dinner to Otowa, she hurriedly began preparing.

“Let’s eat.”

After Yoriko finished changing clothes, she helped Otowa, and they worked together to prepare dinner on the low table. The two sat facing each other, and though it was a little later than usual, it was time for dinner.

Chapter 60: Third Date (Part 1)

(I was completely rejected at school, so I wonder if Tsukimizato-san will come after all?)

On Sunday, Jin had arrived at the meeting place he had arranged with Yoriko much earlier than the agreed time. After Otowa told him on Friday that they wouldn’t spend lunch time together anymore, and he could no longer even talk to her in the classroom, he thought she might completely hate him. However, since she hadn’t said anything about their meeting arrangement, he was waiting in the station plaza, clinging to a small hope.

“Guess whooo?”

“Whoa!”

Suddenly, someone crept up behind Jin and covered both his eyes with their hands. Jin let out a surprised voice as his vision was suddenly blocked. However, the voice belonged to someone Jin knew well.

“Tsukimizato-san?”

“Correct! You recognized my voice well.”

“That’s because it’s the voice of the person I was waiting for, so I wouldn’t forget it.”

“What a nice thing to say.”

When Jin said the name of the person who had covered his eyes, the hands covering his eyes moved away and his vision was restored. And in front of him was the smiling face of the person he had been waiting for.

“I thought you might not come.”

“Sorry. I was reflecting, thinking maybe I said too much.”

(It was good that I coordinated with Otowa. If I had met him without knowing, I would have troubled Kaneda-kun)

Just before Yoriko called out to Jin, she had watched his anxious face waiting from afar. Seeing that, she decided not to approach him directly and threw this curveball to help lighten the mood.

“I wanted to come early today because I wanted to see Kaneda-kun, but you came even earlier than me. I was surprised.”

“Haha, I was able to meet you earlier than the meeting time, so we have more time together, which might be good in the end.”

Yoriko had also come early because she was happy to meet him, but she was surprised that Jin had come even earlier. As a result, both thought it was good that they had more time to spend together.

“You’re wearing the clothes I gave you as a present last week.”

“Of course. It’s something you gave me as a present, after all.”

Yoriko was wearing the complete set of clothes that Jin had given her as a present last week. Due to the Tsukimizato family’s financial situation, this was the only way she could dress nicely, but Jin felt very happy seeing her in this outfit.

“Kaneda-kun, where are we going today?”

“I was thinking of several places, but since we met up early, shall we go to an amusement park?”

“Amusement parks cost money, don’t they?”

“I know because I’ve heard about your family’s situation. You don’t need to worry about money today either.”

Jin had been thinking of several destinations, but since he was able to meet Yoriko early, he changed his plans and suggested going to an amusement park. Yoriko was concerned about the cost, but since he had heard about the Tsukimizato family’s financial situation from Otowa, he had already taken that into account.

“Kaneda-kun, I’m sorry about various things.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

When Jin brought up the topic of the Tsukimizato family’s financial situation, Yoriko was a little surprised. She really didn’t want to cause Otowa financial hardship, but her own limitations had affected even her school friendships, and she apologized for making Jin worry about it, who didn’t understand the reason behind the apology.