Previously, about 10 seconds ago, Yukino had just announced to her entire party that she wasn't just your normal average person that lives alone in a town, taking quests to make a living. But in fact, she plays a much bigger role in the world than they assumed.
Their minds had been bewildered at the thought that Yukino was practically a princess, but there are many other princesses and not just her. Just like Hayato being a prince, but there are other princes that hold the same rank as him. These high ranking families share almost or equal power against one another, in wealth and power.
While Yukino and Hayato's strength are nothing to scoff about, but they aren't the only people who were born special and naturally talented. There are some with either equal amount of strength or more than the 2 combined. And their goals are to become the strongest to make their families proud and put out their name on their family's history.
And in a few days, their results from the last 4 years of exploring the new world, alone or together with someone, will be presented as they both need to arrive back home to meet their families. But really, it's just a reunion party, there won't be any tournament to the death or anything.
That's the medieval era.
With everything they need to pack inside their magic inventory, the party comes to an agreement that they would rather walk to the Yukinoshita's mansion, as it would be more fun and more proactive than sitting around for an entire day in a carriage.
"Why did we refuse transportation service again? I honestly see no point to put strain on my feet." Tobe questions the entire group, as he was the only one who refused to walk dozens of miles to some other mansion.
"Well we think it'll help us get our mentality back together if we just keep walking with a few breaks during the day. The more strain we put on ourselves, the more we harden in response. We'll probably arrive there tomorrow afternoon if there isn't anyone or anything that slow us down." Hayato implied, following with Yukino's reasoning.
"You are able to choose to stay if you'd like. I am not forcing everyone to travel with me. We need to keep our body in top shape so we don't become sluggish. And it isn't a good idea to ride in a carriage all together as we could easily be attacked off guard. Either from a cannon fireball or a dragon flying up in the sky."
"The chances of both of those happening are low though." Tobe argued.
"But never 0%." Yukino counterattacked.
Tobe sighs in defeat, "Fair. I'll deal with it. I've dealt with worse conditions. Like that time I was engulfed in a dragon's saliva for half the day, walking back home to take a shower."
Suddenly, everyone else was reminded how disgusting it was to almost come into contact with a slimy Tobe. Half the time, he was either teasing everyone else that he was about to grab onto them and the other half was him complaining about the smell and the slimy texture as he spread the saliva on the floor of the mansion to the bathroom.
"Please do not remind me of the unsightly memory once more or else a frozen brain is about to form in your skull." Yukino, in disgust, heads outside of the mansion first to avoid the conversation being continued.
"Yumiko, did you pack the sleeping bags in your inventory." Hayato reminded her.
Yumiko double checks her inventory, seeing 6 sleeping bags as well as her other items for personal use.
"They're in. Don't worry."
"Alright, let's go then. Yukinon is probably walking back home right now!" Yui, excited and ready for another adventure, storms out of the mansion to chase after Yukino.
Yui's shoulder grab startles Yukino, "Did I not reiterate a few weeks ago that you cannot just grab my shoulder all of a sudden."
"Yes, I remember! Because there might be a creep trying to gain your attention!" She openly says with a heartedly smile.
"Not that-... Well that too but I might all of a sudden encase you into a frozen ice cream if I suddenly assume there is an enemy trying to harm me." She takes a deep breath to calm down.
Another hand latches onto her shoulder, "I am sorry about the previous topic I brought up-"
Tobe who was just about to finish his sentence, had his collar pulled down to force him to lean back as down as possible to dodge a beam of ice that shot straight up to the sky.
The ice then explodes, turning into snow, and then into little droplets of water.
He had just saw his life flashed before his eyes, "Thank you, Hayato... For saving my life." He took multiple deep breaths to acknowledge that it all could've ended there, maybe..
"No problem. Just let that be a reminder to not do that to her again. Because the next time, I might be too slow to save you in time." Hayato helps Tobe's balance by pushing his back up to make him stand straight.
"Christ, you are fast. You are most definitely the fastest man alive." Tobe wipes off a sweat on his forehead.
"I find that hard to believe. There are many more people that are faster than me." Hayato couldn't take the compliment fully into his heart.
"What do you mean, Hayato? Didn't you save me from the dragon's laser beam once? Had you been a millisecond slower, I would've been burnt to a crisp." Yumiko joins in on the conversation, to try to plant the compliments further deep within.
"Thank you."
For an unknown and odd reason, Hayato took this conversation to his full content.
Yukino took notice of this, but reacted nothing upon it, most likely because a compliment from Yumiko herself was nothing to scoff at.
Tobe on the other hand, gives compliments unconsciously, sometimes hurting the person in the process.
"Let us go right now. There is no time to waste." With only Yukino knowing the directions, everyone else followed her, packed with their armor, weapons, gears, and other needs.
...
About 2 hours into the pathway, Ebina had already warned Tobe not to consume 4 different types of berries and plants he encountered. All of them that were capable of paralyzing him, despite his immense durability to withstand poison.
Because in the end, Mother Nature is the most powerful being.
Second to-
"Thanks for watching out for me, Ebina." He awkwardly scratches the back of his head, to help ease the embarrassment and nervousness.
"No problem. Just tell me if you encounter any more consumable plants and I'll let you know." She says. As someone who plays a healer role in the party, Ebina has to have every knowledge of every known disease, plants that can kill, and etc.
"What about this one?" Taking advantage of her promise, Tobe uses this moment to get closer with Ebina.
Ebina follows, leaning down next to him, her face close to his, "Those are just some ordinary ferns. You should know that."
On with their conversation, "Ebina and Tobe." Yukino called out to them. "We must hurry before night falls."
About 4 hours in, Yui had encountered some puppies that belong to normal wolf pack, one that isn't invasive and aggressive as the previous one they fought.
"Aww look at this small one, it has dark fur and blue eyes. Kinda reminds me of you, Yukinon!"
"That feels rather insulting. But I understand that the wolf pup and I have common characteristics. Now please put it down before it's mother gets extremely defensive." Yukino warns her not to mess with another mother's child.
"I know. I know." Yui puts the wolf pup down as it runs back to it's mother who wasn't far behind, stalking the party.
"You know, your sentence kinda reminds me about that time when I was little. And my mom defended me against a few orcs by herself, despite having no experience in combat."
"Well it is natural for a mother to have a sudden rush in adrenaline, saving her child desperately. It goes the same with the father." Yukino explains the known facts of nature in action.
"I am aware. I am so glad my mother didn't left me to die there, being selfish about her own life."
Yukino grew quiet to that sentence for a few seconds, "Indeed. A parent's love for their child is the most powerful."
On the other hand, Yumiko had almost tripped on a large tree branch.
But before she could make impact against the ground, Hayato was quick and strong enough to stop her with his right arm as he was walking right beside her.
"Thank you." She said to him, pulling her hair back to her ear.
"My pleasure." Hayato responds.
Yukino glanced back at the two who were staring at each other as they interacted. Not wanting to show any emotions, she turns her head to the front, making sure they were going the right way.
...
The sun was beginning to set, Yukino noticed and stopped her tracks, turning around to face the party.
"Let's rest here for the night. And then we'll continue during the sunrise." She spoke, as she stood on almost an acre of flat plain land with no trees and only grass.
Yumiko pulled out 6 sleeping bags out of her inventory, planting 4 on one side and 2 on the other, 4 for the women to sleep together, and 2 for the men to sleep together.
Yui emptied out a pile of dry wood, "Fire." She extended her palm towards the fire, and the dry wood begins to light on fire on command.
Ebina takes out a bucket of purified and clean water out of her inventory, "Purify." Purifying once more just incase it had any bacteria or any disease residing in it.
Hayato took out some carrots and pork out of his inventory, and a 2 small tables, one for eating and one for preparing the food. He sets up the carrots, and pork onto the table as well as other seasoning and sauces. And then a large pot as well as a structure to hold the pot on top of the fire.
"I hope you guys are going to enjoy the sweet pork curry." And finally, it was Yukino's turn for her own share of work.
That was cooking for the entire party.
After an hour of waiting, the sweet pork curry had finally finished. A medium size bowl was given to everyone and it came with the food they were waiting for.
With one bite, Tobe was already moaning from the immense flavor.
"It's like I can taste every single flavor you add. Where did you learn to cook again?" He asks for the millionth time.
"I had great assistance from my head chef, and also self taught myself to build my own experience." Yukino answers, as for once, Tobe's compliment means a lot to her, building up her confidence and motivation.
"Whoever your future husband is, tell him that you're all he's got because he's nothing without you." He says out of the blue.
A hint of redness forms onto her pale cheeks, looking away while quietly glancing repeatedly at Hayato who ate next to Yumiko.
"Be right back, I need to go take a number 1." Ebina spoke out, putting her bowl on the table and leaving to go into the forest.
"Yukinon, you should teach me how to cook sometime. I too want a husband feeling that I'm all he's got. But at the same time, he is all I have as well." Yui suggested.
"Maybe when we arrive at my family's mansion, I can start some basic cooking skills with you." Yukino smiles, somewhat slightly excited to be helping out Yui in the future.
"I'd be surprised to see a man with you, haha." Tobe jokingly says.
"Hey, the last guy rejected me because I was too good for him in skill and in personality." Yui argued.
"I was not informed of this. You had a partner previously before I met you?" Yukino inquired, with a noticeable shock in her expression.
"Yes, it was a month before we met you. He was also a former party member as well but he disbanded from us and I never saw him again. So I have a bit of partner experience."
"Maybe in exchange, you can teach me a few skills about relationships while I teach you a few skills about cooking." Yukino embarrassingly spoke out in front of everyone.
"Woah. Woah. Woah. Never in my life did I just hear that coming out of your mouth. I gotta pinch myself because I must be dreaming."
While Tobe was painfully pinching himself repeatedly, "Sure thing!" Yui happily agrees, eager to to help Yukino in every way she could.
"Ow. Okay no more. Anyway, what about you, Hayato? Do you have any relationship experience?" Tobe asks, with a red mark on his forearm.
"Not really. I don't have any intention on moving into a relationship yet. I just want to live my life for a bit before I have to overtake my father's responsibilities." He answered.
"That's deep. Anyway, you all should know by now that I am interested in Ebina."
"Yup."
"Knew it."
"We know."
"It's so obvious."
Unexpected by their blatant response, he does his best to hide his pain and suffering.
"And I'm thinking about confessing to her after we are done with Yukino's parent's shenanigans. Any advice-"
"KYAAAAH!"
Ebina's scream could be heard inside the forest.
Everyone dropped their bowl and immediately headed towards the direction of her scream with their weapons equipped and their armor already on themselves.
They arrive to the forest to see a startled Ebina and a mysterious man with white spiky ponytail hair and with thick black glasses. His clothing looked that of an explorer.
Tobe immediately understood the situation, lunging his massive blade towards the pervert.
Unexpectedly, the pervert dodges. "Wait, my intentions aren't that it looks like! I just stumbled upon her while I was walking through the forest!"
Tobe charges another attack with straight forward stab, but once again, the man ducking once more.
"I'm looking for a lost weapon. I had no intentions to peek."
"She is a defenseless woman with no offense capabilities! How dare you!" Yumiko shouted with her arms crossed, but with Tobe doing most of the work, she didn't want to get in his way of his fury.
"Believe me, I wouldn't want to peek on a woman who looks like her."
To add salt into Tobe's wound even more, Ebina adds a speed buff on him.
His massive sharp blade was about to make contact with the mysterious man. But then, Hayato interferes, stopping the blade with his own.
"Enough. This guy is speaking the truth. Judging from his clothes and pissed pants, he seemed to have stumbled upon Ebina accidentally. And we aren't here to kill any humans, Tobe." Hayato spoke in a serious tone and manner.
"Fine. But if it happens, he isn't gonna stop me again." Tobe points at the mysterious man.
With all the serious issues out of the way, "You're looking for a lost weapon, you said?" Yui asked.
"Not just any weapon. But a legendary one. Legends spoke that once you hold it, you possess the strength of the previous wielder of the weapon. And once I find it, I'll be the strongest man in the world!" The man shouts, pumping his fist into the sky, as if he assumed that the angels were watching him from below, granting him a holy introduction.
With those 3 sentences alone, everyone knew he was crazy and left him to be.
"Beware of the weapon's power if you manage to recover it! Only a few can handle it. And I'll shall be those few." The man warns them before running off into the distance as the trees cover his tracks and his figure.
"As much as I wanted to hurt him, I think my sword would've completely dodged him on purpose, whether it or not it has it's own conscious." Tobe confessed, putting away his enormous sword away.
"Let's just be fortunate that Ebina wasn't harmed, both physically and mentally." Yui said to him, trying to tone down on what was going through Tobe's head.
"Appreciate it." Though it helped, it was only a small portion that had him relieved.
Until...
"Thank you, Tobe. For at least trying to protect me." Ebina looked at him with the most sincere smile he's ever gotten from a woman.
"Thank you!" He shouts, pumping his fist into the air.
Ironically, Tobe had just done what the mysterious man did that made the entire party leave in disappointment. Pumping his fist into the air for no reason, and shouting up at the sky as if the angels were listening to him.
Everyone smiles, and goes back to enjoying their fresh homemade food that Yukino made for them.
And that night, Ebina and Tobe slept close together.
...
The next morning arrived, and Yukino was the first to wake up and pick up after herself. The fire that lit them up had dissipated over the night and what was only left was the white ashes from the wood.
She looked up at the sunrise, realizing how beautiful it was for the how many times she has been alive.
Before she proceeded to wake up the others, she walked around a 10 meter radius around the camp site. Before everyone fell asleep, Yui had casted quite a bit of spell traps in case there was ever an attack during their sleep. The trap would imprison whoever stepped inside their radius, and scan who they were. If it were a human, the prisoner would be imprisoned until one of them were awake and decide what to do. If it was a harmless animal, it would let go immediately as the animal knew not to come back.
But if it were a threat, it would have been eviscerated on the spot, leaving on ashes of the being.
There were approximately 3 piles of ashes at the border of the circle that protected them. Nothing else had broken through Yui's spell trap so all was well for now.
Yukino walked back to the middle of the circle, and wakes everyone up, one by one.
Minute by minute, eventually, everyone woke up.
"We are an hour behind schedule. So we will have to skip breakfast and run for about 10-15 minutes if we wish to make it in time." Yukino alerts them of the consequences of staying up late and oversleeping.
"Aw man, I'm very hungry all of a sudden." Tobe complained, with a growling stomach following in pursuit.
"I'll try to pick off some fruits and vegetables that we encounter along the way. Ebina and I will double check to see if they're safe." Yui kindly offered for everyone, which everyone responded with a thank you.
...
About 6 hours into the afternoon, everyone had finally arrived to the Yukinoshita's residence.
Everyone was at an awe at the humongous mansion, and the vast acres that it spread across. While the mansion was massive in both length, height, and width. The garden also held a significant portion of the land with it's beauty, surrounded by the 10 feet walls made by beautiful materials and colors. There were 4 koi ponds in each corner of the residence, 2 large water fountains and a small bridge to walk across or around the garden.
"Why haven't we been living in here?!" Tobe inquired with a shout at Yukino's ears.
"Many reasons that you should be able to figure out yourself with that small brain of yours." She pushed Tobe aside to gain some personal space.
She stands in front of the large gate that didn't looked locked, but it was definitely locked magically or had some physical mechanism known only by a few to unlock it. Everyone watches her summon her ice blade, and she stabs a secret rock that disguised as many rocks on the cobblestone pathway.
The ice blade stabs into the rock.
Suddenly, the massive gates open towards her as she takes a few steps back.
"It isn't a Yukinoshita household if you are required to form an ice blade to open a simple gate." Yumiko jokingly said, earning a slight giggle from Yui and Ebina.
"Indeed. I had to form an ice blade that matched the rock's key hole." Yukino explains as the rock that had just been stabbed, magically reformed into a regular one, rather than a one with a key hole.
"Let's go."
They walk past the gate as it closes back behind them, possibly locking them forever, as Tobe predicted himself. And as they arrive closer to the front door, multiple knights open the front door, a dozen of them marching towards them and then walking to the side, stopping and turning 180 agrees to face each other, and wait for the party to walk past them.
The entire crew besides Hayato and Yukino felt extremely intimidated as they have never been treated by such royalty and hospitality.
"I feel so special now..." Yumiko whispered to everyone.
"Same here." Ebina replied.
"I'm freaking out." Tobe shuddered.
"This is so cool." Yui commented.
After the knights, came 3 nameless people that were definitely identifiable just by their looks.
The 4 people that were new to this treatment immediately came to an assumption that they were Yukino's family member.
A handsome father, a beautiful mother, and a pretty elder sister.
"It's good to see you again, Yukino." Her father greeted her with a hug.
She embraces her father willingly, "It's good to see you too, father." After embracing her father, she then embraces her mother who also looked like she misses her as much as the father.
"I am glad that you are doing well and that you are safe." Her mother delicately spoke to her, as if to comfort her if there was any stress on her.
"I am safe, thanks to these 5 of my best friends." Yukino introduced her party members to her family.
Immediately, they recognized Hayato.
"Well if it isn't Hayama's only son! It should've been obvious that my daughter would decide to pair up with you." Mr. Yukinoshita says without a care in the world, embarrassing his youngest daughter to the point she looks away with red cheeks plastered all over.
"Hello there, Mr. Yukinoshita." Hayato responded with a cheery expression as usual.
"You look well and all grown, Hayato." Mrs. Yukinoshita commented as she observed him.
"Thank you."
"Last time I saw you, you and Yukino-chan were 7, and you always loved playing together." This time, the eldest sister spoke.
Tobe, Ebina, Yui, and Yumiko were rather confused, but were too nervous and scared to say something. Even before they could have a chance to say something...
"My name is Haruno, and you can call me Haruno. I'm her older sister, of course. And I just love messing with my younger sister so don't take anything I say too seriously."
Some relief was let out by everyone in the party, but they kept their guard up just in case Haruno was still deceiving them.
"I appreciate that you are making my daughter happy. And I will reward you tonight since it's my 45th birthday. I'm almost a middle age man. And I need to at least see one of my daughters married."
"Ahh so that's why she had to come home." Everyone's mind clicked as Yukino didn't want to reveal the reason why she has to attend to her family's party.
Everyone was let inside and separated to their own guest rooms by gender.
Butlers and maid attended to their guest rooms, dressing the boys with tuxedos and suits of their own choosing, and dressing the girls with beautiful skirts of their own choosing. For the final hours until the party started, they couldn't see each other for the time being.
And as they couldn't interact with each other, the party was also simultaneously being set up and tons of people arrived to attend the party. People with tons of influence, a wealthy amount of money, and skills that were definitely high up in the royalty scale.
...
As the party officially started, the party that were separated for the quarter of the day finally reunite.
Both Tobe and Hayato were wearing black tuxedos with silky black pants that looked extremely expensive as well as black footwear that also had expensive material.
Meanwhile, the women were wearing dresses that fit to their liking and makeup such as red lipstick, eyeliner, and nail polish. With Yumiko wearing a small yellow dress and yellow high heels. Ebina wore a white dress that was slightly larger than Yumiko's in diameter and white high heels. Yui wore a pink dress the same size as Ebina while equipped with pink heels.
The most significant dress noticeable by everyone in the party was obviously Yukino.
Wearing a large black dress that was almost twice the size in diameter as Yui's, and wore dark small heel shoes.
The males locked eyes with the females. And as they looked at one another, both Tobe and Hayato felt an instant connection towards the 2 females they were mostly intrigued and awestruck with. And the 2 females that they locked eyes on felt exactly the same way.
Only this time, there was another female who felt the same attraction towards Hayato.
Feeling a bit too shy, "Yui, how about we check out some of the food here." Yukino didn't want to embarrass herself any further and tried to distract herself by luring Yui away with her.
"Sure. I sense a lot of intimacy between everyone here so I'll leave everyone alone." Yui obviously knew the giant elephant in the room and knew to announce her leave.
A few seconds of silence played out as Yukino and Yui took their leave.
And then the other 2 left together, leaving Tobe and Ebina alone together. They stood there awkwardly glancing at each other from time to time, waiting for the other to take initiative.
And finally, they both opened their mouths at the same time.
"Want to dance?"
"Want to hang out?"
"You first."
"Sorry, go ahead."
At last, Tobe let's her speak, as he wants to look like a gentleman in front of her, despite knowing she has seen him lazily leave chips on the table and even on the floor, and sleeping with his mouth open.
"This may be the only time we can let out our feelings without our friends making fun of us." Ebina confessed.
"I was just going to say that you look beautiful but what you said is leagues over mine. So all I'm gonna say is, you're right. Shall we dance, my lady?" He bows towards his first girlfriend as a sign of respect and invitation.
Ebina quickly walks up to him, taking his hand and pulling him towards the dancing area. Where every couple began slowly dancing to the slow and romantic music that a group of musicians played.
Meanwhile, Yukino and Yui sat together on a 2 seater round table, watching everyone chat, dance, and sit down together.
And in their topic of the conversation, "So, how do you think I should approach him?" Yukino asks Yui for some romantic advice.
"In my experience, always take the initiative because he could also like you but also too afraid. Just go wing it and if it doesn't work it, then move on. But who is this person you even want to approach? Don't tell me it's Hayato."
"Unfortunately for your inconvenience, I am romantically interested in Hayato but I too want to make sure he is also interested in me as well... Lately... I've been seeing him and Yumiko act awkward around each other for the past few weeks. And it is constantly infecting my thoughts with this feeling of jealousy.."
"As much a I love the drama between love triangles, I do not want it to happen and tear the relationships of my best friends. And if you truly do love him... Go for it, and if the worst case scenario occurs and Yumiko and Hayato are together... What am I even saying?! First of all, tell me what type of guys do you like?" In a mild case of stress and panic, Yui tries to shift the topic to what Yukino likes in a man.
"Funny enough, I used to hate the concept of strong men saving princesses in dire situations and then the princess falls in love with her savior. But seeing Hayato effortlessly slay the dragon, was something that strengthen my interest in him. I genuinely liked him during my younger years and those feelings have resurfaced from within me."
Yui was definitely astonished by how much Yukino had spoke, considering she only spoke a few sentences at most. But hearing almost a monologue amount of sentences about the person she likes, surprised her.
"Yukinon, one day, you're gonna have a loving husband and beautiful children. But you have to decide who to be your husband and right now, that decision is yours to make. And I don't want to make you pick the wrong choice on my behalf. So my only advice is to trust your own guts. And don't do what I did. Assuming I would be together forever with my previous crush."
"I appreciate the aid, Yui. In return, as soon as we arrive home, I'll show you a secret skill I've learn about cooking in exchange." Yukino slightly bowed her head as a sign of gratitude to her best friend.
"Thank you so much!" Yui lunged towards her best friend with the biggest embrace she'll give her yet.
"Please allow some space for me." Yukino embarrassingly spoke out, catching the eyes of many people glancing towards them with confusion.
Yui let's go of her grip a few seconds later, "And try not to do it in public. We must look formal and professional at all cost in the public's eyes." She says to her.
"Sorry. I just can't help myself when I'm so excited and glad to have you as a friend." That damn smile she always gives her tricks her every time to letting her get away with it.
"It's fine. It tells me that you still trust me-"
"And that I love you!" Yui interrupts her sentence out of the blue.
"Indeed. As a close friend." Yukino clarified, to make sure that anyone eavesdropping their conversation don't get the wrong idea.
In fact, there were many men eavesdropping their conversation, as if they were finding the right moment to talk to them about anything they were talking about.
In fact, "How have you ladies been doing on this fine night?" A man in his mid 20s ask them, bowing his head in respect.
"Oh, we are doing fine. Thanks for asking." Yui nonchalantly denies him without even noticing.
Thus, the man then greets Yukino after, "You look rather stunning today, m'lady. Would you care for a dance with my highly decorated suit?" The man hints his expensive outfit as a way to represent his wealth towards her.
"Your invitation is acknowledged. Unfortunately, I am not in the mood to dance right now." Yukino too denies his request to dance with him.
With that, the man leaves with no arrogance or ego left behind.
"Wow, he was pretty handsome though. If I had met him in town, I definitely would've hung out with him for a while just to see where it was heading."
"Unfortunately for you, I am not obsessed with wealth and looks. I want someone with a kind personality, no matter how poor that person is. And their looks don't have to be straight out of god's creation. It could be the most average looking man and I would still love him. And their strength does not matter as long as his love is as strong as mine."
"Yukinon, I'd hate to break it to you, but aren't you romantically interested in Hayato? So that kinda ruins your whole concept of an ideal partner."
A slightly caught off guard Yukino clears her throat, "Hayato just manages to possess all of them, and I won't complain about it. And besides, I've been friends with him for a long time. I know he is not easily bribed with wealth and as egotistical with his strength and family influence." Though these did sound like excuses, Yukino is honest with what she says no matter what.
Thus why Yui believes everything she says.
As Yukino takes a sip of her wine.
"Maybe. But we'll see once you decide to have a family with someone, maybe him."
She spits it out in disbelief.
...
The birthday party was just like any ordinary birthday party, no announcements, just a place for people to celebrate, chat, and dance with each other.
And as the party soon died, only the Yukinoshita's were left to hang out.
They let their father speak, "My daughters."
"Yes, father."
"Yes, father?"
Mr. Yukinoshita looked at both of his beautiful daughters that he raised for as old as they were.
"I need to start having some grandchildren soon before I die."
His blatant sentence caught the both of them off guard.
"You're not even 50 yet, give me some time to find someone." Haruno says to him, making up any excuse she could think of.
"And you're already 23 and you still haven't had your first kiss. That goes the same for you, Yukino." Mr. Yukinoshita points at the youngest daughter.
"Am I expected to have someone before Nee-san?" She asks him.
"No, but I would appreciate that in your next visit, that you arrive with someone you love dearly. Maybe that Hayato is your best potential candidate. If not, then find someone to your liking because your mother found someone like me at the age of 16."
The daughters hated when they were compared to their mother. But nonetheless, they stood silent.
"Nonetheless, I appreciate that you both still love me and attended my birthday party despite being young adults. If you ever need any life lessons, don't be afraid to ask me or your mother. You can leave to your rooms now. I gotta go to the bathroom."
"Thank you, father."
"Thank you, father."
They said to him before separating themselves to their own rooms.
...
The next morning, the party said their goodbyes to the Yukinoshita's and walked back to their mansion.
"That party was awesome. I enjoyed every second of it." Tobe raised his arms up in the sky to stretch.
"Indeed, that party was rather quite fun to dance." Ebina added.
"Guess someone had fun dancing together. Finally you guys confessed to each other. I almost formulated a plan to force you both to be alone in the mansion for a couple of days." Yumiko confessed to the two, obviously shocking them both with their jaws wide opened.
"Hahaha! Your expressions are too hilarious!" Yumiko was in hysteric from their reaction.
"I was the initiator of the confession, so I got some pride left in me." Tobe looked away with his hands behind his neck.
"Or rather, it was me who had the balls." Ebina snarky remarks stabbed right towards through the remains of his pride.
The entire group laughs loudly as their voices echoed throughout the forest.
As they finished laughing, "Your family is very kind and super friendly, Yukinon. Please don't hesitate if you want us to come visit them again." Yui spoke up her thoughts about Yukino's family.
"Thank you. They are truly the friendliest group of people you'll encounter in your life."
"I can never survive a horrible family in my life. I would've turn into such a criminal if it weren't for my mom and dad." Yumiko brought up, looking up at the sky with immense gratitude to her parents.
Yukino smiles at her words, "Every child needs at least one functioning parents in order to be stay away from crime."
A day later, they arrive at their mansion in opened arms.
Tobe and Ebina slept on the couch together, Hayato and Yumiko practiced their swordsmanship outside, and Yukino,p begun teaching Yui how to properly cook.
"Not too much seasoning, you don't want to taste black pepper everywhere!"
"Sorry, Yukinon, I panicked!"