Sakura looked confused for a sec, but when she remembered what she was supposed to tell him, Mei called them and beckoned them to go outside the shop.
"I'll tell you inside the car," Sakura closed the menu and smiled at him. "Kyoko and Kiyoshi might already be outside, so let's go."
But, the two were separated; Haru was with Nana and Ayaka in Kyoko's car, while Sakura was with Mei and Kiyoshi's. Haru thought it was something trifling because if it was important, she should have told him right away.
When they arrived at Yagami's residence, they changed their clothes first and stayed in the living area. Kiyoshi was supposed to help Mei in preparing the snacks and drinks, but he fell asleep on the couch as soon as he laid on it. Haru helped her instead while the rest of the ladies were catching up.
The sun had already set, and Haru still waited for Sakura to initiate the conversation. However, seeing her enjoying her time getting to know her new friends, he eventually brushed the matter off and thought that Sakura might have already forgotten what she was about to talk about.
Before dinner, Haru, Kiyoshi, and Nana were at the yard grilling salmon, porterhouse steak, chicken and scallion skewers, and grilled tomatoes. They also grilled foiled yaki of mixed mushrooms, as well as clams, leeks, and king oyster mushrooms. The others were in the kitchen preparing the rice, the sauces, and the side dishes which include Japanese style potato salad, edamame with salt, and sunomono (cucumber salad).
The group enjoyed their grilled dinner party paired with beer in the living area, where Ayaka, Kyoko, and Nana were all seated on the couch, while Sakura, Haru, and the couple settled on the floor. They also welcomed Sakura in their circle with a big toast. Of course, Haru only drank a bottle of beer as he became more cautious not to get too drunk again, especially in front of the pink-haired lady.
While eating their scrumptious meal, they were also rewatching the matches of Japan's men's volleyball team during the recent Olympics as per request by Ayaka and Nana. The ladies were simping over the volleyball players when Mei and Sakura received a LINE message from Emi. They looked at each other with bright smiles on their faces.
"Nee-chan, good news!" Mei spoke first whilst still holding her phone. "Our boss told us that instead of uploading the special video before the end of June, they'll upload it on the first week instead… and that is on next Friday."
"She was also asking if there's a chance you could have the cherry blossom-themed menu until the end of June," Sakura beamed. "She really loved the macarons you gave us!"
Kyoko couldn't contain her happiness as tears started streaming down her cheeks. They hadn't had grand meetings held in their place, so to receive such good news from the boss of a prestigious company was really too overwhelming for her. "Is this for real? Please slap me if it isn't!"
Ayaka, who was on her left side, gave her a tight hug, "Ahhhh! I'm so happy and so proud of you, nee-chan!"
"I've been telling you to just stay with us and retire from modeling. You can be the model of your café anyway," Kiyoshi commented.
"Agreed! I'll take your pictures!" Nana suggested, grinning.
"All your sleepless nights for the past week really paid off and because of that, you have to treat us somewhere far on your birthday," Haru chuckled.
"It's already a given!" the tall lady laughed with tears of happiness in her eyes. She then asked everyone to huddle together, and when they drew closer to her, she tried her very best to hug each one of them in her arms. "It's all thanks to you, really… thank you from the bottom of my heart," she mumbled.
Kiyoshi reached for her hair and messed it, and Haru patted her shoulder before they returned to their seats. Kyoko wiped her tears with her fingers and took a swig of her beer, "Seriously, I can't wait to drink and play games until the morning comes!"
"This sucks," Nana groaned. "I'd love to see you all get drunk, but I have class tomorrow."
"Uhm… can't you skip it only for tomorrow?" Kyoko batted her eyelashes.
"You know you can still attend your classes if you let her drive you to your uni," Haru told Nana.
"Oh sure!" Kyoko said with assurance. "What time is your class?"
"8 in the morning."
"Shit!" she almost dropped her plate. "But okay, fine fine fine! I'll try not to get too drunk and get up early!" she laughed nervously, facing Sakura this time. "But before I forget, I want to talk to you about something, Sakura."
Sakura wanted to ask her, but Kyoko was already busy enjoying her food while chatting with the others. She whispered to Haru, who was sitting next to her, "Do you know anything about it?"
"You'll know it later," Haru responded with a dimple showing on his cheek. "I told you about it last night, right?"
Since the girls were laughing, she didn't hear his inquiry, "Should I get nervous…?" She looked into his eyes, but he was too focused on slicing the porterhouse steak into strips.
"You don't have to."
"And that reminded me of something," she murmured as she watched him.
"Of what?" he then sliced a strip into cubes.
"When you got really drunk," she tried her best to stifle her laughter. "You kept telling me to not get nervous, but in the end, you didn't pass out and-"
With his chopsticks, Haru took a piece of the cubed meat and stuffed it in her mouth to silence her, "Don't tell me you don't do silly stuff when you get drunk?"
She widened her eyes and pressed her fingers against her mouth, quickly chewing on the meat before speaking. "Are you getting shy now, Haru? And for your information, I don't easily get drunk," she smugged.
"And what if you get drunk tonight?" he gazed at her as he cocking his head to the side.
"Do you wanna bet on it then?" using the back of her index finger, Sakura wiped off the oil on the corner of her heart-shaped lips before grinning cheekily.