"Wow, when it comes to the job, Kurono-san seems like a very different person." Rena couldn't help but comment a little on what just happened when she no longer saw Kurono's figure in the distance.
"Of course. Kurosawa-san is the face of the company. We all trust his judgment and decisions, and his quick thinking and ideas make our job easier." Although Yuki didn't think, everyone could feel that she was too proud to have Kurono as her boss.
"Haha, what Yuki-san means is that Kurosawa-san is someone we can put our full trust in. You always ask me why I treat him so respectfully, so here's your answer." Akio didn't find strange the way Yuki described everything, he also felt very comfortable with Kurono as his boss and respected him a lot.
"It's also my first time looking at him like that, it's funny that I can still discover new sides of Kurono despite all this time, hehe." Shizune said what was on her mind smoothly, the way Kurono was effort had made her feel like she should indulge him more, but she'd take care of that in the future.
"Could you tell me your name? I don't think I've had the pleasure of hearing it." Yuki interrupted everyone's thoughts as she tried to get Shizune's attention. It was true that she already knew part of Shizune's name, but not completely.
"Ah, sorry, Yuki-san." Shizune had also noticed that little detail, so she didn't make her wait any longer. "My name is Yotsuba Shizune, I'm Rena's mother."
Yuki nodded to herself since she had guessed correctly, she had also seen that Shizune had raised her hand to her in greeting, and she did not reject the gesture, but her questions were not going to end right there.
"I see... What is your relationship with Kurosawa-san?" Yuki was being quite direct, but that was something she urgently needed to know.
"Well, this is also something you should know, mom is…!" Rena wanted to jump into the conversation when that topic came up, but Akio had quickly caught her up to avoid any further discussion, which she cleared for Shizune to respond.
"Haha... I apologize for my daughter's behavior." Shizune felt a little embarrassed now.
"Don't worry, but about my question…" Yuki kept waiting since she didn't want the topic of conversation to change to another.
"Yeah, about that... Kurono and I are in a relationship." Shizune didn't know why she felt nervous, it was true that she had already said those same words many times, but it was a little different this time since she had just met Yuki. Besides, Kurono was her boss, but that shouldn't affect it in any way.
"Relationship? What kind of relationship?" An uneasy feeling was taking over Yuki, and that would only get worse a second later.
"The answer is very obvious, mom and Kurono-san are in a loving relationship, they are a couple!" Rena was able to free herself from Akio's grasp so that she could later make clear Kurono and Shizune's relationship.
And listening to all this, some cracks formed in the glass of Yuki's glasses indicating that they had broken at the same time that they were fogged up, preventing her eyes from being visible... Obviously, all this was an imaginary scene, but it worked to define a bit Yuki was feeling at that moment.
"I see…" A deep silence filled the place even though the area was quite large. "I will also withdraw, Akio-san. It was nice meeting you, Rena-san, Yotsuba-san."
And giving a final bow, Yuki advanced along the same path that Kurono had taken earlier. The small group looked at each other before Akio began to speak.
"I know, Yuki-san is a bit complicated, but she's actually quite a nice person, she helped me a lot when I started working here." Akio held Yuki in high esteem, so she didn't want them to think badly of her... Although maybe he chose some words that put him in a bad situation.
"Ohh... Does that mean you spend a lot of time with her?" Akio was about to reply that that wasn't the case, but he knew his fate looked bad when he caught Rena's cold gaze.
And as was common, there was a scene where Akio tried to explain himself without much success while Rena continued to exaggerate things. Shizune was only laughing a little at that situation that was already quite familiar to her, but on top of that, her gaze was fixed on the path that Yuki had just left recently...
…
…
…
The colors of the traffic light changed continuously giving small instructions to the traffic that traveled the streets of the city like every day. The midday sun had not yet arrived, but it was advancing every second, transmitting some heat on that slightly cold day.
Several pedestrians were crossing the street at the time, each with their business and stories. A boy who was already too late for his entrance exam, an office worker who had just finished overtime and was heading home to find some comfort with his pillow, and a girl afraid of the city since she didn't seem to be used to all that...
Perhaps it would be interesting to know a little more about what varieties of those characters had to offer, but you had to focus on the main story that we all knew quite well and that was happening inside the taxi that Kurono had ordered.
"That Yuki is dangerous, mom." Rena's voice carried a tone that expressed a bit of the annoyance she was feeling.
"Don't think too much about it, she won't steal Akio or something like that." Shizune knew that Rena didn't have a pleasant image of Yuki, but thinking of possible scenarios didn't do her any good.
"Not only do I mean for that, but I also say it for you."
"For me?" Shizune felt strange from Rena's words.
"Yeah, remember how I told you that there are a lot of enemies out there? Well, Yuki is one of them." Maybe Rena was just doing that to scare Shizune a bit, but she wasn't acting at all.
"I think you are exaggerating."
"I don't, I'm sure Kurono-san spends a lot of time around her while he's at work, there are plenty of opportunities for anything to happen." Even Rena thought she should stop when she noticed Shizune's worried look, but what she heard next relaxed her a bit.
"It doesn't matter, I trust Kurono. You also saw how serious he is with his work, there should be nothing more than that kind of relationship between them, plus there is something that makes me not hesitate anymore." Shizune had recovered almost instantly and now she had a look of complete confidence.
"And what is?" Rena asked that question to be sure, and the answer that followed was not much different from what she expected.
"Well... That's the sincere love between the two..." Shizune couldn't help but be embarrassed by what she just said, and although she didn't express it the best she could, it was basically what she felt.
Maybe she was being somewhat innocent, she was also aware of those situations where a relationship was destroyed by some kind of deceit, she didn't even want to imagine that something like this would happen to her, but as she had told Rena, she trusted Kurono a lot. He had shown her that she could do it, and even though there was a possibility that she might regret it in the future, she would not let herself be so caught up in such thoughts that it was better to just ignore them.
Rena also felt that Shizune trusted Kurono a lot, she didn't feel that this was wrong, but the last thing she wanted was for her mother to suffer a situation like that, but just seeing the calm and simple smile that she showed was enough for her not to I'll bother her more with that...