Kazuya continued, "Now, we need to consider Haruna's expectations for the future. Does she want to become a professional athlete?"
Haruka leaned closer to Kazuya, looking at the leaflets together. She casually said, "What expectations can she have? She only cares about eating. I'll decide for her. I hope she can have a more stable life in the future. She's carefree and won't plot or scheme, so I think studying sports education suits her. In the future, she could become a physical education teacher at an elementary or middle school. The annual income would be around 4-5 million yen. It's not a lot, but it's better than less. Besides, the benefits are good and being a teacher is respected with social status assured. What do you think?"
"That sounds good. So, the goal is to enter a university with an education program? In that case, we should examine what kind of students these universities with sports education programs prefer. Let's check the recommended schools of the clubs in the past few years," Kazuya suggested, equally enthusiastic about discussing university choices.
Haruka, biting her thumb, activated her brainpower. "Yes, it's better to get into a prestigious university, or at least one with a good reputation in the country. It will be helpful for finding a job..."
She chewed her fingernail for a while, observing the shadows sticking closely together. Suddenly, she realized that she and Kazuya had gotten close at some point. When she looked up, she saw Kazuya's earnest face, and for a moment, she couldn't move her eyes away.
This serious expression, this gigolo looks just like the male character in shoujo manga, if only he didn't have such an annoying personality. What a waste...
"Uh... When is dinner ready? I'm about to starve to death!" Haruna moaned in pain as she lay on the floor. Kazuya and Haruka were discussing and getting closer and closer, and she had been squeezed lying down. The more she lay there, the hungrier she felt. What were these two talking about? It never seemed to end!
Kazuya turned to the sound, and as he glanced over, he coincidentally met eyes with Haruka.
Haruka's crescent-shaped eyes were very bright, like a pool of autumn water with a shimmering mist. Kazuya hesitated for a moment, finding himself getting lost in those eyes.
Kazuya stared at Haruka and Haruka felt embarrassed when she realized this. She averted her gaze but felt as if she had lost. She quickly stared back, only to find that Matsuoka Kazuya was condescending, with a smile on his lips, as if he was laughing at her for being short. After a moment of inexplicable anger, she raised two fingers and aimed at Kazuya's eyes, "What are you looking at? I'll gouge your eyes out!"
Outside the shop, the wind howled fiercely, making the signboards clatter.
The strong wind arrived right on schedule, precisely at 7 pm, the golden hours of the day for business. It directly caused a nearly seventy percent reduction in the number of customers at Pure Flavor House. Following that, a sudden heavy rain warning was announced on the news, prompting customers to hastily return home. As a result, Pure Flavor House was devoid of customers by not even 9 pm.
Kazuya rubbed his somewhat sore eyes and looked a bit unwell. Meanwhile, Haruka was sitting in a corner of the hall, going over the accounts, tightly pursing her small mouth. Her little face had a round red mark.
Kazuya had been working at Pure Flavor House for almost ten days, and he thought the relationship between him and Haruka had improved somewhat. However, today he wanted to discuss something important about Haruna's future in a show of goodwill. Unexpectedly, Haruka turned out to be so malicious. She took advantage of him when he was defenseless and launched a surprise attack.
At that moment, he was so shocked that tears streamed down his face. Of course, he didn't hold back and immediately pressed Haruka's head onto the bowl, giving her face an extremely intimate contact with the edge of the bowl. Now it looked even worse than him. The round mark on her face had yet to disappear.
As he cleaned up the kitchen, he glanced at Haruka, and she was looking back at him. They locked eyes for a moment. She looked guilty to avoid but quickly countered by glaring back at him, showing no signs of weakness.
After staring at each other for a moment, they both looked away almost simultaneously. Kazuya put the pots, bowls, ladles, and pans back in their respective places, arranging them neatly. Naotaka had already rest as there were no customers. So, it was up to him, the assistant chef, to handle these tasks. While he worked, he thought to himself, "Although working here is quite comfortable and I can gain experience, but this little radish is really too much. It's really hard to get along with her."
As he contemplated this, his expression became quite unpleasant. Akiho secretly observed him and sighed inwardly. She had witnessed everything that happened before dinner tonight. Honestly, she felt that big sister was in the wrong!
Wiping her hands with an apron, she walked out of the kitchen towards Haruka. She gently pulled her aside and suggested, "Big sister, go and apologize to him, okay?"
Haruka glanced at Kazuya, hesitated for a moment, but stubbornly replied, "I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize to him? I won't go!"
"Big sister!"
"I won't go!"
Akiho looked at Haruka who was acting stubbornly. After steadying her mind, she patiently advised, "Big sister, it's not right to blame him just because Haruna couldn't get a full scholarship. What happened today was even more excessive. Big sister, go and apologize!"
Her words were tactful because she knew her big sister. Speaking frankly, she thought was that Haruka wasn't right, especially after learning what kind of person Kazuya was.
However, there was nothing she could do. This was her big sister, whom she had respected since childhood. In a way, she was like both a sister and a mother. If her sister killed someone or set a fire, she would hide her without hesitation, even if it meant taking the blame and going to jail to protect her.
"Why didn't he apologize to me first? Look at what he did to me!" Haruka wasn't completely unreasonable. She knew her younger sister was right, but she never wanted to be the first to back down. She pointed to the red mark on her face and insisted, "Did you see how ruthless he was? I almost suffocated with my face pressed into the bowl!"
Akiho was momentarily speechless and decided to get to the root of the matter. She patiently inquired, "Big sister, why did you try to gouge his eyes out? He didn't do anything at that time."
Haruka stopped talking, and her pen scribbled aimlessly on the account book. After waiting for quite a while, Akiho asked again, "What's the real reason, big sister?"
Akiho was the only one at home who could talk to Haruka properly. Haruka said grumpily, "I don't know either. Suddenly felt he was too close, got angry for no reason, and without thinking, I tried to gouge his eyes out. It wasn't until after that I realized..."
"You were looking at something together. Of course, you'd be close!" Akiho couldn't understand it.
Haruka became irritable again. The pen in her hand tore through the account book, and she complained, "I was just angry for no reason. There's no explanation!"
Akiho thought and cautiously asked, "Big sister, is it because you've never been so close to a boy your age before?"
Haruka was taken aback and immediately retorted forcefully, "How is that possible? Don't you know how popular I am at school? Lots of boys surround me, and they come up to me every day. I originally disliked him, and now that I see him up close, I dislike him even more. So, I got angry! Yes, that's the reason!"
She even convinced herself. She looked angrily at Kazuya, touched the painful mark on her face, "This guy hit me again. I'll remember this. There will be a reckoning sooner or later!"
Akiho looked at her firm statement and couldn't think of any other reason. She fell into deep confusion.
Kazuya finished cleaning the kitchen, and seeing everything tidy and orderly eased his somewhat depressed mood. He glanced at the hall and noticed Haruka and Akiho huddled together, whispering. His heart tightened slightly, but he quickly laughed at himself. He was about to leave anyway, and even if they wanted to plot against him, there was no chance now. No need to be nervous.
Akiho was a reasonable girl, but she was too respectful of her big sister. Sometimes, she had to accompany her sister in her mischief, which was a pity for such a good girl.
Kazuya thought about this while turning through the small door next to the kitchen into the corridor. There, he bumped into Haruna. She was wearing a white martial arts uniform, dragging a wooden sword in her hand, and her slightly sweaty curly hair stuck to her forehead, clearly having just finished exercising. Haruna was going to go upstairs from here. Their sisters' living quarters were on the second floor. She cheerfully greeted Kazuya, "Hey, where are you heading?"