Chapter 29: Kaori's House

It turned out that the censor didn't stay for long. After a few moments, the censor disappeared, and Fuutarou could see his hand once more.

Both of them didn't talk much and just enjoyed a comfortable silence between them. On the way to Kaori's house, both met many familiar friends who were out roaming about.

Like any other elementary school student who gets up early to do their radio exercises, many children were very active in the morning. Fuutarou was an anomaly. Since he practiced taekwondo by himself, he had gotten permission from his teacher to skip it during the summer holidays.

Of course, he knew how to do it. He just found it boring and preferred to do taekwondo instead. On the other hand, Shouko had woken up at 6am every morning to go to the nearby park to do her radio exercises.

"Uesugi-san! Nishimiya-san! Ohayou (good morning)!"

A few of them waved towards the young couple as they returned their greetings.

The journey to Kaori's house wasn't long; it only took around fifteen minutes of casual walking with numerous breaks to mess around with the younger students who were out with their parents.

They had finally reached in front of Kaori's 'house', and it wasn't what they had expected a house to be.

In front of them was a three-storied building, with the first floor being a bakery.

Ma Fille Pâtisserie.

The bakery's name was plastered at the top of the shop, as several people came inside and bought some bread (duh).

Fuutarou was a bit surprised but went inside nonetheless. Still holding on to Shouko's hand, they walked inside to find numerous transparent boxes filled with all sorts of bread.

Though he couldn't precisely say that business was booming, it was good enough to support an average family.

Trying to suppress their urge for some bread, they directly went to the counter and saw a couple together.

The man had dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a broken pencil mustache, while the woman had light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and pale indigo eyes.

"Good morning Oba-san and Oji-san. Can we know where to find Kaori-chan?" Fuutaour and Shouko greeted together before Fuutarou asked the couple.

"Kaori-chan? Who are you, and why are you looking for her?" The man asked warmly. His entire appearance was average, but his tone was very warm and kind.

"My name is Uesugi Fuutarou, and the girl beside me is Nishimiya Shouko. We're looking for Kaori-chan to discuss something." Fuutarou replied.

The couple was about to reply when a girl's voice suddenly arrived.

"Dad? Mum? Is that a customer?"

*****************

While going down the stairs, Kaori heard her parents talking about her. She was wondering who would be talking about her when she saw the familiar white-haired boy.

"Fuutarou!" Kaori couldn't help but exclaim, and when she saw him turn his head towards her direction, she turned red and quickly went back up to change into something more...presentable.

She was currently in her pajamas as she had just woken up. Due to her condition, she, like Fuutarou, had gotten permission to skip the radio exercises.

For the first few days of the summer break, she didn't do much but laze around at home. She only helped out in the shop every once in a while. She wondered when Fuutarou would seek her out to discuss their agreement. Or rather, his promise to her.

The summer break only lasted for five weeks or so. Researching a little by herself, she found out that the competition they agreed to take part in was held in the middle of the third week. When the first week flew past without any disruption in her life, she quickly got worried that Fuutarou might have forgotten about their agreement.

She then thought about going to Fuutarou's house to seek him out instead, only to realize that she didn't know where Fuutarou lived.

'Ahh...! What would Fuutarou think of me when I just appeared in my pajamas?!'

Kaori couldn't help but think as she quickly slammed open the door to her room and took out multiple clothes to try on in front of the mirror.

*****************

"Um...Sorry about that, Fuu-chan, Shou-chan. It appears that my daughter is a bit shy." The brown-haired lady replied with fondness in her eyes as she bent downwards to pat on both of their heads.

Fuutarou wondered why she was acting so familiar with them when they had just met for the first time, but Shouko didn't mind it and just enjoyed it for a while before frowning unnoticeably.

'Fuu-kun's head pat is better.'

As though she could mind-read, the lady explained to Fuutarou, "You must be wondering why I'm acting so familiar to you, right?"

Fuutarou nodded.

"You see, Kaori told us a lot about the three of you and your younger siblings. Since last year, she had pestered us to let her learn the violin because she heard some beautiful piano sounds that you made."

"Not only that, but she mentions you guys a lot." The man continued his wife's explanation.

"Especially you, Uesugi-kun." He smiled at Fuutarou, "For how much you have helped her for the past year, thank you."

Hearing their words, Fuutarou was confused.

"What do you mean? I don't remember helping her at all."

The couple was surprised and looked at each other in the eye before turning back to Fuutarou.

"Nevermind. It seems that she hasn't told you anything yet, but it's fine. I'll leave it to her to tell you guys when the time's right."

'Is it about her illness?'

However, just before Fuutarou could ponder more, Kaori's voice resounded once more.

"Mum! Dad! What have you been telling Fuutarou-kun and Shouko-chan?!" The familiar blond hair girl rushed between her parents and Fuutarou and questioned.

"Hm?" Her mother placed her index finger on her chin and pretended to think about her questions for a while. She eventually had a teasing smile on her face as she replied to her daughter, "I wonder..."

She bent down and whispered in her daughter's ear, "Do you like him?"

Hearing her mother's question, she turned red as she hurriedly replied, "What do you mean?! Of course, I don't!"

Hearing her daughter's words contradicting her actions of peeking at Fuutarou, she sighed.

'This girl can't be honest, but that's good as well. Better to completely cut off the feelings before it's too late.'

She couldn't help but lament about her daughter's wretched fate before looking in Fuutarou's direction.

'Let's hope this guy doesn't fall too deeply in love with my daughter. But seeing Shou-chan beside him, I don't think that would happen?'

While Kaori's mother had her inner monologue, Fuutarou didn't know what she was thinking. He just continued talking with Kaori and Shouko before Kaori decided to bring them to her room.

"Mum!" Kaori yelled out, interrupting her mother from her own thoughts and seeing that she had her attention, Kaori continued, "I'm bringing my friends to my room, alright?"

"Alright. Do you guys need any snacks?"

"Nope."

"Alright then. Have fun."

Getting her mother's permission, Kaori immediately pulled Fuutarou and Shouko upstairs to her room.

After reaching her room, Kaori stopped pulling both of them and started to stare intently at Fuutarou while twirling around in her dress.

It was pretty obvious what Kaori wanted to hear from her crush, so Fuutarou gave it to her.

"You're cute in that dress, Kaori-chan."