From betrotheds to lovers

Chapter 29

"I'm back"

"Pardon the intrusion"

Ichiro and Sakurako entered from the front door of Ichiro's house, and the first thing they saw was Niko, Ichiro's mother, sitting on the sofa with a concerned face as open cardboard boxes were on top of the coffee table right in front of her

" "..." "

The two looked at her in silence for a moment, before approaching her and seeing what was inside the relatively small boxes, and in there they saw six sets of neatly folded, high quality and quite elaborated Traditional Japanese waiter uniforms, and a seventh set of equally high-quality chef clothes, which was accompanied by a full set of cooking knives from the most expensive brand

"Oh! So Hansuke-san and Emma-san's gifts finally arrived"

At hearing that comment from Ichiro, Niko slowly turned her head to look at him with a very confused face

"W-What do you mean?"

"Quite some time ago, both Hansuke-san and Emma-san paid a visit to the cafe, and as they were leaving they asked me why I didn't have a uniform more fitting to the cafe style. So I told them that you weren't finding a good supplier, and they then decided to send us these, probably as a form of gift for my engagement with Sakurako-san"

"... ... ... Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"I thought it would be funnier this way. Heh"

"How evil!... Huh?"

Then Niko finally noticed that Sakurako was standing next to Ichiro as she looked at the uniform with a lot of intrigue

"Ah! Sakurako-san!"

"Hm? Ah! Good afternoon... Hmm... Hirano-san?"

"You can just call her mother-in-law or Niko-san"

"No! That'll be bad for my heart!"

"Is that so, Mother-in-law?"

"... Sorry, I was exaggerating. Now please, if you two can give me some time, I'll rest a little because those clothes are too pressuring for me"

"Have a good rest, mom"

"Nn *Nods*. Have a good rest, mother-in-law"

"... Thanks"

Niko just gave a nervous smile to the two as she decided to take her leave, both she nor Kazumi weren't still used to the fact that Ichiro was engaged to someone from the well-known Kogane family, so they always felt nervous and had a lot of stomach pain whenever they were near Sakurako, her parents, or anything expensive that they gifted them

" "..." "

For a moment the two stood there in silence before Ichiro broke the silence

"I'll clean this mess, and then I'll make some coffee for you, Sakurako-san"

"Okay... Hmm... Can you leave this set here?"

Sakurako pointed at the red female waitress set, which had a small piece of paper written that it was meant for Sakurako

"Sure, let me close the curtains for you"

"Thanks"

Ichiro immediately noticed what Sakurako was going to do, so he went and closed the curtain while making sure that there were no gaps in it. After doing so, he put the knife set in the kitchen and then he took the remaining uniform sets with him to another room

After some minutes, Ichiro returned to the living room while wearing one of the male waiters sets, and there he saw that Sakurako had also finished changing clothes as well

"..."

"... It's quite comfy... Ah! Ichiro-san, you back"

"I'm back, and you're looking really cute in those clothes, Sakurako-san"

"! T-thanks"

Sakurako blushed a little at the sudden compliment from Ichiro

"... You also look quite good as well, Ichiro-san"

"Thanks, now please take a seat wherever you like, Sakurako. I'll start making some coffee for you"

"Nn *Nods*"

With that Sakurako sat down on the sofa and watched Ichiro as he brewed some coffee for her, she was used to seeing him do that, but now that he was wearing a traditional Japanese-style waiter uniform, she couldn't help but feel that he gave a quite different atmosphere while doing so. After a while, Ichiro walked toward Sakurako as he help a mug and a teacup

"Here's your coffee, Sakurako-san"

"Thanks, Ichiro-san"

After handing the big mug filled with black coffee to Sakurako, Ichiro sat down right next to her as he held a teacup. The two stayed in silence as they drank their hot drinks and just enjoyed the presence of each other. For Sakurako, who was quite a bad talker most of the time, this was a quite good atmosphere for her, but at the same time the lack of stuff to distract her, made her start thinking about a few things

Mainly it was about her engagement with Ichiro, so far it has been a little more than half a month since they got engaged, but in this short period of time, she got quite used to spending some time with Ichiro and also began to enjoy his presence near her, which was completely different to her previous engagement, where she didn't feel anything over her ex-fiancé ditching her

"... Ichiro-san?"

"Hm? What is it, Sakurako-san?"

"Are you really okay with our engagement?"

"Of course, I am okay with it. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing really... I just have been feeling that... I won't give up on my betrothal with you so easily if something happens to it"

"I see, I'm glad to hear that"

"Nn *nods*... Although it hasn't been that long since our engagement, I've really enjoyed the time we spent together so far, Ichiro-san"

"Me too, Sakurako-san. Hmm... About that, do you wanna go on another date someday?"

"Sure"

"Great! Then how about this Sunday?"

"Sounds good to me"

"That's good to hear"

Ichiro smiled at Sakurako, while she made a soft expression without smiling, after that short talk the two went back to enjoying their hot drink and the presence of the other. After quite some time, Sakurako received a message that a car had come to pick her up

"It appears I'll be taking my leave, Ichiro-san. I had a good time with you"

"I also had a good with you, Sakurako-san. Ah! Before you leave, can I take a picture of you?"

"? Sure"

"Yay. Thank you, Sakurako-san"

Ichiro then pointed his phone camera at Sakurako and took a photo of her using the traditional Japanese waitress clothes, after he confirmed to her that he took her photo, Sakurako picked up her school uniform and bag, and left the house, while Ichiro escorted her all the way to the car

Once the car started moving and went out of sight, Ichiro returned to his home, after closing and locking the door, Ichiro stayed quiet for a moment as he looked at the ceiling, then...

"Progress!"

Ichiro said that as he made guts pose, he only did that because what Sakurako had told him, confirmed that he had made quite a lot of progress with her, which put Ichiro in a really good mood in knowing that Sakurako was fond of him