My daily life in love is too contrary to my character.

"Um....."

“Tell me, it’s a lover’s responsibility, you can’t lie.” Seeing that Takanashi Yuuko was trying to gloss over the situation, Shiraishi Sawa said.

"I miss my adoptive mother a little. She has always been very good to me."

"Then you can give her a call and contact her."

“My adoptive father called me before, asking where Chengjiang was. After I couldn’t answer, I haven’t contacted them since.” After saying a few words softly, Takanashi Yuuko shook her head, revealing her usual gentle smile:

"It doesn't matter anymore. I just need to give my adoptive mother some money every year to repay her kindness in raising me. We should go take the exam now, Baishi."

"Precisely because it's an exam, there's no need to rush. Not only does the exam start later than class time, but we'll also finish and hand in our papers early anyway, so there's plenty of time."

Shiraishi Sawa slowly wiped his mouth clean, glanced at his watch, and saw it was only 7:30.

"Okay, I'll listen to Shiraishi."

It was a quiet moment; apart from the sound of Mimi chewing on the minced meat, the only other sound was the rustling of leaves outside the window.

The loneliness vanished, and only happiness remained in Takanashi Yuuko's eyes.

--

"Please stop answering the questions, put down your pens, and..."

As the bell rang throughout the campus, the proctor's words signaled the end of the last exam of the day.

The sunlight turned crimson, and Tokyo was bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

Shiraishi Sawa had put down his pen nearly an hour earlier, waiting for the proctor to collect the papers. He looked at the curtains next to him, which were swaying in the gentle breeze, and breathed rapidly but quietly.

This is a truly grueling task.

At the agreed-upon coffee shop, Shiraishi Sawa was the second to arrive.

"Happy birthday, Shiraishi." Soga Kirei stirred the coffee in front of her and placed it in front of Shiraishi Zexiu. "Would you like some? Four sugar cubes, with a little creamer."

"Okay." Shiraishi Zexiu nodded, because the girl's eyes were urging him to drink, so he took a sip and then gave it back.

"Sorry, Shiraishi, I forgot to bring my gift. I'll have to trouble you and Kotori to come and pick it up when you get home." Soga Kiri Ren lowered her head and stirred her coffee more vigorously.

"You can send it tomorrow, or it's okay if you don't send it at all, because I don't have the habit of celebrating my birthday."

"No, it has to be delivered today to make sense. If it's inconvenient for you, I'll go back and get it now."

"That's even less necessary, it's convenient." From Suginami Ward to Azabu-Juban and back to Tahara, it's just a slightly roundabout route, not very troublesome.

Soon all five people arrived. Shiraishi Sawa Hide finished the remaining half cup of coffee that Soga Kiri Ren had left in one gulp—this time, it was because the coffee he had just drunk had made him thirstier. He got into the private car that Kuramochi Sakura had instructed him to wait outside and headed to Kuramochi Sakura's house.

--

This was Shiraishi Sawa's first time visiting Kuramochi Sakura's house, but the scenery along the way was pretty much the same—after all, it was like being neighbors with Ichiriki's family.

Even the villas look somewhat similar, but there are differences. In terms of security personnel and their numbers, the security is obviously stricter than that of a regular house.

At the entrance, Shiraishi Sawa, with his enigmatic Ichiriki Nao, and Kuramochi Mika, whom he had only met a few times, were waiting.

And as Shiraishi Sawah predicted, Kuramochi Mika was just as difficult to deal with as Ichinori Nao.

The two seemed to have arranged it beforehand, as they were both wearing the same style of off-white dresses, and the floor-length gowns could only be kept clean in their own homes.

The openwork front of the dress, with its snow-white strapless bodice, completely concealed the beauty beneath, with only a tender bud peeking out from the branch.

At this moment, the two young women looked more like sisters of different ages, and Shiraishi Sawa could not comment on who was older.

Shiraishi Sawa, who got off the car first, took on the role of driver. He walked to the back and opened the car door, causing the driver, who was about to step forward, to stop in his tracks and stand quietly to the side.

"Well, look, our birthday boy is still very gentlemanly. He truly deserves to be our former son-in-law who came into the family."

“Be careful, Madam. This kind of person is very likely to have designs on your family property. I suggest we send him to the Kuramochi family and let us take over. After all, I don’t think Sakura is capable of shouldering the great responsibility of the Kuramochi family.”

Because the ground outside was dirty, Nao and Kuramochi Mika didn't go outside; they just joked around at the doorway.

"Mom, what was wrong with my secretarial work last time? I was so dedicated!" Kuramochi Sakura said as soon as she got out of the car, hearing her mother teasing her.

"It's really good for your first time, but you still have a long way to go before you can actually start working."

"I know, I know."

"Hello, Aunt Ichiriki, hello, Aunt Kuramochi. I suggest that the two families merge into the Ichimochi family or the Kurariki family, and then I will take charge of the plan." Actually, he originally wanted to call her Aunt Kuramochi or Mrs. Kuramochi, but after thinking about it, he realized that it would be easy to be attacked for being 'unfair', so Shiraishi Sawah gave up the idea.

"That's quite ambitious, but we'll consider it."

"Good evening, Mother (Mrs. Ichiriki), good evening, Kuramochi-neechan (Mrs. Kuramochi)." The other people who came down later also greeted the two ladies in turn.

--

Just as Chiyo said, this birthday party was a private affair, without the grand and extravagant affair of the last one. The living room was simply decorated with some jewel lights and ribbons, but that's precisely why it felt comfortable and appropriate.

"Today, we have three birthday celebrants: one real birthday celebrant and two fake ones," said Kuramochi Mika, the host, after everyone had taken their seats around the dining table in the living room.

"Next, let's invite our real birthday celebrant to give a speech. It's said he's been preparing for this for a long time. Let's give him a round of applause." Kuramochi Mika then began to clap enthusiastically, and Ichiri Nao followed suit.

As expected, Kuramochi Mika is also someone who cannot be judged by common sense.

Shiraishi Sawa, who had been preparing for a long time, stood up, cleared his throat, and said:

"First of all, I'd like to thank TV Tokyo for still broadcasting anime during the Tokyo Olympics, which gave me some comfort after watching the opening ceremony..."

The words spoken by Shiraishizawa Hide were completely unrelated to a birthday speech; the only thing related to his birthday was the last sentence:

"...In short, thank you all for everything you've done for me, I'm very grateful!"

“Well said,” Kuramochi Mika gently tapped the bell on the table, then explained to everyone, “I’m reminding them that they can start preparing the dinner. The first course will be served in about half an hour.”

It's not that we're making everyone wait on purpose, but it's not too late now, and our appetites will actually be much better in half an hour.

"Kuramochi-neechan, have you prepared everything I asked you to?" Ichiyo asked.

"Everything is ready. We've prepared extra ingredients. It's okay if it fails. It's in the Chinese kitchen. Walk this way, to the last room."

"Alright, let's go, Suwo." Suwo Wulian nodded and stood up.

"Oh, by the way, could you also come with us for a bit, Takanashi, and be in charge of guiding us?"

"Guidance? What do you mean by that? I'm not sure if I have the ability to guide," Yuko Takanashi said, pointing to herself with some confusion.

"What is this?" Shiraishi Sawa looked at the two who had already stood up, somewhat puzzled, then indignantly said, "You're not trying to ostracize me, are you? Our high-heeled shoe research club should be helping each other, not doing this here!"

"Don't you think there's something important missing from this birthday party table?"

"Are you making a birthday cake?" Shiraishi Zexiu asked tentatively, looking at the empty table with only a few cold dishes.

"Bingo!" Chiyo clapped. "This is a gift from the two of us. After all, Sue and I have made cakes before and are good at piping buttercream. However, this time it is relatively complicated, so we hope Takanashi can help us."

"Do you need my help? I'm strong, I can stir it." Shiraishi Zexiu volunteered.

“Kuramochi-neechan, our birthday girl suspects your house is so poor you don’t even have an automatic mixer,” Chiyo said to Kuramochi Mika without answering.

"You really look down on me." Kuramochi Mika crossed her arms and glared at Shiraishi Sawa, exuding a unique charm.

"Besides, what kind of birthday present is this if you even participated in making it? Baby dog, remember, don't go near the kitchen, understand?" Chiyo emphasized.

"Okay, okay," Shiraishi Sawa waved his hand with a slight chuckle, "Then I'll say I'm really looking forward to it in advance."

Having learned the reason, Takanashi Yuuko no longer had any questions, but instead felt a pleasant surprise. She walked over to the two girls, and the three of them went to the kitchen together.

The number of people at the table instantly dwindled to half.

“Oh, right, Shiraishi-kun, speaking of gifts, I’ve also prepared one for you. Come with me for a moment,” Kuramochi Sakura said.

"Are you planning to lure Shiraishi to a secluded place and do something bad?" Kuramochi Mika teased with a smile.

"Mother, I am not you!" Kuramochi Sakura stomped her slender, fair legs on the ground, but because she didn't have much strength and the blanket cushioned her fall, her voice was so weak that Shiraishi Sawa, who was standing next to her, didn't hear it.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi Sawa looked at Kuramochi Mika, then quickly looked away, though he was eager to know the story behind the words "I am not you".

Kuramochi Mika noticed the gaze that had been directed at her for a moment, but instead of being annoyed, she smiled and looked at Kuramochi Sakura, saying:

"Sakura, because of what you just said, my image in Shiraishi-kun's mind has become a little bad."

“Shiraishi-kun, what I meant was that I don’t have the same strange thoughts as my mother, not that my mother did those things.” Kuramochi Sakura immediately realized the ambiguity in her words and explained to Shiraishi Sawa.

"Of course I know, and I think Aunt Kuramochi's thinking is not problematic."

"Shiraishi-kun is right. So you're supporting being tricked by Sakura into going to a secluded place to do bad things?"

“I'll pretend I didn’t say that. Sakura is right.” Shiraishi Sawa immediately changed his tune.

"See? This child's biggest problem is that you can't believe anything she says." Nao Ichiri, who had been watching with a smile, now said with a hint of reproach on her face.

This place is not safe to stay for long; Shiraishi Zexiu fears he won't be able to hold on.

"Sakura, let's go. I'm really looking forward to my gift." Or rather, she was really looking forward to leaving this place.

Instead of going to Kuramochi Sakura's own room, they went to the vacant servants' room next to hers. Shiraishi Sawa saw what his gift was as soon as the door opened.

The servants' quarters were filled with various styles, sizes and types of Ultraman Tiga figurines, the smallest being no more than the height of a finger, and the largest being a full-size, 1.7-meter-tall humanoid figure.

"These are all Ultraman Tiga figures that I had people look for yesterday and today. I'm giving them to you, Shiraishi-kun."

“And this,” Kuramochi Sakura rummaged through the pile of figures and found a long box, handing it to Shiraishi Sawa. “Inside is an authentic work by a calligraphy master named Ono Michikaze. I don’t know much about calligraphy, but this is definitely genuine.”

"I'm not quite sure what Shiraishi-kun's hobbies are, and I didn't find out much yesterday, so this is all I can give him."

"No, Kuramochi-san, I'm already very grateful to you. However, I can't take all these figures back with me. How about you just give me one?"

"Of course I'm giving them all to you. Take them whenever you want." Kuramochi Sakura tilted her head slightly, seemingly puzzled as to why Shiraishi Sawa only wanted one.

“No,” Shiraishizawa Hide took out a Tiga figure about 20 centimeters tall from the pile of figures. It had a metal shell and extremely high articulation. He showed it to Kuramochi Sakura. “I want this. Kuramochi-san, please give me this.”

"That's true, you really can't take it back, so I'll give you this instead."

Looking at the message "[Number of times I have fully accepted a girl's birthday gift: 1]", Shiraishizawa Hide felt that the "[Designated Skill S-Rank Mastery Card]" was the best gift Kuramochi Sakura had given him.

"Kuramochi-san, I owe you a favor. If you need any help next time, just let me know."

Regardless, the gift he gave her on the last birthday was prepared by Chiyo Ichiyuki, but this time she put in the effort to prepare a gift for him, making Shiraishi Sawa feel a little guilty.

"Do I owe someone a favor?" Kuramochi Sakura pondered for a moment. "I need help right now, so why don't I repay it now?"

"Ah? Okay, what kind of help?" Although he didn't expect the favor to be repaid so quickly, Shiraishi Zexiu nodded and said.

"That's right, I want to know if Yuuko has someone she likes?"

"Was that you?"