(Side) chapter 23.5

(A/N Notes: This chapter was brought to by the Author's lack of good writing and excess of stupid ideas)

(Disclaimer: The real events were different than the ones portrayed here, due to privacy measures)

Takeru when he's shopping and has to pay himself

"Hmmmmm..." *Comparing two items that serve for the same thing* "HMMMMMMMMM!..."

This one is better quality but is more expensive, while this one is slightly worse in quality but is cheaper

"Hmmmmm..."

... I guess I'll go have a look at other stores to find one that's not too expensive but has good quality too

*Leaves the store he's inside in hope of finding what he wants at a good price and quality*

Takeru when he's eating out by himself

*Looking at the menu* <Most of these are so expensive!>

"Welcome, dear customer. Are you ready to order? If so I recommend our salmon"

Salmon, huh?... Nope, it's too expensive

"Yes, I'm ready to order. I would like an omelet and a soda, please"

"Very well, I'll bring your order soon"

"Thanks"

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Takeru When he's shopping and one of his siblings is paying for him

"This amethyst crystal is small, but a beautiful shine to it. It would be a shame not to buy it"

"Okay..."

"Painting a bonsai on the wet glaze before glazing it? Fascinating. The paint cannot be felt, but its colors in forever retained. Such genius – it would be a pity not to purchase this

"Yes..."

"Geodes are itself hard to gather. It must have taken true skill indeed to unearth two pieces so alike. We should buy them"

"Yeah... ... ... So it's an amethyst crystal... Porcelain... A pair of geodes... And a small candy for me..."

Fine Amethyst crystal: 190.000 yen

Artisan porcelain: 21.000 yen

Pair of geodes: 152.000 yen

Lemon candy as a gift for the sister: 200 yen

Items he never needed, but would buy just to make his sister's wallet turn empty

Takeru When he's eating out and one of his siblings is paying for him

"When this chef is cooking, it would be far more appealing to go to this restaurant, as opposed to that one or that other one"

"I'm fine with anything as long as it's good... But do they only have cutlery?"

"You need to be adept with cutlery if you to truly appreciate Western gastronomy"

"Mr. Tanaka, we have spring valley boar on the menu today – would you like it instead of the sauced pork chops?"

"We'll have both"

In accordance with western customs, they gave the chef a tip for her amazing new dish

Restaurant set meal for two: 4.000 yen

As-yet-unnamed Spring valley boar dish: 1.000 yen

Set of classical-patterned cutlery set (hopefully the eldest son of the Tanaka family will practice using them): 128.000 yen

Chef's tip for her amazing new dish (in accordance with western customs): 888 yen

Takeru always squeezed his brother's wallet dry as much as he could

(End of the fictional presentation)

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Tanaka's family power structure

Supreme commander: Emily* (mother)

Second in command: Takeru* (Supreme commander when the mother is out)

Cannon fodder: Hideo, Akari, Hitoshi (father)

*In the case of the absence of both, the remaining personnel always make a mess in the house

Example:

(YT: When mom isn't home)

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Daichi's summer so far

He was feeling regret, shame, and sadness as he listened to sad music with a bunch of paper tissues around him, and had his last perverted photo of a certain girl

*Phone ringing*

His phone rang, and he dejectedly picked up

"Who's it?"

"Huh? This voice... Vice-president Yamamoto-kun?"

And he heard a familiar girl's voice

"P, p, prez. Yuriko-san!?"

"Sorry, I dialed the wrong number, I'll be hanging up"

"Ah! No! wai-"

She hung up before he could talk to her, making him even more regretful of the countless mistake that he made, that ended up making Yuriko hate him. Then his phone rang again, which he quickly picked up

"Prez. Yuriko-san!"

"Prez. Yuriko-san? No, it's me! Yama-"

Daichi hung up before Yamada could finish his sentence, as this time he felt shame for saying to himself that Yuriko would actually call him after all he did. Then his phone rang again, in which he dejectedly picked up

"Daichi, are you there?"

"Yes, Yamada... I'm here..."

"By your voice, you definitely relieved yourself with your last remaining photo of Yuriko that I gifted you, huh? It's okay, I completely understand you"

"... Yeah..."

"Man... You're really bad to even agree with this... Okay, I decided! During the middle of our summer vacations, we'll be going to the beach with the boys, and try to do some summer romance, my friend! Are you in?"

"... Sure..."

"Great! I'll call you back when I and the boys decide on a date for us to take the train to the beach"

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One of Himari's summer days

"I finally got one of those Tapioca bubble teas! I can't wait to taste it!"

She then began to drink the tea from the straw

<So good! It was really worth waiting on that line for th-> *One of the bubbles tries to go the wrong way*

"Guh! Coff! Coff! Coff!!! Haa... Haa... Haaaaa..."

Then she felt and heard her phone ringing, and she picked it up

"Hello?" *In a rough voice due to the cough*

"...Are you okay, Himari-chan?"

"Yes, just almost died from a tea bubble"

"Oh! Yeah, that also happened to me once... Anyway, I'm planning on going to the beach in some days with a few friends, do you wanna come?"

"YES!"

"Haha! I knew you would agree, I'll tell you about the specifics later, bye-bye!"

"Bye-bye"

And Himari put her phone back in her skirt pocket and looked at her bubble tea

<It would be wrong not to finish this after paying for it>

And she drank it the remaining of the tea, and when she tried to suck the last remaining bubble it also tried to go the wrong way

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Yuriko being questioned by her mother

"So, Yu-chan... Who's the lucky boy?"

"... I, I don't want to talk about it..." *Blushing*

"... Did you two kissed?"

"W, w, what are you talking about!?" *Gets up in embarrassment*

"So you don't deny, huh" *Smug grin*

"Ah!..." *Sits down shyly*

"(Sigh)... You're not going out with him, but you love him and even kissed... Maa, you were always a late bloomer at anything related to romance, so I get why you're acting like this"

"..." *Looks away while blushing*

"Just make sure to not cross the line too early, okay?"

"Yes..."

"I'm back! Huh? Are you two talking about something?"

"Why, yes. Our dear daughter is finally having her first love!"

"MOM!!!" *Blushing intensifies*

"Really! Then make sure to bring him here someday, if she likes him, there's no way he's a bad person who would try to cross the line"

Takeru being questioned by his mother

"So?... Who's the princess?"

"... Well... She's more like a prince..." *Pokerface*

"Huh? Really?... Anyway, did you two kissed already?"

"... Perhaps we did, perhaps we didn't..." *looks slightly away*

*(X) Doubt* "Perhaps, huh... So you two did kiss!"

"!? *Twitch*" *Breaks in a cold sweat*

"... ... ... Eh, whatever, I'll just tell you this, son. Do not let her be stolen from you"

"... Okay..."

"And to not cross the line with her too early, I know you definitely picked a nice girl to fall in love with, but it's still bad to cross that line way too early"

"Okay, I'll do what I can"

"Great! Now... I received a call from your uncle Eiichi, saying that you can go stay at his new beach inn, which even has an open-air hot spring in it, during the middle of summer. Do you wanna go there?"

"No, I don't like the beach"

"Yeah, I thought that would be your answer"

*BANG*

" "!?" "

Then they heard a loud noise coming from the backyard, and they went there to check what happened, and there they found Hideo and Hitoshi near the AC engine, which was open and releasing black smoke, then Emily asked

"... What the hell, did you two do?"

In which Hitoshi tried to explain

"W, w, w, we were just trying to fix the AC that had been problematic these few days and-"

"You two broke it, huh?"

"... Yeah..."

"... Takkun... Do you wanna go to your uncle's new inn?"

"Yes, I want"

"Great! I'll ask your sister later. Now I have two idiots to deal with, so you can go"

"Okay!"

He passed a trusty wood stick to his mother, and went back to his room, as he heard both his father and older brother pleading for forgiveness for their horrible mess as they did a dogeza

(A/N Notes: Alright, guys. Prepare yourselves because in the next chapters I'll be ramping up that progress

Warp drive, Mr. Scott

And today, I may update something else besides my current weekly stories, since I managed to make up some time for writing this week)