Chapter 17: A Warm Welcome

After the school bell rings, Toya and Hikari find themselves standing in front of the grand Yamamoto Mansion. The sheer size of the estate leaves Toya in awe as he takes in his surroundings. As Hikari leads him inside, Toya's eyes wander, trying to take in every detail of the lavish interior.

As they make their way through the mansion, they run into Hikari's mother, Akiko Yamamoto. Her warm smile and caring demeanor immediately put Toya at ease. She greets him with enthusiasm, curious to know who her daughter has chosen to spend time with.

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With a nod of confirmation from Hikari, Akiko turns her attention to Toya. "So, you must be Toya. You're quite cute!" she exclaims. Toya bows politely, feeling a bit self-conscious under Akiko's gaze.

As Akiko bids them farewell and continues on her way, Toya can't shake the feeling that something is off about her. Despite her friendly demeanor, he senses that there may be a darker side to her that no one knows about. He can't help but wonder if his instincts are correct and if Akiko is hiding something sinister.

As Hikari and Toya approached Hikari's grandfather's room, Hikari knocked on the door. "Ojii-chan, Hikari is here," she announced. The elderly voice inside responded, "Come in."

Toya was taken aback by the appearance of the old man as they entered the room. "Genryusai Yamamoto," he muttered under his breath.

Excitedly, Hikari introduced Toya to her grandfather, saying, "Ojii-chan, this is the boy that I chose!"

The old man kept his eyes closed as Toya and Hikari entered the room. "So, you are the one named Toya. Take a seat, Toya Todoroki," he said.

Hikari bid them farewell, leaving the two of them alone. As Toya approached the old man, the latter asked, "What is your relationship with my granddaughter?"

"We're friends," Toya replied.

"Hmm, take care of her for me," the old man said.

Toya found the old man's words strange, as though he were speaking as if he was dying in the future. They sat in silence for about twenty minutes, during which Toya meditated. He wondered why the old man didn't ask any other questions, but he didn't dwell on it for long. "Can I leave?" he asked.

"Go ahead," the old man replied, his eyes still closed.

As Toya left the room, he tried to find Hikari but ended up stumbling into her father, Ryu Yamamoto. "Hmm, so you are Toya, huh. I'm Hikari's father," Ryu said.

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Toya replied politely, "Yes, I'm Toya. Nice to meet you. But do you know where Hikari is?"

Ryu responded, "She's in the kitchen with my wife. Follow me." As they made their way to the kitchen, Toya remained calm and composed.

When they arrived at the kitchen, Ryu announced, "Hikari, your boyfriend is here," and took a seat at the dinner table. Hikari turned around and looked at Toya, who then said, "I'm leaving."

"Okay," Hikari replied, looking a bit disappointed.

Akiko, Hikari's mother, was surprised to see that her daughter didn't try to make Toya stay for a while. So, she decided to take matters into her own hands. "Stay a bit, so we can eat together," Akiko said.

Toya politely declined, saying, "No, I have something to do. Thank you for your offer." He bowed a little bit and then left the house.

Ryu was the first to ask his daughter, "Hikari, why didn't you offer him to stay?"

"I'm afraid he will hate me," Hikari replied.

"Why?" Akiko asked in a surprised voice.

"Because he doesn't like someone disturbing his plan," Hikari explained.

"That's not enough for him to hate you, right?" Ryu said.

"When he makes his choice, he sticks to it," Hikari said. "I've already annoyed him enough since we were four. I don't want to make him hate me. He hasn't accepted my confession yet."

Hearing this, Ryu and Akiko looked at each other, their expressions filled with concern. Akiko went down to Hikari's height and held her shoulder. "Hikari, you're going to get hurt if you don't move on," she said gently.

"I know," Hikari replied. "But I want to see it through to the end because I'm the only girl he hasn't rejected." Her voice was filled with determination, but there was also a hint of sadness.

As Toya was about to exit the entrance door, he slid it open and was surprised to see an old man standing outside. The sudden appearance of the old man made him feel a bit weird, but he tried to ignore it and continued walking past him. However, just as he was passing by, the old man whispered something to him.

"Get stronger."

Toya was taken aback by the old man's words and turned to look at him, but the old man had already entered the mansion as if nothing had happened. 

"That was weird, but I still need to put in some training today," he muttered to himself, determined to stay focused on his goals.

However, as he neared home, Toya remembered that he needed to return an item to Kei. Without hesitation, he made his way to Kei's house and rang the doorbell. When the door opened, Toya was greeted by Kei's mother, Shinkei Ayumi.

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"Toya, it's been a while!" Ayumi exclaimed, enveloping Toya in a warm hug. "You've become even cuter than before."

Toya smiled politely but quickly explained his purpose for the visit. "Ayumi-san, I need to give back Kei's item. I can't stay long, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Toya. Next time, stay a bit longer, okay?" Ayumi said kindly.

Toya nodded and quickly made his way up to Kei's room. As he entered, he was surprised to see that the walls were covered in pieces of paper, each one filled with notes and sketches.

"What happened here?" Toya muttered to himself, intrigued.

Just then, Kei emerged from the bathroom and caught sight of Toya in his room. He quickly shut the door.

"What are you doing here?" Kei demanded, his eyes darting nervously around the room.

"To give you back the notebook you left on your table," Toya replied, holding out the item in question.

Kei took the notebook and Toya couldn't help but notice the dark circles under his friend's eyes. "Did you wear makeup to hide that? Have you been spending all your time studying?" he asked, concerned.