Chocolate de Familia 7
“Why can you find me so easily!? Are you a professional at finding people?”
“That amusing profession is reserved for Saito. But no, it’s just that you haven’t changed much. That’s why I figured it out quickly.”
With sudden realization, he froze while still smiling.
“Is this really from three years ago? Usually, you’d have changed a bit by now.”
He gazed at Chika in the album carefully.
The early teens are the peak of growth.
Normally, as you grow up, your facial features change from childlike to more adult-like.
Even if there’s little change, there should be some.
At least, in the graduation albums of the friends he has seen so far, there were noticeable changes.
He had intended to find such changes in Chika’s album as well, but disappointingly, there were hardly any.
As he sighed in disappointment, Chika protested vehemently.
“Wait a second! Last year, I would still have been in the first grade of junior high school, okay!? I’m still growing toward adulthood! I’ve grown taller, and my breasts have gotten much bigger!”
“Even if you say that, it’s not about physical growth, but rather your face or aura. Those things haven’t changed at all. Also, stop casually talking about something outrageous.”
Her body might have grown a little, but the youthful charm of her smile is exactly the same.
Even if he was to composite Chika’s current face into this photo, there would probably be no sense of incongruity.
He has been to his friends’ houses before and seen graduation albums, but it’s rare to see such an unexciting graduation album.
“Now, I’m curious about the elementary school one.”
“I won’t let you see it!”
As he reached for another graduation album on the bookshelf, Chika clung to his arm with teary eyes and tried to stop him.
“If you say I’m still the same as my elementary school photo, I won’t be able to recover from the shock!”
“It’s not a big deal. Adults would be happy if they were told they haven’t changed since their younger days.”
“I’m a high school girl who wants to become an adult! Besides, isn’t it unfair that only I am being seen? Show me your graduation album too, Sōma-san!”
“That’s a bit private.”
“But you’re looking at mine right now!?”
Though things didn’t go as he expected, he was able to tease Chika plenty, which was satisfying in its own way.
“It’s a good thing to look younger than your age. Be happy about it.”
“I’m not happy at all!”
‘Sometimes, it’s okay to playfully tease her.’
As the two of them played mobile games, ate snacks, got pushed around, and looked through graduation albums in Chika’s room, time passed by quickly.
“It’s already six o’clock.”
He looked at the character-themed clock on the shelf and was taken aback.
He always wondered why time seemed to pass so quickly when he was at my friends’ houses.
“I should probably be leaving soon. I’ve been here for quite a while. Also, can I say goodbye to your parents?”
Meeting Chika’s parents was a bit nerve-wracking, but it’s proper etiquette to do so.
“Uh, wait a second, please.”
When Sōma stood up, Chika hurriedly rushed to the door and stood in the way.
“If you’d want to, why don’t you stay for dinner?”
“Dinner? Well, um, that is…”
Seeing Sōma hesitate, she looked uncertain.
“Is it impolite to invite a guest to have dinner?”
“It’s not a problem.”
It’s a common thing to do. He had dinner at Shōhei’s house many times.
However, it felt awkward to be offered the same hospitality at a girl’s house he was visiting for the first time.
“I was really excited and prepared everything for dinner.”
“Chika, can you cook?”
I vaguely remember her saying that she couldn’t even help with household chores.
“I’ve only done it in home economics class. But I did my best alone today.”
She tried to show off, flexing her right arm to make a muscle – though it was impossible to see any muscle on her thin arm.
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“I see. So the preparations are already done?”
Since she went through all that effort, it would be rude to decline.
Besides, he doesn’t want to waste the ingredients she already cooked.
“Alright then, I’ll accept your offer. Thank you.”
As Sōma agreed, Chika’s face brightened with a big smile.
“Well then, please wait a moment. I’ll finish it up soon.”
“Wait a second. You’re not planning to eat with your parents downstairs, right?”
A father’s face filled with dark intent flashed through his mind, so he asked just to be sure.
“I was thinking of bringing it up here, but if you prefer to eat downstairs, that’s fine too. It’s more fun to have dinner with more people, right?”
“No-no-no! It’s fine here, right here!”
He vigorously shook his head in response to Chika’s innocent suggestion.
If he could ask about making sweets, he’d be more than happy to do that, but judging from earlier, that seems like a long shot.
Eating at the dining table with an unhappy girl’s parents is bound to be uncomfortable and nerve-wracking.
“I understand. I’ll bring it up here. Please wait a moment.”
With those words, Chika cheerfully left the room.
“…I can’t believe I’m going to eat her cooking.”
Listening to the sound of the girl’s footsteps descending the stairs, Sōma couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.
It was something he couldn’t have imagined just a month ago.
While waiting for dinner to be brought up, he wandered aimlessly around the room.
“A girl’s room, huh?”
Without much thought, he realized that he was in a totally unexpected place.
Chika has quite a bold move to invite a guy into her room like this, regardless of her purpose.
Perhaps she’s courageous or just not thinking it through.
With nothing else to do, he absentmindedly glanced around the room.
Of course, the most eye-catching thing was the shelf lined with stuffed animals.
Large to small, new to old, a wide variety of stuffed animals with cute and lively faces were on display.
Among them, a medium-sized cat stuffed animal he had bought at the goods shop recently, and a mini-sized stuffed animal that matched with Sōma’s were sitting together in a corner.