"I'm back..."
With a trace of relief, Chiba once again pushed open the door to the Japanese-style wooden house.
"Ding, ding, ding!"
This time, however, the response he received was not Yukina welcoming him home, but the sound of hammers striking nails, along with the sounds of people moving about upstairs.
Has it already arrived? The thought surfaced in his mind almost instantly.
Clearly, the generator had arrived, and they were now setting up the electricity.
"Yes! This place needs to be connected too. It'd be best if the wires weren't exposed."
"Yes, just like that. Thank you."
"Ah! This room—although we aren't using it right now, it needs electricity too. Yes, it needs to be connected."
Then, as that thought crossed his mind, Kushina's voice rang out.
"Chiba, since you're back, wash the things in the kitchen. I don't have time right now."
As Chiba entered the living room, Kushina's voice came from upstairs again.
"Uh..."
At that, Chiba's lips twitched slightly. He looked at the lunchbox in his hand, and a bitter smile crept onto his lips.
Kushina's meaning was obvious: she was telling him to wash the dishes. The unspoken message was, I'm busy right now, so don't come bother me.
Kushina simply found him troublesome and had casually assigned him something to keep him from getting in the way.
Still, that was fine. Judging by Kushina's tone, she should have been quite happy.
The generator was delivered pretty quickly too. At least I won't get beaten up!
Although Kushina had brushed him off, Chiba was still quite happy inside.
"Yes! Teacher Kushina!"
With that thought, Chiba answered and headed into the kitchen, where he began washing up.
The electrical work that followed did not take much time either. By the time Chiba had finished cleaning and