"Mm! Really? As expected, Long Yan understands Brother Ichiba best!"
The footsteps behind him came to a stop. Just as Hada Ichiba was about to turn around and greet them, that crisp, adorably guileless response stopped him in his tracks.
This girl...
Was she mocking me?
Then, an inexplicable thought surfaced in Hada Ichiba's mind.
"Yo! Long time no see!"
However, he quickly dismissed that thought. Drawn almost instinctively by that crisp, innocent voice, he turned around to look behind him. There he saw an adorable round little face brimming with the joy of reunion. There was no mockery, no needling whatsoever.
One look at the sour-faced boy beside her, whose expression was so dark it seemed he wanted to swallow him whole, was enough to tell him that this was definitely not mockery or sarcasm. It was entirely Anna speaking from the heart.
Besides, when would this girl ever learn how to mock or needle someone? Hada Ichiba had calculated that it was basically a distant impossibility.
Still, this was fine. If she remained muddleheaded and carefree for the rest of her life, that would be her happiness.
As for everything else, he could leave it to the sour-faced brat beside her.
"Hmph!"
Yet in response to his turned-around greeting, the sour-faced brat's expression only darkened further. After snorting coldly, he turned his head aside, looking like he could not be bothered to acknowledge him.
Over the past few days, they had kept in frequent contact, and on the final day, they had even arranged a meeting place.
However, from Hada Ichiba's final remark—"If the time comes and there's still no sign of anyone, head straight to the Central Tower"—Hada Ryuhiko had concluded that this guy absolutely would not keep their appointment.
And reality had unfolded exactly as he