Chapter 307: Wh... What?!
Eating the delicious takoyaki, the group returned to the villa.
As soon as she entered, Eriri impatiently said, "I can't stand it! I need to go back to my room and change clothes; my feet are freezing!"
The full kimono really was like that; everything was fine, except that the hem tended to let the wind in when walking, causing Eriri's ankles to get cold.
After Eriri went to change, Kaede, who didn't need to change, stayed downstairs and helped prepare tea.
After a while, Eriri still hadn't come down, but his father and Mr. Spencer came down first.
Seeing the two of them descend, Kaede suddenly had an ominous feeling.
Well... not ominous, just a feeling that something was about to happen. The way these two middle-aged men looked at him seemed a bit strange.
Looking at the two of them, Kaede spoke up, "Um, could you tell me what this is about?"
Asakura Kiichi paused, then smiled and patted his son's shoulder, saying, "No rush. We'll talk about it once Eriri comes down."
Sure enough, something was being planned.
Scratching his head, Kaede figured it couldn't be anything bad aimed at him, so he sat down and calmly drank his tea.
It was pretty much as he expected; this matter he didn't know about seemed to involve all four parents, but he didn't know the specifics.
Noticing Kaede's wandering gaze, Sawamura Sayuri smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, Kaede. What we are about to discuss is good news for both you and Eriri, provided you agree."
"About Eriri and me?"
Kaede tilted his head, even more clueless now.
After another ten minutes or so, Eriri finally came downstairs in her casual clothes.
As soon as she came downstairs, she saw everyone gathered together, so she went and sat next to Kaede, asking curiously, "Are there any other plans for today?"
"No specific plans," Sawamura Sayuri said, smiling as she watched her daughter naturally sit beside Kaede the moment she came down. "However, we have something we'd like to discuss with the two of you."
"Discuss?"
The two pairs of parents exchanged glances, and finally, Mr. Spencer spoke first: "The two of you have been living together for some time now, and we haven't interfered much. However, the few times we've visited the apartment, we've noticed that you handle both your life and work very well; you truly have grown up.
So, we have an idea now, and we'd like you to hear it."
Realizing the tone was starting to become serious, Kaede and Eriri unconsciously straightened their posture, becoming slightly nervous.
Asakura Kiichi saw this and smiled, saying, "Don't be nervous, it's not bad news. We were just thinking, why don't the two of you get engaged first, taking your current relationship a step further?"
"..."
"..."
Kaede and Eriri were both dumbfounded upon hearing this.
Taking a sharp breath, Kaede said in disbelief, "You mean, engagement? Is this real? Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
Although Eriri beside him didn't speak, her face had turned bright red, and she remained silent, looking down.
However, Kaede, who was right next to her, could clearly feel Eriri's tension.
There was nothing to be done; Kaede himself was startled by the suggestion, let alone Eriri.
Calming himself down, Kaede looked at the elders in front of him and asked, "Why did this suddenly come up?"
Sawamura Sayuri took the lead and explained, "Actually, this is mainly the result of Reiko and I discussing it while queuing for prayers outside earlier.
Since you two are already living together, we thought you might as well take advantage of the New Year to make the holiday even more joyous.
What are your thoughts on this?"
While Sawamura Sayuri was speaking, Kaede also began to think.
Indeed, given his and Eriri's current situation, getting engaged was absolutely fine.
There was just one thing Kaede hadn't fully considered.
He looked up at everyone and said, "Well, I am one hundred percent willing, of course, but if we get engaged now, wouldn't it conflict with the proposal plan I originally intended?"
"How does that conflict?" Asakura Reiko said, "Right now, we are just having you two get engaged. In the future, Kaede, how you plan to propose is still completely up to you, isn't it?
Once you successfully propose, that's when you'll actually go register the marriage, which is somewhat different from an engagement."
Kaede nodded, looked at Eriri beside him, and softly asked, "Eriri, what do you think? It's okay if you feel it's still too soon."
"Ah!"
Eriri, who had been spacing out, reacted by shaking her head repeatedly, blushing as she said, "Kae... Kaede-kun, you decide."
The meaning behind her words was obvious; she agreed, of course.
Kaede smiled, reached up to gently ruffle Eriri's hair, and then looked at the elders: "In that case, how should we proceed?"
Mr. Spencer happily clapped his hands and said, "Tomorrow, we will host a private New Year's banquet here for friends and some relatives. Kiichi, why don't you invite a few close relatives to attend as well? We can announce the engagement of the two children in the presence of all of us."
Although the timing was tight, Asakura Kiichi still nodded and said, "No problem. If it's just relatives in the Tokyo area, I already know who to call.
Kaede, we adults will handle the banquet arrangements, but you also have a task."
"Huh? My task?"
In the afternoon, after lunch.
Kaede and Eriri went out alone, preparing to buy the items they would need for tomorrow.
Holding Kaede's arm, Eriri's cheeks were still rosy as she whispered, "Kaede-kun, are we really going to buy them?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Kaede gently pinched Eriri's cheek and smiled, "We've agreed to have the engagement dinner tomorrow, so don't we have to buy engagement rings?
We can't show up unprepared, can we? That would be too improper."
"Waa... it just feels too fast, like it's unreal." Eriri tilted her head and leaned on Kaede's shoulder as she said this.
"I feel it a bit too, actually, but it's not completely unexpected since it was bound to happen eventually."
The target shop was already visible in his line of sight, and Kaede said, "This is just the engagement for now. Don't worry, I will absolutely give you a perfect proposal ceremony later."
"Hehe, you promised!"