After taking off his coat, Ichin walked over to the sofa and sat down. At Haruno's urging, he handed over his graduation certificate.
"What's there to look at? Aren't all graduation certificates pretty much the same? Your parents and Utaha's parents are just like you, making us go over after dinner just to take a look at it."
"Hehe, I just want to see it. After all, I didn't graduate from the University of Tokyo," Haruno said with a grin as she opened Ichin's certificate.
"Hmm, not bad. Did you send it to my godfather and godmother so they could take a look?"
"Of course. I sent it over first thing in the morning and even gave them a call," Ichin said as he stretched, then pulled Yukino, whom he hadn't seen all day, into his arms and gave her a kiss. Smiling, he added, "If I hadn't strongly objected, they probably would've flown over yesterday to attend Utaha's and my graduation ceremony."
Utaha chimed in from the side, "Same with my parents. It took quite a bit of persuasion to stop them from coming along for the excitement. Honestly, there wasn't much to see. It ended pretty quickly."
Graduating from the University of Tokyo might be a huge achievement for most people, but for Ichin and Utaha, it was merely an added bonus, something that wouldn't have much impact on their future.
Sure, it was something worth celebrating, but there was no need to make a big fuss over it.
After Haruno finished looking, Yukino also took the certificate and examined it before handing it back to Ichin.
Looking at the two of them, Haruno asked, "Now that you've graduated and don't have to go to college anymore, are you going to start focusing entirely on your careers?"
Ichin nodded. "Aside from going back to handle wedding-related matters, I'll basically be staying at the company."
Utaha added, "As for me, I'll need to go over there tomorrow for a meeting about the game project."
On Akane Kōsaka's side, the game was set to release in June, which meant there were only three months left. Some parts of the in-game story still needed refinement, so Utaha had to participate in meetings.
Hearing that, Ichin suddenly remembered something.
"Come to think of it, Akane Kōsaka's game is releasing only about half a month apart from ours."
Their game Dual Life Fate was scheduled for release on June 28, while Salt and Sanctuary was set for July 10, less than half a month apart.
Utaha smiled and nodded. "That's right, about ten days apart. But the two games are completely different genres, so it's not really direct competition."
Ichin was quite looking forward to her game. There weren't many notable releases in the first half of the year, so he could spare some time to play it.
After taking a short rest, Ichin and Utaha went to take a shower. Later, the four of them gathered in the home theater room and watched a movie as usual.
The next day, after dropping Utaha off, Ichin headed to the company with Yukino.
As soon as he entered, the employees surprised him with an unexpected graduation celebration.
Looking at the decorations and the confetti popping around him, Ichin said in surprise, "When did you all prepare this?"
Kō Yagami smiled. "We started preparing last week. Didn't expect it, right?"
Ichin nodded. "I really didn't. You all put a lot of thought into this, thank you."
After the brief celebration, Ichin told everyone to return to work. On the way to his office, he said to Hazuki, "Hazuki, arrange some afternoon tea for everyone later. Didn't a new high-end dessert shop open nearby recently? Let's order from there."
Hazuki smiled. "That place? It's pretty expensive."
"But it's really delicious, isn't it?" Ichin shrugged. "Since everyone went through the trouble of preparing all this behind my back, as the boss, I should show my appreciation. Arrange for someone to place the order, and also find a milk tea shop to order drinks for everyone."
"Got it, I'll take care of it."
After arriving at his office, Ichin turned on his computer and began handling his work.
Now that he had graduated, it was time to focus wholeheartedly on his career.
Well, not entirely. Next month, he would still need to go back home to handle wedding matters and take wedding photos. There was still plenty to do.
Patting his cheeks lightly, Ichin focused on his work. Yukino didn't disturb him, taking out her textbook and quietly reading.
At 2:30 in the afternoon, Utaha returned after finishing her work.
She happened to arrive right at afternoon tea time, and Ichin hadn't forgotten her share either.
Carrying milk tea and cake, Utaha happily walked into Ichin's office.
"Ichin, Ichin, everyone prepared a graduation celebration for you this morning? I really didn't expect that!"
Taking a bite of the cake Utaha fed him, Ichin smiled. "I didn't expect it either. I'm really touched that everyone secretly prepared all that. How did things go on your end? Did work go smoothly?"
"Very smoothly," Utaha said cheerfully. "The game's development is progressing well. I just went there for a meeting today and handled some additional text for side quests. I won't need to go tomorrow. And the game will be released on schedule, no delays. Ichin, Akane asked me to ask you if you'd like to try the game early. Once development is finished, she can send a few activation codes for both PC and console versions."
"Sounds good. Let her know, then. Have her send me a few codes, and you can also ask if she wants some activation codes for Salt and Sanctuary. I can provide some on my side as well."
"Alright, I'll ask her now."
After taking a sip of her milk tea, Utaha pulled out her phone and sent a message to Akane Kōsaka.
Soon, a reply came back, confirming a reservation for ten activation codes.
Akane's development team was quite skilled at making RPGs, but when it came to action games, they were slightly weaker. On the other hand, Ichin's team was a well-rounded powerhouse, especially in action games, having invested heavily in collaborating with Capcom to learn.
These were precisely the areas Akane wanted to improve in, so she was eager to try Ichin's new game as soon as possible. She also wanted to explore a potential collaboration with him.
However, she didn't bring up cooperation just yet. She planned to wait until her game achieved some success after release, and then use those results as leverage before approaching Ichin.
With Akane's matters settled, Ichin relaxed and enjoyed afternoon tea with Utaha and Yukino.
Well, to be precise, Utaha and Yukino fed him while he just ate, living quite comfortably.
...
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