From betrotheds to lovers

(Side) Chapter 9.5

(A/N Notes: Just a short side chapter today, folks)

It was a cold day of January, but for Ichiro that mattered little as he sat down on one of the tables of his mother's cafe with the warmth of the heater keeping the cold weather of the outside world away

Due to the hour and weather, the cafe was empty, so Ichiro didn't have much to do other than use his phone, as he took care of the Japanese-style cafe in the place of his mother, who had gone out to buy more ingredients for the cafe

"..."

Eventually, Ichiro began to feel somewhat peckish as he felt like having a meat bun

"... I guess, I'll go buy some meat buns from that uncle"

After saying that, Ichiro got up and changed from his work uniform to winter clothes decent enough for going outside, but before he left he looked at the weather forecast app

"It might snow, oh well"

He then picked up an umbrella, left the cafe, and locked the door. The place he was going to was a street food cart owned by an uncle who lived in the neighborhood, and his meat buns were really good

Ichiro had a rough idea of where the uncle would be today at this hour, so with that, he went on his way

Some time later

After walking for some time, Ichiro saw the familiar street food cart and walked to join the line, luckily for him, it was still small when he joined the line, but it quickly began to grow afterward

After some more minutes, it was finally Ichiro's turn

"Hello there, uncle"

"Ah! If it ain't, Ichiro-kun. Let me guess, the usual"

"Yap, the usual"

Ichiro regularly went to buy meat buns from the uncle, and because they would also occasionally pass by each other in the mornings, the two were acquainted quite well

After a short time, the uncle handed Ichiro a paper bag

"watch out because it's pretty hot"

"Okay, and it'll be this much, right?"

"Yes, thank you for the preference"

"You're welcome"

Having received his order, Ichiro walked away as he had some thoughts in his mind

"Hmmm... Should I go back on the same route or take the path through the park?... Let's go through the park since it's usually calmer there"

With his decision made, Ichiro decided to take the slightly longer route that passed through a quite large park that was relatively close to his house

Then as he made his way back he noticed that it was beginning to snow, so he opened his umbrella and kept on walking

Then as he walked forward, he saw a girl standing near the fountain in the middle of the park as she looked toward the sky

Ichiro stopped in his tracks, as he couldn't take the girl out of his sight while he could feel his heartbeat getting faster

"... *Deeply breaths in* *Sigh*"

With a sigh, he quickly made up his decision, so Ichiro decided to approach the girl, as he walked towards her the snow got heavier

And when Ichiro got close enough to the girl, he put his umbrella right above her and asked

"Did something happen?"

With a gentle smile on his face fitting for someone who had just fallen in love with the person in front of him