Chapter 325: Arrival |
In fact, if one ignored personal preferences, the seating arrangement was actually quite straightforward. Including Hoshino Gen, there were exactly fifteen people.
Three cars, with five people in each, and the remaining space used for luggage. This was the most reasonable arrangement, so they naturally went with it.
In the front passenger seat of the Mercedes-Benz S600, Hoshino Rin buckled her seatbelt while looking back at the rear seats. The five people in this car, aside from herself and her brother who was driving, were Shimizu Yu, Tamamo-no-Mae, and their little cousin Monica.
Originally, Shimizu Yu had wanted to stay with her best friends, but she ended up being shoved into this car by them. Honestly, unless it was just the two of them, she wasn't particularly keen on hanging around Hoshino Gen...
Everyone got in, but the convoy did not immediately set off.
Hoshino Gen glanced at the navigation route Asaba Shinichi had sent to the car's display screen. After a moment of thought, he texted Sasaki Ayane: "Where are you?"
About a dozen seconds later, he received a reply: "At the manor, what's wrong?"
Hoshino Gen typed back: "I obtained a pretty good item over half a month ago, and now a great sparring partner has shown up. I have a training idea I need to test out. I'll come pick you up shortly."
Another dozen seconds later, the reply came: "Okay."
His message received quick replies.
Asaba Shinichi: "Whoa, taking a massive group of beautiful girls to the coast for a trip, and you still want to bring your fiancée along. I have to say, in this specific regard, I truly admire you."
Takasugi Yusuke: "Received. But it's rare for us to go out and have fun together, so let's stick as a group. You lead the way."
Hoshino Gen skimmed the messages, turned off his phone, and tossed it aside. Stepping on the gas, he drove to the head of the convoy formed by the three luxury cars and led the way toward the Sasaki Family Estate.
Because he had given advance notice, picking her up went without a hitch. The car arrived at the manor gates, he sent a text, Sasaki Ayane came out, and she got in. It was that simple.
The only issue was that the car Hoshino Gen drove only had four seats, including the driver and front passenger seat. However, since the back was a bench seat, squeezing in three people wasn't a problem.
Moreover, Monica and Tamamo-no-Mae were both children. Tamamo-no-Mae in particular, with the body size of a five-year-old, was tiny. Even though Shimizu Yu and Sasaki Ayane were both slender and slim, fitting four people across two back seats was doable but ultimately a bit cramped.
Hoshino Gen naturally did not care about such minor issues, but after noticing the situation, Hoshino Rin hesitated for a moment before turning back to smile at Sasaki Ayane. "Ayane-chan, let's switch seats. You take the front passenger seat, and I'll go to the back. Then Kyukyu-chan can sit on my lap so it won't be cramped."
Before Sasaki Ayane could speak, the little girl Tamamo-no-Mae chimed in first. She looked at Hoshino Rin, then at Hoshino Gen in the driver's seat, before breaking into a wide, cheeky grin. "I can sit on Yu-chan's lap too!"
After saying that, she turned her head to look at Shimizu Yu beside her, blinking her large eyes. "Yu-chan, is that okay?"
Shimizu Yu had met Tamamo-no-Mae not much later than Hoshino Rin did. Although the time they spent together certainly couldn't compare to Tamamo-no-Mae being with Hoshino Rin day and night, whenever the little girl came to the antique shop to find Hoshino Gen, Shimizu Yu was basically always there.
Furthermore, for Tamamo-no-Mae, who could read the thoughts in others' minds, a person with such a clear mind and pure heart like Shimizu Yu naturally made her feel the most affectionate. Thus, over time, they had become quite familiar and got along wonderfully.
At this moment, Shimizu Yu's eyes sparkled as she looked at Tamamo-no-Mae. She had long wanted to hug this illegally cute little loli. Not to mention, in a situation like this, having the little one suggest it herself made her sense of satisfaction instantly skyrocket!
"I can do that!" Shimizu Yu immediately declared.
Seeing this, Hoshino Rin couldn't help but smile. "Alright then."
The idea of swapping seats was dropped.
Since the seats were a bit crowded, letting a child sit on someone's lap was obviously not quite in line with traffic safety management. But the driver was, after all, Hoshino Gen. Who in this car didn't know about the supernatural powers he possessed? Safety hazards simply did not exist.
Sasaki Ayane sat in the left window seat. She slightly tilted her head, watching Tamamo-no-Mae get pulled into Shimizu Yu's embrace. Her expression had not changed in the slightest since getting in the car...
Just then, the commercial van behind them honked its car horn twice. It was Asaba Shinichi urging them on from the rear.
Hoshino Gen did not mind the urging, but his side was indeed fully prepared.
Stepping on the gas, the vehicle started moving. Following the navigation route, they finally officially embarked on their journey.
Stepping on the gas, the vehicle started moving. Following the navigation route, they finally officially embarked on their journey.
......
A few white clouds drifted with the wind across the azure sky, their cotton-candy-like appearance adding a touch of languor to the midsummer day.
Beneath the sky lay boundless wheat fields. Rippling waves of grain, stirred by the breeze, bordered a winding, flat rural road.
Accompanied by the roar of engines, the three luxury cars of varying sizes formed a straight line, speeding rapidly along this road.
"Rei, how much further is it? Sitting for this long is making me so tired!" Monica, sitting in the middle of the back seats, rested her head against the back of the front passenger seat and asked weakly.
Their departure time had been two in the afternoon. Although the midsummer sun set very late, making the sky still look like early afternoon, it was actually already five in the evening.
After a three-hour car ride, Tamamo-no-Mae had already fallen asleep nestled in Shimizu Yu's arms.
Hoshino Rin in the front passenger seat could naturally see the map on the navigation route. She took a careful look before turning her head back to answer Monica's question. "Less than fifty kilometers left. We'll be there soon."
Fifty kilometers. On this kind of rural road with a speed limit of sixty kilometers per hour, an ordinary vehicle might take nearly an hour to finish the drive. But for Hoshino Gen's convoy, it was exactly as Hoshino Rin had said—they would be there very soon.
After all, ever since leaving the urban area, their speed had not dropped below one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour. Speeding was simply not even worth mentioning.
The seemingly endless scenery of wheat fields was quickly left behind. Further ahead, the number of vehicles traveling on the road gradually increased, and their speed inevitably had to drop.
As a result, it wasn't until more than ten minutes later that the deep blue sea finally entered their line of sight.
Flocks of seagulls cried out as they circled over the sea surface, and the rolling waves transformed the golden light of the setting sun into a dynamic, flowing radiance.
On the cross-sea bridge, an endless stream of traffic surged forward. And at the end of this long bridge lay the destination for Hoshino Gen's group—a mid-sized island close to the coast...
Throughout the journey, Hoshino Gen had essentially been leading the way at the front of the convoy in his Mercedes-Benz S600. After all, with the navigation route active, there was no need to know the way. But upon reaching this point, Asaba Shinichi drove past Hoshino Gen to take the lead position. Clearly, this meant that for the rest of the trip, he needed to guide them.