Chapter 19: Flirting with Men - They're Creatures Easily Lose Control!
After leaving the amusement park, Risa, feeling somewhat guilty, dragged Yukimura into a high-class sushi restaurant.
“Consider it… compensation for the emotional distress of a minor,” she told him.
I also convinced myself of this in my heart, trying to dispel the guilt of harassing minors.
Under the warm lights of the sushi restaurant, she ordered a huge haul in a fit of revenge. Bluefin tuna belly, sea urchin gunkan, conger eel nigiri sushi... the menu printed out was longer than a film reel.
Looking at this extravagant display, Yukimura sighed softly and sat down opposite her.
"Too many."
Risa ignored him, staring at the menu, preparing to order more. Her thick eyelashes fluttered incessantly, like butterflies about to take flight.
This is a little habit she has when she's nervous, embarrassed, or feels guilty.
Just as she pointed to the "Special Truffle Wagyu Sushi," a hand with distinct knuckles suddenly covered her fingertips. The boy's palm was warm and dry, with thin calluses.
“Matsuno-san,” he looked into her eyes, “are you… perhaps embarrassed?”
These words were like stepping on a cat's tail, and Risa suddenly shuddered.
"Who, who's embarrassed!" She hurriedly pulled her hand back, accidentally knocking over the teacup beside her.
The deep green tea spread across the cypress countertop, and Yukimura picked up a towel to wipe it.
"Then why don't you dare look at me?"
"..."
That wretched brat! Now she acts all high and mighty, but just an hour ago in that sealed glass chamber, who was it that turned away with red ears, leaving her to silently bear the heavy burden of guilt?
The unbearable images suddenly assaulted her—
The Ferris wheel slowly descended from its peak, and the lights outside the window flickered silently.
Risa secretly glanced up, only to see Yukimura's profile reflected in the glass. His tightly pursed lips and taut jaw conveyed some unspeakable emotion. He huddled in the corner like a bullied little animal, pitiful, weak, and helpless.
His appearance made Risa's guilt suddenly materialize, pressing heavily on her chest.
As adults and public figures, the most basic thing is to abide by public order and good morals.
And she, Comrade Risa—
The 25-year-old newly crowned Best Actress actually took a fight with a minor, even going so far as to use her best skills to make the other person blush and feel so wronged that they dared not look at her.
What is this? An extra round of auditions for an acting awards ceremony? Is this something to be proud of or something to be proud of?
Silence, self-blame, and guilt tightened around her throat like an invisible rope.
What she can't let go of is—
The moment the gondola door opened, the man acted as if a reset button had been pressed, casually inviting her to the next ride.
It was as if that suffocating silence, the guilt that made it hard for her to breathe, and the confession she made alone were all just her adding drama to her own life.
"Matsuno-kun?"
Yukimura's voice pulled her back to reality.
"You wouldn't... still be thinking about what happened on the Ferris wheel, would you?" he asked with a smile, his voice clear and normal.
Risa looked up and her gaze fell on his face. The boy's expression was normal, and there was even a smile on his lips, as if he wasn't the one whose ears had turned red and who had looked away on the Ferris wheel just now.
She clicked her tongue softly, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the rim of the teacup.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong back then," she finally said, her tone indifferent.
Yukimura tilted his head slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, before quickly regaining his composed demeanor.
"Why apologize?" he chuckled. "I don't think Matsuno-kun did anything wrong."
“If you were 18, I certainly wouldn’t apologize.” She looked him straight in the eye, her tone serious. “But you are a minor now, and I shouldn’t have done that to you.”
Yukimura remained silent for a moment.
"Is it related to age?" he asked slowly. "But Matsuno-kun... you were only born 15 days earlier than me, weren't you?"
Risa paused abruptly, her fingertips touching the teacup.
She slowly raised her eyes, stared at Yukimura for a few seconds, and then suddenly smiled.
"You've investigated very thoroughly." She rested her chin on her hand, tilted her head to look at him, but there was no smile in her eyes. "Is there anything your tennis club hasn't investigated? I can tell you directly now."
Yukimura realized she was angry. He lowered his eyes slightly and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, we meant no harm."
He paused for a moment and explained, "At first, everyone was just suspicious of your identity as Akaya's cousin. There had been cases of spies from other schools getting close to Akaya before. Later, Renji noticed that you had changed a lot, so he became a little concerned..."
Risa was silent for a moment, then sighed softly.
"Never mind." She lowered her eyes, her fingertips gently toying with the teacup. "I don't care about these things."
The lights of the sushi restaurant illuminated her profile, outlining a soft contour. Yukimura gazed at her; the shadows beneath her lowered eyelashes were deeper than usual.
After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke: "Matsuno-kun, you don't need to take that matter to heart. After all, it was my fault, and I'm the one who should apologize."
Risa looked up at him, somewhat surprised: "What's the matter with Yukimura-kun this time?"
Yukimura: "I shouldn't have said your acting was insincere. On the contrary, I was just trying to cover it up."
Risa paused, then propped her cheek up with her hand and narrowed her eyes with interest.
"So you're admitting that you were smitten by me?"
Yukimura did not answer. When he lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes concealed the emotions in them, as if he were pondering something.
After a long pause, he said softly, "No one could resist being attracted to someone like Matsuno."
Risa's smile gradually faded. She hadn't expected the boy, who was good at dodging questions, to give such a straightforward answer, and for a moment she didn't know how to respond.
“However,” Yukimura raised his eyelids, his violet pupils taking on a transparent quality under the light, “I hope Matsuno-kun won’t easily show such intimate words and actions to others, whether they are genuine or just acting.”
It was like a gentle admonition, yet it also seemed to contain some kind of unspoken possessiveness.
"Oh?" Risa blinked, looking at him with a hint of mockery. "Why not?"
Yukimura did not answer immediately. His gaze lingered on her face, his blue-violet eyes shimmering with varying shades of color, like a field of irises at dusk, drawing one unconsciously into their depths.
She couldn't let herself get caught up in it, so she looked away.
“It’s easy to cause misunderstandings, and it’s dangerous.” He took a sip of tea, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down with each swallow. “Men are powerful creatures who are also prone to losing control. Not everyone can… restrain themselves.”
These words fell lightly, yet they made Risa's ears involuntarily burn.
"So, Yukimura-kun means... you're special?"
"The answer to this question depends on Matsuno-kun."
"Heh~" She chuckled softly, the corners of her eyes slightly upturned. "A cunning fellow. Always saying things girls like to hear. But..."
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly changed the subject, "That trick won't work on me. I won't be swayed by the sweet talk of a high school student."
“Matsuno-kun,” Yukimura put down his teacup, his gaze carrying a hint of pressure, “why do you keep using the words ‘high school student’ and ‘minor’ to emphasize that you’re older than me?”
“That’s true.” Risa picked up her teacup, concealing her unease. “And…”
"And what?"
Just then, the waiter appeared with a platter of sushi. The steaming rice and the delicious aroma of sashimi filled the air between the two of them.
“Besides,” she picked up her black chopsticks and smiled, “I invited you here to eat, not to have a debate with me.”
Yukimura: "Is Matsuno-kun avoiding the question?"
“This is called a strategic truce.” She put half a piece of sushi into her mouth and said indistinctly, “When there’s delicious food in front of you, everything else has to take a back seat.”
Yukimura looked at her puffed-out cheeks, lowered his eyes and chuckled softly. He didn't press further, his slender fingers picking up the chopsticks with unhurried movements.
Risa had only eaten a pudding in the afternoon, and was now extremely hungry. She didn't care about her image and stuffed sushi into her mouth, her cheeks stuffed full, just like a hamster hoarding food.
She wasn't a carefree person, but she wasn't stubborn or pretentious either. For her, the only things in life that shouldn't be missed were good food and gold.
Once the delicious food was in my mouth, the previous embarrassment and guilt were thrown to the winds, leaving only pure satisfaction.
When she was about 70-80% full, Risa finally slowed down. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Yukimura still eating slowly and deliberately, even his fingertips exuding elegance. Her eyes darted around, and she quietly scooped up a large spoonful of wasabi…
“Matsuno-kun…”
Yukimura picked up a piece of tuna sushi without even lifting his eyelids, and said in a light voice, "If you lose your sense of taste, these delicious sushi would be too pitiful."
Risa's spoon froze in mid-air.
These familiar lines... are they the prelude to extinguishing the five senses?
"That's exactly what I'm saying!" She immediately put on a fawning smile and pushed the wasabi far away. "A kind, considerate, and understanding young man like Yukimura would never do something so cruel, right?"
The boy glanced up at her, his elbow resting on the cypress wood table, his chin propped up on it. The lamplight fell on his long eyelashes, casting a fan-shaped shadow, like the translucent wings of a butterfly.
"Well..."
He drawled out the last syllable, laughing teasingly, "We'll have to see how Matsuno performs next."
That languid tone, tinged with a hint of mischief, softened subtly at the end, inexplicably conveying a touch of intimacy. Like invisible threads of affection, it swirled tenderly in the air before slowly falling into her ears, coursing through her blood, and finally tightening into a knot at her heart.
Risa unconsciously held her breath.
From her perspective...
His slightly forward-leaning collar revealed his pale skin, his Adam's apple bobbing gently as he spoke, and the delicate lines of his collarbone appearing and disappearing. Every movement was bathed in a soft glow, like a meticulously designed exhibit.
"..."
Risa's fingertips clenched unconsciously.
What a scheming man! He's practically breaking the rules.
-
After a satisfying meal, we were full and had plenty of food and drink.
Before leaving, Risa asked the shop owner to pack a serving of salmon sushi, Akaya's favorite.
The moment I pushed open the front door of the Kirihara family home, I heard a familiar commotion coming from the living room.
"Mom, these are the ones! All the athletes wear this brand."
Kirihara, clutching his phone, chased after his mother like a bristling seaweed sprite, jumping up and down.
"No means no."
Without looking up, Mom continued arranging flowers, the sound of the scissors snapping the flower stems crisp and clean.
"I just bought you this limited edition last week, and it's already coming unglued after only three days. Are you going to play basketball or chew on it?"
As Risa listened to their conversation, she bent down to change her shoes, a smile unconsciously creeping onto her lips.
"What's wrong?" She came into the living room in her slippers.
Kirihara lunged at her like a drowning man grasping at a straw, her eyes sparkling: "Risa-nee, the new DT collaboration sneakers are releasing next week. Limited edition worldwide! Yanagi-senpai said these reduce the chance of slipping by 70%, but my mom won't buy them for me X﹏X"
Risa tilted her head and leaned closer to look at the shoes on his phone screen. Limited edition, non-slip soles—perfect for this reckless guy.
He was about to offer to buy it for him when he saw the price below and gasped: "120,000 yen?!"
Risa thought about her online banking balance—the money her mother had left her, which, if she saved every penny, would barely last until she graduated high school. If she bought these shoes for Akaya… After much deliberation, she withdrew a gesture of affection for her younger brother.
"Alright, alright," Kirihara's mother relented. "I'll buy it for you next month after Dad gets his salary, okay?"
"But Mom, the pre-order deadline for these shoes is next week." Kirihara hung his head, like a little dog soaked in the rain.
Seeing the little angel's pitiful appearance, Risa's heart melted. She gritted her teeth and stamped her foot: "Akaya, if I buy you these shoes, will you pass your English final exam?"
The little dog, now soaked, looked even more pitiful: "...Risa-nee, can we change the terms?"
"Risa." Her mother gently placed the trimmed flower branches into the vase, "Don't spoil this boy too much."
"It's okay, my mom transferred a lot of pocket money to me before she went abroad."
Risa smiled and waved her phone, then winked at Kirihara: "Besides, I always eat my aunt's delicious cooking, and Akaya often runs errands for me to buy manga, so consider this a return gift."
The little seaweed's eyes lit up instantly, blinking like emeralds.
He scratched his hair, stammering, "...Then I...I'll try my best and aim for 60 points on the next English monthly exam!"
“A real man keeps his word, right?” Risa deliberately shook the sushi bag with the logo printed on it.
Kirihara's nose twitched like a small animal's, and suddenly he rushed forward.
"It's Mitsuba-tei's salmon sushi?!"
"Let's have this as a late-night snack when my uncle comes back from working overtime."
Risa deliberately held the sushi box high, unable to suppress her laughter at the boy's longing look.
"Yay!" Kirihara cheered and jumped up on the spot.
Kirihara's mother leaned against the kitchen door, watching the two siblings making a ruckus, her eyes filled with tenderness.
When she received the call from Momoe (Risa's mother), she did hesitate for a long time.
There are two men in the family, the husband always works overtime until late at night, and the son is a carefree tennis fanatic. Suddenly, they have to take care of a sensitive girl who has just experienced school bullying...
But now, hearing the long-lost laughter filling the entire living room, she couldn't help but feel glad she had made that decision.
Since Akina went to Tokyo, the family feels like a puzzle piece is missing. Although Akaya is still full of energy every day, the absence of his banter with his sister at dinner makes the table feel empty.
Risa's arrival seems to have filled this void perfectly.
There was a sudden noise at the door.
Kirihara dashed towards the entrance: "It must be Dad coming back."
A note from the author:
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