Chapter 34: All I Wanted In Life Was To Have A Drink At Home With A Pretty Girl And A Sashimi.


TL: Akabane


***


The fun weekend is over and the usual routine has returned. The only thing that has changed is that I now have a group of people I usually have lunch with. It was fun to spend lunch with those three. Sometimes I felt like my wife was glancing at me, but I had no idea what was going on, so I let it go. And above all.


"I have no idea what Hagiri is trying to do...!"


It was when I returned to my room after class and was doing my usual routine of stock investment. I was researching Hagiri incidentally, comparing the report of the investigation results from the detective I had hired and the notebook in which I had transcribed my knowledge of the future. Normally, I would have ignored it. But then I realized that even in this second world, I was involved with both my wife and Hagiri. In a sense, the situation was worse than in the previous world. In the previous world, it was a story of my wife's affair, which, in the extreme, could have been dismissed as a matter of my personal feelings, but in this world, it was different. I was worried about Yuzuriha and Milan. If it were just me, I would be confident that I could escape. I was the only one who could protect them. So I wanted to find out what Hagiri wanted to do. But I had no idea. The detective failed to investigate because of Hagiri's guardedness, but instead reported only on the assets he might have. The only thing I knew about the future was that he was my wife's childhood friend, her first boyfriend, and that he would be a billionaire in the future by starting his own venture company.


"Perhaps the point is the nature of my future business... I don't know... beat the old me...!"


I was shocked at the time at the existence of Hagiri, whom I first learned about when he cuckolded my wife. He was a mega-venture billionaire and a celebrity. I felt defeated as a man by that alone, and did nothing further to investigate. He had honestly admitted to the affair, and there was no need to investigate anything. And I was afraid of finding out more and realizing that I had lost the love of my wife.


"Damn...if I knew what his start-up stuff was, I could even take it from the side!"


I honestly couldn't pretend to be anything else either. The other side has been acting since before I entered college. Theirs is accumulated past knowledge, and ours is future knowledge. It seems as if our advantages are canceling each other out. If only I could seize the source of his power, his entrepreneurial ideas, and take them away, I could win. But I don't know that. I lay face down on my desk and let out a sigh. At the moment, all I can do is make a little bit of money in the stock market. But no matter how much money I accumulate, I can't see how I can beat him.


"That's enough for today. I'm going to bed...I'm going to sleep in peace...!"


I won some money in stocks today. At this rate, I can make a big fortune in the future. I have a dream myself. To have my own architectural office. I want to create a lot of architecture as my own art in this world. I don't want money, power, or anything else. All I want is beauty and love. I lay down on my bed and was about to meditate when my phone rang. Ayashiro's name was on the screen. It was not a messenger app, but a rare phone call. I immediately answered.


||  "Sorry, I call you late at night."


"What's wrong?"


||  "I'll be straight with you. Please let me stay at your house. I missed the last train and I'm at Komaba campus."


"What? Seriously? How about staying at Milan's place? She's in Tagichi dormitory, so she's on campus."


||  "She said no because she's going to a club in Roppongi for her part-time job today. So I can only rely on your place. I can walk to Shimokita from here."


"Yeah...umm. I'd love to let you stay over, but... to be honest, I'd recommend you take a cab and stay at a manga café or business hotel in Shibuya."


As you can imagine, you can't let a girl stay at your house. If a man and a woman are under one roof, mistakes will at least happen. Of course I can put up with it, but I don't feel good about it.


||  "I make it very clear. I'm sure the guys in my department will pretend to be understanding and let me stay over like a gentleman! I'm sure they'd be happy to let me stay over until morning without laying a finger on me!"


"Sorry. I'm a man who doesn't understanding. I can't let a beautiful woman like you stay over with me, I can't."


||  "Fufufu. I like what you say. That's why I'll say it first, but of course I want to stay over, but I won't accept any one-chance, and I won't accept an invitation. Absolutely no sex."


"Wow. I don't think men and women should be so open about such things. It's called an unspoken agreement."


I hear that a lot. A woman comes to a man's room, and if she doesn't have sex with him, the future of the relationship will become complicated. She wants the guy to lead her on gently but forcefully without her saying anything. I think women want to be wanted by men in that way. At least that was the type of my wife I had when we first started dating. But then I realized that she had become a ponce and started asking me out on her own.


||  "Enjoy that kind of high context, non-verbal communication with other women. In return, I'll make you breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. I'll pay for the ingredients, of course."


"Oh? You think you can satisfy my taste buds? Is that what you say? Hmm?"


Ayashiro's insatiable appetite intrigued me. She is a woman who comes straight to the point in many ways. She's coquettish but not flirtatious. I always think she's interesting.


||  "Of course. I'm a really good cook, to tell you the truth. Even with leftover ingredients, it's delicious, and it's tasty even if you're particular about it. I can make anything. But if you say you can cook anything, I'll blow you away."


"I want to eat meat and potatoes. By the way, just in case you're wondering? What if I turn into a wolf?"


||  "Then I will despise you forever. If that's what you want, then go ahead and turn into a wolf! If you want to be despised by me forever for the sake of temporary pleasure, then go ahead! You can devour this body as much as you want!"


Oh, I can't do this. I can't win this woman. It was much more painful to be despised than not to be able to hold her. I have a strange respect for Ayashiro. To be honest, I've been suspicious of every women since my wife cheated on me.


"It's unbearable to be scorned by you. It's okay. You can stay at my place if you want. I'm on campus, right? Wait for me. I'll pick you up."


||  "You sure? Then I'll take your word for it. Thank you."


"Okay. I'll see you soon."


I hung up the phone and quickly left the room. Then I got into my car parked in the parking lot and headed for the Komaba campus. Komaba campus is very close to Shimokita. So I was in front of the campus in no time. I got out of the car, made a phone call and called Ayashiro.


"I thought you were very early, did you have a car?"


"No, I bought it recently. What do you think? How's it looking? Hmm?"


"You're a bit reluctant to buy a four-wheel drive car. To be honest, I thought if you were going to buy a car, you'd buy something flashy, like a sports car."


My car is a large outdoor four-wheel drive vehicle. It's a big outdoorsy four-wheel-drive car, with a lot of horsepower that can take on the roughest of mountain roads.


"I'm not like other guys. Well, it's half a hobby. My father in Hokkaido drives a car like this."


The other half is because the car Hagiri has is a sports car. I don't want to be in the same car as the interloper!


"Well then, I'm going to have to interrupt you today. Sorry to bother you, but please stop by the supermarket or convenience store. Women need to get ready for bed."


I know you're saying this, but the other night you slept without even taking off your contacts, right? It seems like your eyes are fine.


"You were sleeping like a bomb the other night! Haha!"


Ayashiro got into the passenger seat and I started the car. On the way back to the house, we went to the supermarket, which was still just barely closed, and Ayashiro bought lotion, toothbrush, and other things she would need for her sleepover. She also bought ingredients for a meat and potato stew. She said she would really make it.


"Do you have wine at your place?"


She asked me at the liquor corner with a bottle of wine in her hand.


"No. We only have beer. On the other hand, if it's just beer, we have a pretty confident lineup."


"Really? Hmmm. Well then, let's go with the flow. What would you like for snacks?"


It's like a natural home-drinking flow. Well, I have second period tomorrow, so I don't mind.


"If I say anything, I'll be blown away. Please make the cheese tasty."


"Okay, have fun with it. Enjoy it."


Ayashiro seemed to be in a good mood as he threw the cheeses into the basket at random and threw in more things.





***We're on a drive!***





We soon arrived at my apartment. I then showed Ayashiro into my room. As soon as she entered the room, Ayashiro looked around my room from corner to corner. My room is an ordinary one-room apartment. If there is one thing I am proud of, it is the soundproofing. This apartment is the type of room where it doesn't matter how many musical instruments you play, or how much noise you make. In fact, in my previous world, I continued to live here after graduating from college, and even though my wife took up residence in this room and had sex and made loud noises, not a single wall-banging came. I lived here all the time until I decided to move in with her. I miss it so much that I can't move out even now that I've accumulated enough money. Come to think of it, this may be the first time that a woman other than my wife has entered the house, if you include the previous world (except for Mashiba. I don't like that girl, so I don't count her as a women).


"I'm surprised. It's so clean. Aren't boys' rooms usually messy? My brother's room is terrible."


"Wow, you have a brother. How old is he?"


"He's still in kindergarten. He's still in kindergarten. He's so naughty and cute."


There seems to be quite a big age gap between them. It seems that their parents are very close. Haha! I long for a couple like that! I'm just self-deprecating.


"Do you mind if I take a shower before cooking?"


"Oh. Sure. You can use soap and shampoo as you like."


If this were a romantic comedy manga, this would be a thrilling scene, but I realized that I'm rather used to this kind of situation. I don't like the way I'm used to women. I want more pure feelings. Ayashiro is also acting proudly as Ayashiro, so there's no element of embarrassment. I want to be thrilled just by the sound of the shower. That's what I thought.




***In the shower!***




A woman's bath is long. It's not just a theory, but a truth, a theorem, a law, or something that can be expressed in such terms. Ayashiro was no exception to this rule, and her bath was long.


"The water was nice and hot. I studied really hard today, so it felt really good."


Ayashiro's voice came from behind my back as I was watching TV.


"Oh. You came out. Would you like a beer after your bath?"


I braced myself a little before turning around. Maybe Ayashiro is spunky now. Ayashiro is very pretty, but maybe not so much when she takes off her makeup. What a possibility! My wife was too beautiful without makeup, but not everyone is like that. Then I turned around with determination.


"Okay, I'll have a beer. It's good to have a beer once in a while. Beer, hmm. Ufufu."


I turn around and meet Ayashiro's blue eyes. She's wearing the shorts and T-shirt I lent her. Or rather, blue eyes? Hmm? Don't you usually take off your contacts when you take a bath? Huh? Huh? I put a can of beer in Ayashiro's hand. Ayashiro gulps down the beer can.


"Puhh! Kuuhaa! I love it! This sharpness can't be found in wine! Beer after bath! What a great cultural activity! Kukuku."


Ayashiro was very beautiful without any makeup. Yes, she is. She is beautiful. But you know what? Her face is totally different from usual! She has a deep, narrow nose, and her face is very smooth. Her face looks Caucasian. So, her eyes were not colored contacts, but her own eyes. The same goes for her blonde hair. It was too natural for her to have dyed it. I see. That's why she was sleeping normally without removing her contacts. That makes sense.


"What? You were staring at my face. Is there something you want to say?"


"No, I don't really have anything to say. You look different from usual, but you're still as beautiful as ever."


But thinking about it, I'm starting to feel like it doesn't matter. I don't care about race or anything else. I don't care about those things.


"Oh my. I've never had that kind of reaction before. You're the first person who hasn't reacted suspiciously to this face. Don't you ask? Where in the world is that face from?"


"What? No, nothing. Just hurry up and make me some snacks. I'm super excited! I'm looking forward to it! I'm counting on you!"


I'm serving Ayashiro a very good, very expensive local beer. I won't accept it if you don't have the right snacks to go with it!


"Heh...really the same reaction as usual. ....Hmmm...yeah. You can count on it! I'll make you some great snacks! Mmm-hmm."


Ayashiro, in a good mood, stands in the kitchen and starts cooking. Watching her back is quite a happy feeling. It's going to be a fun home-drink today!



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