Chapter 322: Suggestion

"I got distracted… I wanted to give you my answer. But you're right. My pride was preventing me from doing that. I feel like a clown. I kept on talking about grand things like marrying all of you and us working together to make that happen… However, now that you presented me with this… I started having doubts."

Once our lips parted, words came out naturally from my mouth. It's the answer I arrived at as soon as my head cleared up.

Upon hearing it, a meaningful smile appeared on Mizuki's lips followed by a fit of giggles. With her arms encircling to my back, she whispered to my ear, "Stop overthinking and focus on our goal."

Mizuki released me from her embrace and led me to the bedroom of the unit. Apart from the wide bed that still had the same aromatic scent as before, the most striking feature of this bedroom was its access to the balcony. It's roofed and has sufficient space to make it something more than just a simple balcony. I remembered that we're often looking out from there, staring at the night sky or the people walking down below.

However, at the moment, our focus was that same bed where we rolled around for an uncountable number of times.

Well, after ten, I stopped counting.

As we both lay down on the bed, dropping our bags to the table beside it, Mizuki climbed on top of me. Just like the other girls, she snuggled comfortably by putting her head on my chest, sniffing my scent as if it's the most fragrant thing in the world.

"Ruki, do you know? Your reaction to it showed that no matter how abnormal you look at yourself, you're still a normal guy who will be overwhelmed with a sudden downpour of luck. However, this isn't one of those instances. You know how I am, if I am not sure about something, I will not jump inside it."Mizuki lifted her head to meet my gaze. "I'm sure about continuing my relationship with you, even if I'm not the only one. Others will think it's illogical for us to be this accepting but we all experienced how it was to be inside your embrace. It's something other people will not understand unless they experience it themselves. Now... stop looking dumbfounded and hold me."

As soon as she finished her words, Mizuki initiated another kiss.

Following her words, my arms slid from her waist, enclosing her in my embrace.

While we were savoring our third kiss for the day, I started digesting each and every word she uttered.

It's totally unbecoming of me to have a cold feet at this moment. I could certainly do despicable things but why? Why when presented with something I didn't expect, I turned into an idiot?

No matter at what angle I looked at this situation, it was just me who couldn't believe that Mizuki would offer this valuable place. This is hers but as far as I know, this is the only asset she's currently holding.

Having a place we could call ours could be said to be a step towards that goal… I'm not alone anymore. If I declined this, it would look like I was rejecting Mizuki… Moreover, she's not someone who would joke about serious things like this.

Just by this feeling she's relaying to me through our kiss, this girl was fully entrusting all of herself to me and in turn, she wanted me to entrust myself to her. In relation to building that future, she's also going all out.

I guess just because I looked at myself as the core of our relationship, I started thinking that I had to do the bigger part and rely on the girls to supplement it…

That way of thinking was wrong... or flawed.

Besides, I shouldn't decide about everything by myself anymore. We're all working towards the same goal… We're still young so at the moment, Mizuki was the first to put her chip in.

Pride is useless and it will certainly be a hindrance in the long run. There's no point hoisting it up and ignoring the efforts that they will contribute to helping us build that future.

"Mizuki…" When our lips separated, I kept our gazes locked to each other.

Understanding what I was about to do or say, Mizuki gave a small nod before settling herself on my side.

My hand naturally fell onto her face and she did the same.

"This place… If you really believe putting it under my name will be better then I will have no objection. It will just be in name, right? This is our special place. For the future we envisioned, let's start in here."

"Un. That's the Ruki I know. Besides, the transfer won't happen in an instant. So you can ease from overthinking. In the future, let's expand from here. Say, what do you think about buying the whole building for ourselves?"

Although that sounded like a playful question, this girl was not someone who would throw a joke.

Just this unit alone will have a sky-high price but she's already looking out to purchase the whole building. Each floor of this building has at least 8 units excluding the other areas shared by the residents...

"This girl… I won't ask for the total value of this building or I'll drown from how high it will be. Nonetheless, it's not a bad idea…"

That's right. Instead of picking a house that would be limited in space, an apartment complex or a condominium building like this is more ideal… if I was aiming to house all of them.

Even if we failed to expand from here, being aware of the foundation for that future was enough, for now.

Don't get me wrong. I'm aware of the impossibility of the notion. However, seeing a clear picture of the foundation we needed for that future, the path ahead cleared for a bit.

The crux of this matter would be, without a doubt, money. An enormous amount of money… Before the law and the society's outlook, that would be the greatest hurdle. Everything runs on money nowadays.

With a smile, Mizuki nodded before inching closer to me, closing the few centimeters of distance. "Yes. Let's not talk about those things. Since you haven't decided on the career you wished to take, let me put out this suggestion." Mizuki grabbed my hand that was caressing her face and clasped it tightly. "Let's work together, Ruki. You're aware of my ambition. And I believe that you'll be a huge asset for it."

Her ambition of creating something that will let her step away from the Hasegawa Family's shadow. Naturally, it concerns her creating her own business firm.

"You believe… That wouldn't fly normally. Besides, I still don't know my aptitude…"

"Just with the fact that you conquered me… I'd say you have the right aptitude. There's a saying that love and business are almost the same. If you can conquer girls like me, capturing the hearts of those businessmen or women to invest or partner with us would be easily done by you." Mizuki smirked. "But that is if you equipped yourself with the right knowledge."

"Knowledge, huh? I see. If it comes to that, I can rely on you to teach me the fundamentals, right?"

I'm already learning from Rae and perhaps Arisa-senpai. But all of those were mundane bits of knowledge. Learning from another girl, especially from this mature girl who already dabbled in it and had a clear view of what she would do in the future, it would never become a loss.

Upon hearing my words, Mizuki just giggled again in her response to my last sentence. Putting her forefinger to my lips, Mizuki's smile widened. "Idiot Ruki. We're already doing that. Have you forgotten our conversations on Messenger? Although we're only touching above the surface, I'm helping you build your foundation."

Huh? Our conversations? Those were mostly about her and her… family.

Ah…

I see. It seems that I was truly blind or truly ignorant about other things aside from my desire to steal a girl for myself...

In our various conversations, Mizuki would sometimes ask about my thoughts on a situation and how to resolve it using my own way.

Of course, those weren't related to businesses but normal modern day-to-day situations. However, those were normal modern day-to-day situations for a behemoth of the Business World, the Noble House of Hasegawa.

"What can I say? I'm really ignorant to not notice that." I wryly smiled before grabbing her forefinger and entire hand. I pulled it down and had it rest on my shoulder before pushing on her back, pressing her even closer.

Mizuki didn't mind my movements and instead, she opened her mouth to give me a light bite on my lips. No matter what, she didn't want to lose to me when it comes to how we take advantage of each other in this situation, even if we're having a serious conversation.

"It's fine to be ignorant. Everyone was like that from the start. Anyway, now that I spilled the beans, expect me to level it up."

And she bit my lips again which eventually ended up for us to turn it into a passionate kiss. With both our bodies gradually releasing heat, Mizuki and I became an entangled mess.

"No problem. If it is as you say, it will not hurt learning about it. Also, about your suggestion, I will seriously consider that." I answered once we got a chance to catch our breath.

"That's great. I cleared one of my goals for bringing you here."

This girl… Everything was planned by her. Even if I didn't tease her in that bakery, we would still end up in this place and talk about the things we talked about.

She surely carefully considered everything before presenting it to me. That's just how Mizuki is, a meticulous girl who seldom moves without a plan.

Well, like she said, I conquered her which means I probably outwitted her back then. No matter how she planned to wrest away from my desire to steal her, she ended up being snared and caught by me.

"I think I can guess what your other goal is."

"That's your expertise after all. It's been a while, let's continue…"

"Alright. We still have enough time. I'll think about everything we talked about today. However before that… let me focus on my Mizuki."

With how erotic her voice sounded, my desire for this girl had risen to the limit, breaking through to the next stage. Changing our position with me climbing on top of her, I rested my knee on the bed and clasped both of her hands before pulling it upwards resulting in a picturesque scene where she looked like a helpless lamb.

Upon seeing my heated gaze on her, Mizuki bit her lips and closed her eyes, waiting for me to spring into action.