Volume 1 - CH 21

First, Soichiro pointed to a nearby restaurant.

“Why don’t we go in from here and talk over a meal?”

They’re originally here to have a meal, after all.

Besides, it would be better to give a proper explanation than to try to run away.

Yuzuru looked at Arisa and then they both nodded their heads in agreement.

“You guys are in perfect sync. As I thought, Yuzurun and Yukishiro are lovers …… it hurts! Yuzuru hit me!!”

“Don’t be so quick to judge.”

Yuzuru smacked Ayaka lightly on the head.

After taking her place at the table and ordering her food, Arisa greeted the three of them.

“I’m Arisa Yukishiro. Nice to meet you……. Tachibana-san, Uenishi-san, Satake-san.”

Then the three of them all bowed lightly and returned the greeting.

“I’m Soichiro Satake. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Ayaka Tachibana. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Chiharu Uenishi. It’s nice to meet you.”

When the greetings were done, ……

The three of them turned their gaze to Yuzuru at the same time.

“Then Yuzurun. Are you Yukishiro-san in that kind of relationship after all?”

“What kind of relationship?

“Don’t be silly. Are you two lovers, is the question.”

“That’s a no.”

“Again, …… would a man and a woman come to the pool together if they weren’t lovers? Even if you’re not lovers, you don’t usually come to a pool unless you’re not completely comfortable with it.”

“That’s…….”

Yuzuru was at a loss as to what to do.

Since both of them were seen in the pool in their swimsuits, they would not be able to get away with any kind of deception.

“…… Takasegawa-san. Are the three of your friends tight-lipped and trustworthy?”

Arisa asked Yuzuru in a whisper.

There is no problem with that.

The three of them may not be pure-hearted saints, but they are not the kind of people who would speak of their friends’ secrets.

…… In the first place, in business, there is nothing more important than trust.

Damage to trustworthiness with Yuzuru here would be detrimental to all three of them in the future.

“Of course. I can promise you that. …… however, we can’t be sure of what can cause the information to leak. ……”

“Wouldn’t it be safer if we told them some of what was going on and let them know that it was very important and serious to us?”

“That’s….. probably the best way to go.”

Of course, the tightness of your mouth depends on the importance of the information.

So if we want them to keep quiet, we need to explain the situation well. ……

To explain the situation, it is inevitably necessary to mention Airisa’s family situation.

For Yuzuru, the three of them are friends, but for Arisa, the three are strangers.

“…… Okay, I get it. I’ll explain.”

The only way to do this was to talk about it well without mentioning Airisa’s family situation.

With that in mind– Yuzuru hid some of the information and gave a general explanation to the three.

When Ayaka heard everything, the first thing she said was.

“Yuzurun, you’re in for quite an interesting ride.”

“…… I’m aware of it.”

Yuzuru muttered to Ayaka who was grinning, with a sigh.

For the people involved, it’s not as interesting as it sounds.

It’s like something out of a manga or a TV drama, but it’s happening right around them.

“But Yukishiro-san is really here. Your grandfather is amazing.”

“Yeah, I underestimated him……. I should’ve made the setting more improbable. Aliens, other worlders, psychics, futurists, etc.”

Yuzuru replied with a sardonic smile to Soichiro who had an impressed expression on his face.

To begin with, Arisa does not have blond hair or blue eyes, so she does not meet the requirements.

If he had wanted to push her away, he could have.

Still, Yuzuru did not do so because ……

“But Yuzuru-san. Yukishiro-san is not blonde-haired and blue-eyed. You could have used that as an excuse to refuse. …… You’re actually on board there, aren’t you?”

You’ve got a contradiction on your hands.

Chiharu said that with a sly face

Certainly, that part was a major contradiction in terms of Yuzuru’s explanation,….why did he accept the offer even though he could have refused it if he wanted to?

One can think like that. 

Arisa is beautiful, and most men would consider her to be a good match, and Yuzuru half-jokingly and half-seriously indeed thought, “I wish she was my real fiancee,” when he saw her in her swimsuit.

“If you ask them to bring your favorite type, and that person doesn’t come, that’s fine. If she comes, that’s fine too. I see you’ve thought of everything.”

“As expected of the scheming Takasegawa.”

“Was it an attempt to hide your embarrassment when you told me that Yukishiro-san was not your type?”

The three of them, Ayaka, Chiharu, and Soichiro, all made subtle misunderstandings that were not true.

This makes Yuzuru a bit of a wicked man, but ……

Yuzuru, who was not confident in his ability to hide the part he wanted to hide and explain it well, decided to leave it at that.

“No, that’ s not it.”

But Arisa said as if to deny Soichiro and the others’ thoughts.

Yuzuru couldn’t help but look at Arisa.

“Hey, Yukishiro.”

“Takasegawa-san… accepted this proposal to protect me.”

Arisa told them everything Yuzuru had been hiding to protect her privacy, namely that she was about to be used as a pawn in a political marriage for the sake of betrothal money.

“It’s true that Takasegawa-san is in a position to refuse. But he’s doing it for me,  it’s not because of ulterior motives………… No, he may not be without ulterior motives at all…”

“No, please deny that point to the very end.”

For some reason, he couldn’t help but poke his head into the latter half of the explanation when Arisa said it without confidence.

–On the other hand, Soichiro and the others looked a little surprised.

“Hee,….you really are a good guy. No, I believed in you from the beginning.”

“As expected of Yuzurun. Of course, I thought so too.”

“Yuzuru-san’s stock price is skyrocketing in my mind. Oh, of course. I’ve been anticipating it from the beginning.”

“That’s not true.”

As Yuzuru lightly glared at them, the three of them cowered their shoulders.

It was just at that time that the food was brought in.

The conversation paused and the five of them began to eat their food. ……

But that was not to be.

“Hey, Yukishiro-san. Can I call you Arisa-chan?　You can call me Ayaka.”

“Oh, you can call me Chiharu, too. Can I call you Arisa-san instead?”

“Eh.?….. It is fine, though. Etto,  Ayaka..san …… or Chiharu…san?”

Arisa, who was asked by both Ayaka and Chiharu, who suddenly got close to her, nodded slightly with a confused expression.

The two of them then closed the mental distance even further.

“I have a strange feeling of familiarity with you, Arisa-chan”

“Etto.. is that so?” 

“You know, our names are similar, right?

“The only thing you have in common is the “A” and the three letters names.” 

Yuzuru retorted unintentionally.

It would be like saying Chiharu and Yuzuru have similar names.

“By the way Arisa-san, you are very beautiful,”

“That’s… thank you very much”

Suddenly complimented by Chiharu, Arisa returned the gratitude with a slightly surprised expression.

But for Chiharu, that response was a mistake.

“The hair is smooth and beautiful, and the skin is white with no stains. And her chest and buttocks are big, but the abdomen is firm. Her face is also very well-shaped. …… To be honest, she is totally my type.”

“I know what you mean. Arisa-chan is cute. It might be my preference too. The black swimsuit looks great on her white skin. It’s just that you’re surprisingly daring despite your innocent appearance. …… That’s right! Hey, you don’t look like a Japanese, what country are you mixed with? By the way, I have a great-grandmother who is British. …… Ouch!”

“No, stop!　Soichiro-san!”

That was the end of Ayaka and Chiharu’s outburst.

Soichiro grabbed them by the neck from behind and pulled them back forcibly.

“Yukishiro-san is troubled. For Pete’s sake…..”

He forced Ayaka and Chiharu, who was leaning forward, to take their seats.

Then he bowed lightly to Arisa.

“These two idiots must have annoyed you… They are the type who can’t understand until you tell them off a little. If you dislike it, please tell them that and if you get sick of them, you can tell them to go die.” 

“Oh, no, ……, it’s okay. I was just a little surprised. …… My mother was three-quarters Russian and one-quarter Japanese and my father was half French and half Japanese. That’s how I remember it.”

In response to Ayaka’s question, Arisa dutifully answered.

He had never directly asked her what country she was mixed with, but he had already heard this information in advance during their matchmaking, so Yuzuru was not surprised.

If Yuzuru’s memory is correct, ” Yukishiro ” is Arisa’s father.

He used to be a trader.

And of Arisa’s adoptive parents, her adoptive mother was the one with whom she had a direct blood relationship.

For Arisa, she is her aunt (or half-aunt).

When he had met her at that matchmaking event, she certainly had a strong Eastern European look.

In addition, “Amagi” is the family name of Arisa’s adopted father.

Her adoptive father is an ordinary Japanese man and is not related to Arisa by blood.

“Oh, by the way, Yuzuru here, his great-grandmother, Hiio-obachan was a Scandinavian American “

“Oh, really?”

With a little surprised expression, Arisa looked at Yuzuru.

Yuzuru gave a small nod.

“Well, It’s quite far in the bloodline and …… within the margin of error.”

You can’t tell from the appearance at least because they are almost entirely Japanese.

If you ask whether their features feel partially foreign or not, he will say not really. Yuzuru knows people with faces like that.

The only thing he could think foreign among them was blue eyes.

Incidentally, his great-grandfather’s mother, who was two generations back from him, was a German woman.

So far, this is a story from the Meiji and Taisho eras, so it is a “classic” story for Yuzuru.

The five of them finished their meal while getting excited about their respective family situations (or family lineage).

As they left the restaurant, Ayaka made a suggestion.

“Since we’re here, why don’t we all hang out together?

The five of them, including Yuzuru and Arisa, were probably the ones she was referring to here.

From Yuzuru’s point of view, Ayaka, Chiharu, and Soichiro are all childhood friends, so there’s nothing wrong with that. ……

“No… But today, I came with Yukishiro,…….”

From Arisa’s point of view, the three of them were strangers.

It would be a little awkward for her to be in a close relationship with four people other than herself.

It’s not difficult to imagine.

Yuzuru thought that it would be hard for Arisa to refuse, so he said so.

Then Ayaka said ……

“I want to play with Arisa-chan. But If Yuzuru and Arisa-chan want to be alone together and flirt, that’s another story.”

“Why don’t we split between boys and girls. ? Girls can have fun without hesitation among them.”

They have their own business with Arisa.

And, Ayaka and Chiharu implied that they would not do anything to omit Airisa.

They always seem to be joking around, but even though they look like this, they are very perceptive.

” It’s a good idea. …… To be honest, I’m tired of babysitting Ayaka and Chiharu too.”

Soichiro said, leaning on Ayaka and Chiharu’s side.

This was also out of concern for Arisa… But you can see a hint of exhaustion in his expression, and he was probably being sincere.

“It is fine with me as well. I want to be close to you all.”

Arisa replied with a natural expression.

…There were no signs of particular dislike from her. 

Maybe the concern of the three of them was conveyed to her.

“Well, if you say so, …… let’s do that.”

–With that in mind, it was decided that they would split up and play together.