Volume 5 - CH 17

“Excuse me. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

While Yuzuru was killing time at the meeting place, his fiancée came running in with a paper bag in her hand.

She seemed to have successfully bought a swimsuit.

“Shall I carry it for you?”

The swimsuit shouldn’t be too heavy, but as a man, it wouldn’t be nice to let a girl, let alone his fiancé, carry the luggage.

And when he suggested this idea…

“Um… Yes. Then please.”

Arisa looked a little hesitant, then handed the paper bag to Yuzuru.

The paper bag was  …naturally not heavy.

(Well, as far as clothing goes, the fabric is minimal…)

For a brief moment, the image of Arisa in a swimsuit almost flashed through Yuzuru’s mind… and he hurriedly shook it off.

It was not something to think about in such a situation.

“…Yuzuru-san. Did you just have a weird thought?”

“…No way.”

Yuzuru hurriedly looked away when he was met with a blank stare.

She was strangely intuitive.

“So, what do you want to do after this?　It’s almost late…”

It was fine to finish the date like that…

“Right… would you like to have dinner with me if you don’t mind?”

“Sure. Where should we go?”

There was a food court where you could eat fast food, and there were also Western and Chinese restaurants.

It might be nice to move away from this shopping mall a little and find another store as well.

“There’s a place I’d like to visit…”

“Hmm, that’s fine, but…?”

‘Where is it?’ Yuzuru asked.

But somehow, Arisa’s tone sounded as if she had some concerns.

“It’s a sweets store. But look… isn’t it time for dinner now?”

“Ah… no, I don’t mind.”

Wouldn’t you hate to eat sweets… i.e. sweets at dinner time?

She seemed to be confirming that.

It is true that there are people who think that sweets are just desserts and do not want them to be the main course.

But Yuzuru was not particular about such things.

“Great!　Then it’s decided!!”

Arisa smiled happily.

As for Yuzuru, he was happy just to see that Arisa was happy.

“…”

“Which one do you want, Yuzuru-san?”

After arriving at the store that Arisa had chosen, Yuzuru slightly regretted his choice.

Well, there was no lie in Arisa’s words that it was a sweets store.

It was indeed a store that specialized in such sweet things.

But…. the problem was the store’s interior.

The reason was that it had a very fancy atmosphere to it.

Specifically, the whole place was pinkish, and there were heart marks all over the place…

It was a very uncomfortable space for a man.

Somehow, though, he felt unsettled.

“…Yuzuru-san?”

“A-ah… no, I think any of them will do. Yeah, Arisa can pick one.”

When Yuzuru said that, Arisa’s eyes lit up.

This was because just a few minutes ago, Arisa was wondering which of the two types of cake to choose.

Two was indeed a lot, and thus she had just narrowed it down to one without crying.

However, there were still some regrets regarding the unchosen one…

‘If her fiancé chooses it, they can split it in half‘ …she started giving off a vibe like that.

It was easy to guess this level of detail, even if it was not verbalized.

“Well, I’ll choose. Let’s split it in half.”

It was a while after Arisa ordered the cake.

The waitress brought out two kinds of cakes.

Yuzuru couldn’t help but mutter when he saw them.

“It’s huge…”

What was brought to him was a whole cake.

One chocolate cake and one shortcake.

Even though it was a whole cake, it wasn’t as big as one would typically eat at a birthday party…

Even so, it seemed rather large when considered as a single serving.

It looked like a slice of cake that would be served at a normal cafe, but it was more like three or four servings.

Are we going to eat all of this… thought Yuzuru, shying a little away from in front of the cake.

“Wow… that’s lovely!”

But Arisa seemed to have a slightly different sensibility than Yuzuru.

She happily took pictures with her cell phone.

“Shall we eat then?”

“Y-yeah.”

Yuzuru and Arisa cut the cake with their knives and put it on their plates.

Yuzuru first cut the shortcake with his fork and brought it to his mouth.

Well, it was a moderately tasty cake.

If combined with a cup of coffee, it would be delicious.

The chocolate cake was also very good, with a rich cocoa aroma.

It was delicious, but…

(…It is a little hard to take.)

He ate about half of the whole cake.

Yuzuru was starting to crave something a little spicy.

It was indeed too sweet.

Of course, Yuzuru is not averse to sweets, he was more of a fan of them.

However, eating this amount of cake in one sitting was uncharted territory.

His stomach was fine in terms of capacity, but his tongue began to be a little less receptive.

(Arisa is…)

I can’t eat anymore…

Yuzuru-san, can you please help?

Yuzuru checked on Arisa, wondering if she would say something like that, with a bit of trepidation.

“～♪”

However, his fears were unfounded.

Arisa, unlike Yuzuru, was nimbly proceeding with her fork.

At least, she seemed to be able to eat properly, since she wanted to come here herself.

“…what’s wrong, Yuzuru-san?”

“Eh?　No, it’s nothing…”

Yuzuru averted his gaze at Arisa’s words.

Yuzuru, having told Arisa that he was fine with the restaurant, couldn’t say that he was getting a little tired of it.

If he said that, Arisa would probably start to put her own will second in the future.

That was the kind of girl Arisa was

As for Yuzuru, he wanted her to be happy.

For that to happen, he needed to give her the feeling that he was eating well without any problems.

But…

“I see… So, that’s the case.”

Arisa seemed to have guessed something.

“N-no, not really…”

It’s not that he didn’t like cake.　

Yuzuru was about to say in his defense.

Arisa slowly extended her fork towards Yuzuru.

There was a piece of cake on the fork.

“Eh?”

“Look… this is what you wanted me to do, right?”

A little embarrassed, Arisa blushed and said so while turning her gaze away.

She then glanced over to check Yuzuru’s expression.

“U, um… Please hurry up… Err, c-could it be that I-I was wrong?”

“N-no, nothing like that.”

Yuzuru replied, and took Arisa’s fork into his mouth.

The taste of sweet whipped cream spread in his mouth.

“How is it?”

“… sweet.”

“Of course it is, it’s a cake.”

Arisa retorted as if to say, what are you talking about?　

Then Arisa glanced at Yuzuru’s expression.

She seemed like she wanted something.

Yuzuru cut the cake with his fork.

Arisa’s gaze went to the tip of Yuzuru’s fork and then to his face.

Her jade-green eyes were appealing for something.

“…here.”

Yuzuru slowly pushed the cake forward.

Arisa’s cheeks flushed even more, and then she wiggled in embarrassment.

“G-geez… Yuzuru-san. Doing something like this…  It can’t be helped…”

You looked like you wanted me to do that, so I did.

And before Yuzuru could say so, Arisa opened her mouth wide and took the fork in her mouth with a bite.

The fork was pinched by Arisa’s lips…

Then, slowly, it was pulled out of her mouth.

“It’s delicious.”

She licked her lips with her tongue and then said.

Her expression was slightly upbeat.

“I-is that so… I’m glad.”

For some reason, Yuzuru couldn’t help but feel the sensuality in Arisa’s expressions and gestures.