Shishio thought to turn his head to see whether the person behind was his acquaintances, but he decided to eat the Napolitan that was cooked by Masaki first.
"How is it?" Masaki asked everyone with a smile.
"It's the best!" Ayano said without hesitation as she ate heartily.
"Mashiro-chan, what do you think?" Masaki asked curiously.
"Okay." Shiina ate the Napolitan, then tucked Shishio's shirt and asked, "Shishio, can you cook this?" Even though it wasn't as delicious as Shishio's food, she loved the sweet taste of the Napolitan, and with his skill, she thought that he could make it even more delicious.
"I can make it." Shishio nodded without hesitation. Still, he could tell that Masaki was an excellent chef since the Napolitan was quite good.
"Oh? Do you want my recipe? I don't mind sharing it with you if you want it, though," Masaki said generously.
"Marie, is that okay?" Ayano was surprised and said, "Didn't you often say that your recipe is a secret?"
Masaki only smiled at Ayano and said, "Ayano, have you heard that a woman in love can do anything?"
"...."
'But you're not a woman...' Shishio and Ayano thought at the same time, but they decided not to say anything.
"It's okay. I have already understood the recipe," Shishio said.
"Understood? 2x
Masaki and Ayano were dumbfounded and asked, "What do you mean?'
"Shishio is a good chef," Shiina said proudly.
"Really?" 2x
Masaki and Ayano looked at Shishio at the same time again, looking at him curiously.
"Ayano-san, do you have paper and a pen?" Shishio asked.
"Oh! Oh! Wait a moment! Let me get it!" Ayano took out a piece of paper and a pen from her bag and gave them to Shishio.
Shishio then wrote something on the paper then gave it to Masaki. "This is your recipe, right?"
Masaki took the paper with doubt, but then he was dumbfounded and asked, "How did you know?!" He kept reading and saw that Shishio had written all of his recipes perfectly from the ingredients, how many grams, methods, timing, cutting method, and a lot more. If it wasn't Shishio's first time coming to his cafe, he thought Shishio would be his stalker.
'Eh? If he's my stalker, then that's fine.' Masaki thought happily.
"How did you do it?" Ayano asked curiously since she could see that Masaki wasn't lying.
"Hmm... maybe a talent," Shishio said ambiguously.
"Talent..." 2x
Masaki and Ayano's expression darkened, but nothing could explain his skill other than talent.
Shishio wanted to say that he had a sensitive tongue, but he was afraid that Masaki might do sexual harassment on him, so he changed his wording.
"Still, if you do this, it'll make it better." Shishio took another piece of paper and gave Masaki the enhanced version of his Napolitan recipe.
"Eh?" Masaki read the recipe, and his expression became serious before he stood up. "I'll check it out right away!" he didn't hesitate and went to the kitchen to test Shishio's recipe right away. "Oh, right, thank you, Shishio-kun!" He gave a wink and a flying kiss, which Shishio dodged without hesitation by hiding beside Shiina.
Shishio felt that Masaki was okay as long as that guy didn't show such a disgusting reaction toward him every time.
Still, Shishio's reaction caused Ayano to laugh and Shiina to smile.
Shishio looked at Ayano and asked, "Ayano-san, today is Golden Week, right? You didn't receive a holiday?" This had always been bugging his mind from the beginning. After all, Ayano was different from Masaki, who owned a cafe. She was an employee, so it was natural for her to have a holiday, but this woman was still meeting them.
"That's right!" Ayano sighed and said, "I should be on holiday now, but I'm going to work because of you two!"
"Thanks for your hard work," Shishio said.
"Thanks for your hard work." Shiina also said the same.
Shishio wasn't surprised by Ayano's actions since many people in this country were workaholics, but at the same time, he felt sorry for her husband.
"Really, you should..." Ayano murmured, then asked curiously, "Still, when did you start dating?"
"We have been dating for a while, but I guess it was two weeks ago that I felt that this girl was the one for me," Shishio said gently as he held Shiina's hand. He felt that he was fortunate to meet this girl, and even though she might have a lot of disadvantages, he loved her, and that feeling wouldn't change.
Shiina lowered her head shyly even though she didn't know why, but her heart was beating so fast at that moment, and she felt so happy.
"....."
Ayano sighed and somehow felt a bit jealous right now. She thought that she should do something similar with her husband later.
"What on earth should we do now?"
Suddenly they heard a soft and weak voice from behind. They could tell that it was the voice of a woman, but they felt quite curious why this woman would suddenly ask such a question with such a tone.
However, they didn't need to wait too long to understand everything.
"I'm going to divorce my wife..."
The voice of a man was heard, and his voice was full of determination, but then he said, "But I can't do it right now." This time, his voice was full of hesitation and regretted as if he had done something wrong to the woman.
"......" Ayano and Shiina couldn't help but frown.
However, Shishio laughed heartily when he heard the man's words.
"......."
Shishio's laugh attracted a lot of attention since he was so handsome when he laughed.
Still, Shiina asked, "Why did you laugh, Shishio?"
"Well, the man won't divorce his wife," Shishio said simply.
"How can you be so sure?" Shiina asked curiously.
"Divorce is a big decision, Mashiro." Shishio patted Shiina's head and said, "Remember our conversation at the cat cafe?"
"You have said that our relationship will keep changing, right?" Shiina asked.
Ayano also listened to their conversation with interest, waiting for Shishio to answer Shiina's question.
"Yes." Shishio nodded and said, "While I believe that I will keep loving you, it doesn't mean the same with other couples. Some couples' relationships will change over time. It starts with something special, then ordinary, and lastly, they might start to hate each other."
"Hate each other? Is that possible?" Shiina was surprised.
"It's possible, but I might phrase it wrongly." Shishio thought for a moment and said, "I think that an indifferent might be the right word."
"Indifferent?" Shiina titled her head.
"Yes, even if you're there, or you're not there, it doesn't matter. You have started to feel each other's existence as something that doesn't matter whether they're there or not. Then they start to feel that they're not attractive or they feel bored with a relationship, then it leads one to become workaholic or infidelity." Shishio sipped his coffee and said, "But even so, marriage isn't something that someone can end easily. After all, it is a lifetime decision."
Shishio felt that it was normal since marriage was a matter of a lifetime, and when you lived so long with someone, you would start to get bored with a beautiful face that you often gazed at and loved every day.
You would also learn a lot of bad things about your loved ones and feel enough of them.
Then neither would talk to each other before they cheated each other.
Still, it might not be known, but a married man was popular among women.
How did women choose their men?
This was a question that a lot of single men had always questioned.
However, the answer was extremely simple.
If you bought something, would you buy something from a store with many good reviews or a new store without a review?
The answer was, of course, a store with a good review, right?
Especially when you wanted to buy something important and expensive, you would choose a store with a good reputation since you didn't want to make a mistake.
Women were just like that.
They were clueless about how to know a good man, but they knew that a married man was chosen by another woman, so he had a good review. Then when they were treated nicely by that married man, and unsurprisingly, they fell for that married man.
Men had weak resistance against a beautiful woman, so why should they refuse when the women asked him to have sex?
Except if the man had a strong will or loved his wife so dearly, then they might refuse, but his story was about the majority of men.
Shishio was sure that the woman fell for the man, but the man was unsure about divorcing his wife.
After all, even men's relationship with their wives might become a rut, they still thought of them as their women.
How could they give their women to other men?
Men are selfish creatures, after all.
"If you love someone, you need to be decisive to get a divorce, and you can start a relationship with the one you love after that since no matter whether it is a male or female, being cheated is painful," Shishio said calmly.
This was the reason why Shishio had never cheated. Instead, he dated his girls openly. Still, this case only happened because he was the protagonist, and while it was possible for other men, the possibility was small.
Shiina and Ayano looked at Shishio in a daze and thought he was mature.
"The man is at the comfort zone now, and unless something happens with his wife or cheating partner, then he'll maintain the status quo for a long time."
Ayano nodded and felt that Shishio's answer was reasonable since if the man was serious, he would divorce his wife decisively before he started to date his cheating partner.
Still, Shishio didn't expect Shiina to kiss him so suddenly.
"Mashiro?" Shishio looked at Shiina surprisingly.
"I will always love Shishio," Shiina said without hesitation and full of determination and love.
"......"
Shishio hugged Shiina without hesitation and kissed her cheek several times. "I will always love you too, Mashiro." He wondered how this girl could be so cute, and he was happy that she could be his. Also, he wouldn't let her go in this life and wouldn't give this girl to another man since he really loved her.
Shiina also laughed happily and hugged him back.
"......" Ayano felt her black coffee become even bitter when she saw Shishio and Shiina, feeling so jealous.
Still, Shishio was curious and wanted to see the face of the man and woman who talked behind him. He turned his head and looked at the woman, but the woman also happened to look at him.
"..........."
Shishio and the woman were silent when they saw each other. He had expected this from the familiar voice he had heard before, but he didn't expect that it would be Tachibana Hina.
Hina also felt Shishio's back was similar, but she didn't expect that it was him, and she also looked at the girl who was on his arm. She saw that girl wasn't Rui. Instead, it was another girl. This made her frown, but this wasn't the problem since she panicked when she realized that Shishio had heard their conversation!
Hina's expression was, of course, noticed by her boyfriend.
"What's wrong, Hina-san?"
Shishio only gave the nod to Hina before he continued to talk with Shiina and Ayano like usual.
"No - nothing." Hina shook her head and gave a forced smile.
The man turned around and saw Shishio, Shiina, and Ayano talking like usual and didn't overthink as he continued his conversation with Hina.
Still, all those words that came out from the man's mouth couldn't be heard by Hina since she knew that Shishio had realized that she dated a married man.
"Are you alright, Hina-san?" The man asked again.
"Ma - maybe I feel a little uncomfortable," Hina said weakly after a moment of hesitation.
"Really? Then should we go back now?"
"Yeah."
Hina nodded without hesitation, and when she was about to go back, she glanced at Shishio, who also happened to see her. He gave her a meaningful smile, and it gave her a dread.
"What's wrong, Shishio?" Shiina asked.
Shishio wanted to answer Shiina's question, but suddenly Masaki's voice was heard.
"Shishio-kun! My Napolitan has become even more delicious!"
Masaki came out from the kitchen with excitement as he brought the Napolitan spaghetti that Shishio had modified. He believed that his cafe would become even more popular with this recipe.
".........."
Masaki's existence might cause them to sigh.
However, neither Shishio nor Shiina have overthought this problem since they were going on the trip to Tateyama tomorrow!