Minato just sat there with his mouth wide open and his face as red as a tomato. Karen had part of her face covered but looked at the scene unfolding before her through her fingers. Ayane adjusted herself, then looked at Minato and smirked.
"W-W-What did you do that for?!" Asked Minato as he finally snapped out of it.
"Whatever do you mean my dear Minato? It is perfectly normal for an engaged couple to share a kiss every now and then." Said Ayane as she took a sip from her drink.
Minato couldn't say a single thing to counter that statement. Because she wasn't wrong.
"This is too much for my little heart. Big sis Ayane, let me show you to your room while big bro reevaluates his entire life after experiencing his first kiss."
"Hey!" Called out Minato, feeling embarrassed.
"What a coincidence. That was my first too." Said Ayane as she looked at Minato with a mischievous look in her eyes.
Ayane then followed Karen upstairs with all her bags to her new room. Minato needed some air and some major help. So he picked up his phone and texted the boys' group chat.
"CODE RED! MAN IN DANGER! MEETING AT HARUTO'S PLACE!" texted Minato.
Haruto and Arata almost immediately responded with two "military salute" emojis.
Minato quickly went to get dressed and headed out before Ayane and Karen could ask him where he was going. About half an hour later, he and the other two were sitting in Haruto's room around his small round coffee table. Haruto and Arata were sitting patiently, waiting to be debriefed by the situation at hand. By the time Minato finished telling them everything that transpired in the last hour and a half, his two comrades were already rolling on the floor, laughing so hard, that tears were coming out of their eyes.
"This has to be the craziest thing to have ever happened. How do you sign away your kids' betrothal?" Asked Haruto as he wiped off his tears.
"My main concern is that you got SMOOCHED. You really don't have any pictures of her?" Asked Arata.
"Come on guys. I'm in a crisis here. And no. I don't. I literally found out she was the daughter of Aphrodite about two hours ago."
"Daughter of Aphrodite!!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!" Laughed the two.
"Now I really have to see her." Said Haruto.
"But in all seriousness though. What are you going to do about Hiyori?" Asked Arata.
"What do you mean?" Asked Minato.
"Dude, you have a major crush on her and now you're engaged. You sound like the main character of a rom-com anime." Said Arata.
"You should've confessed to her by now. Because if you did, you wouldn't be in this situation right now." Said Haruto.
"Exactly. You would've either been dating her or be happily engaged to Lady Ayane, daughter of Aphrodite." Said Arata.
"He he. Daughter of Aphrodite." Chuckled Haruto.
"It's not as easy as you think. I can't just confess to Hiyori. I needed time to prepare."
"Time for what? And it's not as hard as you think. Just look at me. I thought I could never get with Asami. But look at me now. I am living the best life with the best girl." Said Arata as he kissed the screen of his phone that had a picture of Asami as wallpaper.
"Ugh. Normies. But he isn't wrong you know. At the end of the day, you'll get one of two responses. Yes or no." Said Haruto.
"Or ew!" Teased Arata.
"Come on. Minato isn't that gross." Said Haruto.
"Gee, thanks, guys."
"In all seriousness though, what do you plan to do? It's not like you can kick her out of your house." Said Haruto.
"Plus, she'll be attending Matsubara, right?" Asked Arata.
"Yeah. Starting tomorrow."
"Well, for starters, we should get to know her first. Add her to our squad and then we figure out where to go from there." Said Haruto.
"Sounds good." Agreed Arata.
"Okay."
"Great. Meeting adjourned." Said Haruto.
"This has turned into such a disaster." Said Minato as he put his face in his palms.
"Not yet it hasn't. It might though." Said Arata.
"Why do you say so?" Asked Minato with his face still in the palm of his hands.
"You left her home with your sister. For all we know, she could be sniffing around in your room. I hope you hid you know what in a secure location." Said Arata.
"OH NO!" Said Minato as he realized. He quickly stood and ran out the door.
"RUN PERVERT! RUN!!!" Called out his two friends.
Minato sprinted home like his life depended on it. Because it did. He opened the front door and ran upstairs. He stopped at the end of the staircase. He stared at his bedroom door and focused on his hearing. He heard nothing. Giving a sigh of relief, he walked to his room. He opened the door thinking that he dodged a bullet but he soon realized that the bullet went straight through his head. Because what he found in front of him was the most chaotic scene you could imagine. Ayane was on the floor, surrounded by a bunch of dirty magazines.
"So this is what you're into. Not bad if I do say so myself." She then took one of the magazines and did a pose from it. "What do you think? Do I look more appealing now?" She asked with a dark sparkle in her eyes.
"AHHHHH!!! What are you doing here?!!" Shouted Minato as he began to pick up everything at record speed. "Karen!!!"
"Oh don't worry about her. She went out to buy ingredients for lunch. She won't be back for a while." Said Ayane as she walked up to the bed. "So what do you say we catch up on what we've been doing these past few years?" She said as she sat on his bed.
Minato nervously took a massive gulp as he stared at her. He then walked up to his desk and dragged the chair.
"Aww come on. Come sit next to me."
"No way am I getting on that bed with you. I am doing just fine where I am right now."
"Party pooper. So, what have you been up to since you moved away from Yamaguchi?" She asked.
"Well, not much. Moving away was hard. Adjusting to my new life in Tokyo was weird at first. But with time, things got easier. Especially after meeting my friends. Haruto, Arata, Asami and…"
"And Hiyori, right?"
"Y-Yeah. The five of us became super close in middle school. Then we decided to go to the same high school together. Mom and Dad moved out of Japan just before I got into high school. So it has been just me and Karen since then."
"Not anymore though. Because I'm not going anywhere." She said as she lay on her belly and smiled at him.
"Y-Yeah." He said as he looked away.
"In my case, it all went by normally. Not much happened. Except for the day, I found out about our betrothal. It was a year after you left. I was still very much a tomboy at the time. But when my parents told me about our betrothal, it changed everything. I wanted to become a woman you would find beautiful. So that one day, you could call me baby and not bro." She joked. She then moved closer to him. "You've been averting your eyes all his while. What's the matter?"
"Um…Y-Your chest…" Said Minato all flustered.
"What about it?" Smiled Ayane.
"It's…um…revealing…"
"What if I'm doing that on purpose? I mean, you seem to like this sort of stuff." She said, hinting at his magazines.
Minato couldn't say a single thing. He just kept averting his eyes and trying to back away.
"Wanna touch 'em?"
"WHAT?! No way!"
"Come on. Karen's not home. Here. Don't you want to see how feminine your fiancé has become?"
Ayane then took his hand. Minato felt something round and soft in the palm of his hand. He could feel his blood rushing to his head. He began to take deep breaths and his face turned red. He slowly turned towards Ayane. He didn't know what to think at the moment. When he finally looked at her, he couldn't believe his eyes. He was touching a bun.
"Ha ha ha!!! You should see the look on your face. You look so disappointed." Laughed Ayane. "You really wanted to touch them? Aww. Well, aren't you a cute one?" She said as her sky-blue eyes darkened and sparkled. "You're still the little Minato I loved to tease. Not much has changed. Still the gullible Minato of the old days."
"Oh yea?!" Said Minato as he jumped up and tackled her. Both fell with a thud.
Minato landed on top of her. They were both breathing heavily. Both had a shade of pink in their cheeks. Ayane's eyes went back to their sky-blue color, but the sparkles kept Minato entranced. None of them could say a word. They just stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. Until Ayane broke the silence. She gently touched his cheek.
"I guess you have changed after all."
Minato slowed down his breathing and kept staring at her. Suddenly, his door flung open.
"GET OFF OF HER YOU PERVERT!!!" Shouted Karen as she launched at him and kicked him off of Ayane. "Let's go big sis Ayane. I can't leave you around this idiot any longer."
"Thanks for saving me, Karen." Said Ayane as she followed Karen out. She then stopped in the doorway. "Better luck next time Minato." She said while blowing a kiss.
Minato was still on the floor, holding his nose from the kick. He was still recapping what just happened. He quickly shook his head.
"I really need to get ahold of myself. I can't be swayed by her teasing. Because that's all it is." He said as he stood from the floor. "But then again…"