As usual, Mizuto ate lunch with Yume, Reina, and Akatsuki, but the sharp sound of Yume startled everyone.
"What are you doing, Akatsuki-san?!"
Yume hissed like an angry kitty when she saw Akatsuki pull and caress Mizuto's face. She wanted to do that! However, she endured it and waited until she went home, but she didn't expect Akatsuki to dare to do it!
'H-His first...' Yume cried inwardly since Mizuto's first time was taken by Akatsuki.
Still, Mizuto was also speechless as his cheek was pulled by his secret lover. "What are you doing?"
"Hahaha..." However, Akatsuki only laughed and said, "It's just you have become more handsome, so I thought that you would wear make-up, but it seems that isn't the case. Or rather, your skin is so good! How did you maintain your skin?" The jealousy on her face couldn't be hidden, yet deep inside, the obsession in her eyes was far greater as she wished to be with him.
Still, hearing Akatsuki's words, Yume also lowered her guard since she knew that she wasn't the only one who thought that he had become more handsome.
Reina, on the other hand, struggled not to glance in his direction as she felt like staring at him more than this would be a betrayal to the person she loved.
However, facing this question, his answer was simple. "A healthy lifestyle."
"....." Akatsuki.
While Reina was confused, Yume nodded. "You might not know, but every morning, he woke up early to work out."
"Oh-ho? Really? Then, your body must be strong, right, Irido-kun?" Akatsuki said with a simple smile, but the meaning behind her words was definitely more than that.
While Mizuto was speechless, he was even helpless when he saw Yume's blushing face, which made him roll his eyes. "It's okay. My body is normal."
"Normal? Is there a normal person with a V-line on his abs?" Yume snorted, wondering whether her stepbrother wanted to be modest.
"Huh? Yume-chan? How did you know that Irido-ku has a V-line on his abs?" Akatsuki asked curiously with a smile.
Reina also looked at Yume in surprise and blushed.
"I-I..." Yume knew that she had fallen into the trap!
Mizuto sighed, feeling that his stepsister was stupidly cute. "It's my fault."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Reina was confused, but Akatsuki raised her brow.
"Even though we are a family now, we're not before, so I still haven't been able to erase some of my bad habits."
"Bad habit? What kind?" Akatsuki asked curiously.
"Walking naked around the house."
"...." 3x
"I mean... haven't you done it?" Mizuto looked at the three girls with some confusion.
"Of course not!" 3x
The three girls refuted with blush, and then Reina and Akatsuki looked at Yume with an apologetic expression.
"It must be hard to live with a man of your age, huh?"
"Irido-kun, you should try to think about the others. You can't be selfish."
Whether Reina and Akatsuki admonished Mizuto at the same time, he could only agree and didn't fight much.
Still, Yume felt moved by his sacrifice and thought that she should thank him tonight by wearing the underwear that she was too shy to wear when she bought it during their trip to the department store.
"But Irido-kun..." Reina stared outside the class helplessly. She could see many girls wandering around their class, and it was clear that their eyes were all on him. "You have become so popular now."
"I guess."
"Are you not happy?"
"Is there some difference with before?"
"If you said it that way, it was all the same." Even if Mizuto had become more handsome originally, he was still handsome before, and frankly, even Reina knew that he was the most popular guy in the entire year, if not the school. "With all the girls who confess to you, have you ever thought about getting a girlfriend?"
When Yume and Akatsuki heard this question, all of them fell into silence.
"How about you, Kousaka-san? You are popular too, you know? I saw that you even confessed many times."
Whether it was Akatsuki, Yume, or Reina, all of them were beautiful girls, and a week had passed since their admissions. Naturally, many noticed their beauty and tried their luck to confess, hoping to make them a girlfriend, but the result—unfortunately.
Frankly, Mizuto wondered why many boys in high school were so simple, thinking that they could make girls fall in love as long as they confessed. He knew that it might be strange, but a confession wasn't something necessary to create a relationship. Moreover, instead of a guy, it should be a girl who made a confession since a guy needed to be calm and collected instead of being moved by emotion.
The feeling of wanting to monopolize someone that you like was understandable, but a date wasn't a marriage, so there was no need to put your emotions into it.
Love is something risky like a business.
If one could be lucky and find one in one go, then it was okay, but the reality couldn't work that way since most of them failed, so instead of confessing, one should try to be the closest existence to the girl then used another girl to test the feeling of the girl.
If the girl was jealous, then congratulations, you get her.
Still, if someone was as handsome as him or could use hypnosis, brainwashing, or other hentai-like abilities, then there was no need to do something so complicated since the women would fall under a single lovemaking.
"I don't have an interest in them. They are all so childish." Reina sighed and only shook her head.
"So, you still like that teacher of the club advisor of the concert band?" Mizuto asked curiously.
"I..." Reina blushed slightly, then hissed at Mizuto. "Can you not be so blunt?"
"Is it shameful to fall for someone? Or do you think your feeling is something to be embarrassed about?"
"...." Reina.
"If you love someone, you don't need to be afraid since if you don't do something, then the other will steal that person from you. Well, unless that person is popular, but if the one you love is like a harem protagonist anime, then there is no need to worry."
"Huh? Harem protagonist anime? What is that?" Reina was confused, causing Yume and Akatsuki to laugh.
"Average height, face, score, everything about him is average, and he is either lazy, otaku, or simply a misfit. That's a harem protagonist anime," Akatsuki explained her useless knowledge to Reina.
"No, he is handsome, but..."
"But?" 3x
"He is... a widower."
"...." 3x
"S-Say something!"
"No, it's just your choice. It is really surprising that we don't know what to say, right?"
"That's true, but it doesn't matter if you love him."
"How old is he?" Mizuto asked curiously.
"Hmm... 30 or so?"
"Then, wait until you are 18. If not, then he might become a criminal."
"...it isn't so serious, right?"
"Well, he might not become a criminal, but since he is a teacher, then he might be fired from his job if someone knows your relationship, so be careful." Mizuto didn't have a right to say this, considering his relationship with Nami and Rinko, but unlike him, who was prepared, many weren't ready and fell into the abyss with no return.
In the worst case, Reina might be blackmailed like those on the hentai plot.
Reina was a beautiful girl, after all, and such a thing was possible. Moreover, he thought of her as his friend, so he hoped that she wouldn't make such a mistake.
"What's wrong?"
Still, he felt that her expression was a bit strange.
"Just... what is love?"
"....." 3x
Mizuto, Akatsuki, and Yume looked at each other helplessly, and the two girls lightly kicked his leg, hoping to solve Reina's doubt. He felt helpless, wondering why he was the one who always wiped their buttocks when he just wanted to eat and learn the French language peacefully.
"Why did you ask that question?" Mizuto asked as he continued to eat his rice.
"I mean... sometimes, I wonder whether what I feel is love or not..." Reina told him his concern.
"You are not sure?"
"How to say... I like him, but I just don't know..."
"If so, there is no need to be in a hurry, right? You have three years in high school, and love isn't everything. If you focus on love, you miss the rest, but at the same time, you should also affirm what you feel too."
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong? Why did you look at me that way?"
"Have you been in love, Irido-kun?" Reina asked curiously, causing Yume and Akatsuki to focus all of their attention on him.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I am just curious. Many girls have confessed to you, but you haven't agreed with anyone, so I wonder whether you are in love with someone."
"I see..." Mizuto nodded. "That's understandable."
"Then, are you falling in love with someone?" Reina asked.
When this question fell, it felt like the world had stopped, and somehow, the class also fell into a strange silence, waiting for his answer.
Akatsuki and Yume somehow felt like they had a cold sweat and were afraid to hear his answer, but—
"Well, it's a secret."
"..." Everyone.
The girls were helpless, but the guys were frustrated since if Mizuto hadn't made his choice, then how could they get the girls of their interest?
Reina pouted and asked, "You must have a lot of former girlfriends, right?"
"If you have time to ask such a question, hurry up and eat. The break is almost over."
Hearing his words, everyone quickly ate as they were afraid that they might not have a chance to eat their lunch.
Still, he wasn't even sure whether he was capable of falling in love, but he knew well that he felt lust, especially toward the beautiful girls, but he wouldn't say anything since he was sure that he would be slapped.
Nevertheless, his day after he had reached the maximum level of the "Lover" was quite peaceful. While some girls wanted to confess to him, he told them to wait until tomorrow since he had something to do. Frankly, rejecting was troublesome, and he didn't really want to reject a beautiful girl, but the reality was like this.
To be honest, he felt like the girls who confessed to him were selfish since they wanted to own him by themselves, but as someone who wished to achieve greatness, it was impossible for him to be owned by anyone.
Like a wild stallion on the steppe, he couldn't be tamed.
Still, unlike a stallion that could have several mares, it wasn't permissible for a human male to have a harem, so he could only move on and focus on achieving his greatness like Napoleon Bonaparte, who conquered the Iberian and Italian peninsulas.
Still, after the driving class, he wanted to visit a place to see the building that he would buy for his equity firm, but as expected, it wouldn't be easy.
"Irido-kun, it's a coincidence~!"
As he walked out of the driving school, Akatsuki came out from the dark and greeted him like it was a coincidence.
"....."
---
There is nothing we can do.