The next day, Yume returned to school in full health. Naturally, many were worried about her and asked about her condition, wondering whether she was okay.
"Thank you for worrying about me, but I am fine."
Her answer was flawless, like an image of a perfect girl in high school.
Whether Mizuto, Akatsuki, or Reina, all of them rolled their eyes, but no one said anything since this was normal. There was an outside and inside image. When they were on the outside, they were different when they were in the place where they were most comfortable.
However, this was normal since one needed to be different when faced with different types of people.
If one wanted to argue, he would say, "Did you treat your boss the same way as you treat your friend?"
Some deadbeat employees or those who had been fired might have said so, but let's ignore those things.
While one's essence might not change, from the essence, branches grew like a single tree, giving us many different gestures, attitudes, and ways of life as we grew older and faced many things in life.
Still, after the return of Yume, the days passed peacefully without any troubles for him. Everything was peaceful, and he continued to grow his capital, ready to start his acquisition soon.
Similarly, in the relationship, everything was also peaceful for him.
Whether it was Yume, Akatsuki, or Nami, none of them caused him trouble.
This might seem strange, but Yume stayed with him every day, so there was no need to worry about her.
Meanwhile, Akatsuki was excited about the trip that they would be taking on Friday.
As for Nami?
As one's body grew older, it was impossible for one to be fit all the time.
There might be a Chinese saying known as, "Thirty is like a wolf, and forty is like a tiger," which says that women in their 30s and 40s have become wild and indulgent in their sexual needs.
Yet, the reality couldn't work that way.
In reality, every day couldn't be smooth all the time, and the work mostly took the time of most adults, so when they went home, they would either sleep or rest.
As a teacher, Nami also needed to take care of her students and the placement test that would be held at the end of the month. Nevertheless, as a woman, there was no doubt that she missed a companion, especially when she had just finished her divorce. Yet, there was no doubt that their identity restricted them, and it was impossible for them to appear like a normal couple.
So, Nami often told him that if possible, she wished to be with him at least once a week.
More was fine, too.
Nevertheless, Mizuto never thought much of Nami as the origin of their relationship wasn't pure. However, she got emotional with him and wished he would give her his heart, which was impossible to do.
Frankly, he wondered whether there was even someone who would make him say that he would give his everything.
Yet, even if such a woman didn't exist, he wasn't troubled either since he found his ambition was more fun to achieve.
His view toward a woman was just a flavor and spice in his life along the way to increase his experience to level up his system.
There was no doubt that he was using them, but he felt like as long as he could treat them better than most people, he felt that was okay.
Even if we didn't want to admit it, as it might make the relationship appear impure, the relationship was like a transaction. Naturally, if one wanted to have a healthy relationship, the two people needed to serve each other, giving their all to their partner instead of one giving and the other just receiving.
Nevertheless, the women he had been with gave their everything to him, but while he couldn't give his everything, he could give some of his to them.
Still, as Friday came, Mizuto, who walked out from the driving school, was greeted by Akatsuki in her usual way.
"It's a coincidence, Mizuto-kun~!"
"....."
Mizuto looked at Akatsuki, who came out from the dark as she greeted him so suddenly. Even though this wasn't his first time, and she had done this many times, he could feel that his heart was still beating so fast due to scare and surprise.
Frankly, he knew that he could solve this problem by choosing a job that could give him self-protection-like skills, but there were many jobs that he wanted to choose instead of those types of things.
Moreover, he had the "Brainwash" skill, which was easy to use.
If this wasn't enough, he could buy a weapon from the "Store" skill since, at this moment, in his inventory, he had an AK47, RPG, and many other things. Moreover, he also bought a group of powerful professional bodyguards from the "Store" skill.
If he had enough money, he would buy his own satellite so it could help him monitor his safety.
There were many other things too, but as expected, like the satellite, it was too expensive, so he decided to postpone it until he got the money.
See?
With money, his safety was almost guaranteed.
"Haha..."
Still watching Akatsuki laugh, Mizuto pinched her soft cheek.
"Sorry~! Sorry~! I won't do it again~!"
As she apologized with a smile, he wondered how her small mouth could swallow his erection.
"Pervert."
"...how did you know?"
"I am not sure, but I can just tell."
Mizuto sighed, which made Akatsuki smile and linked her arm against his. "So, where are we going to stay?" Still, he glanced at her and saw that she wasn't in her usual uniform but casual clothing. She wore a sleeveless top with a cute white ribbon on the necklace area, which she tucked inside her short skirt and a cute leather bag. Nevertheless, her hairstyle was the same, but he had to say a ponytail was really suitable for her.
"Wh-What is it?" Akatsuki knew that Mizuto was looking at her clothes. While she knew that she was cute, she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous as she thought that he didn't like her style.
"No, when I thought about it, I realized that it might be my first time to see you in your casual clothes."
"Now that you mentioned it..." Akatsuki also realized it, but then she asked him nervously, "So... what do you think?"
Mizuto laughed when he heard her question.
"Why did you laugh?!" Akatsuki pouted at his reaction.
"No, I just didn't expect that you would be concerned about those things."
"Huh? Isn't it normal? I love you." Akatsuki puffed her cheeks. "I mean, isn't it normal for me to wish to know whether the man that I love likes my clothes or not?"
"...."
Mizuto blinked his eyes and felt a little embarrassed. "Even if I don't tell you, you should know, right?"
"Of course not! I am not an esper! I can't read your mind!"
While he was helpless, he said sincerely, "You are cute, Akatsuki."
Watching her start to smile and blush shyly, yet still trying to appear as if she wasn't convinced by his words, Mizuto thought that a woman really loved to make a drama.
"Really~? Which part do you like the most~?"
Mizuto rolled his eyes when she acted like this, but he didn't mind playing around.
"Your smile is cute. Your current clothes are cute. Your ponytail is cute. Your bashful face is cute. Your reddened ears are cute. Your slightly bulging chest is cute. Anyway, you are the cutest."
Mizuto knew that his words were quite embarrassing, but as someone who was destined to achieve a great thing, this was nothing.
"...the slightly bulging chest is unnecessary, right?"
"It's important for me."
"...pervert."
Akatsuki sounded so helpless, but she never let him go, clinging so tightly against his arm. Still, as she followed him, she realized that they were on their way to Oike Street, which they had gone to before, but she had never thought that this would be their destination. Instead, she thought they would go on the most famous street in Kyoto.
"Are we going to Kawaramachi?"
She wondered whether the hotel location was in Kawaramachi.
"No, we're going to Oike Street, a place where we were before."
"Huh? What are we going to do there?" Akatsuki was confused since that place was a business district where most of the famous companies in Kyoto were located.
Still, like usual, Mizuto always seemed to try to appear mysterious, which made her pout, but she was obedient and kept trying to find where they would stay as she listed famous hotels on the Kawaramachi one by one.
Yet, unexpectedly—
"What's wrong?" Mizuto looked at Akatsuki, who fell into a daze, and said, "Come in."
"....."
Yet, how could Akatsuki not be in a daze?
After all, they were about to enter the main building of "The Dipper."