"What's wrong with everyone?" Mizuto asked Yoshino in a whisper.
"We-Well... it might be my first time bringing a guy here..." When Yoshino realized it, she realized it was the first time she had brought a guy with her!
Or rather, she realized that it was her first time to be with a guy who wasn't even part of her family!
She was startled by this revelation, then looked at Mizuto, causing her to blush before shaking her head. Due to her family situation, she had never had a boyfriend or even experienced being approached, as they were too scared to do so. Moreover, her beauty was also intimidating, which made the guys in Osaka move far away.
Mizuto was her first, and besides being handsome, talking with him was strangely comfortable. She had never felt this way, she thought, and this made her giddy and nervous for some reason.
"Wow, Yoshino-chan, did you get a boyfriend?"
"How handsome! If I am 20 years younger, I will steal you from Yoshino-chan!"
"Ah... are you interested in a woman in her 30s?"
Suddenly, all the females, even the proprieties of the okonomiyaki restaurant, became curious and tried to approach him.
Mizuto's lips twitched, and he knew that this was the price of being too handsome, which made him helpless. Still, while he might appear troubled when those middle-aged women tried to touch him, he didn't lose his focus and glanced at the group of middle-aged men on the corner, which made him frown when he glanced at Yoshino.
Who was this girl?
He felt that this was troublesome, so he used his power, and the group of middle-aged men who took their smartphones also stopped what they were about to do and just looked at the group of middle-aged women who wanted to molest him.
Yes, he was about to be molested again, but this was a price that he had to pay. Frankly, he didn't want to, especially when this group of women wasn't that good-looking, and they had a funky appearance, with colorful curly hairstyles and leopard-printed clothes, and were quite overweight. They were totally different from Nami, who was beautiful and had a bombastic body.
"Wait a moment! Wait a moment! Don't scare him! Stop! Stop!"
Fortunately, Yoshino reacted fast, but she also felt speechless by Mizuto's popularity. "Obaa-chan, is the private room free?"
"Yes, you can just go there."
"Okay, we will be there! We will also order a special one with rice!" With those words, Yoshino pulled him to the 2nd floor of the shop. "Come on, Mizuto!"
"Oh-oh..." Mizuto, who was helpless, also followed Yoshino, but as expected, someone touched his buttocks, which made him move faster!
"Okay!" The proprietress nodded, then looked at Mizuto longingly.
The rest was the same, but when they thought about Yoshino's identity, they could only sigh helplessly.
Meanwhile, Mizuto and Yoshino had already entered the private room on the 2nd floor. Unlike the 1st floor, which was wide, and everyone could sit anywhere they wanted to, on the 2nd floor, there were several rooms with each of them, including a table with a grilling in the middle and two benches that faced each other.
When the two sat, they sighed in relief as if they had escaped from the disaster.
"They are like zombies who saw living beings!"
"You say that again." Mizuto was also helpless at how enthusiastic the women at Osaka were. Still, suddenly, he realized that there was a paper in his hand, which was filled with an email and home address, which made him speechless.
"What's wrong?" Yoshino asked, then followed the direction of his eyes before her lips twitched. "What are you doing, Tanaka-san?! Do you want to cheat on your husband?!"
"Shh! Shh!" Mizuto was speechless by how loud Yoshino's voice was. "Be quiet. I don't want more trouble."
Yoshino was also helpless, then she asked, "What are you going to do with Tanaka-san?"
"What do you want me to do with a married woman?" Mizuto rolled his eyes. If the married woman was beautiful, he might not have hesitated, but when he thought of Tanaka-san's whale-like body, he decided not to do anything.
Hearing his answer, Yoshino also sighed in relief and happiness before she apologized, "I hope that you are not going to be afraid to visit Osaka in the future."
"It's okay. I have gotten used to being picked up."
"...." Yoshino fell in silence for a while, then asked, "Just... a question... how many people have tried to pick you up?"
"I stop counting after ten."
"...." Yoshino.
"But it seems you are so famous too, Yoshino-san." Mizuto curiously looked at Yoshino.
Hearing his words, Yoshino suddenly became troubled as she was afraid to tell him about her identity. She knew well that her identity was the thing that made her unable to find a boyfriend until now. While she didn't care much, she would be lying if she didn't have an interest in love, especially when suddenly, all of a sudden, a prince came into her life.
Yoshino might not have thought anything from the beginning and never had the conscience of it, but when those middle-aged women said that Mizuto was her boyfriend, she felt like... it wasn't bad at all if she had him as a boyfriend.
Yes, it might be fast, but it was her first time to have someone who wasn't a yakuza or a gangster to be so close to her, and she didn't hate him. She had talked with him for a while and felt like it wouldn't be bad to try, yet if she told him about her identity, wouldn't he be afraid to approach her?
Hesitating, she wondered what kind of answer she should give him when he asked about her identity, yet strangely, she didn't hear the question that had been haunting her from his lips.
"What's wrong?" Mizuto was confused by Yoshino's expression.
"...you are not going to ask?"
"You mean, why are you popular?"
"Um." Yoshino nodded and was about to say her identity, but when she hesitated, he said, "Isn't it because you are beautiful?"
"....." Yoshino blinked her eyes as she stared at him.
"What's wrong? Why do you keep staring at me like this?"
"Er... you think that I am popular because I am beautiful?"
"You are not?"
Yoshino fell into silence and blushed. She might have heard her family say that she was cute many times, but it was the first time she had heard someone other than her family say that to her.
However, Mizuto became even more confused as to why this girl suddenly blushed when he said that she was cute. Was it so rare for her beauty to be praised? He also felt like he didn't do anything wrong since she was beautiful; what was wrong with praising her for it? It was like watching beautiful scenery from nature; it was the same principle.
Still, her answer surprised him.
"No, I am not." While Yoshino was blushing and felt shy, she didn't lose her calm, and she also knew that her identity made it hard for her to be accepted by others. If there was someone who could accept her, it would be another gangster or yakuza, so—
"...I am the granddaughter of a famous yakuza leader in Kansai Region." Yoshino had a good feeling towards Mizuto, but if he didn't have a good feeling toward her family, then it was impossible for them to be together. She knew that her family's identity might not be accepted by society, but even so, they were still her family.
If he couldn't accept that fact, then she might as well stop this feeling so she wouldn't have expectations and be hurt in the end. She was being realistic, and compared to love, she leaned toward her family more.
"Oh."
That was his answer.
Yoshino blinked her eyes, then asked unsurely, "...is that it?"
"Do you want me to have a stronger reaction or be scared?"
"Um."
"Will they threaten me to not approach you?"
"No."
"Will they kill me if I have to eat food like this?"
"No."
"Are they bloodthirsty killers that will kill anyone?"
"No." Yoshino was speechless by his questions and quickly fixed the misunderstanding. "Like you and many others, they are just trying to live, but they choose this path. Yes, society might not see them in a good light, but they are my family, and I assure you that they won't do anything that will harm you or your family."
"Okay."
"...." Yoshino was speechless by his lukewarm reaction.
"I know that they are your family, and everyone has their own story. More importantly, I know that they aren't bad."
"...why can't you be so sure?" Yoshino became confused by his confidence and could tell that they weren't bad people.
"It's because of you," Mizuto said.
"...me?" Yoshino even became confused.
"You are a kind and gentle girl. You decided to help me when I was lost and attacked by a group of Obaa-san. If your family is a bad people, then it is impossible for you to grow into such a girl, right?" Mizuto sincerely looked at Yoshino and said, "You don't need to worry. I won't misunderstand your family."
With those words, the door of the private room was knocked, and the proprieties came along with their orders. "Two special okonomiyaki with rice are coming!"
"Thanks," Mizuto said politely, but he didn't realize Yoshino was staring at him with a shy blush.
---
Have you read "Raise wa Tanin ga Ii" from Asuka Konishi?
It is quite a good manga. You should try it.