As Yuu struggled, she eventually didn't lock the door and called his name softly to wake him up from reading.
"Mizuto."
"Thank you, Yuu." Mizuto stopped reading and looked at Yuu, who brought a tray filled with a cup of tea and some pastries he had bought on his way earlier. As for why he brought pastries? Before he went to visit her, he saw a new bakery had just opened, and he decided to buy some, as they seemed delicious.
Naturally, he meant the pastries and the bread.
The word "delicious," which he mentioned above, wasn't meant for the owner of this new bakery.
Yet, he had to say, there were so many gentle and virtuous housewives around his neighborhood, which made him troubled.
"It's okay. You bought bread for us after all."
As Mizuto brought pastries and bread, Yuu's mother and grandmother quickly told her to stay with him. It could be said that his treatment was as good as a VIP customer in her bookstore.
Well, he was also a customer and often bought a lot of books, though.
Still, compared to the others, there was no doubt that Yuu's family treated him better.
Yet, this was normal, especially when he often visited her house, had a good relationship with her family, and gave them some souvenirs when he went on a trip or treats when he saw something delicious.
No doubt Yuu's family wished Yuu wed him, but he knew that it was hard, especially when he wasn't sure whether Yuu would agree to be with him, considering his situation and all.
However, except for learning the Russian language, there was also another purpose for him to visit Yuu, and it was to settle everything.
This might be sudden, and there wasn't even a reminder when he decided to do it, yet when he thought about how he had been kissing and touching her, he knew that this was the only natural course of action that he had to take.
Yes, he might be rejected, and she might be hurt, but it was still better than when he decided to do this when he had taken her virginity. The mistake he made with Reina at that time had to be stopped with Reina, and he was going to make it right with Yuu.
Still, he had to say Yuu had the potential to become an existence like the housewife in the bakery that he visited earlier.
Yuu's casual dress was a white T-shirt and black shorts, showing the whiteness of her body from her arms to her thighs. She might be on the slender side, but her body was undoubtedly feminine and soft.
Mizuto could assure that as he often hugged her.
Yet, at the same time, he lamented that modern fashion often exposed the female body. Even though Yuu's dress was casual, it appeared suggestive in his eyes.
While he admitted that his opinion was all due to his degenerate nature, he was sure that some people would agree with him.
Instead of a risque dress that often caused one's blood to boil, simple, comfortable clothes usually worked like an assassin. It was dangerous, and one opening would lead to big trouble, like what happened to him, Akatsuki, and Reina on their trip to the Ise-Shima.
"Pervert."
"...sorry."
Yuu chuckled and felt helpless, but she didn't admonish him because she knew what kind of man he was. Moreover, while it was strange, seeing his flaming, glowing eyes made her body giddy and her heart happy.
On his side, there were many beautiful girls and women, yet here he was with her, showing his greed toward her lips and body, which made her body grow fiery from time to time.
Yuu knew that she shouldn't think of this, but sometimes, she touched herself as she thought of him holding her tightly—
"Pervert."
"....."
Yuu fell in silence as her face grew hot as Mizuto called her a "pervert," but there was only one thing she could do.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
Watching his smile, Yuu wanted to beat this guy up!
After all, who made her like this?!
Yet, she only let out a helpless sigh and said, "By the way, thanks for the pastries."
"No problem."
To make someone happy, there was no need to buy something expensive.
A simple good food was enough.
Mizuto knew that, and that was why he often brought food to his women. Moreover, it was quite hard for one to accept an expensive gift due to the price, but the food was different as they were cheap, so those who received the gifts wouldn't hesitate.
Naturally, this can't be done every day. Instead, it had to be done in surprise at the unexpected time so the effect could be more powerful.
Still, being given a gift, no matter what kind of person they were, everyone would be happy, but at the same time, it had to be done in moderation as being desperate was the biggest turn-off.
Nevertheless, they smiled and bantered as usual before Yuu sat by his side naturally. While she might not have noticed, she was already so comfortable by his side that she had never thought to maintain a distance from him, even if their skin touched.
Regardless, a habit was a scary thing.
Being kissed and hugged by him made Yuu feel like this was something natural, even though it wasn't appropriate for the opposite gender to be close like this, especially when they were just a "friend."
"I have never asked you before, but what is this... by the way, what's the title of the novel again?"
"It's Anna Karenina."
"Yeah, what is it about?"
"It's about a cheating housewife who receives karma and commits suicide."
"....."
Yuu's question was light-mannered, and she definitely asked him with a hint of a joke, but as expected, Mizuto's answer made her silent and killed all the ambiguous atmosphere between them.
After all, what kind of book was this guy reading?!
Yuu was helpless and asked, "Is it fun?"
"It's fun."
"Really?" Yuu looked at Mizuto in doubt.
"Try to read a translation novel."
Mizuto knew this might be strange, but as a reader, he felt like a God who watched over all the characters.
Their foolishness, idiocy, witness, sadness, happiness, and everything.
While those characters experienced all that, Mizuto just watched over them from above like a God, which made reading interesting.
Still, this was his opinion, and he definitely wouldn't say it out loud because he was sure that someone would say he was such a delusional guy.
Yet, a man had always been a boy.
In their childhood, many men would dream of becoming the strongest or even the conqueror.
Yet, reality broke them apart.
However, Mizuto's future was already determined to become great, so even if what he said was nonsense, as long as it came out of his mouth, it would undoubtedly become a quote for the future generation to learn.
"I will try it." You nodded, feeling a bit curious about the dark story. "But why did you want to learn Russian?"
"I can't?"
"No, it surprised me. That's all."
You knew that Mizuto was a genius, and she wasn't surprised that Mizuto had mastered the French language, but among all the languages that he could learn after that, she wondered why he had learned Russian.
"Well..." Mizuto thought for a moment and didn't really want to say that he wanted to learn this language for his future business, so—
"Because I am curious about a famous figure in Russia, so I decided to choose this language to learn next."
"Oh? Who?" Yuu became curious.
"Rasputin."
"...Rasputin?" Yuu was in doubt and asked, "Who is that?"
"Russia's greatest love machine."
"....."
"...what?"
Mizuto smiled and thought for a while, wondering how to explain Rasputin. "He is... how to say... a cult leader."
"Cult leader?!" Yuu's lips twitched, and naturally, she didn't have a good impression of a cult, especially when a cult had always been connected to craziness and some negatives.
Yet, this was natural, especially when this country had been attacked by a cult previously.
Still, with how hard the lives of the people in this country were, it was easy for them to be affected by a cult.
If the cult was great and taught the rightness, then it was okay, but the problem was... let's stop this.
Yet, even so, there was no doubt that Rasputin was one of the most famous figures in Russia.
Yes, there should be many people that Mizuto should respect instead of this cult leader, but there was no doubt that this "Mad Monk" was amazing.
After all, in the Russian Empire, where the social class was so extreme, it was amazing that a regular peasant could grow into the shadow ruler of one of the largest Empires.
Other famous figures might exist, but all of them had a great background, such as being nobles or members of the military.
However, only Rasputin could grow into someone who could control the Empire and even one of the figures that was involved in World War 1 from an ordinary peasant.
So, Rasputin was undoubtedly a figure worthy of learning about, even if he wasn't a good example.
As for the title of Russia's greatest love machine?
Mizuto knew that this wasn't a lie, especially when one part of Rasputin's body was preserved in the museum.
When Mizuto saw this part of the body, he understood why Rasputin got such a title.
Under his explanation, Yuu also understood why Mizuto wanted to learn about Rasputin, but as expected, this person was definitely not something that one should discuss when visiting a girl with whom one was close.
The loving and fluffy mood had all disappeared.
Yuu could only sigh helplessly as she didn't really want to learn about Rasputin, and Mizuto also didn't intend to tell Yuu that much since, unlike him, who could learn the goodness of someone and throw away the badness of someone, it was different from others.
Moreover, Yuu didn't have an interest in Rasputin, so Mizuto didn't say much.
Nevertheless, after that strange conversation, the two quietly sat down to eat the bread and pastries he had bought.
"Where did you buy it?" Yuu asked as she ate "melon pan" with her tiny mouth, thinking that it was delicious.
"It's a new bakery. I will bring you there in the future."
"Yeah." Yuu smiled as she watched him reading and eating his croissant. It was strange, she thought. They had just talked about something weird, nothing romantic, yet when they stayed quiet like this as they read the book quietly, the ambiguous atmosphere started to grow between them once again.
Like a withered flower in the winter, it bloomed beautifully in the spring.
It was like that, Yuu thought.
Mizuto also noticed this, and even if he had been talking a lot of nonsense, Yuu leaned her head on him, and when he looked at her, she also looked at her.
When their eyes were locked, Yuu knew what Mizuto had planned to do, but—
"Yuu."
"Hmm?"
Yuu's voice was so gentle, looking at him so gently that it was like a gaze full of affection, and probably whatever Mizuto asked, she would probably agree, yet she had never expected this.
"I have girlfriends."
---
By the way, I have edited the auxiliary chapters and added all the characters that exist in the story.