[Anyway… even if you add it all up, it’s not even ten minutes…]
Beneath the covers, Kaoru Hoshitani’s muffled voice echoed in his heart, heavy with infinite grievance and a hint of stubbornness.
Of course, Aina Saiten couldn’t hear her boyfriend’s grumbling from inside the blanket.
But just from the way Kaoru Hoshitani had his back to her, cocooned in the comforter like a silkworm, she knew clearly he was, at this moment, feeling a bit dissatisfied and let down.
But there really was nothing else she could do—the interview was looming.
She could only sigh inwardly, then climb back onto the bed, bending over to find exactly where her boyfriend’s head was, pressing a loving, lingering kiss through the soft fabric.
She felt him stiffen slightly underneath, and caught a trace of subtle, almost imperceptible longing.
Softening her voice, she spoke gently to the “blanket cocoon,” her tone promising and soothing:
“Kaoru, be good, okay? I’ll make it up to you properly tonight, I promise. But I really have to go now.”
Then, she straightened up, smoothing out her blazer and the hem of her shirt, both rumpled from their earlier intimacy, and brushed away the creases.
She bent to pick up the Resignation Letter—the cause of the recent commotion—folded it neatly, and slipped it back into a compartment of her black briefcase, making sure the zipper was secure.
Finally, she picked up her bag, glanced back at the unmoving figure on the bed, still facing away from her, and only then did she turn, the crisp clack of her high heels echoing on the floor as she strode out the door and quietly locked it behind her.
As the clear “click” of the door locking sounded, the rigid figure of Kaoru Hoshitani, wrapped in the blanket, seemed to suddenly come to life.
He immediately flung off the covers, gulped a few breaths of fresh air, then, clutching the comforter, began to roll back and forth across the soft, spacious double bed like a child deprived of his favorite toy—rolling from one end to the other, his black hair turning into a tousled mess.
As he rolled, he buried his burning face into the pillow still lingering with his girlfriend’s scent, and, voice thick with nasal grievance, repeatedly mumbled to himself in a low voice, cursing his girlfriend:
“Stupid Aina… I hate you, Aina… Aina, you’re a big idiot… You just don’t understand at all… Big idiot…”
His slender, pale fingers unconsciously clutched the bedsheet beneath him, leaving shallow wrinkles behind.
But no matter how quietly he grumbled about his girlfriend—who was, in some ways, clearly a little slow, or perhaps simply too burdened by the pressures of reality—none of that could change one simple fact—
Right now, deep inside his body, and somewhere secret in his heart, there lingered a faint, indescribable itch.
The lingering excitement aroused by his girlfriend’s teasing, then abruptly halted, left him with a hollow restlessness, as if countless tiny feathers were gently tickling him, making him feel unsettled.
[Maybe… while it’s still… just me…]
A vague, tempting thought flitted into his mind, and he even remembered the Secret Weapon he’d hidden deep in the wardrobe.
But as soon as that thought surfaced, a wave of guilt followed right after.
He shook his head hard, as if to shake the idea away.
[No… Aina… she’s working so hard, rushing around outside, even hiding the pressure of interviewing for a tougher job from me—she’s doing it all for our little home, so that I can have an easier, better life in the future. She’s already under enough pressure.]
He tried to find reasons for his girlfriend in his heart, trying to convince himself.
[Could it be that Aina doesn’t want to be with me, doesn’t want to be close? Of course she wants to, but reality just doesn’t allow it…]
Kaoru Hoshitani questioned and comforted himself like this.
Honestly, he was confident in his charm as a man—his looks, his appeal to his girlfriend.
The passionate gazes and enthusiastic embraces from his girlfriend were never fake.
Looking at himself, it really wasn’t right to be so petty and dissatisfied over her momentary “absence” made for their long-term future. He shouldn’t be so selfish.
[Forget it… Just hold on a little longer, just until tonight… Aina will be back soon… She said she’d make it up to me…]
With his trust and love for his girlfriend, Kaoru Hoshitani forced himself to suppress the restlessness and longing stirred up inside, calming the ripples of unease little by little, until it was smooth once more.
He lay quietly on the bed a while longer, waiting for his heartbeat and breathing to completely settle, before finally getting up to start his day.
By around four in the afternoon, the sunlight outside had softened.
He tidied up his mood, changed into neat casual clothes, fixed his slightly messy hair in the mirror until there was no trace of earlier emotions, picked up his backpack, and headed out to the Kawasaki Family Izakaya to begin his shift.
But the closer he got to the familiar streets near the izakaya, the heavier and more evasive his mood became.
Ever since that frightening incident at the shop… and since, in the chaos and vulnerability, he and Rika Kawasaki had somehow—perhaps even half-forced—shared that kiss, Kaoru Hoshitani had consciously begun to avoid her.
Whenever he remembered that aggressive kiss, tinged with tobacco and danger, and how he’d blanked out, unable to push her away in time, a surge of guilt would fill his heart.
After all, he already had his beloved girlfriend, Aina Saiten, whom he treasured deeply.
No matter the reason, kissing another woman felt, to him, like a betrayal—a stain on their relationship.
But people are always a bit self-serving and good at self-justification.
After calming down, alone, Kaoru Hoshitani would sometimes quietly try to justify his actions.
For example, he’d been in shock, mind in a daze, unable to react properly—his body had been frozen, too.
Or, he’d think, if only Aina hadn’t been too drunk to show up and protect him in time, making him face such a predicament alone—maybe none of what followed, including that kiss, would have happened…
But as soon as this thought surfaced, he would quickly suppress it, feeling it was unfair to Aina.
Still, no matter how he rationalized it, Kaoru Hoshitani’s moral bottom line was clear—he absolutely couldn’t let something like that happen again.
He had to stay loyal to his girlfriend.
Although deep down, he didn’t believe that Miss Kawasaki, who’d forcibly kissed him, was some irredeemable villain—after all, she had saved him at his most desperate moment.
Maybe she’d just lost control of herself in the heat of the moment, overwhelmed by emotion or something else. It was a momentary impulse.
But he was determined, and didn’t want Miss Kawasaki to misunderstand because of that unexpected kiss—to think there was a chance for something beyond mere colleagues, or even friends, and to keep tangling with him.
He didn’t want to send any wrong signals, nor did he want to fall into a complicated love triangle.
That’s why, in the days that followed, Kaoru Hoshitani chose to avoid Rika Kawasaki as much as possible—steering clear of being alone with her, minimizing unnecessary eye contact and out-of-work interactions, deliberately maintaining a safe physical and psychological distance between them.
He hoped that awkward, boundary-crossing event would quietly fade with time—better yet, be deliberately forgotten by both of them, as if it had never happened, and everything could return to its simple, straightforward path.