After lunch, Rika Kawasaki didn’t do as Kaoru Hoshitani had hoped by taking him home, nor did she drag him off to some dangerous place like a hotel, as he had feared.
Once again, she grabbed his hand without giving him a chance to refuse, and led him out of the upscale restaurant overlooking Ginza.
The afternoon sunlight was still blazing, and the streets were bustling with people.
They took the elevator back down to the street.
Rika Kawasaki put her arm around Kaoru Hoshitani’s waist and, holding him close, walked a short distance into the heart of Ginza, where a large complex blending shopping and entertainment stood.
Without hesitation, she made her way directly to the Movie Theater area on one of the mid-to-high floors.
Before him stretched a brightly lit ticket hall, massive movie posters hanging overhead, the air thick with the sweet scent of Popcorn. Any last shred of hope in Kaoru Hoshitani’s heart evaporated.
He was now almost one hundred percent sure: this woman was brazenly, unilaterally carrying out the full course of a “date”!
Shopping, dining, watching a movie…
Every standard item on a normal couple’s date, she checked off, imposing them all on him.
This realization struck him as both absurd and irresistible. Powerless to resist, he could only be led along like a puppet on a string.
Rika Kawasaki clearly hadn’t done any advance research on what movie to watch.
She stood before the massive digital schedule, tilting her head up as she swept her gaze across the rows of film titles, durations, and showtimes.
Her gray eyes looked casual.
Then she turned, glancing at Kaoru Hoshitani, who was half held in her arms, his head hanging low, wishing he could shrink himself out of sight.
She pointed her chin toward the screen:
“Pick one. Which do you want to watch?”
Kaoru Hoshitani had no interest in watching a movie with her.
For him, spending nearly two hours shut in a dark theater with this woman was torture in itself.
He barely lifted his head, his eyes skimming over the garish posters.
All he wanted was to get this over with as quickly as possible.
So, he pointed randomly at one of the posters—it looked fresh and cute, like an Animated Movie.
The title was 《I Want to Eat Your XX》.
Judging from the poster and the title, it seemed perfectly normal, at least not a horror or restricted film.
It probably wouldn’t be too awkward or uncomfortable.
“That… one.”
His voice was as soft as a mosquito’s.
Rika Kawasaki followed his finger, glanced at the poster, and, having no objections, walked straight over to the ticket machine to purchase tickets.
Then she went to the concession stand and bought a big bucket of golden, caramel-covered Popcorn and two cups of iced Coke.
With one hand holding the Popcorn and both drinks, she naturally, as if she had done it a thousand times, reached out with the other hand and took hold of Kaoru Hoshitani’s cool palm, leading him with the crowd into the dimly lit theater.
The seats were packed, mostly with young couples or groups of friends.
The lights dimmed, the giant screen lit up, and the movie began.
At first, Kaoru Hoshitani tried his best to stay guarded and aloof, sitting stiffly in his seat and staring straight ahead at the screen, forcing himself to focus entirely on the plot and ignore the woman at his side.
Rika Kawasaki didn’t do anything inappropriate; she only occasionally offered him the bucket of Popcorn or, when the story moved him, brought the straw of his Coke to his lips.
But as the plot unfolded, what had seemed a lighthearted Animated Movie revealed itself as a deep story of life, death, companionship, and farewell.
Genuine emotions, delicate depictions, moving music, and a final, unavoidable, regret-filled ending…
All of it struck precisely at the softest part of Kaoru Hoshitani’s heart.
Before he realized it, his eyes began to heat and sting. Hot tears welled up without warning and slid down his pale cheeks.
At first, he tried to suppress them, wiping at his face with the back of his hand.
But the sadness surged like a flood, and soon he couldn’t help but sob softly, his thin shoulders trembling under the dim light.
At that moment, an arm stretched over and gently drew him into a warm embrace.
Rika Kawasaki said nothing comforting, only patted his back with an unusual gentleness.
Her chin rested on the top of his head, feeling his warm tears seep through the fabric over her chest.
After a while, she bent down and softly kissed away the tears at the corner of his eyes, her actions tinged with a rare, almost pitying tenderness.
Immersed in sorrow and worn out, Kaoru Hoshitani didn’t resist at all. He even instinctively leaned further into that familiar embrace, as if seeking a brief haven from the storm.
When the movie ended and the lights came up, the audience began to file out. Only then did Kaoru Hoshitani’s emotions gradually settle.
He found himself being half-led, half-carried by Rika Kawasaki out of the theater, through the throngs of people, until he was once again seated in the passenger seat of the bright blue Supercar.
Only then did he fully come back to himself.
The car interior was dim, lit only by the bluish glow from the dashboard.
Kaoru Hoshitani kept his head down, his eyes red and swollen from crying, the tip of his nose also red.
His throat, hoarse and dry from all the crying, made his voice sound rough.
“Where… are you going now?”
He asked in a feeble voice, still not daring to look at the woman beside him.
The memory of losing control in the theater and actually crying in this woman’s arms made him want to crawl into a hole. A nameless panic also rose up in his heart.
He was already twenty years old—how could he have bawled like that over an Animated Movie? He’d really embarrassed himself now…
Who would have thought that, at twenty, he could cry so miserably at a movie, and that he’d even let this blonde woman hold him without resistance just now…
Rika Kawasaki didn’t reply immediately. She simply turned sideways, elbow propped on the window, looking at the small man in the passenger seat who had buried his head as low as it could go.
In the dim light, the deep red kiss mark on his neck was still clearly visible.
Her gaze lingered there for a few seconds before she finally spoke, her voice carrying an almost unnoticeable trace of amusement:
“Where to next? If we’re following the usual date process, we’ve walked around, eaten, watched a movie, so next should be…”
Kaoru Hoshitani’s ears instantly flushed bright red. His fingers curled nervously, digging into the leather seat as he struggled to say,
“Take me home!”
But, to Kaoru Hoshitani’s surprise, after hearing his tear-choked and desperate plea, Rika Kawasaki didn’t respond with any of her usual malicious teasing or forceful tactics.
She merely turned her head. Those gray eyes, in the dim car, stayed for a few seconds on his tear-streaked face, their meaning impossible to read.
Then, she surprisingly—and almost briskly—agreed:
“Alright.”
She turned back, eyes on the road ahead, fingers tapping the steering wheel, her voice flat and unreadable,
“Then let’s go home.”
“……”
Kaoru Hoshitani was stunned, forgetting even to cry, simply staring at her sharply defined profile with wide, red, tear-filled eyes, dazed and incredulous.
The heart that had been pounding wildly with fear and despair now felt as if it had been paused by this sudden, unexpectedly smooth answer.
It was immediately replaced by a deeper, more confusing unease.
He’d already steeled himself for the worst, convinced that there was no way he’d escape being dragged by this blonde woman to a hotel or somewhere else, subject to even harsher “punishment.”
He’d pictured countless tragic possibilities and his own feeble, futile resistance.
But to his utter disbelief, Rika Kawasaki had made this completely uncharacteristic—almost “merciful”—move.
Instead of relief, this abnormal smoothness only made him more tense, as if he’d stepped onto a sheet of ice that looked solid but might conceal an abyss beneath.
A colder, sharper wariness instantly seized him.
There’s always a catch when something feels off. How could this devilish woman let him go so easily?
But what could he do?
Question her? Fight back? Demand she put it in writing or swear an oath?
He knew all that would be useless, maybe even provoke her and make things worse.
He was just like a mouse caught in a cat’s paw—temporarily not eaten, but unable to escape—curled up in the Supercar’s passenger seat, which, for all its comfort, felt like a cage, shrinking himself as small as possible, as if that could lessen his presence.
Turning his head, he stared blankly out the window at the rapidly shifting scenery, neon brilliance gradually giving way to the shadowy streets of residential neighborhoods.
Those unfamiliar buildings, rows of trees, and streetlights all seemed shrouded in ominous shadow.
He could only squeeze his eyes shut, almost reverently, and pray silently, over and over, that the destination would truly be his small, familiar apartment—the only safe haven where Aina waited for him…
Yet, twenty minutes later, as the low growl of the Supercar’s engine slowed and finally fell silent, what Kaoru Hoshitani saw outside the window was nothing like his familiar old apartment building, nor any neighborhood he recognized.
The car had driven into an exceptionally quiet, orderly Luxury Villa District.
Broad streets lined with meticulously trimmed shrubs and lush, rare trees, evenly spaced vintage street lamps casting pools of warm yellow light, illuminating a series of architecturally unique, private Villas—each radiating luxury and exclusivity.
Even the air seemed stiller, filled with the mingled scent of greenery and money.
Rika Kawasaki maneuvered the eye-catching bright blue Supercar through the labyrinthine, silent roads with practiced ease, finally coming to a stop in front of a Villa that looked modern, built of dark gray stone and vast panes of glass.
The yard before the Villa was impeccably maintained. A few recessed ground lights traced the pathways and plants, the whole building crouched in the night like a silent, sleek, cold beast.
The engine cut off, plunging the cabin into silence. Only the air conditioner’s faint hum broke the stillness.
“All right. Get out.”
Rika Kawasaki unbuckled her seatbelt, the metal latch making a crisp “click” that rang out in the quiet.
She turned to the man in the passenger seat, who looked as if he’d turned to stone.
The corners of her mouth involuntarily curled upward, forming a smile full of wicked amusement and dominance.
In the darkness, her gray eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of a predator that had just caught its prey.
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