L'Amant

"So... you're Mashiro's editor?"

When Shishio asked this question, he observed Shiina's editor closely and noticed a silver ring on the fourth finger from the right on her left hand.

Without a doubt, this woman had married, which surprised him.

It had always been Shishio's rule not to attack a married woman, but if he was attacked, then it was a different matter.

Shishio sat on the inner side of the table with Shiina sitting next to him. He looked at Shiina's editor and asked uncomfortably.

They sat at a table in the corner since Shiina's editor had been sitting on this table.

Shishio didn't have a problem with this table, but he had a problem with the grown-up man who sat next to Shiina's editor amiably as if he was their close friend.

"Yes, my name is Ayano Iida." Ayano gave out her name card to Shishio as she stood up with a gentle smile.

"I see..." Shishio wasn't in a good mood and only glanced at Ayano's name card for a moment before he looked away. After knowing this woman was from his company, he wondered whether he should greet his people to teach this insolence woman some manners.

"Is it alright for a stranger to join our conversation?"

Even though Shishio didn't mention who this person was, the people who sat at the table knew who he meant.

"Oh, right, I haven't introduced you." Ayano tapped her forehead and patted the shoulder of the man. "This is Masaki Kobayashi. He's the owner of this cafe."

"Geez..." Masaki pouted and complained, "Ayano-chan, how many times do I need to tell you to call me Marie!"

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot." Ayano only laughed and didn't seem to care about Masaki's complaint.

"You can call me Marie. As you can see, I'm a woman who is trapped in a man's body. Nice to meet you two." Masaki introduced himself as he looked at Shiina and Shishio, but he glanced at Shishio.

"......" Shishio rolled his eyes when he heard Masaki's introduction.

"Shiina Mashiro." Shiina's introduction was so simple.

"I see." Masaki nodded with a smile and asked, "Can I call you, Mashiro-chan? You can also call me Marie."

"Okay." Shiina nodded and looked at Masaki with interest since it was her first time seeing a woman trapped in a man's body.

"So..."

The three of them then glanced at Shishio, waiting for his introduction.

Shishio sighed and reluctantly said, "Shishio Oga."

"Ah, what a manly name!" Masaki was even happier when he heard Shishio's name.

"Okay, let me be blunt. Kobayashi-san, wasn't it?" Shishio couldn't handle it anymore and knew that he needed to be straight with this man.

"Ah, please call me Marie!" Masaki said in a coquettish tone.

"Kobayashi-san..." Shishio ignored Masaki's words as he stared at Masaki. "I'm not going to say whether you're right or wrong since everyone is free to make their own choices, but at the same time, I'm also free to make my own choice." He squinted his eyes as he stared at Masaki and said in a heavy tone, "Personally, I don't like the way you look at me as if I'm the most delicious meat in the world. It is as if you're ready to rape me anytime if I give you a chance."

His stare was like a lion, the apex of a predator, and anyone who saw it would shudder in fear.

Masaki might be a woman who was trapped in a man's body, but he was a yakuza in the past, so he had seen a lot of dangerous people because of his line of work. He might have retired, but even so, he knew the feeling that came out from Shishio was dangerous. He might not have realized it, but his back was full of sweat at that moment.

Ayano and Shiina didn't say anything from the beginning, but they would be lying if they weren't nervous about the confrontation between Shishio and Masaki. After all, who would want to see someone fighting, right?

The plump waiter boy and the beautiful waitress were also nervous. They knew about their boss's bad hobby, and whenever their boss saw a handsome man, he would flirt and even try to kiss that man. However, all of them would give a meek reaction and only show a reluctant expression, those people had never fought, and there wasn't any problem.

However, this time, their boss had met a tough nail, and the wrong answer might have led to a huge fight in the cafe.

"Um..."

The plump boy thought to bow his head and apologize to Shishio since no one wanted the situation to escalate further.

However...

"I respect you, and I won't say anything bad about your preference, so you also need to respect me." Shishio looked at Masaki and said with a heavy tone, "So don't look at me with that kind of gaze again. It's disturbing. "

"...."

This time, even if Shishio still showed a stern expression, there was a gentleness that was shown on his face.

This contradiction somehow made all the women inside the cafe feel their hearts tighten and their faces flushed.

Ayano was also in a similar state before she quickly shook her head.

'You have a husband! You've got a husband, Ayano!'

Ayano kept repeating those words in her head, so she wouldn't be swayed by Shishio.

Masaki blinked his eyes for a moment before he bowed his head and apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I'd shown such an unsightly sight toward you."

"It's okay," Shishio said calmly.

Everyone sighed in relief when they saw the confrontation between the two people had ended.

However...

"But... but... you might not believe me, but I fell in love with you at first sight," Masaki said with blazing eyes.

"........"

Everyone was in a daze again.

"I fell in love with you, so can you think about it?" Masaki said shyly. Somehow his aura was all pink, and he was like a girl who shyly confessed her love to her loved one. His feeling was sincere, and he fell in love with Shishio at first sight, so he didn't hesitate and confessed without hesitation!

"......"

Everyone could only stand or sit there in silence, and their expression showed that they were so confused.

When they thought that everything had ended, they only realized that it was a prelude to everything.

Shiina wasn't much better, and she could only stare at Masaki in a daze.

"It's impossible since..." Shishio rejected without hesitation.

"It's alright. I won't give up!"

Shishio hadn't finished his words, but Masaki didn't let him finish his words. He looked at Masaki and knew that this guy was the type of guy who would entangle him like a leech. Unless he threw a bunch of salt at this guy, Masaki wouldn't give up.

"It seems that you don't understand." Shishio shook his head and thought that it was better to show Masaki through an action that the two of them were simply impossible.

"Shishio?"

Shiina was confused at why Shishio suddenly touched her chin, but then her eyes widened when she saw him kissing her lips in front of everyone!

"......" Everyone.

They watched this scene with gusto since they didn't expect that they would watch such an exciting love story. It felt like they were on the emotion of roller coaster when they thought that it had ended, suddenly they would fall with a high velocity, giving them a scare, but strangely enough, they were addicted to this feeling.

Still, some girls and women looked at Shiina enviously since they also dreamed of such a wild kiss.

Shishio kissed Shiina's lips deeply as he parted their lips.

There was a string of saliva between their lips, causing Ayano and Masaki, who were at close distance, to flush shyly, wondering how it felt being kissed by Shishio.

"Shi - Shishio..." Shiina was also shy but also happy. However, when she thought that it had ended, she felt his strong arm wrapped around her waist. She suddenly lost all of the strength in her body, and she meekly leaned on his side.

Shishio licked his lips and wiped Shiina's beautiful cheery lips with his thumb.

"As you can see, I love her, and it's impossible for me to accept your confession," Shishio said firmly as he stared at Masaki. He knew that Masaki had confessed to him with all of his feelings, so he would reject him with all of his feelings to respect him.

Shiina smiled sweetly as she snuggled on his arms.

"......"

No one blinked their eyes and stared at Shishio's table, unable to look away and afraid that they might lose anything important.

They looked at Masaki, who could only sigh and showed a disappointed expression.

"I see..." Masaki sighed, but then he asked, "Still, don't be afraid and come to my cafe again, alright?"

"Sure." Shishio nodded, but then he smiled and said, "That's what I want to say, but if your food is bad, then I won't go back, you know?"

The cheeky words that came out from his mouth and this smile, when it was combined, caused all of them to lose their minds for a moment.

Masaki also smiled and swore. "My food is the best."

"You've said that your Napolitan Spaghetti is good. Can I try it?" Shishio asked.

"Yes!" Masaki nodded without hesitation, then looked at Shiina. "How are you, Mashiro? Do you want Napolitan Spaghetti too?"

"Yes." Shiina nodded without hesitation.

"Okay, wait a moment. I'll prepare a special Napolitan Spaghetti for the two of you!" Masaki then dashed to the kitchen to prepare the foods for Shishio and Shiina. When he felt that he could see Shishio's smile again, he felt that it was enough, and because of that, he needed to cook the best Napolitan Spaghetti so they would return to his cafe once again.

Shishio somehow felt tired, then looked at Ayano, who had been watching them. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes." Ayano nodded subconsciously, but then she quickly realized that she had said the wrong answer and promptly said, "No, we might have been off track with our conversation. Why don't we start to talk about manga?" Her expression was serious, and she emitted an aura of the professional woman at this moment.

"......"

Shishio stared at Ayano and thought that he might need to call his people to teach Ayano a manner in the future, so this woman wouldn't do this kind of insolence act in front of him again.