69 It Was As If She Was A Guest At Someone Else's Home

For the first time ever in his entire life, he went out with a young lady. When Kyoya thought back, this was also the first time he went for a so-called date with his new wife. If not, their interaction would only be limited at home.

A hint of regret tinged in his heart, making him felt a bit sour.

Although they were still practically strangers, he knew his new wife was a good person. He shouldn't mistreat her.

"En, Kyoya?"

Kyoya turned to his right side, looking at Shouko's doubtful face. He raised his brows, silently asking her what was wrong.

"It is really alright... for you to come with me?" Shouko took quite an effort to finish her question. The soft smile from earlier was replaced by a faint frown.

"You don't want me to come?" He asked with a straight face.

"Eh? No! No, it's not that... But, aren't you busy?"

A hint of amusement flickered in his eyes. He found that although sometimes his new wife was bold, like the night she approached him to offer the hot chocolate, she was actually quite timid.

"I'm not busy," Kyoya answered without flinching while picturing his working desk full of stacks of documents.

"Oh, it's good then," She replied with a smile.

Kyoya thought it was funny for her to feel relieved for such a matter yet he didn't point it out to her.

By this time, they had arrived at the waterfront. Kyoya parked the car and gestured for Shouko to alight the car. His little wife opened the car door, get off and quietly closed it back as if she was afraid of damaging the car door with the smallest force.

It was confusing but when he remembered how her life was in her maiden home, Kyoya could only sigh inwardly. Even until now, she would always be careful when using even slightly expensive things at home.

Old Toshio said, it was as if she was a guest in someone's else home instead of her husband's.

"Shouko."

"En?"

Kyoya rounded the car, walking toward her. He stopped a few feet from her as his eyes landed on her questioning gaze.

"You don't have to be too cautious with everything you do," Kyoya glanced at the car beside them, "The car is sturdy as well as the things at home. Just use them as you see fit."

After a pause, he added, "If they broke, it means they have passed their durability."

He saw her eyes fluttered in surprise before her usually soft smile broke into a wider one.

"Alright," She answered with a small nod.

Kyoya smiled faintly. He would be satisfied if she understood.

He didn't know that with just a few words, he had unraveled a knot in her heart. With a much better mood, Shouko began to lead Kyoya toward the cafe.

The sun was bright and the air was cool. Kyoya quietly watched his wife walking beside him. He found that she was much shorter than he had imagined. She barely reached his shoulders especially when she wore her flat shoes.

Well, it was rare for them to walk side-by-side like this so he hadn't realized it.

After walking for a few minutes, Kyoya caught sight of a white cafe with rose carvings on the walls. When Shouko gradually stopped with n uneasy look on her face,  he asked, "Is this the cafe?"

"En," Shouko nodded. Her eyes carried a trace of worry when she looked up to meet his cool eyes. "Well, this place might not be on the same par as the Michelin-rated ones but I promise you the food is good here and... the ambiance is nice too."

Kyoya was amused once again by her thinking process. "Do you think I care for such a thing?"

Shouko was baffled. She quickly shook her head as she nervously tried to explain, "I don't mean to offend you... I just... thought you're not used to this kind of place."

Her voice turned quieter as she spoke, she had even averted her eyes from him.

Kyoya pursed his lips. He wasn't offended to begin with, but that was how his new wife thought of him?

When Grandpa nagged him because he didn't spend much time with his newly-wedded wife, Kyoya didn't think too much of it but, when this kind of situation came, he finally understood why did the old man nag at him so much.

Kyoya didn't speak, instead, he did something he had never done before.

He quietly took hold of her hand and resumed their steps toward the cafe.

"Kyoya?" Shouko was totally flustered by his action. She looked at him with disbelief.

Kyoya glanced at her. "When I was studying abroad, I'd always eat out at the restaurants near my university."

His words were simple. Most of the eateries near a university were cheap as they catered to the students. While their food wasn't bad, they were not too tasty either.

Shouko nodded once, she just let him held her hand as they walked.

Kyoya smiled faintly. He didn't even feel bad lying to her.

She didn't know that he went to the restaurants just to accompany his small circle of friends. He rarely ate there because he had a housekeeper who cooked for him at the apartment Grandpa prepared for his stay. At most, he would just order a glass of drink.

Well, as long as she didn't know the truth, it was fine.

Kyoya opened the half-glass door painted in white. The bell above their heads chimed, notifying their presence to the people inside.

He calmly swept his gaze toward the interior of the cafe. This place was good, he thought.

It felt warm and cozy.

"Welcome, Shouko!" A voice cheered from the side, attracting Kyoya's attention.

"Old Daizo!" Shouko waved at the old man with a happy face.

Kyoya watched the old man dressed in a brown sweater and long pants approaching them. An apron was tied around his waist. Seeing this old man reminded Kyoya to his dear butler.

The old man looked at Shouko before he redirected his gaze toward the unfamiliar young man beside the young lady. With a smile, he asked, "Shouko, who is this?"

His eyes landed on their intertwined hands for a second.

"Oh, this is..." Shouko's smile stiffened for a moment. She glanced at Kyoya with a nervous look.

Kyoya understood the meaning behind her gaze. This was the first time they went out in public. They got married by registering in the Civil Affairs Bureau. A wedding had yet to be planned. With the way their relationship was now, it was understandable to see her looking anxious.

Before she could say anything, he smiled and calmly said as he bowed slightly, "I'm Shouko's husband. Nice to meet you, my name is Kashino Kyoya."

He felt her tensed hand relaxed in his.

"What? You're married? Congratulations!" Old Daizo's wrinkly face brightened a lot hearing the good news. "Just call me Old Daizo. This is a good occasion. Sit down, you two. I'll bring you our specialty for today."

"Ah, there's no need..."

Before Shouko could protest, the old man had left happily toward the kitchen. She could only retract her hand and sigh.

"Do you have your favorite place to sit here?" Kyoya asked while peering at her.

Shouko looked flustered again.

He couldn't help but think his new wife was weird sometimes. Did his question was enough to make her felt surprised?

"Well, I love seating at that area," Shouko raised her free hand, pointing at a place.

Kyoya followed the way she was pointing at.

It was the area where you could easily look over the view outside. Anyone who sat there could enjoy the view of the waterfront as well as observing the passers-by who walked on the pavement. The light penetrated through the glass walls, illuminating each side of the area, creating a lovely scene to be looked at.

Without saying anything, Kyoya took Shouko to one of the vacant tables there. Only then did he let go of her hand.

Both of them sat opposite each other. Kyoya silently eyeing Shouko. She was taking out a few books from the inside of her bag. A cream-colored pencil case was brought out together with the books.

"You didn't use your laptop?" He knew his new wife was a writer yet he wasn't sure which genre she wrote.

"I'm more fond of writing it down first," Shouko answered with a small smile. "Only then I'd type it back on my laptop before reviewing it back."

Kyoya nodded once, understood her words.

At first, he found her as pitiful. Her life in her maiden home wasn't good and now, she was married to a stranger. She had just graduated from university and was supposed to go out seeking life experience.

Her life was tied down since the beginning.

Kyoya pursed his lips, he wanted to ask her something else when Old Daizo came to them with a tray of food.

"For our newlyweds, it's all on the house," The old man smiled with joy, he began serving them the food.

There were two cups of coffee, a slice of chocolate chestnut cake and a slice of rotisserie chicken puff pastry. All of them were Shouko's favorite.

"Enjoy them. Call me if you need anything else."

"Thank you, Old Daizo," Shouko was giddy with excitement. She was so tempted to eat the chocolate chestnut cake immediately. She had tried it once when it first came up on the menu and had completely fallen for it.

"Thank you," Kyoya didn't forget to thank the old man as well.

Shouko watched the old man walking away with a really soft smile. Kyoya could even see her round eyes glistened under the soft light. Another curiosity piqued inside him.

Why did she look at the old man like that?

"Shouko," He quietly called out to her. "Are you crying?"

Shouko turned her attention back to him. It didn't escape his notice of how her smile faltered for a moment.

"Eh, no. I'm not..." Shouko quickly lowered down her face, pretending to be busy setting her books aside. "Let's eat. The desserts here are delicious."

Kyoya didn't say much. He pushed the cake toward Shouko first before he took a bite of the pastry.

The air around them turned sullen all of a sudden.

In an instance, Kyoya understood one point.

While she appeared calm from the moment she approached him with the desserts she made and saying she would try to grow feelings for him, she was actually scared deep down her heart. Especially when she was the one taking the first step.

As a girl, how would she feel?

As he wasn't repulsed to the idea, it wasn't bad for him to take two steps toward her so they could meet in the middle.

The layers of frost in his eyes cracked as a rare tenderness flickered faintly in them.