Ch 117. Haruno: Knife in Hand! Follow Me!

Smack~ Smack~ So delicious~

A few minutes later, Hoshimi released Yukino, smacking his lips and giving a thumbs-up in praise.

"..." Yukino, with flushed cheeks and eyes like flowing water, covered her mouth with one hand while pushing Hoshimi away with the other, her face showing both embarrassment and irritation.

After savoring the moment, Hoshimi didn't forget to ask Yukino about her feelings. He took her hand, leaned it close to her face, and meaningfully asked, "How was it? Was it comfortable? Want to do it again?"

"Get lost..." Embarrassed, Yukino gave Hoshimi a white eye, but given her current state, her white eye actually resembled a flirtatious glance.

Hit by the flirtatious look, Hoshimi felt a tingling sensation in his heart. He couldn't help but wrap his arms around Yukino's waist, continuing to close the distance between them.

They were already sitting close to each other, but now they were almost glued together.

From behind, there was no gap between them; even light couldn't pass through.

"Hmm~ Why are you getting so close? It's hot..." Yukino, struggling yet inviting, turned her face away, her cheeks still red, and complained.

Hoshimi, hearing Yukino's soft and somewhat coquettish complaint, couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.

It wasn't easy—spending so much time to make the proud Yukino show her "soft" side.

Yukino was truly like a sweet onion; no matter how much you peel away, it's always pungent and eye-watering at first. Only at the end do you discover its sweetness.

Yes, it's still sweet.

Hoshimi leaned in again and gave Yukino's face another smack.

Yes, truly delicious!

"You're so annoying..." Yukino, with a drool mark on her side face, softly complained.

Hoshimi's heart fluttered even more, his heartbeat quickened, followed by a chain reaction—his body temperature rose, and his breathing became rapid and heated.

He tightened his embrace around Yukino's waist and softly called her name with a strangely meaningful tone.

"Yukino..."

Yukino slightly turned her head to glance at Hoshimi. Seeing the burning desire in his eyes, she hurriedly avoided his gaze, turning her head and whispering, "Hoshimi, if you keep this up, I'll throw you out."

Yukino's usually cold voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over Hoshimi's head. He took a deep breath to calm his heated emotions.

He eased his hold on Yukino slightly and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I won't give you the chance to throw me out."

"..." Yukino remained silent, slightly turning her head to observe Hoshimi with her peripheral vision.

Once she was sure that Hoshimi's gaze was no longer as intense as before, she turned back, pinching Hoshimi's long fingers.

Hoshimi responded by grabbing Yukino's hand and squeezing her fingertips.

Soft and slightly cool.

Yukino was not to be outdone and pressed down on Hoshimi's hand, pinching each fingertip in order from thumb to pinky, not missing a single one.

Unlike her, Hoshimi's hands were very warm, even slightly hot, probably due to the intense emotions from earlier.

As she pinched Hoshimi's fingertips, Yukino remained silent. Once she had pinched enough of his fingertips, she began to pinch his knuckles.

Hoshimi's hands were quite beautiful—white and slender, with well-defined joints. It was obvious they were suited for playing the piano.

Thinking of this, Yukino looked at Hoshimi, wanting to ask something.

But when her gaze met Hoshimi's affectionate and loving eyes, her face flushed, and she instinctively looked down, avoiding his mesmerizing red eyes.

Those eyes were magnificent and dreamy—using gems to describe them would be inappropriate; they were more like pomegranate seeds, the kind you admire under sunlight.

Transparent, dreamy, and magnificent... no matter how many adjectives you use, they still need one more: delicious, tempting...

After all, they were pomegranate seeds...

"Yukino, what did you want to say?" Hoshimi squeezed Yukino's fingertips.

Yukino had clearly wanted to say something earlier, as her lips had trembled a few times.

But it seemed that, because she was too afraid to look him in the eye, she had forgotten what she wanted to say.

"Hmm~" Yukino recalled and remembered what she wanted to ask. She looked down at Hoshimi's white hand and asked, "Hoshimi, can you play the piano?"

"The piano? I can't."

"What a pity..."

"Hm? Is it a pity that I have hands suited for piano but didn't learn?"

"Hmm..."

Hoshimi smiled and changed the subject, "Yukino, can you play the piano? Teach me~"

"I can, but I can't teach you." Yukino lightly and heavily pinched Hoshimi's knuckles.

"Hmm? Yukino, you don't want to teach me?"

"It's not that. My skill level isn't high enough to teach you."

"Is that so... Then, Yukino, what level are you at?"

"I haven't taken any exams. Piano exams don't mean much. If you haven't reached the performance level, it's..." Yukino thought for a moment and silently swallowed the last two words.

However, Hoshimi finished the sentence for her, "Useless?"

"Not exactly. It's not at the useless level yet. Just ordinary, um, ordinary and unremarkable."

"So, Yukino, is your piano skill at the performance level?" Hoshimi asked with genuine interest, without any malice.

Yukino thought for a moment and said, "I'm still quite far from the performance level. I usually just use the piano as a pastime and haven't practiced seriously. To reach the performance level, I'd probably need to focus on studying for a year."

Yukino spoke with confidence. She had a clear understanding of her abilities and believed that a year of focused study would be enough to reach the performance level.

"Oh~~ Oh~~ Little Yukino is truly a genius~" Hoshimi praised sincerely.

However, to Yukino's ears, Hoshimi's praise sounded somewhat sarcastic...

Because Hoshimi had always been sarcastic, so when he genuinely praised her, it felt a bit like the "wolf is coming" story.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Yukino's mind.

She looked up at Hoshimi, her beautiful eyes flickering with a hint of color, "Hoshimi, aren't you a genius too? How about we both try for the performance level? If you win..."

Yukino suddenly hesitated. She remembered Hoshimi's dream ability.

If Hoshimi really trained madly in dreams, he might indeed quickly reach the performance level in a short time...

"I win?" Hoshimi blinked, looking at Yukino with interest.

"Hmm..." Yukino suddenly found herself in a difficult position. She realized she might have been too naive.

With Hoshimi's dream ability, he could learn skills at an unimaginable speed.

So if she really competed with him, it would be like a lamb entering a tiger's den, with no chance of victory.

"I win?" Hoshimi's mouth curved into a smile, looking somewhat amusing and strange, as he asked again.

===

Enjoying the novel? If you'd like to read additional chapters, visit my Patreon page at - patreon.com/cherryblooming.

There are already more than 30 extra chapters available.