Distorted Love

The smile on Akatsuki stopped, stunned, before she showed her usual smile once again. 

"Geez, what were you talking about, Irido-kun?" 

She knew that Mizuto might have realized that she had been following him, but she didn't expect that he would ask her so straightforwardly. 

"Give me your hands." 

"Huh?" 

"Give me your hands." 

Facing his words, Akatsuki felt like she couldn't fight him and could only follow his order obediently, especially when she felt guilty due to her reckless action, which had followed him from yesterday till now. She expected that he would get angry, scold, and even punish her, but—

"They are cold." 

Akatsuki looked up timidly as she felt the long-lost warmth that she had lost after stalking him for so long. Still, she didn't expect that he would hold her hands, warming her up gently. 

"How long have you been here?" 

"Um... after you got out from the school." 

There was no resistance, and it was as if she could only show her nakedness in front of his question, wishing him to forgive her. 

"By the way, have you eaten dinner?"

"No-Not yet." 

"Then, let's get dinner together. I am hungry now. I will treat you." 

Holding her small hand naturally, he looked at Akatsuki and asked, "Are you okay with udon?" 

"...ah, um." 

Akatsuki couldn't say anything except for agreeing. 

As they held each other's hand, neither of them spoke, and they went to the nearby udon shop, ordering two portions for each of them. 

"Do you want tempura?" Mizuto asked. 

"Is that okay?" 

"Why not? Get what you like." 

"Then... I will get shrimp tempura. Is that okay?" Hesitating, Akatsuki asked. 

"Yeah." 

Mizuto also ordered the same, and the two ate their udon quietly. 

Yet, Akatsuki ate her udon quietly, feeling warm that started to spread over her body as a comforting sigh leaked out from her thin lips. Still, as she ate, she kept glancing at his side profile as if she didn't understand. 

Why did he treat her so gently?

Why didn't he get angry, scolded, and even feel disgusted by her actions?

Why did he act like she did nothing? 

As those questions kept emerging in her head, Akatsuki couldn't deny that this warmness was addicting, and she wanted to cry somehow. As he had said in the class before, everything was too fast, and she was too bold, yet he didn't reject her. While he wasn't sure whether he did this because of his lust or his gentleness, she wasn't sure, or probably because of both.

Yet, somehow, she didn't regret her bold action since she knew that she hadn't chosen the wrong person. 

Neither of them talked when they ate their dinner, and they just ate quietly before they left the dinner as they held each other's hands. 

"Let me send you home," Mizuto said. 

"...is that okay?" Akatsuki was surprised, but she didn't reject him as she could be with him a little longer that way. 

"Sure. It's dangerous for you to come home at night like this." 

"Then, I will accept your offer. I will also pay for your train ticket." 

"Huh? 

"Just think of this as a way to thank you for your udon." 

"Thank you." 

Akatsuki smiled as he accepted her offer before they walked toward the train station that led them to the Fushimi ward.

At the same time, Mizuto frowned and didn't expect that Akatsuki would live in such a dangerous place. While they might enter an era of digital where everything could be known instantly, and most people didn't dare to commit a crime as their identity could be published on the internet, there was no doubt among all the wards in Kyoto, Fushimi had the highest crime rate, especially during the golden age of yakuza, most of them lived in this area.

While the yakuza might have gone downhill along with the time, there still was a remnant of them within this ward. 

"The Fushimi ward isn't that bad, you know? There are a lot of people there." 

"Is that so?" 

"Um, how about you try to live there for a night?" Akatsuki asked with a smile. 

What did she mean by this question?

Did she want her to sleep in her house or something?

"What about your parents?" 

"They won't be home as they go on to work. Usually, they will come back late then go to work again so early in the morning, or stay in the office several times and only return on the weekend." 

While Akatsuki narrated her story like it was something normal, which it was since Mizuto knew that most of the people in this country were living like that, he felt a chill by the reality, and he was glad he got the system, which made it easier for him to get money and didn't need to work like the majority of the people in this country, becoming a salarymen, working from the morning then midnight before repeating this routine as long as they lived. 

Yet, it was probably due to this reason that it shaped Akatsuki into a girl like she was now. 

"I see." 

He didn't say much and just gently caressed her hair, causing her to squint her eyes, smile, and move toward him even closer.

As for his decision to stay in Akatsuki's home or not? 

He didn't mention it at all since he was afraid of what she planned to do if he didn't agree. There might be a big chance that she might give him a drink or taser him directly, so he would pass out, and by the time he woke up, he realized that he was already trapped in the dungeon, naked as he was under her mercy, letting her do whatever she wanted with his body. 

So, he knew while this situation might be warm and sweet, what was hidden underneath was Akatsuki's distorted love. 

The two of them entered the train and sat side by side in a single car. There wasn't anyone beside them, and they were alone. Due to this situation, he gazed into the night city of Kyoto with melancholy, lamenting his situation, but then, his body became tense as Akatsuki hugged him tightly, so tight that he could even feel the softness of her body that made his body hot. 

"...what's wrong?" Mizuto asked as he tried to calm himself. 

"No, it's just... I just want to hug you somehow."

"Is that so?" 

He had calmed himself, yet Akatsuki somehow felt how weary and lonely he appeared when he gazed over the night scenery through the window of the train. She knew that it might be strange, but she wished to make him lay on the bed as she took care of him from morning until the next morning without letting him do anything, only she and him, as they were in the room together. 

This fantasy was strange and even borderline crazy. Akatsuki knew that, but this was her fetish, and it was also the source of her misfortune, so it was why she was frightened, as she might cause him to be sick of her. 

Akatsuki had found her one, yet if she made him scared and caused him to leave, then what would happen to her?

Only when she was in this dilemma, wondering whether they should be satisfied with their current relationship, did Mizuto say, "Minami-san, I don't think that I am worthy of being pursued by you, so I think that you should choose a different—" 

"No!" 

Mizuto was a bit tense as he thought that he had walked on the landmines and was about to be welcomed by a disaster, but unexpectedly, a warm touch was felt on his lips, and he felt surprised as his lips were kissed by Akatsuki. 

Unlike their kiss in the bathroom before, this time, it was light, yet it was hot, as if she tried to convey all of her feelings into this kiss. 

He didn't move and just stayed in his place as he let her kiss him before she pulled her lips away from him and licked her lips, trying to taste the trace of his lips before facing him with a tender and loving gaze. 

"I love you, Irido-kun."

Yet, in his eyes, her eyes swirled like a whirlpool that pulled him deep and drowned him inside.

"Let's get married." 

---

1/2

There is one more later.