Clunk!
As sothing dropped into the vending machine tray, Takashi bent down to retrieve the drink.
"You sure she likes this stuff?"
He glanced skeptically at Kuro, holding the bottle in his hand.
Matcha-flavored soda… Just hearing the na made him doubt whether it could possibly taste good.
Do girls really drink this stuff?
"Woof!"
Kuro barked indignantly at his owner's skepticism.
Did they really think he went to the Nakano house just to live the good life?
No way—he never forgot his mission.
Still suspicious, Takashi walked over to Miku.
She was sitting alone on a bench by the road, staring into the distance.
He followed her gaze and saw a narrow uphill alley lined with utility poles and stone steps. Residential houses flanked both sides, fresh green leaves spilling from private gardens.
A sparrow danced on the branches, pecking at bugs.
Takashi had no idea what Miku was doing, but for so reason, he suddenly had the urge to ss with her.
Holding the bottle of matcha soda, he silently pressed it to her cheek.
"Yaaah!"
The sudden touch of the cold can against her face made Miku yelp in surprise.
Takashi grinned mischievously.
You jerk!
Miku imdiately puffed up like a pufferfish and glared at him angrily.
"Here."
He handed her the soda and sat down beside her.
"What are you looking at?"
Feeling the close proximity between them, Miku quietly scooted away and pointed to the sky. "The sky."
Takashi leaned in even closer, their shoulders brushing, and looked up.
The fog had lifted.
The soft orange-pink hues of dawn had faded, and the sun was about to rise.
"What's so great about that?"
Takashi didn't get it.
"This is my first ti waking up this early to go outside," Miku explained, cupping the soda in her small hands.
Takashi was used to waking up early. The sunrise ant nothing special to him.
But for soone like Miku, it was rare—so it felt novel and beautiful.
"Oh."
He took a sip of the soda—then nearly spat it out.
What a vile drink!
Who in the world enjoys this?
Miku popped open her own can and took a sip. Her eyes imdiately flickered with surprise.
She glanced down at the drink, then sneaked a peek at Takashi, wondering: How did he know I like this? Or does he like it too?
"What's wrong? Think I spat in it?" Takashi teased when he caught her staring.
Miku's eyes sparkled like diamonds, gleaming with light.
He looked away, pretending to focus on petting Kuro, and silently began counting.
"Um, uh…"
At exactly 57 seconds, Miku finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
Hook, line, and sinker.
Takashi's lips curled slightly, but quickly relaxed again.
With girls like Miku—history nerds with shy hearts—you just had to leave bait out, and they'd nibble on their own.
Why?
Because when everyone else was into hot actors or pretty models, Miku liked scruffy, bearded old n.
Even to herself, she probably thought that was weird.
She didn't want anyone to know her strange tastes—but deep down, she desperately wanted soone who shared them.
She craved acceptance.
And Takashi took full advantage of that.
"Hm?" he said, playing dumb as he looked at her.
"You ntioned snot earlier—you were referring to that story about Ishida Mitsunari, right? How he drank tea mixed with Otani Yoshitsugu's snot without hesitation?"
Miku tried to act calm, but her tight grip on the soda can—causing the rim to cave in slightly—gave her away.
Her heart was anything but calm.
And truthfully, she was right.
Miku was shy, sensitive, and lacked confidence.
For soone like her to bring up a topic that might reveal her preferences took a huge amount of courage.
"Eh?"
Takashi blinked slightly, surprised. "...You actually know that reference?"
Seriously? Amazing.
Seeing that she had guessed right, Miku sighed in relief.
For soone with social anxiety, taking the initiative required trendous bravery. That's also why many with such tendencies completely shut down after being rejected once.
Takashi had been watching her expressions closely—and now it was ti to perform.
He gave her a once-over and asked, "Don't tell … your grades are really good? What was your rank in the last national mock exam?"
Rank?
Did the national mock exams even have a ranked list?
Miku, whose scores were so low she wasn't even qualified to make it onto the ranking chart, blinked at him with an innocent, confused gaze that betrayed the pure ignorance of a college student.
"So it's not about grades?" Takashi muttered to himself and began analyzing.
"Your grades are average, yet you know such an obscure reference. You must like history—no, specifically, the Sengoku period, right?"
Of course, his little "analysis" was all just for show, ant for Miku to hear.
From the very beginning, he had guessed that she liked Sengoku-era warlords.
But even if they could talk about it naturally now, once Miku went ho and reflected on the conversation, she might wonder how he figured it out.
After all, a "normal person" wouldn't guess that imdiately.
He had to bring it up step by step and talk her through it to make it feel natural and avoid suspicion.
Miku had no idea—ever since she t Takashi, she had been perfectly maneuvered and cornered without even realizing it.
"...Yeah."
Although he wasn't exactly right, Miku still nodded lightly.
"Am I… weird?"
She was a little embarrassed, a little nervous. This was the first ti she'd ever talked about her obscure and personal interests to soone unfamiliar.
She lowered her gaze, staring at her legs wrapped in black stockings.
"What's weird about that? I like Lord Cao and Lü Bu."
Actually, Takashi liked Emperor Li and Lord Liu even more—but they weren't popular in Japan.
Even if he ntioned them, Miku probably wouldn't know who they were.
But Lord Cao and Lü Bu? Totally different story.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has always been insanely popular in Japan.
Back when they were shooting the 1994 adaptation, Japanese investors even wanted to cast a Japanese actor as Kongming or Lord Cao—though that proposal got rejected.
In Japan, Lord Cao was way more famous than Emperor Li or Lord Liu.
And as for Lü Bu? He was the god-tier among generals.
If you asked a Japanese person who was the strongest Chinese general of all ti, they'd say Lü Bu without hesitation.
anwhile, poor Emperor Li had been reduced to soone who, according to South Korean parody news, got one of his eyes shot out by them.
Takashi was stunned when he first read that.
He had read real history and apocryphal stories, but that was the first ti he'd ever seen soone taphorically "fed dog shit."
As for Lord Liu, no one even rembered his na anymore.
How tragic, really.
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