Music Recomndation: Tomofumi Tanizawa - Sawakaze [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
...
Later that evening, Ikuyo Kita left Minami Shouji's new ho, citing the need to "sort out her thoughts."
Minami wasn't surprised.
That was just Kita's way even under pressure, she never complained, choosing instead to bear it silently and find a solution herself.
Since that was how she handled things, all Minami could do was wait for her to make her decision.
At around 10 PM.
"Well, I should get going."
Ryo Yamada stood up from behind the STARRY bar, slender legs clad in black stockings as she slung her bass case over her shoulder, bidding everyone farewell in her usual calm tone.
Then she tilted her head slightly and looked toward Minami behind the bar.
"Minami, walk ho."
As her head turned, her dark blue hair swayed like shadowed tree branches in moonlight. Her calm voice was like a cool forest stream on a sumr day.
"Ryo, your house is pretty close by, right?"
Minami rembered that Ryo's ho wasn't far from STARRY—just in the Shimokitazawa area.
No need for an escort.
"Doesn't matter. Walk ." Ryo tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"...Alright, alright."
Minami nodded, not bothering to argue.
He had walked Hitori Gotoh ho earlier around 9 PM.
It wouldn't be fair if he didn't walk Ryo too.
Standing up, he reached out his hand. "Let's go."
"...Mm."
Ryo gave a slight nod—expressionless as ever—but clearly satisfied with his attitude.
She slipped the bass case off her back and handed it to Minami, letting him carry it as they stepped out of STARRY together.
Even at 10 PM, Shimokitazawa's streets were lively.
University students milled about.
Office workers, freshly buzzed from drinks, wandered in search of their next bar.
Noise, lights, and life buzzed around them.
But amidst the chaos, Ryo Yamada walked like an island of calm.
Her serene beauty stood out, reminding one of a goddess of the night.
The breeze swept through, lifting her deep blue hair, giving her an indescribable grace.
Minami walked beside her, bass case slung over his shoulder, chatting about funny monts from the past few days.
Then, after a while—
"...Are you mad?"
He asked suddenly.
Out of nowhere.
Most girls would've looked at him, puzzled.
But Ryo simply shook her head. "...No."
Her voice was low, magnetic.
The kind of voice you could listen to for hours.
"Liar."
Minami reached out and poked her cheek.
Soft.
Her face squished adorably under his finger.
"..."
Ryo Yamada couldn't help but glance at Minami Shouji beside her.
When she saw him laugh openly, she turned her head away awkwardly.
"...Yes. I'm mad."
Of course Ryo was mad.
She was supposed to be first.
Whether it was a kiss or sothing more intimate—it should've been her.
But Hitori Gotoh had beaten her to it.
Unfair.
That's what she thought.
She had always been one step ahead in reading situations, anticipating, reacting first.
And now even Nijika, the "latecor," had kissed Minami on the cheek today.
How could Ryo not be angry?
Just because she didn't care about others' opinions didn't an she didn't have emotions.
In fact, Ryo was childishly stubborn about certain things.
She hadn't even kissed Minami yet.
And Nijika had done it, today.
So, yes, she was sulking.
She didn't show it, of course, but inside, she was sulking hard.
What Ryo didn't expect was...
Minami could see right through her.
No matter how well she hid her feelings, he always noticed.
It was like he was her natural-born nesis, able to read her every little thought.
But just understanding wasn't enough.
She wouldn't let him smooth things over so easily.
Her little tantrums weren't that simple.
At that mont, Minami took a few steps ahead and turned around, arms open.
"Co here."
"...What?"
Ryo raised an eyebrow.
Did he really think it'd be that easy?
A hug, and everything would be okay?
Did he take her for so kind of child?
Was that really all it took?
"Minami, do you think a hug will fix this?"
"Co here," he repeated.
"..."
Ryo went silent.
Then sighed.
She stepped forward, reached out her pale arms, and wrapped them around him tightly.
Damn it. He'd read her again.
Eyes closed, refusing to let go, she grumbled, "I'm still mad."
"I know."
"...Do you want to know how to make it up to ? I'll tell you."
"No need."
Minami's voice drifted lightly through the Tokyo night.
"I know exactly how to comfort you."
Under the soft streetlights, his face took on a silvery glow.
He leaned in, lips drawing near.
Ryo felt the heat.
Not from Minami, from her own face, burning with stunning heat.
For the first ti, Ryo Yamada felt flustered.
Panicked, she tried to pull back but it was too late.
The rabbit had walked into the hunter's arms.
Minami kissed Ryo's lips, catching her off guard for the first ti.
So soft.
She thought vaguely.
So different from just sharing a drink or indirect kisses.
Her hands instinctively looped around his neck.
Rising up on tiptoe, she didn't pull away, she kissed him back.
Her usually still, glassy eyes shimred.
Like a still spring pond, rippling softly.
Ti seed to stop.
They stayed like that for a long while...
Their lips parted.
Breathless, Ryo Yamada exhaled softly under Minami Shouji's gaze.
Her slender body trembled faintly in his embrace.
"Still mad?" Minami rested his forehead against hers, whispering gently.
"...."
For the first ti, Ryo's face flushed red. She turned her head away, silent.
After a while, in a tiny voice, she murmured, "...I need more comforting."
This ti, she kissed him first.
...
Click—
The silver tab on the drink can snapped open, catching the streetlight just right—almost blinding.
Minami sipped from it, slowly, trying to cool the heat lingering on his lips.
Ryo stood beside him, eyes fixed on those thin, flushed lips, then quickly downed her own drink, gulping.
All her earlier pouting—gone without a trace.
After finishing their drinks, the two walked again, side by side on the streets of Shimokitazawa.
For so reason, the road that always felt long and boring suddenly seed far too short tonight.
So Ryo got a little mischievous.
She slowed her pace on purpose and stretched out her arms toward him.
"Minami."
"...Yeah?"
He turned.
And saw her standing there, arms raised.
"Carry ."
It was the kind of shaless request most people would never dare say aloud.
But this was Ryo Yamada.
Headstrong. Unreasonable. Bold. Unbothered by others' opinions. That was just her way.
Minami laughed.
"You're way too old to be asking for piggybacks, Yamada-san. Not embarrassed?"
"Carry ."
Unfazed, she kept her arms outstretched.
"...Fine, fine."
He gave in, slinging her bass case off his back and gripping it by the handle. Then he crouched.
Ryo leaned down, pressing close against his broad back, her head resting on his shoulder, breathing in his scent.
For soone usually cold and expressionless, her face now blushed a faint pink.
Minami didn't say a word.
Balancing the bass bag, he reached under to steady her.
"M-Minami—!"
Her voice suddenly panicked.
"I know, I know," he chuckled.
Shifting his grip to the outside of her thighs, he stood up.
Step by step, they moved forward.
The city's night wind carried Tokyo's familiar hum people's voices, distant chatter, even at this late hour.
But Ryo couldn't hear any of it.
The beat of her heart, the warmth of their bodies, and Minami's steady breaths, those were all that filled her ears.
Just focusing on those sounds took everything she had.
Closing her eyes, she whispered suddenly, "Minami."
"Yeah?"
"Our music festival... I wonder how it'll go."
"Mm."
"No matter what happens... you'll stay with us, right?"
Ryo Yamada tightened her arms around Minami Shouji's neck, boldly pressing her nose into his hair, breathing in his scent unashadly.
"Of course. I'll always be with you."
Ryo was just too adorable today.
Minami couldn't help but want to pat her head but with her clinging to his back, the angle made it impossible.
So he stayed quiet, just walking forward.
Thanks to his regular exercise, his stamina was solid. The long, straight street passed quickly beneath his feet, and they soon reached a corner.
"Turn right," Ryo mumbled from behind.
Minami just patted her butt lightly. "It's left, isn't it?"
Typical Ryo, mischievous to the core.
She'd deliberately given him the wrong directions.
He rembered from past simulations. If he turned right, it'd an walking in a huge circle.
She'd pulled the sa prank on him back then.
Smiling wryly, Minami turned left without hesitation.
"I said right."
Unhappy with being corrected, Ryo bit his neck in protest.
Minami didn't feel pain, her "bite" was more like a kitten's nibble than anything threatening.
"Don't ss around, Ryo. We're almost at your place. If soone sees us like this, won't it be awkward?"
"...Doesn't matter. Dad and Mom should be asleep by now."
Ryo shrugged it off like it was nothing.
It was well past ten. Her parents weren't the stay-up-late types, and likely asleep already.
Still, after his warning, she reluctantly let go of his neck... though not before leaving a very visible red "mark."
She was pleased.
Now anyone who saw it would know this man was hers.
Just as she was basking in that thought—
"Ryo-chan?"
A startled voice called from ahead.
"Dad!"
Completely ignoring her earlier statent about her parents being asleep, Ryo perked up, waving enthusiastically from Minami's back.
"..."
Minami glanced sideways at her, ntally sighing.
Nothing she said could be trusted.
He was half-convinced she'd lied on purpose, just to get him to lower his guard.
But there was no escaping now.
Yamada's father had seen them.
Minami didn't freeze up, instead, he walked calmly under the streetlight.
"As I thought, it's Ryo-chan! I spotted you from afar... and this young man is?"
The man who spoke was Ryo's father.
Wearing glasses, gentle-eyed and scholarly-looking, he seed like the complete opposite of his cold-faced daughter.
"Hello, I'm Minami Shouji, a support mber in Ryo's band, Kessoku Band."
Keeping it short and polite, Minami offered a handshake, not wanting to complicate things.
His tone was calm and respectful, instantly likable.
Ryo's father responded with equal warmth, reaching out his hand—
But then—
"...And also, Minami is my boyfriend."
Ryo added nonchalantly.
The atmosphere, previously friendly, shifted in an instant.
Beca... delicately tense.
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