"Yuta…"
"I want to be with Yuta forever…"
Rika's gloomy voice echoed in the room.
Haruki sighed deeply in his heart. H kissed the ring on his finger, gently and reassuringly.
"Of course, Rika and I will be together forever."
Nagato looked at Haruki in shock, a faint smile suddenly appearing at the corner of his lips. "As expected of Haruki."
Haruki: "…"
He didn't want to talk to Nagato for now.
As Rika's voice disappeared from the room, Haruki breathed a sigh of relief.
He was silent for a mont. Then, he walked around the room, lowering his voice and asking, "Nagato, do you want to go out for a stroll?"
Nagato was stunned for a mont, looking at Haruki.
Go out for a stroll?
Haruki cleared his throat. "That street… it looks quite interesting."
His cheeks were slightly flushed, and his eyes sparkled with irrepressible curiosity.
"We're just going to take a look, we'll be back soon, okay?"
He guessed Aoki had gone too.
Nagato remained silent. He actually had no interest in such noisy and flashy places, and even instinctively felt so repulsion.
But he looked at Haruki's eyes, full of curiosity and expectation, and couldn't bring himself to refuse.
He nodded lightly.
The two reached a consensus and imdiately went downstairs quietly.
As they passed the counter, the beautiful proprietress was absently wiping cups.
Seeing them co down, she smiled and struck up a conversation, "Oh my, are the two young guests going out for a stroll? How energetic you are. But it's chaotic outside at night, especially around the pleasure district, so be careful and don't get tricked by those vixen-like won."
Haruki: "…"
Nagato: "…"
The proprietress's way of speaking didn't match her pure appearance at all.
Haruki casually responded and pulled Nagato, walking quickly out of the inn.
Stepping onto the main street of the pleasure district again, the impact of sound waves and light remained undiminished.
Haruki took a deep breath, pulled Nagato, and relying on mory and the gradually thickening aroma of sake and food in the air, walked towards the liveliest izakaya they had seen when passing by earlier.
That shop had a red sign with the black character "Sake" hanging at its entrance.
The entrance was bustling. The flow of people going in and out was significantly more than other shops.
Many geisha or courtesans in various kimonos and exquisite makeup stood on both sides of the entrance, smiling charmingly and soliciting custors, speaking softly, their eyes darting about, forming a beautiful scenic line.
Nagato looked at all this expressionlessly, his Rinnegan calm and unperturbed, as if he was only seeing a pile of aningless color blocks, completely unable to stir any ripples in his heart. His attention was more focused on observing the surroundings and identifying potential dangers.
Haruki was completely the opposite of Nagato. He made no attempt to hide his curiosity and excitent. His eyes uncontrollably darted around, full of novelty and wonder.
An older geisha with a capable deanor, wearing an orange furisode kimono, saw Haruki and Nagato standing at the entrance. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, but she still smiled and ca forward.
"Oh my, guests, are you looking for soone or…?"
Haruki cleared his throat and said, "We want to go in and eat sothing."
The geisha covered her mouth and chuckled. "Of course you can, our piping hot Oden and dango are very popular here. Please co inside, there happens to be a seat by the side."
She enthusiastically led the two inside.
The interior of the izakaya was even noisier and more crowded than Haruki had imagined.
The air was filled with the strong sll of sake, tobacco, and the enticing aroma of food.
The lighting was sowhat dim, the place was bustling with voices, and all sorts of people were mixed in.
The geisha led them to a relatively quiet tatami seat.
"Please have a seat, I'll bring you the nu right away."
The geisha smiled, bowed, and withdrew.
Haruki curiously surveyed his surroundings.
Nagato sat quietly.
Just then, from the opposite seat across an aisle from them, ca an exceptionally loud commotion and the coquettish laughter of won.
It was a man who looked quite boisterous, wearing a plain dark kimono, his hair sowhat ssily tied behind his head, with a sweatband tied across his forehead, looking like a dusty traveler.
Around him were three or four geisha, smiling charmingly, diligently pouring him sake and feeding him.
The man was clearly a bit drunk, his face flushed, one arm around a geisha's shoulder, loudly bragging about so adventure, making the geisha giggle.
"Hmph! When I traveled through the Land of Stone before, I personally killed a man-eating beast, it ate an old woman…"
"Really?"
"You're so amazing, sir."
"What happened next? Was the old woman rescued?"
"…"
Haruki had initially just glanced over unintentionally, finding the man a bit noisy, but soon, his gaze stopped.
It wasn't because of the man's loud voice, but because his expression and movents when speaking made Haruki feel a bit familiar.
Why did he feel like he had seen him sowhere before?
But the man's appearance was very unfamiliar.
Haruki frowned slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes, as he carefully scrutinized the man.
The man's face was very ordinary, the kind that would be lost in a crowd.
Just as Haruki was concentrating on looking, the bragging man opposite him also inadvertently glanced over.
"Pfft!"
The man suddenly choked, his bragging abruptly stopping. His eyes instantly widened.
A large mouthful of sake he had just gulped down, mixed with saliva, sprayed out ungracefully, splashing all over the geisha opposite him.
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