Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 161 The Overlapping Beneath the Desktop
After leaving the main street of Akihabara, walk through two small blocks and come to a slightly secluded alley.

Before me was a sushi restaurant that looked quite old, with a wooden sign hanging on its dark exterior wall bearing the words "Sushi Gen" in a flamboyant style.

Mio Natsume stepped forward, lifted the curtain, and opened the wooden lattice door.

The lighting inside the shop was slightly dimmer than outside, and the air was filled with a faint aroma of vinegared rice.

A waitress quickly approached them, and upon seeing Natsume Mio and Sakamoto Ken, she gave them a professional, gentle smile: "Gentlemen, do you have a reservation?"

"We didn't make a reservation." Natsume Mio looked around the shop; there weren't many customers. "Excuse me, are there any seats available? We'd like to find a quiet booth."

"Of course, please come with me."

The waiter bowed slightly and led the two through the bar area to the back of the shop.

This is the tatami seating area. Each seat is separated by a partition, with hanging bamboo curtains that partially conceal the privacy.

You have to take off your shoes on the outside before you can sit inside.

Ken Sakamoto casually rubbed the heels of his shoes before taking them off on the wooden steps in the entryway and stepping onto the tatami area inside.

Today, Natsume Mio is wearing a pair of low-heeled leather shoes with a buckle on the back.

She bent down slightly, gently pried open the small metal buckle with her fingers, and then with a slight arch of her toes, her toes slid out of the small leather shoe.

Ken Sakamoto's gaze naturally fell on her feet.

A pair of delicate feet wrapped in pure white silk fabric, the kind of thin style, probably around thirty denier, the translucent silk fabric shimmering with a hazy luster under the soft lighting of the restaurant.

The white silk clung tightly to her skin, clearly outlining the slender bones of her ankles, the curve of her arches, and even the contours of each rounded toe.

Mio's feet are typical Egyptian type, meaning they are arranged from longest to shortest, from the big toe to the little toe.

Mio Natsume neatly arranged her shoes on the wooden steps, and also straightened Ken Sakamoto's shoes before stepping onto the tatami mat.

She didn't immediately put her legs into the sunken space under the booth. Instead, she looked at Ken Sakamoto with a smile in her big, watery eyes, tilted her head slightly, and asked bluntly, "Hey, Ken, is it pretty?"

Sakamoto Ken's gaze shifted from her small, white-stockinged feet to the girl's expectant eyes.

He smiled slightly and nodded calmly: "Yes, quite cute."

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Natsume Mio's smile deepened.

She even playfully stretched her foot slightly towards Ken Sakamoto, her toes curling up mischievously before spreading them slightly towards him.

“If you like it…” Natsume Mio said, her eyes slightly narrowed, “you can even touch it.”

This guy is getting bolder and bolder.

Sakamoto Ken coughed lightly, not responding to the conversation, as they were still in someone else's shop.

He picked up the menu on the table: "Okay, let's order something to eat."

“Hey, isn’t this just food?” Natsume Mio suddenly said.

"?" Sakamoto Ken looked at the girl in front of him, slightly surprised.

Natsume Mio suddenly realized that what she had just said was a little embarrassing, and she quickly explained, "Ha, um... it's... a description I saw in a book..."

"A book?" Sakamoto Ken said. "What kind of weird book are you reading?"

"It's not weird or strange, it's a proper literary work. I... I saw it in the library..." Natsume Mio said, pouting.

"Which author's book is it?" Ken Sakamoto asked.

"Tanizaki Junichiro..."

Oh, it's Mr. Tanizaki.

The first time Ken Sakamoto saw so many descriptions of young girls' delicate feet was in the works of this master of aestheticism.

Mr. Tanizaki was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature six times. Although he did not win the prize in the end, he is definitely a well-known writer.

"Hmm... Mr. Tanizaki's works are very classics," Ken Sakamoto commented objectively.

However, the male protagonists in Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's works are too passive, a point that Ken Sakamoto does not agree with.

Just then, a shop assistant walked over. When Natsume Mio saw the shop assistant coming over, she quickly moved her legs to the sunken area under the table.

Natsume Mio leaned forward and looked at the menu with Sakamoto Ken.

She pointed to a picture on the menu and said, "This restaurant's special set meal has great reviews, let's choose this one."

Ken Sakamoto glanced at the price.

8600 yen, including a sashimi platter, a sushi platter, tempura, two servings of seafood chawanmushi, and a small pot of plum wine.

This price would have been enough for his living expenses for a week two months ago.

However, this set meal isn't actually that expensive.

"Then let's order this set meal," Ken Sakamoto said to the waiter next to him.

"Okay, please wait a moment." The waiter wrote down the order, bowed again, and then turned and left.

Ken Sakamoto glanced at Mio Natsume, who was looking around at her surroundings, while he took his phone out of his pocket.

The two were sitting face to face, and if one of them held his phone up slightly, the other person wouldn't be able to see his phone screen.

I opened LINE, and sure enough, it was a message from Ai Hoshihara that I had been following the whole trip.

Ai Hoshihara: "Don't forget to take a nap at noon."

Ai Hoshino: "You stood me up last time, don't make excuses this time."

Ai Hoshihara: "Are you there? Reply to my message."

Ken Sakamoto typed back: "I just went to your house yesterday."

Ai Hoshino: "If you don't get enough fun, you won't be able to do it in real life."

Ken Sakamoto: "No? I used six more yesterday, and it still didn't work?"

Ai Hoshino: "I'm letting you off the hook with only six because it's a realistic situation."

Ken Sakamoto: "So, how many do you want to use?"

Ai Hoshihara: "I don't want to use it."

Ok……

Sakamoto Ken sighed softly, suddenly feeling a slight headache.

This guy, I just went to her house yesterday, how come he's itchy again now?

Was she that hungry last time?

Ken Sakamoto thought back and remembered that Ai Hoshihara in the previous playthrough didn't look like this.

He did indeed go to keep his appointment on time for his afternoon nap last time, but something unexpected happened—Haruna intercepted his dream, so it can't really be considered that he stood him up…

As for today, after dinner we need to go to the rehearsal room immediately. We'll practice a few times, make some adjustments, and then record. There's a lot of work to do, and the rented rehearsal room is only available for a limited time.

In other words, he won't have time for a nap today.

Ken Sakamoto: "I'm too busy to sleep today."

Ai Hoshihara: "Are you on a date?"

Ken Sakamoto: "/smile"

Ai Hoshihara: "?"

Ken Sakamoto: "Ai, you know, I have to deal with two people at the same time, and neither of them understands me as well as you do."

"A video call from Ai Hoshino"

His phone suddenly started vibrating continuously, but fortunately, Sakamoto Ken's phone was always muted, so he simply pressed the hang-up button.

His gaze shifted to Natsume Mio across from him.

Although she had already ordered, she was just looking through the menu on the table, but now her gaze was fixed on him.

Their eyes met, and Sakamoto Ken smiled slightly at her, saying, "Would you like to order more food?"

Mio Natsume shook her head repeatedly, saying, "No, no, that set meal is already too much, and ordering à la carte is much more expensive than the set meal..."

“It’s alright, I have money now, you don’t need to worry about the price,” Sakamoto Ken said.

Mio Natsume smiled faintly and said, "Well, we should still try to save some money."

Ai Hoshihara: "Take a picture and show it to me."

Ken Sakamoto glanced at the screen, then looked at the girl sitting opposite him.

He opened the camera and held the phone horizontally. When Natsume Mio saw Sakamoto Ken holding the phone in that position, she immediately knew he was going to take a picture. Her face lit up with joy, and she quickly clasped her hands together, smiling at the camera.

Ken Sakamoto first took a picture of Mio Natsume, then immediately adjusted the camera to show only her hands and the table in the frame.

Upon seeing the restaurant's name on the menu, Ken Sakamoto reached out and moved the menu aside to take a photo showing only the table and the girl's hands.

"Ken~ Let's take a picture together." Natsume Mio saw Sakamoto Ken put down his phone, so she also opened a camera app. However, while Sakamoto Ken used the phone's built-in camera software, she used one with a beauty filter.

Ken Sakamoto didn't refuse; he leaned forward and took a picture with her.

"It's a good thing I put on makeup today," Natsume Mio said casually, zooming in on her face on her phone.

"You look good even without makeup." Ken Sakamoto answered instinctively without even thinking.

“Hehe, I still need to put on makeup to see Ken,” Natsume Mio said.

"The lip color looks really good today."

"Jian, you noticed? Actually, this belongs to my mom!"

"Hmm?" Kenjiro Sakamoto glanced at him more closely.

Natsume Mio blinked, as if she had thought of something strange, and quickly explained, "It's from a set my mom bought; she's never used it."

Is she worried that I'll smell her mother's scent on her lips...?

Ken Sakamoto pretended not to understand and continued, "It's not peach flavored either, is it?"

As he spoke, he sent Ai Hoshino a picture, the one he had just taken, showing only the girl's hands.

Ken Sakamoto: "[Image]"

Ai Hoshihara: "/smile"

When Natsume Mio heard Sakamoto Ken suddenly bring up the peach flavor again, she pursed her lips slightly and asked, "Ken, would you like to know what it tastes like?"

Ordinary lipsticks and balms don't really have any special smell, and they're oily and greasy.

However, the waiter interrupted him.

The waiter then returned carrying a wooden tray.

"Awaited."

She placed each of the exquisite dishes on the low table in front of the two of them.

Ken Sakamoto's gaze fell on the pot of plum wine.

"We're going to sing this afternoon," he reminded us, "so maybe we shouldn't drink any alcohol."

"Eh? It's okay." Natsume Mio picked up the small sake bottle and gently shook it. "It's just a small bottle, and the plum wine has a very low alcohol content, it's like drinking fruit juice."

As she spoke, she picked up two small glasses and poured light green liquid into each.

"Come on, Ken!" Natsume Mio raised her glass, a happy smile on her face. "Wishing our recording of 'Lemon' a great success!"

Ken Sakamoto was very familiar with Mio Natsume's alcohol tolerance.

Mio's alcohol tolerance is about one can of beer.

However, she is quite easy to manage when she is drunk. Unlike Ai Hoshino, who gets full of fancy ideas when she is seven-tenths drunk and insists on dragging him to do some strange things.

When Mio gets drunk, she just sleeps quietly and is very well-behaved.

However, a small glass of plum wine like this would only make her cheeks slightly flushed, which wasn't a big problem.

Ken Sakamoto raised his glass and gently clinked it against hers in mid-air before they each drank their drinks in one gulp.

The cool, slightly sweet liquor, with its delicate plum aroma, slid down his throat, and Ken Sakamoto found it quite pleasant.

He put down his wine glass, picked up the small wine pot, and placed it beside him.

“Alright,” he said in an unquestionable tone, looking at the girl across from him who seemed to want another drink, “I’m the producer, and I’m in charge of this. You can only have this one drink today; the recording this afternoon is very important.”

"Okay, okay~ I'll listen to Ah Jian."

Natsume Mio nodded obediently, a faint blush rising on her cheeks, whether from the alcohol or something else, it was hard to tell.

She picked up her chopsticks, took a thick slice of tuna sashimi, dipped it lightly in the soy sauce dish, added a little freshly ground wasabi, and put it in her mouth.

Natsume Mio closed her eyes slightly, chewing slowly. A little soy sauce clung to the girl's moist lips, adding an alluring sheen to their color.

Kenjiro Sakamoto also started tasting it. This restaurant is considered mid-range, and the food was indeed quite good.

However, the main reason for sashimi is that the fish looks delicious, and it has little to do with the chef.

As he was chewing, he suddenly felt something soft, smooth, and slightly cool gently touch the back of his foot.

Ken Sakamoto paused slightly.

Then, that thing playfully rubbed against the back of his foot, and even began to slowly move upwards along his ankle...

It's a foot wearing stockings.

Ken Sakamoto looked up at the girl opposite him.

On the surface, Natsume Mio was focused on the tempura in front of her. She picked up a fried shrimp, took a bite, and made a crisp "crunch" sound. Her cheeks puffed out slightly, and she looked completely nonchalant.

Just like that thing that was restlessly wandering on Sakamoto Ken's calf under the table, it had nothing to do with her.

However, the slight blush that had spread to her ears and the way her eyes avoided meeting his gaze completely betrayed her inner nervousness.

This guy……

This is not something that can be achieved by that small glass of plum wine.

He remained unmoved, letting the little foot in white silk gently draw circles on his calf.

Ken Sakamoto unconsciously shifted his body back and adjusted his posture.

This action allowed him to see what was under the table.

Natsume Mio's right foot stretched out from the opposite side, her toe hooking onto his trouser leg.

The girl sitting opposite her pretended to eat chawanmushi (a type of steamed egg custard) seriously, taking small spoonfuls into her mouth.

Just as Natsume Mio seemed to think that such probing was not enough, and her little foot tried to move upward along his calf, Sakamoto Ken finally moved.

With a slight flick of his right foot, he precisely pinned Natsume Mio beneath him.

"Well……"

Natsume Mio, sitting opposite her, suddenly stiffened and let out a soft gasp.

She tried to pull her foot back, but Ken Sakamoto's foot pressed firmly down, preventing her from moving.

Immediately afterwards, Ken Sakamoto's left foot also went around and blocked her ankle from behind, completely sealing off her escape route.

Mio Natsume could only struggle futilely for a couple of moments, and after realizing that she could not break free from Ken Sakamoto's restraints, she simply gave up resisting and let him suppress her like this.

When the waiter came to collect the empty plates, Natsume Mio pretended to be calm and composed.

It was as calm as under the table and on the table; nothing had happened.

Because of their previous exchange under the table, the two of them stopped talking about anything else and just quietly ate the food on their plates.

Finally, when all the food on the plate was gone, Ken Sakamoto put down his chopsticks.

"Are you full?" He picked up a tissue and wiped his mouth.

“Hmm…” Natsume Mio responded softly.

Ken Sakamoto stood up and said, "I'll go pay the bill."

As he stood up, the pressure on her feet also shifted away.

Natsume Mio quickly pulled her warm feet back and moved aside to put on her shoes.

The girl watched as Sakamoto Ken walked towards the cashier. Although he looked calm, she had clearly felt his actions just now.

Recalling the scene of her intertwining with Ah Jian just now, she couldn't help but smile slightly. A certain flutter in her heart made her want to try more.

Will today be a good opportunity?
Although we need to practice, record, and probably repeat several times, the rehearsal room is a closed space.

It's just me and Ah Jian, and it's soundproof, so no one will bother us at all...

Besides, a rehearsal room is a room, so does that mean Ah Jian and I have already booked a room?
If you book all the rooms but don't do anything, wouldn't that be a bit of a waste...?

The girl's thoughts had already drifted to the rehearsal room where the two of them hadn't gone yet.

(End of this chapter)