The Gemini Princess wants me to confess my feelings!

Chapter 126 Abundant Harvest

Having said all that, the two had no choice but to back down and temporarily cease hostilities.

If we don't stop this fight, Shizuko Kisaragi is going to lose her temper.

She watched the two arguing with a smile, like an old tigress scouting for prey.

Old Man Kisaragi and Shizuko Kisaragi had spent most of their lives together and knew that expression all too well. If they didn't shut up soon, they were going to get bitten.

Kisaragi Shiori put on her mask and hat, picked up the stack of money, and said, "I'm going back now, Kirihara-kun, you keep this."

Kirihara Akira glanced at Kisaragi Shiori, then at Kisaragi Shizuko.

Kisaragi Shizuko said gently, "If you take this money, you can come again next time. If you don't, my daughter might not let you in next time."

Kirihara Akira understood, smiled slightly, accepted the money, and then stuffed it back into the pocket.

Kisaragi Shiori glared at him and said, "What are you doing?"

Kirihara Akatsuki spread her hands innocently: "I didn't bring a bag. Do you expect me to wander around the streets carrying a stack of paper bags that are clearly Fukuzawa Yukichi's?"

"Pfft." Shizuko Kisaragi covered her mouth and laughed.

She found the boy very interesting.

Kisaragi Shiori's face darkened, and she grabbed Kirihara Akira's wrist and walked out.

"You must come see me again next time!" said Shizuko Kisaragi.

After the two left, Ruyue's father angrily said, "Pulling and tugging like that, what kind of behavior is this!"

Kisaragi Shizuko said with a smile, "Oh, isn't that great? He's young and handsome, kind to people without telling anyone, and speaks very politely."

"He may be young, but our daughter isn't!" Ruyue's father was frantic. "She looks at least four years older than him! Isn't this reckless?!"

Kisaragi Shizuko glared at him and said, "You old man, how dare you call my little Shiori an old maid?"

Old Man Ruyue shrank back in fright, but still stubbornly said, "I can't accept a son-in-law like this."

"They might not even be willing," Shizuko said, rolling her eyes at her husband. "Can't you tell? With that kind of demeanor and such generosity, he's obviously a young master from some wealthy family."

Old Man Ruyue became even more anxious: "That's even worse! Rich kids aren't good people. Shiori has never been in a relationship before. What if she gets scammed?"

"Shiori is so smart, she knows what's good and what's bad," said Shizuko Kisaragi. "If she thinks something is good, she'll do it; if she thinks something is bad, she'll still do it. Can we stop her?"

"That's still not allowed—"

"We can't just stand by and watch, of course I know that," said Shizuko Kisaragi. "Let's support her before she makes an irreparable mistake."

"All these years, who has ever caught her eye? It's all your fault for raising such a proud girl." Shizuko sighed, and began to worry: "You know, she finally found someone she likes—or at least someone she's willing to be close to, and if she misses out on that, what will she do in the future?"

Kirihara Akatsuki and Kisaragi Shiori left the hospital.

The two remained silent.

The atmosphere was extremely awkward.

As they reached the front gate, Kirihara Akira said, "I didn't actually expect you to come."

Kisaragi Shiori thought to herself: I know you want to handle everything quietly so as not to burden me.

-

She patted her cheeks and said, "Fine, I won't say what you don't want to hear."

"You're so sensible today," Kirihara Akira said.

"My father was rude to you just now, please don't take it to heart," Shiori Kisaragi said. "He wasn't like this before."

Kirihara Akira said, "He's very close to you, and he cares about you a lot."

"He cares a lot," Shiori Kisaragi said. "Even more than when he was a child. He wasn't like this before. After retiring, he encountered some problems and became a stubborn old man."

"What happened to him?" Kirihara Akira asked.

Kisaragi Shiori looked around and said, "How about we find somewhere to talk?"

"A date? Great, great!" Kirihara Akatsuki exclaimed excitedly.

Kisaragi Shiori said meaningfully, "A date, um, a date."

At the gym.

In the huge gym, there were only two people with their own company: cold, fixed machines and dumbbell plates.

Before going to the gym, Shiori Kisaragi went back to the bookstore and made a special trip home with Akira Kirihara before deciding on this place.

Kirihara Akira was running on the treadmill, panting heavily, but he couldn't turn his head even slightly because there was a glass wall in front of him. Outside the glass was a towering, desolate landscape, but the glass was also a mirror that didn't reflect much light. If he turned his head, Kisaragi Shiori would notice the extent of his head movement.

Although he was very curious—curious about how Kisaragi Shiori was running on the treadmill across from him with those two enormous lumps of weight on her—he couldn't bring himself to turn his head to look.

The elite graduates from the top of the police academy are truly impressive; their physical fitness is excellent, and they only started to pant after running for so long.

Even with this subtle flow of breath, across this delicate distance, it still managed to reach Kirihara Akira's ears perfectly.

At first it was fine, but after listening for a while, Kirihara Akira's expression turned sour.

Kirihara Akira pressed the emergency brake on the treadmill and said fiercely, "I'm not running anymore."

Kirihara Akira sat on the lever of the Smith machine behind, forcing Kisaragi Shiori to stop as well.

She wiped the sweat from her neck with the towel and said, "You're already tired? That's lame. Don't sit down right after practicing, stand up and rest for a bit."

As she spoke, Shiori Kisaragi reached out to pull Akira Kirihara up. Akira resisted, but couldn't resist her and was pulled up halfway.

After pulling him up, Shiori Kisaragi relaxed, and Akira Kirihara plopped back down.

Whether it was the flushed face from running or something she saw, she took two steps back and ultimately said nothing.

Kirihara Akatsuki was internally protesting her innocence.

He believed he was not the kind of person who would lose all self-control in the face of beauty.

I thought that way before, and I still think that way now.

I thought that way before because I assumed he had seen it, eaten it, and was old.

He thinks this way now because he still has strong professional skills; the difference is that he has become younger.

Becoming younger, surrounded by the most terrifying stimuli, he was stimulated by the person next to him yesterday.

After a moment of silence, Shiori Kisaragi said, "My father suffered a setback in the first two years after he retired."

Kirihara Akira was a beat slow to react, asking, "Huh? What's going on?"

"After he retired, he revisited the juvenile delinquents he had arrested in the past, wanting to see how those kids he once thought had reformed, those kids who were about my age, were doing now."

Kirihara Akira said, "Judging from your expression, the result doesn't seem to be very good."

"It's terrible. He thought he would reap a great harvest, but instead he gained a bunch of enemies," said Shiori Kisaragi. "It's not that all the children he helped went astray, but there were a few bad ones, exceptionally bad ones, that broke his heart."