I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

After dinner, the three of them drank wine around the kotatsu for a while until blushes slowly crept onto their cheeks, at which point Haruka said goodbye and left.

After washing up, Asuka quickly finished processing the documents left over from the day, then leaned lazily against the headboard, half-lying on the recently replaced soft mattress.

She is used to sleeping on a hard bed and mainly slept on tatami mats during her student days, but Kaori is not used to sleeping on a hard bed.

She only found out about this recently, so she decided to give the apartment a major renovation.

The overly soft bed made her feel disoriented for a moment. The unfamiliar mattress, the unfamiliar furnishings, the unfamiliar room, and the sound of running water from the bathroom next door, along with the alluring fragrance that seemed to linger around her nose.

It emanates from her own body.

The romantic dramas on TV are so boring, even the actors' voices are muffled.

These days seem to have lasted for a very, very long time...

She must have accidentally pressed a button on the remote, because the boring romance drama suddenly switched to a music competition broadcast. Familiar music echoed in her ears, and she snapped out of her daze.

Belatedly blinking my dry eyes, everything around me seemed to become clear again, and I could even faintly hear intermittent humming coming from the bathroom.

correct,

This is Kaori and her apartment.

Asuka felt a slight headache, as if something had roughly stirred her brain. She sat up, clutching her head, her long black hair slipping from her shoulders as she moved.

"Um……"

The room was very warm, but Asuka suddenly felt a little cold.

The bathroom door opened, and out came Kaori, who was drying her hair with a towel. She was wearing a thin nightgown with nude-colored straps hanging on her smooth shoulders, threatening to fall at any moment. The strapless nightgown just rightly concealed her bright breasts, and the hem was designed to gradually become transparent, fluttering on her soft thighs. She turned to close the door, revealing a large expanse of white skin with a rosy glow on her back.

Extremely tempting.

Kaori wasn't used to wearing this kind of clothing, even if she only wore it in front of her lover, but it was a birthday gift from Asuka, and she could never do anything about it.

However, Asuka didn't have the leisure to appreciate it at the moment.

"Asuka?"

Even with most of her vision obscured by the towel, Kaori, knowing her lover well, still keenly noticed Asuka's unusual behavior. She hung the towel around her neck, ignoring her half-dry, frizzy hair, and knelt down beside Asuka across most of the bed.

"What's wrong? Is your head starting to hurt again?"

Asuka has a slight migraine, a problem she's had for a while.

Seeing that Asuka just shook her head, Kaori skillfully touched Asuka's head and gently massaged it, saying, "It's not good to be stubborn."

Following Kaori's pull, Asuka leaned onto her lap. "Hehe, Kaori's lap pillow, so soothing!"

"He seems really okay; he can even joke around."

Kaori continued pressing acupoints on Asuka's head with her fingers, a technique she had specially sought out from a Chinese medicine practitioner residing in Japan. Although learning it was painful, every time she heard her lover's comfortable sigh, she felt it was all worthwhile.

"I'm just stating the facts."

Looking into the other person's sincere eyes, Kaori shyly took off Asuka's glasses.

"What did you do! You actually stole my view!"

As always, Asuka's exaggerated performance was a way of comforting herself.

"You..."

Watching Asuka's antics with a wry smile, a sweet feeling welled up inside him.

However, this rare moment of warmth did not last much longer.

"I'll lift it."

Taking advantage of Kaori's relaxation, Asuka swiftly lifted the hem of her skirt, which was covering her thighs due to her kneeling.

"ah!"

With lightning-fast reflexes, Kaori held down Asuka's skirt with one hand and slapped the other hard across Asuka's face. Asuka hadn't even had a chance to appreciate the beautiful scenery before her sight was completely taken away.

even so--

"Oh my gosh! This is—!"

Even though they didn't see anything, they pretended to see everything.

"Tian! Zhong! Ming! Ri! Xiang!"

Kaori, enraged, pinched Asuka's nose, instantly turning her teasing words into something muffled and unpleasant.

Amidst laughter and playful banter, the two quickly rolled into a ball, wrestling without any regard for their image, while the television next to them continued to play brass music incessantly, but the two in the room paid no attention to it.

"Whoosh—!"

Kaori sat on Asuka's lower abdomen, her hands supporting her on either side of Asuka's head. "Asuka, give up."

"I surrender, I surrender."

Asuka responded with a smile, reaching out to tidy Kaori's messy hair.

As her breathing gradually calmed down, Kaori seemed to read a different emotion in Asuka's eyes.

"Asuka...?"

"I'm fine, Kaori. It's just that I've been working overtime a lot lately, so it must be a little tiring."

The rousing brass music came to an abrupt halt, followed by a long round of applause that made the two men's eardrums ache slightly.

We're not talking about work, are we?

Kaori slowly lowered her head, her messy bangs obscuring her eyes.

"Kaori," Asuka cupped Kaori's face in her hands, looking at the person in front of her with an extremely gentle gaze, the image of that gentle young man from many years ago seemed to overlap at this moment, "I'm okay, just go do what you want to do."

Whether it's going back to Chiba or attending a meet-and-greet with younger colleagues, it's fine.

Playing it is fine too.

That's fine...

The Asuka before me seemed somewhat unfamiliar, but her gentleness was like a spider web; the more I struggled, the more I became immersed in it.

“Then, Asuka, come back with me.” She knew what Asuka was avoiding. “Let’s go home together, go to the fan meeting together, and I also want to go to the New Year’s shrine with Asuka.”

I couldn't go last year for some reason.

Kaori leaned against Asuka and whispered her wish.

"Going home...?"

Her fingers idly twirled Kaori's hair. "Okay."

So Asuka made a promise.

"Okay, let's join in the performance!"

Ms. Kaori pressed her advantage.

"Don't push your luck."

Asuka-san is under tight security.

"I still have so many things I want to do with Asuka."

It seems like it's been a long time since I've seen Kaori so youthful. Asuka felt the faint breath on her neck and took a deep breath.

That subtle fragrance now seems even stronger.

"I love you, Asuka."

Love...

I really hope we can keep going like this forever.

After a long silence, Asuka finally answered:

"I will always be by your side, Kaori."

P.S.: It's candy~ I've been a humble working person lately, so tired~ It's finally the weekend!!

Chapter 292 Extra - New Year's Day 4

At the Tanaka family's dining table, the atmosphere was slightly tense. The soft clinking of chopsticks against the porcelain bowls sounded particularly jarring in the quiet living room. The old-fashioned clock against the wall continued to chime slowly and steadily. The overhead lamp emitted a warm light through a paper cover. The soft cushions beneath her knees made her feel uneasy. Her feet, clad in white cotton socks, were slightly crossed, yet swayed slightly with a hint of unease.

The two people sitting next to her were so similar, even their manner of eating was exactly the same, as if they didn't care at all that the room temperature, even with the heating on, was as cold as it was outside.

She's probably the only one who's worried about this...

Kaori buried her face in the bowl and sighed quietly.

"What's wrong, Kaori? Is the food not to your liking?"

It must be said that Aso has the same keen intuition as Asuka, but now she is less strict and more loving than Asuka.

Aso looked at Kaori beside him with concern, seemingly very interested in her answer, and Kaori quickly waved her hand.

"Auntie's cooking is delicious."

This is dinner that Aso specially cooked to welcome the two of them home.

However, the atmosphere was nothing like the joy of a child who has lived away from home for a long time returning to visit relatives.

"These are freshly made pickled vegetables this year, please try them."

Like Asuka, Aso is an excellent cook. She is like an omnipotent person, and it seems that nothing can stump her.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that Asuka resembles her.

Kaori accepted Aso's offer with a smile, but for no apparent reason, she was thinking about something else.

Asuka, sitting on the other side, was like an invisible person in the room, not uttering a single word except for her mechanical eating movements.

From the moment they entered the door, the mother and daughter barely exchanged any words.

This caused Kaori, who was caught in the middle and acting as a mediator, a lot of distress.