Tokyo: Oreimo

"Hey."

The girl stood in the stairwell and called out to him.

"Squat down a little."

"what?"

"Stop arguing!"

Ryosuke had no choice but to listen to her and lowered his body slightly.

Before he could even stand up straight, Ling Nai's hands had already cupped his face.

Her fingers were slightly cool, pressing against his cheeks with a light touch, yet leaving him nowhere to hide.

Then her lips pressed against mine.

Ryosuke's eyes widened as a cool, soft touch rushed into his brain.

The girl's tongue clumsily pried open his teeth, not knowing how to position it, only knowing to keep pushing in.

The force of Ling Nai's lunge pushed his back against the wall of the stairwell.

The girl pressed her body against his, her hands on his chest.

Her tongue touched his, clumsily and awkwardly, like a child receiving a new toy for the first time, not knowing how to use it, only knowing that she didn't want to let go.

Shouldn't we respond now?

Ryosuke closed his eyes, reached out and held Ling Nai's waist, placed his other hand on her back, and pulled her into his arms.

Ling Nai let out a muffled, nasal hum from his lips.

Then her tongue stopped wandering aimlessly, as if it had finally found its rhythm, and began to slowly and carefully explore the shape that the kiss should have.

Chapter 291 Nothing happened!

After an unknown amount of time, Ling Nai's lips left Ryosuke's.

The girl's face turned as red as if it were on fire; this was the second time she had taken the initiative to kiss him.

But this is the first time I've seen something this intense.

"What are you looking at!"

Ling noticed that Ryosuke was looking at her with a smile, so she quickly turned her head away.

"Because it looks good."

"What are you saying all of a sudden!" The girl was so embarrassed she could hardly breathe, and she fled towards the elevator.

"Fool!"

......

In the following days, Ling Nai seemed like a different person.

In the morning, Ryosuke no longer needs to knock on the door to wake her up. She can get out of bed as soon as the alarm rings and washes up and changes clothes twice as fast as usual.

No longer does she yawn with one hand on her cheek at the breakfast table, but sits upright opposite Ryosuke, moving her chopsticks quickly with her cheeks bulging.

When leaving the house, she would naturally reach out and grab Ryosuke's hand, only letting go once they were inside the school grounds.

After school, he came to the manga club room as usual and was more patient than usual when helping Ayumi look at her artwork. Even Tian Zhongxue muttered, "Is Ling Nai in a particularly good mood lately?"

There is only one situation in which Ling Nai will instantly revert to her original form.

When Saori came upstairs for dinner.

On such occasions, Ling Nai would become unusually quiet.

She moved her chopsticks slowly and spoke little. Occasionally, when her eyes met Saori's, she would quickly look away and pick up her teacup, pretending to drink water.

Ryosuke sat between the two and watched everything unfold.

This guy can't keep anything to himself.

She's usually incredibly stubborn in front of others, but she becomes completely stiff around Saori. That deliberate, overly forceful "normality" is more noticeable than any abnormality.

Saori picked up a thick omelet and put it in her mouth. She chewed it slowly and deliberately, put down her chopsticks, and took a sip of miso soup.

Her movements were as composed as ever, her face bearing that familiar, ambiguous smile that Ryosuke knew all too well.

"Ling Nai."

Ling Nai's shoulders trembled slightly. "...What?"

"The tamagoyaki today is a little sweeter than usual." Saori rested her chin on her hand, gently tapping the rim of her bowl twice with the tips of her chopsticks. "Did you adjust the seasoning?"

"how do you know?"

Ling Nai raised an eyebrow.

Saori's gaze slowly swept over Ling Nao's face, and the corners of her mouth deepened a little. "I guess it's because my mood has changed. When I'm in a good mood, the seasoning tends to be a bit sweeter when I cook."

She paused, her tone nonchalant.

Has anything good happened lately?

Ling Nai almost dropped the chopsticks in her hand.

"W-Nothing happened!"

Saori didn't press the matter further. She simply smiled, a soft laugh almost drowned out by the low rumble of the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Then she picked up her chopsticks again and continued eating her thick omelet.

Ling Nai's face changed from light red to dark red, and then to purplish-red. She quickly finished the last few mouthfuls of rice in her bowl, put the bowl and chopsticks on the table, and stood up.

"I'm stuffed!"

She picked up her bowl and chopsticks, put them in the sink, and turned to walk towards her room.

She walked, but at a pace close to a jog. The door closed a little louder than usual, but she managed to keep it from slamming shut.

Only two people remained in the living room.

Saori, holding the miso soup, turned her gaze from the direction where Ryouna had disappeared to Ryosuke's face. She didn't say anything, just looked at him.

Ryosuke put down his chopsticks.

He paused for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, Saori."

Why apologize so suddenly?

Saori shook her head and chuckled softly, "Shigaze, did you do something to wrong me?"

"As expected, nothing can be hidden from you."

Saori raised her eyebrows slightly, picked up the miso soup, drank the last sip, put the bowl on the table, and rested her chin on her hands.

"Ling Nai said it out loud, right?"

"...Aren't you angry?"

Ryosuke's girlfriend's reaction was clearly unexpected.

He originally thought that even if Saori had a good temper, she would be unhappy if he said it.

Why should I be angry?

Saori tilted her head, the smile on her lips unchanged. "I set the rules, she played by the rules, and you didn't hide anything from me, you were honest about it. Rather than being angry, I want to ask you something..."

Her gaze pierced through the lenses, looking directly into Ryosuke's eyes.

"Are you ready? It's time to make a choice."

Ryosuke didn't say anything.

Saori waited a few seconds, then stood up and walked behind Ryosuke.

Her hands reached out from behind and placed them on his shoulders, the pressure light but steady.

“It’s okay.” Her voice sounded above him, with an unusual calmness in it. “Whatever choice you make, I will respect it.”

She patted his shoulder lightly twice with her fingers and whispered her lips in his ear.

"Ryosuke."

She rarely called him by his name directly.

"Your biggest flaw isn't your slowness."

Saori's lips curved slightly. "It's because you can't bear to hurt anyone, so you postpone all your choices. You feel terrible about yourself, not because you don't like anyone, but because you like two people at the same time, and you feel that's betrayal."

She paused.

"But do you know why I wasn't angry?"

Ryosuke did not answer.

"Because I knew from the beginning that you liked Ling Nai."

Saori picked up her teacup, took a sip, and lowered her head.

This is why, after Ureshino, she felt ashamed and agreed to compete with Ryouno.

“I’ve been waiting for you to find out about this. You found out, but you didn’t dare to admit it. Now she’s said it for you, and you’ve finally responded to her. For me, this isn’t about winning or losing.”

Saori placed a kiss on his forehead.

It was very light, like a cherry blossom petal falling on the water.

"My challenge to her isn't to let her take it from me, but to force her to make a choice. Because if you don't even dare to choose, you're not the Keiichi Shigsawa I know."

She straightened up and turned to walk towards the entrance.

Good night, see you tomorrow.

The door closed gently behind her.

Ryosuke sat at the dining table, with three sets of bowls and chopsticks still on the table in front of him. Ryouno's bowl of miso soup had gone completely cold, with a thin layer of oil on the surface.

He stood up and put the bowls and chopsticks in the sink.

......