Comics, daily stories

"Oh, is your junior's relative living over there?" Mai Sakurajima asked casually.

Nomiyama chewed the candy, swallowed it, and exhaled.

"No, it's my girlfriend who lives there."

"?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

210 Black Stockings

After taking a few steps, Nomiyama turned back and looked at the senior student standing in the sunset.

With a calm expression, he turned around, took a few steps, grabbed Mai-senpai's school uniform sleeve, and led her away from the zebra crossing.

Sometimes he finds modern people a little troublesome.

Since he's already had two girlfriends, it seems perfectly normal for him to have three, right?

If you still don't realize this, then what if you knew I have a girlfriend who is Yukino's older sister...?

Mai Sakurajima's pupils flickered.

My girlfriend lives there.

As we know, Yukino and Megumi are the junior's girlfriends, but they have both gone home and don't live here anymore. So this girlfriend is the third one, distinct from them.

The third one? The third one?

A scene suddenly flashed through Mai Sakurajima's mind. Yes, there was one: the older woman who kissed him on the Ferris wheel.

I've been busy with my own problems these past few days, so I haven't paid attention to those little details.

Yukino and Megumi never mentioned the names of other girls who were close to him, so they might not even know he existed.

I looked up and saw the person in front of me holding my sleeve.

"Junior, don't you think this is unfair?"

Hearing her senior's voice, Nomiyama realized she had come to her senses. So she put down the piece of clothing and walked and spoke at a steady pace: "Of course, I understand that what I did was unfair to the person who loves me wholeheartedly."

Looking back at her senior, she said, "It's just that, as I said before, my illness is more serious and I need to take more antidotes. I have never denied my selfishness and greed."

As he continued walking, his voice softened: "I know they've been accommodating to me in this respect."

Sakurajima Mai smelled the comforting scent emanating from him and stopped talking about it. No matter how much she cared about her new friend, there were still boundaries. Asking any more questions would cross the line, because she was an outsider, and those were their stories.

She asked another question related to herself.

"Why did my junior bring me here? If I'm not mistaken, Yukino and Megumi probably don't know about this person yet, right?"

"My junior could have continued to keep this a secret, but he still brought me here."

"You want to let Yukino and the others know about this through me, but why don't you tell them yourself?"

Nomiyama glanced at Mai-senpai, not surprised by her intelligence. He simply explained, "Because Miyami wouldn't let me say it, I had to use Mai-senpai's words."

Mai Sakurajima frowned slightly. For some reason, she felt like she had heard the name Miyabi before.

Shaking off the inexplicable thoughts that flashed through her mind, she walked beside Nomiyama: "I thought my junior would prioritize the other person's wishes."

“That’s basically how it is.” Nomiyama took out the key from his left pocket and held it in his palm.

"But didn't Mai-senpai just say, 'It's not shameful to date me, there's no need to hide it'?"

"But what my senior is thinking is that, compared to the public opinion storm after we get together, and compared to the impact on her career, I care more about what you will think, and whether I can give you a normal and equal relationship."

"I want to give her a fair and equal relationship because I like her and I want to marry her in the future."

Mai Sakurajima turned her head to look at the gentle curve of her junior's lips.

My junior usually seems like a clueless glutton who only knows how to eat, but he is actually always looking at and thinking about certain things.

He was like someone building a palace of his imagination all by himself, diligently stacking bricks and carrying decorations. Every time he finished decorating a space, he would observe it for a long time, trying to find any disharmonious or poorly done parts, and then carefully make corrections.

It's a pity that someone who takes love so seriously is also so fickle.

Nomiyama didn't care what the senior next to him was thinking. He simply inserted the key into the lock, turned it, and pushed it open.

I couldn't bring myself to say, "I'm back."

"The wind is early!"

The other party speaks faster and acts even faster.

Nomiyama opened his arms and embraced the person who had rushed into his embrace. He was just a little helpless: "You're already in your thirties, when will you grow up a bit?"

Yukinoshita Miyami rubbed against his chest without feeling embarrassed: "More than growing up and maturing, I hope Kazehaya can think I'm cute."

“Hmm…” Nomiyama pondered for a moment, “Miyaame is indeed cute.”

Under the snow, Gong Yu was speechless. She was actually quite shy, especially when he praised her earnestly.

She calmed herself down slightly, pulled away from the embrace that she wanted to linger in, straightened up, and lowered her head: "Fengzhao must be hungry. I'll go prepare dinner."

Nomiyama simply nodded: "Okay, you don't have to accommodate me. Your cooking has always been delicious. I'm just a person who's satisfied as long as the food is good."

"Yes, I've heard the wind early."

As Mai Sakurajima watched the beautiful older woman leave, she realized that she was the same person she had seen on the Ferris wheel that day—the one who had kissed her junior at the top of the Ferris wheel.

It feels a bit strange.

Sakurajima Mai thought to herself, and she wondered if it was just her imagination, but she always felt that there was something contradictory about the other person.

This older sister naturally exudes a sense of superiority, managing a large group of people, but what she displays is gentleness, obedience, and a touch of cunning.

She's like a young girl experiencing her first love, yet she clearly shouldn't be a young girl.

Nomiyama changed into his own slippers and pointed to the shoe cabinet: "We both usually keep a spare pair of slippers, they're in the shoe cabinet, but don't use hers, just use mine."

Mai Sakurajima snapped out of her daze, reached into the shoe cabinet, took out the pair of slippers that were clearly too big, and quietly put them on.

Nomiyama ignored Mai-senpai behind him, stepped into the living room, and walked towards the sofa.

Mai-senpai's existence has been completely distorted by some kind of rule. Everything she does while invisible will be perceived as reasonable by those who cannot see it.

Even if she eats all the food that Miyami made by herself, Miyami will probably just think: "Hey, Kazehaya has a good appetite today, she ate so well."

It wasn't until the kitchen range hood started running that Mai Sakurajima sat down on the sofa not far from him, looked at him intently watching the TV, and said, "Junior."

Nomiyama looked at the TV screen and nodded in response, "Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Dragon Ball is outdated; it's an old thing from the last century. Your kind of liking is a bit out of touch with young people."

"Mai-senpai's statement is like buying a box of oden, enjoying it, and then stopping someone who wants to buy the same oden and saying, 'Don't eat oden, oden is not nutritious or healthy at all.'"

Mai Sakurajima remained noncommittal: "There's nothing I can do about it. Because Dragon Ball is quite old, most of my peers haven't actually watched it. So I was thinking, under the current circumstances, am I considered to have a niche hobby among my peers?"

She sighed slightly and continued, "Do you know what niche hobbies are? They are things that only a small number of people like. But once they are liked by the majority of people, they are no longer niche. So it is inevitable that there will be some selfishness, thinking, 'If only I could know about this wonderful thing.'"

"If we're talking about oden like my junior described it, then it's like, I really hope this oden shop doesn't become too famous, because I love that it has plenty of my favorite foods every day and I never have to queue."

Nomiyama leaned back on the sofa, pulled his legs up, and hunched over slightly. He said with disdain, "Mai-senpai, your possessiveness is a bit too much."

"Most people would want Dragon Ball to be liked by more people, and they would hope that the oden shop becomes more and more famous and its business becomes more prosperous, because they want the things they like to be liked by others, and they want the people who work hard to create such wonderful things to receive the rewards they deserve."

"Is that so?" Mai Sakurajima asked in return.

"Junior, you say it sounds so good. Have you recommended Dragon Ball to anyone?"

"Yes, there is." Nomiyama replied easily.

"Really?" Sakurajima Mai frowned. "Before, Kazehaya-senpai, did you have any friends besides a few people?"

"So I recommended it to a few friends." Nomiyama looked at his senior with an idiot's gaze. "Yukinoshita has loved Dragon Ball since she was little, just like me. Eriri has aspired to be a manga artist since she was little, so it's impossible for her not to read Dragon Ball. Megumi knows everything I like, and so does Miyasame."

After saying that, he said with a hint of pride, "Look, Mai-senpai, I'm not a kid who secretly hides what I like from everyone."

Mai Sakurajima choked slightly. If she had to say, it wasn't that she didn't want to share her favorite things with others, but she had never had that opportunity in her life because she had never had any friends.

I've made some friends recently, but it's been a short time, and I haven't had a chance to share some of my feelings with them yet.

Nomiyama glanced at his senior, shrugged, and said, "It's okay. That's how work is. When you're busy, you don't have time to meet the people you want to meet. Now that you have some free time, there will be plenty of opportunities to share with others in the future."

Mai Sakurajima took off her shoes, curled up on the sofa, and spoke clearly: "Junior, do you think you can move me by comforting me like this? Are you trying to win me over, thinking that dating a big star would be more fulfilling?"

Nomiyama leaned back on the sofa, her tone flat: "Yes, yes, but it's not because I feel more accomplished that Mai-senpai is a big star, it's more like, 'Ah, Mai-senpai is Yukinoshita's new friend...'"

Mai Sakurajima raised her foot and kicked, kicked, kicked, kicked.

"How did Yukino end up with you?"

"Who knows? It's fate. Probably on the day I started school, when the shoe thief was hiding her shoes, she put her indoor shoes into my shoe cabinet, and that's when our fates were sealed."

After saying that, Nomiyama turned his gaze away from the TV and looked at the little foot that was kicking his waist, which was covered with a layer of black stockings.

"Mai-senpai, please be mindful of your manners. You are a new friend of Yukinoshita's, and I am a very proper and dutiful husband."

Sakurajima Mai gritted her teeth and kicked even harder.

After a while, Mai Sakurajima's urge to kick him finally subsided. She withdrew her foot and then thought about what had just happened.

Would kicking him with my black stockings be a reward for him?

Thinking of this, she looked up at the other person.

He stared at the television, looking completely at ease.

The damn reward? That bastard junior didn't care at all.

She raised her foot, intending to kick again.

Nomiyama exhaled, turned his head, and looked over: "Senior, do you know that your feet and legs are very beautiful? Plus, considering your status as someone who has only been seen on TV since you were a child, it's quite interesting for people to keep kicking me like this."

interest?

Mai Sakurajima's expression froze, and hot breath began to rise onto her face.

The action just now was indeed somewhat unladylike and crossed the line.

Seeing that his senior didn't know how to react, Nomiyama thought for a moment and then added the last sentence.

"The senior's safety shorts have a youthful feel to them."

Sakurajima Mai's thoughts were instantly thrown into chaos, and she raised her foot to continue kicking.

"Pervert! Disgusting! Bastard! Utterly shameless! Nomiyama Kazehaya!"

......

Nomiyama kept eating, reaching into his plate with his chopsticks, easily stuffing his cheeks full, chewing, chewing, and then swallowing in big gulps.

Glancing at the table, Nomiyama looked at Miyabi and said, "I told you, you don't need to accommodate me. This level of spiciness is a bit beyond your tolerance."

Yukinoshita Miyabi stuck out her tongue, inhaled, exhaled, picked up a glass of water, and gulped it down in one go.

She tried to make her expression more pleasant and her tone more natural: "I thought I had gotten used to it, so I just wanted to make you happy."

Looking at her, Nomiyama suppressed the smile on his lips. Of course, he could tell that Miya was doing this on purpose.

She didn't even act very seriously; it was obvious that she wanted to make you happy, so she made it a bit spicy.

But Nomiyama still put on a stern face: "Don't do that again next time, or I'll get angry."

Yukinoshita Miyabi responded with a wronged tone, "Oh, I understand."

Nomiyama did manage a slight smile, but he quickly buried his head and began to eat intently.

"How wonderful, a man and a woman in love, perfectly matched, a match made in heaven."

A different voice appeared in Nomiyama's ears.

He turned his head and looked at the senior student who was hissing and gasping for breath because of the spiciness.

It seems we did go a bit too far just now; the senior's words now are all sarcastic and sarcastic.