I have a life simulator.

However, there wasn't much anger in her tone; it sounded more like a sigh.

"This is my flavor now."

Horikita Suzune's lips pressed against mine, her almost domineering action carrying an aggressive, untamed wildness.

tame.

Kitagawa Ryo recalled that when he first met Horikita Suzune, he regarded her as a fox who had not yet met the Little Prince. At that time, he was simply acting on Horikita Manabu's request and took it upon himself to think that there was nothing wrong with becoming friends with such a solitary girl.

I originally thought the other party would always be as docile as a tamed fox.

Kitagawa Ryo slightly opened his eyes. He stared at Horikita Suzune's purplish-red pupils, which were so close to his own. The unease and anxiety contained in those pupils even made Kitagawa Ryo feel a little guilty.

“I didn’t go to see her, I was just away on a business trip for a few days. You’re overthinking it.”

Kitagawa Ryo reached out and stroked Horikita Suzune's face, from her trembling eyelashes to the corners of her mouth:

"I am back."

He hoped to appease Horikita Suzune temporarily with this promise.

But it doesn't seem to work today.

Horikita Suzune seemed to have just taken a shower; her hair still had a few water droplets clinging to it.

When the two embraced, physical contact was inevitable, but Kitagawa Ryo noticed that Horikita Suzune was gradually taking advantage of the situation.

These further contacts were small and subtle, cautious and apprehensive, as if countless tiny hands had suddenly reached out from Horikita Suzune's body. She was tentatively exploring, ready to take root at the slightest sign of Kitagawa Ryo's acceptance.

Kitagawa Ryo grasped Horikita Suzune's hand, his grip as solid as an impenetrable wall.

"No."

"I don't want this."

Kitagawa Ryo turned on the living room lights, and the brightened space instantly dispelled all the previous ambiguity.

Their wedding photo hung in the center of the living room wall, but Kitagawa Ryo glanced at it.

He still couldn't accept Horikita Suzune's betrayal. The two of them had agreed to cancel their engagement together, but in the end, he was outmaneuvered.

Kitagawa Ryo and Horikita Suzune became legally married.

Entering his room, Kitagawa Ryo lay down immediately. After feeling his disordered breathing gradually stabilize, he heard a knock on the door.

The door was clearly not closed at all.

Kitagawa Ryo got up and looked at the half-open door. After a few knocks, there was no response from the other side, and there was a brief silence. The two people inside and outside the door seemed to be waiting for the other to make a move.

Kitagawa Ryo was the first to admit defeat; he simply reopened the door, still wearing his slippers.

"Is there anything?"

"If there's nothing else, I'm going to sleep."

Horikita Suzune stood there obediently, blinking. Although he knew it was all a facade, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't bring himself to be ruthless. He didn't have romantic feelings for Horikita Suzune, but he did have feelings for her as a friend.

"I'm going to take a shower."

Horikita Suzune said very seriously that perhaps she really was like a fox, only wanting to leave more of her own scent on Kitagawa Ryo.

The scent of other women was no different to her than an invasion of her private territory.

Kitagawa Ryo felt Horikita Suzune stroking his face, her eyes seemingly asking questions and probing him.

So Horikita Suzune stood on tiptoe and kissed Kitagawa Ryo's lips again.

This time, her touch was very light, even making Kitagawa Ryo feel a little itchy, as if his heart was being tickled.

This provocative action even made Kitagawa Ryo feel that their positions had been reversed, and he himself had a strange feeling of being tamed by the other party.

When Kitagawa Ryo came to his senses, he found himself pinned against the wall again.

Horikita Suzune seemed to be caught in a deep and quiet excitement, and Kitagawa Ryo could feel her skin getting hot.

"If this continues, I'll leave now."

Kitagawa Ryo threatened him in this way.

He is now certain that he was the one who led Horikita Suzune astray.

Although Horikita Suzune had only clumsily imitated and copied Horikita Manabu in the past, and insisted on a way of life without any interpersonal communication, her mental state was stable.

As a result, under her own influence, Horikita Suzune did indeed escape Horikita Manabu's shadow and did give up her way of living alone, but she did not completely change.

It's just that Kitagawa Ryo replaced Horikita Manabu in her heart.

It could even be said that it needs to go even further.

Because Horikita Manabu and Horikita Suzune didn't have much contact in the end, the two siblings only spent a few hours together a year, and were just like slightly familiar strangers who were related by blood.

But Kitagawa Ryo is different.

After severing most of their ties with Karuizawa Kei, Kitagawa Ryo practically stayed by Horikita Suzune's side for the entire twelve years from when she was fourteen to when she was twenty-six.

It can be said that the two of them witnessed the most golden period of each other's lives.

However, Kitagawa Ryo never harbored any romantic feelings for her.

It really is the strangest world.

Despite having Karuizawa Megumi as his first love and now dating Shiina Hiyori, he ultimately married Horikita Suzune.

Kitagawa Ryo even left Horikita Suzune on the same day the wedding ended and went to Tokyo alone. He thought his attitude was quite clear, but he didn't expect that Horikita Suzune would not take the initiative to file for divorce to this day.

In fact, he hardly ever stayed at home.

In the past, Horikita Suzune could only see Horikita Manabu's back, but now she has filled every corner of Kitagawa Ryo's heart with her own. From this perspective, she has not grown at all.

Horikita Suzune remains as simple as ever, executing programs automatically upon input, stubbornly refusing to change her mind, and inflexible in her approach.

Kitagawa Ryo simply couldn't understand it.

"Lingyin should have her own life."

Why must we follow in the footsteps of others? Don't we want to live for ourselves and forge our own path?

Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but complain.

"Absolutely not."

Horikita Suzune answered crisply and decisively.

"Don't you have your own opinions? You were bound by your studies before, and now you want to be bound by me?"

Kitagawa Ryo scratched his hair in frustration.

"Liang made it herself."

"what should I do?"

Horikita Suzune looked at Kitagawa Ryo with a calm expression and retorted:

“When I was little, anyone who knew my brother would keep him close to my ears and in front of my eyes. If I got closer to my brother, I would be praised, and if I fell behind him, I would be criticized.”

As if she were narrating someone else's life, Horikita Suzune's tone and expression showed absolutely no fluctuation.

"That's why I've always followed my brother, but I know I'll never catch up, just like Sisyphus in the myth, destined to fail in vain."

"Later, Liang told me that living alone is not possible. It's like a turtle that accidentally flips over. Without the help of other turtles, it can't flip itself back over by itself."

"Therefore, people must establish connections with others, even just one, just like the fox in 'The Little Prince.' There are many little boys and many little foxes in the world, but once they establish connections with each other, they become each other's only one."

“But I consider Liang to be my only one, but Liang is not at all.”

"I was clearly following your instructions."

Kitagawa Ryo realized his mistake. He had indeed destroyed the idol in Horikita Suzune's heart, but he failed to let Horikita Suzune find her own goal in time. As a result, she habitually placed herself in that empty shrine.

Because Horikita Suzune is someone who finds it difficult to move forward once she loses her goals and direction.

"I didn't know where to go, but the coolness made me move forward."

"Tell me to think for myself, tell me to live for myself, let me walk my own path."

"I have no idea about these things. Does Ryo really think that a child who grows up locked in a dark room can recognize the sun?"

Kitagawa Ryo listened quietly to Horikita Suzune's story.

Horikita Suzune's life was twisted, which is why she developed such a twisted personality.

During my childhood, I was never treated as an individual separate from Horikita Gaku.

Having finally escaped the shadow of Horikita Manabu, the survival methods deeply ingrained in her made her reflexively set herself as her next target.

Kitagawa Ryo felt that this way of life was wrong, but he also found that, apart from being able to point out the mistakes in her actions as before, he could not find a better way for her.

Empty rhetoric had no effect on Horikita Suzune.

Just like how everyone could comment that Horikita Suzune didn't need to follow in Horikita's footsteps, no one could tell Horikita Suzune what she could actually do.

Does she have things she likes? Does she want to continue developing in this direction?

Kitagawa Ryo suddenly realized that Horikita Suzune's inner world was actually quite empty, which he found hard to believe.

She is good at cooking, but only as a necessary skill to live alone.

She wanted to lead Class D to Class A at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, but only to achieve the same result as Horikita Manabu.

"Don't think about it anymore."

Noticing the confusion in Kitagawa Ryo's eyes, Horikita Suzune gently leaned closer and whispered in his ear:

"These kinds of things are meaningless."

I hate trouble and communication; I like simplicity and decisiveness; once I set a goal, I don't think about anything else.

The night is already very deep.

It was as if the air in the entire room began to contract, as if there were an invisible wall, gradually squeezing the two bodies together, and Horikita Suzune gently hugged her.

Her embrace even carried a hint of youthful tentativeness.

Horikita Suzune embraced Kitagawa Ryo like a true wife, embracing her husband.

It was as if they wanted to make up for all the hugs they missed on their wedding night.

Then Horikita Suzune suddenly started crying like a child. Her dissatisfaction, grievances, and sadness overwhelmed Kitagawa Ryo in an instant, and she sobbed on Kitagawa Ryo's shoulder.

Kitagawa Ryo didn't even know what kind of feelings he was holding onto now; perhaps it was heartache.

He held Horikita Suzune tightly, gently patting her back, as if coaxing a child. Kitagawa Ryo instinctively rubbed his face against hers.

"I'm here."

Their heartbeats gradually blended as their skin touched, and the close contact erased all sorts of wild thoughts.

[Carnivore (Blue): You always crave more physical contact and to take things further in a relationship (you've become accustomed to taking advantage of others in the relationship)]

For the first time, Kitagawa Ryo lowered his head voluntarily, almost in a demanding manner.

He reached out and wrapped his arms tightly around Horikita Suzune's waist.

The two of them collapsed onto the bed in the room.

-------------------------------------

Even at the very end, Kitagawa Ryo wasn't sure whether he tamed Horikita Suzune or Horikita Suzune ultimately tamed him.

However, he didn't like this ending because he didn't like Horikita Suzune like this.

If given the opportunity, he would handle his relationship with Horikita Suzune more appropriately.

Let Horikita Suzune find her own path.

The real road.

Chapter 24: Letting Horikita Suzune Go Free

"Ringtone?"

"—"

When she noticed that someone was calling her name, Horikita Suzune looked up in a fluster.