Tokyo: I took in a homeless girl

Completely unaware of what the petite girl inside was thinking, Haruno Sawayama was thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the hot water bathing her.

Although a little water vapor wouldn't cause him much harm, the heavy moisture on his body and the damp, sticky clothes would still make him feel slightly uncomfortable.

As Sawayama Haruno relaxed completely and stood under the showerhead, thoroughly enjoying the hot water, she couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"It went even more smoothly than I expected."

He closed his eyes and began to recall the experiences of the past three days.

From the moment she realized that Shiori Mine was also going to try to win her over, to deliberately keeping quiet and watching her clumsy yet adorable side, and then to how unusually proactive she was when they booked the room just now.

If I'm not mistaken, Shiori Mine probably wants to come clean with me before the company's annual party starts.

That's true. Not long after the annual meeting ends, they will all have to return to Japan. They will have various things to do then, and they may not have time to go on a date with Shiori Mine alone.

Even if there is time, it will probably be a long time before it can be arranged, which is far less convenient than doing it now.

I believe Shiori Minami understands this, which is why she was in a hurry to confront him today, right?

Thinking of this, Sawayama Haruno slowly exhaled.

It's already past six o'clock in the evening, and the sun outside is gradually setting. In another five or six hours at most, it will be time for the two of them to turn off the lights and rest.

It's unlikely that they'll keep dragging this out any longer. I just don't know what Mine Shiori's plans are. Is she planning to go out for dinner and shopping together later, and then tell us at the end?

Sawayama Haruno felt that it was not impossible, after all, the other party was the kind of girl who was rather reserved, and she would definitely be thinking about laying the groundwork step by step.

They probably confessed their feelings secretly while strolling around and enjoying the scenery together, then walked hand in hand back to the hotel, and finally got married.

"Surprisingly serious."

Sawayama Haruno turned off the showerhead, then shook her head, amused by her own earlier thought.

After the previous four girls, he actually started to look forward to this perfectly normal way of dating.

Just as Haruno Sawayama was about to take a bath in the bathtub, Shiori Mine's slightly nervous voice suddenly came from outside the bathroom.

"Haruno, are you hungry?"

"Eh?"

Sawayama Haruno, who was just about to get into the bathtub, froze on the spot upon hearing this.

"Yes, somewhat."

He tentatively asked, "Is Shiori hungry too? Wait a little longer, I'll be done washing up and head out, then we can go out to eat together?"

No, that's not what I meant.

Outside the bathroom, Shiori Mine, seemingly worried that Haruno Sawayama might misunderstand, quickly explained, "I was thinking that if Haruno is hungry, we could order the hotel's meal service, so you can eat right after you finish showering, right?"

"Hotel catering?"

Sawayama Haruno slowly sat down in the bathtub and casually said, "Don't you want to go out to eat? No, I'm fine with anything. If Shiori is hungry too, let's order some hotel food first."

Very well, it seems my guess was wrong.

So here's the question: if Shiori Mine wasn't planning to go shopping, then what was she planning to do?

You can't just waste a few hours in your room, can you?

Or should we go downstairs to soak in the hot spring, as suggested on the previous advertising card?

The hotel's hot springs didn't seem to have any separation for men and women, but Haruno Sawayama didn't think it was a good place to "confess one's feelings." If she had to choose, there were probably more suitable locations nearby.

Even just looking at the waterfall from outside at night is more romantic.

Sawayama Haruno couldn't understand it, but since Mine Shiori wanted to eat early, then let's eat early. After taking a shower and relaxing, he also felt a little hungry.

Shiori Mine, who was outside the bathroom, breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Haruno Sawayama said.

She added to the table, "Is there anything you'd like to eat, Haruno? If not, I'll just order something for you."

"You can decide for yourself."

Haruno's lazy voice came from inside.

Seeing that the other party really stopped asking questions, Shiori Mine secretly felt a little happy.

She quickly returned to the bedside table, picked up the hotel landline, and prepared to call the staff downstairs.

However, what Shiori Mine really wanted was not the hotel's complimentary meals, which were just ordinary buffets with not much good food.

She planned to pay for a meal at the hotel's upscale restaurant herself, partly to support her plans for the evening.

Only upscale restaurants serve beverages like red wine.

That's right, red wine.

After searching online for a long time for strategies and analyzing her current environment and situation, Shiori Minami felt that there was only one way to quickly enhance the ambiguous atmosphere between herself and Haruno and naturally achieve that kind of "good thing".

That's a candlelight dinner.

Although it sounds a bit old-fashioned, and the fact that this candlelight dinner was held in a hotel room makes it feel somewhat incongruous.

However, Shiori Mine happens to be a conservative type who is very susceptible to this kind of thing. When she saw the plan of a candlelight dinner with red wine, her heart was pounding.

Her intuition told her that this was the plan most likely to lead to a relationship between her and Haruno.

This is the real reason why she went over to ask Sawayama Haruno if he was hungry.

With all the preconditions for the plan now met, Shiori Mine eagerly dialed the hotel's upscale restaurant. After ordering what she and Haruno wanted to eat from the waiter, she also asked them to recommend a bottle of red wine.

The price is frighteningly high.

Fortunately, Shiori Mine has worked at Kodansha for quite some time and has been trying to cut back on her daily expenses, so it's not a problem for her to spend some money on a bottle of fine wine.

As the saying goes, money should be spent wisely. For Shiori Mine, what could be more important than spending it on things related to Haruno?

The answer is obvious.

After hanging up the phone, Shiori Minami sat on the large bed, her heart pounding with excitement.

The soft touch of her body did not relax her; instead, her delicate body tensed up even more, as if she had anticipated what would happen here tonight. The girl was filled with shyness.

Unnoticed by others, Shiori Mine's face slowly flushed red, as if a large amount of scorching steam would burst from her head at any moment. She awkwardly stomped her left foot with her right foot, trying to calm herself down in this way.

But it didn't seem to have any effect; instead, the slight pain reminded her of other things.

"Would Haruno accept my fetish?" Mine Shiori suddenly thought of this with some unease.

She didn't know if the other person would like her place. What if Haruno found it disgusting?

Although he seemed understanding of my quirks when we were in Kyoto, we were still friends then, and tonight things could very well escalate to another level.

What if Haruno is actually quite resistant to it?

Thinking of this, Shiori Mine subconsciously bit her lip.

Maybe I should just hold back a little tonight and not show that kind of behavior, otherwise I might scare Haruno.

The petite girl was so engrossed in her plans for the evening that she didn't notice that Sawayama Haruno had already finished showering and come out of the bathroom.

The other person was drying their hair, and the drooping white towel perfectly covered Mine Shiori, who was sitting on the bed. Sawayama Haruno called out without looking up, which startled Mine Shiori.

"Shiori, have you ordered dinner?"

"Ah, ah ah."

Shiori Mine was so startled that her heart almost jumped out of her chest. After hearing Haruno Sawayama's question, she immediately tried to appear calm and said, "Yes, they called. They should be here soon."

"Really? Then I..."

Sawayama Haruno was about to say that she would use a hairdryer to dry her hair, but before she could finish speaking, the doorbell rang and the waiter's voice came from outside.

"Gentlemen, your dinner has been delivered. Please come out and collect it."

"Wow, we've arrived so quickly."

Sawayama Haruno vigorously dried her still-wet hair with a towel and said with a smile, "You sit down, I'll go get it."

After saying that, he hung the towel on the clothes rack next to him, and then went to the door to get his dinner.

Seeing this, Shiori Mine, who had wanted to get there first, could only sit back awkwardly, praying that Haruno wouldn't discover the existence of the bottle of red wine too quickly.

Although the other person and the waiter could not be seen getting the food, their conversation was still clearly audible.

"Sir, this is the meal your wife just ordered. Please check the bill."

"Oh, okay. Sea urchin and black truffle baked rice with Australian Wagyu beef, and um, is this bottle of red wine also?"

A slightly confused voice came from outside.

Upon hearing that voice, Shiori Mine's face instantly fell.

Oh no, we've been found out.

She didn't expect the waiter to ask her to check her order bill. Shouldn't it have been put in the small food cart?

To keep the food warm, the lids of the food carts are usually not opened, and the wine should be placed on the lower level. Why is there a billing process?

In fact, checking the bill is the most correct approach, and Shiori Mine's initial judgment was not wrong. The mistake was that she forgot that this was a high-end hotel located in a scenic area, where the prices for food are very expensive. To ensure that nothing goes wrong, it is natural to ask the customers who order to check the bill first to see if anything is missing.

It can only be said that Shiori Mine suffered from a lack of experience.

If it were Suguha Ezaki, perhaps she could have facilitated it in a better way. No, given that girl's "straightforward" personality, she might have directly tried to seduce Haruno Sawayama, and then the two of them could have a candlelight dinner together afterward.

The characteristics of this master and apprentice are indeed very different.

"Okay, that's all. Is this where you sign?"

"It's troublesome."

Sawayama Haruno's slightly helpless voice reached the hotel room, and before long, Mine Shiori saw him pushing the food cart back.

"that."

Shiori Mine didn't dare look at him at all, and could only shift her gaze to the carpeted floor to the side, feeling a little guilty.

"Red wine?"

Surprisingly, Haruno Sawayama did not show any mischievous or teasing smile.

He held up the bottle of red wine and smiled, "It seems to be a very famous brand, but I don't know much about red wine. How about we have a candlelight dinner tonight?"

"Um"

Shiori Mine pursed her lips and whispered, "Won't Haruno think I'm being too presumptuous?"

“You can be a little bolder,” said Sawayama Haruno, fiddling with the bottle in his hand. “Or maybe after you finish this, you won’t feel like you were acting on your own initiative.”

He wasn't so oblivious to romance; he knew better than anyone that Shiori Mine wanted to use the candlelight dinner as an excuse to secretly express her long-buried feelings to him.

Chapter 374 An Unforgettable Night with Shiori Mine!

After slightly rearranging and piecing together the tables and chairs in the room, a less-than-perfect dining table was formed.

Sawayama Haruno laid out the food from the dining car one dish after another, and finally took out candles and a lighter from under the car. After lighting them, he also made sure to turn off all the lights in the room.

For a moment, the room was plunged into a relatively dim environment. Shiori Mine sat nervously in the opposite seat, looking at Haruno Sawayama who was busy running around, and showed a somewhat embarrassed expression.

"I'm sorry. It was my request that made Haruno go through so much trouble."

"It's fine, the hotel provides candles for free anyway, might as well use them."

As Sawayama Haruno carefully placed the lit candles in front of the two of them, he smiled and said, "It still feels like something's missing. It would be nice if someone were playing the piano or something."

"That's an exaggeration."

Shiori Mine smiled slightly, her lips pursed.

Most French or Western restaurants do have live music to create a more pleasant environment for guests. Even a candlelight dinner for two becomes more elegant and upscale with music playing.

Ultimately, it's all about satisfying girls' innocent desire for romance.

Although music was missing at the moment, the fact that Haruno Sawayama was sitting right in front of Shiori Mine and was so actively cooperating with her had moved Shiori so much that she didn't know what to say.

Everything that's happening now feels like a dream; I can't be sure if it's real.

Shiori Mine could only gaze cautiously yet greedily at the face she longed for, by the dim candlelight.

Sawayama Haruno quickly noticed her unwavering gaze.

"please"

Sawayama Haruno smiled slightly and pushed the cutlery over.