Just thinking about Hojo’z speechless expression at the end made Nozomi feel a thrill from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair.

She had always been suppressed by her to the point of being unable to breathe, but finally, she had completely overwhelmed her with sheer presence.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this a turnaround, right?

Especially considering that the person was Akari Hojo, it felt even more satisfying.

Even she couldn’t help but praise herself internally:

’Nozomi, you’re so cool!’

However, while slamming the door and getting out of the car had been cool, the moment Nozomi Sakura got into the taxi, she regretted it.

She sobered up immediately.

The base fare for a taxi in Tokyo’s 23 wards is 500 yen, plus tax, making it 550 yen (within 1 kilometer).

After that, the mileage fee is 100 yen for every 255 meters, in addition to the time fee (for traffic jams).

It’s nearly five kilometers from here to home...

It seems like I was too impulsive.

But getting out now is absolutely out of the question, Hojo’s car is right behind, and she absolutely cannot be looked down upon by her!

"Where to?"

Hearing the driver’s question, Nozomi opened her mouth, and then a sheepish smile appeared on her face as she said, "Um, just driving forward for one kilometer is fine..."

"?"

The driver frowned and couldn’t help but turn around to glance at her, the meaning in his eyes couldn’t have been more obvious.

’Are you okay?’

Nozomi pursed her lips, turned her face toward the window, and said in a flat tone, "Yeah, turning right at the intersection ahead is fine, too, and then please just drive a bit further forward."

"..."

The driver suppressed the urge to kick her out and, following her instructions, finally parked the car in front of a 24-hour convenience store.

Paying the fare with a heavy heart, Nozomi stood under the eaves, thinking about the words Hojo had said, and suddenly felt somewhat unwilling to give up.

She opened her phone, wanting to ask Alan to come pick her up, but remembering that Alan had said he was busy, she couldn’t help but hesitate.

Her finger slid back and forth on the phone book, eventually hovering over Alan’s phone number.

Gritting her teeth, she finally pressed it.

Why does he show concern for his ex-girlfriend, yet treat her like a boss dealing with an employee?

Isn’t that being a bit too biased?

She would test the waters first, if he was really too busy, she could just take the train back.

***

In the bedroom, Nino Kitagawa sat sideways on the sofa. Alan stood behind her, cradling her wet long hair in his left hand while using a hairdryer with his right, drying it carefully.

Unlike Hojo’s fine, silky hair, Nino’z hair was thicker and heavier, feeling noticeably denser. The light hitting it made it shine with a dark, iron-like luster.

She probably hadn’t trimmed her hair for a long time, the ends were uneven, and it reached almost to her waist.

But this didn’t affect her overall beauty, in fact, it suited her temperament even more.

Of course, that was only if she didn’t speak.

When Nino wasn’t speaking, she was like a heartless female assassin, but the moment she opened her mouth, the vibe would completely change, like a Teletubby driving a baby bus...

Feeling the warm air blowing across her neck, Nino Kitagawa narrowed her eyes in enjoyment, unconsciously straightening her snow-white legs and pointing her toes.

Like a cat being petted, she was quiet and docile.

She was currently wearing a white shirt and men’s shorts.

The shirt was clearly more than a size too big, the sleeves covered half of her palms, and the hem of the shirt covered the shorts.

If she stood up now, it would look like she wasn’t wearing anything on her lower body.

The only sound in the air was the ’whooshing’ of the hairdryer, but as he stared at the young girl’s back, Alan actually felt a long-lost sense of tranquility.

Ten minutes later, confirming that the girl’s hair was completely dry, Alan put down the hairdryer and said.

"All done."

Feeling the warm breeze disappear, Nino opened her eyes, turned her head to look at the boy, and pursed her lips.

Not enough yet.

Her clear eyes were clearly saying that.

Alan looked at the fair skin of the girl in front of him and couldn’t help but marvel at the strength of her genes.

Even with training every day, Nino still belonged to that category of cold, pale skin. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Her face was white with a rosy tint, like pale red on white porcelain.

Their gazes intertwined in the air.

Peaceful, warm, unable to feel the passage of time; it seemed like they could go on like this forever.

After a while, Nino Kitagawa averted his gaze, sighed at the girl in front of him, and said earnestly.

"Nino, I have a question I want to ask you."

She didn’t speak, slowly nodding, her gaze still fixed on his face, as if she could never get enough of looking at him.

"I want to ask you... with me dating Nozomi, don’t you think it’s unfair?"

"Or rather, don’t you feel sad?"

"You should know, right? My dating you and Nozomi at the same time is a really terrible thing to do, right? This is wrong, and it’s not fair to you..."

Upon hearing this, Nino blinked, tilted her head slightly, and a look of confusion appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Her pale red lips opened slowly, and she said softly, "Does Alan want to send Nino away?"

"No..."

Alan frowned. The reason he asked this was that he felt Nino didn’t understand the logic behind it at all.

If it were Hojo or Nozomi who allowed him to do this, then with all three parties in agreement, he wouldn’t mind being the scumbag cursed by ten thousand people.

But if it was Nino, it was hard to say whether she really understood what was going on right now.

If things just continued in this vague, unclear way, it would be like fooling a simpleton.

He couldn’t get past this hurdle in his own heart.

And hearing his response, Nino Kitagawa asked again, "If Alan won’t leave Nino, why would Nino be sad?"

"Nino has actually always known, Nino is an idiot and isn’t even half as smart as Alan."

"No..."

Alan wanted to deny it.

However, the girl raised her fair index finger to his lips, shook her head at him, and said, "Nino is an idiot, so she’ll just listen to everything Alan says. As long as Alan is happy, Nino is happy. Liking others or whatever doesn’t matter at all, as long as you don’t throw Nino away, as long as you still like Nino..."

She spoke very slowly, as if she were carefully weighing every single word.

"About what Alan said before about getting married or whatever, actually, Nino doesn’t care about that."

As she spoke, she slowly pulled Alan’s palm and pressed it against her chest.

"Can Alan feel it? As long as Nino is by Alan’s side, her heart goes ’thump-thump’. Nino is very happy..."

The girl’s heartbeat made Alan feel a tingling sensation in his fingers, and then a surge of heat welled up in his chest.

Emotions of being moved surged in his heart, Alan could no longer hold back, opening his arms and hugging her tightly.

Feeling the body heat from the boy, Nino Kitagawa obediently rested her chin on his shoulder.

A gentle smile appeared on her fair face, like pear blossoms blooming in a snowy night.

’Buzz...’

Suddenly, the phone placed on the table rang inopportunely, shattering the warm atmosphere.

Tsk.

Alan frowned, letting the phone ring a few times before releasing the girl in front of him and picking it up to take a look.

[Nozomi Sakura]

Looking at the caller ID on the phone, Alan narrowed his eyes, a feeling of being caught cheating during a surprise inspection welled up.

He glanced at Nino beside him, thought for a moment, walked to the balcony, and answered the call.

When the call connected, before the other party could speak, Alan heard the sound of ’splashing’ rain.

He frowned unconsciously and checked the time.

It’s already six o’clock, she hasn’t gone home yet? Has she been flooded out too?

"Hello?"

Two seconds later, Nozomi’s probing voice came through the phone:

"Um... Alan, are you busy?"

Hearing this, Alan looked back at Nino in the bedroom, she seemed to be making the bed, so he said, "Not really, what’s up? Did something happen? Why aren’t you home at this hour?"

"Uh..."

Nozomi’s brain worked extremely fast, quickly searching for excuses used by heroines in TV shows and movies. After pondering for two seconds, she said, "Ah, I, um, just fell into the water."

"?"

Alan was stunned and asked with a frown, "What happened?"

"Uh, it’s just that while I was walking earlier, I didn’t see a puddle, so I fell into it."

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Hearing him ask that, Nozomi’s lips curled up, a look of satisfaction appearing in her eyes. She stepped out from under the eaves, walking in the rain as she said.

"I’m fine, just soaked all over... I’m a bit embarrassed to take the train, it feels too shameful..."

Pausing for a moment, she asked cautiously, "Um, are you busy right now..."

"Where are you? I’ll..."

Alan hadn’t finished his sentence when he suddenly realized Nino had walked to his side.

She blinked her clear eyes, lifted the bedding in her hands, and asked, "Alan, should we sleep under the same quilt?"

"????"