Chapter 250: Internet Cafe
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 250: Internet Cafe
"Young Lady, are you sure about this?"
"About what?"
Kumiko retorted to Shinji, who sat across from her, with a prim expression.
"About Kim Yoo-Sung. You can't be happy about sharing him with other women."
At that, Kumiko turned her gaze out the window and replied.
"But there's no other viable option. If that's the case, it's only right that I take the risk."
She had made her resolve a long time ago.
Otherwise, she never would have come up with such an absurd plan as a Kim Yoo-Sung harem herself.
But now that it was actually happening right before her eyes, she couldn't help but feel shaken.
The fear that she might lose him was blooming in her heart.
Just then, Minami, who had been watching from the side, chimed in.
"Shinji, it's not our place as mere servants to argue about this. This is all the Young Lady's decision."
"That may be, but..."
"Thank you for your concern, Shinji."
Kumiko cut in before the two cousins' argument could drag on.
"But Minami is right. I'm the one who decided this, so you don't need to worry so much. If things go wrong, it will be entirely my fault."
"Young Lady..."
"So, what's next on the schedule, Minami?"
"Ah, yes. You have a dinner scheduled with the presidents of the group's subsidiary companies."
"Oh my, we can't be late then. We should hurry."
Seeing Kumiko change the subject, as if she didn't want to talk about it anymore, Shinji let out a small sigh and fell silent.
After all, it was his role to always pretend to reluctantly give in to the Young Lady's stubbornness.
*
"Wow~ This outfit is so pretty!"
Rika exclaimed, looking at the clothes on a mannequin through the shop window.
"If you like it, why don't you go in and try it on?"
She snapped out of it with a gasp, then shook her head and said.
"No, that'll take too long. Don't guys say waiting for a girl to shop for clothes is the most boring thing ever?"
"That depends on the person."
"Still, it's really fine. I'm happy with just window shopping today. We don't have much time to hang out, anyway."
Rika said with a grin, pulling on my arm to go look at other things.
"Alright."
Since she said she was fine, there was no point in pushing it, so I obediently followed where she led.
After walking the streets of Shibuya and window-shopping at various clothing stores, the place Rika led me to this time was the Tsutaya Bookstore inside Shibuya Scramble Square.
Since Rika and I are both otaku, and manga was more of a shared interest than clothes, it was much easier to strike up a conversation.
"Ah! This manga! The new volume is out!"
"This author's manga is fun, too."
"Wow! This keychain is so cute! And this phone case!"
Rika darted all over the bookstore like a fish in water.
Perhaps because of the gap between her gyaru-like appearance and her immense love for shonen manga, she drew the attention of those around us. But that attention vanished as if by magic the moment they saw me trailing behind her.
It made me feel a bit like her guardian, but as long as she was having fun, I guess it didn't matter.
Unlike how she'd hesitated for so long in front of the clothing store, Rika picked out her manga in an instant. With a look of pure happiness, as if she owned the world, she asked.
"Aren't you buying anything, Ryu-chan?"
"Hmm. Since I'm here, I might as well buy Teacher Musashi's new book."
With that, I picked up a copy of Teacher Musashi's manga from the new releases corner.
"We'd like to check out, please."
"Ah, yes."
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The endless scanning of barcodes.
Maybe because she was a rich man's daughter, but I was envious of her financial power to buy so many manga at once.
That was my entire monthly allowance right there.
"...Can you carry all that home?"
"It's fine. I've bought even more than this back when I went to Comiket."
I looked at the shopping bags filling both her hands and couldn't help but worry, but Rika just smiled brightly.
I should have realized it when she, a complete beginner, effortlessly lifted a 40kg barbell. It seems Rika is also secretly a monster of strength.
Anyway, after we finished shopping and went outside, the time had already passed 8 o'clock.
There was still time before the last train, but I felt strangely worried and asked.
"Did you let your parents know beforehand?"
"I did when I went to the bathroom earlier. I told them I'd be a little late because I was going to an after-party for the culture festival with friends."
Rika shrugged and then pointed to a ramen shop right in front of us, asking if I was hungry.
Come to think of it, I was so flustered by the confession that I hadn't even thought about dinner.
As a wave of belated hunger hit me and I rubbed my stomach, Rika said it was her treat and pulled me into the shop.
Cling! Cling!
"Welcome!"
As Rika entered the shop first, a waiter greeted her with a friendly welcome.
But when I followed her in, the shop was plunged into a moment of silence.
This wasn't the first time this had happened, so I gave a slight bow, silently telling them to carry on with their meals, and sat down with Rika at a corner table.
The waiter then came over, trembling, and brought us menus and a water pitcher.
"Hmm~ What do you want to eat, Ryu-chan?"
"I'm fine with anything. Just order the same thing as you."
Without much thought, Rika placed our order.
"Sir! We'll have two tonkotsu ramen with extra chashu, lots of garlic, and a double helping of bean sprouts!"
"Coming right up~"
In the meantime, I set out the chopsticks and poured water into our cups, asking.
"You're pretty good at ordering. Do you come to ramen shops often?"
Rika scratched the back of her head, smiling shyly.
"My dad loves ramen, so we used to go a lot when we lived in Shizuoka. Is it weird for a high school girl to like ramen?"
"Eating is a matter of taste. There's nothing strange about saying you like what you like."
I shrugged and took a sip of water from my cup.
A brief silence fell between us.
But maybe because I was with someone I was close to, even this silence wasn't uncomfortable.
Just then, Rika, who had been fidgeting with her fingers and glancing at me, cautiously asked.
"Ryu-chan, how far have you gone with the President?"
"Pfft!"
"Ah! Sorry! Tissues! Tissues!"
I told the flustered Rika that I was fine and quickly wiped up the water I'd sprayed with a tissue.
Then I wiped my mouth and asked her.
"Why are you asking that?"
"Huh? Oh, well, I'm your girlfriend now too, so I was just curious..."
I debated whether or not to answer, but since Rika was old enough to know what's what, I decided to be honest.
"We've probably done everything you're imagining."
She asked, completely startled.
"Really?!"
"Yeah."
"Isn't that... too fast? You're both still in high school!"
"Rika, you're being a little loud."
Realizing it belatedly, she quickly looked around, then shrank back, embarrassed.
"S-So who made the first move? Was it you, Ryu-chan?"
I recalled the first time I was with the President.
She was the one who had first seduced me with her body, saying she would comfort me as I was feeling guilty.
"...The President made the first move."
"Oh my! Oh my!"
Rika blushed, letting out little gasps like a middle-aged woman.
I didn't understand why she was asking if she was going to get this embarrassed, but I decided to let it slide since she was at that age where she'd be curious about lewd topics.
"The President is more forward than she looks."
"She can be, yeah."
And that was part of the older-woman charm that I'd fallen for.
As we were chatting about the President, the waiter approached with a tray, our ramen apparently ready.
"Your tonkotsu ramen."
"Wow! It looks delicious!"
Rika's eyes sparkled at the sight of the toppings, which were much more plentiful than in a normal bowl of ramen.
The heaps of bean sprouts and minced garlic piled on top were especially impressive.
"After eating this, I won't be able to meet anyone until tomorrow. Right?"
Even as she said that, Rika dug into her ramen without hesitation.
I gave a wry smile, seeing her actions contradict her words.
This girl definitely has the palate of an old man.
*
"Ah! That was delicious!"
"It really was."
After we finished our bowls of ramen and went outside, it was already almost 9 p.m.
There was still some time before the last train, but it was also a bit late for high school students who weren't even adults yet to be out and about.
"Shouldn't we be heading home soon?"
As I said that and turned toward the subway station, Rika suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
"Ryu-chan, my legs kind of hurt."
"Oh? Really? Should we rest somewhere for a bit before we go?"
As I said that and looked around for a place to rest, Rika pointed somewhere.
"How about there?"
"Huh? That's..."
A sign with dazzling neon lights shining in the bustling city center.
At first glance, you might mistake it for a shady establishment, but it was actually just a common internet cafe, the kind you could find anywhere in Shibuya.
"Let's just rest there for about an hour before we go."
It certainly wasn't a bad idea.
Winter was just around the corner and the weather was getting chilly, so resting indoors somewhere would be better than staying outside.
Besides, at an internet cafe, we could watch movies, anime, or dramas, and they often had a free drink bar.
"Alright. Just one hour, then?"
"Yep. Just one hour."
Having reached an agreement, we headed to the internet cafe to rest for a while.