I practiced as a monk alone in Japan.

Chapter 121 You drank fake alcohol, didn't you?

The private rooms on the second floor have double-glazed windows, allowing people to see out from inside, but not from outside.

A faint incense scent lingered, perfectly complementing the girl's fragrance. She seemed like a solitary, self-admiring queen in the most mysterious sanctuary, untouched by anyone.

The moment the boy approached, his handsome face was like a camera lens in a movie. There was no way to dodge; he drew closer step by step.

Almost instantly, Asagiri Rin recalled that hazy and intoxicating night from last time.

I saw him arrive as I pressed my face against the edge of the car window.

The subconscious avoidance wasn't due to dislike of him as a person, but rather dislike of his ambiguous and unclear behavior. It was like an emperor issuing a completely unreasonable order to a subject.

Is this the only option?
She didn't want to be such a passive girl. She could allow him to show his infatuation with her, but how she accepted it was her own business.

She's not simple at all; she's not a beginner-level boss.

Subconsciously, I moved my body back, instinctively creating distance.

She hoped to see the boy disappointed, and then beg herself to grant him a little bit of ambiguity about the night.

Until he reached out, then easily picked up his glass and downed the rest of his Long Island Iced Tea in one gulp.

Rin Asagiri:? ? ?

She leaned back in her chair, her guarded posture instantly transforming her into a clown.

"boom."

Gen Tsukino placed the empty glass, now only containing ice, on the table, then sat down again, as if he had finished what he was supposed to do, and looked at Rin Asagiri.

"That's enough, don't drink so much."

"Are you sick in the head?"

Rin Asagiri needs extremely strong mental fortitude to control the burning sensation in her cheeks.

She didn't want the other person to realize her misunderstanding at that moment, even though she felt that this inexplicable behavior was something he deliberately wanted to mislead her into.

He was just that wicked, filled with a kind of evil that left people helpless.

“I’ve tried it, and it’s definitely quite strong, especially since you’re drinking it straight. If you keep drinking like this, you’ll be slumped over the table in less than an hour.”

It seems they had accurately assessed the girl's alcohol tolerance.

Rin Asagiri remembered that she had only drunk half of her double-alcohol Long Island Iced Tea, maybe even less.

This seemed like a show of concern for her, but she wasn't really keen on accepting it because the way this jerk went about expressing his concern infuriated her.

"What does it matter to you if I drink myself to death here?"

The kitten is hissing as if it's about to grit its teeth.

But the young man looked at her gently and said, "Of course not. I don't want tonight to end with you completely drunk."

"why?"

"Because there are other things I want to do."

"."

What exactly does he mean?

The veins on the hand holding the phone were faintly visible beneath the delicate skin.

He stared intently into the boy's eyes. "Is being fickle fun? Is this how you try to manipulate me?"

The effects of the alcohol seemed to begin to override her reason; she desperately wanted to settle things with him, even if it meant a fight to the death.

"Wasn't it you who was the one who was fickle at the beginning?"

Gen Tsukino calmly countered with a question.

Asagiri Rin did not flinch from her gaze.

"So this is how you get revenge on me?"

"I didn't want to get revenge on you."

“You should know very well that I don’t like it when you play tricks on people again and again.”

"If I did everything to make you like it, wouldn't that be too boring?"

"You're such an idiot."

The girl picked up the wine glass, as if a lump of air was stuck in her throat.

It seems that she realized at this moment what it meant to have one's own faults. If it weren't for her determination to say goodbye to the past, on the first day of high school, the day she walked towards her own path, she would have chosen to completely sever ties with the past.

If it weren't for the fact that she wanted to completely say goodbye to the past, yet couldn't resist his approach, she would have been different.

If it weren't for things like these...

Perhaps then, I wouldn't have such terrible, indescribable emotions.

She couldn't even argue her case, as if she had driven herself into this situation and was now suffering the consequences of all her previous actions.

Seeing that Asagiri Rin had started drinking alone and stopped talking to him, Tsukino Gen wasn't in a hurry.

He leisurely looked at his phone.

It wasn't any particularly noteworthy news, or any freshly broken juicy gossip. Kiyono Mizuki was sending herself a message.

"Isn't it a holiday? Why aren't you home?"

The person is proud and aloof, but every word they use seems to be clingy.

[I'm having a get-together with my classmates. Don't worry, I'll be back.]

The boy replied.

Then I received an instant reply from Kiyono Mizuki: [Why am I in such a hurry? You never attend class reunions, do you?]

[I didn't have any feelings for him before, but now that we're in our second year of high school, I've developed some feelings for him.]

After sending that message, Tsukino Gen looked up at the girl across from him who had just finished refilling her glass with a Macallan 12.

Whether the other person had radar installed or simply seized this rare moment, their eyes met for a fleeting instant. A faint blush appeared on her originally fair face, as if she had just applied blush.

Along with that, the fair neck, which the off-the-shoulder short skirt couldn't conceal, also showed a hint of rosy blush.

At this moment, she was like a peach blossom gradually blooming, but she herself seemed unaware that these subtle clues constituted an almost infinite charm.

"You reply to your message, why are you looking at me?"

"Won't come back."

Gen Tsukino puts down his phone.

Is he actually replying to messages? Asagiri Rin was too lazy to be angry anymore; there was no need to be.

Let him do whatever he wants; there's no point in worrying about it, so let's just ignore it. She tried to convince herself.

"Come back or not, it's up to you."

Are you going to give Saionji a present on her birthday?

Suddenly, Tsukino Gen brought up a question that seemed completely unrelated to the present.

"I'm too lazy to deliver it, and I don't even know what to deliver. If you want to deliver it, you can do it yourself."

"I don't have any money, so what can I give as a gift?"

"How dare you go and eat for free?"

"She insisted that I go, and you were there too."

"I don't remember what you were saying, don't try to drag me into this as a witness." She turned her face away and took a sip of ice water. She had drunk it a little too quickly, and her throat was extremely dry, leaving a trace of lip gloss on the glass.

"Are you drunk already?"

Asagiri Rin heard a smile in Tsukino Gen's voice.

The girl didn't really want to admit it, but her mind was indeed a little dizzy, and her vision was distorted.

"No"

She tried to pick up her glass again to prove that she was definitely not drunk.

But
"Snapped."

With his other hand, he held the other side of the wine glass.

She could clearly feel the other person's fingertips touching the back of her hand.

She looked up at the boy who had stopped her from picking up the wine glass.

I've already said I didn't.

"Don't drink anymore."

Gen Tsukino just watched her quietly, while the music in the background flowed slowly, like a record player turning its vinyl record.

"Why should you tell me what to do?"

The girl looked at him intently, her vision blurred, as if trying to see him more clearly.

What if you get drunk?

The boy did not release his grip on the wine glass.

The girl stared back defiantly at him, their hands seemingly locked in a struggle over the cup.

Just like all the time they've spent together from the beginning until now, they're inexplicably competing, not knowing what they're competing for, but they just have to keep going like this.

It's only when one side is completely exhausted, only when one side is so hurt that they are utterly disheartened.

"Then let's get drunk. We've already been drinking, what's there to be afraid of getting drunk?"

She felt that she was right and had a valid argument.

Gen Tsukino looked at her and then asked, "If you get drunk, how am I supposed to take you to see the sea?"

"...See the sea?" As if remembering something, Chao Wulin let go of her hand and shook her head. "I don't want to see the sea, I'm not going."

She remembered herself, so small and vulnerable, under the banyan tree in the orphanage.

I thought of the man in the hospital bed.

I also recalled that quiet and deserted funeral, where there was hardly any crying.

Genji Tsukino released his wine glass, stood up abruptly, and walked around the table between the two of them, going straight to Rin Asagiri's side.

"Asagiri Rin."

He called out the other person's name.

At this moment, the girl, who was like a stressed kitten, heard his voice and sensed his approach, and immediately tried to hide.

"Don't talk to me, don't call me by my name, I don't know how."

Before she could finish speaking, a force from her arm pulled her back, leaving her no chance to dodge. Opening her eyes, she saw a familiar face so close to hers.

It was a face she hated terribly, yet one she couldn't avoid.

"I never let anyone refuse me twice, not even you."

twice?

Oh. I think I refused once before at the restaurant halfway up the mountain.
No, does he think it's cool to say things like that?

Why can't I refuse him a second time?
"I'm not going."

She proudly raised her face.

Then, in the next moment, she was lifted into the air.

That's not quite accurate. It should be said that she was lifted into the air. She didn't even know when that bastard squatted down and secretly put his arm under her knee.

All I know is that I seem to have fallen into a warm and reliable embrace, and that I feel a strange sensation in the back of my legs, wet and warm, as if his arm is pressed against my leg flesh, as if I am sweating.

Why is it so embarrassing that this jerk is carrying me like a princess? Can't he at least wipe his hands first?!
“Put me down!!”

The girl blushed and struggled, shouting.

Gen Tsukino only whispered one sentence, "There are people all over the place outside. Do you think it's you who will be embarrassed by shouting like this?"

"This shop is mine, and everyone here belongs to me!"

She tried to make the other person face reality.

Gen Tsukino paused before opening the door, then glanced at the other person. "You're right, you have a point."

Is this person an idiot?
She gave him a slap on the shoulder, but instead of slapping him in the face, she missed the perfect opportunity.

The force applied was neither painful nor itchy.

"Then put me down!"

Gen Tsukino remained silent, and Rin Asagiri couldn't understand what he wanted to do.

Until she saw Tsukino Gen actually open the window of the second-floor private room.

Looking out the window, you can see the parking lot in the backyard of Paper Airplane.

"Wait, what are you doing?!"

The girl's eyes widened; she felt not only the strange temperature difference between the scorching summer wind outside and the cold air inside.

I could also clearly see the moon hanging high in the sky, indifferently ignoring every mortal.

He probably doesn't want that.
"Tsukino Gen?"

Below, Morita Kaoru, who was secretly smoking next to the car, noticed that the window, which was not usually opened, had suddenly opened.

She also saw Tsukino Gen appear by the window, holding the blushing young lady in his arms.

With the cigarette between her fingers and the smoke swirling in front of her eyes, she was momentarily stunned.

What's happening here?
What kind of novel games are these young couple playing? This is something she has never known before.

Until she saw Tsukino Gen easily step onto the edge of the window, and brazenly stand on the window while holding the girl!
Crazy? !

Is this a fight to the death or a song to the moon?
She immediately threw away her cigarette and rushed towards the window. No matter what, she absolutely could not let Asagiri Rin be in any danger.

Damn.

Were these two drinking fake alcohol? Even drug addicts don't act this crazy, do they?

Having fully grasped what Tsukino Gen was about to do, Asagiri Rin nervously grabbed the boy's collar, stubbornly shouting under her breath.

"You're crazy! If you'd just coaxed me a couple more times after I said I wasn't going, I would have gone. Let's take the proper route, okay? I... Ah!"

But the words are not finished yet.

The boy had already jumped down.

……

(End of this chapter)