Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

"I'm not going!" Misako rubbed her bottom and walked out of the building, then added, "I'm not going to sleep at your place either, I'm going to sleep at the supermarket! I can't sleep at your place!"

Misako limped along, talking as she walked. Because Hideaki abruptly changed the subject, Misako didn't know how to bring the topic back. So she bluntly told Hideaki: I just want to have a wedding, nothing else.

But he had already changed the subject. She felt so inferior, being a girl; to bring it up again would be too humiliating. After all, she was already depressed; wouldn't she be doomed for life?

“Okay, let’s go to the supermarket then,” Xiuming suddenly bent down, put his left arm around Misako’s legs and his right arm supporting her back, and carried her horizontally in his arms. He said as he ran, “Your butt hurts a lot. There’s a massage room in the supermarket. I’ll give you a massage. I guarantee it’ll be a one-stop service that’s great value for money.”

"Put me down...it's so embarrassing..."

Hideaki carried Misako as they ran down the pedestrian street, surrounded by people.

"Just bear with it, you'll get used to it."

Chapter 145 The Glass Curtain Wall Hidden by Wine-Red Curtains

The shops on both sides of the supermarket are still under renovation.

The glass-walled massage rooms and the adjacent lounge, situated in a corner of the entire ground-floor commercial building, remained unaffected.

Chieko and Ai Iijima are having breakfast in the lounge.

When Hideaki carried Misako into the supermarket, the two of them stood at the door of the break room, holding lunchboxes and staring wide-eyed.

"Good morning," Xiuming said without changing his expression.

The two nodded blankly in response.

Misako couldn't stand their ambiguous gazes. As Hideaki pushed open the massage room door and greeted them, she endured the pain from the fall and quickly broke free from Hideaki's embrace.

She instinctively tried to cover her burning face, but she forced herself to hold it in and said to the two of them, "Um... don't think too much... I accidentally fell down just now, so Mr. Hideaki carried me... carried me in."

"Oh... then get some rest! We won't overthink it, and Misako-chan shouldn't overthink it either."

Chieko quickly covered Ai Iijima's mouth before she could speak, dragged her into the rest room, and slammed the door shut.

Misako couldn't help but scratch her toes. This self-deceptive talk was worse than saying nothing at all. Clutching her skirt, she whispered to Hideaki, "Um, maybe we shouldn't stay here? How about going to the hospital? I want to see a psychologist..."

"Do you think you can do whatever you want?!" Hideaki grabbed Misako and sat her on the massage chair, then slammed the door shut. He turned on the room light and said irritably, "Hurry up and take off your skirt and lie down. I don't have much patience to begin with, and I've been putting up with you for a long time."

The glass curtain wall of the massage room was completely covered by thick, wine-red curtains, making it impossible to see anything outside, and the room was somewhat dim.

Misako's fickle nature was quickly wearing down Hideaki's patience.

She didn't seem to have fallen too hard on her butt, but since we're already here, we can get some meridian massage done while we're at it. That way, we won't have to carry her on our backs or hold her on the way to the hospital.

Moreover, I absolutely have to get that last positive review.

Perhaps because she's never been in a relationship before, all her current behavior seems to indicate that she's aiming for a long-term relationship, gradually experiencing the pleasure of escalating ambiguity.

Everyone is so busy, who has time to spend dating like this?

It's fine, but it's not fine.

She just lingered at the door, refusing to leave or come in. After all, she suffers from depression, and if we just dumped her, we'd have to consider whether she could handle it.

It's already at the stage of being fully ripe, so I'll make the decision for her directly.

"I...I won't take it off." Hideaki's impatient tone stirred a wave of resentment in Misako. She sat there, head tilted to the side, enduring the pain, and said, "You, if you're impatient, then leave...anyway, I...Hey~ what are you doing..."

"Enough with the nonsense!"

Before Misako could finish speaking, Hideaki lifted her legs, turned her over, and made her lie face down on the massage bed. Then he unbuttoned the back of her dress.

"You, you can't do this..." Misako was startled, her heart pounding wildly. What embarrassed her wasn't fear or disgust, but a slight surprise and anticipation. Perhaps it was this domineering nature that would take their relationship to the next level... Yet, she still whispered insincerely, "I, I'm going to scream, I really will scream... Please, please stop..."

"What kind of lousy skirt is this? Why can't I open it?" Xiuming lifted her skirt and slapped her round bottom, saying impatiently, "Untie it yourself."

“It’s not about untying… pull it… pull it up…” Misako shuddered, whispering a reminder, then covered her face, bending her knees and stretching her arms upwards to make it easier for him to remove the skirt from her head, but still muttering under her breath, “How could you do this… I told you not to… you, you don’t listen to me at all…”

Hideaki threw the skirt onto the tatami mat, walked to the cabinet, and took out a disposable vest and underwear, as well as half a bottle of lubricant. He had given Chieko and Ayako massages last time, and there was still a third left in the bottle.

Misako, dressed in blue and white striped lingerie, lay on her side on the foam bed with her back to Hideaki, her legs curled up in a ball. Her fair back was tinged with pink, the spine extending to her neck, and finally to her flushed face between her fingers.

"Take off your underwear and put on this." Xiuming threw the disposable underwear on her head. "Otherwise, you won't be able to wear it if it gets dirty."

Misako covered her face and turned her head away. Her eyes, glistening with tears, glanced at the disposable underwear. It was made of pure cotton, thin white fabric, and looked similar to the style she was wearing.

"You...you think whatever you say goes...I...I won't change it..."

Misako couldn't help but wonder if Hideaki would be even more domineering? If he were this domineering, she could take the opportunity to bring up marriage...

“Okay,” Xiuming said, unscrewing the lubricant cap and pouring a large amount into his hand. “If it gets dirty and you can’t wear it later, you can go out without anything underneath! Lie down and see how badly you hurt your butt.”

As Xiuming spoke, he walked around the massage bed and stood opposite her.

"No, no... I'll change," Misako immediately knelt up, grabbed her disposable clothes, and whispered, "You, you go out first..."

After all, how can you go out naked without a bra... But changing directly would be too shameful, especially since he used such a commanding tone. Although I quite like his domineering nature, which minimizes his guilt towards Riko, his inferiority complex about his own inadequacy, and the shame of dating a boy 12 years younger than him, it's still very undignified for him to order people around like that. He should at least set some conditions...

"Such affectation," Xiuming said, turning his back. "I'll just count to ten, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... done!"

Misako didn't have time to put on a vest. She quickly lay down on the foam bed, put her hands on the headboard, and used her fair arms to cover her flushed face.

Her heart was pounding, and she muttered in a low voice, "Are you a child? So childish... Oh, don't touch me like that~ uh..."

"Didn't you fall and hurt your butt?" Xiuming patted his ten fingers on the full, rounded surface, then spread the lubricant evenly and gently massaged the acupoints with his fingers. "Look, it's all red from the fall. Massaging it more will improve blood circulation and remove bruises. Your butt shape is not bad either. Although it's not like Ezaki's creamy pudding-like butt, it still has the bouncy texture of pudding cream."

"What...what are you saying..." Misako muttered, suppressing her trembling. She wanted to shout: How can you treat me like this and talk about other women? Do you have any manners?!

But if I shout it out like that, won't I be seen as a jealous woman? After all, things have come to this point, so breaking up is obviously out of the question... Anyway, I guess I'm a bit lucky. I thought I'd be alone forever, but I met someone I really like, someone who makes me feel inferior. Thankfully, he has flaws too... a womanizer, a jerk...

"You...you, you shouldn't..."

The spot on Misako's buttocks where she was thrown no longer hurts.

However, she felt a strange tingling and numb sensation in the surrounding area. She wanted to scratch or rub it herself, but Hideaki waved her off. Then, as if he knew exactly where Misako was feeling the strange discomfort, he gave her a precise massage.

This made Misako feel feverish all over, her mind went blank, she wanted to push him away but couldn't bear to, yet she felt ashamed to let him do it, so she could only desperately grab the sponge mat.

I don't know how much time passed, but it seems like I had a dream that I often had as a child, a beautiful dream where I was always flying in the sky.

"Turn around and straighten up," Xiuming said. "Then close your eyes and go back to sleep."

"What...what?" Misako felt dizzy and shook her head. She didn't want to think about anything and felt that this was the happiest moment. Then she rolled over and lay flat on her back.

Then came another hazy, dreamlike experience of flying...

"Alright," Xiuming's ethereal voice drifted into my ears, followed by a blue sheet being draped over me. "Do you want to sleep here for a while, or take a shower and then come back to sleep?"

"So fast? Is it already done?"

Misako was in a daze, completely forgetting about her depression. All her worries, anxieties, and mental stress were left behind. She felt an unprecedented sense of ease, light and airy from the inside out.

Xiuming stood to the side, his head directly above the chandelier on the ceiling, which seemed to emanate a sacred light from him.

Misako felt dizzy again, her blood rushing through her veins, and she could almost hear the sound of blood flowing in her ears—her heart was pounding too hard…

A seemingly reckless impulse welled up inside her, and she instinctively grabbed Xiuming's hand, placed it on her chest, and whispered in a childlike tone, "Honey... my... my heart is beating so fast... I think I'm sick..."

Chapter 146 Holding a fake wedding is surely acceptable, right?

Misako remained lying flat on the massage bed, holding Hideaki's hand. She seemed to be so nervous that her glossy nails almost dug into his skin, and she pressed hard on his chest, wrinkling the blue sheets and creating a deep indentation.

Her flushed cheeks grew even redder with each heavy breath.

Her long, slender eyelashes trembled slightly, and her watery eyes, when they occasionally met Xiuming's gaze, seemed to drift and dodge, as if unable to focus. She was like a shy, timid newlywed wife, or a homeless kitten that had just been adopted, feeling uneasy and inferior in front of its owner.

Perhaps it was a moment of impulsiveness... But even after realizing what I was saying and doing, my mind was still burning, my face was burning, my heart was burning, and the air I exhaled felt like steam rising from boiling water, scalding my mouth...

Misako used almost all her courage to say those words, after all, she had already gone this far in her actions.

Misako's moist lips trembled slightly, and her eyes were filled with obvious tears, revealing a deep sense of unspeakable grievance.

Xiuming was slightly dazed. Apart from her sudden action, her childlike, coquettish tone was surprisingly natural.

Is it innate? Or is it a sudden contrast? This gentle, shy, and undisguised nervousness is just so adorable.

It greatly evoked feelings of pity in people. Unlike the protective instinct towards Riko, it was pity towards her. It was as if one could see her past scars at a glance, and at this moment, one could not bear to see her hurt again.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry," Xiuming slapped his forehead, bent down and cupped the back of her head, and whispered in her ear, "I was really captivated by you just now. You look so cute when you're being coquettish. What flavor is your lipstick? Strawberry? I bet it's jasmine."

Misako stiffened, barely able to contain her embarrassment before she quickly closed her eyes, letting out a soft, embarrassed "humph" from her nostrils, and turned her head away without responding.

"If you don't tell me, I'll verify it myself~"

Lounge next door.

Ai Iijima's small bed was near the door, against the wall. She lay on the bed, holding a sketchbook in her hands, staring intently at it.

The walls of the room were not soundproof, but she seemed to find peace amidst the chaos, immersing herself in it, appearing eager to learn.

On a small bed in another corner of the lounge, Chieko's face was already flushed. She sat on the edge of the bed with her legs tightly together, her elbows resting on her knees, and her hands folded over her red forehead. She bit her lower lip and glanced at Ai Iijima with trembling eyelashes.

"Chieko-neechan, when did they get together?" Ai Iijima asked.

"You're asking me? How could I possibly know? I'm not familiar with any of them. I'm only close to President Riko..." Chieko stammered.

"Doesn't she care at all about President Riko's feelings? Isn't she worried that President Riko will fire her? How could she do this..." Ai Iijima muttered to herself for a while, then suddenly turned her head and asked, "Chieko-neechan, do you think I have a chance?"

Chieko was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "What opportunity?"

“How about dating Mr. Hideaki? He’s way more handsome than my boyfriend,” Ai Iijima said, pulling a comic book from under her pillow. “I won’t date him anymore once he gets out of prison, okay?”

Those were paintings by Eri that resembled artistic portraits of Hideaki, just like photographs. Because I left in a hurry, I left behind a few of them.

“Oh dear, such a vulgar painting… Don’t give it to me, I don’t want to see it…” Chieko covered her eyes and continued, “If you want to talk to him, go find him yourself. Why are you asking me? I don’t care about anything…”

Chieko thought the chances were slim. Although Hideaki was indeed a womanizer, she deduced from the way Hideaki looked at Ai Iijima that it was just the ordinary kind of affection that a brother would have for his sister, without any strangeness. Even a beautiful woman walking by on the street would attract Hideaki's attention more than he would look at her.

"I was just asking to boost my confidence! Looks like that's not going to work," Ai Iijima said with a grin, stuffing the comic book under her pillow. "So I chose a programmer as my target on the 28th floor across the street. It would be best if we could get married; both of us working can buy company-provided housing and get more benefits..."

Chieko was stunned. No wonder Ai Iijima had been so eager to deliver food to the 28th floor that morning; she had found a target up there.

Eri mentioned that there seem to be several lesbians in the company upstairs, but I don't know who they are. Should I tell her? Or maybe she'll just choose a heterosexual partner...

The phone at the cashier suddenly rang.

The two people in the massage room next door were still busy and probably couldn't hear anything.

Chieko opened the door, tiptoed past the massage room, and walked to the cashier.

A glance at the caller ID revealed a familiar hotel number, and a chill ran down my spine.

It was Ayako calling. She called me last night. After I answered, she didn't say what she wanted to do. She just started cursing at me, saying things like, "I knew something was wrong with you," "Don't think I'm afraid of you just because Riko is backing you up," and "If I find any evidence that you stole my man, I'll pluck all your hair out." ... Anyway, it was all threatening words without any evidence.