Chapter 72: Protecting The Best A Jian
“As long as you like it.”
“Which one to drink?”
“Up to you.”
Hoshihara Ai lightly rolled off him, her smooth body walking uncovered to the wine cabinet in the living room.
She took a whiskey glass from the wine cabinet, put an ice cube in it, and poured a full glass of HIBIKI 21-year.
Sakamoto Ken followed over and stood by the bar counter watching her.
“Why only pour one glass? Aren’t you drinking?” Sakamoto Ken saw her place this glass on the bar counter.
Hoshihara Ai didn’t answer. She picked up the wine glass, took a big sip herself first, then pulled Sakamoto Ken over and kissed him again.
This time, Sakamoto Ken drank some too.
Only after Sakamoto Ken swallowed that sip of alcohol did she reluctantly let go of him, then got another glass, poured one for him, and refilled her own.
The two clinked glasses, the liquor went down their throats, and Sakamoto Ken found that this dream even reproduced that slightly drunk sensation.
He knew Hoshihara Ai had a characteristic: in a seven-parts-drunk state, her emotions were particularly high.
“Hey, I didn’t tell you to stop!”
She said this about three times, and Sakamoto Ken also felt dizzy, unsure if it was from the drinking or something else.
One glass after another.
Whiskey is 43 degrees, and even though Sakamoto Ken had a decent tolerance, drinking like this soon had him slumped in the lounge chair, disoriented.
But the one in front of him, having drunk about the same amount, was still going strong now.
Sakamoto Ken indifferently closed his eyes directly, letting her do whatever.
This post-drinking nap lasted until he was startled awake by the “thump thump thump” sound in his brain.
When he sat up, he felt his mind was quite clear, with no lingering drunkenness.
And the surroundings were already his rundown apartment.
He woke up…
Sakamoto Ken licked his lips, still a bit unsatisfied.
At that moment, the phone on the table rang, and at the same time, a girl’s voice came from outside the door.
“Thump thump thump! A Jian? A Jian, are you home?”
Sakamoto Ken saw the caller ID on the phone was also Natsume Mio.
After eating lunch together at noon, she went to work at the convenience store. Now the light outside the window had darkened; that nap had gone straight from noon to evening.
But luckily, the physical exhaustion from the dream didn’t exist in reality, or else he feared his legs would be weak when he got up.
“Mio?” Sakamoto Ken got up, went to the doorway, and after opening the door, saw the girl with an anxious expression.
Seeing Sakamoto Ken open the door, Natsume Mio breathed a sigh of relief.
“Phew… I thought something happened to you…” Natsume Mio patted her chest and said, “I kept calling earlier, heard your phone ringing in the room, but no one picked up…”
“I’m home, how could something happen?” Sakamoto Ken said.
Natsume Mio pursed her lips and said, “I’ve been learning about the manga industry lately, watched《Bakuman》. In it… the protagonist’s uncle Nobuhiro died from overwork… A Jian, you live alone, if something happens at home, no one would know…”
“Don’t worry, my body’s fine.” Sakamoto Ken said, “I just took a nap earlier.”
“Perfect then.” Natsume Mio lifted the bag in her hand, “I brought two bentos, want to eat together? But they’re not made by me, from the convenience store.”
“You bought me a bento again…”
“Not bought, oh. Store Manager Grandma gave them, said to bring one for you too.” Natsume Mio said.
“I’m not working at the store anymore.” Sakamoto Ken said.
“Hehe, because Store Manager Grandma is a good person~”
Natsume Mio entered directly, familiarly took off her shoes and stepped onto the floor, took out the two bentos at the kitchen counter, and first put one box in the microwave oven to heat.
Sakamoto Ken silently stepped aside, and soon Natsume Mio brought the two bentos to the low table.
Her expression was very calm, as if this was a matter of course.
Sakamoto Ken sat across from the girl, his hair still a bit messy.
That dream earlier was a bit too intense; probably in reality he had been tossing and turning too.
Natsume Mio’s bright eyes fixed on Sakamoto Ken, seeing his bird’s nest-like hair, she covered her mouth and chuckled lightly: “A Jian, do you always roll around when you sleep?”
Sakamoto Ken shook his head and said, “Usually not.”
“Exactly.” Natsume Mio said in a tone as if she knew his sleeping habits very well, “That means you didn’t sleep well this afternoon. Did you have a nightmare?”
“A nightmare…” Sakamoto Ken smiled and shook his head, saying, “Not really a nightmare.”
“Oh? Does A Jian remember what you dreamed about?” Natsume Mio looked at him seriously and said, “I’ve been dreaming a lot lately too, and what I see in the dreams feels especially real.”
“Hey, was it a dream about me and A Jian?” Seeing Sakamoto Ken not answer immediately, Natsume Mio pressed.
Sakamoto Ken waved his hand, picked up the chopsticks and started eating, directly dodging the question.
Natsume Mio picked up a piece of meat and put it in her mouth, chewed a few times, her gaze still not leaving Sakamoto Ken’s face. She suddenly felt a bit suspicious.
So she asked, “Eh… A Jian, you didn’t dream about another girl, did you?”
Sakamoto Ken felt the girl’s gaze; he originally wanted to lie or just not answer.
But on second thought, he pretended to hesitate for a moment, then said in a tone three parts uncertain, four parts puzzled, two parts nostalgic: “It was indeed a girl in the dream, um… not you.”
“Gulp…” Natsume Mio had just swallowed a mouthful of rice. She blinked her eyes and silently watched Sakamoto Ken.
She didn’t show any disappointment or frustration; she casually said “oh” and then asked, “Who was it then?”
“A woman I’d never seen.” Sakamoto Ken said.
This wasn’t a lie; he truly hadn’t seen Hoshihara Ai in this round.
“So you just imagined her?”
“Something like that.”
“Oh…”
A woman he’d never seen, so that ruled out the girl he saw on the live broadcast yesterday?
Miyuki Haru,《the young lady》, sniper rifle, pantyhose! The writer they met outside Shueisha that day and took a photo with.
He didn’t expect her to appear on a live broadcast with A Jian, and… in the live broadcast, the way she looked at A Jian was clearly off.
Definitely not just a “fan” so simple.
Probably using the excuse of industry exchange to get close to A Jian, then… try to steal him away.
She was afraid A Jian would be tricked by bad women; after all, in that dream, A Jian had been seduced by two other bad women.
Anyway, she figured it out: she would never stab A Jian with a knife. It must be those two bad women who led A Jian astray first, then dragged her in, leading to that ending.
So, I must protect the best A Jian!
