"Have the meeting minutes been organized yet?" Nanase looked at the assistant in front of her, took the translated meeting notes, confirmed there were no problems, and then handed them back.
She took out her own little notebook again, checked the time, and ran into the office across the hall in front of her with a smile.
Yukio was in there checking the accounts. Ever since graduation, the small office he had taken over from his senpai had gradually grown into a giant, and of course, it was still his own business.
Over the course of a year, he would probably come by only a handful of times, but not coming at all would not do. If he acted like a hands-off boss too much, some people would inevitably start getting ideas.
Nanase, on the other hand, had come directly to work as his secretary. In other words, she had truly kept the vow she made that day and had been following Yukio ever since.
Compared to before, the girl had made great progress. Her blond hair was neatly tied into a ponytail decorated with a flower ornament, and her graceful figure was wrapped in OL office wear and an A-line skirt.
Black stockings and black high heels—she looked every inch the office beauty.
Nanase, however, was still very proper. No matter what she did, she handled everything with care. Holding her little notebook, she reported, "Senpai, in two hours, you have another meeting."
Even though she and Yukio were no longer on just any ordinary terms, she still had no idea what she should call him. Fortunately, Yukio still found a little enjoyment in that.
Closing the ledger, Yukio looked at the time, then smiled at Nanase. "Then let's go eat first?"
The moment this topic came up, even the ever-serious Nanase's ears turned a little red. She nodded eagerly, then walked over to open the office door.
Yukio's eyes swept over her, and as Nanase moved out of the way, he lightly glanced at the scenery beneath the skirt hem. His mood relaxed slightly.
Quickly running back to her desk, Nanase grabbed both of their bento boxes and walked back happily, humming softly. She was happy—she could eat lunch alone with Senpai again.
Nanase carried the bento boxes in her arms and, with a touch of unconcealable anticipation in her eyes, entered with a soft, happy hum and sat down with Yukio on the sofa beside the reception table in the large office.
The moment she opened the bento box, a wave of rich aroma began to spread. Nanase poured the warm miso soup into a small porcelain bowl, and in her eyes, this was the happiest moment of all: getting to eat alone with Yukio.
Yukio watched her, looking like a squirrel with both cheeks stuffed so round they were about to burst. Even her eyes were squeezed into two slits by the food in her mouth. "Eat slowly. There's definitely enough. You packed the whole thing full."
"Because I figured a secretary as dedicated as you, Senpai, would be too busy to eat properly, so I specially made a lot for you."
Nanase froze for a moment. A faint pink slowly spread across both cheeks. Suddenly, she seemed to feel a little shy, and with her eyelashes trembling, she gave Yukio a gentle smile. "Mm-hm. Senpai, you should eat too. Look, the tempura is so cute."
Yukio did not touch the food Nanase had picked out for him. He only stared at her, making Nanase feel a little flustered. "Senpai? What is it?"
Actually, it was nothing. It was just that compared with when Nanase had first begun making bentos, her cooking now looked very refined and highly theatrical, as if she were using a single large grain of rice as a garnish.
Yukio pointed to the corner of his own mouth, gesturing that there was a grain of rice there. Nanase immediately flushed bright red, and the pink had a tendency to deepen.
She hurriedly stopped her chopsticks, wanting to grab a piece of tissue from the reception table, but Yukio reached out and took it first.
"Senpai?" Nanase looked at him in confusion, not quite understanding what he meant. It was hard not to wonder: Did he dislike her getting rice on herself? Was he planning to watch her with the rice stuck there until she finished the whole meal? Wasn't that a little too humiliating?
Ah! She got it! Senpai was trying to give her another lesson, telling her not to rush while eating and to make sure she treated every meal properly. Senpai really was like a life mentor!
Now that she understood, she would definitely remember this feeling from now on. To avoid making the same kind of mistake again, she would never rush when eating again.
While Nanase was thinking this, she still felt a tiny bit anxious inside. Even though Senpai was doing this for her sake, it was still very embarrassing to have him stare at her like this before a beauty like Horikita. She absolutely could not rush like this next time!
What was actually adorable about it, though, was that after Yukio intercepted the tissue from her hand, he paid no attention to the rice grain at all. Instead, he leaned over and lightly kissed the corner of her mouth, taking away that one grain of rice.
That was right. Everything about Nanase was so fragrant, very easily stirring his appetite. Yukio had already run out of time to dote on her—how could he possibly correct her?
Nanase, watching him eat, her cheeks red, was far too cute. He simply could not hold back, so he kissed her.
"!" Nanase's blush spread from her cheeks to the insides of her ears, as if a little steam train had gone "choo choo choo" right through her face, ears, and even her neck, all struck into a dazed state by Yukio's sudden move of eating the rice grain off her.
The steamy, peach-red Nanase, so shy that she stared at him blankly, did not even seem to notice the "Senpai" that slipped from her lips. That was probably because Yukio had filled her mind so thoroughly it was as if she were drunk.
So Yukio decided to do the same. He deliberately stuck a grain of rice to the corner of his own mouth and watched Nanase with a grin, waiting for her "counterattack."
Why, why is it like this?
Nanase stared at the rice grain deliberately placed at the corner of Yukio's lips. Her mind started making an uncontrollable racket. Senpai was right there, inviting her to kiss that grain of rice away!
Yes, it was shameful, terribly shameful. And yet, and yet, she wanted to be like Senpai and kiss away that one grain of rice… Ahhh, no matter what, she could not let herself lose.
Nanase lightly rolled her eyes, even the tip of her nose trembling a little. She moved closer to Yukio, her face flushed bright red, and kissed the rice off his face.
Her heart beat so fast it felt as if it would not stop. She was so embarrassed she wanted to die. And besides, this was clearly just a grain of rice—why, why was it so sweet?
Nanase glanced at Yukio's satisfied smile, then lowered her head even more, too embarrassed to look at him.
But precisely because of that little bow of her head, when Yukio wasn't paying attention, Nanase developed a rebellious little thought. Thankfully, there was only one grain of rice, and it had not carelessly fallen somewhere else. If it had, Yukio might have put down the bowl and chopsticks and started unfastening his belt on the spot!!
That instantly sent Nanase into a storm of inner shame. Senpai! Senpai! Rice grain! Even having rice stuck to your face is already one thing, but if it got stuck somewhere else, wouldn't that be—wouldn't that be very bad?!
Yes, definitely very bad!
"Wait a moment, wait a moment, Senpai, you still have to go to a meeting later!"
"Ah, didn't you say we still had time? I know."
Yukio responded absentmindedly. This secretary-junior of his understood him so well, even passing him tissues?
"N-no, no, no!" Nanase blushed so hard her emotions were a mess, and for the moment, she could not get the words out properly. She could only point with a trembling finger at Yukio's pants.
Yukio still did not react. "What? Nanase, did the bento you made taste too good? I wanted to eat a little more, and now my stomach's getting uncomfortable."
"…" Nanase finally reacted and realized that she had completely misunderstood. What a mess of lewd thoughts! Ugh, how embarrassing. She wanted to die of embarrassment!
...
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