'Is he mad that I wouldn't cooperate with him to go further with the lesson?'
'But I'm still a widow. If we really go further, wouldn't that be letting Genji down a little?'
'And more importantly... wouldn't that hold Hikari-kun back.'
'But I can't accept losing Hikari-kun either. I can't even accept it if Hikari-kun dislikes me a tiny bit.'
'Maybe next time, I will just agree to Hikari-kun and do a more advanced lesson with him.'
'I'm sorry, Genji.'
'As for the problem of holding Hikari-kun back… as long as I don't cling to him all the time after the lesson, and also don't cause anyone to die, it probably won't hold him back.'
'Mm, let's do that.'
Back upstairs, Sayoko lit a stick of incense for her late husband and thought it over carefully.
In the end, she secretly made a decision that next time she would spoil Hikari even more, and even if it meant giving things she had never given her late husband, handing them over completely to Hikari would be fine.
———
On the other side, walking toward home, Hikari had no idea that because he had left in such a hurry, Aunt Sayoko had gone through a fierce inner struggle.
The reason he rushed back was that he really had something to do, not because he was playing hard to get.
When he almost reached home, Hikari saw from afar that a lovely slim figure was standing by the iron gate outside the yard.
When he walked closer, sure enough, it was the blonde, blue-eyed beauty, Arisa.
"Arisa," Hikari called out.
"Hikari-kun?", When Arisa saw it was him, she looked pleasantly surprised and quickly walked over.
"Sorry, I didn't know you came early and were waiting here," Hikari said.
"It's fine, it's fine! I also just finished packing and haven't waited long. I'm the one who should apologize. I made such an abrupt request of you, and you even agreed. I'm really so grateful!", Arisa said, bowing to Hikari.
Hikari waved his hand, took out his key, and opened the gate, "It's fine, come in."
"Okay!"
Arisa carried some luggage and quickly walked into the house.
Just as Arisa followed Hikari into his home, not far away, at the Suzumura house, a figure stood on the second floor watching this way.
Suzumura Kenta watched with his eyes wide open as Arisa and Hikari chatted warmly, then saw her being led inside.
Looking at Arisa's curvy and shapely figure disappearing into Hikari's yard, Kenta couldn't help but clench his fists.
His eyes were filled with envy and jealousy.
'Why is it that even though she is scared and needs someone to rely on, Arisa didn't choose me, her family, but chose that unfamiliar brat Hikari-kun instead!'
Thinking of how he went to so much trouble to weave a ghost story, yet the frightened Arisa didn't run into his arms but instead went to sleep with Hikari, Kenta was furious enough to die.
He even wanted to rush to Hikari's door right now, kick it open, and beat that brat up.
But because of this morning, he now knew he wasn't Hikari's match, so he didn't dare to do it.
Kenta then thought about tattling to his younger brother Suzumura Kouta, since Arisa was still Kouta's fiancee.
Running off to sleep at an unfamiliar man's house was obviously not okay.
But remembering how she caught him peeping on her bathing this morning, Kenta put the phone down again.
After all, as the older brother, coveting his brother's future wife was even more shameful and disgusting.
Kenta could only storm out of his room and smash things nonstop to vent his frustration.
"Cheap w*man! Filthy wh*re! Shameless little sl*ut!"
Kenta kept smashing things while cursing loudly.
A moment later, looking at the mess all over the floor, the furious Kenta made a decision.
He was going to get that sl*ut no matter what method he had to use.
———
"Hikari-kun, do I sleep in this room?", Arisa pointed at the room that was twice the size of the one she had in the Suzumura house, a bit surprised.
"Mm, it's been cleaned. Don't worry," Hikari nodded.
After bringing her inside, he assigned her a room and handed her some pillows and blankets.
He casually answered her repeated thanks and showed her where the bathroom was, then went back to his own room.
But just as he opened his phone and started chatting with Miss Mira in the city, Yukino, and Natsuha, people he knew well, someone knocked on his door.
He got up to open it, and Arisa was standing outside.
Her delicate, curvy body was wrapped in a camisole nightdress, her pretty collarbones and pale shoulders exposed, making her look very tempting.
But what Hikari noticed was the fear on her face, and that she was hugging a pillow tightly.
"What is it?", he asked when he saw her clearly upset.
"Hikari-kun, I-I'm a little scared," Arisa said, trembling.
"Scared?", Hikari raised an eyebrow.
"Mm, I'm scared of ghosts! When I sleep alone, I keep feeling like a ghost is staring at me. I'm so scared. Um… Hikari-kun, can I sleep in the same room with you?", Arisa asked with teary eyes.
Seeing her looking like she was about to be scared to death, Hikari pondered a moment, then nodded.
"Okay, come in."
"Thank you, Hikari-kun!"
With his permission, Arisa broke into a smile and happily walked in.
"There's only one bed in my room," Hikari reminded her.
"I can sleep on the floor!", Arisa quickly said.
She even spread out the mat she brought, and Hikari helped lay down a blanket.
After everything was ready, Hikari lay back down on his bed.
Arisa glanced at him carefully, then quietly lay down on the floor.
Even though there was a mat and blanket, sleeping on the floor was still less comfortable than a bed.
But lying there, Arisa felt more comfortable than in a bed.
Maybe because there was someone in the room who made her feel incredibly safe.
Even though there was now someone else in the room, Hikari didn't say much. After sending a few messages to Miss Mira and the others, they all wished each other good night.
Seeing how late it was, Hikari said, "Arisa, it's late. I'm going to turn off the light and sleep."
"Ah! Okay!", Her body flinched at his sudden voice and she quickly answered.
Tap!
Hikari flipped the light switch.
The entire room instantly fell into darkness.
Only a bit of moonlight slipped in through the curtains.
Except for the frogs outside in the fields, the house became even quieter.
Neither spoke again.
But the faint feminine scent in the air, something that hadn't been there before, made the atmosphere a little ambiguous.
———
Just as Hikari was about to close his eyes and sleep, he heard rustling noises from the floor.
It seemed Arisa was tossing and turning.
He asked immediately, "Arisa, what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, Hikari-kun! Um, um, I'm still a little scared of ghosts. Can I… can I sleep a little closer to you?", Arisa begged.
"Sure," Hikari said casually.
Arisa sat up at once and dragged her bedding closer to his bed.
Only when the distance between them was less than an arm's length did she lie back down.
Hikari didn't say anything and simply closed his eyes.
But Arisa still couldn't calm down.
This time it wasn't because she was scared of ghosts. With Hikari nearby, she felt strangely at ease.
What made her restless now was Hikari lying not far away.
After all, it was a man and a woman alone in one room.
Hikari didn't really care. He had slept in the same room, even the same bed, with women many times.
But for Arisa, this was her first time sleeping in the same room as a man, so she was very nervous.
So nervous she could hardly fall asleep.
Even though Hikari's breathing was already calm and steady, as if he were asleep, Arisa still couldn't settle down.
She lifted her head slightly and, using the moonlight through the curtains, quietly looked at Hikari's sleeping face.
'Why does… this face look so handsome…'
Staring at him, Arisa's heartbeat sped up.
She didn't know if it was because he had helped her so many times, or if this was just her type. Either way, the more she looked at him, the better he looked, making her heart flutter, her little face flushing in the darkness.
Tossing and turning, she didn't know how long it took before she finally closed her eyes and fell asleep.
———
The next morning, at dawn.
With the rooster crowing, Arisa slowly opened her eyes.
Because she slept late, her eyelids twitched nonstop and she was exhausted, but because she used to be a nun, she still habitually woke early.
But once awake, she suddenly noticed she was tightly hugging a pillow.
And the bedding beneath her was damp and slippery, 'I might have… wet the bed?'
Realizing this, Arisa's sleepy eyes flew open and her whole face flushed red like a bleeding tomato.
She lifted her head carefully and saw Hikari's handsome young face still sleeping with his eyes lightly closed. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
If Hikari had seen her like this, it would have been unbearable.
Maybe because the morning sunlight was brighter than last night's moonlight, Arisa could see much more clearly than before.
Looking at Hikari's slightly pursed lips as he slept, Arisa suddenly felt an urge to kiss him, just like in her dream.
But she knew very well that if she really kissed him, she knew what would happen next.
Feeling the damp bedding and thinking of last night's dream, Arisa let out a bitter little smile.
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