Aiden lightly coughed twice, hurriedly stood up from the ground, and smoothly handed the bathrobe in his hand to Mai.
But at this moment, he suddenly thought of a problem. Mai's outfit looked good, it did look good, but in the future it could only be shown to him alone.
He decided that once this matter was over, he would have Mai change into a more conservative set of clothes, at least so that when she lifted her leg, he could see safety shorts.
Men are very petty.
But, perhaps it was a case of mutual understanding, or what they call a connection of hearts, the originally stern-faced, calculating Maki suddenly laughed.
Looking at Mai, who was hesitating whether to put on the bathrobe or not, Maki smiled and said, "Miss Mai, do you usually wear this kind of outfit when you fight others?"
"That is…"
Originally, Mai wanted to say of course, since in the Shiranui-style ancient martial arts passed down in her family, there were even various ninjutsu techniques that mainly focused on releasing flames.
This refreshing battle outfit, besides looking good, could also help dissipate heat.
But after hearing Maki's words, she froze for a moment, then thought that in the future she would be Aiden's wife. If she still wore this outfit, wouldn't that mean others would take advantage of it for nothing?
Thinking of this, Mai hurriedly draped on the bathrobe. Her perfect figure was instantly wrapped in the loose robe, and at the same time, the Kagura sisters let out a sigh of relief.
Facing Mai, their pressure was really too great.
"You guys aren't going to fight anymore, right?" Seeing Mai put on her bathrobe, Aiden cautiously asked.
He was just this kind of person, before the meat was in his mouth, he was still relatively cautious.
But truth be told, in this lifetime he had never submitted to a woman without limits.
"I'm not that kind of violent woman."
Hearing Aiden's words, Mai unhappily glanced at him. In front of Aiden, she was always that quiet, graceful type of woman.
If it weren't for Chizuru pushing too hard, she actually preferred to play the role of a virtuous wife.
Although "virtuous wife" comes with "good mother" afterward, that had to wait until she was pregnant to talk about.
"This time I'll let her go."
When speaking to Aiden, Mai always showed him her gentlest side.
But, Mai's words sounded very different in the Kagura sisters' ears.
"You… you're actually still pretending to be innocent?"
Chizuru hadn't expected Mai's rank to be this high. In her view, it was clearly Mai who came to provoke.
She especially felt sorry for her own sister. She hadn't forgotten what her sister said yesterday, when Aiden said he was going out to accompany another woman, her own sister had actually said to let them have fun.
How could that be? Forget about herself, but to hurt her sister was simply not right.
"Miss Chizuru, what do you mean by pretending to be innocent?"
Mai wasn't pleased with Chizuru's words.
"I accompany my boyfriend..."
"Stop, you're not allowed to say he's your boyfriend." Chizuru cut off Mai's words.
"Don't forget, Aiden is still living here with us. You don't have that qualification."
"This is simply a joke. So what if he lives with you? I can also let Aiden live with me."
Teammates in '97, but in '94 they seemed more like enemies. Mai once again pointed her butterfly fan at Chizuru.
"I can give everything for Aiden." Mai continued.
However, even if just a moment ago both sides were opponents, even with Aiden trying to smooth things over, there was no way they could suddenly reconcile. If it were that easy, the word "love triangle battlefield" wouldn't exist.
So, while Chizuru was still racking her brain to rebut, Maki asked, "Then… what about that person named Andy?"
For the Kagura family, there was no one they wanted to investigate that they couldn't. Mai's past was completely transparent to Maki, who had all her information in hand.
"He…"
And upon hearing Maki's words, Mai's face instantly turned pale.
If Maki didn't speak, it would've been fine. But whenever she opened her mouth, she always managed to grab her opponent's weak point.
"Miss Mai, your past, I know it all, clear as day."
"The you from before, you had a vague and unclear love history."
This counted as Maki's ultimate finishing move. Originally, she hadn't wanted to say it, since once said, the only one who would feel hurt was Aiden.
But facing Mai's aggressive stance, Maki had no choice but to resort to this.
Actually, when she said this, Maki already noticed Aiden's brows furrowed. She could feel that Aiden was especially unhappy right now.
And as for Aiden…
This world was a fusion world, but even fusion worlds couldn't escape the most basic setups.
Like Roberta, even though in Roanapur Aiden had captured her heart, she still couldn't let go of her young master. In the end, it wasn't until Garcia died that Roberta was willing to fully accept him.
And this was different from Tifa. Back then, it was only because Cloud had disappeared too long that Aiden managed to win Tifa so quickly. Otherwise, Aiden would've had to waste a lot more effort.
So, this world's Mai also had a somewhat unclear romantic history.
Of course, that was only from her perspective. At that time it had been entirely one-sided love. When she was most helpless, the person she hoped for never came. Only afterward did she meet Aiden, who had just arrived in this world.
Although she didn't know where Aiden came from, back then, when she was helplessly sitting in the dojo, it was Aiden who gave her hope. It was equivalent to giving her a ray of light in her darkest time, a light that could save her.
So, after a period of struggle, Mai slowly accepted Aiden.
But now that Maki had brought it up, for Mai, it was like a thorn had suddenly been stuck in her heart.
"I… I only like Aiden now."
Those past memories were unbearable to recall, Mai said softly.
Now, things like her figure, her fighting skills, what she wanted to do to Aiden, she didn't dare bring them up anymore. She felt that this was her dark history.
"But your love isn't as pure as ours." Maki said lightly.
Maki had always been a kind woman, gentle to everyone. But now, she used the calmest tone to say the words that cut deepest into the heart.
But this time was different.
She only wanted, for her sister, or maybe for herself, to fight for the simplest happiness.
Even if… even if she became a bad person, she didn't care.
To kill a person, you must first kill their heart. This was the most practical method.
So it's said, the war between women is very cruel.
"No, I'm very pure too."
After hearing Maki's words, Mai clenched her fists and shouted.
Then she looked toward Aiden, but just like Maki, she only saw Aiden frowning.
"Aiden, it's not like what you think." Mai quickly explained.
And of course Aiden knew that Mai was speaking the truth. With Cloud and Garcia as prior examples, he was very confident in himself.
Especially during this period of time together, Mai had practically laid her heart bare for him. Even when he deliberately took advantage of her during photoshoots, she hadn't minded at all.
But still, upon hearing Maki bring it up, he found it hard to accept.
He somewhat wanted to blame Maki, why bring up something that could've been left in the past?
But he also knew that Maki only wanted to win right now.
A woman's little thoughts, he understood them all too clearly.
So he didn't want to blame Maki, and only let out a heavy sigh.
And seeing Aiden remain silent for a long time, Mai panicked a little. Ignoring the fact that so many people were watching, she suddenly embraced Aiden.
"Aiden, don't think too much."
"I… really, really, like you."
Chapter 333: Taking Turns
When it came to confessions, Aiden had experienced quite a lot of them.
Classical ones, modern ones, subtle ones, or even… ones like Tifa's, where she acted first and explained later.
But this was the first time he had ever experienced someone like Mai crying while saying these kinds of things to him.
When a woman cried, he couldn't handle it, one could say he was softhearted.
But sometimes, he could be very hard-hearted too. He had killed many people, men and women alike, so many he couldn't even count.
Yet there were also plenty he had spared. He was a villain, after all, Scarlett was still alive.
So yes, he could be softhearted sometimes, but usually only toward women. You could say that was one of his flaws.
But right now, this wasn't about being soft or hardhearted. Mai's current state was entirely caused by Maki.
He wanted to glare at her in reproach, but when his gaze shifted over, Maki's eyes left him speechless.
There was a bit of grievance, a bit of affection, and a bit of anger… but definitely not directed at him.
Her gaze, like something described in novels, carried three parts grievance, three parts affection, and four parts resentment.
Wonderful. Now even Aiden was conflicted.
He couldn't bring himself to blame Maki. If he tried putting himself in her shoes… uh, no, impossible. He couldn't imagine himself being that full of pent-up emotions.
Meanwhile, the beautiful girl clinging to him had already soaked his shirt with tears. She wasn't wailing, just silently crying, tears falling nonstop, her grip on his arm so tight it hurt.
"Big Sister, why do I feel like you're making things worse?"
Watching Mai cry like pear blossoms in the rain, Chizuru was stunned, and then, in her heart, began blaming Maki.
Killing with words was effective, sure, but hadn't she just helped the other side instead?
"Aiden, wuuu!"
"I only ever cooked for you! Wuuu!"
"All the beds at home are old! Wuuu!"
"The blankets were all newly bought! Wuuu!"
"I cleared out all the old stuff! Wuuu!"
Every line from Mai came with sobs and genuine grievance.
When her grandfather passed away, she handled everything alone. Everything at home was old, since her grandfather left behind almost nothing, aside from a run-down dojo, he hadn't left a single yen.
Otherwise, when she'd asked for tuition back then, she wouldn't have said ten thousand or five thousand was enough. In 1994's Japan, even a part-time job at a convenience store could earn more than that.
If she had truly had someone helping her back then, she wouldn't have been so helpless.
And all those disciples her grandfather had taught, none of them ever came to visit.
If she really weren't pure-hearted, her home wouldn't have been that old. She wouldn't have prepared new bedding, new blankets, or even gone to the trouble of fixing the door herself just for Aiden.
Having a man in the house and not having one, it was a completely different matter.
And as for her past, it had only ever been a one-sided crush from her younger years.
She was only twenty now, still at an age easy to deceive.
Before this, nothing had ever felt real to her. What did a teenage girl know, really?
"Aiden…"
After crying for a while, her tears still didn't stop. It was as if they would never end. Mai lifted her head to look at Aiden, after just a few minutes, her eyes were swollen and red.
"Today is Tanabata Festival. This is the first time we've held hands, and it's also the first time I've ever held hands with a man."
"And when I hugged you, well… that wasn't the first time. But the first time was on the second day we met, when I used my Flying Windmill Kick to send you flying…"
"The first time I kissed you, I was really, really happy."
"Wuuu…"
At that point, Mai could no longer speak clearly through her crying.
Aiden really wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose, he always did that when he was frustrated, but with Mai clinging to him like this, he couldn't even lift a finger. She was hugging him way too tightly.
"Sorry, Miss Mai, I didn't mean…"
A crying girl could make not only men's hearts ache but women's too. Everyone loved beauty, it wasn't just men who liked pretty women; women did as well.
And when the shrine maiden noticed Aiden glance at her, she felt a little guilty.
She realized she'd been too harsh.
Trying to win was fine, but did she really have to drag out the other woman's past? Especially when the records only said Mai had once helped someone named Andy defeat a villain.
Besides, that wasn't even really a "dark past," was it?
'Aiden… you won't think I'm a petty, narrow-minded woman, will you?'
'Ah, I really am such a bad woman. So awful.'
Maki started to feel anxious. She sat there, her fingers nervously twisting together.
Just as she was about to say something more, she saw Aiden shake his head at her, his eyes carrying no trace of blame.
Even so, Maki's eyes began to glisten with moisture.
"Big Sister… don't tell me you're about to cry too?"
Chizuru, who'd been watching both her sister and Aiden closely, was stunned when she saw the shimmer of tears in her sister's eyes.
'Big Sister, our faces aren't exactly the kind that look good crying, you know, and besides, Aiden doesn't have any space left for you anyway. Can't you see there's already someone on his shoulder?'
'But then again…'
Watching Aiden wrap his arm around Mai in return made Chizuru's teeth ache, from frustration.
'That vixen, can't even take a little emotional hit without breaking down!'
And yet, when she cried with that face of hers, it really did make people's hearts ache.
Yeah, even women couldn't stand seeing it, so how could a man?
She really was a fox spirit, a face made to seduce, a figure oozing sensuality, born to tempt men.
Grumbling in her head, Chizuru carefully tugged at the sleeve of Mai's robe.
"Aiden didn't even blame you, what are you crying for?"
So pitiful, she even had to comfort her rival.
How many women could say they'd gone this far?
The tsundere girl suddenly felt rather noble. Maybe she really was fit to be the Kagura shrine's priestess, open-hearted and magnanimous.
Then she turned to glance at her sister and thought, 'Big Sister, how about we take turns being the shrine maiden? One week, three days each. You take Monday, Wednesday, Friday; I'll take Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday we rest, okay?'
'That way, you could even date as a normal woman.'
'I'm amazing.'
Chizuru's mind wandered all over the place.
She didn't realize that subconsciously, she'd already accepted her sister's feelings for Aiden, and even thought that sharing one man between the two sisters didn't seem all that wrong.
Even if she did realize it, she wouldn't blame her sister. After all, she'd long since noticed that her sister liked Aiden.
If anything, she was the most unstable element in this triangle of Aiden and the Kagura sisters.
———
The main hall was behind the shrine's worship hall, but unlike the lively worship hall, the main hall was quiet. Other than Mai's muffled sobs, there wasn't a single sound.
Thankfully, the shrine was large enough that the bustling noise outside didn't reach them, leaving the small room's few occupants in peaceful silence.
As for the Kagura sisters, there was no need to mention them, one was nervous to death, and the other was quietly proud of herself. Aiden and Mai, on the other hand, both had tangled, messy thoughts.
Meanwhile, Yuri, who seemed detached from it all, sat cross-legged on a cushion, her bright, lively eyes shifting between the Kagura sisters and the pair of Aiden and Mai.
She might have been innocent, but she wasn't clueless, she could tell something was off about everyone's emotions.
So, she too began to think about Maki's words.
And then…
Hmm, her conscience was still perfectly clean.