"Okay, I'll wait for your call at the izakaya," Hayashi Shuichi said with a chuckle, pulling Yukiko into another hug. "Don't worry, I'm really fine. But you need to get those hands bandaged up soon. It'd be a shame to have scars on those soft, chubby hands."
"Who're you calling chubby?!" Yukiko shot back, flustered, but leaned into his embrace, throwing a defiant glare at Sharon.
As a mature woman, Sharon rolled her eyes at the girl's provocation, initially intending to let it slide.
But the more she thought about it, the more it irked her. Let it go? No way.
Before getting into the car, Sharon asked a crew member to fetch the half-empty water bottle from the silver Ferrari.
"Miss Vineyard, I've got unopened mineral water in the car…" the director said, his face all smiles.
"Water's a precious resource on Earth—why waste it?" Sharon said dismissively. "Besides, that bottle has a special flavor. I like it. Right, Shuichi?"
Hayashi Shuichi gave an awkward laugh. Under Yukiko's suspicious stare, he didn't dare respond, quickly opening the car door and ducking into the passenger seat.
Sharon waited until the crew handed her the half-empty bottle, then, satisfied, started the car and took a detour back to Tokyo.
With the rescue complete, the villagers and crew around the landslide prepared to head back to the village.
Yabuuchi Hiromi followed her boyfriend to the old Toyota, only to notice Yukiko still standing at the roadside, staring blankly after Hayashi Shuichi and Sharon.
"Still staring?" Hiromi teased. "Careful, you'll turn into a statue waiting for your husband."
"Hiromi," Yukiko said, her brow furrowed, "don't you think something's off about Miss Vineyard?"
"Off?" Hiromi blinked, then laughed. "You're not getting paranoid just because she's a bit friendly with Hayashi-kun, are you?"
"She said herself—Hayashi-kun saved her during the landslide, and she even called herself his 'big sis.'"
"She's a big American star. No matter how clever Hayashi-kun is, he's just a high schooler. Why would she be interested in him?"
"But I can't shake the feeling something's up between them," Yukiko said, her mind flashing back to Sharon helping Hayashi Shuichi pull up his pants. She clenched her fists. "…If nothing happened, why were his pants down…?"
"What'd you say?" Hiromi didn't catch it.
"…Nothing," Yukiko said, shaking her head. Some things were too private to air. She'd wait until tonight's call to the izakaya to "interrogate" that jerk and find out how saving someone ended with his pants down!
…
Sharon sped along the rural roads in the director's car. Once they were far from the landslide zone, she glanced over, her voice laced with concern. "Your back really okay?"
"It's fine. It hurt at first, but I don't feel it anymore," Hayashi Shuichi said.
Just as he finished, the car lurched to a sudden stop, the inertia jerking him forward. "What's wrong?"
"Turn around. I want to check your back," Sharon said. Without waiting for a response, she firmly grabbed his shoulders and turned him.
Leaning in, she inspected his back with focused intensity.
"…They're just shallow cuts. Some are already scabbing," she said, her delicate features creasing with confusion. "How're they healing so fast?"
"Small wounds, probably," Hayashi Shuichi said casually, his body tensing slightly as he felt her gaze sweep over him, like invisible hands brushing his skin.
Sharon didn't press further. Satisfied that he was okay, she settled back into the driver's seat and continued down the road.
The rest of the drive was quiet.
For Sharon, the ordeal in the silver Ferrari felt like a tangled knot in her chest.
In a crowd, she could play it off, but now, alone with Hayashi Shuichi in the cramped car, those memories surged back like a tide.
She couldn't help recalling her desperate offer to "help" him lose his virginity, a reckless decision born from thinking they were doomed and her gratitude for his rescue.
Now that they'd survived, what about that debt of gratitude? Should she repay it? How?
Maybe… pick up where we left off?
The thought made her sneak a nervous glance at the passenger seat, only to find Hayashi Shuichi slumped against the chair, seemingly asleep.
His head tilted to one side, breathing steady, his face etched with exhaustion.
Seeing him asleep, Sharon exhaled in relief, biting her lip as a mix of panic and confusion flickered in her eyes.
She wasn't sure what she'd do if he'd shown interest—agree, or find an excuse to back out?
The more she thought, the more agitated she got. She reached for a cigarette from her pocket, but her gaze caught Hayashi Shuichi, and she hesitated. Her fingers lingered on the cigarette before she tucked it back away.
Unbeknownst to her, Hayashi Shuichi wasn't actually asleep.
Through slitted eyes, he watched her every move.
After their life-or-death ordeal in the Ferrari, his feelings toward Sharon had grown complicated.
Keeping his guard up as before felt cold, especially after they'd nearly crossed a line in the heat of the moment.
But treating her like he did Hiiro Eri or Yukiko? That was too risky.
This blonde beauty was the Black Organization's feared witch. Until he fully understood her intentions, Hayashi Shuichi couldn't afford to let his guard down.
One wrong word could trigger a relentless pursuit from the Black Organization.
Though they shared the same car, their minds were tangled in their own complexities, the vehicle speeding toward Tokyo in an eerie, quiet tension.
…
"You sure you don't need a hospital?" Sharon asked again as she parked in front of the izakaya.
"You already checked the wounds," Hayashi Shuichi said with a smile. "They're just scratches, no big deal. Besides, I'm out of time—Reiko will be home in half an hour."
He reached for the door handle.
"…Wait." Sharon's voice trembled slightly, as if summoning great courage.
(Chapter End)
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