Yoizumi's hands were full of food after only a short stroll.
He tried his best to eat the food Miss Shinobu handed him after taking a few bites, many of which were new experiences he had never tasted before.
"It's great! My appetite is small, so I can't eat much, but with Yoizumi helping me, I can try more things," Shinobu said, poking a dumpling with a bamboo skewer in her hand. She leaned closer to Yoizumi, a hint of slyness flickering in her smiling purple eyes.
Unsuspecting, Yoizumi ate the dumpling and chewed for a moment. His indifferent expression froze, and he frowned as a spicy flavor filled his entire mouth, shooting straight to the top of his head.
In an instant, his eyes welled up, stimulated by the spiciness. Yoizumi had no free hands to wipe away the tears, so he could only look at Shinobu, whose body was trembling with laughter, with a slightly resentful gaze.
She looked up at the tears that were about to fall from the corner of Yoizumi's eyes, chuckled, and wiped them away with her fingertip, causing Yoizumi to instinctively close his eyes. His eyelashes trembled, brushing against Shinobu's fingertip, adding to the ticklish sensation.
His clear, bright sapphire eyes were veiled with a mist of water, making them seem even more captivating. Gently wiping away the tear from her fingertip, Shinobu stared intently at his eyes.
Yoizumi can't even handle spiciness... The mischievous Miss Shinobu seemed to have discovered another weakness of Yoizumi that made him easy to tease.
Yoizumi's lips were slightly parted, and he kept breathing out. It was a long time before the spiciness in his mouth subsided, and he sighed helplessly.
"Shinobu, you're bullying me."
"Then is Yoizumi angry?" Shinobu heard this, not at all nervous. Instead, she tilted her head and leaned closer, linking her arm with Yoizumi's, because she knew he wouldn't be angry.
"No."
As expected, Yoizumi shook his head.
How could he possibly be angry with Shinobu?
Hand in hand, as the lively crowd surged, the two stopped in front of a goldfish scooping stall. Many couples were squatting there, holding paper nets that seemed very easy to break, and some were complaining with sighs.
One man caught a goldfish for his lover, who happily gave him a kiss. The man smiled shyly.
The owner noticed the potential customers and immediately greeted Yoizumi and Shinobu.
"Young man, want to scoop a goldfish for your girlfriend?"
"It's very simple!"
Yoizumi remembered the goldfish in Shinobu's room. Shinobu must like goldfish, right?
"Does Shinobu want one?"
"Then will Yoizumi catch one for me?"
"I'll try."
After paying, the goldfish stall owner handed him a paper net. Yoizumi looked at the tool, with its thin layer of paper covering the surface, and carefully placed it in the water.
The goldfish in the small basin were startled and scattered, deftly dodging the paper net. Yoizumi seized an opportunity, flicked his wrist, then raised his hand and stared at the net with a hole in it, silent.
The owner chuckled, "Young man, want to try again?"
"Again."
...After breaking the fifth paper net, Yoizumi finally succeeded in catching a goldfish. Amidst the owner's congratulations, Yoizumi smiled and gave the goldfish to Shinobu.
"Shinobu, I caught it."
Like a child showing off his trophy, as if presenting a treasure.
"Mm, that's amazing!" Shinobu gazed gently at Yoizumi's smiling face. Unbeknownst to her, Yoizumi's expressions had gradually become much more varied.
She unconsciously compared the current Yoizumi with the Yoizumi she first met.
What was Yoizumi like back then?
Lost and empty, like a wandering soul with no place to settle.
And now.
He had family, he had a lover.
He had become an ordinary person... Standing on tiptoe, she reached up and ruffled her lover's soft golden hair. Shinobu said again, "Yoizumi is so amazing."
Praised, Yoizumi blinked blankly, not replying, but simply bending down to make it easier for Shinobu to touch his head.
"Damn it..." The goldfish stall owner, who witnessed everything, looked at the scene with envy, jealousy, and hatred. Although he earned a lot of money at this time every year, there was also a lot of public display of affection!
Shinobu held up the goldfish in her hand. It was in a water bag, entirely white with a red top, still innocently blowing bubbles.
"Let's give it a name~" she suggested.
"Whatever Shinobu says," Yoizumi said. The fugu at home was called "fugu," and Yoizumi was curious what name Shinobu would choose this time.
"Hmm..." Staring at the goldfish Daidai blowing bubbles in the water, then looking at Yoizumi beside her, Shinobu curved her lips and softly called out.
"Xiao Yang~"
..."Hmm?" Yoizumi couldn't tell whether Shinobu was calling him or naming the goldfish "Xiao Yang," so he could only respond tentatively.
"How about naming it Xiao Yang?" Shinobu said nonchalantly, her scheme having succeeded.
"...Okay."
He seemed to have been teased... Taking Yoizumi's hand, their fingers intertwined. With her other hand holding the goldfish named Xiao Yang, she tilted her head slightly, her gaze lingering on Yoizumi's face, her tone a little playful.
"Let's go..."
"Xiao Yang~"
Now Yoizumi was certain he had been teased.
Not angry or annoyed, he just squeezed the softness in his palm tighter.
"Mm."
..."..."
?
Why?
Why was this person here?
Seeing the man who had forced him to buy udon noodles in Asakusa not far away, Yoizumi always felt that encountering him meant trouble!
"What's wrong?"
Facing Shinobu's confusion, Yoizumi shook his head, but Shinobu clearly felt Yoizumi's pace quicken. She was a little curious about what made Yoizumi like this.
Soon, she was no longer curious.
Because... "Yo~ Want a bowl of udon noodles?"
Yoizumi's eye twitched slightly. Why was he stopped so precisely again? Looking at the steaming udon noodles in front of him, he glanced at the man's increasingly shiny bald head, which he hadn't seen for a long time.
Could it be that he was very strong?
"What, it's you!" The bald man recognized the familiar person at once—it was the man who had spilled his udon noodles before!
He hadn't expected to meet him again today while setting up his stall here.
"You didn't get to eat it last time, want to try it this time?"
"Your girlfriend too? I guarantee it's delicious!"
The bald man was still enthusiastically promoting his udon noodles.
"No need, sir, we've already eaten," Shinobu said, waving her hand in refusal.
"Hey! My noodles are so good that even people who are full will eat them all!"
The crazy udon noodle salesman was impervious to reason.
Shinobu maintained her smile. She now knew why Yoizumi had quickened his pace; he was indeed a difficult fellow.
Then... Yoizumi felt a pull on his palm and was suddenly pulled into a run.
"Let's run~"
Following Shinobu through the crowd, Yoizumi could only see the constantly leaping and fluttering, agile Kochou in front of him.
The breeze ruffled Shinobu's hair, and her smiling face, revealed when she occasionally looked back, was even more dazzling than the orange-yellow lights of the night market.
The crisp sound of her geta clattering on the ground, each step like a beat in his heart.
Every minute and every second was clearly recorded in Yoizumi's mind.
"Damn it, he got away again!" The bald man stomped his foot in anger, accidentally spilling noodle soup on his arm. Startled by the burn, he instinctively let go, and the udon noodles spilled onto the ground.
"No! My udon noodles!" Kneeling beside the 'corpse' of his udon noodles, the man secretly swore,
He would definitely make that man eat his udon noodles!
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