Girls are still girls

Chapter 29: Girls are still girls

[Breaking news!]

[Today at XXX station, a vast incident happened! Reports and claims have shown that a man in his late 20s has lost his sanity on the train.]

[During -- o'clock, the man did something which no one could imagine doing. This man's actions became the "new hot topic" all around the internet.]

[Victims were no less than 15; nevertheless, the victims were primarily women. After stopping at Mallporium Center Station, the man seemed to have gone crazy as he started taking off his clothes. Reports also said that he immediately headed towards the closest woman to him and pinned her down.]

[Immediately after the people noticed this, they instantly rushed to them and grabbed hold of the man, restraining him from getting closer to the woman. But this didn't stop him. The people who held him were slightly injured, saying his struggling made...]

[It has also been said that the victims were lucky that the man had gone unconscious after 25 minutes, but the women he went to were traumatized. They said they couldn't restrain him any longer. The women he had gone close to were defiled and harassed.]

[Soon after reaching the next station, the cops were informed and, with no hesitation, detained the man, despite him being unconscious. Though reporters tried to get into the police station where the suspect is currently, the officers have told that the man was still out and had to wait for further notice from HQ---]

In a dark room, a voice of a woman resounded. "Sir, this..."

"Yes, I know." Sitting in the middle of the room, a man crossed his feet from one to the other, seeming to be deep in thought. The darkness covered his entire body; nothing could be seen but only his hoarse voice.

The man stood up and walked towards the door, asking, "How long has it been since we've lost 'that'?"

"It's been two years, sir." Fixing her glasses, the woman answered solemnly. "Should I--"

"There's no need," the man interrupted as he walked out. "And don't tell the others about this."

"Yes, sir." The woman bowed and followed the man from behind.

--

"The food here is amazing." Ryu continued stuffing food into his mouth, with no shame in eating without manners.

Azuma nodded to Ryu and said, "Why wouldn't the food here be good?"

Like Ryu, Azuma also didn't care about manners when eating food this good and expensive in private.

Then there is the shy Yuki, who consumed little, and Okuma, who ate just like how any ordinary girl would do. As for Koizumi, she ate like a refined, wealthy woman, using all the utensils.

Whenever Koizumi took a bite of her food, she would sometimes seductively bite her lips while glancing at Sato.

Though looking at Sato, it appeared he didn't notice any of Koizumi's hints and just smiled, making him look like an innocent person. But as the saying goes, 'You cannot judge a book by its cover,' despite being kind or good.

Aside from Koizumi and Sato being in their world, it didn't mean someone else wouldn't find out what they were doing. Azuma. Yes, Azuma. While eating, she noticed Koizumi's every move towards Sato, which couldn't help but make Azuma disdain her more.

"Ring!"

Suddenly, a phone rang, somewhat scaring Yuki.

Sato pulled out the phone from his pocket, and upon looking at the caller, his face turned sternly.

As he stood up, he looked to his right and said, "Ryu-kun, help yourselves with this Shochu; this is the highest grade." Smiling, he continued, "Though I suggest drinking this 'on the rock'."

He then excused himself and went out.

From left to right, Ryu, Azuma, Okuma, Yuki, and Koizumi sat on the sofa.

Seeing that there was nothing to talk about, Okuma then went ahead and said, "Ando-kun, I've heard something from Koizumi-san."

"Wha ish it?" Ryu-kun replied, his mouth full of food.

"You!" Azuma slapped Ryu's shoulder and said, "Stop talking when your mouth is full! Can't you see it's going to my clothes!"

He slightly bowed and apologized after chewing his food and swallowing it fast. But as he looked at Azuma again, he couldn't help but grin. "How about you? Why are you talking when your mouth is full? Can't you see it's also going to my clothes?"

Soon after, she placed her hand to cover her mouth. She glared at Ryu and swallowed her food. "You know, you won't get a girlfriend with an attitude like that," Azuma retorted.

"Is that so?" he asked sarcastically.

Catching his sarcasm, the corner of Azuma's lips slightly curved into a smile, but she returned it to normal.

"Hmph! Don't you know, when you're trying to get a girlfriend, you should at least be considerate of her," she implied. "Whether she is overeating, or talking while her mou--"

Suddenly, Ryu placed his hand on Azuma's face and slowly wiped something off. The words she was about to say next suddenly went stuck in her throat.

Taken aback by Ryu's sudden action, Azuma went somewhat in a daze before snapping out of it. "What are you doing?" she stupefiedly asked.

"There was some rice on the side of your cheek," Ryu replied with a smile.

"Th-This..." Forcing herself not to get embarrassed with her composed look, she showed her hand to him and gave him a thumbs up. "Though that was uncalled for, that was a delicate move. That may not work for me. It may probably work on other girls."

Saying so, her ears flushed red, unable to hide the embarrassment from him. Ryu just intended to tease her a bit, but he never would've thought it would reach to this extent.

"So you're saying this may work on other girls, but not on you?" he asked innocently.

"Mhm," Azuma nodded.

'Even if Azuma sometimes acts boyish, I guess girls are still girls,' Ryu replied to himself when he saw Azuma's 'other side,' from embarrassment.

[That isn't boyish. That's an attitude of someone who gets along well with guys.] A faint neutral voice echoed in Ryu's head, making him somewhat dumbfounded as he immediately looked to his left.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Okuma asked, responding to his strange behavior.

"Nothing..." he replied, shaking his head. "Ah, what were you gonna ask me again?"

Okuma took a glance at Koizumi and said, "Koizumi-san said your relationship is a 'more than friends' kind of type. What does she mean by that?"

Hearing that question piqued Yuki's sudden interest. "More than friends? What does she mean by that, Yu-kun?"

After Sato left the room, Yuki became more open and could eat more comfortably.

'...That bitch sure knows how to run her mouth,' Ryu said inwardly. "She's just messing with you. Am I right, Koizumi-san?"

Finished with her food, Koizumi wiped her mouth with a napkin and left the room, indifferently saying, "I'll be out for a while."

Knowing Koizumi was leaving, Ryu frowned. She was the only person who could help him answer the question from Okuma. His excuse for Okuma's question was so lame that he needed Koizumi to answer for him.

But to his surprise, the door opened and a head popped out from the corner. Seeing it was Koizumi, Ryu was relieved. Koizumi didn't hesitate, then answered seductively to Okuma's question, "Just as the relationship implies, we're 'more than friends'."

She shut the door and left.

Azuma continued eating, not bothered by Okuma's question nor Koizumi's answer. She roughly knew the personality of Koizumi, and if it came to men, she exactly knew their relationship.

After Okuma heard the conclusive answer from Koizumi herself, she lowered her head and nodded. She mumbled, "Playboy," supposedly for someone to hear.

But as for Yuki, she still didn't understand what Koizumi had said.

As time went on with laughter and jokes, a man and a woman nearly finished the two bottles of Iichiko Shochu. Ryu and Azuma competed to see who could drink the most cups, while Okuma went KO after a cup. The same goes for Yuki.

Listening to Sato's suggestion, drinking this kind of alcohol on the rock was better. One should know that beer and liquor are different, with more alcohol in liquor.

Ryu hadn't tasted liquor before, so, despite him being a heavy drinker, he would still end up drunk with this kind of alcohol.

"Wait... hic... I can't... drink... more." Placing the glass cup down, Ryu slouched his back on the sofa and closed his eyes, intoxicating himself with the alcohol.

In Azuma's drunken state, she victoriously said, "HAHAHA... hic... you're still... hic a... hundred years... too early... to be hic... competing against me..."

Leaning her body forward to Ryu's chest, Ryu woke up and lazily looked at her with his eyes tired. Raising her head with her cheeks hot and a broad smile, she asked, "Isn't it... hic... hot?"

Azuma took off her coat and gazed longingly at Ryu. Recognizing that expression, Ryu became more focused on her. Ryu sat up straight and deeply stared into her black eyes, as if they were a black hole that could suck him right in.

"Yu-kun..." Azuma fidgeted and hesitantly said.

"Y-Yes...?" Ryu's heart started quickly pounding. Is this the time God has given to him for compensation?

Gulping down his saliva, Ryu drifted his head forward toward Azuma. Ryu could feel her hot breath as they were an inch apart. Reaching in closer with his eyes closed, Azuma suddenly opened her mouth and said,

"Yu-kun, I need to go to the toilet."

She stood up, stumbling all the way until she went over to the wall to use as a support. Ryu bitterly laughed for a moment, thinking that he was getting full of himself, before assisting Azuma to the toilet.