Chapter 13: Not a Boyfriend

Asano Aiko had a very complicated dream. In the dream, she was desperately trying to pitch a proposal to her editor-in-chief, but the latter not only ignored her but also announced that her column would be cut and told her to get out of the publishing house.

She left the publishing house in disappointment, only to run into Akiwara Yuto on the road. The other party was smiling gently while reaching out with his right hand to touch her face.

Asano Aiko was momentarily stunned and suspicious; after all, the two were not even a couple, and such an action could be considered molestation.

Unexpectedly, Akiwara Yuto pinched her cheek hard, giving it a heavy squeeze that woke her up directly from the pain.

She opened her eyes and realized she was lying in her bedroom bed. Her mother was sitting beside the bed, not only looking at her with a "kind" expression but also quite naturally pinching her cheek with her right hand.

She immediately refused to take it. Fine, so the culprit who made her have a nightmare was you. She said crossly, "Mom, what are you doing? Let go!"

Upon hearing this, Lady Asano pinched even harder: "Why should I let go? I'm afraid that if I do, you'll run off to a bar to drink again. Do you have any idea how worried I am?"

Seeing that her mother was angry, Asano Aiko, still in bed, immediately raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and began to admit her mistake.

After she apologized several times and promised not to do it again, Lady Asano finally let go, allowing her to cover her face.

"Wait, Mom. How did you know I went to a bar?" Asano Aiko asked with a puzzled look.

She had long since made a plan to sneak out alone for a couple of drinks and then pretend to be working late before going home; this way, she would never be caught. That was how she did it when she snuck out to go shopping with her best friend in the past.

Lady Asano rolled her eyes at her and said in a tone of disappointment, "It wasn't for your boyfriend bringing you back, otherwise I really would have been fooled by you."

"Boyfriend? What nonsense are you talking about? Where would I have a boyfriend?"

"Eh, isn't he? That refined and handsome man with quite the temperament. You vomited all over him, and the other party even said it didn't matter."

Seeing her daughter's still confused expression, Lady Asano frowned in doubt and said in an uncertain tone, "Right, he seems to be called Akiwara something."

Hearing this familiar name, Asano Aiko was shocked.

I was brought home by Akiwara Yuto? And I vomited all over him? Oh my god, what happened?

Ignoring her mother who was still making a fuss, she racked her brains to recall, and fragments of memory began to surface in her mind.

Only then did she remember that she had been crying and making a scene at the bar yesterday, and then acting out on the way back.

For a moment, she was dumbfounded, feeling so ashamed she could die.

Ah, I'm done for. How can I face Akiwara-san in the future? What will he think of me from now on?

Realizing she might be at her wit's end, she dove into her quilt, not intending to show her head again, while comforting herself: sleep, just sleep, everything will be fine when I wake up.

Seeing her daughter's sulking, coquettish appearance, Lady Asano found it a bit amusing.

She gave up on using further violence and then said in a tone used to coax a child, "It's alright, get up quickly for dinner. Don't keep others waiting."

"Others?!"

"It's that Akiwara-san. You behaved so rudely toward him, so of course I had to ask him to stay to change his clothes, and besides, I have to treat him to a meal as an apology."

"Ah!!!"

While Asano Aiko was feeling at a loss as to how to face Akiwara Yuto, the latter was walking out of her bathroom with a helpless expression.

While wiping his hair with a towel, he thought to himself how he could be so unlucky.

After Asano Aiko got drunk, he had called the editorial department, used the excuse of work coordination to find out her home address, and then struggled to help her up (people who are drunk are very heavy) and called a taxi to send her home.

As a result, as soon as he got out of the car and walked two steps to her door, Asano Aiko suddenly hiccuped and vomited all over him. That smell—just thinking about it now made it impossible to look at.

Fortunately, when Lady Asano saw it, she immediately told him to go to the bathroom in the house to wash up and lent him Asano Aiko's father's clothes to wear, otherwise he wouldn't have known how to go back.

Seeing his disheveled state, even a taxi driver with a good attitude would have refused to take him!

Akiwara Yuto grumbled in his heart for a while, then walked into the living room. He took a casual look at the layout of the Asano home and found it to be a traditional Japanese-style room, simple and with a cozy feeling.

He thought about it and felt it was inappropriate to stay longer, so he decided to find Lady Asano to say goodbye and incidentally borrow a bag to put his dirty clothes in to take home and wash.

At this moment, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs. He looked up and saw Lady Asano walking down, and immediately said in a polite voice, "Lady Asano, I've caused you trouble."

"No, Akiwara-kun, it is our Aiko who has caused you trouble," Lady Asano said, looking at Akiwara Yuto with a smile.

In fact, the more she looked at Akiwara Yuto, the more she liked him; she could barely hide the smile on her face.

Although Aiko said he wasn't her boyfriend, that didn't mean he couldn't be in the future, right?

Isn't this Akiwara-kun a good choice? In terms of looks, he belongs to that type of refined, handsome man with delicate features and an indescribable temperament. In terms of character, he could endure the trouble of sending her daughter all the way home and didn't even complain after being vomited on.

If she missed out on a man like this, she would regret it.

The smile on her face became increasingly gentle. She decided to help her daughter seize the opportunity, so she said with a smile, "Akiwara-kun, it's getting late. Please stay and have dinner with us."

Akiwara Yuto assumed the other party was just being polite and responded courteously, "That would be a bother to you. I'd better head home."

At this moment, a familiar female voice came from above: "Akiwara-san, please stay and have dinner with us."

Akiwara Yuto looked up and found that Asano Aiko had actually woken up. She had already changed into loungewear and looked like her old self again, though her eyes were darting around evasively.

He understood; after all, anyone who knew they had gone on a drunken rampage and vomited all over someone else would surely feel embarrassed.

Akiwara Yuto considered it. Since both mother and daughter had invited him, it wouldn't be appropriate to decline again, and he really didn't know what to eat if he went back now, so he said politely to Lady Asano, "Then I will trouble you."

Lady Asano was satisfied. She smiled and walked into the kitchen, starting to get busy, and soon sounds could be heard. Asano Aiko walked down the stairs, looked at Akiwara Yuto, and opened her mouth several times without saying a word.

She was truly a bit embarrassed. The relationship between the two was that of author and editor; they were partners fighting together in the workplace, and their relationship should be limited to the workplace. It shouldn't be like this—first making a drunken scene, then meeting the family, making it look like they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

Especially after realizing she had been babbling nonsense while drunk, she felt even more ashamed and wished she could find a rabbit hole to crawl into and wait until the other party forgot before coming out.

Akiwara Yuto noticed Asano Aiko's embarrassment and smiled helplessly. He knew the other party wanted to apologize now, but he didn't have a single thought of blame.

Not to mention that Asano Aiko had suffered grievances to help promote his work, just the kindness of her discovering him from the rejected manuscripts of other magazines and saving him from being homeless—what was being vomited on compared to that?

Akiwara Yuto pretended that nothing had happened, took the initiative to walk up and greet Asano Aiko, and found a few cold jokes in his mind to ease the atmosphere.

Asano Aiko also smiled along, but after a while, she decided to properly apologize to Akiwara Yuto. She had to apologize; after all, the two would be working together for a long time, and it wouldn't be good to keep this thorn in their hearts.

She took two steps back, stood straight, and then bowed deeply, saying politely, "I'm sorry, Akiwara-san. I really caused you trouble this afternoon."

Seeing this, Akiwara Yuto immediately bowed in return and said sincerely, "Asano-san, I haven't taken today's events to heart, so please don't apologize like this."

He paused, then said in a firm tone, "If Asano-san wants to drink next time, please be sure to bring me along."

He was genuinely worried about her safety. No matter what, it wasn't suitable for a girl to be drinking alone in a bar, even in an environment with fewer people like in the afternoon.

After hearing this, Asano Aiko raised her head, but her face was incredibly red, looking exactly like a "steam girl."

She suspected that her image in his heart had become that of a female alcoholic. She subconsciously stomped her foot and said anxiously, "I won't go next time."

"No, that's not what I meant. I hope that if Asano-san goes, it's best to have someone accompany you. If that's not possible, you can call me."

"I said I won't go, so I won't go!"

Afraid of losing more face in front of Akiwara Yuto, she found an excuse and slipped into the kitchen to help, leaving Akiwara Yuto to watch TV by himself, which left him speechless.

Another half hour passed. Because both mother and daughter were working together, the meal was served quickly.

The food was simple, but one could tell it was exquisite: in front of each of the three were white rice, a main dish, miso soup, oolong tea, and two small side dishes.

He couldn't help but think of "Minami-ke" that he had watched in his previous life; it seemed to be this kind of individual serving style.

After the food was on the table, Lady Asano and Asano Aiko sat down, and then she said to him in a polite tone, "Akiwara-kun, it's a simple meal, please bear with it."

"Not at all, it's truly exquisite food. Thank you for your trouble," Akiwara Yuto said, clapping his hands together in a gesture of thanks, "Then I won't stand on ceremony."

The three of them began to eat together and started chatting while eating. Akiwara Yuto learned that Asano Aiko's father often returned home late at night due to his busy work.

After finishing this, Lady Asano even took the initiative to talk about Asano Aiko's work, complaining that she had been getting busier lately and often didn't come home to have dinner with her.

Akiwara Yuto subconsciously shrank his head; after all, the person causing her daughter to work overtime was himself.

But as they chatted, Akiwara Yuto found that things were getting more and more off, as more of Asano Aiko's situation was being exposed.

Lady Asano said that she had been attending girls' schools from childhood to adulthood and had never even had a boyfriend. Later, when she started working, she became even busier and listened even less to her and her father's advice, not letting them rest easy at all.

Akiwara Yuto subconsciously glanced at Asano Aiko and found that the latter's face was almost buried in her rice, and her ears were bright red.

Although he found it interesting, Akiwara Yuto felt he should give this "Editor-sama" some face. After all, the two were just work colleagues, so it was better not to make it so awkward.

So he took the initiative to say many good things about Asano Aiko, especially regarding her dedication to work and how well she took care of him.

But what he didn't notice was that the look in Lady Asano's eyes was becoming increasingly satisfied.

By around 9 o'clock in the evening, the dinner was mostly finished, and the three of them put down their bowls and chopsticks.

Akiwara prepared to take the train home. He didn't want to spend money on a taxi again; after all, the price was exorbitantly expensive—20,000 yen for 20 minutes, which was equal to one-third of his current rent.

Asano Aiko stood up on her own initiative and offered to walk Akiwara Yuto part of the way. Under Lady Asano's regretful gaze—wishing she could have kept him to stay—the two walked out of the house.

It was time for the two of them to talk again...