Chapter 304

She quickly patted her face twice, then followed Ishikawa Hayato to the front of the bar, took a deep breath, and stood up straight.

As soon as the two returned to their seats, Seika came down the stairs carrying several boxes of Goodbaby apple juice.

A while ago.

After watching the performance in the store officially begin, Seika felt relieved and went out to buy juice.

Apple juice was something Nijika liked to drink when she was little, but compared to adults, children's tastes change easily. Nijika stopped liking it a long time ago, but the girl who was asked to drink it by her younger Nijika a few times has become addicted to it.

In the past, she would either prepare to open the shop or go to buy juice before opening.

But I didn't buy anything before the store opened today. When it was time to open, all the new employees went to practice their instruments, so only some of the older employees who like to cause trouble were filling in for me.

Because they hadn't been working at the shop for a while, she stayed there to keep an eye on things until the performances started recently, at which point she felt relieved enough to leave.

She sipped a small amount of juice from an already opened bottle as she walked down the sunken stairs at the store entrance.

As she opened the door, she heard Ikuyo's voice.

"Senior Nijika just now..."

But Ikuyo didn't finish her sentence. After Seika walked in, she heard the noise and abruptly stopped talking, then smiled at Seika and said...

"Welcome back, store manager."

Hitori also said, "Hello, store manager."

"Um."

The arrogant Seika gave a nonchalant reply and walked past the front desk to continue downstairs.

What happened to Nijika? Judging from Kita's tone, he seems worried about Nijika's condition.

That pervert is here too, he can't let Nijika get bullied, can he?

Filled with unease and doubt, she quickened her pace as she descended the stairs. Before she even reached the bottom of the steps, she saw two people hurrying to the front of the bar.

One is her younger sister, and the other is Ishikawa Hayato.

Nijika's face was flushed, filled with a kind of intoxicated joy, and she was still trying to hide that joy.

As for Ishikawa Hayato, he seemed to have tasted something wonderful, and he also had an expression of unbridled joy.

Oh, I was wondering why someone would bully Nijika, so that's what happened!

Just how far did they go that even Kita started to worry?!

Seika walked calmly to the front of the bar and looked at Nijika, who was filled with joy and shyness.

Her face grew increasingly red, her smile and shyness becoming harder to hide, her head lowering further and further, her shoulders hunching as if trying to conceal herself.

What did they just do in the store?

Seika placed the Goodbaby juice on the bar and then entered battle mode.

"Ishi~Kawa~!"

After Seika let out a roar, as she was about to enter through the bar counter, Ishikawa Hayato's expression changed. Without hesitation, he flipped over and slid across the front of the bar counter, then ran wildly up the stairs.

Seika stopped at the top of the stairs, knowing she couldn't catch up, and turned to walk back.

However, she did not stop at the bar, but continued walking towards the backstage.

While in the eye of the storm, Nijika, like the eye of the typhoon, remained unaffected by the waves, watched Ishikawa Hayato's departing figure and made up her mind.

Now that she no longer needs to take care of the shop, she should start doing her own things.

She turned to Seika, who hadn't left yet, and said...

"Sister, I plan to stay at Hayato-kun's place for the entire winter break after Christmas."

Seika paused, then sighed.

"Whatever you want."

On the other side, when Ishikawa Hayato left the shop, he took Ikuyo with him.

After running for a while, Ikuyo asked in surprise as he ran.

"Why did Hayato-kun suddenly bring me out?"

At that moment, Ishikawa Hayato stopped and looked up at the sign above.

"Nijika's post just now was so intense..."

As he stopped, Ikuyo suddenly fell silent. She looked up at the sign and, upon seeing the word "hotel," she screamed in embarrassment and anger.

"You've gone too far!"

Ishikawa Hayato smiled sheepishly and pulled her up the stairs.

Despite calling out to him like that, Ikuyo still followed closely behind him as they walked uphill.

213. Consequences

Vehicles whizzed past, the sound gradually fading and becoming long and drawn out.

Even in the dead of winter in this city that never sleeps, the streets remain bustling. It's incredibly puzzling that people are still out strolling and playing on such a cold night.

Why aren't they staying home in this cold weather? What kind of thrill are they looking for?

Although Ishikawa Hayato was also on the street, he and his girlfriend were already on their way home.

On the sidewalk, Ikuyo leaned on Ishikawa Hayato's shoulder and complained softly.

"Honestly... I only needed to say it once, but it took this long..."

"Ikuyo so cute!"

"Don't try to fool me, really..."

Ikuyo's complaints were almost powerless; her eyes weren't as wide and alert as usual, but rather slightly half-closed.

After she finished speaking, she yawned, and her head swayed and bumped into Ishikawa Hayato's chest.

Ishikawa Hayato supported her, and with his other hand, he took out his phone to check the time: 10:19 PM.

They had been out of the starry sky for almost four hours, and Ishikawa Hayato was starting to regret taking so long.

But while playing, the thought often becomes "One more game!" But after the fun is over, you have to face the little time you have left and the pile of things to do, and start to regret it, regretting why you have such poor self-control.

However, some things are indeed hard to control. At this young and vigorous age, full of desire, and with a cute and obedient girlfriend, it's simply impossible to resist those things.

The image of Ikuyo lying on the bed, completely unconcerned about her appearance, with her arms and legs casually stretched out, her hair disheveled and covering her face, and her chest heaving violently, resurfaced in his mind.

But Ishikawa Hayato quickly dismissed those thoughts this time, not only because Ikuyo was out of energy, but also because he was worried that the three of them would complain when they got back.

They are good-tempered, but even the best-tempered person would complain about him taking Ikuyo away to a hotel halfway through the trip, and then he even made Ikuyo look like this.

"Ikuyo, let me carry you back."

"... Um."

Ishikawa Hayato up to her and, with her cooperation, easily carried her on his back. She leaned against his back, as if preparing to sleep, and rested Ishikawa Hayato head on his back.

He walked through the bustling crowd for a short while before discovering that Ikuyo had already fallen asleep.

He was very familiar with Ikuyo's breathing as she slept, so Ishikawa Hayato quickened his pace without waking her.

Just as he could see their apartment from afar at the intersection, Ishikawa Hayato's phone rang.

The ringing of the bell was quite noisy.

However, he didn't have a hand to answer the phone, so he asked the voice assistant to hang up to avoid waking Ikuyo.

Could it be that they're very angry, which is why they called?

Ishikawa Hayato imagined the scene: several angry girls made a furious phone call, only to have the guy hang up without even answering.

At this point in his imagination, Ishikawa Hayato shuddered, feeling his fantasy come to an end.

Hesitantly, he got into the elevator and, upon reaching his front door, bumped the Ishikawa Hayato with his head.

The doorbell rang only once before the front door opened.

Ishikawa Hayato nervously stepped back, and the door opened a crack, allowing Nijika to peek out.

She glanced at Ikuyo behind Ishikawa Hayato and immediately understood the situation.

"Hayato-kun, welcome back."

She spoke with a slight smile, not seeming angry or furious, which reassured Ishikawa Hayato, but at the same time, doubts arose in his mind.

He carried Ikuyo inside, stepping over the spot that Nijika had made way for.

"Is Nijika waiting for me?"

"No, I'm not going to wait for someone who silently brings one of his four girlfriends on a date."

Nijika closed the door behind him.

She entered the house wearing her family slippers, passing by Ishikawa Hayato who was taking off his shoes, and handed him the slippers.

And when he was putting on slippers, she helped Ikuyo take off her shoes behind him.

Ishikawa Hayato's guilt grew stronger and stronger.

"Why did you open the door so quickly?"

After placing Ikuyo's shoes at the entrance, Nijika walked up to Ishikawa Hayato, looked at him, and smiled.

"I'll be spending most of this winter break here."

After speaking, she hesitated for a moment and then asked, "You won't mind, will you?"

Most of the time... Nijika comes here quite often, and she even made a special mention of it under these circumstances.

In other words, she intends to integrate into life here, and she said this after learning about their current situation, so... Nijika is...

Ishikawa Hayato smiled and said.

"Won't."

When she returned to her room, Nijika looked at Ikuyo sleeping behind Ishikawa Hayato, her expression complicated.

"Ikuyo-chan is probably the one with the best stamina among us, and even she's like this..."

"But I have better physical strength."

Ishikawa Hayato quickly echoed, with a hint of pride in his voice.

Nijika rolled her eyes at him.

As they talked, they entered Ishikawa Hayato's room. Ryou was inside, hanging up the clothes she had brought for Nijika and putting them in the closet.

Nijika had only left one set of pajamas here, but judging from the clothes Liang had already put in the closet, it seemed she had brought most of her winter clothes with her.

Ryo heard the noise at the door and glanced at the three of them, but then looked away from Ishikawa Hayato and spoke to Nijika.

"The clothes are in the third cabinet."

"Good..."

Nijika's surprised reaction came a beat too late.

She was surprised that Ryo would help her pack her clothes, but Ishikawa Hayato knew that Ryo was unhappy and didn't want to see him, so he went to do chores.

Upon seeing this, Ishikawa Hayato let out a sigh of relief, whether from relaxation or tension was unclear.

They put Ikuyo on the bed, and with Nijika's help, took off her outer clothes and covered her with a blanket.

It was already bedtime, and since they hadn't woken her up with all that fuss, they decided to let her sleep.

After packing up Nijika's clothes, the three of them went out together.

After closing the door, Ishikawa Hayato asked while taking out his phone.

"Was that you who called me just now?"

"No," Nijika said.

Liang shook his head.

Ishikawa Hayato picked up his phone with some surprise and looked at the missed calls.