Chapter 458

"... Have you figured out the answer yet?"

Sakurajima Mai wasn't angry; instead, she stared at him and asked him a question.

"Hmm, I've got it. There are so many dishes made with carrots, so using this argument to judge is very lacking in factual basis."

"Unexpectedly, I thought you would continue to be silly."

"I was just saying what every teenage boy imagines."

"That's called being silly."

As Sakurajima Mai answered, she bent down and squatted in front of the milk counter, searching for a suitable drink.

"Okay, I was just kidding, actually,"

He snapped his fingers with a sly smile, "I'm a culinary master. Just by looking at the ingredients you bought, I can understand what dish you're making, as well as your usual diet and nutritional status."

"How about that? Pretty impressive, right?"

"Hmph~ Hmm~ Tell me about it."

Sakurajima Mai picked out a few cartons of milk and added them to her shopping cart.

"Carrots, potatoes, onions, chicken thighs, even milk. Although I didn't see curry paste or seasonings, you probably already had them at home. You're making curry tonight, right? The reason is—if you're cooking for one person, one pot can last two or three days."

Sakurajima Mai nodded with a smile of appreciation, "Although it's easy to guess, it at least shows that compared to other boys, you can make curry—no, I should say you can eat it..."

"Don't rush, there's more."

"I'm all ears."

"You're an actor too, albeit a former one... but you should still pay more attention to your nutrition."

"Um."

"So the next step should be to go to the fruit section to buy fruit."

Is there anything else?

"You are, for the sake of argument, a girl, though not quite ordinary..."

"Um."

"So I'll probably go to the snack section to buy snacks later."

Sakurajima Mai was slightly surprised. "Not bad, you got them all right."

"This is nothing!"

Sakurakoji Talent his hand with a flourish, his movements elegant and dashing.

"Okay, then as a reward, here's a prize for you, ah~"

She used a toothpick to poke a piece of the free cantaloupe sample and held it to his mouth.

"Ah~ Mm."

Without any hesitation, he put it in his mouth and began to stir and crush it with his pearly teeth.

Relying on his long-standing manners and composure, after taking considerably longer than usual to swallow it, he turned to her and suggested, "The taste is alright, you can buy it."

"Thank you for testing the poison!"

Sakurajima Mai selected a moderately sized cantaloupe and Kokoro into her shopping cart.

Looking at the waiter standing to the side, completely unaware, Sakurakoji Talent said thoughtfully, "Things you touch also go unnoticed. How amazing."

"It seems so."

"What would happen if you ran into someone?"

"You might as well put it more clearly."

Sakurajima Mai, seemingly seeing through everything, bent down and looked up, her amorous phoenix eyes fixed on him.

What would happen if Mai- san bumped into me?

Are you implying that you want to hold my hand?

"Just out of curiosity, aren't you curious?"

"It's not that I'm not curious at all, but if that's the only reason, I won't let you hold my hand, okay?"

"... Actually, I just want to hold the delicate hand of a female celebrity. Could you please grant me this humble wish?"

That's it?

"If you're willing, I'd like to take you to skip class and go see the moon often!"

"Why does a class have to be held when the moon is out?"

She arched her eyebrows, helplessly closing the distance between them. "Well, I'll just say you've passed!"

She stretched out her long, slender arms and took his right hand, which was still pushing the cart.

"..."

Sakurakoji Talent closed his eyes slightly.

Although I've experienced this many times, it's still so soft, tender, and novel! This brand-new touch... Who knows, in the Mirai, after recognizing women by their scent, he might even unlock the skill of recognizing people by their touch.

"You were thinking about some very erotic things just now, weren't you?"

Sakurajima Mai raised an eyebrow and glanced at him with a teasing sidelong glance.

Did you know that men's libido in that area is ten times that of women?

He gave a slow, inexplicable reply.

He swore that he was merely recounting what he had heard, and whatever she might associate with it was entirely none of his business!

He wouldn't blush and have wild fantasies just because of this—he's no longer the innocent Little Chu Nan he used to be.

"..."

Sakurajima Mai's pretty face flushed, and she took a step back without making a sound.

"Well, Mai- san, who has seen a lot, probably won't mind, right?"

He then countered with a joke of his own.

"... That's true. Compared to high school boys my age who have all sorts of fantasies, it's nothing!"

Her tone gradually hardened, and as if in retaliation, she took his arm again, but this time the movement and the area of contact were much, much larger than before.

Feeling the sensation, which was almost identical to when he teased Okura Rumin last night, he enjoyed it while making a mock "whoosh~" sound to attract the attention of those around him.

"What are you making?!"

Startled by his sudden voice, she complained.

"Aren't we conducting an experiment? We can't forget about that, can we?"

"... Hmm, my feelings are complicated."

"Okay, let's go pay now that we've finished shopping."

"Ah, wait, wait for me!"

"..."

"Hey~ hey, are you still not letting me in today?"

"You know perfectly well that I live alone, don't you? Besides, I don't even know your specific situation. You're a completely suspicious person."

"Oh, I think so. Oh well, never mind, we'll talk about this later."

He lifted the large bag he was carrying; with the cantaloupe included, it was quite heavy. "If I were you, I'd use this ability to do some fun things."

"Don't talk about things that could lead to your arrest."

"Even if the police want to arrest you, they have to see you first."

"Yes, it's truly pathetic. I'm now someone who doesn't even qualify to be arrested. Besides you, a suspicious person, I don't even have anyone to talk to..."

She gazed into the distance with a serene look in her eyes, her expression tranquil, revealing nothing of her thoughts.

"I did not mean that..."

Realizing he had touched a nerve, he immediately changed the subject, saying, "I just think that this 'stubborn' side of you is quite like someone I know."

If it were Okura Rumin, she would probably adhere to these outdated rules until she was on the verge of starvation and could no longer hold on.

"Really? -- By the way, would you be happy if I said you Chihaya me of someone I know?"

"I think you're belittling and looking down on me, after all, how could there be another person as outstanding as me?"

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"..."

"..."

"Never mind, I'm almost there, just give me the bag."

As they approached her apartment, Sakurajima Mai extended her hand to him and said something.

"It's a bit heavy, Kokoro."

"... really!"

She took the bag with a bit of effort, then sighed, "Okay, thank you for today."

"You're welcome."

Just as she turned to go back, he suddenly asked, "When do you plan to return to the Entertainment Industry?"

"..."

Sakurajima Mai paused, glancing at him with a slight, delicate touch.

Their eyes met in the air, and they stared at each other for more than ten seconds.

"... I see, so that's why you came here today."

As if she had figured something out, she murmured to herself, then her tone gradually became more forceful:

"I have no such plan, why do you think that?"

"Because when we were together the other day, your eyes kept unconsciously wandering to information about the street and the Entertainment Industry."

He didn't use a question, but an affirmative sentence.

"Assuming you're right, so what?"

Sakurajima Mai's gaze grew even colder. "What does that prove?"

"Why do I have to spell it out so bluntly? I don't like it that way. It's your own decision... However, if you've made up your mind, I might as well lend you a hand."

He smiled simply, his frugality tempered with politeness.

"For example, I can introduce you to a reliable agency and agent with good benefits..."

"..."

Sakurajima Mai felt as if she had taken a bite of shaved ice, her neck and above instantly cooling down. "... How much do you know?"

The fact that she had a falling out with her former agent—who was also her single guardian and mother—when she was in her third year of junior high school is something that people who are not directly involved or deeply involved in the industry should not know.

"It's not much, I just did some research because I promised you—I hope you don't mind."

He took a stack of documents out of his bag and held them out in the air.

"This is the disease information I found that may be related to your symptoms. You can take a look first."

Upon hearing that it was related to her symptoms, Sakurajima Mai disregarded everything else and snatched the papers. But once she had them in her hands, she realized that with the bag in her other hand, she couldn't turn the pages at all.

"No rush, let's go back and take our time looking at them... although we haven't found many cases yet."

Perhaps because this "mystery" itself hasn't been around for very long, the searchers didn't find much information and only managed to piece together this information.

"You seem to be having some mixed feelings right now, so I'll take my leave for now. Contact me if you need anything."

He returned her a gentle smile, and without waiting for her to say anything more, he turned and walked towards the overpass they had just crossed.