At Chihaya Estate, Airi's calls were usually routed through the house's custom sound system and played aloud, perfectly matching her uninhibited, anything-goes style at home.
People always needed a balance. Managing the conglomerate was too busy and stifling, so she liked to cut loose once she got home. Kiyoharu understood that well. He fully understood the Young Lady's hardships. Japanese companies were already known for their meticulous, cumbersome procedures, and Gen'ichiro deliberately intended to entrust his daughter with important responsibilities. Naturally, that left her busy to death every day.
Normally, whenever Airi took a call, Kiyoharu would return to his private room to avoid it. Or he would already be playing with his katana, so they generally did not interfere with each other.
With his door half open, Kiyoharu leaned against the frame. From his second-floor room, he could see the lush greenery outside.
Kiyoharu Chihaya gazed into the distance, holding a can of chilled soda. He happily took a sip while listening to what the Young Lady downstairs was arguing with her father about.
"...With all due respect, Father, I only wanted them to leave some room for compromise. That is not weakness."
"You are backing out of an agreement that has already been reached and demanding the other party change the terms. That is not something you should do."
"You negotiated it for me! I never agreed to it!"
Airi sounded somewhat agitated. After listening for a few moments, Kiyoharu determined that they were probably discussing Takagi Akane.
Only after the call ended did Kiyoharu walk downstairs and say to Airi, who was curled up on the sofa sulking, "I don't think you need to worry too much. She's been away for two years. She's probably not as crazy as she was in middle school."
"I don't understand. I merely asked for her to be transferred to another class, one not so close to Kiyoharu-kun..."
"If she wants to cause trouble, all she needs is to be at Chihaya Academy. Whether or not she's my student won't make much difference. Besides, you know your father's temperament. What he hates most is when juniors ask to revise a plan, because he believes they'll keep pushing for more until the entire plan becomes meaningless."
Kiyoharu analyzed the matter calmly. It had to be said that he was very accurate in judging people. Even Airi, her father's only daughter, understood him only that much.
"Rather than begging your father to relax his demands, a better strategy would be to take this opportunity to make demands of him. That is a form of negotiation Father is more likely to accept."
"Kiyoharu-kun really understands negotiation."
"As long as people live, they have to deal with all kinds of negotiation."
"Then, what does the clever Kiyoharu-kun think we should do about Father urging us to have children soon?"
"Ah, weren't you just talking about Takagi Akane?"
"Before that, Father brought it up again. He said he hoped to hear the good news of my pregnancy within the year... Ahhh, that old man is so annoying! Why do I have to have children so young?"
"Hehe, as if you'll want children once you're no longer young." Kiyoharu mercilessly twisted the knife. "For example, five years from now, when your father is truly desperate to pressure you into having a child, he might nag you once every day."
"..."
Airi's face filled with disgust. She gritted her teeth, looking downright scary.
"Some things are rooted in other people's thoughts. No matter how hard we try, we cannot change them... like Takagi Akane's class assignment, or being pressured to have children." Kiyoharu said seriously, "I promise I'll handle Takagi Akane calmly. I definitely won't disgrace the Chihaya Family."
"You'd better."
Just thinking about that bitch staring at Kiyoharu suggestively in class every day from now on made Airi furious.
Still, Kiyoharu-kun had been behaving quite well lately, which had eased much of Airi's anxiety.
Speaking of his behavior, Airi suddenly remembered the promise she had made before leaving that morning. Her tone immediately turned teasing. "I'm very satisfied with Kiyoharu-kun's performance at the mall today. Now it's time to fulfill my promise and give Kiyoharu-kun his reward."
"Uh, actually, you don't have to..."
"A promise must be kept. That is the Chihaya Family's creed."
"Fine."
"Go get the wooden footbath and bring me a basin of hot water."
Kiyoharu did as she said.
It was a heated wooden footbath, and he set the water temperature to Airi's preference.
"So what's the reward?"
"Wash my feet."
"I know, but what's the reward?"
"Washing my feet is the reward. Isn't being able to wash my feet enough to make a man feel honored?"
Seeing Airi's perfectly matter-of-fact expression, Kiyoharu deeply felt the gulf in understanding between people.
He really wanted to call her an arrogant, delusional woman, but Airi was hardly ordinary. Besides, looking at those perfectly shaped little feet in the water, Kiyoharu really was getting a little carried away.
Her fair, delicate skin, along with the defined joints and tendons, outlined a tight, alluring beauty.
Perhaps the shopping had tired her out. Airi stretched languidly, unconsciously moving her ankles. Like swimming carp, they stirred rippling glimmers across the water in the wooden tub.
Kiyoharu draped a towel over his thigh, took out his phone, and snapped a photo over his shoulder from behind him, including the footbath in the shot.
Then, beneath Airi's puzzled gaze, he posted the photo online and thoughtfully censored the footbath.
The Young Lady did not like others commenting on her bare feet.
"We should show some affection every now and then, so your father doesn't get suspicious," Kiyoharu explained.
"You think he suspects us?" Airi's eyes flickered.
"The frequent mentions of having children, including Takagi Akane's appearance—I think they were all tests. Fortunately, you didn't react indifferently to Takagi Akane's arrival. Otherwise, his suspicions would have been even stronger."
After considering it briefly, Airi nodded in agreement. Indeed, she and Kiyoharu rarely appeared intimate in public. While that suited her usual image, showing affection was still the safer choice.
Besides, when she thought about it carefully, letting others know that Kiyoharu washed her feet... was not unpleasant.
Instead, it gave her the pleasure of declaring ownership. Yes, ownership over her little toy pig!
Kiyoharu, however, had a far more malicious thought. He wanted Ayano to see the post and be furious.
After all, Ayano was convinced that Kiyoharu and Airi had no feelings for each other. The more she thought that, the more rebellious Kiyoharu wanted to be. He wanted her to see the sweet little moments between the Chihaya couple and realize her thinking was wrong.
In a good mood, Kiyoharu hummed a cheerful tune as he plunged his rolled-up arms into the warm water and caught Airi's small feet.
Airi's feet were very clean, with no dirt to scrub away. The main purpose of the footbath was to relieve fatigue, so Kiyoharu held her two jade-like feet separately in both hands and gently pressed the acupoints near her heels with his fingers. It was a technique for promoting circulation and dispersing bruising.
At once, a soft, seductive hum slipped from Airi's throat, making Kiyoharu's heart itch.
Yet Airi was even more flustered than Kiyoharu. That embarrassing sound, instinctively drawn out by the comfort, made her terribly ashamed.
She claimed it was a reward for Kiyoharu, but after he had massaged her feet last time, she had been unable to forget that comfortable feeling. She could not bring herself to ask him directly, though; her pride would not allow it.
So she used the excuse of a reward to enjoy it again.
The pleasure was even stronger than last time.
Fortunately, Airi glanced at Kiyoharu and found that he, too, was pretending to stay calm. So she put on an indifferent expression and said, "Being able to touch these long-desired feet in the water, a certain little pig must be so happy he could faint."
"Yes, yes, I'm thrilled. Is the pressure all right?"
"It'll do."
"Then I'll keep this rhythm for now. If the Young Lady is tired, she can take a short nap."
Sleep?
After accidentally falling asleep last time, Airi had sworn to herself that she would never let down her guard around Kiyoharu again.
Airi opened her phone and scrolled through her feed so she would not drift off in a daze.
Kiyoharu took the opportunity to check the system in his mind. The first mission in the Chihaya Airi series had already appeared.
Kiyoharu, long accustomed to the system's unreliable style, had mentally prepared himself, yet the mission description still gave him quite a fright.
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