Kiyoharu and Airi's Call, What Is Ayano Doing?

At Chihaya Conglomerate headquarters, in the Young Lady's private suite.

It was located on a quiet, secluded top floor where interruptions were unlikely. The furnishings and facilities inside were extravagantly luxurious; when work got busy, staying overnight here was no problem.

Gen'ichiro had high expectations for his daughter's career, but he never skimped on her treatment. That also suited the Chihaya Conglomerate's philosophy—if you wanted the horse to run, then at the very least, you had to feed it well.

When she was alone with nothing to do, Chihaya Airi liked to prop her feet on the desk, lean her weight back, and sink deeply into her leather swivel chair.

Kiyoharu had not replied to her messages for a long time, so she could not help calling him. Usually, Airi rarely called Kiyoharu directly unless it was necessary.

It seemed to have been during the year they got engaged. Once, Airi suspected that Kiyoharu had gone with his male coworkers to an izakaya and then on to a brothel, so she called to interrogate him.

Naturally, it had been a misunderstanding. A man as ascetic as Kiyoharu-kun... Even now, Airi could hardly imagine him in a brothel. In Kiyoharu's eyes, he would probably rather spend that spare time blissfully ranking up in a game.

At the time, an older female inspector from the conglomerate had been nearby and teasingly remarked that Airi-chan had really changed after getting a fiancé—even while at work, she worried about Kiyoharu's whereabouts.

That was a complete misunderstanding. Chihaya Airi swore that she absolutely did not care about Kiyoharu-kun. She simply liked cleanliness and could not tolerate Kiyoharu-kun doing messy things with other women before coming home and walking around the house.

After that, Airi deliberately avoided calling Kiyoharu to check up on him like some stereotypical wife.

Yet Kiyoharu had not replied to her messages for ages, and Ayano had said he was hanging around the students in the literature and arts club... There were far too many girls in that club with pink bubbles filling their heads. What if they really managed to seduce Kiyoharu? Airi had no choice but to use a phone call to cut off that possibly imaginary chain of events.

"...It would not be entirely accurate to say Department Head Kuroda is your second uncle's puppet. His position is too low, and he is the one directly carrying out the work. Your second uncle cares about his reputation, so there must be a broker in between."

Kiyoharu's cool, steady voice sounded through the phone. Airi had put it on speaker and turned the volume up, allowing Kiyoharu's voice to fill the entire room.

Other men's voices always struck Airi as rough, but Kiyoharu-kun was different. He always spoke with such clarity that clever Airi understood at once. Her eyes flickered as she said, "But I found direct evidence that Department Head Kuroda has been meeting with my second uncle in secret."

"Maybe they just arranged to go take a bubble bath together. A bubble bath on the royal road to conquest... Your second uncle's wife keeps him on a pretty tight leash too, doesn't she? I am more inclined to believe it is something along those lines. As for why you were able to uncover the information so easily, it is probably fishing. They are baiting you into making an issue of it, then revealing the misunderstanding and making you look rash."

"...How annoying."

"It is normal to be annoyed. Young Lady, you are highly capable, which only makes everyone else look useless. And regarding the successor, your fath—your father-in-law's younger brothers and sisters do not approve either. They all have their own agendas. Well, soldiers come and generals stop them; water comes and earth blocks it. Just adapt as things come. There is no need to trouble yourself over it."

"Hmph. You certainly have a good mindset, considering all you need to do every day is placate children."

"I have performance pressure too, you know. If my class does poorly, that reflects badly on the Chihaya Family. Besides, cultivating the next generation of talent for society is also very important work..."

His original reason for becoming a teacher had been to slack off, but Kiyoharu would never admit that. He could always find a lofty excuse—spouting grandiose nonsense was an essential skill for anyone slacking off at work.

Ayano listened in on their conversation and gradually slipped into contemplation.

Interesting.

Airi seemed to be seeking advice, but even more than that, she seemed to be venting. That exceeded Ayano's understanding of Airi. She remembered Airi as a girl overflowing with confidence, arbitrary and domineering.

Could it be?

Ayano began reevaluating her previous conclusion—"There is no affection at all between Kiyoharu and Airi."

Now that she thought about it, at least Airi's attitude toward Kiyoharu was somewhat unusual.

The moment Ayano realized that, she saw even more potential amusement.

She quietly circled behind Kiyoharu. Her soft body, still covered by nothing more than two pieces of cloth, pressed against his back.

"Hiss—"

Kiyoharu immediately made an obvious sound, putting Airi on guard over the phone. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I was stretching and accidentally twisted my ankle."

"You idiot little pig. You can even hurt yourself doing that. As expected, I cannot have any reliable expectations of Kiyoharu-kun."

"Yes, yes~" Kiyoharu had just analyzed the situation for Airi, yet he could not be bothered to argue at all.

But immediately afterward, Kiyoharu frowned. Ayano pressed against his back and slowly shifted about. Standing on tiptoe, she brought her cherry lips close to his ear and meekly whispered in a faint breath, "Kiyoharu-kun looked rather scared just now. Did Ayano's actions make Kiyoharu-kun uncomfortable? I am truly sorry. Please forgive me."

Ayano took his earlobe into her mouth, endlessly whispering apologies.

Like the finger tracing, this was clearly another technique she had been trained in. In an instant, Kiyoharu was immersed in a gentle paradise.

Ah.

Who could possibly stay angry at a girl like this?

Kiyoharu sighed soundlessly and reached back to pat the little butt wrapped in white cloth, signaling her to behave.

Ayano immediately behaved herself.

She merely wrapped her arms around Kiyoharu's waist and pressed her face against his back, feeling the lean, developed latissimus muscles through his shirt.

There had been considerations of pleasure, beyond just the Ultimate Masterpiece, when she chose to become lovers with Kiyoharu.

He was interesting, and in that regard, he could satisfy Ayano's needs.

Ayano hugged him even tighter, rubbing her face against his back.

But Kiyoharu had it rough. On one hand, he had to deal with the Young Lady on the phone; on the other, he had to defend himself from the restless Ayano.

The sense of moral transgression he had not experienced in a long time, along with the tension that followed, made these few short minutes especially difficult to endure.

In his previous life, Kiyoharu had done this often, and he had done even worse. The problem was that he had turned over a new leaf!

System, System, save me! I am already like this, and I still have not triggered a new mission?

Beep beep. The system is currently dormant and operating in automatic proxy mode. Please state your request simply~

Damn it, my rebirth is lemon-flavored!

Sleeping in the middle of the afternoon? What kind of hammerhead nonsense is that? System, you are so young—can you really sleep?

Kiyoharu could not help lamenting. He felt so helpless.

Ayano was definitely doing this on purpose, deliberately pushing the boundaries while he was on the phone with Airi.

Just wait!

Once I get the Network Hacker skill, I will make sure to properly educate you, you shameless Cao thief!