"So, what are you crying about again?" Uesugi Hara looked at her reddened eyes, his tone carrying a hint of impatience and helplessness.
"Why..." Kushida Kikyo sniffled, her voice choked with emotion.
"Why what?"
"Why can she have it?" She finally asked, tears swirling in her eyes but stubbornly refusing to fall.
"Why can't you?" Uesugi Hara asked back, his tone calm, yet his words pierced Kushida Kikyo's heart like a thorn.
Kushida Kikyo bit her lower lip, her fingertips clenched so tightly they turned white. She stayed silent. Did she like Uesugi Hara? Maybe, just a little?
She couldn't explain it herself. She only remembered that night on the cruise ship, when he had somehow made her heart flutter a little.
"I'm jealous, is that not allowed?" She raised her head, her voice thick with tears and stubbornness.
Kushida Kikyo's appearance irritated Uesugi Hara somewhat. Frowning, he asked in a low voice, "So what do you want?"
"I want what she has too!" Kushida Kikyo abruptly lifted her head.
"Huh?" Uesugi Hara froze, wondering if he had misheard—what was wrong with these women? One after another, they were practically throwing themselves at him. Did they really think he was harmless?
"I want what she has too!" Kushida Kikyo repeated, her tone firmer. She had blurted it out in a rush of emotion, but now that the words were out, backing down would be too humiliating.
Uesugi Hara stared at her for several seconds before slowly asking, "Are you sure?"
Kushida Kikyo's cheeks burned under his gaze. Though her heart inexplicably began to pound, she still raised her chin and nodded stiffly. "That's right!"
Uesugi Hara turned around to face her. "Come here."
Kushida Kikyo did not move. Her eyes darted away, and even her voice trembled. "Y-you... what are