Because of the festival, Akihabara had already been decorated, and with all the streets full of tourists dressed up and going out, the festive atmosphere was very strong.
But shopping, aside from buying and buying, the rest is eating and eating.
Compared to Aiden and Mai, who were simply happy just to walk around together, the cheerful and cute Yuri was still more interested in eating.
Every time she saw something delicious, she would excitedly let go of Aiden's arm, take out the pocket money Mai had given her before leaving, and hop over to a food stall, loudly telling the stall owner what she wanted to eat.
Vegetable cakes, grilled corn, three-color dango, crepes, oden, and most fried foods… aside from anything related to octopus, Yuri practically visited every food stall she came across.
But only a small portion of those snacks actually went into her and Mai's stomachs. Most of them ended up being finished off by Aiden.
Yuri would hand over the food she had bitten into but thought didn't taste good, right to Aiden's mouth, completely ignoring the fact that it already had her saliva on it.
And Aiden, from being resistant at first, gradually became accepting, after all, even a young girl's saliva was sweet… cough cough.
As for Mai, she was very thoughtful. After Aiden ate the food Yuri passed to him, she would help wipe his mouth with a tissue… speaking of which, every time she wiped Aiden's mouth, she would feel a strange impulse, to lean in and use her tongue to help him clean.
This always made her feel like, was she broken somehow?
But still, she really wanted to try what kissing felt like.
'Besides, for a man and woman who liked each other, kissing was also something very normal, right?'
Mai bit her lip as she thought.
Suddenly, she saw at the doorway of a flower shop by the roadside, a couple in yukatas kissing passionately, and the impulse in her heart became even harder to suppress.
It was just that…
Glancing at Yuri, who was sticking close to Aiden, Mai slightly ground her teeth, her eyes full of regret. She really shouldn't have let her move in back then.
'Damn Yuri, hurry up and disappear.'
She thought a little "maliciously."
But that was impossible, because in Yuri's hands there was now another portion of fried dumplings.
Taking a small bite, the strong smell of chives made Yuri frown, and she muttered with a frown, "As expected, cheap stuff is no good. They put so many chives, how am I supposed to eat this… mm…"
Turning to Aiden, she held out the bitten dumpling.
"Oni-chan, I have to trouble you again, help me finish this."
"If you keep feeding me like this, will I even be able to eat lunch later?" Aiden said helplessly.
Although with his current physical condition, even if he ate street food all day, he wouldn't feel full, still he couldn't just eat everything, and besides, he wasn't very fond of chives.
But looking at the girl's lively eyes and pitiful expression, Aiden sighed and still opened his mouth.
"Oni-chan, you're the best."
Seeing Aiden eat the dumpling, the young girl's eyes curved like crescent moons in a smile, then she pressed her greasy lips to Aiden's cheek in a peck.
Although it was just a simple touch, Aiden could still feel the softness of the girl's lips. It was just that…
"Can't you at least wipe your mouth first?"
The greasy feeling on his face was very uncomfortable. Aiden raised the arm that Yuri had let go of and wiped his cheek, only to smear grease all over his hand.
"Ehehe…" Yuri didn't say anything, just covered her mouth and laughed.
Meanwhile, Mai on the other side had bitten her lip so hard it left teeth marks.
Jealous?
Of course she was, but she absolutely couldn't bring herself to do what Yuri did, kissing Aiden in front of so many people.
In fact, even if there weren't people around, she would still have to take a long time to build up the courage.
'Disappear, disappear, disappear… Yuri, hurry up and disappear, or I'll call your family and have them take you away.'
Mai once again began thinking "maliciously" in her heart.
But just then, Aiden suddenly spoke to her, "Mai, want to take a picture together?"
As he spoke, Aiden pointed with his free hand to a photo studio by the roadside.
But before Mai could respond, Yuri shouted, "I want to, I want to too!"
'You cannot!'
Mai glared at Yuri, then silently pulled Aiden into the photo studio.
The owner of the photo studio was a young man. Seeing Mai clinging closely to Aiden's arm as they came in, he revealed a knowing smile.
"Are you two here for a couple's photo?"
Aiden didn't answer, just glanced at Mai.
"Y-yes." Mai nodded lightly, without saying anything like we're not actually a couple.
But just as the studio owner was about to lead them into a warmly decorated room clearly meant for couples, Yuri, who had barely managed to finish her dumpling outside, rushed in.
She shouted loudly, "Oni-chan, after you finish with Mai-nee, don't come out yet, I want to take one with you too!"
The studio owner's jaw dropped.
To be honest, in Aiden's memory, the times he'd taken photos at a studio could be counted on one hand, and most of those were from when he was a child.
After he grew older, he didn't like photos anymore. Later, it was only during graduation at elementary, middle, and high school that he took class photos.
After that he went into the military, and photos were also rare, mostly group shots. So, in a studio like this, he still felt a bit awkward, having to follow the owner's instructions.
"Yes, yes, just like that, hold her tighter. Ah, sir, your hand can go a little lower, and miss, don't lower your head so much, lift it up, look straight into his eyes… come on, aren't you two a couple? Why so shy?" The owner said helplessly.
Of course, the shy one wasn't Aiden. He had already followed the owner's instructions, putting both hands on Mai's waist, and one of those hands, hidden from outside view, was pressing against her plump bottom.
Even through a layer of cloth, his hand sank right in. Since their bodies blocked the view, no one else could see.
So naturally, the shy one was Mai. The main reason was because someone was watching, but another reason was that she could feel Aiden's hand on her bottom quietly pressing harder.
'No, we can't do this here.'
'But… Aiden must feel really good, right?'
'So, if I brush his hand away, he'll feel hurt, won't he?'
Mai just felt her mind was a mess. The sensation on her bottom made her too shy to meet Aiden's eyes, not only out of embarrassment but also for fear he'd see something in hers.
But under the owner's urging, she still raised her head.
"Yes, that's it, gaze deeply at each other."
With the studio owner's praise, the first photo was taken.
After that, they took several more intimate shots, but the owner still felt something was missing.
Then, just as Aiden and Mai thought they had enough, the owner suddenly remembered.
"Aren't you going to take a kissing shot?"
"I don't mind." Aiden thought it was fine. They'd already hugged and touched, kissing was the only thing left.
"Mai, what do you think? If you don't want to, we can skip it." He asked for her opinion.
Of course I want to. Mai thought, then she gave a slight nod, her cheeks burning red, filled half with anticipation and half with nervousness.
"Then strike a pose, and we'll begin," the owner said.
So, Aiden immediately stood facing Mai. With his experience, he naturally knew the best pose.
He gently cupped her delicate face with both hands, lowered his head slightly, and slowly leaned toward those bright red lips. The closer he got, the more clearly he could feel the sweet-scented warm breath from her nose and mouth.
"Ohhh! They're going to kiss!"
Watching from the side, Yuri nervously clasped her hands over her chest, her eyes fixed tightly on their lips as they drew closer. She seemed even more excited and expectant than the two of them.
Finally, under her gaze, Aiden's lips met Mai's, and Mai, nervous and shy, closed her eyes.
But with a click, the feeling on her lips vanished, leaving Mai a little disappointed. If kissing only felt like this, then maybe she had been expecting too much.
Besides, the kind of kiss she wanted wasn't this, it should at least be a French kiss.
The disappointment and regret on her face were obvious. As Aiden hesitated whether to take this chance to let her experience more, Yuri ran over, shouting right next to them,
"My turn, my turn! I want to take one like that with Oni-chan too!"
Hearing that, Aiden gave her a side-eye and said annoyed, "Do you even know what a kissing photo means?"
"Of course I do." Yuri had just been too excited, but hearing Aiden say that, she got embarrassed too.
Fidgeting, she said, "It's just like you two did, touching lips, that's all. It's not like we have to French kiss like on TV… Yuri isn't ready yet…"
Mai glared at her, "So what you mean is, once you're ready, Aiden can French kiss you?"
"Well… it's not impossible…"
"It's absolutely impossible."
Mai didn't even know how many times now she had regretted in her heart. Everything had been going so well when it was just the two of them, and she had to go and agree to let Yuri live at the dojo. Now look, she had really invited a wolf into the house.
"But last time when we went shopping, Mai-nee, you said we were already sisters. And sisters have to share with each other…"
"What I meant was sharing our martial arts insights, not sharing Aiden. You misunderstood what I said." Mai said helplessly, but she felt Yuri was deliberately twisting things.