"Excuse me for the intrusion..."
Miura Yumiko stepped over the threshold and entered the entryway, appearing slightly reserved.
"There are slippers in the cabinet on the right. They are all new. Pick a pair you like and change into them. When you leave, put them in the shoe cabinet on the left so you can change directly next time you come."
Shinra pointed to the cabinet on the right and said to Miura Yumiko.
Miura Yumiko looked in the direction Shinra pointed and, as expected, found several pairs of unopened slippers on the cabinet. They were available in all sizes, and most styles were neutral, seemingly specifically for guests.
Then she looked at the shoe cabinet on the left and found four pairs of slippers placed on it: one large and three small.
The large pair was obviously for men, likely for that Uncle Li, barring any surprises. As for the remaining three small pairs...
The faces of the Yukinoshita sisters flashed through Miura Yumiko's mind. Among these three smaller pairs of slippers, two must belong to those two sisters. But the question was, who did the extra pair belong to?
Is there another expert?
This question surfaced in Miura Yumiko's mind but was quickly suppressed by her.
Regardless of who owned that pair of slippers, it wasn't an issue she should be concerned with right now. She was just a guest, not the owner of this house.
"Is the size not suitable?" Seeing Yumiko staring at the cabinet for a long time without moving, Shinra thought there was a problem and asked.
"No, I just... don't know which pair to choose."
"Decision paralysis?"
Shinra didn't understand what was so hard about choosing a pair of slippers, so he walked up to her and glanced down.
Mm, low-heeled sandals. Visually estimated to be size 37. Coupled with Yumiko's height of just over 1.6 meters, it's a very healthy proportion.
"This pair should fit." Shinra took out a pair of dark blue slippers from the cabinet and said to Miura Yumiko.
"Th-Thank you..." Yumiko looked at the slippers Shinra handed over, subconsciously reached out to take them, and said thank you.
Then she realized, what did he mean by 'should fit'?
How did he know my size?
...He seemed to have glanced at my feet just now, right?
Originally, Yumiko didn't think much of it, but after realizing Shinra was looking at her feet, she suddenly felt strange all over, especially around her feet—tingling and weak.
It shouldn't... smell, right?
She had specifically taken a shower before coming, and the shoes she chose to go out in were sandals, which were ventilated and breathable, not prone to odors. Incidentally, she could also show off the nail polish she had just applied recently.
She did all this just to leave a good impression on Shinra during her first visit to his home.
She could do nothing today, but she absolutely couldn't make a mistake.
Thinking wildly, Yumiko held the door handle with one hand, raised her calf, and began to unbuckle the strap with the other hand. The whole action was quite ladylike and elegant.
But as mentioned before, because Miura Yumiko realized Shinra was looking at her feet, she felt a bit weak, making her originally elegant movements appear trembling and unsteady, as if she were about to fall over at any moment.
The key point was that Yumiko had a guilty conscience and dared not look to see if Shinra was watching her, so she had to assume he was staring at her the whole time.
Shinra was indeed looking at Miura Yumiko, but he wasn't staring at her constantly. His gaze just shifted back and forth between her and the low stool in the entryway used for changing shoes.
He didn't say anything, but it was like he said everything.
"Um... that stool over there is actually for sitting." Shinra kindly reminded her.
"..."
Yumiko's shoe-removing action froze. Then, as if she hadn't heard, she put the removed sandal aside. immediately after, she calmly slipped her unshod foot into the slipper, turned her body lightly, sat down with her back to Shinra, and began to take off the other shoe.
Shinra glanced at the roots of her ears, which had turned red, but didn't point it out. Instead, he turned and walked towards the living room.
Hearing the footsteps leaving behind her, Miura Yumiko's tense body suddenly relaxed, and her exquisite face was written with four big words: 'Want to cry but no tears'.
So embarrassing...
After calming down a bit, Yumiko patted her cheeks with her hands, seemingly trying to regroup in this way.
Putting the removed sandals aside, Yumiko stood up again, walked to the living room, and found Shinra preparing tea and snacks in the open kitchen.
"This is a gift."
For a first visit, proper etiquette couldn't be lacking. What Yumiko held in her hand was from her father's collection. Although she didn't understand the quality of these things, she understood her father.
"Thanks, just put it there." Shinra gestured for Yumiko to put the gift on the table, then asked, "Beverage or tea? If you want coffee, I only have instant here."
Shinra had no feeling for coffee, so only the most basic instant coffee was prepared at home.
"Beverage, please." Yumiko disliked bitter things, so she wasn't very fond of either tea or coffee. Even if she had to drink them, she would usually choose the sweetest option.
As for the issue of gaining weight from drinking too many beverages, Yumiko generally solved it through exercise rather than dieting. After all, things that could be solved through effort weren't problems for her. Moreover, exercise was good for health, while dieting was the opposite.
For Yumiko, a healthy body and an excellent figure were equally important.
Before long, Shinra brought the refreshments and beverages for hospitality.
Prepared for Yumiko was a popular lemon tea on the market, while for himself, it was a steaming cup of white tea. Turning on the AC in summer to drink hot tea, turning on the heater in winter to eat popsicles—who understands?
Besides drinks, he also prepared two plates of cookies, but these cookies were bought from a bakery.
After all, Yukinoshita Yukino hadn't returned from her family home yet, so no one would make snacks for him.
Yukinoshita Haruno often came to stay here, but the problem was she didn't take responsibility for his snacks.
Even though she has such good cooking skills, she always drags him out to eat. She's simply as lazy as he is.
In comparison, her sister Yukino is more virtuous and suitable to be a wife.
Shinra placed the glass of lemon tea in front of the blonde girl and added, "If you want ice, let me know."
Considering girls' physiological characteristics, the lemon tea Shinra prepared for her was at room temperature, which could be said to be quite detail-oriented.
Of course, it was actually because Shinra hadn't spent enough time with Miura Yumiko. If it were Yukino or Mai, Shinra could recite with his eyes closed which days they could eat ice and which days they couldn't.
Please type 'detail' in the comments.
"Then add some?"
Hearing Shinra's words, Yumiko couldn't quite grasp his meaning.
She had heard a saying that when a boy asks if you can eat ice, he isn't really asking if you want a cold drink, but inquiring if it's convenient for you, if your period has come.
The difference between the two mainly depends on whether the boy is honest or not.
Yumiko glanced at Shinra, who got up to get ice from the refrigerator.
Mm... Not honest at all.
After all, Yumiko wasn't some naive sweet girl. Naturally, she could feel Shinra's attitude towards her: neither too close nor too distant, playing hard to get.
As long as she showed a hint of wanting to take the initiative, like proposing to visit his home last night, he would respond quickly and wouldn't decline.
But whenever she wanted to take a step further on this basis, he would likely keep his distance again.
This gave Yumiko a feeling that he was deliberately controlling the progress of their relationship. On the surface, it seemed she was taking the initiative, but in reality, their relationship had been in his hands from the start.
Regarding this 'fishing' (leading someone on) behavior, if you say he's honest... anyway, Yumiko wouldn't believe it.
Here, some might ask: Since Yumiko knows Shinra is 'fishing', why does she still throw herself at him?
Is she sick?
Eh! It's really not sickness or being an M.
Just like many simps, do they know their goddess is stringing them along?
They definitely know, but why are they still willing to simp for her?
Besides being a bit pathetic themselves, it's mostly because the other party is attractive enough that they can ignore or even deceive themselves to continue praising and simping for their goddess.
Yumiko certainly hadn't reached this level, but it was indeed because Shinra had enough attractive points. Plus, in her subconscious, Shinra's status was actually higher than hers. With various factors combined, she acquiesced to Shinra's behavior, reaching the current tacit understanding between them.
It must be known that in a romantic relationship, the identities of prey and hunter are never fixed.
Don't look at Shinra holding the initiative now; the future is yet unknown!
At least Miura Yumiko had enough confidence to turn the tables.
Can I win?
I will win!
Shinra brought a small ice bucket to the table and signaled Yumiko to add as much as she needed. Then he turned on the console that hadn't been started for a long time and said to the blonde beauty beside him:
"Want to play a round?"
Speaking of high school student gatherings, it's nothing more than karaoke, playing games, and tea parties.
Unfortunately, although Shinra's home could be considered a luxury house, there was no room dedicated to karaoke. And a tea party would be hard to hold with just two people. After all, the overlap between Shinra's social circle on campus and Yumiko's was extremely small. Even if they really held a tea party, it would likely just be Shinra listening to Yumiko discuss campus gossip.
Shinra wasn't interested in gossip, so only gaming remained as an activity slightly related to gatherings.
"P-Play what?" Yumiko was thinking about how to turn the tables and didn't notice Shinra's action of turning on the game console at all. She only heard "play a round."
She immediately misunderstood that he wanted to play some games that only adults do, and her whole person instantly became nervous.
Although this could also turn the tables, the problem was, wouldn't this be turning it too much? And isn't this too fast? At least, at least start with kissing, right?
"Games. What else could it be?" Shinra noticed the pink bubbles popping up above the girl's head in his Emotion Perception vision and was instantly speechless.
No, what are you thinking about usually?
"Oh, oh, games... I thought... it was games, ha, haha." Yumiko grabbed the controller from Shinra's hand in a slight panic.
"What do you want to play? My game library is quite complete." Shinra used his main controller to navigate the interface, showing off his massive game library to Yumiko.
Unfortunately, although Yumiko occasionally played games, she wasn't enthusiastic about them, merely treating them as social tools. Therefore, she didn't understand the 'gold content' of Shinra's game library at all.
"Then... let's play this." Yumiko picked a relatively familiar game. Then, while waiting for it to start, she asked curiously, "Do you like games a lot?"
"I used to play often, but now I probably don't have much time to play."
After all, no matter how powerful you are in the game, it's fake, while in reality, he could truly become stronger.
"Work matters?"
Because of her father, Yumiko was actually one of the few who knew that Shinra had gradually begun to take over family affairs.
"Something like that." Shinra answered vaguely.
The work on his hands wasn't actually as busy as Yumiko imagined. Basically, spending half an hour to an hour a day could get everything done.
More focus was placed on improving himself.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not that hard. Speaking of which, what does Yumiko plan to do in the future?"
"Future?"
"Do you plan to work, take over the family business, or travel the world?"
Although the Mori Conglomerate had completed the holding of the Miura family's company, the Miura family still retained a certain share of stocks and seats on the board of directors. Judging from the current development trend of the company, Miura Yumiko would likely inherit a considerable family business in the future.
And even if Yumiko didn't inherit this family business, the funds in the family account were enough for her to live without worry for a lifetime.
"Suddenly asking me this, I can't answer you immediately." Yumiko didn't care about this or that; the thing she wanted to do most right now was to capture Shinra.
Regarding the future... she really hadn't considered it much.
Or rather, if she really captured Shinra in the future, she would likely be like her mother, becoming a qualified housewife, supporting her husband and raising children at home, right?
Shinra glanced at the deep purple exclamation mark above Yumiko's head and decided to change the question.
"Then is there anything you want to do recently?"
"Doesn't seem to be anything special I want to do. If I really have to say... maybe wanting to move out and live alone?"
It wasn't that home was bad, but Yumiko felt that if she could live alone, whether hosting friends or daily life, it should be freer.
This could be considered the wish of the vast majority of high school students.
"Of course, it's best not to be too far from home, so it's convenient to go back if I get homesick."
"Is that so..."