Damn, there was a certain beauty to being spoiled.
Just a few hours together, and Haru could clearly feel it. Perhaps Miss Soyo had never once forgotten her idea of wanting to spoil him rotten. Her meticulous, mother-like care was honestly a little too powerful.
"…Please, Haru, sit still and don't move around."
Her warm jade-like fingers suddenly pressed harder, sending a current shooting up the back of his neck.
That calm, sweet voice whispered from behind his ear. Standing behind him, Soyo was massaging his shoulders, her hands kneading with just the right strength. The blend of that massage and the faint aroma of incense made his whole body loosen up.
Recalling the "lunch" session from earlier, Haru chuckled and asked, "How do you feel now? Could it be Soyo-san is still angry?"
The girl froze mid-motion.
But a moment later, she continued pressing down as if nothing had happened. Her adorable face reddened slightly, and the calm, even tone she had used before seemed hard to maintain. All she could manage was a faint response.
"I'm not angry. After all, I've already gotten used to this sly personality of yours."
At the beginning of lunch, she had still been feeding him with chopsticks and a spoon, but in the end, he had completely turned it into her feeding him directly. Before long, even Soyo herself had not escaped turning into the "dish" that was savored quite thoroughly.
Even if she had truly felt a bit upset, it had all melted away just moments ago.
Haru blinked for two seconds, then gave a wry smile.
"Girls having tempers seems perfectly normal to me. If you feel unhappy because I 'teased' you, I'd rather you tell me directly. Don't worry that I'd find it troublesome."
"If it were me before… maybe I would have kept my words to myself. But now, even if Haru teases me terribly, I don't feel any unhappiness at all. On the contrary..."
Her words suddenly cut off. Soyo paused in silence for half a second, then continued with ears glowing red. "After all, in front of Haru, I'm just an easy girl to deal with."
Really?
The look on Haru's face grew thoughtful. Even though she couldn't see his expression from behind, it was as if she could read his mind, because she abruptly stopped her hands. Her once shy cheeks slowly turned into a gentle smile.
She leaned closer toward him, the scent of incense mingling with her own natural fragrance, a blend intoxicating enough to draw anyone in.
But the next second, Haru forced himself awake.
"Husband? Were you just secretly thinking something like, 'You're not easy to deal with at all,' inside your head?"
What? You can tell even that?
So we're not even pretending anymore!
"No no no, how could I possibly think something like that!"
A faint layer of sweat formed on Haru's forehead. He was well-experienced in dealing with his "wife," Miss Soyo, and knew very clearly what kind of situation this was, and what kind of crisis he was facing.
First of all, her fake smile.
In this state, Nagasaki Soyo might look like she was smiling, but deep down she was already a little upset. If Haru didn't handle her emotions well right now, just a little push further and she would explode.
Just like her surname, when that time came it would truly be an artistic detonation like Deidara's.
The best response at this time was, of course, to go along with her mood. Even if she seemed cold or resistant, as long as he kept expressing his love, it would work out in the end. The only condition was never to mention other women in front of her.
"Alright, alright."
Her sweetly smiling voice made Haru instinctively prepare to argue again, but he caught a sly glint in her eyes. She simply reached out, pinched his lips lightly shut, then leaned down to softly bite his neck.
Only after leaving a red mark on his collarbone did she nod to herself with satisfaction.
Just as Haru knew his wife well, how could a wife not know her husband?
"…."
Haru sucked in a sharp breath, his gaze toward Soyo turning complicated.
Right now, she clearly held the advantage. If it came to direct confrontation, Haru wouldn't necessarily lose, but come nightfall, who knew what might happen. For now, it was better to bide his time.
Endure for now!
Perhaps because he had kept teasing her earlier, leaving her no chance to catch her breath, a smile gradually rose in Soyo's eyes. She deliberately leaned in, her words dripping with honey, and whispered slowly in his ear.
"You know, I was really scared before. What if Haru started hating me because of it…"
At that, Haru raised an eyebrow, curiosity flashing as he looked at her. "It might be a bit late to ask, but did you really have some thoughts like that at the time?"
"What kind of thoughts~?"
Soyo hummed twice like she had remembered something amusing. She stopped massaging his shoulders, crossed her long legs, and sat down right beside him. Then, she deliberately pressed her head against his chest.
"Maybe, I would have been so sad that I'd go find you and commit double suicide with you?"
How terrifying!
Haru could guess she was teasing him, getting back at him for bullying her earlier. But her smile carried no trace of cheer, her expression unreadable. It was as if she really could do something that extreme.
"Just kidding~"
Seeing Haru's entertaining reaction, Miss Soyo couldn't help but laugh. This woman, always full of "cunning," "schemes," and "trickery," now looked like a child pursing her lips, her smile radiating pure, genuine joy.
Her pure and radiant smile made it hard for Haru, sitting beside her, to look away.
She smiled, her eyes lowering like lilies of the valley touched with morning dew. Her hair, spilling from her temples down to her chest, trembled slightly with her movement, shimmering faintly under the warm lamp light.
Only then did he truly realize, Miss Soyo was nothing more than an ordinary high school girl. Even if her appearance was more mature and seductive than her peers, her heart was far more youthful and adorable than anyone else's.
"Hm?"
Her perfect smile vanished into a sudden weightlessness, as she found herself lifted straight into his arms. Her face flickered with a trace of bewilderment, ears burning red as she looked nervously up at Haru.
"Before dinner, let's just stay like this for a while."
Haru buried his nose in her neck, a childlike gesture of affection. A softness flickered in her eyes, but just as she was about to say something, her beautiful face flushed crimson.
"…Husband, is it really just hugging?"
"Don't rush. I just wanted to measure Miss Soyo's size, so I'll know what pretty clothes to buy you later."
"…You sly thing."
Endure for now?
Enough is enough, no need to endure any longer!
Haru, without hesitation, equipped his full build Chinese metaserver Xin Zhao jungle rune build, deciding to charge into the jungle with skill one, spear like a dragon, invading mercilessly, sometimes ganking Soyo's river crab on top lane, sometimes stealing her red buff on bottom.
Soyo seemed unable to catch the subtext in Haru's words. She only played shyly with a strand of hair, twisting it around her finger, but a hard-to-hide delight had settled between her brows.
Maybe she really was exactly as she had said before. In front of her open-hearted husband, she was simply a girl who was very easy to handle.
"Are you really sure you don't need it?"
"Of course."
After Soyo answered so naturally, Haru gave a half-smile that was hard to read. Immediately she noticed something amiss, and a flash of anxiety crossed her eyes.
"If Soyo says she doesn't need it, then I'll just go back to my room and sleep~"
"Wait… wait!"
Just as Haru rose to leave, Soyo, face flushed, grabbed his sleeve. She lowered her clear blue eyes without a word, her voice trembling a little.
Obviously, she could no longer keep up the composure she'd shown a moment ago.
Soyo's bashful face grew even rosier, and she instinctively curled closer into his arms. Under the orange lamp light, her skin looked like delicate pudding, pale and tender. Her carefully styled brown curls were soft and smelled faintly sweet.
She seemed to want to say something, then stop, then try again, but in the end she let her hands speak.
The hands that always toyed with her hair reached out and, quietly, unbuttoned Haru's collar, one button after another, each movement gentle as if cherishing him.
"You've spent the whole day, even Haru… you must be almost at your limit by now, right?"
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, fine snow clung to the glass. The cold air beyond the pane contrasted sharply with the warm room inside. There was no wind to be heard, only each other's breathing.
And the heartbeat.
Hot breath seemed ready to melt the snow piled on the windowsill. Soyo pressed her forehead to his neck, and waves of genuine feeling and affection flooded her chest, making her take a deep breath.
From this position she could easily smell him, his scent warmer than the sun, a floral note that made her relax without meaning to, at the same time a catalyst that intoxicated her.
"I have waited for this moment, for such a long, long time, you know?"
"Not only Mutsumi, even Tomori… Tomori, and even Anon, every one of them has already left me far behind, but I came before them all, so I've been so anxious I couldn't sleep, and I could only…"
She was not one to stay up late.
"This is all Haru's fault, why I've become like this."
Her gentle face grew feverishly hot, her blue eyes full of an unbearable tension and expectation. She lifted her brows into an inverted eight shape, and with a plaintive, tender look she gazed at Haru.
Her words sounded as if he had committed some unforgivable sin.
"It seems I have to take responsibility."
Haru gently pressed his forehead to hers. Before he knew it, their fingers were entwined. Though she usually seemed weak and frail, the pressure in her hand now was unusually strong.
"Of course you must take responsibility."
Nagasaki Soyo simply pursed her lips, her eyes shining with a dreamy light.
"Make me… a real wife."