Chapter 76 – You Dropped Your Toy, Mrs. Yuigahama (Patreon)

"Kouma-kun?"

From outside, the sound of Hiratsuka's voice drifted in, along with the click of approaching high heels.

"Hiratsuka-sensei?!"

Utaha instantly recognized that familiar voice, and her lovely face shifted slightly. In the very next moment, her long leg shot out and pushed the door back shut. Both feet worked in nimble coordination to slide the latch into place—right as they hooked around Kouma.

Almost as if possessed, Utaha pulled Kouma gently back toward her and locked him in place.

"Nn..."

The little boy's beautiful face was right before her eyes. That familiar presence washed over her.

The tingling, heart-pounding sensation that Utaha had been longing for day and night surfaced once again. Her beautiful eyes instantly glazed over with a dreamy haze.

"Kouma-kun, need my help?"

At that moment, Hiratsuka's voice came through practically pressed against the door. Utaha's breath caught sharply. The dazed look in her eyes cleared a fraction, a flicker of alarm surfacing.

Hiratsuka was her Japanese literature teacher. Thanks to her exceptional literary skills, she and Hiratsuka had a fairly good relationship. But if Hiratsuka-sensei saw this scene, no matter how good that relationship was, she would definitely be branded a depraved sho[ta]con pervert.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, I can manage on my own!"

"Hiratsuka-sensei, you should go change into your outfit too. Then we can take photos together afterward."

The little boy's voice came from inside. Hiratsuka felt a sudden flash of enlightenment. Of course! Normal couples on dates wore matching outfits and took purikura photos together!

"Then I need to pick out something that matches Kouma-kun's outfit..."

Hiratsuka, who had zero dating experience, was belatedly catching on.

"Is there a purikura booth nearby?"

Hiratsuka asked a shop assistant.

"We have one right here in the store!"

In the midst of Hiratsuka's slightly surprised expression, the staff member pointed to the fitting room at the very front. Pulling the door open, there it was—a familiar compact automatic purikura photo booth.

"With every outfit purchase, our store includes a complimentary purikura photo set."

Looking at the staff member's confident smile, Hiratsuka couldn't help but marvel. Businesses these days really pull out all the stops to get money out of customers. Still, she immediately turned around and went to pick out clothes. She had to seize this opportunity—today, no matter what, she was getting several sets of photos with Kouma.

...

Inside the fitting room.

After hearing Hiratsuka's departing footsteps, Utaha let out a sigh of relief in her heart. She turned her head—and saw the little boy's gaze fixed upon her phone. Utaha's face went stiff.

On her phone screen was Eriri's work, currently paused at the scene where a clumsy girl followed a little boy's instructions, practicing with her feet.

Just as Utaha was about to speak, she heard Kouma's thoughtful voice.

"Kasumi-sensei, even though you've never dated, here you are hiding in a clothing store fitting room researching this kind of stuff..."

Utaha's face went stiff again. Having a little boy point out such embarrassing things to her face—her breathtakingly beautiful face had already flushed completely crimson.

"This is all Eriri's fault!"

Wait—did he just call her Kasumi?

Suddenly, it clicked for Utaha. Her cherry lips parted slightly, her beautiful eyes filling with shock as she looked at Kouma.

"How do you know...?"

Halfway through, Utaha suddenly remembered. "You found my draft that time?"

"Kasumi-sensei is so clever!"

"Could you please not call me by that name...?"

Utaha bit her lip lightly. She, a high school student, was being toyed with by an elementary schooler. She adjusted her mindset. Her dark-red eyes trembled faintly. After taking a deep breath, she pulled Kouma even closer.

Now that everything was already laid bare before Kouma, there was no point in pretending anymore. Suppressing the tremors racing through her body and heart, she extended those slender, jade-like fingers and gently pinched Kouma's chin.

"Call me Utaha-nee-san, you little perverted foot-fetishist."

Perverted foot-fetishist...

"Utaha-nee-san, do you realize that's slander against me?"

Kouma's eyes were pure and innocent. Hand fetish, foot fetish, armpit fetish—he didn't subscribe to such shallow categorical labels. He always looked past the surface to the essence. As long as it was beautiful, he could appreciate anything.

"Hmph. Directing an older sister like Eriri who's so much older than you—it must get you really excited, doesn't it!"

"But I'm not some naive, clumsy little girl like her."

Utaha huffed softly.

"In other words, Utaha-nee-san really knows her stuff."

Kouma spoke, his right hand wrapping gently around one of her feet. Utaha's beautiful eyes suddenly narrowed. Her cherry lips slowly parted.

In a flash, her thoughts submerged into Love Metronome. That sticky, ambiguous feeling of romance kept surfacing in her mind. Suddenly everything clicked—she could see the later plot, how to describe the interactions between the male and female leads.

Yes... this feeling of creative fervor! It was back!

"Mm..."

Utaha suppressed her voice, exhaling a faint, heated breath.

"As expected... as long as I'm in contact with him..."

Utaha's dazed, dark-red eyes gazed at the little boy right before her. The tremors in her body and heart were continuously igniting her creative direction. It seemed she was about to find... the feeling of love.

"You little perverted foot-fetishist. Weren't you supposed to be changing clothes?"

Suddenly, Utaha spoke in that languid, bewitching voice of hers.

...

Outside the fitting room.

Hiratsuka had picked out her clothes, changed into them, and waited several more minutes before finally seeing Kouma emerge. The moment he stepped out, Kouma closed the door behind him before turning to face Hiratsuka.

Hiratsuka had changed into an orange knee-length dress—a distinctly lively, youthful style. Having grown accustomed to seeing Hiratsuka only in her professional teacher attire, Kouma's eyes lit up at the sight. Even as a twenty-six-year-old mature woman, she pulled off this style effortlessly. In this outfit, she lost nothing to girls half her age, radiating pure, youthful energy.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, you look so beautiful in that dress!"

Kouma praised sincerely. A hint of bashfulness surfaced on Hiratsuka's lovely face. If not for wanting to match Kouma's outfit, she normally would never wear such conspicuously youthful clothing. But hearing Kouma's compliment, her heart instantly bloomed with joy.

"Kouma-kun, let's take purikura!"

Hiratsuka eagerly pulled Kouma toward the checkout counter.

"Hello, we'd like to take purikura photos. Could we ring up these two outfits first..."

Several shop assistants and passing customers cast admiring glances their way, though their gazes mainly converged on Kouma.

"What a gorgeous little boy!"

Though small in stature, Kouma's proportions were perfect. He practically flawlessly showcased every characteristic of the clothes Hiratsuka had picked out. Combined with his impeccably beautiful face, he was the ultimate living mannequin.

The young married woman who ran the store stared blankly, her beautiful eyes brimming with stunned admiration. She walked up to Kouma, bent her knees slightly, and crouched down to look at the little boy. Just gazing upon that peerlessly beautiful face brought a sense of pleasure to her body and mind. A sudden impulse surged within her—she wanted to pull him into her embrace.

"Hello, I'm the owner of this shop."

The shopkeeper straightened up abruptly and met Hiratsuka's gaze.

"You don't need to pay for this outfit, and feel free to take as many purikura as you like... but I'd like to keep one copy of the final photos to display in our store."

Hiratsuka furrowed her brows slightly at this. "Display in your store? No thank you, I'll just pay for them outright."

This was Kouma's time with her alone. She had no intention of sharing it with anyone else. And besides, she wasn't short on money.

After bluntly refusing the shopkeeper, Hiratsuka paid the bill and promptly pulled Kouma into the automatic purikura booth.

"Kouma-kun, for purikura, cheek-to-cheek is usually best!"

"Kouma-kun, you have to wrap your arm around my neck..."

"Kouma-kun, let's try a pouty-face snuggling pose now..."

Using purikura as her pretext, Hiratsuka suppressed the tremors in her body and heart and continuously posed Kouma into snug, intimate positions with her.

One set of six photos, six poses done. Hiratsuka leaned against the wall, her red lips slightly parted as she caught her breath. "Now let's do the second outfit."

A gleam of unfulfilled anticipation sparkled in her beautiful eyes as she continued.

In the end, Hiratsuka pulled Kouma through three full sets of purikura photos. Eighteen poses, every single one unique. It took over an hour in total.

And in all that time, the photo-taking itself hadn't taken long. The real time sink was how long Kouma's outfit changes took. After all, Utaha's silk-feet changing-room play did require a certain amount of loading time.

Still, Kouma had to admit—compared to Eriri, Utaha really was impressively nimble. And she was getting more and more practiced, too.

"Alright, Kouma-kun, let me take you to dinner!"

Now dressed in a completely new outfit, Hiratsuka carried several large shopping bags in hand, the blush still lingering on her cheeks as she pulled Kouma out of the clothing store.

"Manager, they spent over five hundred thousand yen in total..."

Their store carried mostly higher-end clothing with decent profit margins. Customers like Hiratsuka who dropped several hundred thousand in one go weren't common. The money was good, but the young shopkeeper felt a twinge of regret. If she could have gotten that little boy's photo, she would have gladly forgone the profit entirely.

"Over five hundred thousand? The sets she picked shouldn't have totaled that much."

The shopkeeper, snapping back to attention, suddenly spoke with a note of surprise.

"Yeah, she picked up a pair of panties at the end and changed into them, which pushed it past five hundred thousand..."

Hearing the staff member's words, the shopkeeper paused. "Buying them is normal enough, but why change into them on the spot...?"

Just as she found it a bit odd, a breathtakingly beautiful black-stockinged girl approached, her steps ever so slightly unsteady.

"How much for these..."

The girl's stunning face still bore a trace of lingering crimson as she handed over a few price tags. The shopkeeper paused for a second before realizing the girl had simply worn the clothes out directly.

"Just a moment, please..."

The shopkeeper looked at the tags and was somewhat surprised to notice one of them appeared to be panties.

...

"Kouma-kun, how about noodles tonight? There's a shop on this street I know—their ramen is especially good."

"Sounds great!"

Hiratsuka led Kouma to a small ramen shop. There were only about a dozen seats inside, and every single one was taken. From the sheer packed-house intensity, it was obvious the taste had to be good.

The two waited a while before two seats finally freed up.

"Boss, one shio ramen. Kouma-kun, what do you want?"

"I'll have the same as Hiratsuka-sensei."

"Boss, make that two shio ramen!"

Once the order was in, Hiratsuka chatted away enthusiastically, sharing her ramen-eating expertise with Kouma. By her own account, she had eaten at every ramen shop within several dozen kilometers of Shuchiin Academy. It was clear—she truly loved ramen.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, do you make ramen at home too?"

Kouma's curious voice reached her ears, and Hiratsuka's expression froze for a moment. Then her beautiful eyes drifted away evasively. Make it herself? She had absolutely zero culinary talent. The extent of her home cooking was limited to instant noodles.

"If Kouma-kun finds out that I, a teacher, can't even cook... will it damage the image he has of me...?"

A flicker of worry surfaced in Hiratsuka's eyes. She cleared her throat lightly, her gaze shifting slightly off to the side, and spoke with rather shaky confidence, "Of course I do!"

"Then when there's a holiday, can I come to Hiratsuka-sensei's house and eat your homemade ramen?"

Kouma's youthful voice drifted into her ears. Hiratsuka's face instantly went stiff. Her red lips parted slightly. Eh?!

Hiratsuka's first thought was how to politely decline. But on second thought—this was a perfect opportunity to invite Kouma to her home! And the reason was perfectly legitimate!

Thinking of what might happen once she got Kouma over to her place, Hiratsuka's head immediately heated up. She tossed all her reservations aside.

"Of course! I'll make noodles for you when the time comes!"

Hiratsuka forced the words out, steeling herself.

Tonight, after I get home... I'll start learning to make ramen from scratch.

She resolved silently in her heart.

Just then, the customer sitting beside Kouma left. It was a corner seat against the wall with excellent privacy.

Just as Kouma considered whether to shift one seat to the right, a fragrant breeze drifted past. A full-figured, beautiful young woman with light peach-colored long hair, shopping bags in hand, sat down.

"Boss, one tonkotsu ramen!"

The woman's voice was soft and graceful, soothing as a spring breeze. Hearing something familiar in it, Hiratsuka glanced over. Her beautiful eyes immediately widened with surprise.

"Mrs. Yuigahama?"

"What a coincidence!"

Mrs. Yuigahama paused at the voice, and when she turned to see Hiratsuka, a look of pleased surprise also surfaced on her lovely face.

"Hiratsuka-sensei! It's been a while. What a coincidence indeed!"

With that, she looked down and noticed Kouma. Seeing that exquisitely beautiful little face, she paused, her lovely eyes shimmering with vivid color.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, is this your little brother?"

"He's the younger brother of one of my students. I took him out shopping today. Come to think of it, his older sister is in the same class as Yuigahama."

Hearing Hiratsuka's words, the look Mrs. Yuigahama directed at the little boy grew even more curious.

"Hello, Yuigahama-obasan!"

The little boy's youthful and well-mannered greeting reached her ears, and Mrs. Yuigahama immediately smiled warmly. She reached out and gently ruffled Kouma's little head.

"What an adorable little boy."

For some reason, the moment she touched Kouma, an inexplicable flutter surfaced in her body and heart.

"Mrs. Yuigahama, are you out shopping too?"

Hiratsuka glanced at the shopping bags beside Mrs. Yuigahama and asked curiously.

"Mhm... just picking up a few things."

Mrs. Yuigahama smoothed a strand of hair from her forehead, her tone slightly unnatural. Kouma noticed with some surprise that a flicker of nervousness had seemed to flash through Mrs. Yuigahama's beautiful eyes.

After speaking, she also instinctively nudged her shopping bag closer toward the wall.

What's in there?

Kouma suddenly felt somewhat curious.

"Ramen, coming through!"

At that moment, the owner lifted two bowls of ramen and was just about to bring them over when the entire floor suddenly jolted in a violent tremor.

Boom!

Many people sitting on their stools were thrown to the ground.

"An earthquake?!"

"Why wasn't there a warning?"

"Or is it a monster attack?!"

Complaints and panicked cries erupted throughout the shop. Kouma sat perfectly steady, his seat not even budging. He even instinctively reached out a hand to steady the beautiful woman beside him.

"Yuigahama-obasan, are you alright?"

Kouma looked at his hand, which had braced against the woman, and after a brief beat of silence, asked softly.

"Mm... I'm fine..."

Mrs. Yuigahama's voice trembled slightly, somewhat weak and soft.

At that moment, Kouma suddenly noticed the shopping bag propped against the wall had been shaken loose and toppled over. A long, small toy tumbled out under both their gazes and landed directly on Mrs. Yuigahama's lap.

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