"Hm?", A wicked smile appeared on Aoba's face, "Kurenai-nee, your voice was too soft. I didn't hear it clearly."
"Y-you… you bastard!"
Yuhi Kurenai immediately raised her head, her face flushed with embarrassed anger, teeth clenched.
Looking at Yuhi Kurenai like this, Aoba only felt that the contrast made her even cuter.
He didn't say anything, just pulled Yuhi Kurenai into the room.
She was dressed so lightly. If she caught a chill, or if someone else saw her, that would be bad.
The air conditioner was on inside, and as soon as they entered, it became much warmer.
Aoba glanced around slightly and found the living room very neatly tidied. On the table by the window were two sets of wine glasses, many different kinds of alcohol, and several small plates of drinking snacks. Two chairs were also placed beside the table.
Clearly, everything had been prepared in advance for the two of them to drink together.
Behind them, the sound of the door closing rang out.
He turned around again and looked at Yuhi Kurenai, who still had a sour look on her face, and couldn't help laughing again.
"What are you laughing at?"
Yuhi Kurenai stared at him with an unfriendly expression, wishing she could slap that annoying grin right off his face.
"Because I think Kurenai-nee looks really cute right now."
As Aoba spoke, he suddenly reached out, slipped his hand from her neck into her hair, and gently caressed the back of her neck.
Yuhi Kurenai's body stiffened abruptly, and the cold expression on her face immediately melted away.
"W-what cute… you jerk, I'm the elder here, you know?"
Even though Yuhi Kurenai felt extremely embarrassed right now, she didn't resist, letting him do as he pleased.
"Can elders not be called cute?"
Aoba said with a smile. Then he raised his other hand, brushed aside the slightly curled hair by her cheek, gently stroked that delicate, smooth skin, and leaned in closer again.
"Kurenai-nee, we're already a couple now, right?"
Yuhi Kurenai was already extremely shy to begin with. With Aoba's unintentional teasing on top of that, as a kunoichi with almost zero emotional experience, her mind wasn't working very well at all.
She could only nod hazily in acknowledgment, "Mm!"
Then she felt herself being pulled completely into his arms, her lips caught by his. This kiss seemed even more intense than the last one.
When he noticed that Yuhi Kurenai was starting to have trouble catching her breath, Aoba finally let her go.
She was already misty-eyed, breathing softly like an orchid.
"How does it feel?"
"Very… it's just so-so."
Yuhi Kurenai subconsciously wanted to answer honestly, but quickly reacted. No matter what, she had to maintain the composure befitting an elder.
'How can I feel happy just from a kiss?'
"Is that so?"
Aoba cupped Yuhi Kurenai's slightly round, pretty face and asked again, "How long were you waiting?"
Yuhi Kurenai thought of how he had said earlier that he hadn't heard her, and her expression immediately turned serious. Pouting in displeasure, she said, "I wasn't waiting for you."
"Really?"
Aoba immediately put on a disappointed, hurt expression.
"You jerk!"
Yuhi Kurenai could tell at a glance that he was acting, but his acting was just too good, making her hardened heart soften again.
She glared at Aoba resentfully, then took a deep breath, wrapped her arms around his body, pressed tightly into his chest, and said softly,
"A-afternoon…"
"What?"
Aoba blinked, but his expression quickly became a bit twisted, "Hiss!"
Yuhi Kurenai twisted the soft flesh at his lower back and continued, "I said I waited for you all afternoon, you little bastard. I cleaned the house, prepared the wine, and even took a bath. Did you hear that clearly this time?"
"I heard it, I heard it. Kurenai-nee, please be gentle," Aoba hurriedly begged for mercy.
Even if it didn't really hurt, he still had to act like it did. Emotional value, perfectly delivered.
"Hmph!", Yuhi Kurenai snorted coldly and finally let go of the flesh at his waist.
Aoba regained his smile, "I was actually thinking about meeting you tonight the whole time, Kurenai-nee."
"Liar!"
Yuhi Kurenai rejected him outright.
"Huh?"
Aoba froze. Yuhi Kurenai continued,
"You must have been having the time of your life on dates with Tenten and the others, right?"
"Uh, this…"
Aoba blinked. He had wanted to say a couple of sweet words, but Yuhi Kurenai didn't buy it at all, so he quickly changed the subject, "Kurenai-nee, want a drink?"
"..."
Yuhi Kurenai looked at him for a while. She originally wanted to take this chance to scold him harshly again, but after thinking about it, she gave up.
She pulled him over to sit at the table by the window, picked up the bottle, filled both glasses, then tilted her head back and drained her own in one go.
"Drinking so fast, aren't you afraid of choking again?"
Aoba had just picked up his glass when he saw Yuhi Kurenai already starting to pour a second one.
"Today's alcohol isn't very strong. I won't choke."
She said that, but she clearly drank the second glass more slowly.
Aoba paused slightly and took a sip as well, finding that it really was low-proof. He couldn't help worrying, "Then will we end up not getting drunk tonight?"
Hearing the concern in his words, Yuhi Kurenai couldn't help shivering, "You're not thinking of taking advantage of me when I'm drunk, are you?"
"Of course I want to do the things couples are supposed to do. I already told Yugao-nee and the others that I'm not coming home tonight."
Aoba looked completely matter-of-fact.
"You!", Yuhi Kurenai was left speechless.
'This guy. Last time he at least knew how to be a bit subtle and didn't say it outright.'
'Now that the relationship is confirmed, has he revealed his true nature?'
'A scumbag, just as expected!'
"Hmph! When the time comes, you might be the one who gets drunk first and passes out. I'll probably have to take care of you when you go crazy from drinking," Yuhi Kurenai said disdainfully.
Aoba took a sip of wine, thought for a moment, then said, "Then Kurenai-nee, how about we have a drinking contest?"
Yuhi Kurenai froze, "A drinking contest?"
Aoba nodded and explained the rules, "We'll see whose tolerance is better. Whoever gets drunk first loses. The winner can do whatever they want to the loser tonight, and the loser isn't allowed to be mad the next day."
"Do whatever they want?"
Yuhi Kurenai murmured. Honestly, that bet scared her. If she really got drunk, wouldn't she just turn into…
But she quickly made a decision. When it came to drinking capacity, she believed she wouldn't lose to anyone.
She had never seen Aoba drunk either, but that was because in the past he always just drank lightly. Of course he wouldn't get drunk that way.
"Then let's compete!"
.
.
.
Time passed quickly during the drinking contest.
When the last glass was emptied, Yuhi Kurenai's face was already tinged with the flushed red of intoxication. She looked at the completely empty bottles on the table, then at Aoba, whose face showed not the slightest hint of drunkenness.
She started to panic.
"D-do you want to… have some more?"
Her tolerance was already pretty good. Over all these years, she had never truly gotten drunk.
But this guy in front of her drank like he was drinking plain water.
"Can you still drink, Kurenai-nee? I feel like if you drink any more, you're going to get drunk. Shouldn't this count as my win?", A faint smile hung on Aoba's face, his eyes full of confidence.
"Of course I can drink. It's just that my stomach feels a bit bloated. I'll go to the bathroom first," Yuhi Kurenai said stubbornly, then stood up directly and staggered toward the bathroom.
Watching her flustered figure, Aoba smiled helplessly. Strictly speaking, going to the bathroom at this point already counted as cheating.
But he didn't mind. Instead, he comfortably narrowed his eyes.
With Yuhi Kurenai gone for the moment, the living room fell into temporary silence.
Only the ticking of the wall clock could be heard.
And also the sounds coming from the bathroom.
'Hmm! The soundproofing in this room seems a bit lacking.'
Yuhi Kurenai stayed in the bathroom for a long time. After the sound of water stopped, a full five more minutes passed before she finally came out.
But instead of returning to her seat, she walked straight over to stand beside Aoba.
Aoba opened his eyes and looked at Yuhi Kurenai in confusion, "Kurenai-nee, you..."
But before he could finish speaking, the world in front of him suddenly flipped upside down.
He was thrown hard onto the sofa, the impact leaving him a bit dazed.
Yuhi Kurenai pursed her lips, pulled the curtains closed, then walked step by step toward Aoba, her presence overwhelming.
Aoba couldn't help swallowing, "Kurenai-nee, it was just a competition. You're not seriously unable to accept losing, are you?"
"Hmph!"
Yuhi Kurenai just looked at him with a flushed face and snorted coldly.
The next moment, she directly pressed herself onto him and kissed him, while raising her hand to hook the strap of her nightdress...
"This competition counts as a draw. Tonight, I'm going to properly teach you what it means to—"
"Respect the teacher and the way!"
[🎉 Shoutout to Fanisa, Genesis00, Blacklight4321, Weiss, Kameko, BlueFernXO, Eduardo and Cirrpzzy for joining patreon. Thank you very much.🤗]
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