But what he hadn't expected even more was that Mai would accept it so quickly, so naturally, as if it were only natural and right for him to call her "Mai."
As expected, when it comes to feelings, he was always so dull… Aiden thought gloomily in his heart.
And as for the silent exchange between Aiden and Yuri, Mai naturally noticed it. At the same time, she also understood a few things, and the look she gave Yuri became much softer.
"Miss Yuri, please have some tea."
Placing the first cup of brewed tea in front of Yuri, Mai said with a smile. In fact, it would have been more appropriate to say it with gratitude as well.
"Sister Mai, you're being too polite. Just call me Yuri, my brother calls me that too."
Yuri politely took the teacup, then tilted her head to look at Aiden, "Onii-chan can call me that too!"
"Cough, cough…"
Although he very much wanted a cute girl to call him Onii-chan, hearing Yuri actually say it to him made Aiden choke on his own saliva.
He hurriedly took the teacup Mai handed over and took a sip, only to burn his tongue with the scalding tea.
"Really, how careless."
Seeing Aiden grimacing in pain from the burn, Mai quickly got up, went into the next room, poured a glass of cool water, and brought it back for him.
Then, very naturally, she knelt down beside him again, though her tone carried a trace of nervousness.
Normally, whether eating or drinking tea, the two of them always sat facing each other. This was the first time she sat so close to Aiden.
Even though outwardly no expression changes could be seen, in her heart it was like a deer crashing around.
'Aiden shouldn't think I'm being too forward, right?' she thought to herself. 'Also… am I sitting a little too far from him?'
Having burned his tongue, Aiden didn't want to speak for the moment, only curling his lips helplessly. After he managed to ease it a little and was just about to turn his head to say something to Mai, he found she suddenly stood up again.
Just when he thought Mai must have felt sitting close to him was inappropriate, it turned out he was overthinking.
After standing, Mai moved half a step closer to him. Only when there was barely the width of a palm between them did she sit back down.
But that was the distance between their bodies. In reality, with Mai's generous hips, the two were already pressed together, so Aiden could very clearly feel the softness of Mai's curves.
To say his heart didn't ripple at this moment would obviously be impossible. So Aiden quickly raised his teacup, took a small sip, and used it to cover up the expression changes that might appear on his face.
Of course, Yuri coming here to find Mai wasn't just to envy her figure. After daydreaming for a while like a pure, beautiful lily-like girl, she finally brought up the actual purpose of her visit.
"Um, Sister Mai, can we form a team together?"
Hearing Yuri mention this again, this time Mai didn't immediately refuse but instead asked curiously, "Your Kyokugenryu Dojo is also a famous name in the fighting world. You must have received an invitation letter too, right? Why not team up with your family?"
At this, Yuri immediately gritted her teeth, "Because my dad and my brother won't agree! They say they're worried something will happen to me, so they won't let me participate."
"Hmph! But I've already mastered every move of Kyokugen Karate, and I did it in only a year, way faster than my idiot brother and that idiot Robert. But they just won't allow it."
"Besides, I even created my own unique martial art style, Yuri-ryu, based on that foundation. Though it's not perfect yet, with time it'll definitely surpass the Kyokugen Karate my father created."
As she said this, Yuri proudly lifted her head, but her eyes glanced at Aiden.
"Amazing!" Aiden immediately understood her meaning.
Thinking of how she had given him such a big assist, he couldn't let her down. He clapped his hands at once, pouring in all the emotional value.
"Yuri will definitely become a great master one day."
Praised to the skies, Yuri's eyes curved like crescents as she laughed, her voice sweet as honey, "Thank you, Onii-chan! Hmph, Onii-chan is way better than my idiot brother."
Watching the two of them sing in harmony, Mai shook her head slightly. 'Yuri being a little girl was one thing, but Aiden, why are you also…'
'But then again, Aiden has never praised me like that…'
Mai instantly felt a little dejected.
At this moment, even though Yuri was still basking in pride, she didn't forget her real business and continued, "So, Sister Mai, Yuri is actually very strong now! Let's form a team. If we add Onii-chan, that makes exactly three people."
"Add Aiden? No." Mai, who had just been a little down, immediately straightened up and objected.
"Why not? Isn't Onii-chan also a fighter? And isn't Onii-chan your boyfriend? Why wouldn't you let him join?" Yuri asked curiously. By now, calling him Onii-chan came completely naturally to her.
"Wha… what… we're not… not… not!" Mai stammered, her face showing a struggling expression.
Seeing that expression, the clever Yuri gave Aiden a thoughtful glance, only to see him shrug indifferently with no expression.
"Fine, let's not talk about that. But then why not let Onii-chan join?" Yuri pressed.
But Mai hadn't even heard her words. After saying that sentence, she already regretted it, worried Aiden might misunderstand or get angry.
She secretly glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and seeing him calmly drinking tea with no expression, she felt even worse inside.
'Crap, crap, Aiden must have misunderstood me, secretly sulking. He's never shown this expression before.'
'But… but…'
For a long time, all she could do was "but" in her heart, unable to figure out what to do. At this moment, she was tangled up like a ball of thread, unable to untangle anything, tugging hard at the tassels on her clothes.
"Hey, Sister Mai, are you even listening to me?"
Not getting a response, Yuri raised her voice.
Her words jolted Mai out of her anxious thoughts. She looked blankly at Yuri, puzzled, "What did you say?"
"I said, why not let Onii-chan participate?" Yuri helplessly repeated.
"Because… because Aiden has only just become a fighter, I'm worried he'll get hurt." Mai spoke out the real reason she refused to let Aiden join their team.
In her view, Aiden was only a fighter apprentice with a solid foundation.
Although in the past few days under her guidance he had improved rapidly and even learned many Shiranui-ryu ancient martial arts techniques, to compete in the KOF tournament filled with top experts, he was still lacking.
Give Aiden another year, and then he would have the qualifications. By then… even if he didn't agree himself, she would team up with him.
That was Mai's thought.
"I see." Yuri propped her chin on her hand, deflated. "That's the same excuse as my idiot brother. But this also proves Sister Mai really cares about Onii-chan."
"Aiden is my student. Of course I care about him." Mai said seriously.
"Oh!" Yuri dragged out the word, then asked, "Is that really so? But if Sister Mai took on another student… hey! Onii-chan, why'd you hit my head?"
Yuri hugged her head with both hands, glaring at Aiden.
"Don't make Mai answer questions that would put her on the spot, Yuri." In front of the cute girl, Aiden assumed his newly earned Onii-chan role.
And at these words, Mai felt a wave of relief inside. At least now she knew Aiden wasn't angry with her, and he even cared about her.
"Fine, fine, I know. Who told you to be Onii-chan!"
Yuri muttered, then whispered under her breath, "Tch, obviously both of you care about each other, but still putting on an act. You're really awkward."
Her words were so quiet that no one else heard.
Then she said to Mai, "Anyway, Sister Mai, about our team…"
"It's possible, but we're still missing one person. Yuri, do you know any other fighters?"
"Seems like… there is one. But she's not in R-ben."
Yuri, of course, had someone in mind.
"It's just that she's far away. Right now, she's in America"
"And yet you're trying to drag Aiden into your team."
"Because it's too far, and I don't like going there." Yuri's face flashed a moment of unease.
That flicker of expression naturally didn't escape Aiden's sharp gaze. He knew why Yuri didn't want to go to America, because she had once been kidnapped there.
And the person who saved her in the end was the very fighter she was talking about.
King.
A female fighter who liked dressing in a boyish, androgynous style, but whose figure was absolutely incredible.
At this moment, sitting across from the two, Yuri's eyes had gone wide. But her gaze wasn't on them, it was on Mai's full hips, her eyes brimming with envy.
"Really, way, way, way too big…"
She lowered her head, glanced at her own hips, and pouted. She felt hers were at least a whole size smaller than Mai's.
"So jealous!"
———
There was still some time before the official opening of the KOF tournament. And the competition itself would also take time.
Although Yuri proposed having King join their team, actually carrying it out would also take time, at the very least, they had to contact King first.
But how to find her was the problem. The main reason was that neither Mai nor Yuri wanted to go to America, one because of a lingering shadow toward that country, the other because she feared meeting a certain person.
In the end, it was still Yuri who thought of a plan. She decided to call her idiot brother and trick him into giving her King's contact information.
As for why she had to "trick" it out of him, and had to use a phone call, it was naturally because she didn't want Ryo Sakazaki to notice her true intentions and purpose.
Otherwise, she would definitely be dragged back.
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