31 Chapter 31: Between Smiles and Games

While in the restroom, Kanade overheard the conversation of two women, both in their thirties. One of them commented, "Love is a double-edged sword; if you give yourself up too much, you might end up being the only one hurt."

Exiting the restroom, Kanade pondered these words...

At the end of the hallway, Kanade spotted Reiji waiting for her. He leaned against the wall, one leg bent, hands in his pockets, displaying a confident smile. Reiji's deep blue eyes sparkled in a way that quickened her heartbeat. What she had heard about 'Love being a double-edged sword' lost its impact, especially when their eyes met; at that moment, everything else became secondary.

"Reiji~" She ran into his arms like a swallow.

Reiji welcomed her with open arms. He wasn't sure what had caused this reaction in her, but he didn't mind; he had no reason to complain if the girl he had feelings for wanted to show her affection so expressively.

As he hugged her and gently stroked her back, he asked, "What's wrong, anything the matter?"

"Nothing, no~" She responded in a melodiously sensual and somewhat spoiled manner: "I just wanted to hug you~"

"Haha, I see, I see," Reiji laughed softly: "But, I must say we are attracting quite a bit of attention here, are you sure you want to continue like this?"

Kanade's cheeks heated up even more, but despite the embarrassment, she wanted to remain in his arms... With hesitation, she finally suggested, "E-Then, shall we go?"

Reiji suppressed a silent chuckle, and as he spoke, his voice carried a playful tone: "Yes, let's head to the arcade to have some fun before going home."

"Ok..." She nodded, slightly disoriented by his voice, which sounded unexpectedly very seductive.

At the arcade, Reiji exchanged his money for some tokens.

"Err... It's my first time playing air hockey, so... Please go easy on me, okay?" On the other side of the table, holding the mallet with her right hand and the puck with her left, she practically pleaded in a pitiful manner.

Seeing her like this, Reiji laughed wickedly: "Hahaha, of course not! I, the... Cough, cough... Okay, I can't do this." He laughed, somewhat awkwardly, and added in an embarrassed tone: "Alright, I'll go easy on you."

"Pfft!" She laughed: "Hahaha! Reiji, what were you trying to do?"

"Honestly? I don't even know myself..." Reiji scratched his head, somewhat sheepishly.

Seeing him like this, Kanade thought that sometimes he could be quite adorable~

As they began to play, even though Reiji kept his promise to go easy, his serious expression was far from adorable. It looked like a lethal weapon capable of intimidating any girl who became the target of that gaze.

It wasn't long before more people began to gather around the air hockey table, attracted not by the skill in the game but rather by the visual appeal of both Kanade and Reiji. On one side, men wanted to watch Kanade; on the other, women were interested in Reiji.

"Wow, her breasts are..."

Before a young redhead, who looked about twenty, could finish his sentence, the air hockey puck flew towards him, grazing his face.

"Ahhh! What the hell?" The redhead stepped back, cursing in pain: "Urghh! You... You son of a bitch, do you know who you are..."

Before he could finish, Reiji was already in front of him, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder with a smile that did not seem genuine: "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to hit you, even if it was just a graze. You'll forgive me, won't you?"

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts...!" The redhead groaned in pain as Reiji's strong hand squeezed mercilessly.

'You bastard, is this how you apologize?!' The redhead protested internally, but, intimidated by Reiji's threatening look, who was taller and stronger, he cowardly conceded: "Err... Okay, it was an accident, I... I accept your apology."

"Really?" Reiji replied with feigned delight, patting the guy's shoulder: "Thank you, you're a 'good man' for forgiving me like that, hahaha~"

The redhead's friend swallowed hard. He suspected that the redhead's shoulder might have been dislocated from the impact, but without proof, he preferred not to intervene, fearing the pressure from Reiji's gaze, even though he wasn't the direct target.

The observant spectators realized that the coincidence of the puck flying towards the redhead, especially after his inappropriate comment, was not mere luck. They observed that the puck had cut the redhead's face, now starting to bleed.

Some men, who had been looking at Kanade with lascivious desire, averted their gaze, intimidated.

However, this scene evoked not fear but envy of Kanade among the watching women.

Their murmurs revolved around the protection shown by Reiji and how, despite his threatening demeanor, he appeared more charming than intimidating to them.

"Oh, your face is bleeding, let me clean that for you," Reiji said with a friendly smile, but to the redhead's eyes, it seemed terrifyingly sinister.

"N-No need, really." The redhead took a few steps back with visible fear on his face, then quickly ran off the premises. "I'm in a hurry, so, goodbye!"

The redhead's friend snapped out of his shock and ran after him: "Wait for me, Shimura!"

"What happened to him?" Reiji feigned innocence. Then, he let out a pretend sigh and picked up the puck from the floor, returning to the air hockey table: "Kanade, do you think he had a stomachache, so he ran off to use the restroom?"

"Pfft!" Many around could not hold back their laughter at the comment.

"Hehehe," Kanade giggled, hinting: "Maybe? With his hurry, it's possible that's the case~"

"Mm, that's what I thought," Reiji continued the act, sighing: "I hope he doesn't overload the toilet... I mean, that he does what he needs to and gets better~"

What a terrifying situation~

At this observation, many held their breath.

Kanade was beginning to understand Reiji's nature better. Generally, he was very friendly, but if someone annoyed him, even minimally, the consequences could be surprisingly severe.

What she and the others did not know was that this was not the first time such an incident had occurred; in fact, it was the third, and one might say that this time Reiji was even 'kind' in dealing with the redhead...

Sometimes, things are not as we imagine... After all, how could an air hockey puck, which seemingly should not cause so much damage, injure someone so severely?

Well, nothing too serious happened... At least this time, so it's all good, right?

Returning to the game, this time no disrespectful comments were made. As long as there was mutual respect, Reiji remained indifferent to the onlookers' gazes.