After making seven or eight calls in a row with no answer, the sweating old butler was about to keep dialing until Hoshimi picked up. However, Mrs. Arisugawa's patience wasn't as abundant as the butler's. With a soft smile, she asked gently, "Mukami, is the call not going through?"
The old butler wiped the sweat from his forehead, bowed slightly, and truthfully replied, "Yes, Madam, Young Master Kiyokawa is not answering his phone."
"Hmm." Mrs. Arisugawa acknowledged softly, then said, "Go find out what's going on."
"Yes, Madam," the old butler bowed and accepted the order.
Without wasting any time, he left Hoshimi's house to mobilize the resources of the Arisugawa family to investigate Young Master Kiyokawa's whereabouts.
In today's society, unless someone deliberately disguises themselves, everyone's movements, and even their life trajectories, are semi-transparent. If you're willing to pay the price, it's not difficult to uncover some truths.
An hour later, at 9:58 PM, the old butler hurried back to Hoshimi's house, bowing before Mrs. Arisugawa as he reported, "Madam, I've found out where Young Master Kiyokawa has been."
"At 6:15 PM, Young Master Kiyokawa left Tokyo by train. At 7:20 PM, he returned to Chiba."
"At 7:41 PM, he checked into a room at the Shiki Hotel, which he has reserved until noon the day after tomorrow."
Maintaining her soft smile, Mrs. Arisugawa listened to the butler's report, then calmly asked, "Mukami, where is this Shiki Hotel?"
The old butler respectfully replied, "Madam, the Shiki Hotel is not far; it's just a ten-minute drive."
"Is that so?" Mrs. Arisugawa responded warmly as she stood up, "Then let's go meet Kiyokawa and learn about his 'eventful' day."
With that, Mrs. Arisugawa straightened her legs and left Hoshimi's house.
The sweating old butler dutifully followed her. Before leaving, he didn't forget to turn off the lights in the living room and hallway.
"Click—"
Finally, he closed the door to Hoshimi's house and followed Mrs. Arisugawa to the elevator to go downstairs.
However, before he could press the elevator button, the elevator doors opened by themselves, revealing Young Master Kiyokawa, standing inside holding his phone, looking utterly bewildered.
"Kiyokawa, why are you just standing there? Aren't you going to come out?" Mrs. Arisugawa called out softly, her smile warm.
Hoshimi: "..."
…
A little earlier, at 9:57 PM, in Apartment 1507.
Yukino leaned against the entryway, her face flushed as she watched Hoshimi bend down to change his shoes.
"Yukino, I'm heading back now," Hoshimi said, straightening up and looking at Yukino after changing his shoes.
"Mm, get some rest early, and also..." Yukino hesitated, her face turning even redder, as if she had something she found hard to say.
"Hm? What's wrong? Don't want me to leave?" Hoshimi took a step forward, his hands reaching to wrap around Yukino's waist.
Yukino stepped back, placing her hand on Hoshimi's chest and turning her head away, her face a blushing red as she said, "Just go back already."
With that, Yukino pushed Hoshimi toward the door.
Hoshimi didn't mind, letting Yukino's push guide him to the door. He opened it with one hand, saying, "Yukino, I'm going now."
"Mm..." Yukino withdrew her hand, standing awkwardly in the entryway.
Just as Hoshimi stepped out the door, Yukino suddenly called out softly, "Hoshimi, make sure to look in the mirror when you get back."
"Hmm?" Already in the hallway, Hoshimi raised an eyebrow, looking at Yukino with a puzzled expression.
Yukino didn't explain; she lowered her head, stepped forward, and suddenly shut the door.
"..." Blinking in confusion at the closed door, Hoshimi was a little baffled.
What's with Yukino? She was all sweet and affectionate just now, so why did she suddenly become so strange? Like she's embarrassed or something?
Wait, look in the mirror?
Hoshimi raised his hand to touch his neck, immediately getting an idea.
Although he couldn't feel anything unusual on his neck, Yukino's extreme embarrassment suggested that there might be some intimate "strawberry marks" on his neck.
With a subtle expression, Hoshimi kept feeling his neck. Yukino did kiss his neck for quite a while earlier, so it's not surprising if those marks appeared.
But this feeling is really something; he hadn't even dared to leave any on Yukino's fair skin, and she ended up leaving them on him first.
Hoshimi chuckled, turning toward the elevator to head home and check out how many "strawberry marks" Yukino had left on him. He'd take some pictures of them too, just in case he wanted to tease her about it later.
He already had some ideas on how to use the photos.
Too bad he didn't have his sister-in-law (Haruno)'s contact; otherwise, he'd send her a picture and "complain" (brag) about it, showing her just how "terrible" her sister's behavior was.
While thinking about this, Hoshimi reached the elevator, absentmindedly pressing the button, not noticing that the elevator was coming down from the 27th floor.
At that moment, half of his mind was replaying his intimate moments with Yukino, while the other half was planning how to use the soon-to-be-taken photos of his "strawberry marks."
"Ding—"
The elevator arrived, and lost in thought, Hoshimi walked in, still refining his plan.
Suddenly, a shadow at the edge of his vision caught his attention. He turned his head to see his reflection in the elevator's side mirror.
His hair was messy like a bird's nest, his collar slightly askew, and there were obvious "strawberry marks" on both sides of his neck—two lighter ones on the left and one darker one on the right.
Looking further down, he could vaguely see another one near his right collarbone, but it was partially covered by his shirt, making it hard to see clearly.
"..."
Hoshimi's eye twitched as he looked at his reflection.
No wonder Yukino was so embarrassed—she really went all out tonight, leaving him looking like this!
A lovestruck Yukino was something else; she seemed to have more fighting power than Kasumigaoka.
With a slight movement of his eyes, Hoshimi put on an innocent expression.
He then took out his phone, ready to take a picture of this "innocent young man ruthlessly mistreated by the domineering second young lady."
"Huh?"
But just as he took out his phone, Hoshimi froze.
Why are there so many missed calls?!
All the calls were from...
Butler Mukami!!!
"Oh crap...." Hoshimi's pupils contracted, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. He immediately sensed something was very wrong.
Butler Mukami, the Arisugawa family's personal butler, spent 90% of his time by Mrs. Arisugawa's side, handling various affairs.
If Butler Mukami was calling, then there was a 99% chance that Mrs. Arisugawa was looking for him.
===
Enjoying the novel? If you'd like to read additional chapters, visit my Patreon page at - patreon.com/cherryblooming.
There are already more than 30 extra chapters available.