Chapter 163 Different Styles of Painting

"Just now, I went to the restroom with him. Originally, I only intended to stay by the sinks to freshen up a bit, but after washing my hands, I suddenly needed to use the stall, and then I..."

Fujiwara Mizu seemed utterly traumatized by the horrifying memory, his body trembling as he spoke in a tone of profound grief. "The moment I walked in, I saw Salted Fish-chan standing right there. I thought I had wandered into the wrong restroom, so I panicked and rushed back out to check, only to find I was in the right place—it really was the men's room."

"And Salted Fish-chan was standing right in front of a urinal, he, he, he was actually peeing while standing up!" Fujiwara Mizu stared at Aoki Tsukasa with the expression of a man whose country had just fallen, his voice dripping with sorrow. "Boss, what should I do?"

"Wait a minute, how on earth did you spend half a day drinking coffee with him and not even realize he wasn't a girl?" Aside from finding it slightly amusing, Aoki Tsukasa was mostly bewildered.

You've been chatting with her—no, him—for so long, and you didn't even know whether the other person was male or female?

Fujiwara Mizu wore an expression of utter despair. "His voice is more feminine than a real girl's, and he's so gorgeous—how could I possibly have known he was a guy?!"

"Didn't you two stay in touch on your phones for ages? How did you manage to keep talking to him for all this time?" Aoki Tsukasa looked at him speechless, genuinely wondering how this guy managed to rank in the top ten of his grade.

Fujiwara Mizu looked up at the sky, a tempest of conflicting emotions swirling in his chest as tears threatened to spill. "We chatted about a lot of things, but who in the world would ask someone whose photos look that stunning and whose voice sounds that sweet whether they're actually a girl or not?! We just talked about our hobbies and interests, or exchanged warm, caring messages."

"No wonder... no wonder our tastes and hobbies matched up so well. So that was why..." Fujiwara Mizu muttered to himself like someone possessed by a malevolent spirit, pathetic and terrifying all at once.

"Didn't he ever explain?" Aoki Tsukasa was completely baffled. Could this "Salted Fish-chan" fellow perhaps be a trans... ahem, suffer from gender identity disorder?

"He only said he'd give me a surprise when we met in person, but I never imagined the surprise would be this monumental." Fujiwara Mizu leaned against the coffee table, his legs feeling like jelly, sensing his entire worldview collapsing and rebuilding itself in a single instant.

Why would a guy look that pretty?! Why would his selfies show such an amazing figure? Wait, no—didn't his selfies even show cleavage? Where did that come from?!

Do boys grow chests too...? Fujiwara Mizu began to seriously doubt his high school biology textbook.

Aoki Tsukasa truly had no idea what to say to him anymore, so he could only ask, "Did you tell him what your intentions were? Did he come out to meet you knowing that you liked him?"

"I... I only said I wanted to be friends with him," Fujiwara Mizu murmured. "I just never expected that he actually thought I only wanted to be friends..."

Aoki Tsukasa was completely speechless.

If Salted Fish-chan had been a girl, and Fujiwara Mizu had said he wanted to be friends, any girl with half a brain would surely have understood what Fujiwara Mizu meant.

And if, knowing that, she still insisted on meeting up in the flesh, it would obviously mean she was quite interested in Fujiwara Mizu as well.

That also explained why Fujiwara Mizu had been so excited.

Yet herein lay the problem—Salted Fish-chan was a boy. After meeting online, the two of them had never actually discussed gender. Given Fujiwara Mizu's rather repressed yet flirtatious nature, Salted Fish-chan must have simply thought they were two internet buddies shooting the breeze.

Later on, deciding that Fujiwara Mizu seemed like a decent enough guy and that they clicked well in conversation, he had decided to meet up in real life... Two guys forging the sparks of friendship over the internet—that made total sense!

And then, the moment they met in the restroom, Fujiwara Mizu's dreams were instantly shattered. His promised girlfriend had turned out to be a trap, and she was standing right beside him in the men's room taking a leak...

Meanwhile, that Salted Fish-chan must have been equally heartbroken and devastated—what's wrong with a guy standing up to pee in the men's room?! I treated you like a brother, and you actually wanted to sleep with me?!

At this thought, Aoki Tsukasa smiled wryly with a headache. "So what are you going to do now?"

Fujiwara Mizu stood frozen in place, silent for a long time, before finally squeezing out a sentence: "Boss, I'm going home first."

Seeing his state, Aoki Tsukasa could only pat him on the shoulder with a helpless sigh and offer some consolation. "Well, uh, there are plenty of fish in the sea, and finding a woman with three legs is hard... I mean, finding a three-legged toad is hard, but women with two legs are everywhere. You just have to believe your true love is still waiting for you in the future."

"Thanks, Boss... I'll be fine." Fujiwara Mizu managed a smile that was uglier than crying. "It's my own fault for not making things clear. I can't blame anyone else."

"I... I'm leaving now... Goodbye, Boss..." Swaying unsteadily like a zombie, Fujiwara Mizu shuffled slowly toward the exit.

Seeing him about to leave, a standby waiter hurriedly rushed forward to intercept him. "Um, your total comes to..."

Fujiwara Mizu blindly reached into his pocket, grabbed a handful of cash, shoved it at the waiter, and said in a dejected tone, "Keep the change."

With that, he continued to stagger out of the cafe.

The waiter looked down at the wad of bills in his hand, counted them, and his expression changed drastically. "Wait a second, this isn't enough!"

"I'll pay," Aoki Tsukasa called out to the waiter, signaling him not to give chase.

The waiter blinked, casting a fearful glance at Aoki Tsukasa, his gaze lingering on the shaved head for a moment before he shrunk his neck back. "Oh, um, never mind then. The money... the money is enough."

Aoki Tsukasa twitching the corner of his mouth speechlessly, he looked beside him at Teruhashi Kokomi, whose completely blank expression clearly indicated she still had no clue what had just transpired.

"Kokomi-san, should we be heading out too?" Aoki Tsukasa checked the time—it was already three in the afternoon. If he accompanied her for another hour or two and then headed home, he'd still need to cook dinner for Kaguya—no, for Sora.

By the way, it wasn't far from Itsuki Kokona's part-time job either; he could swing by and ask about the situation with Natto and the others.

Teruhashi Kokomi finally snapped back to reality, looking at Aoki Tsukasa with a worried expression. "Is Fujiwara-kun alright? He looked like he was in a lot of pain..."

"It's fine. He'll probably just toss and turn all night, unable to sleep, and violently kick his blankets off," Aoki Tsukasa said, the initial shock gradually giving way to a sense of amusement.

Surely that guy Fujiwara Mizu didn't use Salted Fish-chan's photos to do anything weird, did he?

Aoki Tsukasa shuddered involuntarily: terrifying. Boys who look prettier than girls are truly terrifying.

Teruhashi Kokomi had no idea what Aoki Tsukasa was thinking, but since her concern for Fujiwara Mizu was only because he was Aoki Tsukasa's friend, she didn't dwell on it. Seeing that Aoki Tsukasa himself wasn't particularly bothered, she relaxed and said brightly, "Well, Tsukasa-kun, it's still early, let's go walk around outside?"

"Huh?" Aoki Tsukasa blinked and nodded. "Alright. Though I'm not sure where to go, so I'll leave the choice to you, Kokomi-san."

"Excuse me, waiter, could you bring the bill?" Teruhashi Kokomi smiled sweetly at the waiter.

"Oh-ho! That will be three thousand four hundred yen in total," the waiter replied, completely transfixed.

Teruhashi Kokomi frowned slightly, her voice carrying a hint of a pout. "Eh? Is it really that expensive?"

"Four hundred yen!" The waiter snapped to attention, looking as excited as if he had just achieved the highest honor.

"Four hundred yen?" Teruhashi Kokomi tilted her head. Wouldn't that be too cheap?

"Forty yen! No, it's free!" The waiter nodded fiercely. "That's right, completely free!"

Teruhashi Kokomi smiled gently at him. "Would that really be alright?"

"No, do as she says. I'm the manager, and this order is on the house! I hope you'll come back and enjoy a wonderful, relaxing time here again!" A middle-aged man with a handlebar mustache stepped out from beside the waiter, gazing at Teruhashi Kokomi with a look of utter infatuation.

Teruhashi Kokomi glanced at Aoki Tsukasa, who was standing expressionlessly while wearing a face mask, and smiled. "Then, thank you both so very much."

"Oh... oh-ho!" The manager and the waiter stared at her smile, involuntarily letting out sounds of awe.

Aoki Tsukasa's mouth twitched slightly: Even though I sometimes get special treatment when buying things, why is the vibe here so completely different?

Teruhashi Kokomi turned her head and beamed a brilliant, cheerful smile at Aoki Tsukasa. "Let's go, Tsukasa-kun."

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PS: The author was kept up all night yesterday by some friends, woke up in the afternoon, and even went out drinking last night. My alcohol tolerance is such a disgrace to people from Inner Mongolia... Today will still be two chapters, but the release explosion upon official publication definitely won't be delayed, rest assured.

Ah, looks like I'll be burning the midnight oil again in a few days... OTZ