Still sitting steadily in her seat with a pair of chopsticks holding noodles in one hand, Yamada Ryo, Kazami Haru's ex-wife, suddenly reached out with her other hand and grabbed his pants. Her cool, delicate face didn't reveal a shred of emotion.
Even though the man beside her was almost making his escape, Ryo still refused to put down her delicious meal.
"If you leave, I'll have to wash all the dishes by myself."
"Just leave your bass guitar here!"
"I only have my 300,000 yen FENDER on me. After deducting that, I'd still need to eat about 500 more bowls of ramen."
After struggling with this shameless woman for a while and gradually running out of strength, Kazami Haru finally gave in, slumping down into the seat opposite Ryo, no longer bothering to be polite.
At least Ex-Wife-san had a bit of conscience. She had ordered him a bowl of ramen in advance, even though it had soaked too long and turned all mushy.
He still ended up needing to borrow money from this woman. If he had known, he wouldn't have come.
Seeing him eventually compromise and join her for ramen, Yamada Ryo smiled slightly in satisfaction.
Then, the great and beautiful Yamada-san actually picked up the most expensive tempura on the table, or rather, the side dish of fried sweet potato, and held it out toward the cool and aloof young man before her.
"...As thanks, I, a beautiful girl, will feed you personally."
"Can't you at least give me the actual tempura?"
Kazami Haru didn't hold back, and took the side dish from her chopsticks in one bite.
Since he had already decided to borrow money, he might as well devour all the good food left on the table. And of course, she had to pay back every last yen she owed him.
If she couldn't repay him in money, he'd just have to find... alternative forms of repayment.
Yamada Ryo seemed genuinely surprised he dared to eat it. She blinked in slight shock at her chopsticks, then resumed eating her ramen expressionlessly.
No one noticed the faint blush at the base of her ear, hidden beneath her blue hair.
"A beautiful girl's indirect kiss should be worth enough to repay you."
Her cold and stunning gaze focused on his face. Like a blue plumbago flower, the girl's beauty exuded grace and purity. She propped up her chin with one hand, watching Kazami Haru across the table with a teasing look in her eyes.
"At most, that's worth 100 yen."
Kazami Haru folded his arms, unmoved by her beauty.
"What about... not indirect?"
Under the shop's dim lighting, a faint smile flickered across the blushing girl's face.
Yamada Ryo narrowed her golden eyes slightly. In that moment, their usual coolness and pride melted away into a quiet elegance.
Her playful smile left Haru momentarily speechless.
Yamada-san quickly returned to her usual aloof and slightly shady self, as if that earlier flirtatious moment had never happened.
"So, what do you want? Don't tell me you really asked me here just to eat?"
Yamada Ryo blinked and showed a look of sudden realization.
"Give me my money back."
Seeing Kazami Haru's gentle and bright smile, Yamada Ryo flinched.
She collapsed onto the tatami in an exaggerated pose, lips pursed, eyes filling with sparkling tears that fell like pearls. Her sorrowful expression was impossibly pitiful.
"Boohoo~ I just wanted to have dinner with you, that's all."
"Yeah, like that's believable."
This woman would do anything and make up any excuse just to borrow money. Not a single word from her mouth could be trusted.
Kazami Haru didn't think he was charming enough for her to invite him just for dinner.
"Anyway, since I'm here, your plate of tuna sushi—"
Just as his chopsticks reached for it, she quickly snatched the sushi and popped it into her mouth, chewing expressionlessly, showing no trace of her earlier sadness.
What a quick change of expression.
After all that ruckus, and watching her down the tuna sushi, Kazami Haru finally brought up the real topic.
"Now, shouldn't we get to the point?"
After a big sip of the rich tonkotsu ramen broth, the cold and beautiful girl finally opened her mouth, now full and satisfied:
"Nijika asked me to tell you that the band needs to prepare for a promotional shoot."
Wouldn't a single Line message have sufficed for that?!
Why bother meeting at a restaurant? Was it just because she was hungry and broke, so she lured him out?
Yamada Ryo's gaze wasn't on Haru's face, but on something behind him.
At some point, a suspicious figure with bright red hair, a sunhat, sunglasses, and a mask had sneaked into the ramen shop, and awkwardly sat right behind Kazami Haru.
Haru, with his back to the person, hadn't noticed a thing.
But Yamada Ryo had seen it all clearly.
Oh, it's Ikuyo. She was spotted instantly.
Kita Ikuyo had just been out shopping with friends when she saw Kazami Haru walk into the ramen shop alone.
Her curiosity and inner turmoil got the better of her. Peeking through the window, she instantly noticed that Ryo-senpai was inside too.
Ryo-senpai and Haru, why were they alone together?!
The sight made Kita Ikuyo's mind go fuzzy.
Fueled by emotion, she grabbed a mask and sunglasses, made an excuse to her friends, and followed them in.
And now, she was seriously regretting it.
Once inside, she was naturally a bit scared of Ryo-senpai. Sitting so close, even hearing her cold voice made her nervous.
But having come in already, leaving suddenly would be too weird.
So Kita Ikuyo braced herself, ordered a bowl of ramen, and sat behind them listening in.
Yamada Ryo calmly stared at the red-haired figure with her back turned, a playful glint surfacing in her eyes as if she had just thought of something amusing.
Propping her chin up with both hands, she spoke in the calmest voice—