A few days later—
Yuzuru, Soichiro, and Hijiri were having a meal at a family restaurant.
Naturally…
It was on Hijiri’s tab.
And when three guys get together—
There’s one thing that inevitably comes up.
Yes, dirty talk.
“You know, lately I’ve started thinking… hips are pretty great.”
Yuzuru said, sipping from his glass of grape juice.
His face was faintly flushed.
“Well, for primates, hips are the primary sexual signal.”
Soichiro replied calmly.
Encouraged, Yuzuru nodded exaggeratedly.
“Right? I mean, breasts are nice too, but… hips feel more authentic.”
“But that doesn’t mean the artificial can’t surpass the original.”
As he spoke, Soichiro poured more grape juice from a decanter into his glass.
Then, with a serious expression, he continued—
“We may be apes, but we’re also human. The difference between apes and humans lies in the chest. Therefore, shouldn’t we value breasts?”
While the two of them debated—
Hijiri, poking at a mussel, sighed.
“You two don’t get it…”
Both Yuzuru and Soichiro turned to him.
“It’s legs. Slender legs are more artistic than just big breasts or hips.”
Breasts and hips might be sexual—
But legs, he argued, possessed an artistic kind of eros that surpassed them.
“Well… in the end, it’s all of it, isn’t it?”
“That kind of ends the discussion.”
“It’s more about balance, really. And proportions.”
In the end, they reached the conclusion that everything had its merits.
Then, the topic shifted.
“Yuzuru, what do you usually watch?”
“What do you mean?”
“Genre, obviously.”
“Oh… genre, huh.”
Yuzuru thought for a moment.
“Just normal stuff.”
“NTR?” Slang for the Japanese term netorare (寝取られ), which translates to “being stolen” or “having one’s partner taken away”.
“That’s not normal.”
“But isn’t it the most popular genre?”
“No way.”
Whether it was the most popular or not, Yuzuru had no interest in it.
Still, he realised “normal” had been a poor answer.
“Recently… I watched massage-type stuff.”
“Oh, like those ‘improving lymph flow’ ones?”
“Yeah, those.”
As he spoke, Yuzuru recalled his recent “massage” with Arisa.
Of course, he hadn’t exactly been improving her lymph flow…
But in many ways, it had been enjoyable.
“So what about you?” he asked.
“Lately, I’ve been into VR.”
“I’ve never tried it. Is it good?”
“The immersion is insane.”
“Do you really need immersion?”
“You’ll understand if you try it.”
That did make it sound tempting.
Though at the moment, Yuzuru had no spare money—he was saving for a gift for Arisa.
“And you, Soichiro?”
“Yuri.” Yuri is a genre of Japanese media that focuses on lesbian relationships.
“You never change…”
Hijiri asked, and Soichiro answered instantly.
Yuzuru let out a wry smile.
“If it’s not yuri, I can’t get off.”
“So any yuri works?”
“If there’s a male insert character, it doesn’t work.”
“That’s a disgrace you’ll carry for generations…”
“Soichiro is the last generation.”
For the record, “disgrace for generations” technically meant a disgrace even into the afterlife—
And all three of them knew that.
“By the way… are you actually marrying into the Tachibana family?”
Yuzuru brought up something he’d heard.
“Most likely.”
“Then what about the Satake family headship?”
“I’ll step down.”
The Tachibana and Satake families weren’t on bad terms—
But Satake wouldn’t want to fall under Tachibana’s control.
A man marrying into Tachibana couldn’t very well become head of Satake.
So it was only natural that Soichiro would give up his position as heir.
“Well, we’ve got plenty of siblings. Unlike them, it doesn’t have to be me. It’s only right I step aside.”
With that, Soichiro stood up.
“Going to the bathroom.”
After he left, Hijiri turned to Yuzuru.
“…I don’t know as much as you about their situation, but—”
“What is it?”
“I’ve always wondered… Tachibana and Uenishi, are they really like that?”
“Well… they’ve always been ‘close.’”
Yuzuru answered vaguely, sipping his drink.
Hijiri nodded.
“I see… so he gave up the Satake inheritance so the three of them could be happy together.”
“That’s about right.”
“He’s more of a romantic than I thought…”
The Satake family were major landowners in eastern Japan, with strong political and construction ties.
Giving up that position wasn’t something done lightly.
“And… I heard from Amaka that he’s the one providing ‘seed’ to Uenishi, right? But Uenishi is in Kyoto, and Tachibana is in Tokyo. What’s he going to do?”
“Probably a visiting marriage. Especially with the maglev line opening.”
He’d likely travel back and forth between the two households.
Though given how “close” Ayaka and Chiharu were, they’d probably stay over at each other’s places often anyway.
“…Man, that’s rough. He’s basically losing his home.”
There was sympathy in Hijiri’s voice—
And a bit of respect for a man choosing love over family.
“Yeah.”
Yuzuru agreed—
Then added—
“Though honestly, Tachibana and Uenishi are richer than Satake anyway.”
“You really are a piece of work.”
Hijiri said—
Just as Soichiro returned.
“That’s the first thing you say to a man coming back from the toilet? At least go with something like ‘crap.’”
“That’s not what I meant. What are you, a primary school kid?”
“Cut the gross jokes. You’re ruining my—ahem—juice.”
Dirty jokes ruined the appetite—
Not helped it.
And with that, Yuzuru scolded the two of them.
