All the servants at the Nikiri estate were lined up in two neat columns by the entrance, awaiting the arrival of a very special guest.
Alice stood at the doorway in a navy blue mini dress she had picked out just for the occasion. Ryo stood behind her in a matching navy button-down. Alice had insisted they color-coordinate for a "proper aesthetic".
A stretch limousine pulled up before the mansion. Alice's wide eyes gleamed with excitement.
Ryo smirked to himself.
She was never good at hiding her emotions.
As the white-gloved chauffeur stepped out to open the passenger door, Alice approached the car with a cat-like grace and smiled cooly.
"Well well, who do we have here?"
"Long time no see, Erina."
Alice abandoned her cool-girl demeanor as soon as they arrived at the Nakiri's private beach. After a quick dip in the water, they went head to head in a rather aggressive game of beach volleyball.
Ryo came out of the clubhouse with two gin and tonics just in time to see Alice dive full-force onto the sand in her cream-colored bikini. When she got up, her large breasts were coated with a layer of sand. She brushed it off carelessly and laughed.
Thank god this was a private beach and not one of those public pools Alice visited to people-watch. Those creeps would have a field day.
"Miss Alice, Miss Erina, here are your drinks," Ryo called out.
"Already? So attentive as always, Ryo-kun!"
Alice ran toward him with all her might, dragging a very out-of-breath Erina behind her.
She took one of the glass and took a huge slurp of the drink.
"Alice, don't drink so fast! You'll get a brain freeze!" Erina scolded her cousin.
"She'll be fine… I started altering the internal chemistry of all her drinks using molecular biology so they enter the body at optimum temperature," Ryo explained flatly.
"Only you would think of doing things like that, Kurokiba."
"Because she kept hitting me whenever she freezes or burns herself."
Erina chuckled.
"You guys haven't changed at all."
"Enough about us, how was the honeymoon? I wanna know every detail," Alice winked as she slid back into her lounge chair.
"It was fine…not bad at all actually," Erina blushed and turned her head away.
"How was the post-marital sex?"
"Alice!"
Her fair haired cousin batted her wide eyes, gesturing for her to continue. She was clearly not going to let the subject go.
"Well it was not that different from usual but…"
"Did you do xxxx? What about xxxxx? Mmm, really?! Putting the God's tongue to good use, aren't you Erina..."
Ryo smiled to himself.
He knew Yukihara would go insane if he knew they were hearing all this right now, but it was nice seeing those two getting along so well. After all these years, Alice finally got the close relationship she always wanted with her cousin.
"Ryo-kun~" Alice called out.
"Yes."
"Did you bring sunscreen? I just realized I forgot to put some on before we came out."
"Yes. Here you are."
He held the bottle to her. Instead of taking it, she puffed out her cheeks and pouted.
"Hmph! Can't you see my arms are sore from beach volleyball? You do it for me!"
Ryo hesitated.
"Come on~ Erina's assistant does it all the time!"
"Fine," he sighed.
"Good boy."
Alice grinned and sat up from her chair to make room for him.
Ryo squeeze a big glop of sunblock onto his palm, rubbed it warm between his hands, then gently massaged it onto her back. Alice felt her skin sizzle instantly under his touch.
"Hurry up! I think I'm already burning up here!"
"Alright."
"Alice, you really should be doing this kind of stuff on your own… Give Ryo-kun a break," Erina said disapprovingly.
"No way, I'm his mistress! It's his honor to be servicing me like this! Right?"
"Sure..." Ryo said unenthusiastically.
Ryo hid his excitement as he ran his hands over her back, shoulders, and arms.
Her fair skin was warm and liquid smooth to the touch. She smelled like the salty sea air mixed with a delicate scent of milk and powder. As he reached her neck, he felt a sudden urge to press his mouth to her and taste her creamy skin. Just thinking about it made blood rush from his head down into his lower body.
Suddenly, he felt Alice twitch beneath his fingers.
"Ryo-kun, not so hard…" she whined.
"Sorry."
There was something about the way she said it that triggered a switch in his brain. His cock started throbbing hard inside his swim trunks.
He stood up abruptly.
"I forgot to call the driver. I'll go see it he's arrived," he announced and stormed off without giving the girls any chance to react.
Alice blinked a few times, perplexed by his behavior, then turned back to her cousin.
"Um anyway… Erina, what were you saying?"
"I wasn't saying anything."
"Oh, I thought you were," Alice chuckled dryly.
"There is actually one thing I wanted to tell you. I stopped by Eishi Tsukasa senpai's new restaurant for a tasting while we were in Europe. He asked about you."
"He did?"
"He wanted me to let you know he'd be in town next week and wants to have dinner with you."
This seemed to be coming out of nowhere. Alice got along with him alright when they were at Totsuki but they were never really friends. Why would he possibly want to see her?
"I'm not too busy next week. It'll be fun to catch up I suppose."
"Um… Alice," Erina peered cautiously around them before continuing. "I think he means he wants to take you on a date."
"Oh!" Alice chuckled. "Well I can't blame him. I am the culinary world's hottest bachelorette. I mean, since you're married now and all."
"I can make an excuse. I'm just letting you know out of courtesy."
"You know what–what's the harm in one dinner? I haven't had French in a while, and I guess he's not so bad looking."
"Are you…sure?"
Erina stared at her cousin in disbelief. She never thought Alice would agree to a date so casually. She was only bringing it up out of courtesy.
"You know what, why don't you just tell Tsukasa senpai to text his plans to Ryo-kun? He'll be making the arrangements anyway."
"You mean you're bringing Kurokiba on your date…?"
"Of course, Ryo-kun goes everywhere with me."
"I think that'll be asking too much of him, Alice."
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
Every time she brought it up, Ryo made it very clear how disinterested he was in her romantic affairs. In that case, why should it be different from any of his other errands?
Erina shook her head hopelessly.
"All I'm saying is that Ryo Kurokiba's spent almost his entire life serving you, trying to make you happy. He could be anywhere in the world right now, building his own seafood empire, but he chooses to stay here. Shouldn't you at least think of him a little? Don't you want him to be happy too?"
Of course she did. Alice didn't understand how much more she could possibly be thinking of Ryo. She thought of him all day, every day. Wasn't that enough? She had always thought, through all those years battling side by side, that they had an unspoken understanding. An unshakeable bond. Was it all just wishful thinking?
"Miss, the car's here."
Alice jumped. She turned to see Ryo standing behind her with her belongings.
"Don't creep up on me like that!" Alice yelled when she approached him.
Erina watched as Alice punched Ryo repeatedly on the shoulder, and the guy just stood there with a sullen look on his face.
Those two really are an odd pair. I hope they figure things out one day…
After they said goodbye to Erina, Ryo walked Alice back to her room.
"What an amazing day! You in the mood for one more shokugeki before bed?"
His eyes lit up, lips curling into a mischievous smile.
"Always, miss."
"Fantastic! I'll shower first and meet you in the kitchen."
"Wait—"
She was about to head inside when he grabbed her shoulder.
He leaned toward her very slowly and brushed the side of her jaw with his fingertips. His touch was light and brief, yet it sent a shiver through her entire body.
"Sand," he said.
"Oh…" she replied, feeling the temperature rise to her head.
She peered into his dark ruby eyes, which looked calmly back into hers. She couldn't help but wonder.
Was he really happy?