Interlude 2

Lessons

"You'll at least wear a kimono on the day you marry me, right?"

"You want to marry me?"

"Hell yeah. I've got here the most lovely girl I've ever seen and she loves me? You'd be crazy to think I wouldn't marry her."

"But I'm not--"

"What?"

"N-nothing…"

"No, what were you going to say? You don't love me?"

"No, I do!"

"You don't want to marry me?"

"Yes, I want to… Wait, is this how you're asking me?"

"Um…yeah. What? Why are you laughing at me now?"

"Haha…nothing, Sano. I'm just happy."

"Oh. So you are going to marry me, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, what were saying before?"

"Sano…"

"Hah, thought I was going to forget? Now what are you not?"

"Nothing, Sano! I wasn't going to say anything. Really."

"Shino."

"Ah…well…I-I'm not lovely."

" . . . "

" . . . "

"What do you mean, you're not lovely? Shino, come back here. How could you say something like that?"

"Because…I'm not."

"Are you crazy? I've never seen a girl who looks sweeter than you do. Maybe we should consider getting you glasses…"

"But I…"

"What?"

"I…messed up my face."

". . . That sounds like something I heard that Horibuchi said back at the mansion. He tell you that?"

"Y-yes, but I did…you can see--"

"Oh, you're in trouble now. Come here."

"Huh? Sano--hey, what are you doing!"

"What does it look like? I'm turning you over my knee."

"Why are you--? You're not going to-- No, Sano, no, no--OW!"

"Sorry, Koishii, but you've got to be taught a lesson. Now I want you to say 'Sano's girl is the loveliest girl in the entire world'. Say it and I'll let you up."

"San-o-su-ke! You let me go this instant! AHH!"

"No, no, Shino. That's not what I told you to say, now was it? Try again."

"Damn it, Sano! Ow! Stop it!"

"No way. You've said something very wrong and now you're paying for it. Just admit that you're pretty and I'll let you up."

"This is turning you on, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. But it's not why I'm doing it."

"Please stop."

"Nope. Not until you say it."

"You're mean--cruel. Your mother would be ashamed of you."

"I doubt it. My mother wasn't afraid to hand out a spanking when it was well-deserved. I can do this all day, you know. I guarantee my stamina's going to outlast yours. You better say it before your bottom's as red as your top."

"OW! All right, all right! I'm pretty! 'Sano's girl is the loveliest girl in the entire world'! I said it, now let go!"

"Was that so hard?"

"I thought you said you'd let me up."

"I will, in a minute. I'm admiring the view."

"Sano…"

"Oh, all right. You can sit up now. Not that far."

"But I'm still in your lap."

"I said I'd let you up, not let you go. You're fine where you are. Don't look at me that way. You deserved it."

"Aren't you the one who's always telling the others I'm not a child?"

"You're not. I only spank beautiful adult women."

"I didn't know you were a lech."

"Only with you. You're the only one who fits all three types at once."

"You're so silly."

"You make me silly. But you are, Shino. You really are. Your face is scarred, but that only makes you look more noble, like you've got history. Everyone's got scars like that. You just wear yours where they can be seen. You don't even have a right to be ashamed of that. It's a rare thing, to be so beautiful a creature inside and out. I still can't believe you're with a dumb thug like me."

"You don't look like a thug, and I've told you repeatedly that you're not dumb. I guess it's your turn to be taught a lesson."

"What? Now, wait a minute, Shino--"

"You're in trouble now. Come here, Sano."

"Hey, hold on a second! I, uh, I take it back!"

"It's too late now. You already said it."

"Hey, that's not in the rules! Shino, sto--OW!"