Chapter 50: Volume 1, - 50: The Kiss He Stopped Overthinking Saturday
By nine-thirty in the morning, Ren had finished adjusting the terms Kawashima-san had requested during their eight-thirty consultation in the quiet arcade shop. By one in the afternoon, Nanami Shindo arrived for her scheduled Saturday shift, taking her seat at the laminate desk without a word and opening the weekend filing index.
They worked side by side through the afternoon. Sorting client files, archiving approved receipts, and preparing the documentation binders for Sunday. When six o’clock arrived, Nanami capped her mechanical pencil, wiped her desk surface with a wet wipe, and packed her canvas tote bag.
"Everything required for tomorrow’s fiduciary meeting is filed in the blue portfolio, Kisaragi-san," she said, standing up and bowing slightly.
"Thank you, Shindo-san," Ren replied, bowing in return. "Get some rest tonight."
Once the office was quiet, Ren locked the suite, walked down to his Crown in the gravel lot, and sat behind the wheel for a full minute, breathing slowly.
He had spent the last month dealing with debt collectors, estate paperwork, bank meetings, sceptical business owners, and client deadlines. None of it had made his palms sweat. Yet right now, sitting in a parked car on a cool Saturday evening, his heart was pounding against his ribs like an uncalibrated piston.
The single thought of meeting Suzune Akiyama made him feel entirely undone.
They met at seven near the old river sluice gate. A quiet, brick-paved embankment walking path lined with bare cherry branches holding early spring buds. The streetlights cast wide, warm pools of amber light across the damp pavement.
Suzune was waiting by the iron railing, wearing her dark woollen coat and an off-white knitted scarf, her hands tucked deep into her pockets. When she saw him approaching, her eyes brightened, and she stepped forward to meet him.
"Kisaragi-san, you look different. Did something happen," she said gently, her breath pluming softly in the cool evening air.
"It was a busy day," Ren said, turning to walk beside her along the river pathway. "We actually passed our first hundred thousand yen in verified client revenue yesterday."
Suzune’s eyes widened with genuine delight. "One hundred thousand? Really?"
"Really," Ren said, feeling a slight blush touch his cheeks. "Nanami reconciled everything yesterday."
"That’s incredible," she said softly, bumping her shoulder lightly against his arm as they walked. "I knew you could do it. My father was talking about your order-intake sheet this morning. He said it saved him twenty minutes on the Saturday rush."
"It’s just process organisation," Ren muttered, looking down at the pavement.
"It’s not just anything," Suzune corrected, her voice firm but sweet. "You worked for it."
They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, the gentle rush of the river below filling the quiet space between them. But the atmosphere wasn’t purely about business milestones, and both of them knew it. The air was charged with a heavy, quiet expectation that had been building since Thursday night.
They stopped near a wooden bench positioned under a quiet streetlamp, looking out over the dark water.
Suzune pulled her hands from her coat pockets and turned to face him fully. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, her chestnut hair catching the amber glow of the lamp above.
"Kisaragi-san," she said, her tone shifting softly.
"Yes?"
"We’re standing in the exact same spot as Thursday night."
Ren swallowed hard, his mind instantly racing into analytical overdrive. ’Is she referencing the timing? Should I acknowledge the conversation we had on the embankment? Is this the right moment, or should I wait until after Sunday’s review?’
Suzune stepped closer, cutting off his internal spiral before it could start. She reached out and took his right hand in hers. Her fingers were cool against his skin, but her grip was firm.
"You’re doing it again," she whispered, a small, knowing smile touching her lips.
"Doing what?"
"Overthinking."
Ren looked down at her eyes. There were no client metrics here, no ledger balances, no system interfaces, and no debt schedules. There was only Suzune, looking directly at him with clear, unmistakable intent.
The joke he had been about to make about spreadsheet calculations died in his throat.
He remembered Thursday night—how he had hesitated, weighed the risks, analysed the timing, and let the moment slip away into awkward silence. He wasn’t going to do it again.
Ren stopped analysing.
He stepped forward, closing the remaining distance between them, and pulled his left hand from his pocket to gently touch the side of her soft scarf.
Suzune didn’t flinch or pull back. She tilted her chin up, her eyes holding his until the very last second before she closed them.
Ren leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
The kiss was warm, real, and slightly clumsy at first. Their noses bumping lightly before finding a natural rhythm. Ren felt the sudden, dizzying shock of her physical presence, the delicate scent of citrus shampoo and bakery flour rising between them. It was completely different from anything his mind had tried to project or simulate over the past three weeks.
Suzune didn’t remain passive. As soon as his mouth met hers, she leaned into him with her full weight, her fingers tightening around his coat lapel, pulling him closer.
When Ren parted slightly, overwhelmed by the sudden heat in his chest, Suzune didn’t let him retreat. She caught his breath with a soft sigh, reached up to wrap one arm around his neck, and pulled him back down into a second, deeper kiss.
The cold air vanished. The quiet river path dissolved into the warmth of her mouth, the press of her body against his coat, and the soft, steady rhythm of her breathing against his cheek.
When they finally separated, both of them were breathing fast. Suzune rested her forehead against his chest, her hand still gripping his lapel, letting out a soft, breathy laugh against his wool coat.
"You took long enough, you know," she murmured softly, her voice muffled against his chest.
Ren wrapped both arms around her shoulders, holding her firmly against him. "I had to be sure."
Suzune hesitated, then looked up into his face. Her eyes were bright, a warm blush spreading across her cheeks. She looked down at their joined hands, then back up at his eyes.
"Kisaragi-san?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I call you Ren now?" she asked quietly, her fingers tightening slightly in his coat. "It feels too distant otherwise."
His chest tightened pleasantly. "Can I call you Suzune."
Her smile widened, brilliant and clear under the lamp. "Yes."
He looked down at her. "Suzune."
"Ren," she replied, her voice soft and natural.
They stood together under the streetlamp for a long time, holding each other in the cool night air. They had kissed because they both wanted to, and that was more than enough. They still hadn’t formally defined what they were to each other, but the shift was undeniable.
The river kept moving. Suzune’s hand remained warm in his.
Ren drew a deep breath and smiled into the dark. He liked the silence.
When he finally walked back to his Crown an hour later, he felt almost embarrassingly happy, a light, buoyant feeling in his chest that made his broad frame feel weightless.
He started the Crown’s hybrid system and picked up his phone from the console to check the time. A single notification lit up the glass screen:
Mizuki Kanzaki: Kisaragi-san, a reminder that tomorrow’s appointment is at 10:00 a.m. Please bring the verified ledgers.
Ren set the phone down, put the car in drive, and pulled out into the quiet Kawaguchi streets, the memory of Suzune’s lips still warm against his own.