Chapter 22: Chill Life Midst Chaos, Hoshin Shoten.
Early in the morning, when the sun still hadn't come up, the streets had a slight dim light to them.
Utaha slowly opened her eyes, a little delirious just waking up, moved her head to the side, feeling something smooth and very warm under her cheek, she explored the culprit with her hand, sliding her palm around and feeling a periodic twitch from something that she was resting her head on.
Ren, silently lying in his bed, was since a long ago awake, enjoying the embrace of sleeping beauty.
After she started to explore his body with her hand, at first he let her do whatever she wanted, but when her movements became more bold, he grabbed her hand up to his face, and lightly bit into her fingertips.
"Kyaa~" Utaha yelped, opening her eyes, she rose from the bed and sat up.
She rubbed her eyes, trying to finally wake up, and turned to Ren.
Utaha lowered her face and gave him a quick peck on the lips, "Ohayo~ Ren-kun."
He caught a strand of her falling hair into his hand, raised his body too, and brought her dark brown, slightly shining in the morning light, hair up to his nose, taking a light sniff.
Looking at his actions, Utaha chuckled, "What are you doing?" She leaned into his body, bringing her hands around his neck, "Is this some kind of rich fetish?"
Ren smiled, "No, I'm just exploring your body further." He grabbed her under the butt, brought her whole body up, and slid off the bed.
"Hehehe~" Utaha giggled dumbly, hugging his waist with her legs like a Koala.
After that, Ren and Utaha headed to the bathroom, where they brushed their teeth. Ren gave her a fresh toothbrush from the cupboard.
They found her clothing that was still in the basket, and both, getting dressed, headed down to the first floor.
Ren prepared some quick breakfast for both of them; they each had a cup of coffee and spent a little time leisurely chilling, talking about their dreams.
When he received a notification on his phone, it was from his maid, Ai, who sent him a message that she and the driver were just around the corner and would be there shortly.
Utaha grabbed her white hairband and now almost full notebook with notes, headed with Ren to the house entrance.
When Ai saw them both come out of the house, her lips twitched, looking at the blooming facial expression of her new 'Sister', Ai quickly figured out that her perverted Master had done something to her.
Ren gave Ai a quick kiss and got into the car; all three headed in the direction of the school.
---
During the lunch break, all three of them headed to the school rooftop, where they discussed some daily stuff they had ahead of them.
Ai notified Ren that she still had to come back to the Hayasaka house today, to finish packing her belongings, and she will send a moving company to his house today, herself coming a bit later in the evening with her mother.
As Ai finished her side, Utaha finally remembered, now that she and Ren were official, she wouldn't shy away from bothering him.
"Ren-kun, yesterday during my call with my Editor, she asked me to drop by the publishing house, are you coming with?"
Ren, looking at the expectant look on her face, now seeing her make such a face, how could he ever say no to that, so he quickly agreed.
"Well, I don't have much to do anyway today, might as well give your editor a heart attack."
Utaha nodded, "Fufufu~, I already can imagine what kind of face Sonoko-san will make when she figures out that young master personally came to inspect their working environment."
She covered her mouth with a palm and wickedly snickered.
Ren smiled and shook his head, a proud and mature novelist still could behave like a bully when it came to people she was close to.
---
Later that day, after seeing Ai off, Ren and Utaha drove in the black RR to the city's center, where Hoshin Shoten's office was located.
After coming out of the car, Ren asked their driver to go and have lunch while they dealt with Utaha's Editor.
Going inside the first floor of a modern-looking interior, Utaha went to the front desk.
"Hello, I am Utako Kasumi. I have an appointment with the editor on the third floor."
The worker behind the desk quickly skimmed his list.
"Yes, Utako-sensei, Machida-san should be there shortly," glancing behind her, looking at Ren, he continued, "You and the young gentlemen can head up and wait for her to find you."
Ren nodded, following behind Utaha.
Coming up to the third floor, they exited the elevator and entered one of the rooms on the designated floor, where editors usually went through material with the authors they were assigned to.
Utaha, meanwhile, was cooking up schemes inside her head as they sat in the quiet room.
"Ren-kun, when Sonoko-san enters, let me introduce you to her."
Ren, hearing sudden instructions, more or less figured out that Utaha was almost certainly preparing to give her editor a slight surprise.
He nodded, "Mmm~, if I talk too early, she might connect my face to the voice when I was talking to her on the phone, so make sure to make it as awkward as possible."
Utaha, hearing him playing into her schemes, sweetly smiled.
Just as they were goofing around and teasing each other's lips, the room's door opened, and a figure walked in.
Ren turned to the sound, and there stood a frozen figure of a fair-skinned young woman with chin-length dark blue hair and light blue eyes, wearing a black work blazer, a white button-up shirt, and a black knee-length pencil skirt.
All the while, Machida Sonoko stood stiff as a rock.
When she entered the room, the picture of the stoic author she expected to see flew right out of the window; instead, there now sat a smiling and snuggling young girl, sharing an affectionate moment with what seemed to be her boyfriend.
cough
After a moment of remembering that they still had work to do, Machida Sonoko cleared her throat awkwardly, came closer, and sat on one of the free chairs in the room, right next to Utaha.
"Utako-sensei, didn't you just say a week earlier that you weren't interested in romance?"
Sonoko said, but, side glancing at the handsome face of a younger man on the other side of Utaha, she couldn't help but shake her head and dismiss the weird thoughts that came from looking at his enchanting, shining eyes that looked at her in return with interest.
Utaha looked at her editor's ever-changing facial expression, from thoughtful to mesmerized, and serious right after.
She snickered, "Hehe~, Sonoko-san, this is my boyfriend, his name is, umm~, Satou Ryo."
Utaha decided to introduce him with the most basic name she could think of after thinking for a few seconds.
Sonoko's mouth twitched; his face and his name didn't quite fit. In her mind, she had already made a list of all the other good names he could have had.
"Nice to meet you, Satou-kun. My name is Machida Sonoko. I am responsible for your partner's novel."
Ren smiled and gave her a light nod in return.
Looking at his bright smile, Sonoko quickly broke eye contact and shifted her eyes to look at Utaha.
"Ahem~, Utako-sensei, while I'm glam you found love and wish you all the best in the future," she slightly cleared her throat, continued, "As an older woman, I must remind you to not slack off from working on your material, your future career depends on the decisions you make in your eariler days."
She said, but in reality, couldn't help but curse in her head.
'Yeah, you stinky lovebirds, go and work harder and become single, miserable working adults like me! Join the club with me and Shizuka and rub our backs quicker!'
Utaha watched Sonoko as she gave her life advice; Utaha knew that this 'adult' was nothing more than an overworked, single, unmarried woman close to her 30s.
"Mmm~, Thank you for the advice, Sonoko-san, I will make sure to follow your steps," she nodded and said with a mock-serious face.
Not letting Sonoko react, Utaha opened her bag on her knees and brought out her laptop.
Ren, following their interaction, seeing the pair start going over Utaha's work, leaned back in his chair and started surfing the internet on his phone.
---
After about an hour, Sonoko and Utaha finished doing small edits and going over the whole plot for Utaha's new volume.
"Let me go down with you, I need to go to the first floor anyway, might as well see you off."
Machida Sonoko still had to have her lunch, way too late, honestly, such is the life of an overworked adult.
When both Ren and Utaha came closer to the building exit, they turned around to Sonoko.
"Alright, Utako-sensei, I am still waiting for your edited version, don't forget to work on the new material though," Sonoko said, slightly smiling, looking at the two.
Utaha nodded, but instead of answering, she nudged Ren with her elbow, tilting her head in Sonoko's direction.
Ren, understanding her intention, looked at her editor and extended his hand.
"I will make sure Utaha works hard, Sonoko-san."
Machida Sonoko, hearing him address her on a first-name basis, furrowed her brows, but after paying attention to his tone and somehow familiar-sounding voice.
Taking his hand, shaking it slowly, she asked, "Satou-kun, why does your voice sound so familiar? Did we meet previously?"
Utaha, looking at the dumbfounded face of her editor, snickered, hiding her smile with her hand.
Ren nodded, "Umu ~, Sonoko-san, we talked on the phone not so long ago."
Quickly going over countless phone calls she has daily, Sonoko gave him an apologetic smile.
"Haha~, I'm sorry Satou-skun, I seem to forget, when did we talk exactly?"
"It was when I called your editor-in-chief and asked him to invite you to his office," Ren said, and hinted.
Sonoko quickly remembered her boss's serious expression from a few days ago.
"Satou-kun, you must have mistaken him with someone else, pretty sure the person we talked to on the phone was..." She suddenly remembered why his voice sounded familiar and how that voice told her that he knew Utaha personally.
Seeing Sonoko's face made Utaha finally unable to hold it in, "Hahahaha~" she laughed out loud, and slapped Ren lightly on the shoulder, "R-ren-kun, I think we pranked her enough." She stammered as she held her belly with her other hand.
"Right, Sonoko-san, nice to meet you, my real name is Hoshino Ren." he nodded and smiled apologetically.
"Huh~?" Sonoko's mind went blank for a few moments, then she tried to compose herself, "S-so, em~, Hoshino-sama, eeh~, Hoshino-san, are you and Utaha dating, o-o-or was it all just a front?"
Chewing on her words a little, Sonoko was a little confused, still hopeful younger girl didn't just luck out and snag a big fish.
Ren rubbed Utaha on the back, as the girl was trying to catch her breath.
"Yeah, Me and someone else were helping Utaha with her book, and yesterday we made it official after confessing to each other."
Utaha happily nodded her head as she latched onto his hand, "That's right, Sonoko-san, it turns out I might not have to work that as hard as you said."
With a provocative glare, she continued, "Well, maybe after I finish writing my book, I might even send you an invite to our wedding."
Machida Sonoko heard Utaha's declaration, with the corner of her mouth twitching, "I see, Utako-sensei, congratulations, you really did find a good match," she said, looking at the handsome couple.
Sonoko exhaled, "Still, Utaha, don't slack off, knowing a few people that come from the same circle as your boyfriend, their parents usually expect excellence, so work hard, alright, see you later."
With a slight bow directed at Ren, Sonoko gave Utaha real advice coming from her heart. Sonoko turned and walked in the direction of the cafeteria.
Exiting the building, Ren and Utaha got into the already waiting car and drove in the direction of her home.
As they drove, Ren looked at her side profile. She had a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Utaha, something wrong?"
Utaha nodded and leaned into his shoulder, "Say, Ren-kun, about what Sonoko-san said, are rich families, or say, your parents that demanding?"
Ren hugged her waist, snuggling them together, "I don't know about other families, but if you are worried that my parents might demand some sort of achievement from you, then don't bother."
He closed his eyes and enjoyed the aroma coming from her silky hair, on which he rested his chin.
"You just being yourself will be enough to please my parents, as I said."
"They will be happy with you just being able to publish at such a young age."
Utaha, listening to his words, finally threw some of her lingering worries away, giggled and suddenly attacked Ren in the backseat of a smoothly driving car.