The second floor of the villa, bedroom.
As they discussed the ending of the manga, Takasu Ryōji and Amakusa Taiga, with their blankets as wedding veils, kissed each other. A blush, delicate and pink, appeared on Nakiri Erina's flawless skin.
Her gaze involuntarily drifted towards Hong Yi's lips, her cheeks reddening even further.
"That..."
Nakiri Erina scratched her delicate chin with a finger, her purple eyes darting back and forth. She asked nonchalantly, "Speaking of which, Hong Yi, do you, you know what it feels like to kiss?"
"Kiss?"
Nakiri Erina's question truly stumped Hong Yi.
He didn't know how to describe it.
"It's more of an atmosphere and emotion, I guess."
"Atmosphere is important!"
"Like Takasu Ryōji and Amakusa Taiga, when emotions run deep, they naturally intensify."
"Atmosphere?"
Nakiri Erina turned her head again to look at the sunny, easygoing young man before her.
He didn't give off the same feeling of calmness he had when capturing ingredients, the wildness he had when defeating the GT robot, or the domineering decisiveness he had when defeating Ruiyama.
He was more like a neighborly boy, ordinary, even with a hint of homebody tendencies.
But in Nakiri Erina's eyes, he was filtered with the romanticism of a shoujo manga.
The cozy bedroom was filled with a hint of amorous atmosphere.
"Thump... thump... thump..."
Nakiri Erina could almost hear her own heartbeat.
A heart that had been frozen and disguised as a cold queen's was now like a little deer, bouncing and bumping around in her chest.
"This... this is what kind of feeling?"
"Why is my heart beating so fast...?"
"So strange, it's so strange."
"Ever since I met Hong Yi, I've been so strange."
Nakiri Erina covered her heart with one hand, her head spinning, her thoughts like a jumbled mess of colorful yarn.
【Congratulations, host, Nakiri Erina's favorability has increased by 5 points!】
【Nakiri Erina's current favorability: 85 points!】
Hong Yi heard the system's prompt sound.
He also became a little nervous.
His deep, calm eyes gazed into the girl's purple eyes, and as if by fate, he asked, "Why don't we try it?"
"Try... try what?"
Nakiri Erina's eyes darted away, shyly avoiding Hong Yi's gaze.
"Kissing."
"Ki... ki... ki... kiss! ?"
Nakiri Erina exclaimed, her heart racing even faster.
Her eyes were misty, and her lips, seemingly under the light, became inexplicably luscious.
Nakiri Erina bit her lip, turning her head and saying, "Tr... try... try it then!"
"No, but, I just, I, just wanted to try what kissing feels like, no, no other meaning, don't misunderstand!"
"You won't."
Hong Yi smiled.
Tsundere, tsundere, three parts tsundere and seven parts dere are cute, you know.
Too much tsundere and not enough dere gets annoying.
At this moment.
The villa's doorbell rang.
"Someone's..."
Nakiri Erina, startled, turned her head towards the bedroom door.
She, nervous and shy, immediately chickened out.
"Don't worry about it."
Hong Yi swiftly pulled up the thin blanket, covering him and Nakiri Erina's heads. He raised one hand to hold Nakiri Erina's chin, then leaned down, pressing his lips against the girl's luscious red lips.
The young man's movements were smooth and swift, without any hesitation.
"Mmm!"
Nakiri Erina, taken aback by the sudden attack, widened her beautiful eyes.
But soon.
Her gaze softened, as did her body.
【Congratulations, host, Nakiri Erina's favorability has increased by 5 points!】
【Nakiri Erina's current favorability: 90 points!】
"Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~ Ding-a-ling~"
The doorbell of the villa kept ringing incessantly.
And Mido Ikumi and Shin'ito Hisako were in the kitchen, "clanging and banging," enthusiastically cooking, completely oblivious.
"No, can't, can't anymore."
"I'm going to suffocate!"
Nakiri Erina hurriedly pushed Hong Yi away, blushing and gasping for breath.
"Continue?"
"Con... con... con, continue your head, a guest is here!"
Nakiri Erina's pretty face was flushed, her lips slightly pursed, as if she had a taste for it, but the doorbell was like a death knell, impossible to ignore.
She glared lightly at Hong Yi, quickly put on her coat, and rushed towards the villa's entrance.
Hong Yi, naturally, didn't want to leave Nakiri Erina alone, so he followed.
"Hiss... hiss..."
The streetlight at the villa's entrance seemed to be malfunctioning, flickering intermittently.
Standing under the streetlight, Nakamura Shige, bathed in the overhead light, had a paler, more sinister face, making him even more gloomy.
He stopped pressing the doorbell.
Because he saw a delicate figure rushing out from the darkness.
"Heh, my daughter."
Nakamura Shige had a sick smile on his lips. He tugged at the black gloves on his other hand, already assuming the posture of a haughty father figure.
As a thousand and one words flashed through his mind, thinking about how to PUA Nakiri Erina.
Nakamura Shige's gaze fell upon the young man behind Nakiri Erina.
In the darkness.
The young man also met his gaze.
Their eyes met in the silent night.
Instantly.
Nakamura Shige's face changed drastically. His sinister eyes narrowed instantly, a fine cold sweat broke out on his forehead, the hairs on his back stood on end, and even the air around him seemed to be weighed down tenfold, sinking towards the ground.
In his vision.
It was as if he saw a fierce and ferocious tiger, striding forward under the night sky, its tiger eyes flashing with ferocious light, ready to devour.
"He... he is Hong Yi?"
While Nakamura Shige hadn't met Hong Yi, his intention was to "betray" and overthrow Totsuki Culinary Academy, so he naturally collected information and intelligence on each of the Totsuki Ten Masters.
Hong Yi.
A freshman in Totsuki Culinary Academy's 93rd generation.
He holds the record for the fastest promotion to the Totsuki Ten Masters.
Besides that.
He defeated Ruiyama Edatsuya.
He humbled the Food Devil.
He is close friends with the Four Heavenly Kings, Coco.
He is suspected to have 100% Gourmet Cells.
Title after title, halo after halo, although Hong Yi was ranked ninth, Nakamura Shige already treated him as the first!
But what Nakamura Shige didn't understand was why Hong Yi was hostile towards him.
That feeling.
It made him too uncomfortable, his body trembled uncontrollably, a fear from the depths of his soul.
It was like a mouse being stared at by a cat, a rabbit being stared at by a hawk, a sheep being stared at by a tiger.
Is it an illusion?
Nakamura Shige's eyes were gloomy, his mind racing, thinking of what to say.
"Nakiri... Nakiri Shige?!"
Nakiri Erina reached the villa's entrance and saw the man standing under the streetlight. Her expression instantly changed, her face paled, and a veil of fear covered her.
"You... how did you get here..."
Nakiri Erina instinctively took a step back, one hand drooping, the other holding her arm, her eyes flashing with fear, disgust, and dread.
Nakamura Shige looked at Nakiri Erina and said expressionlessly, "Erina, I don't remember teaching you to address your father directly by name."
"Besides, I've left the Nakiri family, now I'm using my own surname again, Nakamura, I'm called Nakamura Shige!"