Starting a New Life in Tokyo by Inheriting a Shopping Street [23]

Chiba Shuuichi waited all the way until bedtime, but the promised “fresh snack to go with drinks” from Ogawa Sayuki never arrived. He figured she was probably still sulking and didn’t want to give in, so he washed up and went to bed early.

Most of his restlessness from the day had faded, and he slept much better than before. Still, he dreamed again—of white clouds and the Sumida River, the touch of those clouds growing more and more vivid, their embrace ever more detailed and complete.

When he finally woke up, morning light was pouring in. Chiba Shuuichi caught a lingering trace of fragrance on his pillow and checked the time on his phone.

Nine o’clock.

He wondered if the lady across the hall had come to supervise the renovations yet. Would she be too shy to come if he just messaged and invited her over?

Yesterday’s steamy encounter had been like opening Pandora’s box: not only had it failed to raise his resistance, it had just made him crave more. His self-control was even weaker than before.

He couldn’t stop thinking about wanting to experience it all again.

While he was lost in thought, the doorbell suddenly rang. He thought about just going downstairs in his pajamas—after all, they were just casual loungewear, perfectly fine for a quick trip outside.

But then he remembered what happened yesterday morning, so he turned back toward the window to take a look first.

If it’s Sayuki, that shameless delinquent, there’s no need to change. But if it’s someone else, I should probably make an effort…

He poked his head out the window and looked down. What he saw surprised him—a young girl with long hair, standing nervously at the door. He stared for a good while before he realized it was Akiyama Tsuki.

What’s she doing here? Chiba Shuuichi couldn’t quite figure out this strange girl with her special quirks. He got changed before heading downstairs.

“So early—what’s up?” he asked as he opened the door.

Akiyama Tsuki glanced around warily before whispering, “Let’s talk inside.”

Chiba let her in, but Tsuki added, “Let’s go upstairs.”

“…You know,” Chiba just stood there, arms folded, “President Pervert, I live alone here. You really want to rush straight into my room? Whatever you’ve got to say, just say it here.”

Tsuki’s face went instantly red. “Just as I thought—pervert. You’d even do something like this in public!”

Chiba’s eyelid twitched. “You really aren’t a very likable person, you know that? If you could just be more honest, not so stubborn, maybe I’d actually be more interested.”

Tsuki shot him a stubborn glare. “Isn’t this exactly how you men like it? If I don’t struggle a bit, you’ll get bored, right? No sense of conquest.”

“Phew…” Chiba’s head hurt. “Honestly, I appreciate the effort you put into this.”

“Let’s just go upstairs. If my mom or my sister see us, it’ll be a real problem,” Tsuki insisted, trotting up the stairs in her little shoes.

It really did look like some kind of fantasy scene—a young knight storming straight into the demon king’s castle, ready to be taken captive.

Chiba shook his head and followed her to the second floor. Tsuki stood in the living room, making no move to enter the bedroom.

She stood there, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, her whole posture tense, with that same defiant look as if she were being forced.

“So? What is it?” Chiba shut the door behind him and asked casually.

“Aren’t you going to sit down first?” Tsuki turned away, pretending she didn’t want to talk.

Chiba was honestly a little curious at this point, so he dragged over a chair and sat down, ready to see what she’d do.

To be fair, he’d never run into anything like this in his past life. He’d only heard stories. It was kind of new and interesting.

Once he was seated, Tsuki slowly lifted her skirt, just like yesterday, revealing her knee socks, a sliver of bare thigh, and—the new blue-and-white stripes she’d just bought.

“As promised, I changed into the blue-and-white stripes. I didn’t wash off the writing either. Is this enough? You total pervert. Once you’re done looking, I’m putting it down.”

Tsuki was shaking a little, her tone stiff and icy, but her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Especially last night, when An had wanted to bathe together, she’d had no good excuse to refuse, so she’d slapped a waterproof patch over the writing on her thigh. That constant risk of being exposed, of her image being completely upended at any second, had her brain tingling.

Chiba simply admired his handiwork—and the so-called legendary stripes—saying nothing, just watching.

With no reaction from him, Tsuki had no choice but to keep holding her skirt up. The shameful thrill of it all was something she found herself helplessly addicted to.

“You really are a pervert, President. I’ve heard about people who wear only a coat with nothing underneath, and flash women in public—honestly, isn’t what you’re doing pretty much the same thing?” Chiba stared at her like she was a plankton in a petri dish.

Under his gaze, Tsuki could barely hold herself together. A soft little whimper even slipped out.

“Have you ever done this with anyone else?” Chiba crossed his legs, almost like he was interrogating her, making no move to let her lower her skirt.

“N-no…” Tsuki’s voice trembled. “I only discovered I liked this kind of thing in the past couple of years. Because of the last student council president, everyone at school’s kind of scared of me. They’re all so cautious around me.”

“Good. Keep it that way. In front of everyone else, you’re still the cool and aloof student council president. Only in front of me can you show your true self, understand?”

“…Got it.” Tsuki’s eyes glazed over, her body still trembling.

Chiba sighed to himself. So young, already waking up to these weird hobbies… Luckily it’s me she ran into. If it’d been some actual creep, she’d be done for.

Guess I’ll keep her company when I can—just harmless stuff, normal stuff. Can’t let her fall too deep into this hole.

“All right, you can put it down now.” He reassured her, turning his attention to her hairstyle.

When Tsuki finally let her skirt drop, there was a faint look of disappointment on her face. That’s it? Already?

“I looked up the origin of blue-and-white stripes online. Akiyama Mio had this hairstyle, didn’t she? And I’m an Akiyama too. No wonder you wanted me to wear this.”

“Right. The hairstyle works too. Go on, you can get back to your day now.” Chiba nodded, about to send her away.

But that obvious hint of wanting more on her face made Chiba pause. “Wait.”

He pulled two Fukuzawa Yukichi bills from his wallet and handed them over. “When you have time, buy a maid outfit. Help me with some cleaning once in a while. And—get a pair of cat ears.”

Akiyama Mio’s cat-eared maid look—just thinking about it was exciting. It would scratch Tsuki’s itch too. Win-win.

Tsuki snatched the cash, instantly perking up. “You really are a pervert!”

With that, she turned to leave. But just as the door closed, something seemed to fall out of her bag—Tsuki didn’t even notice, just walked off.

Chiba bent down to pick it up. The corner of his mouth twitched. “Come on, this is too fake. She’s not a cop, who actually carries this around? And she just happened to drop it…”

He tucked the little plastic prop away in a drawer, muttering under his breath, “No way. That’s too perverted. Not touching that one.”

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T/N: idk i think shes perfectly normal prob something id enjoy tbh

This is a fan translation of 从继承商店街开始东京生活 by 净消尘土 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!