[Book of Eros] Chapter 160: First festival date. (Patreon)

At around 7:30 pm that same day, Leonardo was in his room with Reiko and Kaede all over him, but not in the ways he most enjoyed.

“Lift your arms,” Reiko ordered, and Leo did as told.

Standing behind him, she started fixing the bent and wrinkled parts of the yukata he had put on, while in front of him, Kaede measured the length of the edges to make sure they were equal and tucked them at his hip one over the other.

He took the chance to look at her face, still a little flushed for what they’d done a few minutes ago. She wore a content smile as she and Reiko helped him put on his attire for the night. They tied the belt at his waist and the black sash after it, which Kaede told him was called an ‘obi’.

Along with a light t-shirt, he was wearing some form of lunderpants reaching below his knees under the traditional robe. With all that, his outfit was done and he was ready to head out. The only thing missing were the sandals he would put on after leaving the house.

Reiko and Kaede stepped back to take a good look at him, eyeing his form from head to toes.

“Look at you, all handsome!” Reiko complimented.

“Fits you even better than I thought,” Kaede agreed with a happy nod. “How does it feel?”

“I thought it’d be hotter in these,” he admitted, moving his body to see if it limited him in any way. “Feels really nice.”

“Now I’m a little disappointed that we’re not going out with you tonight,” Reiko said. “But it’s fine. It’s only fair that Valerie gets a date with you since we’ve already gone on many.”

“Be sure to have a good look at the food stalls so you can direct us to the good ones tomorrow,” Kaede said.

“Oh, I’m planning to check as many of those as I can,” Leo chuckled. “It’s a bit early, but I wonder if Valerie’s ready.”

“I heard some yelling coming from Lucia’s room, so I don’t think so,” Kaede said.

“Yelling?”

“Oh, don’t worry. It wasn’t anything serious!” she assured him. “…I think.”

Leo was starting to get worried.

***

Angela watched the scene as she leaned back against the door. She had to admit it was amusing, but it probably wouldn’t be if she was in Valerie’s shoes.

“I’m telling you, I don’t want to wear that much makeup!” the redhead repeated for the third time in the last 10 minutes.

“Just this once, Valerie. It’s a special day, isn’t it?” Lucia insisted, keeping the girl down on the chair in front of the vanity mirror by holding her shoulders.

“…It is, but what’s the point if it’s not the usual me?”

“You’re already wearing something you don’t normally wear,” Seina pointed out. “A little extra makeup won’t hurt. It’s not like we’re going to cover your face in paint, so relax.”

Even Angela saw Valerie’s internal conflict. She wasn’t one to wear a lot of makeup either, so she could sympathize. It didn’t stop being kind of funny, though.

“But… What if he doesn’t like it?” Valerie asked.

“Then you come back here, we wipe off your make up and you put on what you usually wear,” Lucia shrugged. “See? It’s not the end of the world. But on the other hand, you might get to see him shocked at how different you look.”

That seemed to make something click with her. Valerie groaned and took a deep breath before she finally agreed. “Alright, fine! But don’t go too overboard!”

“Leave it to me,” Seina grinned and got to work on the younger girl.

And as that was happening, Lucia approached Angela. “And what are your plans for the festival?”

“I’ll check it out on my own,” Angela shrugged. “Reiko told me the food’s great.”

“It’s part of the charm, that’s true,” Lucia chuckled. Her eyes remained on Angela for a long, uncomfortable moment, then she let out a sigh. “We’ll talk more later, okay?” Lucia went back to Valerie and Seina, shaking her head and muttering something to herself.

Angela decided to stick around a bit longer to watch Valerie’s transformation before heading out by herself.

***

Leo was instructed by Seina to wait outside the house. She was looking pretty excited for some reason. And so, Leo waited, dressed in his yukata and wearing some weird wooden sandals. The sky was already darkening and the air was beginning to cool. After a couple of minutes, Valerie came out of the house and Leo’s jaw nearly dropped.

Her dyed red hair was combed to the side instead of falling down. She was wearing more makeup than usual. Darker eyeliner, rosy cheeks and glossy pink lips were the most prominent along with the accessories she was wearing. For one, Leo recognized those small, ruby earrings as actually belonging to Lucia, and the small black leather purse in her hands was Seina’s. Of course, not mentioning her own yukata was impossible. A crimson colored robe with a pattern of black dots and a black obi wrapped slightly above her waist which hugged her lean figure perfectly.

Leo smiled and let out a soft breath. “You look amazing.”

His girlfriend looked a bit bashful, but she seemed glad about the compliment. “Still not sure I like it that much. Doesn’t seem like me.”

“It suits you really well. I’d say you pull it off better than I do.”

“Whaaaat? You’re crazy! You look so sexy in that!”

That made Leo laugh. “Really? Sexy?”

Valerie blushed at her own words, but pushed on. “Yeah you do. Like… the elegant kind of sexy.”

“Well, thank you very much.” Leo extended his hand to her with an innocent, charming smile. “Shall we?”

Valerie unflinchingly took his hand in hers and the two were on their way to the festival. They had to make their way up the mountain, though not nearly as high as the gym or the radio station. Other people were also walking in the same direction. Families, couples, groups of friends… Not all of them were wearing traditional outfits, but more than Leo thought there would be.

“Good we don’t stick out like sore thumbs, huh?” Valerie said.

He sighed. “Oh, we stick out, but not because of the clothes.”

A few people had noticed him already. The lady from the fruit stall at the market and a couple of neighbors recognized him, and some schoolmates had also seen him holding hands with Valerie. It would get people talking, and though he didn’t care what people said about him, he hoped it wouldn’t bother the girls too much. But they had made up their minds already. They wouldn’t keep it a secret.

Following the paved road, they soon came to a fork in it. The alternative path led to a classic Shinto shrine, only now it was adorned with rows of paper lamps on high, a plethora of stalls selling food, souvenirs or offering different games to participate in. Waves of people walked around with candied apples in hand, wearing funny looking masks and overall giving the place an incredibly lively and warm vibe.

“The smell is making me hungry already,” Valerie said.

“We skipped dinner for this, so let’s try as many things as we can. We’re foreigners, after all. We have to sample the culture first hand, right?”

“Yeah we do!”

Good to see she was as excited as he was.

They went around looking at the stalls, trying out everything from the octopus-filled takoyaki to the fish-shaped pastry filled with red-bean paste that was taiyaki. They tried out some of the games, as well, one of which was the one where you throw a ball at some cans, and if you drop them all, you win a prize.

“I’d like to be a gentleman and offer to win you the prize, but we both know who has the better chances here.”

Valerie grinned teasingly. “I’ll win a teddy bear for you.”

She paid for three shots and bull’s eyed all three. Though it was a little more difficult than Leo thought it would be for her. Those cans were most likely half-filled with sand or something to make them heavier.

“Alright, miss, you get to pick your prize,” said the owner of the stall.

“I want the big teddy bear,” she said. The man gave the bear to her and then she gave it to Leo, again with a big teasing grin. “Here you go, baby.”

“You joke, but I’m keeping it,” Leo said, calmly accepting it and taking Valerie by surprise.

“I thought you’d be more embarrassed, but now I remember you don’t really follow common male stereotypes.” she pouted.

“Yep.” The two continued walking. “I dare you to find a valid reason I shouldn’t accept a gift from my girlfriend.”

“…Didn’t Lucia give you a stupidly expensive knife? Now this just feels ridiculous.”

Leo laughed and shook his head. “Nonsense. Price has nothing to do with it. Or at least I hope so, because if so then I’ll never be able to give you something that’s worth what you all deserve.”

Valerie laughed with him, for after a moment, she turned a little serious. “Hey, want to find a spot to sit? I want to talk without all the people around.”

Leo nodded. “Should be quieter behind the temple.”

They went there and climbed a small slope, going into the more forested area. They sat down on some of the more clean-looking rocks and looked down at the festival from above.

“The town is actually pretty nice. I like it here,” Valerie said.

“So do I. I keep thinking it’s like a small chunk of paradise.”

Valerie nodded. “Leo… What are your plans for when we finish high school?”

Urgh. Leo wanted to groan at that question. “I’m not quite sure. I just know I probably won’t be going to college. I don’t have any specific interests nor huge dreams I need higher education to accomplish.”

He saw a small, relieved smile on Valerie’s face. “I’m the same. It’s not like I need a degree to play sports, which is what I’ll end up doing. Actually… I really do think I might end up as a professional fighter. I’m not Angela, but I do share some of the rush she speaks of when in a fight. Football, tennis, cycling… I like those, but I never saw myself doing them professionally. Fighting, though… I like it.”

“That’s good for you but bad for me,” Leo chuckled. “Try not to get too hurt, okay?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get so fast no one will even touch me,” she assured. “But seriously. I want to know what you’ll do. I’m… I’m willing to stay here, in Japan, in the island, if you stay, too. The coach says I could just fly to matches when they happen and come back here to train. She says you only fight like 2 to 3 times a year at the highest ranks.” The fact that she didn’t doubt she’d reach those ranks was impressive enough and spoke about her confidence.

“Staying here, huh?” Leo sighed. “I’d love to do that. It’s just… I’ve been depending on Mrs. Wisler for too long, and I’m not comfortable with that. To stay here, I’d need to be able to sustain myself. Buy a house, get a good job, or many if I needed to.”

“But what if… No. No, I’ll shut up.”

“Say it. You have no reason to be afraid of saying things to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.”

“You won’t get mad?”

“I very much doubt I’ll get mad.”

“Then…” Valerie swallowed and her demeanor became quite meek all of a sudden. “Since the coach says that even the lowest earner fighters get paid close to $20.000 per fight… Would it be too terrible to let me bring money in while you take care of the house?”

Just be a househusband? Well, they did just establish that Leo didn’t follow the common male stereotypes. Besides, he was practically a househusband already. He had seen Valerie’s underwear long before they slept together since he was the one doing laundry. He cooked, he cleaned and did all the shopping. The idea itself didn’t bother him. However…

“If the time comes when we decide that we want to spend our lives together like that, I’d be more than happy to let you live out your dream while I stay and watch the house. But that time is not now, Val. It’s too soon, and it’d be irresponsible of me to make promises about the future when we are still figuring out so much about this relationship and even ourselves.”

“You’re right… Sorry. I got too ahead of myself.”

“Hey, if anything, it makes me really happy that you’re thinking about these kinds of things. And yeah… I would like to spend the rest of my life here with you and the others, too. I’m just saying we can’t make important decision based on a situation that might change.”

Valerie chuckled. “I suppose that if I was the one working while you stayed in the house and we suddenly broke up you’d be in a pretty bad spot.”

“Exactly. I’m not comfortable depending on people, which is why I work at the fishery on top of everything I do at the house and while being a student. When you’re family, though, it’s a different matter. Then it becomes a matter of sharing responsibilities, not dependence.”

“Alright, I see your point.” Valerie sighed. “What will you do, then?”

“…I’ll figure it out before school’s over, I promise. I do want to stay in the island.”

“Then I’ll be working on the assumption I’ll be staying, too.”

Valerie did have a point. It was high time he figured out what to do. He couldn’t depend on Mrs. Wisler’s kindness forever, nor would he want to.