The next morning, Sosuke woke up in Yukino’s room, for after that the two of them had wanted each other again and again, and it seemed they had fallen asleep in this room, completely tired out.
Yukino was nowhere to be seen in the room. Sosuke got dressed, returned to the room assigned to him, changed his clothes again, washed his face, and headed to the dining room.
They had not used protection even once last night. Perhaps Yukino would have a baby. That should not have been his plan. But when he remembered her face after sex…
If she’s that cute, maybe it’s okay to marry her… Sosuke thought. Honestly, that face was mad sweet.
When he remembered Yukino with her slightly lowered eye corners and soft happy eyes, his heart began to beat fast.
When he entered the dining room, Iwashimizu Kosaku was reading the newspaper. Beside him, his wife Takako was putting out dishes for breakfast.
”Good morning,” Sosuke said.
Kosaku looked up from the newspaper and gave a big smile on his scary face.
”Morning. It sounds like you and Yukino got on well last night,” Kosaku said.
Huh? Blimey, did they hear us?
As Sosuke stood confused, Takako smiled at him.
”However big this house is, if you make that much noise at night, we can hear you,” Takako said.
”Good, good. I am all for you two getting on well. You two got us going, and we had fun together for the first time in a long time. Right, Takako?” Kosaku said.
”Oh, stop it..,” Takako said, and her cheeks turned pink.
”Yukino made breakfast today. I think she wants Sosuke to eat something good and to care for her again,” Takako said.
Just then, Yukino entered from the kitchen carrying a tray with bowls of miso soup.
”Father, Mother, please don’t talk about that in the morning,” Yukino said.
The Yukino who appeared was different from the night before. Just like when he had seen her during the day, she gave off a strong scary feeling. But the small rough sound in her voice showed that last night’s events had not been a dream. She set the bowls on the table and told Sosuke where to sit.
”Good morning, Sosuke. Sit here,” Yukino said.
”Yeah..,” Sosuke said.
Even after Sosuke sat down in the chair, Yukino was still staring down at him.
”And the morning greeting?” Yukino said.
”Ah, good morning,” Sosuke said.
But she was still looking. Sosuke knew what she wanted him to say.
”Good morning, Yukino,” Sosuke said.
At last, Yukino sat down at the table. Watching this, Kosaku gave a big smile once again.
”Well, well. You two call each other like that already. Good, good,” Kosaku said.
And so, breakfast began in the heavy mood that Kosaku and Yukino gave off.
I really can’t marry into this family, can I…
As if to push aside Sosuke’s worries, the members of the Iwashimizu family ate their breakfast in silence.
After breakfast, Kosaku and Takako left the house, for it seemed they would say hello to a few people nearby and then go straight to the airport to return to Tokyo.
”Don’t you need to go back?” Sosuke asked.
To Sosuke’s question, Yukino answered with a straight face.
”I took a week off for this omiai3. For a while, it will be just the two of us,” Yukino said.
The words just the two of us felt heavy to Sosuke. Mate, that’s a lot to take in.
Some time after Kosaku and Takako left, Sosuke was asked by Yukino to go for a drive. She said she wanted to show him part of this town and some of what the Iwashimizu family does.
The two of them went up a mountain on the south side of town in a big nice Japanese car driven by Yukino. Though it was called a mountain, it was only a little higher than a hill, but since it gave a wide view of the town, a car park and place to look out had been built at the top.
At the place to look out, Yukino pointed to the far mountains.
”Over there we used to have our coal mine,” Yukino said.
Then she moved her finger a little closer.
”The hills over there give a lot of limestone, and that is how Iwashimizu Cement started,” Yukino said.
Several roads ran from the town deep into the mountains. All of them were straight and looked easy to drive on.
”We built those roads to carry out coal and limestone. At first they were Iwashimizu private roads, but now we have given them to the area and anyone can use them as city roads,” Yukino said.
This time, Yukino moved her fingertip toward the flat land.
”You see those tall buildings over there? The front one is the hospital. At first we built it to treat the people who got hurt working in the coal mine, but now it works like a city hospital that anyone can use. And behind the hospital is the medical school. We built it to train doctors to work at the hospital, but now it has become one of the main places for medical training in Kyushu,” Yukino said.
After that, Yukino showed him many more places linked to the Iwashimizu family, and the story held together as one long account of how the town grew with the family, so Sosuke listened and tried to take it all in.
What the hell is this… It’s like the Iwashimizu family castle town… he wondered.
It was not too much to say that this town stood because of the Iwashimizu family.
After coming down the mountain, the two went to the Iwashimizu family temple, bowed at the nice graves of the old family, and then went to have lunch.
It was while Yukino was driving along a wide, straight road. A black minivan suddenly shot out from a narrow side street.
Since there was no car coming the other way, Yukino turned the wheel hard and moved into the other lane, and she just missed hitting it.
But perhaps angry that Yukino had not let him pull out in front, the minivan sped up and chased them fast from behind.
Looking back, Sosuke’s face turned worried.
”That’s tailgating1. He’s the one in the wrong, so why is he so angry?” Sosuke said.
Yukino did not even move an eyebrow.
”You’re right, it’s tailgating. It’s risky to go faster and play along, so I’m going to have a word with them,” Yukino said.
Saying that, she slowed the car and pulled over to the side. Then, with full calm, she said “Wait here a moment” and got out of the car. The black minivan also stopped behind Yukino’s car, and two rough-looking men got out.
Oh crap! Those guys look strong. I’ve never been in a fight, but I can’t just watch and do nothing!
Sosuke got out of the car as well. Yukino stood in front of the men with no guard up.
”You two, tailgating is risky. Stop it now,” Yukino said.
But the men came at her full of anger. “Who do you think you are. We’ll hurt you,” they said. Sosuke was scared. But he could not let Yukino get hurt. He stood beside her.
”You step back. I’ll talk to them,” Sosuke said.
Yukino turned to look at him. Her eyes were cold.
”It’s fine. Men at this level, I can take them on my own,” Yukino said.
Angry at those words, one of the men tried to grab Yukino’s arm.
The next moment, Yukino caught the man’s wrist and in a flash bent it up. Then she kicked him in the backside and dropped him onto the road.
”Oh my, you scared me even though you’re this weak?” Yukino said.
Then she stared at the other man. It was a fierce look passed down from her father, Kosaku. The man, seeing for the first time the eyes of a truly scary person, lost all fight, and he pulled his friend by the arm, ran back to the car, and drove off fast.
Sosuke watched with his mouth open.
”Yukino… you’re strong..,” Sosuke said.
”Not really. I’ve done aikido2 since I was a child, so I just don’t feel like I’d lose to men at that level,” Yukino said.
Yukino really was scary, he felt.
When the drive started again, for some reason the scary feeling around Yukino was gone and she was bright and happy.
”If you hadn’t been there, Sosuke, who knows what would have happened to me,” Yukino said.
”No, I didn’t do anything. You’re the one who drove them off,” Sosuke said.
But Yukino shook her head.
”That’s not true. You saved me, Sosuke. Before I was in any harm, you drove them away for me,” Yukino said.
They should have watched the same thing, yet a different story seemed to have formed in Yukino’s mind. On top of that, her voice had turned a little sweet and close.
Suddenly she took Sosuke’s hand from the driver’s seat and pushed his hand against her own breast through the T-shirt she wore. Surprised, Sosuke looked at Yukino’s face and saw that it had turned into that face.
”Hey, touch me… I was thinking of strong Sosuke and I feel like this..,” Yukino said.
I don’t really get it, but it seems the switch flipped4…
But she had changed from scary Yukino into cute Yukino. That was more than welcome for Sosuke. He squeezed hard through the T-shirt.
”Ungh..,” Yukino let out a small cry.
It was the start of a scream.
”Pull in there,” Yukino said with hope in her eyes, and she turned the wheel toward the love hotel along the road that Sosuke was pointing at.
”Guhi-!” A little while later, Yukino’s cries of joy rang through the love hotel.
Trivia:
1. Kosaku’s boast that he and Takako were “inspired” by the couple and “hustled” for the first time in a long while hints that the parents’ marriage still has genuine passion, subtly contrasting with Yukino’s two prior divorces.
2. Yukino’s habit of rewriting the tailgating incident into a story where Sosuke “saved” her reveals a psychological mechanism where she reframes Sosuke as a protector to justify her own softening, which is the actual trigger for her switch.
3. The revelation that the entire town was built as the Iwashimizu family’s castle town through coal, limestone, roads, hospital, and university shows that marrying Yukino means marrying into regional infrastructure and legacy, not just a person, which is why Sosuke’s hesitation is existential rather than merely romantic.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A Japanese term for aggressive tailgating and brake-checking intended to intimidate another driver. It became a major social issue in Japan after several high-profile incidents, and stricter penalties were introduced in 2020.
2 ↩ Aikido is a Japanese martial art focused on using an opponent’s momentum and joint manipulation to throw or pin them, rather than striking. Yukino’s wrist-twist takedown is a textbook aikido technique, explaining how a smaller person can neutralize larger attackers.
3 ↩ Omiai is a formal arranged marriage meeting where families are often involved. Yukino taking a week off for this suggests it is a serious, traditional-style introduction rather than casual dating.
4 ↩ Slang for “the switch flips,” referring to a sudden change in someone’s personality or arousal state. The title’s joke is that Yukino’s dominant and affectionate sides are two modes controlled by this switch.