To be honest, Ryuji finally understood something crystal clear:
Never overestimate yourself.
He glanced at Mito Ikumi, who was quietly tidying herself up off to the side—like some flustered, freshly married wife. And for some reason, that sight made Ryuji instinctively pop a lollipop into his mouth.
Yeah, he'd quit smoking. But when things got complicated, that familiar urge to bite down on a cigarette was still hard to kill. He was managing, but right now?
Right now, he had no words for this mess.
"If I just walk away and play it cool, I can explain it all to Erina, toss some resources Ikumi's way, and cut ties. No strings, no aftermath. Simple. But doing that? Feels like I'd be the one getting cucked in my own story..."
Ryuji sighed. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.
He'd made up his mind long ago: he wanted to give Erina a proper, stable marriage. A real commitment. No matter how wild things got in other worlds, here—it was one woman.
Erina deserved that.
But now?
Now, being responsible made him a scumbag.
And walking away also made him a scumbag.
Either way, someone would end up hurt.
...Though, truth be told, he'd feel a bit less guilty if the one hurt was Ikumi.
So, Ryuji decided to face it head-on.
Time to come clean.
"Hey, Nikumi."
The moment he called her that, her face flushed an alarming shade of red. Normally, when others called her "Niku-mi," she hated it—it wasn't a title she'd chosen, and she sure as hell wasn't dressing this way for fun.
But when Ryuji said it?
…Let's just say if he kept saying it like that, her thighs might tremble from the sound alone.
"Y-Yeah? What is it, Ryuji… Ryuji-san?"
Ryuji hesitated only a moment, then spoke plainly.
"Erina's my wife. We've already been… together."
Ikumi's eyes went blank. For a second, she didn't even breathe. Her hand slowly drifted toward her chef's knife out of pure instinct.
"Your wife is… Erina-sama?"
"Yeah. That's right. But—"
He nodded, watching her reaction closely. That look of confusion and betrayal, mixed with rising fury—and the movement of her fingers toward cold steel—made him quietly equip a metal baton in his mental loadout.
Just in case things went south.
"But—"
"But?" Ikumi blinked, her expression softening slightly.
"But I want to have a child with you. To be blunt I'm not letting you go, Niku-mi. After tasting you—your flavor, your meat—there's no way I'm walking away from that. You're addictive. You're mine. So don't worry. Even if I don't marry you, I'll help bring the Mito family back to glory. I'll make sure you have a child—our child."
He got the words out fast, trying to sound confident—but it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you could say without sounding like an arrogant bastard.
And just as expected, Ikumi's eyes… lost focus. That sparkle disappeared, replaced by a kind of dazed, stunned silence.
"Yeah, okay. That definitely sounded like some top-tier scumbag crap…" he admitted inwardly with a grimace.
Ryuji quickly added, trying to clarify:
"I'm not running from this, Ikumi. I meant what I said. I thought about it—what we did, what led to it, what's between us now. This isn't me trying to be slick or hide things. I'm telling you openly because I don't want to lie. Not to you. Not to Erina. If you want a wedding, I'm not against it. But I need to talk with her first."
"You can reject all of this if you want. I'll respect that. But just know… whatever you decide, things between us have already changed. And that's not something I plan on pretending didn't happen."
"Because we're still going to be—"
"What the hell do you take me for?!"
She didn't even let him finish.
Ikumi exploded.
She lunged forward, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, practically lifting him off the ground as she shook him with wild frustration.
"You think this is about your damn compensation?! Just because I misunderstood the situation, you think I want you to pity me?! You think the Mito Group can't stand on its own without the Nakiris?!"
Her face was burning red—humiliation, yes, but deeper than that. Anger, tangled with guilt she didn't know how to process.
Because deep down… she knew.
Because she knew exactly what had happened.This wasn't some one-night accident.
This wasn't a mistake.
She had planned it.
She wanted this. She had intentionally positioned herself, created the opening, dropped the resistance. If Ryuji had touched her, she would've welcomed it—and she did.
And yet…
She hadn't expected to be conquered so thoroughly.
She hadn't expected his cooking, his presence, his dick—to unravel her defenses the way it had.
He had broken through.
And now, her pride—her fierce, stubborn pride—was lying there, stripped bare. And she hated how much she liked it.
So yeah, Mito Ikumi was a damn mess right now. A ball of tangled embarrassment, desire, and frustration.
And she had no idea what the hell to do with any of it.
"So in the end, we're just even now, huh? Isn't that right? I was just extra baggage all along…"
Ikumi's voice cracked.
She shoved Ryuji away, biting her lip hard enough to hurt as she turned to leave. She had already made peace with being the clown in this twisted little show. But following Erina now? No way.
Not after what had just happened.
And yet, before she could take more than a step, Ryuji grabbed her and pulled her right back into his arms—tight. Her still-sensitive chest, just starting to settle down, was cupped again, his fingers unashamedly pressing into her soft chest.
"Wait. Did I ever say you were extra?"
His voice was low. Dangerous. But not angry—just maddeningly sincere.
"Ikumi, your body, your personality… everything about you is exactly my type. It's just that—"
Ryuji gave that plump breasts in his palm a playful squeeze and looked down at her stunned face.
"You didn't even let me finish earlier. What I was trying to say was—we'll keep this going. You and me. Until I can get Erina to accept it. Or until your family becomes so entwined with mine that you have to be mine."
He leaned closer, voice dipping to a growl that sent shivers through her.
"You know how it is. Meat doesn't get to say no. Especially not prime, succulent A5 beef like you. Your only job is to keep getting tastier for me to devour."
Ikumi's eyes went wide.
What the hell did he just say?
Ryuji rolled his eyes a little. "You're delicious, and I like you. And I'm not about to let some other guy throw you on his cutting board and have his way. You think I'm gonna watch that happen?"
Cuck me? Not a chance in hell.
If it were just meaningless hookups, he wouldn't care. But her? Hell no.
"You're so full of yourself!" she snapped, cheeks burning hotter than fire.
His words were twisted, absurd, completely inappropriate for any modern woman to accept—and yet…
"If you say no to being my woman, I'll have no choice but to team up with Erina and take the Mito Meat Conglomerate down. You know I can do it."
He smirked, pressing his lips softly to hers. "And you're the one who offered yourself up, little lamb. You walked right into the wolf's den. So be a good girl, stay on the plate, and give me the child you owe me."
Ikumi wanted to scream.
She wanted to push him off, to slap him, to call him every filthy name in the book.
But her strength was leaking out through her legs as his fingers found their way between her thighs again—feeling the wetness that betrayed everything her mouth tried to deny.
Dammit… why does this turn me on?
She hated it. Hated how just being called "meat" by him sent her mind spinning.
"You bastard! I'm not some slab of A5 beef for you to slice up!"
"I never said that," he grinned. "I said you're my meat."
"Bastard!!"
She thrashed, but it was no use. Her body was too honest, too weak against the overwhelming tide of heat rolling through her.
And Ryuji?
He just picked her up like a sack of flour, stuffed a fresh piece of grilled meat into her mouth, and marched off toward the bathroom—Ikumi squirming in his arms, flustered and dripping.
"Alright then, time to wash up my little A5 wagyu and take another bite."
He stripped her bare again, ignoring the flailing protests, and cleaned her pussy until it glistened. Then he pinned her right there in the steamy warmth of the shower, indulging in the primal rhythm once more.
Water ran down her bronzed skin like oil over a goddess's curves. Ryuji realized then—tan skin like hers, glistening with droplets, was… unspeakably erotic.
And after it all, once Ikumi was worn out and tucked into bed like an exhausted kitten, he told Erina about it.
"So… you slept with her?"
Erina grabbed her hair in frustration. She had already tasted traces of another woman when she kissed Ryuji, but since it came from another world, she hadn't paid much attention to it.
But this—This happened in her own world.
That was a different matter entirely, and it was driving her insane.
The only reason she was staying calm right now was because she had matured. Otherwise, she would've already scoffed, sworn to never speak to Ryuji again, and then...
And then I'd probably regret it twenty years down the line.
She sighed inwardly at her own thoughts, then looked at Ryuji, waiting for his explanation.
"Yeah," Ryuji admitted, "but honestly, the food in your world is just…"
He trailed off, equally frustrated. It hadn't been like he was drunk—more like his memories and ability to think had been shut down, leaving only his instincts to eat and mate.
"In my world, what you call food wouldn't even qualify as such—it'd be classified as a controlled substance. Honestly, Erina, I'm not trying to dodge responsibility. Even if the food was the cause, I was still the one who made the first move."
He was clearly uneasy. He may have sounded confident when talking to Ikumi earlier, but when it came to Erina… he had no idea where he stood.
"Hmph... So this is the kind of trouble that comes with different worlds?" Erina sighed, folding her arms. "What's with that look? Did you think I was going to scream, lose my mind, refuse to let you take responsibility, and fall into some melodramatic spiral? Wake up. If you hadn't told me, maybe I would've done all that. But since you did, I'll make a mature decision."
After speaking, she let out a deep breath and shot him another glare.
"And next time you come back, brush your teeth and take a shower. I am the God Tongue, you know."
Ryuji: "???"
What the hell did you taste?!
~~~~~~~
Bonus chapter every 200 PS.