13. Ultimate Secret! The Three Thousand Six Hundred Taboos of the Way of Tea

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Takashimaya Department Store, as a large-scale shopping center, gathered various international brand flagship stores. At this moment, Tsukasa Harano and Ruka Hoshino were in the men's clothing section on the ninth floor.

Tsukasa Harano looked at himself in the full-length mirror.

Clothing is a man’s best aesthetic enhancement.

The deep blue shirt fit him well, the straight-cut trousers sculpted his figure nicely, and his leather shoes gleamed brightly.

He was about 1.8 meters tall.

Judging by his body fat percentage, he was definitely on the leaner side, but his broad shoulders could carry any garment, making him a perfect clothes hanger. So even clothes that weren’t tailored to him fit well enough, at least visually showing good lines.

Actually, long sleeves were no longer suitable for summer.

But he was destined not to stand long under the sun, so everyday clothes still needed to be purchased. After trying on luxury brands like Prada, he could really feel the difference compared to ordinary clothes—both in wearing comfort and the solid texture under his fingertips.

However, the price tag was obviously many times higher than Uniqlo’s, naturally deterring ordinary people.

Besides, if one had money, short sleeves could be bought as well.

But compared to Uniqlo’s few thousand yen or discounted cheap clothes, garments from such luxury stores likely cost an extra zero or more.

The sales assistant picked out several outfits for him, and Ruka Hoshino stood by, commenting openly on what didn’t suit him. The two looked like a couple out shopping, especially since the latter’s expression was naturally relaxed, betraying no sign of the coldness they had shown at the ward office, and she was even more enthusiastic than expected.

After much deliberation, they finally selected a few outfits and tried them on. Ruka Hoshino, feeling parched, sat down to drink some water.

The sales assistant was very professional, whispering detailed introductions beside Tsukasa Harano and providing attentive service.

Ruka Hoshino watched Tsukasa and felt an unusual unfamiliarity, especially seeing him so calm and composed in this luxury store. She had an indescribable feeling—perhaps because she had never really understood him. After all, just following him to buy clothes was enough of a development for her to digest; she never imagined it would turn out like this.

Staring at his figure for a moment, she snapped back to reality at the soft voice of a staff member refilling water and pretended to be calm. She casually took out her phone and took a picture of the store’s sign.

After taking the photo, she put down her cup, swiped on the screen, opened a group chat, and sent the photo along with a message:

“The weather is so hot. The air conditioning at Takashimaya in Shibuya isn’t strong enough; after walking for a while, I’m all sweaty.”

The photo was framed with a three-point perspective.

Obviously, she had learned photography techniques.

At the bottom was her sitting cross-legged on a leather armchair; on the left was Tsukasa’s profile, and in front, the illuminated Prada logo glowed.

After sending the message, she glanced again at Tsukasa, who was trying on clothes, making sure he hadn’t looked her way.

Less than a minute passed.

The chat suddenly became lively.

“Prada? Ruka’s buying a bag?”

“Seriously? Ruka is so generous?”

“Did she go alone? Is that guy trying on clothes in front of the mirror with her? Could he be her suitor? So wealthy?”

“Is he going to buy her a bag later?”

Reading the messages from her friends, a smile spread across Ruka’s beautiful face. Although she expected such reactions, seeing them still stirred a bit of vanity.

It didn’t matter; she was happy anyway.

Besides, she hadn’t said anything—just sent a photo; it was all her friends’ own speculations.

“A colleague insisted I help him pick out clothes this weekend. After several requests, I relented and came along, though I originally planned to get some beauty treatments.”

She edited and sent the message, adding a helpless emoji.

Clearly, she was painting herself as reluctantly dragged along. No one knew the truth.

“If you don’t want to go, I can go instead.”

“Ruka-chan, you have so many admirers, one more won’t hurt. I just broke up and am feeling down. Want to meet at a bar for a couple of drinks? Bring your male colleague too.”

“Yuki is lying! I saw you and Ito dating in Shibuya yesterday; how come you broke up today?”

“Just broke up. What’s it to you?”

“Ruka, do you have your colleague’s contact info? I can do free fortune-telling for you guys.”

Ruka’s message was like a stone thrown into a still lake, stirring ripples in the otherwise calm chat.

She sneered at the message.

What fortune-telling needed contact info?

No one knew her friends better than she did—each had their own social circles but still eyed others’ fish, and two of them were much more uninhibited than she was. If the roles were reversed, they’d probably have a sweaty party tonight.

She sent that message just to satisfy her vanity. Even if Tsukasa was not an ideal candidate, she wouldn’t let any resource fall into those flirtatious women’s hands.

“Please wrap these up.”

“Certainly, please wait a moment.”

Just as Ruka lowered her head to ignore the chat and not reply, she heard Tsukasa and the sales assistant conversing beside her.

She looked up to see the sweet-faced sales assistant scanning each item and passing the folded clothes to a colleague, then smiling and saying, “Sir, the total is 997,000 yen.”

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“Swipe card,” Tsukasa said, pulling out a card.

“Please wait a moment,” the assistant respectfully took it with both hands and began to operate the card machine.

Ruka watched as Tsukasa pulled out his bank card and couldn’t help but think he looked a bit handsome at that moment. He had completely upended her previous impression—both unfamiliar and mysterious.

Nearly one million yen...

Her monthly salary was 249,000 yen.

To afford that, she’d have to save for four months without eating or drinking.

To casually spend a million yen on two outfits showed that while his financial situation was still unclear, it was undoubtedly substantial. Combined with Tsukasa’s earlier mention of entrepreneurship, these were not words ordinary people used lightly. Perhaps this man was hiding much more than appeared.

“And he called me out here, seemingly intentionally showing off his wealth—what’s his real motive?”

Ruka wasn’t a naive woman.

She certainly didn’t believe the lies Tsukasa told her at the café, nor did she think he had such magnanimity to call her out to help him shop clothes after being falsely accused and forced to leave his job.

Only a fool would believe such a story.

Since going upstairs, Ruka had been pondering Tsukasa’s true purpose.

Revenge?

Unlikely.

Prank?

Even less necessary.

If he wanted revenge, being wealthy, he had countless ways to punish someone. And if bringing someone shopping counted as a prank, he clearly underestimated Ruka’s temperament.

She might at most scold him for his odd thinking, but wouldn’t feel any loss.

Rejecting countless possibilities, she combined logic and her understanding.

Regardless of Tsukasa’s wealth or his prior conflicts with the section chief, Ruka could only think of one reasonable explanation.

Only this answer could make sense of everything.

“He likes me?”

Ruka’s beautiful eyes reflected Tsukasa’s back as she came to this conclusion.

It was not mere speculation.

Or rather, it was the only plausible answer.

Because if he liked her, that explained why he hadn’t pursued the false accusation issue too harshly, and why he called her out today to flaunt his wealth.

She knew she was pretty.

She also knew her reputation wasn’t good.

But reputation was impossible to silence, and besides, if people knew she was gold-digging to attract powerful men, Ruka had always thought that was just the way things were—and Tsukasa was a living example.

As for why Tsukasa liked her—

Men liked this kind of woman.

The worse her reputation, the more they wanted to be the one to change her, to find she wasn’t what others thought, and then act like her savior, offering love and difference.

The more provocative, the more they liked to tease.

But once they had her, they found all sorts of faults.

However, Ruka only cared about money.

She had always adhered to the principle that quality mattered more than quantity. Fortunately, her long wait had borne fruit.

But this was only the beginning.

What came next was the most important.

While Ruka was brainstorming what to do, Tsukasa, who had just finished swiping his card, was looking at an unseen faint red screen.

[Critical Rebate Card: Limit 1,000,000 yen]

[Critical multiplier triggered]

[Successful critical 17x spending rebate]

[You have received a 16,949,000 yen rebate]

[Rebate amount can be withdrawn to the linked bank card]

Tsukasa clenched the shopping bags tightly!

Nearly seventeen million yen in rebates!

Comparable to completing a “blue malevolence” achievement!

Such a rebate amount made him feel he had fallen into a misconception. He had thought that single-use limit-increase cards were the most valuable among basic rewards, but now it seemed critical rebate cards and automatic salary increase cards were even more precious.

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The former was a gamble on luck.

The latter a gamble on fate.

Good luck meant critical rebates could exceed expectations.

Living longer meant steady income.

After calming down, Tsukasa realized each had pros and cons. The single-use limit-increase card solved immediate funds, while critical rebate multipliers varied—sometimes only one time, or possibly even fractions. Including previously obtained appearance optimization and constitution enhancement cards, each was hard to value.

“Harano-kun, finished shopping?”

Ruka approached softly.

Tsukasa came back to himself, turned sideways, and looked at Ruka’s delicate cheek.

“Done.”

No sooner had he said this than her face swiftly drew near, and a pair of slender palms reached out—not to surprise him, but gently and carefully smoothing the slightly folded collar.

“The collar’s a bit wrinkled.”

Her face was so close he could smell the light fragrance from her neck.

That wasn’t all.

Whether by accident or inscrutable design, as her warm fingers tidied his collar, they brushed his neck, the touch making him feel a subtle itch.

Her inviting lips parted slightly, exhaling a faint breath that brushed his cheek.

Finally, it appeared.

The secret move! The “Tea Ceremony 3600 Forbidden Moves”!

This was clearly a signal of her advance.

Yet, just as Tsukasa was distracted by her actions, Ruka suddenly withdrew her body swiftly.

“This is perfect now.”

Apparently satisfied with her handiwork, a faint smile graced her lovely face.

Tsukasa looked at her deeply.

Although today’s bait was obvious, the outcome was good. As long as the fish took the bait, no matter how clever she was, it wouldn’t matter—he could take his time.

“Thank you,” he thought, then spoke the words aloud.

“I never noticed before when you were at work; you’re actually quite handsome,” Ruka smiled.

“Are you sure it’s not the clothes?”

“Maybe, but you bought new clothes, so you deserve praise. Can’t I compliment you?”

“I’m afraid your compliments will keep me awake tonight.”

Ruka lightly punched his shoulder, laughing and scolding, “Men only know how to lie. I remember you’re the most energetic one in our department at work. Judging by that, your sleep quality must be better than anyone else’s.”

“That’s because I never got compliments from you, Hoshino-san.”

“Gross! You’re only talking like this because you’re secretly crushing on me, right? So cheesy!”

“Maybe I don’t talk to girls much.”

The two walked side by side out of the Prada store.

Since they only bought two outfits, the bags weren’t heavy; Tsukasa carried them easily. They strolled aimlessly, chatting.

They were undoubtedly more relaxed than before.

Especially when Ruka heard what Tsukasa said earlier, she asked casually as usual:

“You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”

“No.”

“How about during school?”

“I dated one girl—for three days, if that counts,” Tsukasa pondered.

“Three days? That’s not a relationship!”

Ruka couldn’t help but laugh at his answer, teasing him in an exaggerated tone, then shaking her head in disbelief.

“Then it’s like you’ve never dated.”

Tsukasa’s expression remained unchanged.

At that moment, Ruka stopped walking with her hands behind her back, looking at Tsukasa with bold yet curious eyes.

“Don’t you want to have a girlfriend?”

Tsukasa stopped as well, meeting her beautiful brown eyes seriously.

“I do, but I can’t figure out what girls think, and I’m afraid of rejection. Even if I like someone close by, I don’t dare to say anything.”