Realizing that Kiyotaka had finished speaking, Yilin, who’d been loitering by the office’s front door, looked around, flustered. As she pondered her options, Kiyotaka came to the entrance and saw her.
“Oh?” He smiled. “You haven’t left yet? What about Aoi?”
Yilin shrank back, embarrassed. “I told her to go without me.”
“Do you have something to discuss with Ensho?”
“Yes, but...” She shook her head. “I’ll save it for another time.”
“That might be for the best. I imagine he’s on edge right now.” Kiyotaka chuckled.
The two left the office together. Outside, the sun had fully set, and the sky had grown dark. The lights shining from the traditional wooden townhouses and streetlamps lining the Takase riverbank looked absolutely fantastical.
“If I recall correctly, you’re staying in an apartment along the Kamo River,” said Kiyotaka. “Shall I walk you there?”
Yilin’s place was located between Nijo Street and Sanjo Street, so it was on the way home for Kiyotaka.
“Thank you,” said Yilin.
As they headed north on Kiyamachi Street, Yilin suddenly remembered something.
“Actually, I wanted to ask you something too,” she said.
“Me?” Kiyotaka blinked.
“Can we talk about it while we walk?”
“Of course.” He nodded. “Let’s go down to the riverside. It’s easier to walk there.”
They descended the stairs on the west side of Shijo Bridge. Though the summer heat still lingered during the day, it was a bit cooler at this hour, and there was a pleasant breeze by the water.
Yilin looked up at the row of restaurants along the path, their terraces extending out toward the river.
“The kawadoko are still open, huh?” she murmured.
“Indeed.” Kiyotaka followed her gaze. “The river terraces are generally open from May to September. Tourists call them ‘kawadoko,’ but the ones on the Kamo River are called ‘noryo-yuka.’ The term ‘kawadoko’ refers to the terraces in Kibune and Takao. Also, the locals here tend to just say ‘toko’ instead of ‘noryo-yuka.’”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Yilin slumped her shoulders. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize. Not knowing is normal.”
“Sorry,” she repeated, shrinking back in shame.
“You know, Yilin, you’re a bit different from the typical foreigner.”
She tilted her head. “How so?”
“You’re quick to apologize, just like a Japanese person.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true. Whenever someone corrects me or points something out, I feel like I’m being scolded and can’t help but apologize, even if I know that wasn’t their intent. Studying in America helped a bit, but I fell right back into my old habit.”
This was something her father had noted as well. He’d warned her numerous times, “If you apologize too fast, people will look down on you.”
“I see,” Kiyotaka murmured softly, a distant look in his eyes. “You’ve spent your entire life being considerate of others, haven’t you?”
His words left a deep impression in Yilin’s heart. He couldn’t have known much about her, yet she was struck by the illusion that he understood everything she’d been through. She glanced at his profile and found herself captivated by his beautiful, serene expression.
“By the way, what did you want to ask me?”
His words snapped her out of her daze.
“Oh, right, um... Before that, could I ask what you meant when you said Ensho was a tengu?”
“A tengu is a type of god or yokai that appears in Japanese legends—”
“Wait, I know what a tengu is, and I know it’s an idiom for a conceited person,” Yilin hurriedly interjected, realizing that Kiyotaka had misconstrued the source of her confusion. “I feel like Ensho was right, though. He hates parties, and he’s never liked that kind of socializing.”
“Indeed.” Kiyotaka gave a weary smile. “I am aware of his distaste for parties, and it’s fine if he doesn’t want to attend an event he’ll hate. I wasn’t expecting him to curry favor with the rich in the first place.”
“Then why did you call him conceited?”
“It wasn’t because he didn’t want to attend the party but because his words exuded an arrogance that he didn’t have before.”
“Arrogance...” Considering how talented he is, I feel like his arrogance is justified.
“I’m glad he recognizes his own talent, but I cannot praise overconfidence,” Kiyotaka replied as if reading Yilin’s mind.
“You’re amazing,” she said, hiding her surprise.
“Not at all.”
“No, I really think it’s true. You’re handsome, intelligent, and stylish, and you understand the inner workings of the human heart. In my eyes, you’re the perfect man.”
“Perfect?” Kiyotaka covered his mouth with his hand, looking amused.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I want to know why you chose Aoi.”
“Huh?” He turned to face Yilin.
“I know she’s a wonderful woman,” she hurriedly added. “She’s kind and gentle—I get that.”
But there were plenty of kind and gentle women out there. Yilin didn’t think Aoi possessed a “special something” that would make uniquely talented men like Kiyotaka and Ensho fall in love with her.
“What I find attractive in Aoi is...”
She anxiously awaited his next words.
He looked her firmly in the eye and smiled. “The fact that she doesn’t think I’m a perfect man in the slightest.”
Yilin gave him a puzzled look. “What does she think of you, then?”
“Well...” Kiyotaka grinned. “She probably thinks I’m...far from perfect, lacking in ways, troublesome at times, and worryingly eccentric.”
“Huh?” Yilin’s eyes widened. “So being with her gives you a sense of security because she makes you think it’s okay not to be perfect? I can see that being comforting,” she said, trying to make sense of Kiyotaka’s answer.
“I feel the nuance is a bit different, but I suppose that’s close enough.”
This kind of thing can be hard to put into words.
“By the way, are you asking me this because of Ensho?” he continued.
Yilin gulped. She wanted to dodge the question, but she knew it was futile. “Yes,” she admitted, feeling the flush in her cheeks and ears.
Kiyotaka smiled. “People often ask me for relationship advice because I disguise myself as a nice man.”
Disguise? The word gave her pause, but she nodded, wanting to hear the rest of his story.
“When men seek my help, I give them my honest, unfiltered opinion. But with women, I usually play it safe and give generic advice.”
Yilin hummed.
“If you don’t mind, may I give you the kind of candid advice I would give a man?”
“Huh? Oh, of course. I’d love that.”
“It might come as a bit of a shock, though.”
“A shock?” Yilin chuckled. How could relationship advice be shocking?
“Well, I don’t know if this will work with Ensho, but...”
Yilin gulped. “Go ahead.”
“The best way to capture a man’s heart is to discover his fetishes.”
“Fet...?” She furrowed her brow, wondering if she’d misheard.
“Then acknowledge them and embrace them. Once you do, he’ll never let you go. This only applies if it’s possible, though.”
Yilin was speechless. His advice was much more shocking than she’d expected. After taking a while to sort out the chaos in her head, she said, “So, um, Aoi...discovered your...?”