Crossover: The Problematic Human of Arcadia — Shaper of Anime Worlds Chapter 175: Age Wasn't Just A Number

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The hospital's waiting bench

Sitting there quietly, Ryo felt sothing icy press against his left cheek. Turning his head, he saw Asagi Aiba grinning and holding out a cold canned coffee.

"Feels good, right? Perfect for sumr," she said with a playful smile as she pressed the cold can to his face again.

Ryo took the can from her hand and said, "Is sumr always this brutal on this island?"

"Yup. Pretty much every year."

Asagi smoothed out her skirt and sat down beside him, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched.

"The temperatures in recent years have hit nearly 50°C. If it weren't for all the AC units and water trucks spraying down the streets, this place would be completely unlivable."

"It's probably because the ground's all tal, right? Just traps and radiates heat everywhere."

Ryo casually chatted as he sipped his drink.

"So~ Your Majesty," she teased with a smirk, "maybe it's ti to think about renovating the infrastructure?"

"If we're using your salary to pay for it, I'll start the renovation tomorrow," Ryo shot back jokingly.

"Then I quit." Asagi huffed and fiddled with the can in her hand, her fingers tracing the label.

"You know, just now my old man was bawling like a baby, hugging my mom and crying his lungs out. It was pathetic."

"Yeah, I heard. Sounded pretty awful," Ryo nodded, using the mont to bond through mutual exasperation with his father-in-law.

Asagi didn't seem to mind the proximity between them at all and sighed, "I only just found out he does this every ti my sister and I aren't around—sneaking in to cry in front of Mom like so idiot."

She frowned and muttered, "No wonder he always made excuses not to co with us… Guess he was just scared he'd embarrass himself."

Then she looked at Ryo sideways and asked, almost curiously, "Is it just a guy thing to hate showing weakness in front of girls?"

"That depends—does he like the girl or not?" Ryo replied, cracking open the can and taking a sip.

"Huh, I see..." Asagi lifted her hand and idly twirled a strand of her freshly dyed hair around her finger. "Then… would you mind making a fool of yourself in front of ?"

Ryo froze mid-sip and rolled his eyes. "I'm the King of the Dawn Empire, you know. Gotta keep up a certain...gravitas."

"Pfft, please. The first ti we t, you tried to take to a bar. What 'gravitas'?" she teased him with a totally made-up mory.

"That never happened, and you know it," Ryo sighed. "Stop making things up. I tried to keep you away from the bar."

"Eh, details, details."

Asagi nudged him with her elbow and leaned in a little closer, dropping her voice to a whisper.

"But if we had gone to a bar that night, and I got drunk, and you picked up... I probably wouldn't have minded."

Ryo turned to look at her, squinting slightly. "Yeah... let's not."

"What was that? Say it again?" she said, eyes narrowing in mock-threat. "You're telling you wouldn't be happy to take ho a gorgeous woman like ?"

"Girl, you are 15," Ryo said with a slight laugh in his voice.

He changed tone, more serious now. "Sothing like that—if it happens—it should be a couple years down the line. After everyone's had ti to sort themselves out."

Asagi blinked in surprise, "Yeah... that makes sense."

"You're just confused," Ryo nodded, sipping his coffee again.

Her mom had just been pulled back from the brink of death, and Ryo Yagami—the guy she kinda had a thing for—was also the one who made it happen. It was only natural that she'd feel a strange mix of emotions. Gratitude. Relief. Maybe even sothing like love. But it was too early to tell.

That's exactly why Ryo had told her to take so ti to think.

At her age, it's easy to confuse thankfulness with affection. And for him, age wasn't just a number. Any girl under 18 was off limits for him.

"I feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick here," Asagi grumbled. "You clearly have a lot of experience with girls."

"I can't deny that."

Ryo nodded. Whether it was before or after he ca to this world, won were everywhere. But serious relationships? He'd never really been in one.

His first emotional connection? That probably started with Black Rabbit.

"Which is exactly why guys like you deserve a little punishnt."

Her voice was suddenly right beside his ear, and the next mont, Ryo felt sothing soft and warm brush against his cheek.

By the ti he turned to look, Asagi had already stood up and was walking backward down the hallway, watching him with a playful grin.

"That's your interest paynt. The rest... maybe later, when I've sorted things out."

She turned and waved as she walked off. "Call soti, Your Majesty, future boss of mine."

"That girl…" Ryo muttered, touching the spot on his cheek where she'd kissed him.

Then he shrugged and downed the rest of the coffee before tossing the can into a nearby trash bin.

Standing up, he glanced out the window toward the airport. A plane had just taken off.

"Tomorrow, huh..." he murmured to himself, then shook his head and left the hospital.

— — —

The Next Day

A plane from Itogami Island slowly descended toward Kyoto Airport.

After it landed and ca to a stop on a private runway, the cabin door opened. Ryo Yagami, dressed in a suit, stepped out first, followed by Sensai Aiba and a few mbers of their team.

They stood at the top of the boarding stairs, looking down.

Waiting at the bottom, Koyomi Shizuka stood in a perfectly tailored kimono, flanked by a few elders clearly there to greet their guests.

Her nerdy glasses and braided pigtails? Long gone.

Ryo ignored the eager smiles of the elders and walked straight over to Koyomi.

"What's the schedule?" he asked directly.

Koyomi hesitated, glancing at the older n nearby. After a subtle nod from one of them, she replied calmly. "First, we'd like to invite you to the High God Forest to observe the students' daily training."

Ryo nodded. "Let's go, then."

He really wasn't in the mood after Natsuki roasted him, pointing out that most of the places he'd asked about were in Kyoto, not Tokyo. She even joked that he was like so ancient relic from the Heian era and didn't even know where Japan's capital was at that ti.

Well, all his knowledge about Japan ca from ani, manga, and maybe uh H stuff—so if anything, that just ant ani failed him. Not his fault, right?

...

Koyomi gave a quick apology to the others, then led Ryo to the waiting car nearby.

After a mont, the car pulled away, heading toward High God Forest.

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