Time slowly passed, but the girl showed no signs of being tired. Her gray eyes were even getting brighter.
As expected, good-looking people look good even wearing a potato sack.
She inexplicably felt the joy of playing a card collection game. Unlocking new outfits for her boyfriend (fake) one by one, from a fresh and sporty boy, to a cool and reserved noble son, to a beautiful young swordsman straight out of a Taiga drama.
It was dazzling to the eyes. She just regretted not having enough money to buy the entire floor's worth of clothes for Kaito to try on.
'Damn it, I thought I can barely count as a small rich lady Turns out I am so poor?'
Standing downstairs with shopping bags full of clothes, Anon sighed deeply, not because she had bought enough, but because she had no more money. Her gaze unintentionally drifted toward the clearly visible TGW logo on the mall building, representing an industry under the Togawa Group. She had never envied these damn rich people so much.
'Sigh, capitalism.'
But the girl quickly came to terms again. Having money doesn't mean happiness, and having no money doesn't mean unhappiness. She read online that the Togawa Group's heir was about her age, receiving elite education since childhood, probably so busy his feet didn't touch the ground, likely didn't even have time to fall in love, and definitely didn't have a handsome boyfriend like she did, 'Don't underestimate small wins, win!'
"Let's call it a day for today's date."
Seeing the sky turning to evening, and also receiving several messages from his assistant urging [Boss, why aren't you back yet], Kaito saw Anon still looking like her soul was wandering in the clouds, so he took the initiative to end the rest of the plan.
"Ah ah? Oh, oh."
The girl came to her senses, blushing as she handed him the bags in her hand, "Sorry, sorry, I spaced out a bit. These clothes, Kaito, remember to keep them well, you can wear any set for the gathering that day."
Four or five shopping bags, filled with clothes worth six figures, a huge sum for any student, and the total cost emptied all of Anon's long-saved allowance.
Kaito had tried to stop her earlier, but the girl was firm, so he could only let it be.
Faced with this expensive gift, he thought for a moment but didn't refuse. After all, she had already bought it. He could just return the favor with a gift some other day.
Come to think of it, Anon didn't seem to have a protective jade pendant yet. He might as well take this opportunity to give her one.
While thinking so in his heart, he watched the girl board the train to go home and let out a soft sigh.
Although they had been shopping for nearly two hours, with his physical fitness, this level of exercise didn't even count as a warm-up.
But he still felt very tired, mainly mentally.
Accompanying a girl shopping, especially in clothing stores, was a form of psychological torture for most boys.
Thankfully, all of this was finally over.
When he got home later, he'd take a nice bath.
With this thought in mind, he looked up. Only for his eyes to freeze when he saw the scene on the nearby overpass.
A girl with short gray hair was leaning against the railing, half of her body tilted outward, staring blankly like a butterfly with broken wings, swaying and on the verge of falling.
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Chapter 239: Takamatsu Tomori's Fermented Tofu, Shiina Taki, Step Out!
In an Overpass]
White petals spun in the air, as if slowly falling. In the distance came the sharp screech of a buzzer tearing through the air, the old-style green train growing closer and closer, the interweaving of iron wheels and tracks emitting a deafening roar.
A girl with short gray hair gently pressed on the railing, her slender figure leaning forward, bending into a dangerous arc, yet completely unaware.
Closer, even closer.
In those amber-like bright pupils, only the tiny petal in front remained.
Takamatsu Tomori tried hard to rise on tiptoe, the cold railing pressing red marks through her school uniform between her ribs, her outstretched fingertips like a net trying to catch the wind, her center of gravity gradually tilting.
'Still lacking... just a tiny bit.'
Creak
The long-neglected railing emitted a mournful groan under unbearable weight, and the girl's half-body suspended in the air fell like a shot pigeon, the fragile balance she barely maintained finally collapsing.
Molten bronze flowed on the tracks in the twilight, and amidst the oncoming wind, Takamatsu Tomori tightly shut her eyes.
She waited for a long time, but the expected pain never came.
Someone had grabbed her wrist, the warm touch like green bamboo basked in sunlight, reversing gravity into an ascending parabola at the moment the girl was about to fall off the overpass.
"Are you okay?", A clear male voice came from overhead, carrying a light coolness like peppermint candy.
There was still lingering heat around her waist. Takamatsu Tomori dumbly opened her eyes, dazed, as if in another world.
The world was gray. From as far back as she could remember, Takamatsu Tomori had realized this. Clearly being with everyone, yet it felt like she was all alone.
She was out of place with her surroundings, like a clumsy little penguin, unable to understand anything around her, nor be understood by anyone.
The world was noisy and clamorous, while she seemed to sink into the cold seabed, surrounded by darkness, without light, without sound.
Lonely, and isolated. But, unwilling to accept it.
She wanted to possess something important. She wanted to be able to cry like everyone else. Even more, she wanted to be human.
Later, she advanced to middle school.
("No! I'm sorry for pushing you down, but no matter what, seeking death is not the right thing to do!")
In that summer filled with falling locust flowers, a gentle girl misunderstood something and forcefully tackled her to the ground.
Standing by the overpass, petals drifting by, reaching out to grasp in her palm. She didn't catch it, but instead, she met you.
The gray sky, as if dawn broke through, pierced the clouds. From then on, the world became colorful.
"Though I don't know exactly what you've been through, ensuring your own safety is always the most important thing. Life is precious, don't give it up so easily," Those extremely familiar words, from two completely different faces, seemed to overlap together.
The only thing that hadn't changed was that heartbeat and flutter, even stronger than before.
"Saki...ko?", The girl in his arms reached out her hand, the cold fingertips seeming to want to touch his cheek.
'Hmm? Did she just call out "Sakiko"?'
Kaito, who originally intended to avoid the situation, was slightly surprised upon hearing this familiar name.
'A coincidence?'
'This girl who seems like she is trying to take her own life, could she possibly be related to my hardworking little secretary at home?'
"I'm not sure who this 'Sakiko' you're referring to is," He released his hand that was around the girl's slender waist, with no reluctance in his movement, "But this clearly isn't the place for conversation. If you're interested, shall we grab a cup of coffee?"
Actually, Kaito wasn't the type who liked meddling in other people's affairs.
Though he was protective, that only applied to those he acknowledged, and he only maintained the most basic courtesy toward outsiders.
But seeing that solitary, teetering figure at the edge of the overpass inexplicably brought back memories of that night of heavy rain.
A girl with blue twin tails also sat like that on the railing, letting the downpour soak her long skirt, like a fluttering butterfly.
Maybe it was due to that familiar sense of deja vu, or maybe because he saw in her the shadow of Sakiko, full of self-destructive desire.
Kaito didn't choose to stand idly by.
Though there were still about two meters between him and the overpass, and the gray-haired girl had nearly fallen off the railing, leaving him only a pitiful few seconds to rescue her.
But people's physical traits differ, he wasn't some French assassin master who could always catch an elusive fifteen-meter leap.
In the end, he saved the girl who was on the verge of danger, and didn't let tragedy occur.
[RiNG]
This was a Livehouse with high ratings on a social media platform, also operating as a cafe. Affordable prices, a wide variety of drinks and desserts, it was well-loved by schoolgirls from nearby schools.
"What would you like to drink?", Sitting in a corner seat, the familiar store manager Ririko greeted them.
Kaito handed the menu to the girl across from him, trying to create a relaxed atmosphere.
The girl named "Takamatsu Tomori" stared blankly at him, as if still immersed in her own world, blocking out all outside noise.
Since they exchanged names just now, she had been like this, like a tiny robot.
And her vigilance was way too low. Just a wave and she followed you willingly, 'Where did this baby penguin come from? Aren't you afraid of being abducted?'
Kaito shook his head, looked at the store manager lady beside him, and simply made the decision himself, "Two cups of hot Earl Grey tea, one small plate of donuts, and a slice of mousse cake, thank you."
"O-okay," Ririko blushed as she held the menu, wailing inwardly. After not seeing him for a while, this customer seemed even more attractive, just being near him was a big test for her heart.
Maybe it's better to have Ritsuki bring the order later. As an old lady, she really couldn't handle such strong stimulation. If she lost control and pounced on him, she'd never have the face to live again.
"Takamatsu-san," Kaito didn't pay much attention to other people's thoughts, just kindly asked, "Looking at your uniform, you should also be a student at Shuka, right? If it's convenient, could you tell me, why did you do such a dangerous thing?"
The gray-haired girl across from him was silent for a long time, "Because the petals were very pretty."
'So, it was just to catch that petal that she put herself in such danger?'
'Feels like another problem girl.'
'And a particularly troublesome type.'
Kaito gently exhaled and changed the topic, "That 'Sakiko' you mentioned earlier must be very important to you, right?"
His original intent was simply to gather some information, to confirm whether she was connected to his little secretary.
But this sentence seemed to have triggered some kind of taboo.
The gray-haired girl named "Takamatsu Tomori" visibly turned pale, fumbled a few times, then suddenly hugged her nearby school bag and stood up to run.
Her movements were too hasty and panicked. Head down, not even looking at the path, there was a waitress carrying a tray who couldn't avoid in time, and they collided head-on.
Tea and desserts spilled all over her, and the once neat tabletop and floor weren't spared either. Shiina Taki clutched her chest, about to scold the girl for not watching where they were going, but when she clearly saw who had bumped into her, she froze for a moment, "Tomori?"
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Chapter 240: You Bastard, How Dare You Bully Tomori!
"Tomori, why are you here?"
At the corner of her eye was a beauty mark of tears, strong-willed by nature, a black-haired shop staff who rarely smiled. Yet at this moment, all the usual coldness was completely gone. Those violet-like beautiful eyes were filled with surprise and concern, grabbing the gray-haired girl's hand as if afraid she might run away.
"Ever since then I haven't seen you for so long, have you been doing well lately? You look like you've lost some weight, could it be you haven't eaten properly? It's all because I didn't take care of you"
"Ta-Taki?"
"Mm mm, it's me!", Shiina Taki held her hand, her eyes and brows all softened together. But soon she recalled something, and her gaze suddenly turned cold, like an unsheathed sword.
"You were in such a panic just now, not even watching the road, could it be someone was trying to bully you?"
"N-no, not this time"
The girl named "Takamatsu Tomori" had a hard time dealing with her enthusiasm, and could only awkwardly and stammeringly reply, "It was my own reason"
But Shiina Taki didn't take her words seriously at all.
In her heart, Tomori was a weak and pitiful girl like a small animal, someone who needed to be protected and cared for, also a dandelion to be carefully cupped in the palm of her hand. Even the slightest breeze could hurt her, so cherishing her this much wasn't over the top.
She looked toward a seat around the corner, the direction Tomori had run from, and there sat a tall and slender figure, 'Should be a boy, vaguely looks a bit familiar?'
Shiina Taki didn't think much and strode over, the softness in front of the gray-haired girl now clouded into darkness.
"It was you, huh? How dare you bully"
'Eh?'
The rest of her words got stuck in her throat. When the boy turned his head, the setting sun outside the window just happened to spill across his brow, and the shadow of his black lashes cast crow-feather shapes on his pale skin. That face, soaked in the glow, reminded her of a holy son's painting hung high in a chapel, making the girl subconsciously take half a step back, her voice softening.
"How is it you?"
"Shiina-san."
Kaito nodded at her, greeting in a neither cold nor warm tone, "Good afternoon."
"G-good afternoon", All the anger vanished without a trace. Shiina Taki now looked slightly embarrassed, not knowing what to do with her hands.
The thought of seeking justice for Tomori was thrown to the back of her mind. She suddenly realized she might have misunderstood.
'After all, he ahem, doesn't look like a bad person at all, so how could he possibly bully Tomori?'
At the same time, the little penguin who had reacted a beat too slow finally came to her senses.
She hurriedly stood in front of Kaito, arms spread wide like a mama hen defending against an eagle, her face full of anxiety, "Kaito-san didn't bully me, Taki please don't"
Shiina Taki: "..."
Facing Takamatsu Tomori's anxious expression, the girl felt like an arrow had struck her knee.
