After finishing her meal, Sakura placed her dishes in the sink, bowed, and excused herself to return to her room.
Although only about ten minutes had passed, Sakura's family was still processing the weight of what she had just said.
It remained silent.
Until Sakura had left the dining room and was walking up the stairs.
Miyajima Grandfather's expression was composed, his broad, strong hand resting on the table as he spoke faintly:
"Which damn kid & (&&&&)__+&& @ #), dared to @ &&#&& @ &&# my granddaughter, I'm going to &&&￥)@(@￥— —)! That stinky kid, don't think I'm &&#&) — —! — — +!!"
With that, his forehead veins bulging, he looked ready to fight someone to the death.
But in reality, they had no clue who that 'someone' was.
Tsubaki quickly stopped him: "Father, calm down…calm down…don't be like this."
At that moment,
Tsubaki looked towards where her daughter had exited, then thought with a hint of wistfulness, Sakura has reached that age now.
Even though Sakura hadn't mentioned it, Tsubaki could imagine that her daughter's earlier distraction was related to that boy.
She just didn't know what kind of person that boy was.
However…
"Father, trust Sakura," Tsubaki said with a smile, "She can pick a good person."
"I * (&&^&%_#(*@#+#+))!" Miyajima Grandfather continued to rage.
It was a bit noisy downstairs.
If it were before, Sakura would absolutely go downstairs to investigate, but now she wasn't in the mood.
She sat properly in seiza on the tatami, holding her phone with both hands, typing something into it.
Mid-typing, she deleted everything.
Then she carefully rephrased her sentences, as if it were a very sacred task.
She had typed half a message when a text from Ayaka came through.
Ayaka: 『What time is your showing tomorrow?』
Sakura: 『…I don't know, Hayato-kun hasn't told me yet…』
Ayaka: 『Ha…that idiot, he wouldn't have forgotten, would he?』
Sakura: 『Hayato-kun must be…very busy.』
Ayaka: 『Why don't you go ask him?』
Sakura: 『What if he's busy, wouldn't that be rude?』
Ayaka: 『Modern Japanese male high school students are either gaming or messing around after school, what else could they be busy with? — How about this, you tell him you need to buy tickets, online tickets, and ask him if tomorrow at 10 AM works. Since you're paying for the tickets, even if he's busy, he won't be able to blame you.』
Sakura: 『!! Ayaka, you're so smart…but I don't know how to buy tickets online…』
Ayaka: 『Don't worry, I'll handle it.』
Sakura: 『Ayaka! You're too smart! I'll give you the money then!』
Ayaka lay on her bed, her perky butt against the wall, her long legs moving against it. She could see the glaring incandescent light on the ceiling.
How to put it, being praised as smart by Sakura felt like…being eighteen years old and receiving special praise from your parents for finally being able to tie your own shoelaces. Instead of happiness, there was a sense of shame.
With the 'treat' buff activated, Sakura could finally type smoothly.
『Greetings. I apologize for the intrusion. Wishing you well upon reading this. Regarding the movie mentioned this afternoon, online ticket purchase is required soon. The time is set for tomorrow at 10 AM. What are your thoughts?』
Hayato had just finished showering.
He walked from the extremely small bathroom into the relatively small room and heard a 'drip-drip' sound, which startled him. He thought it was some supernatural event. Then, after a moment's thought, he relaxed.
Turns out, he had a cell phone now.
He picked up his phone and looked.
Akane had sent ten messages. The bottom one was 『Why aren't you answering me (* ￣ ︿ ￣ )』, and when he scrolled up, they were all meaningless messages like 『Have you eaten yet?』, 『I ate this today oh [Image]』.
Hayato smiled knowingly: 『Showering』
Then Akane replied instantly: 『Please, when I sent you the first one, it was already two hours ago! You showered for two hours!?』
Hayato politely replied: 『Hehe』
Akane: 『What's so funny! (.o ˇ ? ˇ o.) Never mind, what are you doing tonight, chat with me for a bit~~』
Hayato: 『Sleeping』
Then he looked at the single message Sakura had sent.
See, this is the difference in culture. One message from her is clear and polite, so why can't Akane do that? He'd have to talk to her about it next time.
Looking at Sakura's message, Hayato felt like he'd be embarrassing himself if he didn't reply with some subtlety and cultivation!
He thought for a moment and used all his knowledge:
『?』
Concise and to the point, yet with a hint of playfulness, a style he always used.
So when Sakura sent the chat screenshot to Ayaka,
Ayaka first complained: 『Miss Sakura? Are you some kind of ancient relic?』
Then she continued to complain: 『Damn, this guy is too cold! I'll have to give him a good talking-to next time! Does he really think he can do whatever he wants just because he's a little bit handsome!?』
Sakura, however, didn't have many thoughts.
She examined the message Hayato had sent, then, maintaining her seiza posture, she leaned back completely and laughed with genuine contentment.
…
The next day, 10 AM, in front of the Shibuya Hachiko statue.
Although not much time had passed, the sun was bright today, and the warm breeze was intoxicating, completely different from the biting cold of their previous outing.
Sakura had her side ponytail tied with a red ribbon. Her skin was fair, her eyebrows like willow leaves, her eyes like almonds, her nose delicate, and her lips red. Her beauty was as vibrant as a dewy peach blossom. Furthermore, she had a slender waist and long legs, with a graceful figure.
As she walked out of the subway station, she was the most beautiful scenery, and many young men's gazes lingered on her.
Some even whispered.
"What a beautiful girl."
"Those long legs…tsk tsk tsk. It's a pity she's wearing pants; what if it were a skirt?"
"It's not just about the legs; isn't her chest attractive? Look how loosely she's dressed, and her chest still stands out so much…"
"A butt is king! Her butt will definitely give birth to sons—"
"How about we go strike up a conversation? Even if we fail with such a beauty, we can still exchange a few words with her. It's all profit and no loss!!"
"Yes, yes!"
A beauty like Sakura was rare even in all of Shibuya, and she was alone.
Some men had already started trailing her, looking for an opportunity to speak to her.
But the chance hadn't arrived yet…
"Hayato-kun!" She waved towards a direction.
The trailing men saw a young man standing there with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, exuding a slightly decadent and melancholic aura. He was originally scrolling on his phone, but when he heard Sakura's call, he looked up. The moment he looked up, the men's footsteps halted.
It…it seems there's no chance at all…
Bitterness filled their hearts.
"Hayato-kun…I-I'm sorry!" Sakura jogged over, her first action being a deep bow of apology.
Hayato looked at the time on his phone. No, she wasn't late.
"I…I got the time wrong…" Sakura said instead.