The day after the meeting, a moving truck appeared at the Izumi's doorstep, and workers entered the only remaining storage room next to his room to begin their work.
"Ah ah ah ah… Huh? What are they doing, Ni-san?"
A bewildered Sagiri pulled her brother into her room to ask.
"Sorry, Sagiri, I haven't had a chance to tell you yet. Due to some circumstances, a long-time friend is returning from England, but she has nowhere else to go, so she'll be staying with us for a long time, and I'll be taking care of her…"
Izumi Chihiro scratched his head, an apologetic expression on his face.
"That person… is a girl?"
Sagiri's gaze instantly sharpened.
"Yes."
He nodded.
"Oh…"
Sagiri's expression held a hint of jealousy.
"You won't blame me, will you, Sagiri?"
Izumi Chihiro asked, worried.
"Ni-san is the head of the family now, and I'm someone Ni-san takes care of, so what right do I have to blame Ni-san?"
Although Sagiri said that, her tone still held a touch of dissatisfaction.
Her dissatisfaction wasn't about her brother making his own decisions, but about a girl coming to live with them…!
If a boy and a girl lived together, wouldn't that bring about even greater trouble than the threat Eriri-nee-san posed?
Izumi Chihiro didn't know what to say at this moment and could only remain silent for a while.
After the moving team left.
Izumi Chihiro went downstairs and re-entered the former storage room, finding it completely transformed. It had all the necessary furnishings, and the overall style had a distinctly girlish charm.
"Ni-san, what kind of person is she?"
Sagiri walked in and asked.
She had already figured it out: since she couldn't stop it, she might as well gather information about the other party in advance to make appropriate moves in the future.
"She's an incredibly unreasonable girl, and also a girl who's difficult for people to understand."
A hint of reminiscence flashed in Izumi Chihiro's eyes.
"Incredibly unreasonable?"
Sagiri's gaze froze.
To receive such an evaluation from her brother, in her impression, only Senju Muramasa and Kani Nayuta had been honored with such a distinction.
"When she arrives, I'll introduce her to you."
After Izumi Chihiro finished speaking, he didn't bring it up again.
In the evening, he suddenly received a call from an unremarked phone number, showing it was from abroad.
Izumi Chihiro thought for a moment, then answered the call.
"Is that Izumi?"
Soon, a cold female voice came from the other end, sounding somewhat familiar to him.
"You are… Rita?"
"Heh, after all this time, to still be remembered by you, it's truly my honor."
"If you were saying that sincerely, I would indeed be very happy, but please spare me the flattery."
"You're such an annoying man. Never mind, I don't want to have too much contact with you. I'll get straight to the point… I already know Mashiro is going to your place, so I'm just letting you know in advance. I'll send you the exact time of Mashiro's return to the country when it's confirmed."
"I understand."
"Then I'm hanging up, beep…"
Such a quick hang-up!
"Miss Rita is even colder than before," Izumi Chihiro thought to himself.
It seems that without external intervention, it's difficult for things to change course.
During that time, he hadn't had the capacity to pay attention to Rita, so the current Rita was still enduring those feelings, quietly hiding them, afraid of being discovered by others.
Compared to Eriri back then, she, being closest to Mashiro, suffered the greatest damage.
A few days later.
He received a message.
[Mashiro will arrive at XX Airport tomorrow at 6 PM. Although six or seven years have passed, you should still recognize her, right? Reply when you see this.]
This time, she didn't even bother to call.
[Of course, Mashiro is special.]
Izumi Chihiro replied.
Whether it was her temperament or appearance, after spending day and night together, he could never forget the impression Mashiro had left in his heart; even after several years of growth, she would absolutely not lose her charm.
"Special? Indeed special, so special it drives people mad with jealousy…"
After seeing the message, Rita immediately exited, turning her face to reveal a detached gaze.
Shiina Mashiro, a world-class genius painter, achieved an unimaginable level in the field of painting at a young age. Even those considered geniuses by most were incomparable to her.
One could say that if not for her young age, she would already be a name remembered throughout history!
To live in the same era as her was, arguably, the sorrow and misfortune of all painters.
From the beginning of her art studio instruction, she had, albeit unconsciously, trampled on countless people's dreams along the way.
"I, I don't want to paint anymore…!"
"Painting is truly meaningless."
"Tsk, with such a monster existing, why bother learning to paint? It's truly boring."
"I'd better find a new hobby."
From initial excitement to later fear and despair, after experiencing the immense crushing force of her talent, few could maintain their love and loyalty to painting.
Rita was one such person, even becoming friends with Mashiro and taking care of her daily life.
However, when she learned a while ago that Mashiro was planning to leave the UK to pursue the so-called 'manga artist' path, a hint of relief and liberation couldn't help but rise in her heart.
"It's best if she never returns to this path, go pursue being a manga artist…"
A thought that even she found ugly arose in her heart.
Since they were friends, she shouldn't have such thoughts, because Mashiro's actions were clearly a waste of her artistic talent and should be stopped. With Mashiro's talent, she should be constantly painting masterpieces worthy of being recorded in history!
Not becoming a so-called manga artist!
The two conflicting thoughts in her mind left the girl in a daze.
…
Another day passed.
"Hmm, it's time to go."
Izumi Chihiro glanced at his phone, then set off, taking the train all the way to the airport.
He seemed to have arrived a bit early. While waiting, this scene of old friends reuniting made him feel an inexplicable and inappropriate nervousness.
So many years had passed; would that pure white girl still be the same, familiar person he knew?
Would she still recognize him?
Soon, he realized his thoughts were somewhat unnecessary.
He suddenly heard a long whistle from the sky, and a plane landed on the airport behind him.
"She's here…!"
Izumi Chihiro waited at the exit, welcoming the pure white girl who was only a few sizes larger than in his memory.
---
💯 PS = 2 bonus chapter