For Children's Day, Rika was heading back to Aomori, so Kai made sure to buy her a gift before she left.
He'd originally thought about getting her study guides, but after a moment of reflection, Rika was already feeling down. There was no need to make her completely miserable.
What kind of gift would a girl her age want?
He didn't have much of a clue, so after going back and forth, he settled on some Yu-Gi-Oh! merchandise: a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! card game hadn't officially launched yet. Only a handful of cards had been released here and there, nothing that formed a proper system. They were collector's items at best. But Rika was thrilled with it all the same.
"Thank you, Big bro." She tucked the card away carefully and slipped it into her backpack.
"Let's get going, then."
He was seeing Rika off personally. This time they took the subway. Tokyo's transit system was incredibly convenient, so there was no need to waste money on a taxi.
They arrived at Tokyo Station in no time. Rika was growing more and more reluctant to leave, and her eyes were slowly turning red.
Kai didn't bring up saying goodbye either. He just stayed with her for a while longer.
...
While Rika was fighting back tears, someone suddenly appeared. After looking the two siblings over, the person bowed to Kai.
It was a cute young girl wearing a mask. She held up a certificate for the deaf and mute, along with a donation form.
There were options for 1,000 yen and 5,000 yen.
"Go away, go!" Rika waved her hand frantically, shooing the "poor deaf and mute person" off.
The girl looked at Kai with pitiful, watery eyes, like she was about to cry.
Rika tugged at Kai's sleeve. "This is a scammer, Big bro. Don't fall for it."
Her grades might not be great, but she wasn't stupid. If anything, she was terrifyingly sharp.
Kai nodded. He'd lived in Tokyo long enough to know exactly how this worked.
"I don't have any money," he said flatly. "And don't make me call security."
"Tch." The delicate young girl straightened her back, curled her lip in contempt, and moved on to her next target.
She didn't have time to waste pestering the Fujin siblings. She needed to hook a few more suckers before security showed up.
The person she zeroed in on next made Kai freeze for a second.
The woman was carrying a suitcase and walking out of Tokyo Station. It was his neighbor, Rin Tsukasa.
Tsukasa was stopped in her tracks. She looked at the "deaf and mute" girl with confusion, then seemed to realize what was happening.
She took 1,000 yen from her wallet and held it out.
Rika frowned, marched over, and stepped between them.
"If you want to help people who are deaf and mute, there are proper donation channels for that. These people are all scammers!"
The girl glared at Rika, seething with frustration.
She figured that since she'd been called out, this one was a lost cause too.
But to her shock, the woman was still holding the 1,000 yen out to her. The girl's eyes went wide.
Rika was frozen too.
The girl seized her chance and reached for the bill.
But Tsukasa snatched it back into her palm.
"You really aren't deaf and mute, are you."
She lowered her eyes, her voice heavy with disappointment.
"If you actually were, of course I'd want to help."
"But it turns out you're a scammer using the identity of vulnerable people to deceive everyone."
The girl's face went from white to red, her chest heaving.
A nearby security guard noticed the commotion and started walking over.
"If you can't part with your money, don't pretend to be a saint!" the girl spat as she turned and ran. "Meeting people like you is just my rotten luck!"
Tsukasa let out a soft sigh as she watched the girl disappear into the crowd.
"With people like her out there, when someone who's actually deaf and mute runs into trouble, it'll be so much harder for them to get help."
"But knowing she isn't really deaf and mute... part of me actually feels relieved for her. Like it's a good thing, in a way."
"Fujin," Tsukasa looked at Kai. "Am I too naive?"
"Of course not." Kai walked over to her side. "You're just kind, Tsukasa-san. That's not a flaw."
Rika looked at Kai, then at Tsukasa, and back again.
"You two know each other?"
"This is our neighbor, Rin Tsukasa." Kai introduced them. "And this is my sister, Rika."
"Thank you, Rika." Tsukasa crouched down and smiled gratefully. "For saving me from getting scammed. It's really nice to meet you."
"Hello, Tsukasa-san." Rika's first impression of the woman was excellent.
She was beautiful. She was kind. And most importantly, she wasn't stupid.
Definitely qualified to be my future sister-in-law.
That was what she was thinking.
So Rika smiled her sweetest smile.
"Rika really is such a good kid," Tsukasa said warmly.
Through their conversation, Kai learned that Tsukasa hadn't been home during Golden Week because she'd gone to visit her older sister, who had married and moved all the way to Kagoshima.
"Being able to see family again is just the best feeling." She still had the afterglow of the reunion on her face.
Friends who don't see each other for a long time might drift apart.
But family never does.
Even separated by distance, they still care about each other. Their hearts stay connected.
"Yeah!" Rika nodded in firm agreement.
"What about you, Fujin?" Tsukasa asked.
"As for us," Kai put his hand on Rika's head, "I'm heading back to Aomori with Rika."
Tsukasa said, "Oh." She didn't question why Golden Week was nearly over and Kai was only now heading home.
Rika looked up in surprise. "Big bro is coming too?!"
"Of course," Kai said. "You think I'd let you ride the shinkansen by yourself?"
"A cute little thing like you would get snatched up by someone in a heartbeat."
"Hehe." Rika giggled.
...
It was time to board. They said goodbye to Tsukasa, grabbed their backpacks and suitcase, and followed the crowd through the gates.
After a short wait, the train began to move, picking up speed.
Kai looked out the window, watching the countryside scroll past.
He'd been stuck in Tokyo ever since he transmigrated. Big cities were the same everywhere in the world. It was only now, watching the landscape change, that he felt like he'd truly entered a different world.
Three hours later, they arrived at Aomori Station. From there, they transferred to a local train, then finally a bus. After an hour of bumping along narrow roads, they reached Hinaguri Village.
"The Fujin boy is back!"
"Haven't seen you in ages."
"Don't you recognize me?"
Along the way, villagers sitting outside to cool off called out to Kai one after another. The awkward part was that he genuinely didn't have many memories of these people.
Rika was much better at this. She called out to everyone by name, uncle this and grandma that, and managed to deflect most of the teasing away from Kai.
After a ten-minute walk through the village, they finally reached the Fujin family home.
"Mom! Dad! Brother's home! I'm back too!"
Rika shouted before she even stepped through the door.
Kai felt a knot form in his chest.
He was finally going to face the original Kai's parents in person.
But this was unavoidable. He had to come back.
First, to make sure Rika got home safely.
Second, the Weekly Shonen Jump editorial department was holding their serialization meeting tomorrow. Whether Death Note would be serialized or not would be decided then.
There was barely any suspense about it. The Editor-in-Chief had already hinted that he was on board.
So Kai, arriving at just the right moment, could deliver the news to the Fujin couple in person.
This was a big deal. Of course he had to tell his parents.
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