Tokyo Rebirth: Start From Picking Up Sayu

Two hundred and twelve, about the future

"Yusuke..."

"Um."

"I still have... clothes that I haven't put away... um."

"Um."

"Hmm...and Yusuke...don't you have to learn too...huh..."

"Um."

"Then, let me go... Hey! My neck is broken!"

"Why?"

"It will, it will leave... marks, traces..."

"dislike?"

"Because...it's really, really obvious...humh~~~"

"Didn't you just treat me the same way?"

"...That, that's force majeure...!!"

Her soft and melodious voice was mixed with a suppressed breath. The girl tried her best to push the person who was buried deep in her neck, and her face exuded an astonishing charm.

The expression resembles both joy and pain.

The dry hair towel that was originally covering their heads fell to the ground at some point, exposing the two of them to the light again.

"Sayu."

"Uh-huh……"

"sorry."

"So I told you to let me go..."

"Not that."

"Um……?"

Holding the girl tightly in his arms, Kato Yusuke murmured: "I'm sorry, I didn't protect you..."

It was like a basin of cold water was poured from the top of my head. My groggy brain was stagnant at first, and then slowly became clear again.

Looking at the other person close at hand with a pair of blank eyes, Sayu asked with a confused look on his face: "What are you talking about?"

The low and hoarse voice sounded in my ears again: "I'm sorry, I told you I would protect you..."

"No, no, no, you are not wrong."

"It's my fault for not protecting you."

"You protected me!"

Sayu shouted, her body shaking as if she was frightened by her own voice. Then he shook his head violently.

"You obviously protect me..."

By now, my brain is completely awake.

Not caring about anything else, she broke free from the other party's arms and turned her gaze to that gloomy handsome face.

Then he repeated seriously: "You obviously protect me... right?"

The dark eyes moved, and there seemed to be a quagmire inside that couldn't be resolved.

Kato Yusuke swallowed his throat, raised his eyes slowly, and then stammered: "If I could have paid attention to that matter earlier, you wouldn't have been hurt."

"There's no such thing!"

Sayu firmly denied it with a firm tone and stared into his eyes intently.

The amber eyes swayed, and there seemed to be some emotion quietly brewing inside.

As if she wanted to prove something, her mouth kept opening and closing, and her fast-moving brain was carefully choosing her words.

"Before I came here - I thought no one would be willing to help me."

Speaking softly at a slow pace, Sayu put her hand into his. It seems to be absorbing strength, but also seems to be transmitting strength.

"There are so many uncomfortable things around me that make me want to escape. I know clearly that there are some things that I can't escape no matter what, but I still can't stop myself from escaping, so I'm always in pain."

"In order to escape from those sad things, I even thought that it didn't matter even if I was being used, because I could also use the other person in turn. My mentality at the time was so distorted."

"But..."

Sayu paused for a moment and closed her eyes. She breathed in slowly and let it out. Then she opened her eyes, with an extremely soft and natural smile on her face.

"After meeting Yusuke, you protected me for the first time. And after meeting Asami, she also accepted me."

Having said this, Sayu's eyes wet slightly.

"But, after living with you, I finally... finally..."

Look into his eyes and hold his hand hard.

"There is... a way... to think about the future."

"Future..." Kato Yusuke also murmured.

"Well, the future." Sha Yue nodded and continued to talk even though his eyes were filled with tears.

"I will think carefully about where I will go from now on, rather than where I will run away."

"I will really think about...what I should do and what I want to do."

"I will muster up the courage...so..."

Speaking of this, Sayu's face shed a stream of tears.

"Would you like to... stay with me for a little longer?"

"A little more company──"

As these words reached his ears, Kato Yusuke's body couldn't help but tremble, and he couldn't speak for a long time.

"No...can't..."

"Not all at once—"

"……Eh……?"

Facing Sayu who was holding back tears but unwilling to look away from his face, Kato Yusuke put his hand on the other person's head and roughly rubbed the girl's hair, letting her hair become messy.

"So let's just say it's not."

He held up the little face with pear blossoms and rain, and then gently wiped away the tears on it.

He said solemnly: "No matter what happens, I will accompany you to face it, including the home you want to escape from, and the past you want to escape from."

These words made Sayu's eyes widen.

Kato Yusuke continued: "Everything - we will face it together, and we will not let you be alone, so rest assured."

The moment he finished speaking, Sayu's eyes suddenly became wet and he wiped them roughly with his shirt sleeves.

Faced with what he said, the girl first sniffed her nose that was about to become clogged, and then nodded vigorously in response.

"Um!"

After speaking, he smiled, a child-like smile appearing on his face, full of attachment.

Then he wiped the corners of his eyes as if he was ashamed of his appearance, and said: "Ah, no, I forgot to collect the clothes that were hung up. I'm going now."

After saying that, he immediately wanted to get up from the ground, but someone grabbed his little hand.

"Let's go together."

Naturally interlacing his hands with each other's fingers, Kato Yusuke led the girl to the bathroom without any explanation, picked up the clothes basket, and then returned to the living room together, then opened the glass door and walked onto the balcony.

"Okay, okay, now it's my job. Yusuke is here to keep an eye on it." Sayu changed his weak tone and moved past him to collect the clothes.

Seeing this, Kato Yusuke did not refuse, but leaned against the wall with a gentle look on his face and observed the girl's work, with a warm smile on his lips.

The summer night breeze brought a bit of coolness to my face, mixed with a few cicadas.

The small balcony was suddenly filled with a warm atmosphere because of the presence of the two of them.

His eyes lingered on the girl's body.

Looking thoughtfully at the girl's shirt, he asked, "Will you feel cold if you only wear a shirt at night?"

"Huh? There's nothing like that. It'll be done soon anyway..."

Having said this, Sayu suddenly stopped talking.

"Zizzizi——"

"This way it won't be cold."

The subtle sound of zippers and the boy's gentle voice reached his ears, and his body was wrapped in warmth.

Looking down at the coat that completely covered him, Sayu muttered: "Like this...how can I collect my clothes..."

With his mouth complaining like this, his body suddenly relaxed and leaned against the person behind him, and put his head on his shoulder.

The slightly rounded eyes slowly relaxed and then curved into crescent moons.

At this moment, neither of the two people spoke, they just quietly felt the temperature of each other's body and experienced the warmth of being wrapped in the same clothes.

At this moment--

"Crack, click, click..."

Along with the sound coming from the balcony next door, a man with a cigarette in his hand walked out of the house at this time.

Probably also attracted by the lights here, the other party looked over subconsciously.

Immediately afterwards——

His original intention to light a cigarette stopped in his hand.

"Good evening."

Kato Yusuke nodded.

"Oh...good evening."

The other party responded with some embarrassment.

Sayu, who was accidentally witnessed this embarrassing scene by her neighbor, buried her head deeply like an ostrich.

…