Tokyo Rebirth: Start From Picking Up Sayu

After the bonfire party, the students collected their trash and cleaned up the square before heading back to their residences.

While walking on the road, Kato Yusuke suddenly received a call from Akane Kurisaka.

Considering that he didn't know what the other party would say, he told the Mangkhut brothers to let them go first, and he went to a secluded place outside the wooden house.

It wasn't until a few seconds before the call was hung up that I pressed the answer button.

"Good evening, Miss Kousaka."

"Oh, you're not dead yet?"

An unhappy tone came from the other end of the phone.

"I was wondering if you encountered some mountain disaster or something like that. Isn't this a good thing?"

"That's all you say at night. It's because of your bad character that people stay away from you."

"Oh? So it turns out that I am so jealous that you want me to die? Your choice of words has become euphemistic~"

"Just think of it as a rare kindness."

"Haha, this is strange. I'm used to being scolded, but being cared about, especially by a boy who is a few years younger than me, is a bit subtle."

"A few years younger? Well, regardless of other things, at least the feeling of this sentence is quite subtle."

"..."

Akane Hongsaka paused for a moment, and her voice suddenly dropped twice, "Watch what you say, little bastard."

Kato Yusuke smiled lightly and asked, "So, what's the reason for calling so late?"

"It's nothing."

"That's it?"

"——If you hang up the phone now, don't blame me for not reminding you when you feel regretful and want to cry."

"Little aunt, please tell me if you have something to do. The bathhouse here has time limits. If you go too late, you won't be able to take a bath."

"If you don't want to, I can take you back~ My bathtub is big enough for you to play in it."

"...Where are you from, Mama-san?"

Playful laughter rang out.

"No~am I not your benefactor?"

Kato Yusuke's lips curved slightly, "Let's get to the point, Akane?"

"…………"

There was silence for a while.

"...Do you want to die? Boy."

A fast and low voice came over, as if he was concealing something.

After a while.

Akane Hongsaka asked: "Anyway, you are still in Chiba County now, right?"

"Ah, that's right."

"When are you coming back?"

"tomorrow."

"When exactly will we set off?"

"Don't you usually ask about arrival time? Departure is at half past eight in the morning."

"Oh~ ok, got it."

"So there's something-"

"--beep."

The call was terminated unilaterally and directly.

Kato Yusuke stared at the phone screen for a while, frowned slightly, then returned to normal, and put the phone back into his pocket.

He didn't call back, nor did he think deeply about the meaning of Benisaka Akane's call. After all, that person was a bit mysterious to begin with.

Until now, he could barely find a sense of getting along with the other person. As for more, he would just take it one step at a time.

Kato Yusuke quickly put this matter behind him and began to think about what specialties to bring back to his relatives and friends.

With this thought in mind, he slowly walked towards the cabin.

…

at the same time.

After taking a bath, Yinglili dried her hair and returned to the wooden house where she lived.

In a room with a light on, Kei and Kako, who live in bunk beds, are sitting on the bed chatting.

Seeing her coming back, Yoshiko raised her hand and said hello: "Oh~ welcome back, Sawamura-san, do you feel comfortable taking a bath?"

"Thank you, Himekawa-san. Well, the hair dryer in the bathhouse is a bit weak, which makes it inconvenient to dry your hair and takes a little time."

"I understand, I understand. After all, Sawamura-san's hair is long and beautiful. It needs to be taken good care of. It's great. It would be great if my hair could be as good as Sawamura-san's, at least half like it."

Hearing this, Kei complained in a nonchalant manner, "If it's Kako, you should at least grow your hair long, right? But I remember that you seem to like short hair."

"Hmm~~Should I say I like it or something? I don't hate long hair. I will naturally grow it long when the time comes."

"I always feel that if that's the case, maybe there's nothing we can do until we graduate, right?"

"Ahh~! No, Xiao Hui! How can you say such things at this time? As a friend, shouldn't you encourage me!?"

"I'm sorry, even if you say that...basically, Jia Zi's goals are so high that I really don't know how to encourage you."

"Well, Hui..."

"Huh? What's wrong, Yinglili?"

Yingli sat down on the bed next to them and asked hesitantly: "Actually, I have run out of hair oil. Can you lend me some of yours?"

"I see, um~ that's okay."

After rummaging around in the storage bag, Megumi handed over her hair oil.

"I found it, here it is for you ~ Yinglili."

"Yeah! Thank you~! I'll give you a new one later."

"It doesn't matter~ Ying Lili, can you handle such a small thing by yourself? If you don't mind, I can help."

"Really? That's fine, but won't it disturb your chat?"

"Not at all, Sawamura-san."

Himekawa Yoshiko said first: "This is already the third night we have stayed together. It doesn't matter if you don't need to be so polite, so can I help? No, please let me help too!"

"Huh?"

"Actually, I've wanted to touch your hair for a long time. I want to touch it, I want to touch it, I want to touch it! So is that okay?"

"Uh... this, that... Hui, Hui?" Yinglili shrank her shoulders and looked at Hui helplessly.

It was probably the same feeling as when he invited her and Yusuke to the folk dance, although in fact the invitation that actually turned into words was only to her...

However, Yinglili may not like having her hair touched by unfamiliar people, so this feeling is not incomprehensible.

Hui was thinking about this secretly in his heart, so he said:

"Sorry, Kako, I will help Yinglili now, and you can just watch from the side. Is this okay? Yinglili."

"Oh~~~then, okay."

"Yeah, okay."

Kako drooped her shoulders with a look of disappointment.

Yingli nodded in affirmation and moved to the side to make a little space, and Hui sat down next to her.

"Then shall I start? Yinglili."

"Well, please."

"Won't."

Hui squeezed some hair oil into the palm of her hand, rubbed it with her fingers, then climbed up the long golden hair in front of her and spread it evenly on it.

The touch feedback from the fingertips is soft and smooth, and the slight humidity in the hair has a unique comfort, which is very comfortable to touch.

Although she was mentally prepared, when she actually touched Yinglili's hair, Hui was a little surprised in her heart, and she unconsciously cried out "Ah" in a low voice.

"What's wrong? Megumi."

"No, I just think Ying Lili's hair is really good."

"Really? Thank you, otherwise Megumi would have grown her hair long. I think long hair suits you very well, and your sense of character is more distinct, unlike now where you feel like you can't find your place, and you are easily buried by the people around you. .”

"Ah, um... Putting aside the matter of growing your hair long, I still feel that your words are a bit rude. Is it my imagination?"

"It's not an illusion!" Ying Lili twisted her body back and forth and said plausibly:

"You mean you've obviously had long hair before. You should have noticed it when you looked in the mirror, right? That's how a heroine should feel. Although there are some works that use short hair as heroines, Megumi's short hair, the character I can’t stand it at all.”

"Ah~ good. Although I don't know if I can find a sense of the character, I will still work hard on growing my hair long."

Jia Zi, who was watching from the sidelines, burst out laughing when she heard this.

"Pfft, then me too! Although I don't understand some of your words, but on the matter of Xiaohui growing her hair longer, I support you with both hands! Sawamura-san."

"Uh, thank you, Himekawa-san."

Eiri thought for a moment and said, "Speaking of which, Himekawa-san just talked about the topic, what does that timing mean?"

"……Eh?"

"No, you just chatted with Hui and said that you will grow your hair long when the time comes. Is there any special meaning?"

Himekawa Yoshiko blinked her eyes, smiled dryly and scratched her cheek, and said perfunctorily: "...Ahaha, it turns out that's it, um, I've mentioned it before."

"...Did I ask something I shouldn't have asked?"

"That's not the case... Well, forget it, it's actually not something to hide, it's just a little obsession of mine. If Sawamura-san wants to know, it's okay to tell you."

With Hui's help, Yinglili happened to have applied hair oil at this time, so the two of them cast their eyes on her at the same time.

When they looked at her like this, Himekawa Yoshiko suddenly felt a little nervous for no reason, so she made a joke.

"Hmm... I always feel like it's like a girls' heart-to-heart meeting?"

"Hey! Wait for me."

When Yinglili heard this, her eyes suddenly lit up, and then she quickly walked to the other end of the wooden house, took off her sports backpack from the hook on the wall, and ran back with the backpack.

Under the confused looks of Megumi and Kako, she just unzipped the backpack and turned it upside down.

Hua la la la la——

Various snacks were poured on the bed.

"Ah, it's snacks."

"It's a snack, but why?"

As if she was a little embarrassed, Yinglili explained: "Since it is a heart-to-heart meeting, we usually talk while eating snacks, right? My mother just prepared a lot for me and asked me to share it with my friends, so..."

'But that's usually before brushing your teeth...Does Sawamura-san lack common sense in this regard? ’

Himekawa Yoshiko couldn't help but think so, but when she looked into Eiri's dazzling eyes, she couldn't say these words again, as if there was some kind of guilt stopping her.

While thinking, she also spoke: "So that's it. Thank you, Sawamura-san~ Then I'm welcome."

The three of them each took snacks in their hands, and the sound of tearing open the packaging was heard one after another.

"Ahem, regarding the question just now, the timing I mentioned is actually nothing special. It's just that I like Mr. Nakamura, so I want to wait for the outcome of the matter before deciding on this matter."

"Like it? Teacher Nakamura?" Yingli murmured subconsciously, tilting her head in confusion.

A few beats apart.

"Eh? Like, like——? Himekawa-san likes Mr. Nakamura?? That Mr. Nakamura who teaches modern society class!?"

The unexpected development made her scream out unconsciously, her mouth opened wide, and her thoughts fell into confusion.

"Wow, why are you so surprised? Aren't there a lot of girls who like Mr. Nakamura? Please stop looking at me like that, Mr. Sawamura, it's so embarrassing."

"Uh, ah, I'm sorry, I didn't expect it to be such a serious reason."

"Seriously...? I mean, doesn't Sawamura-san have someone he likes?"

"Wha, happy, happy joy and joy! Why? No, that kind of thing!"

There was a pop, as if the sound of a kettle boiling sounded in the room.

"Oh~? This kind of reaction is so suspicious~!" Himekawa Yoshiko touched her chin and suddenly became energetic, "Hey, Xiaohui, what do you think?"

"Ah, um... it doesn't matter if you ignore me on this topic." Hui said casually, not wanting to get involved.

In contrast, Yinglili's face was full of anxiety and full of flaws.

"Na na ~ Sawamura-san, Sawamura-san, who is the person you like? Can you tell me?"

"I-I don't have that kind of partner-!"

"Hey~~~Don't say that. This is what girls talk about in heart-to-heart meetings. I've already told you the person I like. It would be too cunning if you were the only one to hide it."

"B-but..."

“Just tell me, I promise I won’t tell anyone else, so please~~~”

After a short silence.

"Sorry, Himekawa-san, I don't have anyone I like."

"Eh? But your reaction..."

"--but!"

Yinglili coughed lightly, cleared her throat, and pretended to be calm:

"It's just that I have a very good friend. She has talked about this topic and troubles with me. If you insist on listening, I can briefly talk about her..."

"..."

Himekawa Yoshiko blinked her eyes repeatedly, her expression became a little subtle, and then she immediately answered:

"Okay~! Then please tell me about that friend. Of course, I will keep the information about that friend a secret~~~"

"Um, um, thank you...then...where should I start?"

"Well, why don't you first tell me how that boy looks? Is he handsome? Is he tall? And how did your... friend fall in love with him~"

"Do you want to tell me in such detail? No, because there are some things that I don't know very well, and she didn't tell me completely, so..."

"That's it~ That doesn't matter, just tell me what you know, Sawamura-kun~?"

"In that case..."

Yinglili took a deep breath, stuffed a milk candy into her mouth, and began to speak in the name of an outsider.

…

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