Tokyo Rebirth: Start From Picking Up Sayu

From the day after sending Shiyu home.

In order to deliver the souvenirs he bought in time, Kato Yusuke decided to visit some friends one after another as planned.

During this period, Shiyu also made it clear that she wanted to act with him. The reason was to pass the time and see if there was anything he could do to help.

Although Kato Yusuke felt that it was not necessary, he still agreed.

The two also agreed on a time and place to meet, but things didn't go as planned.

Just when Shiyu was immersed in the fantasy of the two's date plan, Machida Enzi came to her directly without warning with a condolence gift.

The euphemistic name is a visit, but in fact it is to urge the manuscript.

As the deadline for "Metronome of Love" was approaching, and the actual progress was far from the deadline, Machida Enko became a courier.

As a result, Shiyu's beautiful fantasy was ruthlessly rejected.

Kato Yusuke doesn't know the specific process. Anyway, the final result is that Shiyu was placed under house arrest and was not allowed to leave the room until he finished writing the required manuscript.

The girl hated this so much, but couldn't resist, so she could only express her bitterness to Le through his video chat. The overwhelming resentment could be felt even through the screen.

Kato Yusuke had nothing to do about it. All he could do was listen quietly and say some words of comfort appropriately.

In this way, he finally acted alone.

Among them, the specialties brought to Yoshida were delivered yesterday evening.

The copy for Motoyama Mina was also sent by express this morning.

After that, Kato Yusuke took the lead in arriving at the Nakano family's residence according to the time agreed upon during the phone call in advance.

It is a traditional Japanese garden located near the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda Ward.

Simple and heavy gates, roads paved with slates and stones, houses with a sense of age, and bodyguards in black scattered everywhere.

Everything tells the difference of people here.

Led by a servant in a plain yukata, Kato Yusuke walked through the vertically extending corridor and finally arrived at a tea room located on the east side of the main house.

Opening the paper door and stepping inside, the scene inside immediately came into view.

The spacious traditional tatami-style room has an antique feel with decorative paper fans and framed calligraphy works hung on the walls.

Beautiful screens are artfully placed, with vivid marigolds blooming on them.

A hole was cut into the tatami in the center of the house, with a sunken hearth inside.

There was a kettle for boiling water on the stove. It was quivering gently at the moment, and it sounded very quiet.

There were two pale blue cushions on both sides of the hearth, and a girl with short black hair sat on the main seat.

The girl is wearing a white round-neck shirt and a light yellow knitted vest. The diamond-shaped plaid design composed of pom-poms is dotted with several hand-knitted flowers.

The dark green skirt on the lower body covers the knees, and the satin is embroidered with retro-style patterns. Through the feet curled up under the body, a pair of pure white calf socks can be seen.

The overall matching style is biased toward girls, while still being dignified and elegant, giving people a ladylike feeling.

Before Kato Yusuke opened his mouth, the woman who led him made a first move.

"Miss, your guest has arrived."

He bowed respectfully and bowed, then quietly exited the room, moving so quickly that he didn't even have a chance to thank him.

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but feel a little distressed, and immediately turned his gaze in the direction of the main seat.

"Guian, Kato-san."

Nakano Ryoko smiled at him, put her hands together on the tatami in front of her knees, bent slightly and nodded, giving a calm salute.

"Greetings after a long absence, how are you doing lately?"

"...Nakano-senpai."

The overly formal greeting made Kato Yusuke slightly uncomfortable, but he immediately suppressed it and responded while sitting down on the cushion.

"Long time no see, senior, I took the liberty of coming to disturb you."

"Excuse me? There is no such thing?"

Nakano Ryoko shook her head and said in a gentle tone, "And now is the time we made an appointment, isn't it?"

"That's right, but I don't have anything important to do here. I mainly want to give something to senior sister."

"Something? Just in case, may I ask first?"

"Senior, please tell me."

"The things Kato-san brought..." Nakano Ryoko suddenly smiled, "It shouldn't be something that would cause Kasumigaoka-san to misunderstand, right?"

Kato Yusuke was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then immediately realized that the other party was joking, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"...It's just some specialties from Chiba Prefecture, and Shiba-senpai knows about it. Sorry, I didn't expect Nakano-senpai to hear about these things."

"After all, you and Kasumigaoka-san are both the faces of our school, and with such an interesting thing happening, it has basically spread throughout the school~"

"As expected..."

"Kato-kun, haven't you paid attention to the school forum?"

"Because there have been a lot of personal matters in the past two days, I haven't paid much attention to these things on the Internet, but... I have imagined it a little bit, so is the matter serious?"

"If anything, I think the impact will not diminish until the end of the cultural festival, right?"

"That's a very bad situation..."

"Hmm~ It might be more troublesome for Kato-san, but I don't think this is a bad thing.

For two outstanding people to become a couple, maybe it will be a positive publicity for our school~"

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, so he didn't answer the topic and just pushed the condolences he brought towards the other side.

"...Then, if you don't mind, senior, please accept these."

"Thank you for your kindness, Kato-kun, then I will accept it."

Ryoko Nakano thanked him with a smile. He glanced at the many Chiba Prefecture specialties on the ground and found two familiar black vials, which were exactly the same as what the other party had given him before.

Her eyes moved slightly, and some questions flashed through her mind for a moment, but she didn't say anything more, she just accepted the things calmly.

Since Kato Yusuke said that thing is a beauty cream, then it is just a bottle of beauty cream, and there is no need to delve into it.

Even so, there were still some things that needed to be reminded of this good little boy, so she gently stretched out a hand and spread her palm upward.

"Kato-san, could you please take a closer look at my hand?"

"?"

Kato Yusuke was confused about this, but he instinctively turned his attention to the palm of her hand.

Qing Cong's five fair fingers, her skin color is also fair and rosy, and the lines on her palm are light. Even with a cursory glance, you can see how delicate the hand is.

"Do you have any questions? Nakano-senpai."

"Do you think there's anything wrong?"

"Should there be any problem?"

"There is one thing I should thank you for."

As if inadvertently, Ryoko Nakano spoke.

"Because I have been practicing kyudo since I was a child, my hands were not like what they are now. There are many marks left by practice on them, so I was told that they did not look like girls' hands.

But thanks to the gift you gave me before, this problem seems to have been solved. Kato-san’s beauty cream works very well. "

"It's good if I can help senior sister."

"Thank you~ But I think I won't need it anymore, and it's not good to ask you to give such expensive things all the time, so there is no need to force yourself next time, just give it to the people closest to you."

"..."

Kato Yusuke frowned slightly at first and stared at the senior who took his hand back in front of him. After two seconds, he nodded slowly, understanding something in his heart.

Nakano Ryoko didn't dwell on this for too long and changed the topic tacitly.

Just at this time, the kettle on the stove was boiling, so she put out the fire in the stove and asked:

"So, Kato-kun, are you used to drinking matcha? Or would it be better to get you the oolong tea you usually drink?"

"I don't have any objections, just let the senior sister decide."

"That's it, then just wait patiently for a while~"

"good."

Under the watchful eye of Kato Yusuke, Nakano Ryoko set out a complex tea set and then began to make tea.

Her technique is very skillful, but it is a pity that Kato Yusuke cannot understand the subtlety of it. He can only see the ease with which he is able to do it with ease from the calm expression, and he knows another specialty of Nakano-senpai.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

The tea mortar pounded the tea leaves meticulously.

— Bang, — Bang.

A melody that was different from the sound of tea making made Yusuke Kato look outside the room.

There are green pines and cypresses planted in the courtyard in the distance. Through the gaps between the neatly trimmed branches, you can get a glimpse of the blue sky.

There is a water feature in the unique courtyard. The elegant water feature is composed of deer and stone bowls, and is decorated with simple gray stone lanterns.

Fallen leaves swayed on the waving surface of the water.

The sound of gurgling water, the gentle chirping of birds, and the crisp sound of green bamboo hitting rocks.

The noisy cicada forest is more than quiet, and the bird singing mountain is even more secluded.

Between stillness and movement, a Zen-like artistic conception emerges spontaneously.

Kato Yusuke unconsciously felt calm and his mind was a little empty.

At this time, a pleasant voice stopped him.

"Speaking of Kasumigaoka-san, she is really a brave girl..."

Nakano Ryoko said with emotion as she lowered her head while busy.

"As a girl, to be able to make that choice in that kind of environment, you don't intend to leave yourself a way out, right? It's really a strong heart."

This is not easy to say.

Kato Yusuke thought for a moment and then continued.

"...Senior Shiyu, she does have a tenacious side."

"Can I ask something?"

"Senior, please tell me."

"Are you two dating now?"

One second slower.

"Well, that's right."

"Is that so..." Ryoko Nakano looked up at him with a smile, "You're dating and you're still calling me senior?"

"...Occasionally I will call you by my first name, but it's just more customary."

"I see, Kato-san, you are not free enough either."

"Sorry, I don't quite understand what senior sister means."

"Although this is just my personal opinion, you seem to be the kind of person who lives for a sense of responsibility. Even now, you are full of constraints, don't you realize it?"

Kato Yusuke frowned deeply, not knowing how to react.

This statement is somewhat superficial and profound.

The relationship between the two is more like that of a senior and a junior, which is not enough to support an in-depth conversation.

Nakano Ryoko should also know this, but she still asked.

This made him feel a little surprised, and at the same time he couldn't help but speculate on the deep meaning behind the other person's words, and immediately asked: "Can I also ask a question?"

"Of course, if I can answer~"

"What about Nakano-senpai, do you live freely?"

Faced with a question that was difficult to answer, he gently pushed the question back.

"That won't work, Kato-san." Ryoko Nakano smiled half-heartedly, "Pushing the problem back is not a commendable approach."

As she spoke, she scooped out an appropriate amount of matcha powder with a bamboo tea spoon and put it into the tea bowl several times. Then she took the tea spoon and started to stir the water.

A continuous swishing sound sounded, and the color of the tea soup gradually turned to matcha color.

"But."

Ryoko Nakano continued: "Since the person asking the question is Kato-san, I can answer you. I feel that I live a relatively free life."

Kato Yusuke nodded and said this.

He didn't mention his own affairs, and Ryoko Nakano also selectively forgot about it, and then handed over the brewed matcha.

"Tea, please."

"Thank you, senior sister."

Kato Yusuke picked up the tea bowl and took a sip. The hot tea soup spread in his mouth, exuding a unique matcha flavor with a long-lasting aftertaste.

The two of them chatted casually while admiring the elegant and quiet garden scenery.

"By the way, Kato-kun, are you drawing comics?"

"Well, that's true, but why would senior sister know?"

"Yes, why exactly~"

Nakano Ryoko chuckled and continued to ask: "Kato-san, what's going on during Christmas?"

"What do you mean, senior sister?"

"If you have no other arrangements then, just participate in the competition with the Kyudo Club."

"Contest??"

Kato Yusuke couldn't keep up with her thoughts.

"Yes, competition."

Nakano Ryoko nodded affirmatively, "Can you come to the high school national archery competition?"

"It seems a bit sudden. Is there any problem with the Archery Department?"

"There is no such thing ~ This is just my personal invitation, and it can be regarded as my retirement war, so I want to try my best to draw a good ending to high school, that's all."

"Even so, is it appropriate for me, an outsider, to participate in the Kyudo Club's competition?"

"Didn't you help the track and field club participate in competitions before? And your accuracy in archery is also good, so I think it's okay."

The situation does not seem to be easy to refuse.

Kato Yusuke thought for a while, and after considering the many cares the other party gave him, he finally agreed.

"I understand, if Nakano-senpai thinks it's okay..."

After that, the two of them didn't talk much more after drinking tea.

Just before noon arrived, Kato Yusuke, who didn't want to be invited to stay for dinner, said goodbye and then left the Nakano family's mansion on his mountain bike.

Nakano Ryoko came to the study alone, ready to discuss something with her father.

Just as she was about to knock on the door, her mother's voice suddenly came from the room.

"...Anyway, is this too hasty? Master."

Immediately afterwards, his father's voice also sounded.

"Stupid! Ryoko is already in her third year of high school and will graduate soon. How long do you plan to wait? Considering the future of the Nakano family, there must be a male to inherit the family business!"

"But... get married now or something, at least give that child some time..."

"I didn't say that I want her to get married and have children immediately, but there must be a candidate for a husband! After all...if Ryoko is a boy...!"

The conversation stopped here, and then there was silence.

Nakano Ryoko put down the hand that was trying to knock on the door, and stopped listening. She turned around and left quietly, her steps as light as a cat.

Strolling along the quiet corridor, looking at the garden scenery outside the window casually.

Nakano Ryoko looked normal, but she couldn't help but have a question in her heart.

——How much free time can we have?

…