Tokyo Rebirth: Start From Picking Up Sayu

The two of them bought this and that, and when they returned to the apartment, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.

In front of room "201".

Kato Yusuke was carrying two large shopping bags and was about to put them on the ground and open the door——

"Ah, I'll do it."

As Kei walked up from behind, he took out the key from his backpack and opened the door.

"Come on, please come in."

"...Well, thank you."

Kato Yusuke alternately looked at the opened door and the other person's face, walked into the entrance hall with a subtle mood, then kicked off his shoes and stood in the corridor.

Bang~

Immediately afterwards, Keiya closed the door and walked in.

"Mei, do you want to put the purchased items directly into the refrigerator?"

"Well~~ I still need to tidy it up before that. Can you please take it to the living room first?"

Kato Yusuke nodded and said a good word, walked into the house with shopping bags, and finally put the things on the floor in front of the refrigerator.

"Meow~"

The black cat was taking a nap on the cat climbing frame. When he came back, he opened his sleepy eyes, called him softly, and then continued to take a nap.

"By the way, Yusuke."

Megumi, who was on his heels, squatted down beside him and took out a box of fresh sashimi from the shopping bag.

"I remember Mr. Yoshida lives next door to you, right? Can you take this box of amberjack sashimi to him?"

"Hey, for Mr. Yoshida...?"

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but be stunned, while Kei nodded slightly.

"Well~~After all, the portion we bought is enough to eat, and the sashimi can't be stored for long, so I think it's better to share some with others, what do you think?"

"That's it..."

Kato Yusuke relaxed his shoulders slightly, "Well, I think this is a very thoughtful idea, so I'll go now."

To be honest, if he was alone, the most he would do was invite Yoshida out for dinner, and he would rarely think of these aspects.

However, when Youhui is around, he can always think of his inconsiderations and carefully fill in the gaps for him, showing that he is particularly thorough.

While thinking about this, he walked to the entrance with the sashimi.

Just when he was about to change his shoes, the sight in front of him stopped him unconsciously.

——Two pairs of shoes were neatly placed outwards, including the pair he took off casually a few minutes ago.

Kato Yusuke subconsciously looked back at the room. The girl was constantly putting ingredients into the refrigerator and freezer, her movements full of skill.

‘Is this really a female high school student? Even a housewife is nothing more than that...'

He couldn't help but think, then put on his shoes and went out to the next door.

Ding dong~

After pressing the doorbell and waiting for a few seconds, the owner's face will soon appear behind the door.

"Hey, Kato...?"

As if he didn't expect to see him, Yoshida looked confused.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Yoshida, are you taking a nap?"

"No, I'm not sleeping."

"That's good."

Kato Yusuke nodded slightly and handed the thing in his hand out, "If you don't mind, this is for you."

"Huh? What is this??"

"I went shopping with Megumi today and bought too much amberjack sashimi, so I brought a box for you to eat."

"--Well……?"

Yoshida scratched his hair hesitantly and asked, "Is this okay?"

"It's nothing. We seldom cook anyway, so you can use it to prepare food and drinks."

"That's it...Okay, then I'm welcome."

"By the way." Kato Yusuke thought for a while and then asked: "Megumi will be cooking at my house later. Do you want to come for dinner together in the evening?"

When Yoshida heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and declined.

"It still doesn't work. Thank you for your kindness, but I won't bother you."

Kato Yusuke heard the determination in his tone, so he didn't force it. After a brief chat, he returned to the room.

Unknowingly, the girl had finished sorting the things she bought and was now standing in front of the sink washing the ingredients.

Probably for convenience, the person involved took off his windbreaker jacket and scarf, and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt above his elbows, revealing two soft white forearms.

"Ah, welcome back, Yusuke."

Hui wiped his hands with a dry towel and asked naturally: "How is it? Have you seen Mr. Yoshida?"

"Well, I saw it, and he also accepted the things and said he was very grateful."

Kato Yusuke glanced at the counter as he spoke. Various washed vegetables were being drained in baskets. A whole piece of chicken leg meat was soaked in a metal basin next to it, as if the blood was being removed.

"Can I help you with anything?"

"No, I will take care of it slowly. You can do other things or take a nap."

"is this okay……?"

"I think it's okay. After all, I still have plenty of time. I plan to prepare the soup first, which will take about two hours. Besides..."

Hui leaned slightly against the cabinet and tilted her head to look at him.

"Although you seem to be okay, after all, you have been working at high intensity for a week, so it would be better to take a rest, right?"

There was a hint of concern in her voice, showing concern for his physical condition.

Kato Yusuke thought about it and decided to accept her kindness.

"Well...then I'll be in the room. Just call me if you need help."

When the girl said yes softly, he came to the bed and sat down on the carpet.

The slanting sunlight shines into the house from the window, bringing a warmer light than usual.

In the field of vision, the single ponytail was swaying.

The warm light shines on the silk-like hair, and the shadow of the T-shirt sunbathing on the balcony dances lightly on the girl's body.

The room is filled with strong personal touches.

Methodically, Hui continued cooking.

Boil water in a pot and cut the kombu into appropriate widths.

After the water boils, add kombu and bonito flakes in sequence and start cooking over low heat.

Chop the garlic and onion into mince, grate the cabbage and set aside.

Cut the chicken thighs into small pieces, add the sauce and cover with plastic wrap to marinate.

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

Goo-goo-goo, goo-goo-goo.

Swish, swish, swish.

As if she were a conductor, the beautiful notes danced in the girl's hands, echoing leisurely in the room as if they were full of life.

Kato Yusuke stared at the slender figure from behind, listening to the melody of cooking, and felt at ease.

The hazy afternoon breeze swayed gently, and the trees were snoozing comfortably.

The weakly breathing flames on the stove were waving in gentle waves.

The kitchen knife made a "dong-dong" sound on the chopping board.

Everything came together to form an extremely ordinary and extremely beautiful afternoon.

Drowsiness gradually came over, and Kato Yusuke's eyelids became heavier and heavier.

He shook his body unconsciously, his consciousness was pulled between reality and dreams, and he stepped into sleep.

…

——Click, click.

When Kato Yusuke opened his eyes in a daze, the surroundings were already orange-red.

In the room shrouded in twilight, the girl was sitting at the table with her legs bent, her face reflecting the cold light of the laptop.

Her medium-to-short black hair flows like high-grade silk, her skin with almost no makeup can be broken by a blow, and her long eyelashes cast a faint shadow under the warm sunlight.

That scene was even more unreal than the sunset at this moment, but yet inexplicably profound.

"benefit……?"

Kato Yusuke murmured in confusion, leaning on the bed board to sit up straight.

Rustling, rustling~

A blanket slipped from him.

The next second——

"——Meow meow meow!?"

Along with the abnormal noise coming from the legs, the blanket sliding to the thighs suddenly came to life and began to struggle violently.

Immediately afterwards, a black shadow suddenly jumped out from the blanket, climbed up the cat climbing frame in the corner, and nestled into the sleeping bag on the top floor.

Kato Yusuke looked at this scene in astonishment and couldn't figure out the situation for a while.

But soon, a sweet voice responded to him.

"Hey~~are you awake? Yusuke."

"Uh...? How long have I been asleep?"

"Well, it's five o'clock in the afternoon now. You and Xiao Hei have slept for almost two hours."

As Kei said this, he handed a glass of water from the table.

"Anyway, drink some water first, and I'll turn on the light."

"...Ah, thank you."

Kato Yusuke reached out to take the cup and politely thanked him.

Hui said you're welcome casually, then stood up and went to turn on the light.

--Snapped.

The bright yellow light illuminated the room, and Kato Yusuke instinctively squinted his eyes, gradually understanding the situation.

It was almost unnecessary to think about it to know that while he was sleeping, the other person covered him with a blanket, and Xiao Hei probably came over to squeeze in warmth with him later.

He put the blanket aside and said to the girl who returned to the table: "...I'm sorry, I obviously said I wanted to help, but I fell asleep for so long."

"Don't worry about that kind of thing. After all, I asked you to rest. Compared to this, dinner is already prepared. Do you want to eat it now?"

"I don't have any appetite for the moment, you can eat first."

"Well, I'm not hungry yet, so I'll talk about it later."

"Megumi, what are you doing with your laptop?"

"Ah ~ about this."

Generously, Hui turned the laptop screen towards him.

"This is……?"

"Hmm~ It's our game. I copied it from Mr. Yoshida and wanted to run the part I've made so far to see."

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this.

You know, even he has never done this kind of thing.

However, considering that as a producer, the girl has to check the progress with all members of the studio basically every day, it is not surprising that she can get the source code of the program.

He looked at the game interface displayed on the screen and suddenly became interested.

"That's it, can you let me take a look too?"

"Well, it doesn't matter to me. I'll give you the mouse." Hui readily agreed and moved away.

"Thanks."

Kato Yusuke moved to the table, took the mouse, and started studying it.

After five minutes, he had a general impression.

——A game demo that is not even a trial version.

There are a lot of blank backgrounds and materials, and there are no sound effects throughout, just like a silent movie.

In the entire demo, only the text, character drawings and CG have a higher degree of completion.

"I see……"

He commented with slight disappointment: "To be honest, there are still too many unfinished parts, so it can't be called a game."

Hearing the frustration in his tone, Hui beside him spoke to comfort him.

"Well~ After all, our overall progress is only 10%, but at least the part we've completed so far I think is pretty good.

For example, Yusuke's original paintings are exquisite, Kasumigaoka-senpai's text descriptions are beautiful, and Mr. Yoshida's program runs smoothly.

As long as you keep doing it, things will get better gradually. "

Kato Yusuke nodded slowly and said without interest: "Well, maybe it's like you said, I was too hasty."

Seeing that he was still not interested, Hui thought for a moment, and then covered the back of his hand holding the mouse with her right hand.

"Hey, Yusuke, look at this."

Click——

Along with the click of the mouse, the character on the screen suddenly said such a line.

[Fujibayashi Anzu: So come on! Yusuke. 】

"--Huh?"

Kato Yusuke couldn't help being surprised, "Why, is it my name...?"

He reflexively looked to the left and met a charming smiling face.

"Anyway, this is our game, you must make it a success~" the girl said, with an inexplicable courage in her soft voice.

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but be stunned. After three seconds, he said uncertainly: "You mean our... game...?"

"Is there something wrong?"

Hui tilted her head slightly and looked at him in confusion.

"No……"

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"I just keep thinking...whether it's the student union or the studio, am I always influencing you unilaterally and making you make choices to accommodate me."

"Huh……?"

As if she didn't expect to hear such words from his mouth, Hui blinked in surprise and murmured: "Um...could it be that you have always thought of me like this?"

"……Is not it?"

There was a brief silence.

"—There's no such thing, right?"

A smile appeared on the girl's face, and her expression softened.

"Let me tell you, you have a huge misunderstanding. The reason why I joined the student union and the studio is out of my own free will, and there is no forced idea."

"Why……"

"Hmm~ It's too specific for me to explain to you now. In short, in order to find something important to me, I really want to make games now, so you don't need to worry about this."

"Important things..."

Kato Yusuke muttered this word, his eyes thoughtful.

However, there was no intention to explain in the other party's tone, so it was difficult for him to ask further questions, so he had to put the questions deep in his heart for the time being.

"Rather than this, let's continue watching the game~"

The girl said, then clicked the left mouse button again to let the lines continue to scroll.

[Fujibayashi Xing: Speaking of which, that’s wrong, right? Yusuke. 】

Click——

[Tomoya: What does that mean? 】

"??"

Looking at the ridiculous lines and names on the screen, Kato Yusuke couldn't help but cast a puzzled look at Megumi.

"~~"

Without saying anything, a somewhat evil smile suddenly appeared on the other party's face, and he pressed the left mouse button again.

[Fujibayashi Anzu: That’s it, that one! On New Year's Eve, I went to Yinglili's house to celebrate the New Year. The girl sprained her ankle and was carried home at night by her "brother", plus the sweet memories of kiss. 】

"——!!"

The moment Yusuke Kato read the lines clearly, a chill suddenly climbed up his back, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

——Crunch, crunch.

The mouse rubbed against the table, trembling like a groan.

Someone reflexively wanted to withdraw his hand, but the girl held her tightly.

——Click.

[Fujibayashi Anzu: She obviously felt unhappy when she saw me and Keiichi-nii together before, but I am still flirting with the person I claim to be my sister. How do I calculate this? 】

"Gudu..."

Kato Yusuke swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty and looked to the side in fear.

The girl was looking at him with a smile, her expression still as gentle as usual.

However, in Kato Yusuke's eyes, that smile made him feel numb.

——Like a Shura.

…