At 6 PM, Hayama and Kato arrived at the apartment building.
"Hayama, I had no idea you lived this close to the school," she remarked casually.
"Yeah, when I was searching for a place to rent, I made sure it was within walking distance of the school, so I settled on this spot."
"Are you living alone?"
"Don't worry about it. I've been flying solo since junior high."
He added, "Do you want to come up for a while?"
"No need. It's getting late, and my parents would worry," she glanced at the entrance of the apartment building and shook her head.
"With daughter like you, I'm sure your parents must be at ease," he smiled, remembering the incident when Kato's father forgot about her.
"Come on, that's a bit much!" she pouted, rummaging through her bag. She pulled out "Love Metronome" and held it up with both hands, extending it towards him. "I finally finished reading this book. Thanks for letting me hold onto it for so long, Hayama."
He took the book. "No need to be so polite. You don't seem like the Kato I know anymore."
"Huh? Really? Well, in that case, I better head back now."
"See you tomorrow," he waved, his eyes following Kato as she walked towards the end of the road before walking into his own apartment building. However, as soon as he stepped inside, Hayama came face to face with someone he really didn't want to see — Yukinoshita Haruno.
"Oh my! Has little Hayama finally finished being all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend and decided to grace me with his presence at home?" Haruno quipped, her tone laced with sarcasm.
"Haruno, how did you even get in?" he asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.
"Huh? Why are you giving me the third degree? Did I interrupt your lovey-dovey time or something? I was just minding my own business here in the apartment, quietly observing. But I have to admit, it's pretty painful to watch, you know! Hayama comes to Tokyo for a little over a month, and he's already fallen for someone else?"
Haruno's tone was a mix of half-truth and half-falsehood, leaving him clueless about what she was really thinking.
"The competition isn't until May 1st, right? It's only April 26th, so you're here quite early, aren't you?" he pointed out.
"Huh! Don't you know that college students get an early break? Besides, what does the Sobu versus Toyogasaki competition have to do with the college student, little Haruno?" she tilted her head and feigned ignorance.
He couldn't be bothered to argue with her. He simply turned his head and walked towards the elevator. However, before he could reach it, she took a step forward and snatched Love Metronome from his hand. "'Love Metronome'? Is this the book your girlfriend gave you? Let me have a look..."
Casually flipping through the pages of "Love Metronome," Her gaze fell upon a bookmark that gracefully floated out of the book. He quickly leaned down and caught the bookmark. It was a cherry blossom bookmark, seemingly handmade. The cherry blossoms in Tokyo had long since fallen, but the cherry blossom depicted on the petal would forever bloom.
She thought to herself, 'That girl must have been the one who placed the bookmark there. But why can't I remember what she looked like?'
Meanwhile, he pondered, 'A bookmark? Didn't Kato finish reading the book? Why is there still a bookmark inside?'
With gritted teeth, Haruno commented, "A cherry blossom bookmark, how romantic."
"Give me the book, I'm going upstairs," he reached out his hand.
"Little Hayama sure seems to attract bees and butterflies," she remarked as she placed the book back into his hand.
"And are you a bee or a butterfly?" He took the book and smiled.
"I'm just a rejected little kitty," she suddenly adopted a dramatic pose, feigning a pitiful expression.
"Cut it out, I'm not falling for your act! If you have something to say, just say it without trying to gross people out."
"You're so heartless, Hayama! Even if you want to get straight to the point, couldn't you have waited until we got upstairs?" her tone suddenly shifted to a calm one, and she teased with a playful smile.
"No need to come upstairs. Let me go up and put this book away, and then I'll treat you to ramen later."
He politely turned down her request. It's easy to invite a god but hard to send them away. Once Haruno entered the room, it would be troublesome to get her to leave.
"Hmph, you're such a stingy man!"
...
Ramen Restaurant...
"Here's your Tonkotsu Ramen with coriander noodles. Dig in!"
Haruno glanced at the coriander ramen on her plate, a hint of disappointment evident on her face. "Seriously? You expect me to eat this?"
"A man should keep his word! If they had durian or bitter melon here, I would have made sure to add some just for you," he chuckled.
She clenched her teeth, mustering up her courage as she forcefully scooped up a clump of noodles. Pinching her nose, she swallowed it whole, without bothering to chew.
'Wow, she's scary woman! How can she bear this?'
His wariness toward Haruno grew even stronger. It was worth noting that she absolutely detested coriander, yet here she was, enduring its pungent smell and eating the noodles. It was truly beyond comprehension!
As they continued eating, she casually threw a few unrelated questions at Hayama, who responded with brief answers in between bites. However, halfway through the meal, she abruptly set her chopsticks down.
'Is she finally getting to the point?' he wondered to himself.
"Hey, Hayama, let me ask you something. Why did you leave Chiba and come to Tokyo?" she threw him a perplexing question out of the blue.
"Chiba is all about little sisters, and as someone who doesn't have a little sister, I don't fit in with them." His answer was also somewhat baffling, but he still spoke with a righteous demeanor.
"So, you left the little sister lovers in Chiba and came to Tokyo, where lolicons and perverts run rampant?" her eyes were filled with doubt and disdain.
"Nah, that's not the real reason. I actually came to Tokyo because the internet speed is blazing fast here. I think it's got something to do with the city being hotter, which somehow alters the density of the medium, affecting its permittivity and permeability. That, in turn, boosts the speed of electromagnetic wave propagation within a specific temperature range," he explained, sounding somewhat technical and scientific.
"Seems like moving to Tokyo hasn't taught you much besides spewing nonsense!" she ate a bite of coriander noodles in frustration, this time without bothering to pinch her nose.
He finished his bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen and locked eyes with her. "You didn't come all the way to Tokyo just to catch up with me, did you?"
She smirked playfully. "Can't a girl come to Tokyo for some sightseeing? Especially during Golden Week, it's the perfect time!"
His gaze intensified. "Let's cut to the chase. I don't want to dance around the subject with you."
She feigned offense. "Dancing around? My, aren't we being straightforward? No need to be so rude!"
She pushed her noodles aside and leaned back, resting her left hand on her chin. "I mentioned it earlier, didn't I? Little Yukino is coming to Tokyo too."
He nodded, recalling that she had informed him of this development earlier in the day. However, he hadn't anticipated her arriving in Tokyo that evening and managing to find his address.
"So, you orchestrated the showdown between Sōbu and Toyogasaki just to bring Yukino to Tokyo?"
She grinned mischievously. "Well, to be more precise, it's about bringing Little Yukino to reunite with Little Hayama!"
His lips twitched, a hint of curiosity and confusion flickering in his eyes. However, he kept his thoughts to himself, silently contemplating, 'What is Haruno's true intention?'
"Yukino has been going through a rough patch lately and she's been feeling down every day. As her older sister, I've been trying to talk to her, but it seems like she's not really listening. So, I thought maybe you could help brighten her spirits a little. I believe Little Hayama wouldn't turn down such a request, right?"
...
Next 34 Chapters are up on my Profile