Tokyo: Who would still fall in love after being spoiled?

Chapter 124: Summer Town Bathhouse and Winter from the Valley

Amano and he walked one after the other on the quiet and empty streets of the town at night, about five meters apart.

Logically speaking, they should not be done one after the other, but in parallel.

You can chat, ask about your plans for the next day, or help with directions - what if Tianye is actually a person with poor direction who gets lost without Google Maps?

But he still chose to keep a distance and follow from behind.

Scenes related to Amano and fireflies echoed in his mind, not only the small world beside the stream and the fantastic scenes that happened to Amano; more importantly, there was the way Amano found various excuses to resist going with him to see the fireflies.

Regardless of whether it was one-sided or not, the distance between Amano and him began to gradually narrow.

It was as if he was slowly wading into the snowy valley, gently supporting the snow-covered tree trunk with his hands, wanting to take a short rest, but the snow on the tree suddenly fell off as if as a prank because of his approach, almost burying him in the snow.

That's why he subconsciously jumped out of the snow pile, kept a distance, and planned to observe for a while before moving on.

It was no longer possible to keep his distance - before stepping into the valley, he still had room to turn around and leave, but now he had seen scenery in the valley that had never been seen in the outside world. Leaving directly would only make him regret it for the rest of his life.

In fact, the answer to the question about the future had been told to him by some unknown god at the very beginning - regardless of whether the future was predicted and then affected in decision-making, fate would always make them meet, and then in the process of getting along, they would gradually become entangled in order to benefit from it.

Therefore, from the very beginning, the advice given by the unreliable god was not to keep his distance or turn away, but to let him find a way to become strong enough to survive a series of entanglements.

but,
If it comes to this, and he is not the one who sacrifices, will there really be no one else who will sacrifice?
Even though he had lived for many years and even knew the future, he still didn't understand it clearly...

Besides, he didn't want to analyze his heart from this perspective, and the emotion he was entangled with now was never love.

"Inoue-san." After an unknown amount of time, Amano, who was walking in front of him, suddenly stopped and turned to look at him.

"what's up?"

"How long are you going to follow me?"

"I'm going to the bathhouse. Aren't we going the same way?"

"..." Amano sighed silently, "Look at where we are now? Which direction is the bathhouse?"

"Now?" He looked up and around.

"Just how bad is your memory, or have you never lived here with your parents since you were a child?"

Well... it seems that Amano is not only not directionally challenged, but on the contrary, he can remember a place clearly as long as he has walked it once.

Before he knew it, the bathhouse was behind him - damn, when did this happen? He had been too childish lately, and from this perspective, he should stay away from adolescent girls.

Come to think of it, among the peers he has been interacting with recently, the male to female ratio has exceeded one to six at least. Could it be that he has been infected with some strange smell because of this?

"It's night time now." He made up an excuse, implying that he was protecting him from being targeted by dangerous elements.

But this is his hometown after all, and doing so would bring shame to his hometown... There's no way around it, it's just that he is so selfish.

"Ah... Is it dangerous here at night?" Amano also suddenly became alert after hearing his words.

It seems that in the girl's heart, she is more willing to trust him than the town where she just visited for half a day.

"It's very dangerous," he said seriously, trying to scare Amano. "People here don't even leash their dogs, and they don't care whether they lock the gates at night. Outsiders like you can easily be targeted by dogs at night."

"Then it seems safe." After hearing his words, Amano felt relieved.

"Ok?"

"Not caring about locking the door at night indicates a harmonious neighborhood with no bad people," Amano said. "As for dogs... as long as you don't show any signs of intruding into their territory and don't make them feel threatened, they won't attack."

"Is this so..."

"Oh, so, Inoue-san did something bad and was chased by a dog from his hometown?"

"How is that possible? I'm just worried about you."

During the conversation, the distance between them gradually shortened - after all, it was strange to have a conversation at a distance of five meters, so they moved a few steps closer to each other.

In the end, Amano said nothing more and walked to the hotel almost side by side with him.

It seems that rather than being followed and guarded by someone from five meters away, she feels more at ease walking side by side with them openly.

Amano went upstairs to get the necessary toiletries and a change of underwear. Since he hadn't known he'd have to go to the bathhouse separately, he stuffed his clean underwear and the one he'd changed out of into a messenger bag. He then borrowed a plastic bag from the hotel front desk and put the toiletries in it.

However, there is also the possibility that she did not change her underwear. Amano's main purpose of returning to the hotel first was to put the trumpet in the room first.

After Amano got his things and was on his way from the hotel to the bathhouse, he kept noticing how much Amano cared about his messenger bag.

At this moment, the underwear in the messenger bag was like Schrödinger's cat to him. As long as he didn't really open it to check or ask Amano directly, it would always be in an unobserved state.

This was even more interesting than the fact that Amano changed his underwear - only for him.

"Amano-san."

"Ok?"

"Ever heard of Schrödinger's cat?"

"You know, then?"

"nothing."

Amano found him baffling, but didn't ask any further. She wasn't the type to ask questions, which was probably a good thing for him.

They walked into the bathhouse, and a girl with a pair of low pigtails greeted them with a business-like energy.

"Welcome light..." When the girl saw them walking in, her business lines stopped abruptly and she stared at him with wide eyes.

"Long time no see, Eri." He had to speak first to say hello.

"Well! I haven't seen you since the summer vacation, and I thought you wouldn't come back this summer vacation." The girl glared at him unhappily, as if she was going to blame him.

Without waiting for his answer, she changed the subject the next second, "Is that the girlfriend you met in Tokyo? Has it gotten to the point where you want to bring her home to meet your parents?"

"So this is how it looks to others? I'm suddenly quite happy..." He chuckled and organized his words.

This move carries a certain risk - if Amano has a favorable impression of him, he will close the distance between them all at once and might even bury him in the snow again.

But at the same time, as long as his judgment of Amano is correct, saying this and then Amano himself speaking out to clarify will be a hundred times more credible than anything he says himself.

"Ah..." As he expected, Amano was already accustomed to his sudden abnormal behavior and sighed helplessly, "Please don't misunderstand, we are members of the same club. I am here to supervise him to continue working hard for the club activities."

"Pfft..." Eri couldn't help but look like she wanted to laugh.

Is it really that funny?
"Besides," Amano thought for a moment, a polite smile plastered on his face again, "I do have a certain interest in places like this. The surrounding environment, the pace of life, the atmosphere... every aspect is very different from where I've lived before."

"Ah... compared to places like Tokyo, this kind of countryside place is really..." Eri suddenly felt disappointed and stopped laughing at him.

"If there were no other things to disturb me and I just lived here, I might like it more than Tokyo." Amano shook his head slightly and said sincerely.

"That's because you've always lived in Tokyo and are used to it...and this is your first time here, so it just feels new." Eri disagreed.

"You have good taste. I like it here too." He couldn't help but join in the discussion, "Especially since there are only three trains and they're often late."

"Later..." Amano didn't know what to say to him.

"Ah...Achu, are you sure you're not being sarcastic?"

"How could that be?" He knew this man yearned for Tokyo, but to doubt him just because of that yearning for Tokyo was too low a trust level—even less than Amano, whom he had just met. At least Amano would choose to trust him over the town.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore..." Eri felt bored and waved her hand, asking, "Are you guys here to take a bath? Do you want separate baths or a mixed bath?"

"Mixed bathing?" Perhaps Amano connected the matter with what he had just said, and cautiously took a step away.

"There is no mixed bathing in this bathhouse, don't get me wrong." He had to say.

"If you really want it, you can have it—" Eri said jokingly, stretching out the last syllable.

"Where is Haruko now?" He suddenly thought of Milk Candy. Judging from Eri's reaction when she entered the door just now, it didn't seem like she had known from Haruko in advance that he was coming back today.

"You've rested, right? Haruko didn't come to the bathhouse. I haven't seen her this afternoon." Eri stopped joking and took out the towels and slippers provided by the bathhouse. "Three hundred yen~"

Amano paid the money and Eri looked at him.

"You'll pay five hundred!" she said.

"why?"

"How long have we known each other?" Eri asked him instead of answering his question.

"primary school."

"So we're childhood sweethearts after all, right?" Eri complained. "You didn't even tell me about the souvenirs you brought back from Tokyo. Were you afraid I'd influence you in pursuing that young lady from Tokyo next door?"

"Five hundred then..." He couldn't stand the nagging anymore and took out a five hundred yen coin from his pocket to pay.

"It's eight hundred now!" Eri raised the price greedily.

"Eight hundred... isn't that too greedy?"

"If you don't give it to me, I'll run in and take nude photos of you! And then post them online." This person really has no bottom line.

While they were bickering, Amano had already walked into the curtain with the women's bath sign and went to take a bath.

"You have a phone? How about adding me as a Line friend?"

"There's no such thing..." Eri took out a keypad phone from her pocket.

"Then let's exchange email addresses," he said.

I can't help but wonder what kind of mobile phone my parents are using now, and whether it is a bit old. Next time I come back, I can buy them each a new one.

“…You have to pay for that too.” Eri softened her attitude but still said it.

"Didn't I already give it to you? A 500 yen coin." He took out his cell phone and turned on the infrared.

"Ahh...! I'll give you the change after I add the email address."

"It's only two hundred yen. Consider it a souvenir. I bought you a bottle of soda."

"Hey! Soda in Tokyo costs 200 yen? That's so expensive..." After adding the email address, Eri was surprised by what he said.

"Not only that, a full lunch costs at least 400-500 yen. Just counting food and commuting, the daily expenses are about 1,500 yen. Add in rent and it's 100,000 yen a month, and that's just for the necessary expenses."

There are also various social activities, daily necessities and clothing for all seasons...

"So, after hearing this, you still want to go to Tokyo?"

"Of course! The expenses are quite high, but the hourly wage is also high!"

"The combination of novelty and curiosity." He commented, changed into slippers and went into the men's bathing room.

It was already around eight or nine in the evening, which was outside the peak time for people in the town to come to the bathhouse to take a bath. When he took off his clothes, folded them into the grid, wrapped a bath towel around his waist, and walked into the bathhouse, the entire men's bath was even empty.

Although they couldn't avoid soaking in the same large pool they had used together, the water still looked crystal clear to the naked eye, and the fact that he had the pool to himself made it feel much cleaner.

He first sat on the side and submerged his calves below the knees in the water to feel the temperature.

The pool water is not very hot and probably won't be filled with hot water anymore.

The next morning, the pool water is drained, and the bathhouse owner and Eri mop and clean it up, and then the business resumes near dusk. This is how it is every day.

After testing the water temperature, he slowly sank into the pool, leaving only his shoulders exposed above the water. He relaxed his body and mind, and his thoughts began to run wild.

It took him a long time to digest what Amano said in the afternoon, but his mind couldn't help but think of Takeda who was far away in Tokyo at this moment.

I will probably go back home tonight, and I don’t know if I will come back before school starts. The Takeda family is originally in Tokyo, and they live in a boarding house near the school and even in the old residential area now just because it is close to the school and convenient for commuting.

Now that Takeda doesn't have to go to school, and apart from his part-time job at the grocery store, he has no reason to stay in the rental house - if he only takes a round trip a day, it's okay to take the train to and from get off work, after all, the start and end times of his part-time job are not during rush hour.

I wonder if she will quarrel with her father, and how she will communicate about her mother's hospitalization.

Will I still be in the mood to watch the fireworks on the day of Obon?

As he was thinking this, there was a sudden rustling sound coming from the locker room outside the bathhouse, but no one came into the bathhouse.

He couldn't help but think of Haruko's words that Eri knew he would fold the clothes he took off, so he remained alert and didn't relax his vigilance until the noise disappeared for a while.

The wind band will resume training in the early morning of the 16th. There is only one flight from Tottori to Tokyo at 8 o'clock during the day. If they choose to take the 7 o'clock flight in the evening, they will definitely miss the fireworks display in either Tottori or Tokyo.

I don’t know which day Amano will choose to return.

I'll ask after the bath is over. If conditions permit, I'll go back with Amano then...

After soaking in the hot pool for a while, he walked to the shower head and rinsed his body...

When I was getting dressed, I found that the clothes that were originally neatly folded had signs of being moved, and my cell phone was missing.

Terrible... Is it a popular thing among girls aged 16 or 17 to follow, spy on and observe a boy named Inoue?

And this time he also stole his cell phone, which was no longer just stalking like Amano, but was an illegal act.

No, since both of them have criminal records, it is possible that it was Amano who stole the phone this time.

He put on his clothes and walked out from the curtain with the words "Men's Bath" printed on it. Just then, Eri walked out from the curtain of the women's bath, holding his cell phone in her hand.

"Ouch! I thought you were going to wash for a while longer... But it's just right."

"Give me back my phone." He walked forward and saw Amano coming out of the women's bath behind Eri.

Her face was flushed from taking a bath, and her wet hair was cleverly tied into a knot, revealing her clean, white neck.

"Here—" Eri couldn't have failed to notice Amano behind her, but she raised her voice a little with a playful smile, "The photos you asked me to take, Chu, are all in there! They're super revealing..."

He withdrew his hand that was about to take the phone and saw Amano looking at him with confusion in his eyes.

"……photo?"

"Ah! What, nothing!" Eri pretended to be startled and turned around with her phone in both hands behind her back.

At the same time, she secretly gestured to him to take the phone.

What a frame-up!
He looked at Amano, and as he saw her gradually understand the situation, his eyes gradually turned cold, and waves of chills came from them.

There's an avalanche in the valley...

(End of this chapter)