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

Chapter 135 (Unfinished)

[I have a high fever. Sorry.]

[Not finished yet, will update as soon as the previous chapters are completed. ]

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"Takoyaki... Taiyaki... Oden..."

“And glutinous rice balls.”

The sticky glutinous rice ball still remained in his mouth, and his speech was unclear.

The taste is slightly sweet. The prepared glutinous rice balls are strung together and baked again in the oven to form a crispy crust. The texture is like a softer rice cake.

"Yan...I'm sorry...I asked you to eat what I left."

"Not really." He finally swallowed the glutinous rice ball. "Unless it's like an omurice that's been mixed and only half eaten, how can that snack be considered leftover?"

"But, I don't know whether you like it or not, I'm going to buy it anyway."

"It doesn't matter whether you like it or not...as long as it's not unpalatable, that's enough."

Walking down the slope with one-way street lights again, the gentle night breeze brought a little coolness.

Hanasaki and he had both taken off their fox masks and were walking hand in hand, entering the circle of light and then stepping into the shadows.

"..."

Hanasaki held a paper cup with two skewers of oden in her other hand, and after walking around the commercial street, she held Yan's hand, and the warmth between them gradually grew.

She was silent for a moment because of Yan's ambiguous answer.

I walked past the last light on the ramp and moved closer to him.

"Yan..."

"Do you still want to eat oden?" He knew that Hanasaki was searching for the right words to say something to him, but he still asked.

Although he had not encountered many such situations in reality, he had read many books and as a writer for entertainment magazines, he could generally judge that he was in a certain special atmosphere at this moment.

Perhaps words that should have been kept in the heart will be blurted out because of this special atmosphere, and you will regret it later.

He was now hesitating in a whirlpool where he could neither see nor hear clearly, but could feel the turbulent waves, and was extremely sensitive to any situation that might lead him to make a decision.

Maybe it was some sentence;

Maybe it was a look;
Maybe it was a sweet and sweet call.

It will make him feel uneasy and completely fall to either end of the scale.

Hanasaki wasn't the only one whose emotions were swirling because of this special atmosphere.

He still clearly remembered the warmth of Hanasaki's body when she hugged him, their synchronized heartbeats, and their souls trembling together.

Longing, attachment, joy, sadness... all kinds of complicated emotions were surging in his chest, even causing a panic of confusion.

What is he afraid of...

He knew it, he had known it a long time ago, he had known it from the moment he felt the vortex.

He was afraid that at this moment, Hanasaki would stop, wait for him to turn around, and call him softly like when they first met, "Hey, Yan..."

Then even if he said, "Let's go together, walk to the southern coast facing the Pacific Ocean, board a plane, take a boat, and go to the other side of the ocean."

He couldn't help but say goodbye to reality and followed the girl.

"No... No, I don't want to eat anymore..."

Hanasaki took a long time to come back to her senses and handed him a paper cup containing two skewers of oden.

Before he could take it, he shrank back, and his steps stopped, stopping under the white light of the street lamp.

She let go of his hand, picked up the bamboo skewers stuck in the oden ingredients, and looked up at him.

"Just give it to me directly..."

"No."

Hanasaki shook her head slightly, causing her soft hair to move slightly, shedding strands of light.

She handed the still steaming crab claws to his mouth, tilted her head back, and with a slightly blushing face, she imitated a mother feeding her baby.

"what--"

"what……"

He had no choice but to open his mouth and take the crab claws into his mouth.

"tasty?"

"Um……"

He snorted softly, still chewing.

"what--"

Hanasaki handed him another string of cod rolls and stuffed them into his mouth.

"..."

"What does it matter whether it tastes good or not..." She imitated his tone and expression, speaking in a rhythmic manner.

After saying that, she smiled, and her clear and watery eyes sparkled with crystal light, which was particularly moving under the dim light of the street lamp.

I'm afraid he won't forget this scene even ten or twenty years from now.

"Hey, geese..."

There was a glint of cunning in Hanasaki's eyes.

It was as if she had cast a spell to calm his mind by feeding him, using oden, and her extremely charming smile.

Savoring the taste of the crab claws and cod rolls in his mouth, he listened silently to her calling his name.

"I think... I don't want to be like this anymore... Whenever I talk to someone my heart starts pounding and I get so nervous I can't breathe..."

The girl's voice gradually trembled.

"Hey, Yan... I'm really happy. I've been really happy these past few days..."

Tears welled up in the girl's eyes again.

"Freshly baked red bean bread, steaming hot ramen, Ferris wheel, carousel, Kusamaru, fox noodles, takoyaki...

"Whatever I've thought of before, or not, I can just call out and see the geese bring it to me...

"Yan... I'm so happy. But... I don't want to go on like this..."

The girl closed her eyes, and the tears that had accumulated in her eyes slid down her cheeks and dripped into the white light cast by the street lamp.

"I don't want to just watch the geese bring me what I want, I don't want to just let the geese pull me forward..."

When she opened her eyes again, the rain began to fall uncontrollably from the dark clouds.

"I think……"

She sobbed in a dry voice. He stepped forward silently and wiped the tears from the corners of Hanasaki's eyes.

"I want to be like ordinary people, I want to be like the shining heroines in light novels... I also want to be like Yan..."

"So what if it looks like me..."

"If one day, someday, the wild geese get so scared that they turn away, I'd also like to... take you to see it..."

She kept talking, her pretty face looking tearful.

"Hey, Yan... I'm so scared...

“I’m so scared that this is all just a dream and I’ll be back in the hospital bed when I wake up.

“I was so scared that what I saw in the ward was the last time.

“I was so scared that I would have to wait in the rain all day on the day I came to Tottori from Tokyo.

"I'm so scared you won't come tomorrow..."

"It's not a dream... I'm here..."

He rolled his Adam's apple and his voice became a little hoarse.

He could no longer stay in the storm, and could no longer hold back and hold the sobbing Hanasaki in his arms.

"Don't cry..."

Hanasaki's heart seemed to be connected to his.

Once they embraced, the tears that filled her heart surged into his like a tide, making him sad.

"I……"

The more he tried to comfort her, the more Hanasaki cried out as if she had let down her guard.

"I also want to look for you just like you came to look for me..."

The cry of the heart, wrapped in tears, fell on the streets of Tottori; fell in the silent world; fell in the whirlpool called fate; fell in his heart that should have dried up long ago.

By the time Yan dropped Hanasaki off at the hotel, the last bus had already left. He stared at his phone for a long moment, watching the digital clock tick past another minute. He followed Hanasaki into the hotel and stopped at the front desk.

"Is there any room available here tonight?"

"Yes...ah, didn't you and your girlfriend book a double room for permanent stay?"

"..."

"Feel sorry……"

Yan was stunned when he heard the words that the receptionist blurted out subconsciously, while Hanasaki stopped, turned back, and pulled his sleeve.

The receptionist realized another misunderstanding and bowed her head to apologize to him.

"Will Yan stay?"

"It's too late. We've missed the last bus." He nodded, thinking of his parents and Haruka.

"so……"

At this time, his parents were about to go to bed, and Yao was left alone in the living room waiting for him.

"For check-ins without a reservation, just show your ID and fill in your check-in information..."

After a moment's hesitation, the receptionist looked up at Yan and said, her eyes hinting at another hidden meaning - as long as there is no ID, it's fine. Electronic identity is not allowed as long as there is no identity proof. As long as you can't prove your identity, you can fill in the information and stay in the same room with your girlfriend.

He ignored the hint of suspicion in the receptionist's eyes and was about to open his backpack to take out his student ID and health insurance documents which were in the backpack compartment.

Hanasaki's hand slid down from her sleeve and touched his fingertips.

"Does Yan live in a room all to himself?"

"It's better to live in a room alone..."

Hanasaki took his hand. Just holding it made him feel dazed. The mournful call from under the streetlight still echoed in his heart.

Forget it, what does it matter if we live in the same room... He had already decided to move closer to this side.

"Sorry... Could you please let me fill in the check-in information for staying with my friends..."

He lowered the backpack strap and clenched his other hand a little tighter.

"Ok, Ok--"

The receptionist gave him a polite smile and pushed the registration form in front of him.

Just like the day he met Hanasaki at the Rainy Shrine, he filled in his information on the registration form and walked up the stairs to the registration room with Hanasaki.

Back in the room, Hanasaki looked at his backpack hanging on the wall and became curious.

"Did Yan bring his ID?"

"I brought my student ID and health insurance card."

"Can I see this...?"

"Can……"

He opened his backpack, then unzipped the back compartment, took out two documents, and showed them to Hanasaki.

"Student ID..."

Hanasaki stared at the photo of his student ID card that he had taken at school, revealing a genuine envy.

"I've never had anything like this before..."

"Never?"

"Well... I never had that even in elementary school."

She rubbed the certificate with her fingertips, which was very common to almost everyone born in the island country, and was reluctant to put it down for a moment.

"Yan..." She raised her head and chuckled at him, "I lied just now."

"I just didn't say it, so I can't call it a lie..." He turned his eyes away and subconsciously tried to argue, "Besides, in this situation... concealing it is irrelevant..."

"But, thank you..."

"Where..." He was somewhat reluctant to hear such words from Hanasaki's mouth.

Hanasaki looked at the photo on his health insurance card for a long moment, then returned both documents to him and put them back into the compartment of his backpack.

In that photo, he was still in elementary school, with a childish face, yet an expressionless and lifeless look.

"I can tell it's you at first glance..." Hanasaki commented to the teenage boy.

"Hey, Yan..." she called again, "Aren't your family members worried about you spending the night outside?"

"More or less..."

He turned on his phone, took another look at the time displayed on the lock screen, entered his password, and called his mother.

He recalled that this was the first time since he met Hanasaki that he had real-time contact with his family other than when they were riding the country bus.

There was a time when he sent a message - when he went to buy fast food for Yao.

But that time, I was sure that Yao was fast asleep, and it was indeed not until the evening that I saw his message and sent a response.

The dial tone sounded in my ears.

Hanasaki stopped talking. The windows of the room were tightly closed, and no sound could be heard from the rooms above, below, or to the left.

Suddenly, everything seemed to be completely silent, with only the dial tone ringing at a fixed frequency.

The dreamlike feeling that had always been lingering in my heart suddenly spread out, as if enveloping the entire room in another world separated from reality.

He felt that not only the phone that was ringing, but even the text messages that were connected to reality could not be sent.

He thought so, and was silently drowned in the vortex of the storm that could not be heard or seen...

It wasn't until the "beep" sound of the connection was heard that pulled him back from the vortex that he was sinking deeper and deeper into.

"Is it Yan? You called so late—"

His mother's voice came through the other end of the phone and fell into his ears. He rolled his Adam's apple, trying to make a sound and talk to his mother.

"I missed the last bus..."

"So... you're not coming back?"

His voice also clearly reached his mother's ears.

Only in this way could he clearly feel the tide of reality rushing back at him from all directions, with the sound of rolling waves like tinnitus.

"Um……"

"So you're going to stay in a hotel, right? Or do you have any junior high school classmates you keep in touch with?"

"In the hotel room."

"Is there enough money?"

"Enough."

"Then have a good rest..."

"..."

Until the busy tone on the phone rang after he hung up, his mother did not ask why he suddenly did not come home at night, and continued to treat him with her usual attitude.

This time, he thought that it would be okay to ask in more detail.

Without asking any questions, he felt as if his sense of existence, which was originally rooted in reality, was gradually being pulled away.

"Okay?"

Seeing Yan put his phone back into his pocket, Hanasaki asked him softly.

"All right."

"Just one phone call is enough?"

"That's enough..." He noticed Hanasaki's slightly surprised look and couldn't help but ask, "Didn't Hanasaki just send a text message to reassure Auntie that you were coming to Tottori?"

"There's also a diary..." Hanasaki sat down on the bed, glanced at the diary on the bedside, and chuckled, "And there's Yan... How can Mother be at ease if I'm alone?"

"Is it……"

"Hey, geese..."

Hanasaki's eyes flickered slightly, and she suddenly called out in a clear voice, which no longer sounded so desolate when it reached his ears.

"Let's go to Hushan Pond together..."

"Festival?"

"tonight."

"Tonight..."

Now that I have decided to stay, the night before going to bed has become a time without any important matters.

"The stars outside the window are already shining... I want to go and see..."

(End of this chapter)