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

Chapter 56: Takeda’s summer vacation celebration party is - a deluxe bento box from the grocery store!

He threw his shoulder bag into his room and went out again. After thinking for a moment, he didn't leave the door light on.

They hadn't decided what to eat late at night yet, so he was going to the grocery store to find Takeda. They would come back together to celebrate, so there was no need to leave the lights on.

"So, what to eat?"

"How about the deluxe bento boxes that have been removed from the grocery store?" Takeda was wearing her favorite tan plaid shirt and a pleated skirt that just exposed her knees.

She picked up the handbag that was placed at the front desk, which contained four boxes of lunch boxes that had been stored for more than 24 hours.

One serving of sushi, one serving of pork cutlet rice, one serving of fried noodles, and one sandwich with two cut in half.

The main components of the bento are staple foods, which are cheap and affordable and a good choice for filling your stomach.

"Aren't we going to celebrate?"

"But there's so much leftover bento today. Wouldn't it be a waste if we don't eat it?" Takeda leaned over the front desk, leaned in close, and sniffed. "Where did you go to dinner with your classmates? Sukiyaki, right?"

“But I didn’t eat much.”

"Unappetizing?"

"I was halfway through my meal when I saw you sent a message, so I stopped eating." He complained, "And then I had to eat the bento from the grocery store?"

"Another day." Takeda didn't sympathize with me and smiled happily, "If you really hold a grudge, I'll treat you then."

“Dede…” It’s just a grocery store lunchbox, so it’s just a grocery store lunchbox.

After all, who cares what you eat at a celebration party?

Takeda asked him to pick one box from the four boxes first.

He chose a sandwich.

Takeda will definitely eat pork cutlet rice.

They first put the two portions in the microwave to heat them up, and Takeda went to the staff room and moved out a stool to make room for him.

The two of them squeezed into the small space behind the front desk, waited for the microwave to ding to indicate that the bento was heated, and used the disposable bamboo chopsticks provided free of charge by the grocery store to enjoy this sumptuous summer vacation celebration meal.

The other two lunch boxes were also put into the microwave and the time was set.

Halfway through the meal, Takeda asked him to get two cans of beer.

"Aren't you not allowed to drink?"

"Just go if I tell you to! I've sold it to you many times, so why would I care just this once?"

"..."

He stood up, examined the refrigerator for a while, and took out two cans of non-alcoholic beer.

"Why is it this?" It seems that Takeda is not completely ignorant about wine.

"It's just that the alcohol content is low. It's still wine anyway. Driving on the road after drinking it will still be considered drunk driving." He opened the pull ring of a can and stuffed it into Takeda's hand.

"You're such a weird person," Takeda couldn't help but sigh. "When you buy alcohol, you don't look like you don't drink at all. You usually just let things go, but when it comes to drinking, you become so conservative."

"Alcohol damages the brain, and I don't want to become a fool." He didn't mean anything else, he really meant it.

"How am I stupid? You are stupid. You are stupid even if you don't drink. Idiot Inoue!" Takeda was angry and stuck out his tongue at him, like children quarreling.

"How did you do on your final exam?" He changed the subject, avoiding the question of beer.

"What about you? Tell me about yourself first."

"It's just so-so. I was always average before." He answered honestly.

In fact, this was indeed the first time he racked his brains to complete all the questions. His score ranking was naturally different from before, but he could only estimate the score range, not the exact ranking range.

This final exam is to rank the schools nationwide that take the same set of test papers.

"Then I'll be alright," said Takeda Tanming, who wasn't particularly competitive when it came to academic performance. "At least I'll have no problem getting into the University of Tokyo after graduation."

"A university in Tokyo?"

"Of course!" Takeda didn't quite understand. "Do we have to go to other cities?"

"That makes sense." He nodded in affirmation.

From the information he learned on the Internet, most of the voice actor agencies and dubbing studios on the island are also in Tokyo.

From Takeda's perspective, developing in Tokyo is naturally the best choice.

If he were an illustrator for his entire life, it would be the same for him. Most book publishers are headquartered in Tokyo. By the time the remaining two lunch boxes were heated up, they had already finished the first two.

Takeda gave him a sandwich and took half of the sushi from his lunch box.

When talking about their plans for the summer vacation, he said that he had to prepare for the youth painting competition and submit the illustrations for Kuroki's new novel before next Sunday.

During school this week, I was busy with piano club matters and preparing for final exams, so I didn't have much time to draw illustrations.

At best, I only completed the rough drafts of each illustration and the final cover and promotional image.

According to his plan, he would not have much free time this summer vacation, at least in the first half.

Takeda will continue to practice dubbing and go to a voice actor training center to learn dubbing techniques. At the same time, he will wait for the complete script of "The Wasteful Hero" to be delivered to him and prepare for the dubbing work of the adventure receptionist.

"Hey, I'm practicing in the rental house. Will it disturb your painting?" Takeda was rarely understanding and considered him.

"Aren't you going to the voice actor training center?"

"It's only half a day in the afternoon! Many of those studying dubbing are already working, and they don't have summer vacation."

"Then I'll paint in the afternoon." He thought for a moment and said.

In the morning, I went to school to draw the watercolor for the competition. In the afternoon, I went from Takeda to the voice actor training center and then to the grocery store to finish my part-time job. I had seven hours left when I got home, which was enough time for me to draw illustrations.

"Hey, Inoue." Takeda had finished his can of non-alcoholic beer. He shook the empty can and suddenly asked, "What do your family think of your painting and piano playing?"

"Home?"

The grocery store has been very quiet recently, with so few customers that he worries it might go bankrupt one day due to losses, and it will be difficult for Takeda to find a suitable part-time job like this.

"Didn't I audition for the Adventure Receptionist role?" she said. "The animation team's official audition arrived via email this morning."

"Ah."

"That's a pretty good role, right? Probably going to be in at least seven or eight episodes. Considering the workload, it's better than the main characters—they all get paid the same per episode."

"It's good."

"The final exams are over now. I'd say I did pretty well, and there's a good chance I've even improved compared to last time."

"And?" He poured the last bit of beer in his can into his mouth and let Takeda continue.

"I called my father." Takeda looked at him angrily, "Guess what he said?"

"Let me guess..." He thought for a moment, coughed, and pretended to be serious. "How much money can a voice actor make? If you put the effort you put into learning dubbing into your studies, you'd definitely get better grades than you do now."

"Exactly!" Takeda clapped his hands in approval and continued, "Then I told him to put the energy he'd had from watching football into his work."

"Did you have a fight?" he asked with amusement.

"I won!" Takeda said proudly, then went on to lament, "People have a limited amount of energy to devote to any given task, which is why we often have to switch things up. Actually, our brains are working hard every minute of every day; the only time they're idle is when we're asleep."

"Makes sense."

"I'm not very academically inclined, and I've put in all the effort I could. I've done the best I could!" Takeda's cheeks flushed slightly, and his voice rose unnoticed. "Besides, I just love dubbing, just like he loves watching football games."

He didn't say anything, just looked at the time and listened to her complaints that only people of her age would have.

"That's the bad thing about adults," she concluded, before launching into a broadside. "Of course I know they're doing it for my own benefit, but they always act like they've been through it all, and then they're incredibly stubborn. They won't listen to a child's opinions without a fight."

"Do you often quarrel?"

"Frequently argue!" Takeda affirmed. "One argument will resolve everything—put your opinions, my opinions, and so on out in the open, and have a big argument. Have a debate, let the conflict boil over and resolve it! Otherwise, if you keep it bottled up, it will only make things more confusing, and the whole family will be unhappy."

"That's absolutely right." He thought of his parents who were far away in Tottori. The last time they called them was in April when the cherry blossoms were in bloom.

"We're still a family even after a fight," Takeda said of his father. "Even though he disagrees with me, he still supports me after a fight. Today, an hour after we hung up the phone, he transferred me 100,000 yen, saying it was for voice acting tuition... 100,000 yen is not enough."

"We can still have dinner together after the fight, or can I get you some wine?"

"It's different now. Mom will help stop it." Takeda shook the empty beer cans and threw his own into the can recycling bin. He leaned over the table and sighed, "Soda and juice are still better... The tap water in school tastes better than beer."

“…Yeah, I think so too.”

　Thanks to Lord of Observability for the 600-point reward, and thanks to What's Not About Staying Up Late and Yukikaze for the 100-point reward.

　　Thanks to Xingjiu for the 6 monthly tickets

　　Thanks to Zurich_gifts, SOS Walking in the Sky, Book Friend 20220509162447477, Book Friend 20210713130113645, and Book Friend 20210809214202258 for their 2 monthly tickets.

　　感谢Chekyi、Haseroi、萌王星boy、正常人117、氲瞳、小幺囝、感觉开门、折影纸人、天剩我辈必游泳、明知无答偏偏想问、书友161019141752574、书友20201008125526133、书友20220421231032646、书友20170408224419212、书友20180621091707538、书友20240807132128693、书友20200402224808621、书友20220913150505783、书友20230718152113173的月票

　　
　
(End of this chapter)