I have a life simulator.

"Ok."

Mr. Izaki didn't ask any further questions, and the car drove towards an ordinary family restaurant following the map navigation.

About half an hour later, Kitagawa Ryo and Mr. Izaki arrived at their destination. As for their luggage, the driver took it to the hotel they had booked in advance.

"It feels pretty ordinary."

"There's really nothing special about it."

Judging from the sign alone, there was only a simple flag with the word "Japanese cuisine" hanging on the window frame. Kitagawa Ryo and Mr. Izaki observed for a moment and, seeing that there weren't many people inside, they pushed open the door and went in.

After looking around the store, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't find a girl who matched the photo. He figured it might be because it wasn't time yet, so he found a table and sat down with Mr. Izaki. Soon, a waiter brought them ice water and menus.

"It's a classic family restaurant; even the dishes are the same few familiar ones."

Although Kitagawa Ryo spent half a year in England, he spent most of his childhood in Tokyo. He had been to this kind of family restaurant with discounts many times. Seeing the children's meal with a flag on the menu, consisting of hamburger patties, fries, and salad, he couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic.

After ordering two pork cutlet set meals, Kitagawa Ryo turned his gaze to the window, swirling the straw in his water glass.

Outside, people were still coming and going. Even at the sweltering midday heat, the bustling crowds in this metropolis did not diminish in the slightest. Inside, however, it was much quieter, with only a few tables of guests quietly enjoying their lunch.

The soft yellow light shone down, and Kitagawa Ryo felt a sense of comfort and peace in his eyes, a relaxed smile on his face.

[This trip back should be considered a surprise for Hui, right?]

About ten minutes later, as two large pork cutlet sets were served to Kitagawa Ryo, a girl with long black hair pushed open the door of the restaurant.

"Oh, that must be her."

Kitagawa Ryo stuffed a large piece of pork chop into his mouth. He had no intention of going to find the other person. It was only Horikita Manabu who asked him to take a look. Since the other person appeared in front of him completely unharmed, he should consider that he had completed his mission.

Mr. Izaki sipped his miso soup with refined manners. Although it was an ordinary family restaurant by the roadside, he managed to make it taste like a high-class meal. Kitagawa Ryo always thought that his butler must have been a super handsome man when he was young, but now he was almost sixty years old and still seemed to be single.

"Looks like he's a regular customer."

The girl seemed to have a fixed spot and dining habits. Kitagawa Ryo and Izaki didn't even see her order. But not long after, the waiter brought over a lunch. Incidentally, while waiting for the meal, the girl held a book in her hand and looked down attentively.

"It's Agatha Christie's novel 'And Then There Were None'."

It's not that Kitagawa Ryo has particularly good eyesight. For a mystery novel enthusiast, both Agatha Christie herself and this famous mystery novel with over 100 million copies sold worldwide should be very familiar. So, just by glancing at the cover from afar, he was able to determine what book the other person was reading.

Seemingly noticing Kitagawa Ryo's subtle gaze, Horikita Suzune also glanced in their direction, but didn't seem to care and put down her book to start eating lunch.

"She seems to be doing quite normally so far, and both her appearance and her posture while eating are quite standard and excellent. No wonder she is Horikita Manabu's younger sister?"

Mr. Izaki had finished eating the food on his plate and, following Kitagawa Ryo's gaze, looked at the other person with interest.

"If Horikita could hear your praise, she might just rush over and pay for your meal."

Kitagawa Ryo quickly finished his lunch, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and said:

"After all, based on the information I've received, Horikita Suzune is probably a terrible imitator."

"is it?"

"As you can see, she eats and reads alone. In fact, she does everything alone, she is unwilling to interact with others, unwilling to cooperate in a team, and she doesn't even think there's anything wrong with what she's doing."

Kitagawa Ryo thought of Horikita Manabu, who was giving his sister a somewhat troubled evaluation in front of him, and said with a bit of a laugh:

“Sometimes I think, if Hui could have such mental fortitude and adaptability, she wouldn’t have been bullied when she was in elementary school.”

"Does the young master think this lifestyle is acceptable?"

"No."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head and said:

"It's just that everyone has commendable qualities, and I just think that Horikita did a pretty good job in that aspect."

"Even if you say she's running headlong down the wrong path, at least she's running pretty fast."

After saying that, Kitagawa Ryo lost all interest in watching anymore.

"Have you found the exact address and contact information for the Karuizawa family?"

"Yes, they moved to Toshima Ward. Here is their address and contact information."

Mr. Izaki showed the page on his phone to Ryo Kitagawa:

"Should we go over there now?"

"Um……"

Kitagawa Ryo seemed impatient when he couldn't find the address, but now that he actually had to go, he was caught in a dilemma:

"Um, would it be better to buy a gift?"

"...I remember that Miss Karuizawa has received quite a few gifts from the young master, including four handmade custom-made dresses."

"That's so that Hui will always have clothes to wear for the season."

Kitagawa Ryo, feeling a little embarrassed by what Mr. Izaki said, turned his hands away and explained:

"And Hui also said that she only wore it for me to see."

"I don't think that giving gifts too frequently is a good thing for your growth, young master or Miss Karuizawa."

Mr. Izaki cautiously suggested:

"What surprised me was that Ms. Karuizawa was able to accept them all without missing a single item."

"It's because I insisted that she accept it."

Kitagawa Ryo instinctively retorted.

"..."

Mr. Izaki didn't seem to want to say anything more; he seemed to have realized Kitagawa Ryo's feelings.

"grandfather."

The two walked along the roadside for a while before he felt Kitagawa Ryo tugging at his clothes, and even calling him "Grandpa" as usual.

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his head and apologized to him:

"sorry."

"Grandpa, you should understand what I'm saying. If I want something, even if it's a star in the sky, you might be able to pluck one down for me. It's always been like this. You've always been there for me as I grew up."

"Although I may be a little presumptuous, I do hope that I can become someone like my grandfather, someone that others can rely on."

Kitagawa Ryo smiled at him and took small steps, stepping across the checkered patterns on the side of the road.

"That's why I think living alone is impressive, but you can't live alone for long."

"It's like a turtle that gets flipped over headfirst. Without the help of its companions, even if it manages to flip back over, it would take a very long time."

"If Grandpa thinks that doing this will only make Hui a girl who can't be independent, then so be it."

"Because I can't ignore the fact that she can't turn things around on her own, I want to help her, I have to help her."

Mr. Izaki simply nodded silently upon hearing this:

"This is the young master's own choice, and I will not interfere."

"Yes, I chose it myself."

The moment Kitagawa Ryo finished speaking, a familiar figure in a white sleeveless dress appeared in his field of vision.

"benefit?"

Chapter 8: You're Dead

"benefit?"

In the corner of his eye, Kitagawa Ryo saw a figure that was so familiar that he almost mistook it for a phantom.

He was very familiar with this white sleeveless dress, because it was a garment he had personally watched a tailor make by hand, and it was one of the gifts he gave to Karuizawa Kei last summer.

Even today, the scene of Karuizawa Megumi twirling in front of him while holding the hem of this white dress often appears in Kitagawa Ryo's dreams.

Karuizawa Megumi seemed not to hear Kitagawa Ryo's calls. She appeared to be on the phone with someone and kept running towards a bus that was parked not far away.

Kitagawa Ryo almost instinctively rushed after the other person, but he was still a step too late. The bus closed its doors a few seconds before he arrived, leaving only a trail of exhaust fumes as it drove away.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was feeling a bit annoyed, he realized that Mr. Izaki had somehow managed to flag down a taxi, so he quickly opened the back door and got in.

"Driver, please follow the bus in front."

As soon as he sat down and fastened his seatbelt, Kitagawa Ryo quickly pointed to the bus ahead, which had already traveled about fifty meters away.

"Okay, hold on tight."

Although the driver was unaware of what had happened, seeing Kitagawa Ryo's anxious appearance, he readily agreed and then drove slowly at a pace inconsistent with his boastful words, since it was the city and there was a speed limit.

Fortunately, the bus ahead also needs to stop at the station, and Kitagawa Ryo thought that the taxi should be able to catch up within one stop.

"Did you two leave something important in the car?"

While navigating to avoid pedestrians, the driver asked with interest, "Although I can get a dozen or twenty fares a day, it's quite rare to encounter someone who immediately asks me to chase after their car."

"……Um."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't know how to speak, so he nodded somewhat vaguely.

"Yes, he left something very important there."

But Kitagawa Ryo didn't expect that Mr. Izaki, who was sitting next to him, would suddenly start winking at him:

"That's my young master's treasure. If someone else bumps into it, tsk tsk."

Before he could finish speaking, Kitagawa Ryo, whose emotions had already calmed down, gave his arm a shove in an annoyed manner.

The driver smiled kindly upon hearing this, and taking advantage of the bus pulling into the station ahead, he quickly closed the distance and stopped by the roadside.

Kitagawa Ryo let Mr. Izaki pay the fare and got out of the car first. It seemed to be the entrance of a large shopping mall, with people almost shoulder to shoulder. He stood on tiptoe and tried hard to find Karuizawa Megumi in the crowd.

"Excuse me, could you please move aside?"

"Sorry, give in."

Kitagawa Ryo quickly spotted Karuizawa Megumi walking into the mall. There seemed to be three girls with her. He kept an eye on her while pushing through the crowd, but by the time he finally reached the mall entrance, he had lost track of Karuizawa Megumi's location again.

Mr. Izaki, who had already paid the fare, squeezed through the crowd to come to Kitagawa Ryo's side. He squinted and looked at the floor plan hanging at the entrance of the mall for a while. The first floor mainly sold daily necessities, the second floor was mostly luxury stores, with watches and jewelry being the most common, the third floor was mainly small restaurants, and the fourth floor was a movie theater.

Looking further down, the second basement level is a parking lot, while the first basement level is filled with numerous snack shops, as well as various milk tea shops and coffee shops.

It was around 2 p.m.

After confirming the information, Mr. Izaki quickly approached the handrail of the escalator and turned his gaze to the basement, where a large number of junior high and high school students were indeed gathered.

"Young Master, go and look for it on the basement level."

Quickly realizing what Mr. Izaki meant, Kitagawa Ryo nodded and went down the stairs to the basement.

-------------------------------------

Jiangpu Huimei was playing with her rather long fingernails. During her school years, both teachers and the disciplinary committee strictly prohibited the behavior of deliberately growing long fingernails. However, now that it was summer vacation, she had intentionally grown them for a month, and her slightly sharp fingernails, about four to five centimeters long, had appeared.

Did Hye-mi get her nails done?

Xiaoxi and Youzi, who were with her, astutely inquired about this obvious fact.

"Yes, I went to get it done yesterday. How was it?"

Emi Jiangpu proudly showed her hands to the two of them. Her ten fingernails were painted in different colors and decorated with various carvings and patterns, making them look very exquisite.

"So lovely."

"He and Hui-mei are a good match."

Xiaoxi and Youzi nodded in agreement. Since Karuizawa Kei got into trouble, Eura Emi naturally became the core of the girls. However, compared to Karuizawa Kei's somewhat weak personality and easy to be pushed around by her classmates, Eura Emi was much more assertive. Even outside of school, the two of them dared not neglect each other.

"Are we waiting for someone today? Hye-mi's boyfriend?"

Seeing that Emi Jiangpu seemed to be in a pretty good mood today, Xiaoxi took the initiative to make a joke.

"how is this possible?"

Emi Jiangpu glanced at her sideways:

"I heard that you broke up with your boyfriend from the next class."

"I got tired of him after a while, and since I was the one who dumped him, it doesn't really matter."

Xiao Xi shook her head and said nonchalantly: