Miyajima Tsubaki also raised her hand high and waved, then she pursed her vibrant lips.
As a housewife, Tsubaki rarely had the opportunity to wear makeup, but for this outing, she still went all out to doll herself up.
If she wore a school uniform on a day off, people would definitely find it strange—besides, Sakura's school uniform was already washed and put in her own closet, so even if she wanted to wear it, her daughter would surely find out.
But for "casual clothes," it was an emergency, and she didn't have time to buy any. So she could only take out the styles she wore when she was young. Because she was relatively reclusive since her youth, Tsubaki's casual clothes were still as good as new. She just didn't know if they could keep up with the current trends of young people—Tsubaki had always been clueless about this.
However, seeing Hayato's gaze starting from her face, moving down to her feet, then returning from her feet to her face, and his admiring, continuous nodding expression, Miyajima Tsubaki already had a seven or eight-tenths certainty. It seemed that although she had never paid attention to fashion trends, she seemed to have an innate sensitivity to them, which was why the young man in front of her kept secretly praising her.
Hayato thought to himself, this style of dressing is still too early for carbon-based life forms.
Miyajima Tsubaki took a deep breath, steeling herself.
It's fine.
The other party was just a high school student, and she was an adult who could be called a "person who has been through it all." Dealing with him would be as easy as flipping a hand.
She recalled her younger days; the countless boys and young men who pursued her. Although she was a bit older now, her experience in being popular remained. With a little guidance, she could hook this young man.
Moreover, he didn't seem to think she was very old.
"What's the matter?" Hayato jogged over and asked.
Miyajima Tsubaki's breathing suddenly hitched.
She had come to see Hayato with a certain purpose, and she couldn't quite feel at ease.
Besides, the young man standing opposite her, though he looked as if they were very familiar, had only met her once in these past few weeks. They had chatted a lot online, but their face-to-face conversation experience was practically "zero"—after all, even at the subway station, they hadn't talked much.
What made Miyajima Tsubaki even more uneasy was that while her heart fluttered nervously, the young man in front of her remained calm, as if they were old friends who had known each other for a long time.
This was the generation gap.
For Miyajima Tsubaki, online communication was a method she rarely used. But for Hayato, it was already a daily routine.
Heh, back when he used to attend comic conventions, he had met countless netizens.
Meeting up with online friends was never something he was afraid of.
Miyajima Tsubaki composed herself and offered a polite and generous smile:
"I apologize for making you come all this way. If possible, I'd like to treat you to lunch. We can chat while we eat."
"You've probably eaten already, haven't you?" Hayato asked, "You usually eat quite early."
"Ah, um." Miyajima Tsubaki nodded.
Being a housewife was actually a very uninteresting "profession." One couldn't say it was too busy, nor too idle. After finishing housework, with her daughter at school and her father out wandering, Miyajima Tsubaki could only watch boring daytime TV or daydream until she fell asleep. So she would boredly send Hayato meaningless "daily messages," as if recording for herself, and also as if complaining to him—though her "complaints" often went unanswered, this had indeed become a habit for Miyajima Tsubaki.
Therefore, Hayato was actually quite familiar with her daily routine.
"Then let's not eat," Hayato said.
"...Eh?" Miyajima Tsubaki was surprised: "Why?"
Hayato said matter-of-factly: "Because I've eaten too."
Miyajima Tsubaki: ...
The first step of her meticulously planned strategy had been ruined.
Years of being a housewife had given Miyajima Tsubaki almost obsessive-compulsive habits.
Every day, she would plan out her tasks and complete them one by one. In this process, whether it was the tiniest stain on clothes or scrubbing the bathroom, she would strive for perfection. Her outing today was no different; she had prepared a series of plans.
The first item was "invite to eat." The second was "chat halfway through the meal, and during the chat, casually bring up Sakura's matter again to ascertain if he knows any information." Then, based on the answers "knows" or "doesn't know," the plot would branch.
But then.
This guy directly ruined the first step!
Miyajima Tsubaki was immediately stunned, unsure of what to do.
"Do you drink milk tea? Or coffee?" Hayato asked: "Let's just find a place to sit down, and then you can tell me what's on your mind."
"Milk, milk tea, I guess," Miyajima Tsubaki said, then mentally crossed out "invite to eat" and replaced it with "invite to drink milk tea," keeping the rest of the process unchanged.
"Then I'll check for nearby milk tea shops."
As a Chinese person, Hayato had no impression of Shibuya. As for Hayato, a straight man whose only friend was Anshi Seiji, he had no impression of milk tea shops.
He went straight to a "crappy map that keeps leading you into walls."
"Is 'Xinming' okay? Or 'Beicha'?" Hayato asked.
"Wh-whatever," Miyajima Tsubaki said.
But it felt strange. After that recent turn of events, she had thought she would easily maintain control, but now it seemed she had handed it over.
"Alright."
Watching Hayato begin to arrange the itinerary, Miyajima Tsubaki cheered herself up again. Don't be afraid, next it should be "start chatting halfway through the drink, then casually inquire about Sakura's matter." The world line hadn't changed.
Hayato walked ahead, leading the way. After a short distance, he turned back and asked:
"Are you here to see me about Miyajima-senpai again?"
The world line had changed.
In her plan, the state of "casually" was extremely important. If he realized she was deliberately trying to probe about Sakura, it could easily arouse suspicion!
"Uh, um..." Miyajima Tsubaki tried to find a valid reason.
Damn it.
She couldn't find one.
After getting married, she had always stayed at home. The only people she usually talked to were her father and daughter. Where would she have any experience with deceiving people? She "uh, ummed" for a long time, even until they reached the entrance of the milk tea shop, but still couldn't "um" out anything.
"What do you want to drink?" Hayato turned back and asked.
He didn't press for answers, which made Miyajima Tsubaki breathe a sigh of relief. She'd just muddle through it like this.
"Does anyone among your friends like Miyajima-senpai?" Hayato asked again.
"Eh?" Why would he say that?
Miyajima Tsubaki was still thinking about what to drink, and now she had to start considering the meaning of Hayato's words.
"Hmm? Still haven't decided what to drink?" Hayato asked again.
..."Dual-line operation." Miyajima Tsubaki's single-core CPU was about to burn out. "I want to drink—that—"
"Speaking of which, if any of your friends like..." Hayato said.
"I want to drink 'Strawberry Oden'!!" Miyajima Tsubaki suddenly said very loudly, startling Hayato. "...Okay," he said.
Then Hayato went to the counter to order, while Miyajima Tsubaki found a seat, arms crossed, huffing. She pouted and glared at Hayato's back. Things should be done one by one; didn't this child understand that principle?
...Oh no, she seemed to have thrown a slight tantrum just now.
Darn it.
This was again contrary to her plan of "getting along well with him, preferably to an intimate degree."
While Miyajima Tsubaki was in a daze, Hayato had already walked back and sat beside her.
There weren't many people in the milk tea shop, but Hayato sat quite close to Miyajima Tsubaki, with only about thirty centimeters between them.
This made Miyajima Tsubaki slightly uncomfortable.
Not that she disliked the young man, but she hadn't sat this close to a male for a long time, and moreover, this male was her daughter's friend.
Miyajima Tsubaki tilted her head.
Thinking about it that way, wasn't she dating her "daughter's friend"?
This, this kind of thing was simply too immoral. If it were discovered, her life would probably be over. It was too shameful—
Miyajima Tsubaki's cheeks couldn't help but flush, but she still continuously reassured herself.
Don't panic, this is just part of the plan.
Miyajima Tsubaki was wondering whether to apologize for her earlier tantrum, but Hayato spoke first,
"If any of your friends like Miyajima-senpai..."
"Why do you think that?" Miyajima Tsubaki interrupted, asking.
"Why..."
This was Kobayashi Ayaka's speculation, and it was quite reasonable, all things considered.
Actually, Hayato had long forgotten about this, and had even started to forget that Sawamura Airiri had once asked him about Miyajima Sakura.
The only reason he remembered now was because she had asked him out.
Because he thought it over and over, and decided to think it over again.
In the end, he still couldn't think of any reason other than "Miyajima Sakura," and he was also quite worried about "the other thing."
Miyajima Tsubaki, on the other hand, had a sudden feeling of enlightenment. Just now, she had been afraid that Hayato would notice something unusual, but she hadn't expected him to come up with an excuse for her. If it was "her good friend likes Miyajima Sakura, so she came to inquire"... this reason was perfectly reasonable.
Miyajima Tsubaki said nothing, feigning agreement.
"Then I advise your friend to ask directly," Hayato said calmly, "If that's not possible, he can ask me himself. Having so many layers of intermediaries only shows his lack of 'courage.' Even if he manages to get information about Miyajima-senpai, he won't have any chance. I recommend he go count donuts in Kichijoji to boost his courage." That way, his courage would '?' increase.
"...Eh?" Miyajima Tsubaki, who had thought she had the upper hand after finding a valid reason, never expected that Hayato's few words would almost make her surrender.
Logical and convincing.
Miyajima Tsubaki forced a small smile and said, "Then I'll tell him to ask himself, but can you tell me secretly?"
"No," Hayato flatly refused.
Is, is it because he wants to respect Sakura's privacy? Miyajima Tsubaki wondered.
But soon Hayato told her, "No."
"I just feel like you'll secretly tell him."
Miyajima Tsubaki was a bit speechless.
Is it possible that the friend I'm talking about is myself? She wanted to blurt out this sentence, but she held back, and in the end, she didn't ruin everything.
Hayato glanced at Miyajima Tsubaki again, calmly:
"Although I completely don't understand your relationship with your friend, but..."
Miyajima Tsubaki listened, planning to take a sip of "Strawberry Oden" to calm her nerves.
Then she heard Hayato say:
"If you admire that friend of yours and want to help him achieve his dream of pursuing his crush, I advise you not to bother."
"Cough, cough cough cough cough cough..." Miyajima Tsubaki choked, almost dying. She looked at Hayato strangely.
This couldn't be blamed on Hayato's wild imagination; he had simply seen too many such plots.
He looked outside, gazing up at the white clouds in the sky. Right, Makoto?
"I, I don't," Miyajima Tsubaki quickly said.
"That's good," Hayato said, otherwise he might achieve the "Breakup Master" achievement. But if "Breakup Master" corresponds to Kotonoha, then if Sawamura gets into character, her role should be Sekai...
As Hayato was lost in thought, a man's sharp cry suddenly rang out.
"Yo, my foolish little sister."
...So it wasn't either of them, but rather Sasuke!
This sentence was clearly directed at them, and Hayato couldn't possibly be "little sister."
He glanced at Miyajima Tsubaki; her face turned pale for a moment, and her breathing became rapid, but she quickly recovered, though her eyes grew heavier.
Hayato followed her gaze and saw a pale-faced man at the entrance of the shop. His skin color was similar to hers, and even his listless eyes bore a slight resemblance, but the difference was that the man at the door, around thirty or forty years old, exuded a state of physical weakness.
He was smiling at Miyajima Tsubaki.
Miyajima Sosaku!
Miyajima Tsubaki gritted her teeth. How could she meet him in a place like this?!
Miyajima Sosaku looked at his biological sister with interest, then shifted his gaze to Hayato, his eyes even more intrigued.
"What's your name—"
Before Miyajima Sosaku could finish his question, Miyajima Tsubaki stood up and commanded, "You, come with me!" Then she apologized to Hayato with a smile: "Sorry, I have some family matters to attend to."
Hayato nodded, not minding at all.
His gaze followed Miyajima Tsubaki as she walked out of the shop, taking Miyajima Sosaku with her.
As for Miyajima Sosaku, before leaving, he looked back, and his eyes met Hayato's.
His thin lips still held a faint smile, as if saying, "I'm watching you."
What else could Hayato do? He could only return a polite and humble smile.
Then he praised Miyajima Sosaku's retreating back.
"Idiot."
But "little sister"... Was he Sawamura Airiri's brother?
Hayato thought, still a little uneasy, and pushed up his black-rimmed glasses.
Then, he activated the Tooru● function.
Oh, I accidentally saw too much…Sawamura's two protective covers are surprisingly simple, like something an old lady would wear…
Hayato quickly adjusted the intensity, then sipped his milk tea while observing the two.
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