Miyajima Sosaku followed Miyajima Tsubaki out of the milk tea shop.
His gaze lingered on Hayato inside the shop for quite a while.
A scrawny teenager, probably high school age, looked fair and timid. He would likely be very afraid of methods like 'campus bullying.'
Miyajima Sosaku had seen many people like this.
Whether in his youth or now, he could easily manipulate such a person with just a little effort. However, he was a bit curious.
"Sister… Tsubaki, why are you with a high school student?" he asked teasingly.
Miyajima Sosaku's eyes curved into a smile.
He and Miyajima Tsubaki were biological siblings, and their ages were not too far apart. At this age, Miyajima Tsubaki still looked like a young girl, and although Miyajima Sosaku could no longer adopt a youthful demeanor, his appearance was still considered excellent. However, his style leaned more towards a feminine 'handsomeness' rather than rugged good looks.
His smile carried a hint of gloom. "And, you're dressed like this." Miyajima Sosaku looked Miyajima Tsubaki up and down, his gaze unpleasantly intrusive. "And dressed like this. Heh, is it a wig? Playing cosplay with young people? It seems quite popular around Shibuya."
Miyajima Tsubaki did not answer Miyajima Sosaku's words. Her cold gaze flickered to Miyajima Sosaku's left leg.
Although not very obvious, Miyajima Sosaku did not walk as smoothly as ordinary people; he had a slight limp. And when he was kicked out of the family, his left leg was at least fine.
Miyajima Sosaku also lowered his eyes to look at his leg, as if understanding what Miyajima Tsubaki wanted to ask.
He was quite frank, smiling, "Someone broke it, in Hawaii."
Miyajima Sosaku spoke casually, but in his heart, he was almost gritting his teeth, and it was a woman.
After he was kicked out of the family, he went to Hawaii for a while, did some things there, and then met that fierce woman who stepped on his head and twisted his leg off.
Miyajima Tsubaki showed no expression, only saying indifferently:
"It has nothing to do with me."
"Ha." Miyajima Sosaku said, "You're really cold, Tsubaki. We're family, after all—"
Miyajima Tsubaki's eyes narrowed. She wanted to click her tongue in annoyance, but her good upbringing prevented her from making such a gesture, which was more typical of a delinquent housewife.
"Don't come looking for us again. We have nothing to do with each other anymore," Miyajima Tsubaki said. "Just as Father said, there's no place for you in this family anymore."
Miyajima Sosaku bared his teeth, very deliberately, and then used his pinky finger to pick his teeth.
"So, I can go find him?" Miyajima Sosaku lifted his chin.
He was referring to the milk tea shop behind them, and the teenager Miyajima Tsubaki had met was sitting inside. "Honestly, your brother, I'm really curious what you're playing at with a high school student. Is your brother-in-law's death so many years ago making you feel empty? What ability does a wet-behind-the-ears brat like him have to satisfy a woman your age, like a wolf and a tiger? Besides…" Miyajima Sosaku's gaze swept over Miyajima Tsubaki's shoulder, looking at the area below her back, "You're so well-endowed, can that brat even reach the bottom?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a crisp sound.
Then came the stinging pain of a fiery red palm print on his cheek.
Miyajima Sosaku was caught off guard and slapped by Miyajima Tsubaki.
"Shut up, beast," Miyajima Tsubaki said with disgust in her eyes.
Miyajima Sosaku was stunned but didn't show anger. Instead, he licked the corner of his mouth and then started to laugh, his smile somewhat twisted, as if his mouth would stretch to his ears: "Tsubaki, if you need, your brother can introduce men to you. Two at a time, or three at a time, whatever you like. If you're interested in high school students, your brother can find them for you too, and they'll definitely be stronger than that scrawny boy, athletes, hard as a rock."
As he spoke, he started laughing himself. "Hehehehe, hehehehehahahahahaha."
Miyajima Tsubaki made no reply.
She turned her head to leave:
"Don't let me see you again."
"Hey, Tsubaki." Miyajima Sosaku said to her retreating back, "That kid is from Shiraki, right?"
"?" Miyajima Tsubaki was startled, her shoulders trembling slightly. Before she could answer, Miyajima Sosaku spoke again as if to himself: "Ah, it's indeed from Shiraki. Is he Sakura's classmate?"
"What business is it of yours?" Miyajima Tsubaki retorted, looking back.
"Eh, I'm quite interested in this little brother," Miyajima Sosaku said, licking his lips. "If I have time, I'd still like to play with him. And the fact that you'd be with a boy like him is quite interesting, isn't it? Do you mind?"
Miyajima Tsubaki did not speak.
If she answered "I mind" now, this bastard would only get more excited.
"Whatever," Miyajima Tsubaki said indifferently.
"What's his name?" Miyajima Sosaku asked.
"…" Miyajima Tsubaki didn't answer. She wanted to make up a plausible name to mislead Miyajima Sosaku. But it was this tiny delay that made the latter notice something unusual.
"Oh? You don't want to tell me?" Miyajima Sosaku said with a twisted smile, "If you don't mind, telling me his name won't do anything…"
"Heh, why should I tell you?" Miyajima Tsubaki forced herself to say, "It has nothing to do with 'minding' or 'not minding.' I have no obligation to answer a question like that, do I?"
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, feigning an 'indifferent' expression, but her crossed arms were already uncontrollably tapping her own arms; she was a bit agitated.
Bad luck.
Miyajima Tsubaki thought, she definitely hadn't checked the almanac before going out today, to actually run into this guy... Damn it, she had originally intended to 'use' Hayato to achieve some goal of hers, but that didn't mean she wanted to harm the child.
If he were targeted by someone like this, that child's future, and even his life, would be ruined.
"Then I'll go ask him myself." Miyajima Sosaku picked his ear, one hand in his pocket, and walked towards the main entrance of the milk tea shop again.
"Wait, wait…"
Miyajima Tsubaki quickly called out to him.
Miyajima Sosaku slowly turned around, smiling cunningly and triumphantly: "What is it? My dear sister…"
"You!" Miyajima Tsubaki gritted her teeth, clenching and unclenching her fists. Then, as if losing strength, she lowered her head slightly: "Don't harass that child. How much money do you want… I'm willing to give it to you."
"Hoh." Miyajima Sosaku achieved his goal. He squinted with a wicked smile: "I didn't expect that teenager to hold such a high place in your heart… Sister, you haven't truly fallen for a high school student, have you?"
"Shut up." Miyajima Tsubaki finally clicked her tongue. She just didn't want to involve an innocent person, "How much money do you want?"
Seeing Miyajima Tsubaki like a lamb ready to be slaughtered, Miyajima Sosaku thought for a moment, "Two hundred thousand yen."
"Two hundred thousand—" Miyajima Tsubaki gasped.
This was not a small sum, but she could barely accept it.
But then Miyajima Sosaku thought again, his eyes narrowing even more: "And one more thing, you'll come with me to meet someone."
"…What?" Miyajima Tsubaki was about to pull out her wallet from her shoulder bag, but upon hearing this request, she immediately became wary, "Who?"
"Heh, you don't need to worry about that for now…" Miyajima Sosaku's smile grew a bit impatient, "If you don't agree…"
… … … …
Inside the milk tea shop, Hayato leisurely sipped his milk.
He continuously observed the situation at the back door of the shop, which was relatively quiet. Besides staff taking out trash after work, hardly anyone would intentionally go to that secluded corner.
And the fact that Sawamura Airiri and her brother chose to discuss things in such a place proved that what they were saying would definitely not be too peaceful… He didn't know what was happening yet, so Hayato didn't immediately intervene. Although he had encountered more troublesome things recently, and most people in this world seemed to be abnormal, they were still family, after all. Without knowing the full story, it would seem strange for him, an outsider, to interfere.
There was a saying that even an honest official finds it hard to settle family disputes, let alone him, who wasn't even a civil servant.
However, his Tooru● glasses could at least help him observe. If any violent incident occurred, he would act immediately.
Hayato watched Sawamura Airiri's expression grow increasingly gloomy, as if she had heard extremely bad news.
In contrast, Sawamura's older brother's expression became increasingly smug, as if he had the upper hand.
Hayato continued to slurp his milk tea. The two's lips were moving rapidly, engaged in a tense and exciting conversation. The unfortunate thing was that Tooru● was ultimately just ● vision; he could only see what was happening, but couldn't hear their conversation.
He could try to deduce from their lip movements, but Hayato wasn't learned enough to understand lip-reading. Should he buy a lip-reading textbook to study? That would be both pure and ambiguous…
Then, the next moment.
After Sawamura's older brother opened his mouth, Hayato grabbed his wooden sword and walked out.
Yes, Hayato didn't understand lip-reading—or rather, most of it. But what Sawamura's older brother said at that moment seemed to be etched into Hayato's DNA; he immediately understood what it meant!
… …
"If you don't agree… Heh heh, sister, you wouldn't want that child to encounter any accidents, would you?" Miyajima Sosaku said with a smiling face, his tone intimate, his words sickening.
Miyajima Tsubaki's arms were crossed over her chest. One arm dropped, and her other hand continuously rubbed and kneaded the hanging elbow, her eyes slightly lowered, seemingly seriously considering Miyajima Sosaku's suggestion.
Then.
"Huh? Huh!?" Miyajima Sosaku uttered an incredulous sound: "You bastard… Wh-what are you doing!?"
Miyajima Tsubaki immediately turned around.
Then she was astonished to see the teenager who should have been in the milk tea shop standing behind Miyajima Sosaku. The cup of iced milk tea he was holding was entirely poured over Miyajima Sosaku's head.
"I suddenly thought of something," Hayato said to himself, "the answer to the question posed in Chapter 50: 'What did the first person to know that cow's milk could be drunk do to the cow?'… He must have done something that made the cow extremely happy, so the cow willingly gave him its milk. Hmm, what could make a cow happy? All I can say is, awesome, awesome."
"What are you talking about!?"
Miyajima Sosaku was very loud, but the moment his mouth opened widest, Hayato shoved the milk tea cup into it. "Oral explosion, hehe."
Miyajima Tsubaki's eyes widened, looking at Hayato in disbelief.
She suddenly remembered that it was this teenager who had helped her at the subway station before.
He was originally supposed to be this kind of person.
… …
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