In Tokyo: They are heavily dependent on me

Chapter 105. Transformation

"Rin, have you ever been to Kanagawa?"

During dinner, Kaoru suddenly asked that question.

Feeling a bit confused by the question, Rin looked at him in bewilderment.

"Brother, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly bring this up?"

"Well—"

Because I'm going to see someone important.

It was too embarrassing to say such a thing. The heavy feeling in her heart that made it hard to breathe never eased. Kaoru made a hesitant "hmm" sound, swallowed the food in her mouth, and then slowly said it.

"Well... I'm going to see a teacher. It seems like the teacher who used to be in charge of the Japanese language courses is having some health problems. I'm planning to go with Kobayashi."

"Kobayashi... will Chio-chan go with my brother too?"

Attention was successfully diverted.

Given Rin's personality, if he simply mentioned "Chinese language teacher" in conversation, it would likely attract her attention. Therefore, Kaoru was prepared, and innocent Kobayashi became his shield.

"That's suspicious... My brother and Chio-chan were getting really close a while ago."

Because Kobayashi's vanity still lingered, Rin learned from her that Kaoru and she seemed to have a good relationship.

Although the two don't seem to be dating, the idea of ​​going to Kanagawa together is highly suspicious.

"No, that's not true, haha."

Why did my brother suddenly start laughing? It wasn't funny at all.

The skeptical gaze intensified.

Staring... Kaoru felt suffocated by that gaze, and slowly drank a mouthful of miso soup, unable to taste anything at all.

In that tense moment, Rin sighed as if giving up.

"Alright, since brother doesn't want to talk about it, let's leave this topic at that. Anyway, brother is already an adult, it would be terrible if his sister still had to worry about all sorts of things."

After giving a reproachful glare to the front, Rin continued eating her dinner.

"I'm saved..." Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, brother, don't do anything dangerous or harmful to your body, like... committing suicide for love."

Rin's tone softened.

"Hey! What did Rin think I was going to do?"

"Suddenly suggesting going to a completely unfamiliar place with a woman with whom you have had intimate contact is hard not to think of plots from novels or comics."

Rin still acted as if she didn't take Kaoru's words seriously.

Suicide pact... Kaoru really couldn't think of any reason for doing something like that, which would be published in the newspapers and talked about all over the place.

Do girls start having these strange thoughts when they reach a certain age?

too weird.

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Considering the terrifyingly high temperatures in summer, the departure time for Kanagawa was set before noon.

As eight o'clock approached, Kaoru appeared at the entrance of the Shonan Shinjuku Line, staring intently at the time displayed on her phone screen, watching the numbers jump closer and closer to that number.

With one minute left, a voice came from behind.

"Ta-da! Hoshino-kun, you didn't expect this, did you?"

"If Kobayashi doesn't arrive in one minute, I'll leave you behind without hesitation."

Kaoru put her phone in her pocket, turned around, and noticed that Kobayashi's appearance was quite unfamiliar compared to usual.

Her blonde hair, tied in pigtails and bleached in violation of school rules, swayed in the field of vision.

"Oh, this."

Noticing his gaze, Kobayashi raised the corners of his mouth and began to explain.

"Does this feel familiar?"

In my memory, Kobayashi, who was still a "delinquent," appeared in front of everyone many times with this appearance. However, at that time, she was wearing a uniform that had been deliberately shortened, and the shirt rolled up revealed her flat stomach. It was a sexy outfit that would make lower-grade students blush.

However, she is different now.

Although her hairstyle still gives off a sexy vibe, her clothing is very conservative, leaning towards a sporty style, and has nothing to do with being revealing.

"Why wear a wig?"

Xun glanced at her sideways.

"It sounds ridiculous, but I kind of miss how it felt before."

"Uh-huh?"

"Ah... I'm not talking about missing the bad things. I mean... if you open your closet one day and see your favorite clothes lying in a corner, you must feel nostalgic, right? That's how I am. When I see a wig lying in my closet, I can't help but think, 'Should I try it on?'"

Although it was a little hard to understand, Kaoru still responded perfunctorily with interjections like "ah" and "oh".

After this conversation ended, the two walked side by side onto the platform.

Tokyo's transportation network is so dense that just looking at it can make you dizzy.

Rin was the one who planned the trip, and Kaoru was very grateful to have such a responsible younger sister.

Tickets checked, boarding, the train doors closed with a mechanical sound.

The handrails overhead kept swaying and making a clanging sound.

After the train emerged from the tunnel, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

"Has Kobayashi ever traveled to another city by train alone before?"

Looking at the scenery rushing past on both sides of the road, feeling somewhat bored, Kaoru asked this question.

"Yes, I have."

"When was it?"

"Well..."

Kobayashi, her head resting against the train window, wore a nostalgic expression. Her body swayed slightly with the vibrations from the tracks.

"When I was still in elementary school, I transferred schools and took a train to Osaka alone to see a boy I was very close to."

"From Tokyo to Osaka? That's over 500 kilometers, right? Did you two meet?"

"It took me a lot of time just to figure out what was on the information board, as well as to find the ticket booth and queue up. For someone like me who was traveling far from home for the first time, it took half a day to figure all these things out. I was really scared at the time. The smell of perfume from strangers and the smell of mothballs could make me jumpy. It was really terrifying."

"So, you finally managed to meet in the end, right?"

Kaoru crossed her arms in front of her chest as she asked the question.

"I was eventually stopped by the train conductor because I was under 12 years old. When I got back, my mother scolded me and punished me by not letting me watch TV or go out for a week."

"That's so pitiful... But doing something like that is very much in line with your personality. If it were any other girl, she probably wouldn't be so stupid as to risk getting lost and going to a city 500 kilometers away."

"Right? I think so too."

A smug smile appeared on Xiaolin's face.

In that instant, Kaoru felt a sense of closeness with her.