After rebirth, I became Tokyo Sentimental

Chapter 217, Section 216: Take it if you need it.

The severe weather brought by the typhoon was even worse than expected. As soon as Tsukasa Harano entered Tottori Prefecture, his phone was pushed a heavy rain warning. In addition, he did not take the expressway, which resulted in fewer and fewer cars on the road as he drove, and the windshield wipers were running faster and faster.

Even though Japan's road administration is relatively responsible and there are few dead-end roads, he still reduced his speed.

Yuan Ye Si pinched the corners of his sore eyes. The fatigue from driving for a long time had made him feel sleepy, but the map on the car navigation showed that this was a remote corner where there was no one for dozens of miles around.

no way.

The only option is to keep going.

This is the downside of going wherever the road takes you.

After driving for nearly ten hours straight with only a short break in between, even large truck drivers rarely manage to endure that much. So, Haruno Tsukasa could only navigate to the nearest rural town and force himself to drive there. He didn't know how long he drove before he could see a few scattered lights in the shadows of the rain-soaked mountains in the distance. Only when he checked the navigation again did he realize that he was almost there.

Tottori Prefecture is a well-known poor prefecture in Japan with a pitifully small population. Its only two commendable features are the large number of manga artists it produces and its crab fishing industry, which ranks first in Japan. However, the closer he got to the nearby town, the colder his heart became. After all, the administrative planning of Japanese towns is similar to that of his hometown townships. But looking at the place in front of him, where the only lights were streetlights, he felt that it was no different from a poor, remote village in the mountains.

Haruno Tsukasa sighed, just as he was worrying that there wouldn't even be a convenience store in this place, when he suddenly saw a figure illuminated by the headlights of a car not far ahead, and he immediately stopped thinking and looked in that direction.

It's not an illusion; there really are people there.

Slowing down and getting closer, Haruno Tsukasa finally saw through the dense rain that a figure was struggling in front of him, with an umbrella lying at his feet that had been blown over and was now just the ribs, and the figure was trying to pull his bicycle out of the mud despite getting soaked.

Although the Land Rover's headlights weren't as impressive as those of the lighting experts, they were still incredibly bright in the dark night. The figure who was rescuing the bicycle clearly noticed that Haruno Tsukasa's car was getting closer, but the other person didn't seem to want to ask for help at all. Instead, he looked back and became even more anxious, as if he was afraid of being helped.

This unusual situation made Haruno Tsukasa suspicious, and he reached for the glove box in the passenger seat.

Soon my fingers touched something cool.

Holding the Glock magazine full of bullets in his hand, Haruno Tsukasa expressionlessly flicked his wrist backward, and with a click, he successfully cocked the magazine with one hand.

Although his fighting skills are very strong.

But truth will always be truth.

It's no wonder that Haruno Tsukasa overthinks things. The remote and impoverished countryside of Tottori Prefecture is undoubtedly a good place to kill and dispose of a body, especially since it's a rainy night and the other party's unusual behavior. Even if Haruno Tsukasa is usually very calm, he still gave the other party the utmost respect.

As for why he had a gun…

In recent years, there have been frequent cases of citizens assassinating high-ranking officials. Even former prime ministers are probably in middle school by now. So it seems reasonable that Harano Tsukasa, as a member of parliament, had a gun in his car.

However, before he could even finish considering whether to crawl to the back seat and take out the fully automatic rifle he had hidden under the seat, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of the seemingly frail figure in front of him. Apparently, she had been pulling too hard on the bicycle, and the handlebars were too slippery from the rain, so she stumbled and sat directly in the mud, looking rather comical as she stood there, stunned.

Haruno Tsukasa withdrew his hand that was reaching for the gun.

After a moment's hesitation, he gripped the fully loaded Glock in his right hand and slowly drove the car over.

"Do you need help?"

After parking next to that delicate figure, Haruno Tsukasa only lowered the window by a third to look at the face that was completely obscured by the rain.

At the same time, he was also observing other places.

Having had his physical abilities enhanced at least twenty or thirty times by the wish list, he received an all-round improvement, including his eyesight, so Haruno Tsukasa was able to quickly determine that the other party did not have any weapons.

Not only did they lack weapons.

The shirt, soaked through by the rain and clinging to his chest, was now semi-transparent, though the lack of light prevented him from seeing its color.

Because the other person's long, wet, and wispy hair almost covered most of their face, it was impossible to see their features or determine their age. However, Haruno Tsukasa basically ruled out the possibility that the other person was dangerous, and he could also clearly feel that the other person was staring blankly at him at this moment.

"boarding!"

"me…"

"Get on the car first, the rain is too heavy, I'll help you push your bicycle out of the mud!" Yuan Ye Si opened his umbrella and got off the car, taking the young woman inside.

"But you..."

Before the woman could finish speaking, Yuan Ye Si forcibly pulled her up, then casually shoved the umbrella he was holding into her hand. He then braved the rain and pulled the bicycle, which was stuck in the mud, out of the mud and carried it to the trunk with one hand.

After Yuan Ye Si stuffed the mud-covered bicycle into the trunk and got into the car without paying any attention to her, the woman subconsciously walked towards the passenger seat.

Close the car door.

The car windows were slowly closed.

The noise around me suddenly stopped.

"Hello... hello..." the woman said nervously.

You could even hear a slight tremor in his voice.

But I don't know if it was from nervousness or from being cold.

Both of them were covered in mud and water.

Sitting normally would definitely make the car dirty, but Haruno Tsukasa didn't care, since he wasn't short of money for a car wash. But the woman in the passenger seat was clearly struggling financially.

That's understandable, though. This woman is clearly a local. On a rainy night, she suddenly encountered a man from out of town who wanted to help her. She was sitting in a car, a relatively enclosed place. It would be abnormal for a woman not to be nervous and financially strapped.

"Hello, do you live around here?"

Haruno Tsukasa tried to keep his voice gentle.

"Yes…"

"Tell me where you live, and I'll drive you back. The roads here don't look very good, and it seems a bit difficult for you to ride your bicycle back."

"..."

"Hello?"

"Huh?" Mizuno Naa snapped out of her daze, quickly averting her gaze from him, trying to gather her mud-stained skirt with her hands, and leaning forward to avoid hitting her back on the seat. "Sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"My house is right on the street in front..."

"The first streetlight is near the street..."

Yuan Ye Si glanced at the blurry direction the other person was pointing and then said, "Fasten your seatbelts. Please let me know when we're almost there, as it's raining so hard that it's hard to see clearly."

"Um…"

"..."

"It's the building up ahead."

"it is good."

The car slowly came to a stop in front of a house that looked like it was about to collapse in the storm, almost a dangerous building. Yuan Ye Si glanced at the woman who had been stealing glances at him the whole way, hesitated for a moment, then released the steering wheel and asked, "Are your father and mother home? Is it convenient for me to come in and change my clothes?"

"They...aren't here. You can come in."

The woman agreed after only a slight hesitation.

Haruno Tsukasa's expression remained unchanged, showing no embarrassment at having to enter someone else's home: "Then I'll be bothering you."

Upon entering the house, the interior was noticeably better than the exterior. At least the living room, though somewhat old-fashioned, had neatly arranged items on the coffee table. The solid wood flooring was slightly worn but clean. However, the area was not very large. He had seen from the outside that this detached house was only two stories high and pitifully small, probably only seventy or eighty square meters in total, which was quite rare.

However, Haruno Tsukasa also noticed some details.

For example... there's only one pair of slippers in the shoe cabinet in the entryway.

This proves that the woman lives alone.

As soon as he entered the house, Haruno Tsukasa subconsciously glanced around to gather useful information. After a moment, he suppressed most of his wariness, changed into the disposable slippers the woman had given him, and turned to ask, "Which room can I use?"

He always keeps two sets of clothes in his car.

The rain was so heavy that I got soaked while helping out, and my pants were covered in mud when I pulled the bicycle out of the mud. I couldn't even sit on the sofa without changing my clothes.

"This room is unoccupied, you can use it as you like." The young woman quickly raised her hand and pointed to the side.

"Okay." Haruno Tsukasa nodded and walked towards the room.

Only after he had completely entered the room, and the door lock had clicked shut, did the woman brush away the stray hairs covering her face, staring at the closed door with a complicated expression, her pale lower lip pressed tightly together.

She felt like she was in a dream.

At the same time, I felt so complicated that I didn't know what to say.

With this feeling in mind, Mizuno Naya habitually took off her dirty clothes and draped them over the sofa next to her. Then, she pursed her lips and went to her room to change into a clean set of clothes.

After she changed into her pajamas and walked out of the room with a mix of emotions, she found that Haruno Tsukasa had already changed his clothes and was sitting on the side of the sofa, lost in thought.

Just as Mizuno Naya was about to speak, she noticed that Harano Tsukasa's eyes were fixed on the dirty clothes she had casually draped over the sofa armrest. She was stunned, her heart skipped a beat, and her face gradually turned red.

Because of the dirty clothes she threw there…

It's just a pair of socks.

A pair of pure white cotton socks, soaked through with water, with the soles of the feet slightly yellowed and damp.

However, at this very moment, the dirty socks that should have been disliked were being stared at by Haruno Tsukasa, which made Mizuno Naya recall many memories and associations, as well as the news footage she had seen a few days ago.

She couldn't help but clench her fists.

But then she gradually relaxed.

Noticing her figure, Haruno Tsukasa, who had been in a daze, came back to his senses, picked up his dirty clothes and stood up: "Sorry to bother you, I'll be going now. I've left the bicycle at the door for you."

"Are you leaving already?" Upon hearing this, Mizuno Naya instantly snapped out of her daze and nervousness.

"Yes, we've changed our clothes and we won't bother you anymore. But are there any hotels in the town?"

“There are hotels…” Mizuno Naya answered subconsciously, but then a strong sense of reluctance welled up in her heart. She gritted her teeth and couldn’t help but add, “But the environment… isn’t particularly good.”

Upon hearing this, Haruno Tsukasa frowned.

He is quite clean.

If he has good conditions, he certainly won't mistreat himself, since he has more money than he can spend. But if he has average conditions, he can accept it, but he must be clean.

But it's normal that the hotels here aren't good.

After all, it's a remote and impoverished area, not a famous tourist destination. It's already a miracle that there are any hotels open at all.

You can actually sleep in the car.

However, Haruno Tsukasa is not the kind of RV travel enthusiast and is not fond of the white noise of raindrops.

However, the situation is now beyond our control.

I guess I'll have to sleep in the car again tonight.

As for staying at someone's home...

Yuan Ye Si is no longer young, and he has never had the bad habit of being unable to resist women. Now he is even less interested in casual affairs. After all, with what he currently has, there are too many women who want to get into his bed. If he wants to, he can definitely do it.

Seeing Haruno Tsukasa's furrowed brows, clearly troubled about where to sleep that night, Mizuno Naa, for some inexplicable reason, spoke up:
"Why don't you stay here for the night?"

"Hmm?" Yuan Ye Si snapped out of his reverie upon hearing this, looking at her with a hint of surprise. After a few seconds, his expression gradually calmed down as he said, "Your father and mother seem to be out of the house?"

"My parents passed away a long time ago..."

"…Feel sorry."

“You don’t need to apologize at all.” Mizuno Naya didn’t care at all about the topic of her parents’ death. Instead, her heart was beating very fast and her face was burning. She tried to suppress her shyness and explained, “There’s only one hotel in the town. The hygiene isn’t very good, and it’s been around for a long time. It’s a two-story building, and most of the rooms are upstairs. It’s very noisy.”

“But it’s not really appropriate for me to stay at your house, a girl’s place,” Haruno Tsukasa said slowly.

Looking into Haruno Tsukasa's deep, unfathomable gaze, Mizuno Naaya suddenly felt as if she were being seen through. A pang of panic shot through her, and she hurriedly tried to explain:
"You don't need to worry about it. I don't have any concerns about that either. Besides, without your help, I probably wouldn't be able to get home right now. Just consider it a chance to repay your kindness. It's no big deal to let you stay overnight. I'll get your room ready now."

Haruno Tsukasa continued to stare at the other person's face.

It was as if he was scrutinizing every part of her face.

The woman in front of me was young, but she didn't look like a high school student. Her appearance was average, or rather, just passable. However, she had a gentle demeanor and gave off a very comfortable feeling, as if she wasn't scheming.

However, the inside often doesn't match the outside.

Therefore, Haruno Tsukasa summoned his wish list.

[Wish object: Mizuno Nami]

[The wish list is as follows]

[1. I really hope Mr. Haruno can stay for one night so I can repay his kindness in a small way. (White)]

[2. It would be great if we could take a picture together (white)]

[3. Mr. Haruno has been staring at my socks. If he wants to do something like a pervert in a TV drama, it seems like I really can't refuse. What should I do? I'm thinking of giving them to him (blue) voluntarily.]

After reading it, Haruno Tsukasa fell silent for a moment.

Time passed by minute by minute.

After waiting for a long time without receiving a response, Mizuno Naya's tense mood relaxed a little. Seeing that he hadn't spoken for so long, she thought he had agreed, but was just too proud to say anything.

"Please wait here for a moment and have a cup of hot water. I'll go and tidy up your room right away. There are bedding available, so it'll be quick," she said proactively.

Seemingly afraid that Haruno Tsukasa might change his mind, or perhaps for some other reason, Mizuno Naya's heart pounded wildly at the thought of making the bed for Haruno Tsukasa. She lowered her head slightly, afraid that he would notice something was wrong.

However, she had just taken a step when she suddenly stopped, as if she had remembered something.

Then she turned around again, looked up at the pair of wet socks she had draped over the sofa next to Haruno Tsukasa, and whispered, her cheeks burning:
"If you need..."

"Take it and use it."

"..."

I need to?
what do you need?
Does it pass through the lungs at the highest level?
"Wait." Haruno Tsukasa followed her gaze and, combining it with what he had seen on the wish list, instantly understood. But before he could even complain, he called out to her, frowning as he asked, "Do you know me?"

Upon hearing this, Mizuno Naaya's lips parted slightly.

Then he met Haruno Tsukasa's gaze.

After hesitating for a moment, he slowly nodded.

(End of this chapter)