Tokyo: Oreimo

Her painting style still retains the naivety unique to children, but her lines are already much more stable than those of her peers.

“Mom, look.” She held up the drawing paper.

Ling Nai poked her head out of the kitchen, her hands still covered in flour. She glanced at the painting and paused in her hand movements.

There are five people in the painting.

On the left is a tall woman with black hair, wearing glasses, with a smile on her face, holding a little boy in her arms.

On the right is a blonde woman with a ponytail, her hand on a little girl's shoulder. In the middle is a dark-haired man, his left arm around the woman on the left and his right arm around the woman on the right.

A large sun was drawn above the heads of the five people, and the sun had a smiling face.

"What is this?" Ling Nai asked.

“A family photo,” the girl said, her tone matter-of-fact.

Ling Nai stared at the painting for three seconds, her ears slowly turning red.

"Who told you to draw this kind of thing..."

“Dad said we’re a family,” the girl tilted her head. “Isn’t that right?”

Ling Nai opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. She looked away from the drawing paper and glared at Liang Jie, who was carrying his son and looking at the project proposal in the living room.

Ryosuke looked up, his face completely innocent.

Saori came in from the entrance hall, carrying a plastic bag from the convenience store.

She was wearing dark gray wide-leg pants and a white shirt, with her long hair loosely tied back.

"I'm back." She changed her shoes in the entryway. "The supermarket downstairs was sold out of eggs, so I went out of my way to the convenience store to buy some."

"Thank you for your hard work," Ryosuke said.

Saori walked into the living room and immediately saw the painting on the coffee table. She put down the plastic bag, bent down to pick up the paper, looked at it carefully, and then smiled.

"This is a beautiful drawing." She crouched down and looked at the girl. "Is this your aunt?"

"Yes!" The girl nodded vigorously. "My aunt wears glasses, but my mom says she looks good even without glasses, so I drew my aunt without glasses."

Saori turned her head and glanced at Ling Nai.

Ling Nai had already retreated into the kitchen, only revealing a section of her reddened ear.

Saori chuckled, put the drawing paper back on the coffee table, took the eggs out of the plastic bag, and went into the kitchen.

As she passed by Ling Nai, she whispered something.

"You're quite the talker, Ling Nai."

"Nonsense," Ling Nai's voice squeezed out from between her teeth.

The little boy slid off Ryosuke's shoulder, and Ryosuke put him down. The little guy immediately wobbled towards the kitchen and grabbed Saori's leg.

"mom!"

Saori bent down and picked him up. The little boy's chubby fingers poked at the beauty mark on her cheek. "Mommy came home so late today."

"Because Mommy has to work." Saori pinched his nose. "Did you miss me?"

"I've thought about it!" The little boy buried his head in her shoulder.

Ryosuke placed the proposal on the coffee table and went into the kitchen.

"Do you need any help?"

"No need." Ling Nai didn't even look up. "Just keep an eye on the two outside."

Saori, holding her son, leaned against the kitchen door frame, watching Ling Nai knead the dough.

Because Ryosuke likes it, he specially researched and developed handmade noodles.

"Your cooking skills are getting better and better."

"Isn't that obvious? Who are you looking down on? I'm Rumiko Takashiro!"

"Hmph, and it's been going on for ten years."

Ling Nai took the dough out of the bowl and kneaded it on the cutting board. "You two have it easy, one of you manages the company and the other manages the forum, while I stay at home taking care of the kids."

“You were the one who said you wanted to have the baby,” Saori said with a smile.

“That’s because…” Ling Nai’s words trailed off.

"Why?"

"Hmph, it's all that guy's fault."

"Heh, I remember you saying back then that you really wanted to have a child with my brother no matter what..."

"Ah! Don't say that name!"

Seeing that Ling Nai was about to explode, Saori chuckled and carried her son back to the living room.

Ryosuke stood in the kitchen, watching Ling Nai's profile as she kneaded dough.

Her ponytail was a little shorter than it had been ten years ago, and a few stray hairs hung down from her temples, some of which were whitened by flour.

Time has left no trace on her face; on the contrary, it has enhanced her beauty, making her captivating.

"What are you looking at?" Ling Nai didn't look up, but her ears twitched.

"Look at you."

"You can see it every day, what's so interesting about it?"

"It's only when you see it every day that you find it beautiful."

Ling Nai paused for a moment while kneading the dough. She looked up and glared at Liang Jie, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"What are you saying in front of the child?"

She lowered her head and continued kneading the dough, her voice becoming much quieter.

"That annoying guy."

.....

Dinner was curry rice made by Ling Nai.

Saori put her son in the high chair, and the little guy immediately grabbed a spoon and stirred the curry in the bowl, splattering it everywhere.

His daughter sat next to him, picked up a piece of carrot with her chopsticks, and stuffed it into her brother's mouth when he wasn't looking.

The little boy chewed twice, frowned, but didn't spit it out.

"My sister gave it to me, I want to eat it," he said.

Saori and Ryou both burst out laughing at the same time.

Ryosuke picked up his rice bowl and looked at the three people across the table.

Saori was bending down to wipe her son's mouth, the corners of her mouth curving into the same smile she had seen for thirteen years.

Ling Nai was serving food to her daughter, saying, "Eat more vegetables and less meat," but all she picked up with her chopsticks was meat.

The two children were making a racket, the bowls and chopsticks were clattering, the aroma of curry wafted through the air, and the sky outside the window had completely darkened.

He wouldn't have dared to imagine such a scene ten years ago.

"Dad," his daughter suddenly called out.

"Ok?"

"Today at school, the teacher asked us to draw 'My Family.' I drew my aunt, mom, dad, younger brother, and myself."

"and then?"

"Then the teacher said, 'You have this many people in your family?'" The girl put down her chopsticks and looked at Ryosuke. "I said, 'Yes, that's how many people are in my family.' Isn't that right?"

There was a moment of silence at the dining table.

Saori put down the tissue, and Ryou paused in her movement of holding the bowl.

Ryosuke put down his rice bowl and reached out to rub his daughter's head.

Yes. That's about the number of people.

The girl smiled, revealing two missing front teeth.

.....

night.

Both children are asleep.

The daughter's room was at the end of the corridor. Above her bed was a poster of "Cardcaptor Sakura," a copy of the first draft drawn by Ling Nai.

The little boy's room is next door, and there's a life-size painting of Saber from "Fate" hanging on the wall. Saori said she wanted to cultivate her child's interests from a young age.

When Ryosuke came out of the shower, the balcony door was open.

Saori and Ryou sat side by side on the rattan chairs on the balcony.

Saori was wearing dark blue loungewear, her long hair draped over her shoulders, and she was holding a cup of black tea that had gone cold.

Ling Nai was still wearing that Buffet T-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts. She was barefoot, standing on the edge of the rattan chair, curled up inside.

The Tokyo night sky is a bit brighter than it was ten years ago, with the lights of skyscrapers casting a dark orange hue over the sky.

In the distance, blue light strips illuminated the top of the headquarters building, making the word "ANIPLEX" stand out clearly in the night.

Saori glanced at Ryosuke as he came out, then moved aside to make room for him on the rattan chair.

Ryosuke sat down next to her.

Saori leaned against his left shoulder, her long hair brushing against his neck. The scent of shampoo mingled with the night breeze, a citrus fragrance.

Ling Nai didn't speak. She leaned closer to Ryosuke, rested her face on his right shoulder, and closed her eyes.

The three of them sat side by side like that.

The building's blue light shone quietly in the night sky.

“Speaking of which,” Saori suddenly spoke, her tone as if flipping through a photo album she hadn’t looked at in a long time, “Today, Director Saito submitted his anime adaptation plan for next year. He said it’s the most luxurious lineup in a single season since ANIPLEX was founded.”

“He gets excited whenever he attends a planning meeting,” Ryosuke said.