Watching the 12-story building collapse, Chisato and the three others prepared to leave immediately.
The mission was finished, after all, and there were no casualties. Even though the building was gone... they certainly wouldn't escape a scolding when they got home.
Ryunosuke greeted the three beautiful girls and prepared to take his leave. That Heaven and Earth Great Shift technique earlier had completely drained his stamina. Now, his stomach was growling fiercely. He intended to find a late-night snack to restore his energy.
The three girls didn't mind; they also wanted to go home and rest since tonight had been incredibly exhausting. Finally, the two parties parted ways. Regarding the division of the money, Ryunosuke wasn't worried, as that money wasn't going anywhere.
He found a street cart by the roadside and ordered five bowls of ramen at once to tide him over. It wasn't that he was greedy, but the ramen portions here were indeed small; one or two bowls wouldn't even make him feel full. Even an ordinary person from China who loved to eat could finish five bowls here.
The price wasn't expensive, 300 Yen per bowl, so the total was only 1500 Yen. If one worked a normal job with a wage of 1100–1300 Yen per hour, it would take just over an hour to earn that much money.
The ramen vendor was an old grandmother who looked to be around 70–80 years old. Her back was hunched, likely the result of decades of hard work. Ryunosuke didn't say much and simply ate his ramen in silence.
After finishing, Ryunosuke placed the money on the table and prepared to leave. As the grandmother went to clear the empty bowls, she realized the customer had left extra money. Just as she was about to call out to return the change, the person had already vanished without a trace.
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Ryunosuke slept through the night. The next morning, he went to attend a piano competition.
The reader did not hear wrong. He was entering a youth piano competition, and he shamelessly forged his age to look younger. To sneak in, Ryunosuke even bribed the organizers so they would turn a blind eye and treat him as a child undergoing early puberty.
This youth piano competition was supposed to be for participants aged 10 to 14. Ryunosuke had clearly exceeded the limit, which was why he lied about his age. This petty competition was merely a local district-level event that wasn't taken too seriously, so after receiving the money, the organizers were happy to play dumb.
Previously, Ryunosuke had said he wanted to intervene in Arima Kosei's affairs so the boy's life wouldn't follow its original plot—which coincidentally resembled a novel he had written himself.
As for the names, he could argue it was just a coincidence. There are many people with the same name in this world; "accidentally using your name in my novel" was a reasonable excuse. But if their life journeys were exactly the same as his novel, it would be difficult to explain. That was why Ryunosuke had to step in.
Competing in piano against Arima Kosei, who wasn't even 10 years old yet... his thick-skinned nature was truly extraordinary.
An even more shameless act followed. Ryunosuke entered "Chunibyo" mode and imitated the world-class pianist, Maksim Mrvica. He played his most famous work, Croatian Rhapsody, and without a hitch managed to win the overall championship.
Kosei's face turned deathly pale from shock; the difference in their levels was simply too vast. Ryunosuke could only whisper an apology in his heart. "Kid, you still need a lot of practice..."
Below the stage, there was a little blonde girl with sparkling eyes. That was little Miyazono Kaori. On the other side, there was also a little girl, but her gaze seemed unfriendly as she kept staring sharply at Ryunosuke. That was little Touma Kazusa.
The script Ryunosuke had given to that stinky director seemed to be White Album 2.
Well, he had "collided" again, though Ryunosuke himself didn't realize it. But at least there was still room to fix things; they were still children, so he could still intervene. At worst, he would just break their connection so that tragic love triangle wouldn't happen, right?
After finishing that embarrassing stunt, Ryunosuke left the competition venue without even taking his trophy. This made Kazusa furious. Music was everything to that girl; this person's actions, acting as if he didn't value music, made her feel belittled!
Kaori chased after Ryunosuke, who had already gone outside. "Please wait a moment! Sir!"
Kaori looked out of breath. Her physical condition was indeed not very good, and her stamina was terrible. It was just that because she was still a child, her parents didn't yet know she suffered from Friedreich's Ataxia (Spinocerebellar Degeneration). In its advanced stages, this disease has almost no cure. Fortunately, it was still in the early stages and she was only 10 years old.
Kaori looked up with a face full of smiles but drenched in sweat. "Hello! My name is Miyazono Kaori. Your piano playing was truly beautiful to hear! Could you teach me? I also love music very much."
Kaori took out her violin and even played a little in front of Ryunosuke to prove she wasn't lying.
It was truly the saying "searching everywhere and finding nothing, only for it to appear right before your eyes." The person he was looking for had revealed herself in such an open manner.
Ryunosuke didn't beat around the bush and accepted the offer. The two of them officially entered a teacher-student relationship. Kaori wanted to call him by the honorific "Sensei," but Ryunosuke refused and told her to just call him "Big Brother."
Kaori intended to invite Ryunosuke to her house to host him as a guest, and at the same time tell her parents that she had taken this older brother as a teacher to learn piano. Kaori's parents welcomed him warmly, brought a fruit plate to Kaori's room, and then left the two of them alone so they wouldn't be disturbed.
Would they do anything inappropriate inside the room? Come on, Kaori is only 10; what are you readers thinking?
Kaori took out an electronic keyboard; this was the cheapest way to learn. After all, the price of even the cheapest real piano could reach 660,000 Yen, something a small family like hers could not afford.
Kaori began to learn, and Ryunosuke truly intended to teach her.
Ryunosuke came almost every day, until the time he calculated it was nearly time to return to school, he began preparing to create another "mess."
Seeing Kaori practicing so diligently, Ryunosuke borrowed her kitchen and intended to cook something delicious for her.
Kaori's eyes instantly lit up. "You can cook too, Big Brother?"
Ryunosuke gave a thumbs-up to show that of course he could, while donning a white headband characteristic of Yukihira Soma. At that moment, Kaori had not yet realized just how "serious" the situation she was about to face would be.