Hayato stared blankly and exclaimed at Ryo's merciless reaction, "Wait, wait, wait! I came all this way on the train, and you're just like this!?"
Ryo's expression was very calm. She walked to the desk, picked up her emergency rations—two blades of grass—walked over to Hayato, and handed them to him.
"A farewell gift."
Hayato sighed, checked that the grass blades were clean and looked like they had been washed, then glanced at Ryo and popped them directly into his mouth... A few minutes earlier.
A man hiding by the curtains stared intently at Hayato, who was about to enter Ryo's house.
After seeing Hayato push open the villa gate, the man took out his phone... "Dr. Yamada, the boy who visited your house last time, he's here again today."
In a medium-sized hospital, a man wearing half-rimmed glasses listened quietly to the phone in the darkness.
Upon hearing the voice on the other end of the line, his hand, which hadn't trembled in 20 years since he first picked up a scalpel, shook slightly.
"Thank you very much."
Having said that, he pushed up his glasses with a heavy expression, as if facing some unacceptable truth.
After hanging up the phone, he dramatically flung off his white coat, the white garment floating like a phantom in the air.
Before the clean white coat even hit the floor, his footsteps had already faded away.
Then, from a distant lower floor, his voice rang out, "Wife, the target is here, let's go home!"
"That target!?"
A female doctor, still holding a medical record, poked her head out of a room and retorted with an even more surprised voice.
"Yes!"
The sorrowful male voice responded.
Their gazes met in the hallway.
After the woman confirmed her husband's look, she immediately dropped the medical record, tossed aside her white coat, and without even putting on her jacket, rushed downstairs even faster than her husband.
In less than half a minute, a black luxury sedan left a hospital behind, roaring towards the Yamada residence... Meanwhile, after eating the grass, Hayato stood up, ready to leave.
Ryo also walked him out.
However, seeing her casually close her room door, walk out of the villa, and then close the house door, Hayato asked in confusion, "Ryo, are you going out at this hour?"
"Mm, to pick some grass to eat."
Ryo's matter-of-fact statement stunned Hayato, leaving him speechless.
He certainly wouldn't reveal that his manuscript fees had arrived.
Just as the two reached the garden gate and it opened,
A black car, with a terrifying screech of brakes, skidded to a halt in front of them, leaving long black tire marks.
As Hayato wondered, the car door opened, emitting a dangerous, killer-like aura.
A foot wearing a brown leather shoe extended from beneath the open car door and stepped onto the ground with a 'thud.'
But Hayato heard that there were actually two sounds, as someone also got out from the passenger side.
However, their movements were so perfectly synchronized that it sounded like only one sound.
Then, a hand propped open the car door, and a person stepped out of the car; the same happened on the passenger side.
Just like that, a young, seemingly vibrant couple stood by the car.
As soon as they stood upright, their heads snapped around like Terminators, staring intently at Hayato, and then confirming the distance between Ryo and Hayato.
Then, like lightning, they rushed over to him.
The couple immediately pressed close to Hayato, revealing their true nature, beaming and asking with concern, "Are you Ryo's boyfriend?!"
"How old are you, what's your name? Where do you live, which school do you attend?"
"How long have you been dating? How did you and Ryo meet?"
"Do you have any hobbies?"
"What's your blood type, what's your zodiac sign? What's your date of birth?"
"What do you like about Ryo?"
...The couple's barrage of questions didn't even give Hayato a chance to reply.
Questions rained down on Hayato like bricks.
Hayato found it amusing but feigned a look of being overwhelmed, listening to their questions.
Ryo, as if already aware of this situation, showed an annoyed expression for not being able to avoid it, and then, amidst the incessant questioning, her expression of impatience deepened.
She angrily shouted, "Father! Mother!"
The young couple immediately snapped back to reality and apologized to Ryo, "Sorry, we got too excited and forgot about Ryo."
Is that the problem?
Hayato gained a new understanding of Ryo's parents.
He had just been asked so many questions and didn't even know their names.
Then he watched as Ryo's Mother took out her wallet, pulled out several ten-thousand-yen bills, and handed them to Ryo.
"It costs money to have fun with your boyfriend, take this."
Ryo's Mother's words suddenly made Ryo's Father think of something. He crept up to Hayato like a phantom.
He warned Hayato in a subtly threatening voice, right next to his ear, "Kid, don't create life in high school, it's very dangerous."
Wait, this is way too open-minded.
However, Ryo was full of impatience towards her overly boisterous parents, leaving a single remark, "He's just a friend from the Band. I'm going out now."
Then she turned to leave.
But as soon as she took a step, her hand was grabbed by Hayato.
Her golden eyes coldly looked back, only to see Hayato with a 'please wait a moment' smile. She hesitated and didn't shake off his hand.
Seeing her stop, Hayato turned around and greeted her parents cheerfully, "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Yamada, I am Ryo's friend, Hayato."
He greeted them with a polite bow and a lighthearted tone.
However, as they looked relieved, he lifted his face with a joyful expression and a sly grin.
"And then, a Pervert, desu!"
After he finished speaking, he tapped his index and middle fingers to his temple, then flicked them up, giving a playful salute.
He then quickly turned, ran past Ryo, grabbed her waist in her dazed gaze, and sped off in a cloud of dust, quick as lightning.
And so, the bewildered couple watched their daughter being carried away by a Pervert… After running for a while, Hayato finally put Ryo down.
Under Ryo's continuous gaze, he let out a sigh of contentment.
"Kidnapping someone's daughter in front of her parents and successfully doing another Perverted thing, how delightful. I must write this down when I get home."
Ryo didn't seem to have much resistance to being forcibly carried away.
She looked at Hayato for a moment, then smiled faintly, saying in a subtle way:
"My family runs a hospital. Although it hasn't been long, it has been passed down since my grandfather's time."
Hayato understood her hidden meaning.
A hospital, and an old, long-established one at that. Her parents' connections must be formidable.
But Hayato said nonchalantly:
"Accomplice, you'll pretend to be my hostage, right?"
Ryo didn't answer. She turned her head and looked at the leisurely, relaxed street on the weekend.
Hayato wasn't at all intimidated by her words, watching her idly.
A slightly loose, long-hemmed black shirt made the girl appear fair and slender, paired with a gray pleated skirt. In this colorful world, she seemed out of place, and under her blue bangs, her golden eyes gazed at the passing crowds, lost in thought.
After a short while, she turned to Hayato and said:
"I need a laborer to pull weeds."
"Understood!"
Hayato brightly raised his arm, showing off his not-so-impressive biceps… "Where are we pulling weeds?"
On the main street, Hayato and Ryo walked side by side.
Their almost opposite color schemes gave them no sense of being a couple at all.
Ryo mentioned a place name that Hayato, who often ran in the wilderness, had never heard of.
He took out his phone to check.
It was a place more than an hour's drive from here.
Hayato looked at the calm girl beside him and couldn't help but inwardly complain that she could run even further than him.
"Then let's go eat something first. What should we eat~"
Hearing Hayato's words, Ryo looked at him glancing around and was momentarily stunned.
Hayato noticed her reaction and turned to ask:
"What's wrong?"
Ryo replied, "No, ramen."
Hayato was slightly surprised. He had thought Ryo would choose curry, but he didn't pay much attention and began searching for a ramen shop on the street.
Before long, they were seated in a ramen shop.
After ordering from the waitress, Hayato suddenly realized a question and asked Ryo:
"Since Ryo has money now, why does she still need to pull weeds?"
Ryo looked directly at him, her tone even.
"That's money for musical instruments."
Hayato thought for a moment.
Hmm… Then he looked up and asked:
"Then you'll pay for the ramen, right?"
Ryo looked at him for a moment, then broke into a happy smile.