Listening to the music Ryo chose, in the gentle sway and vibration of the train, the two returned to Shimokitazawa.
As they exited the station, the scenery their eyes beheld had undergone a drastic change compared to before, a lightning-fast transformation.
The tranquil mountain wilderness had turned into orderly, neat high-rise buildings, and within each of those small window frames, countless aging souls were locked away.
Looking at the people coming and going, Hayato felt the undisguised emotional fluctuations in the young girl beside him.
Her surging emotions were suppressed and smoothed by herself, transforming into calmness and melancholy, and then she walked forward as if nothing had happened.
Hayato asked her, "Are you going to work now?"
"It's not far from my house here, so I'll take these things home first."
Ryo moved the plastic bag in her hand; the grass leaves rustled against the plastic.
Hayato joked, "Excellent, the Pervert's next target confirmed: the cool girl's home."
His words livened up the atmosphere a bit.
But Ryo glanced at him, and at the same time noticed that the attention of nearby passersby was also drawn by his strange remarks.
She quickened her pace, trying to ditch him, but such a small struggle was clearly futile for the Pervert.
The Pervert walked beside the cool girl without falling behind... The way back and the way out were the same road.
They left when the sun was strong and returned when the sun was fading.
Ryo hadn't walked far when she saw the ramen shop where they had eaten lunch. Her thoughts raced, and she stopped, turning to her side.
"Ryo." / "Hayato."
Their voices sounded at the same time.
Hayato looked at Ryo's surprised expression, which then turned into a slight smile, and with a generous wave of his hand, he said, "Let's go."
The two entered the ramen shop, carrying a bag of edible grass.
Sitting down, ordering, and while waiting, they talked about music-related matters.
This time, Hayato didn't even bother to ask if she would pay.
After eating, it was time to pay the bill.
Hayato and Ryo walked to the counter. He took out his wallet and asked the waiter, "How much?"
The waiter quickly stated the price.
As Hayato was counting his money, his peripheral vision inadvertently caught Ryo beside him—this woman who was utterly stingy, treated other people's wallets as her own, freeloaded food and drinks to the max, and borrowed money as easily as eating and drinking.
She was rummaging through her wallet!
Ryo only had large bills in her hand, with no room to count change. She directly took out a bill her mother had given her and handed it over.
As the waiter was counting the money, she noticed Hayato's dumbfounded expression and smiled proudly.
She tilted her head slightly, wearing a triumphant expression as if to say, 'You didn't expect that, did you?'
After his initial surprise, Hayato gravely said to Ryo, "Ryo, let's take a picture together."
With that, amidst Ryo's confused expression, he walked directly to her side and took a picture with his phone without her consent.
Although he didn't have a selfie stick, Hayato's arms were long enough to get a great shot of the two of them.
After taking the photo, Ryo quietly watched him save it to his phone's diary album. Then, he opened an audio recording, his voice trembling and full of excitement.
"Today is May 19, 2018. At 4:51 PM, I ate ramen at Men'en-ya, paid for by the lovely Ryo-neechan.
Reflecting on it afterwards, the chewy noodles danced in my heart, the broth was warm like a hot spring in winter, and a hint of green onion fragrance permeated the world... I will remember this kindness from Ryo-neechan for the rest of my life, not forgetting a single bit!"
With a 'ding' sound, the phone finished recording Hayato's words. He looked up again, not seeing Ryo's expression of annoyance at being teased.
She looked at him calmly.
After their eyes met, Ryo asked, puzzled,
"Why a voice recording?"
"To record my excitement at this moment!"
Hayato said enthusiastically, as if he hadn't yet come down from his excitement.
However, to his surprise, Ryo still didn't show any sign of anger, which made him quite confused. She wasn't the type to hide her emotions.
Ryo's expression seemed quite satisfied. She brought the conversation to a close by saying,
"Very good. Remember this debt well."
Hayato was stunned. Could it be that this scoundrel also felt he had been helped too much today, so she was returning the favor with a meal? Or perhaps... He instructed Ryo,
"Ryo, wait here for a moment."
Then, under Ryo's gaze, he darted outside.
But very quickly, in less than 5 minutes, he ran back, casually waved to Ryo, and motioned for her to follow.
"Let's go."
"What did you do?"
Ryo asked curiously.
"Just a trivial little matter."
Hayato didn't answer but walked ahead.
Ryo simply followed, feeling puzzled.
And so, the two walked back to Ryo's house without incident.
At her doorstep, Hayato handed the wild grass he had been carrying to Ryo. Ryo took it, but her hand sank.
She glanced at Hayato.
"Did you give me money?"
She was about to open the bag to look, but Hayato held it shut.
He chuckled and said, "Look at it when you get home."
Ryo looked at him, obediently put down the bag, and turned to go inside her house.
But once she was out of sight behind the garden gate, she immediately opened the bag.
Inside the bag, nestled among individual blades of grass, was a simply designed vase that didn't look particularly expensive.
She took out the vase, and on it was a single flower.
Suddenly, Ryo understood the reason for Hayato's slightly embarrassed look earlier. She chuckled softly, a hint of displeasure in her eyes, and was about to sigh at the fellow's foolishness when...
She saw a tag hanging on it. After a moment of hesitation, she put down the wild grass and picked up the tag to read it.
'Lilac, edible. A special supply of emergency food for you. When you've eaten it all, let's go pull some more grass together.'
After reading it, she wasn't sure if she felt regret or admiration. She simply let out a soft sigh, held the vase with two or three flowers in her hand, and picked up the two bags of wild grass again.
After a while in the kitchen, she returned to her room, carrying the vase, which still had water droplets on its surface... Stepping out of her house, Ryo immediately saw Hayato leaning against her garden wall.
She wanted to test how much thought this guy had put into his actions, so she asked,
"Why a lilac?"
"Because it's edible," Hayato said as if it were the most obvious thing.
Ryo was confused by his straightforwardness. She asked,
"What is the flower language of lilac?"
"Mystery, melancholy," Hayato replied.
Ryo immediately understood what he was thinking and couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.
"It's first love."
She corrected him, showing him her phone.
Hayato looked, then, still not quite believing Ryo, he scrolled through his phone.
After confirming that Ryo was correct, he withdrew his gaze, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Tonight, I'll wear a mask, go find the owner of that flower shop, and make him copy flower languages all night."
Ryo looked at his expression, which was very smug... Walking along the road to STARRY, the silent pair seemed to exude a sense of unspoken understanding.
Although they wore clothes of contrasting colors, it gave people the feeling that the combination was quite good.
Ryo pondered all the way, trying to see through the person beside her.
Soon, she thought of a suitable question, and with anticipation of what expression the person beside her would show, she asked,
"Bocchi likes you, doesn't she?"
Hayato's eyes showed no wavering as he looked at the golden-orange sunset and said,
"Yes."
"You'll take care of her," Ryo stated with certainty.
"Hmm, if she doesn't mind me in the future."
Ryo didn't care that her tone sounded provocative, even as if deliberately so, as she asked Hayato,
"You once said you wanted to make the people around you happy, but what if someone is sad because you want to have a harem?"
Hayato paid no attention to her tone. He turned to Ryo and teased,
"Then I'll tell her that to find a custom-made handsome guy, you have to go to God, and Hayato just happens to look like this."
The two were silent for a long while.
Their figures, with their backs to the setting sun, neither drew closer nor moved further apart.
Ryo returned to her usual tone, saying with relief and a smile,
"What an awful man."
"Pervert, Miss, please call me Pervert," Hayato said with a laugh.
Ryo deliberately didn't call him that, even closing her mouth. Realizing his mistake, Hayato quickly said,
"Sorry, weirdo."
"Alright, Pervert, tell Nijika I'm going to see a movie."
"Not going to STARRY?"
"Skipping work."
"Okay."
Hayato looked at her hair tips and profile, which were bathed in golden light by the sunset, speculating about her thoughts. He tentatively asked,
"Then, as an accomplice, may I have the honor of joining you for the movie?"
"I'm watching a horror movie."
Ryo very directly expressed, 'I won't listen to you.'
"A Pervert only cares if it's good or not, not the genre. If it's not good, I'll watch cool girls."
"You pay for the tickets. I charge for watching me."
"Um... Ryo-neechan, we're accomplices..."
"30% off."
"I'll try to watch the movie..."
...A moment later, Nijika's phone received two messages.
Ryo: "Skipping work."
Hayato: "Gone to watch a movie."
Nijika looked at her phone, then anxiously glanced at Seika nearby, her mind constantly trying to figure out how to transform these two messages into a legitimate reason for absence.
After thinking for a long time, she exclaimed angrily in her mind,
'Even skipping work is so coordinated! These two really are free-spirited together!'
In the end, Hayato didn't pay to watch cool girls because the movie was quite good, and he stole glances at Ryo several times without being caught.