Chapter 620
Wow, so handsome!
But it could also be a girl, someone as cool and cute as Ms. Sakayori! I'm so envious!
After delivering the menu to the kitchen, she went around to the cashier and whispered to Sakayori Iroha, "Sakayori Sakura! That customer is super pretty!"
"!" Sakayori Iroha suddenly woke up, almost blurting out "Have a safe trip and welcome to visit again."
Even though she works five days a week, has lived alone for more than two years, and has been working for a long time, she still can't manage to balance work and life.
Having barely survived the Crazy Thursday night Takamine hour, and having only slept for 3 hours last night, she finally couldn't resist and crashed for a while.
He didn't pay any attention to what his colleague had just said.
However, such a small matter is naturally no challenge for her, the perfect high school girl. Could it be more difficult to answer than asking a question while sleeping in class?
"Ah, um, yes..." she replied perfunctorily, following her gaze.
Honestly, young women these days, why do they always seem to talk about the opposite sex, no matter where they are?
Instead of wasting this time, you'd be better off sleeping a little longer, doing more practice problems, playing more games, or listening to one more of Yachiyo's new songs!
Besides, with the internet so developed now, there are so many beautiful people online, but aren't they all wearing makeup and using filters and beauty effects? How beautiful can people in real life really be...?
"..."
With just one glance, Sakayori Iroha felt apologetic for her earlier rashness.
What's going on? That boy!
No, it should be a boy, right?!
But, does this face really look like a boy's?!
You're kidding! You're joking! Whether it's a man or a woman, that's way too much!
Is she an idol? An entertainer? Or an online blogger?
Could it be that they saw the reviews for this store online and then came to check it out out of curiosity?!
"Right? Right? You're so pretty, aren't you!" Her colleague kept gently poking her waist and abdomen, trying to get her approval.
"Ah, yes, that's right." Sakayori Iroha agreed bitterly.
"Ah~ I feel like all my fatigue from today has been cured~ It's so great to be on duty today~"
"It's not that bad..." At least, she was still very tired.
The eye-pleasing moisturizing did not heal the damage all over her body.
If she could sleep for six hours straight tonight, that would be fine—but that's just a thought.
On non-holiday days, excluding time spent going to school, working, doing homework, studying, and surfing the internet, it's impossible to get 6 hours of sleep.
What? Why not reduce the time spent online for leisure activities?
Are you a devil?!
In such a high-pressure living environment, she would die without the internet to relax and soothe her mind!!!
On the other side, while Sakayori Iroha and the others were sizing up Himemiya Chihaya was also sizing her up.
He picked up the free glass of water, took a small sip, and glanced at the Sakayori Iroha out of the corner of his eye.
Is that the high school girl that Tsukimi Yachiyo has been longing for? She doesn't seem to have anything special about her.
His work attire was rather unfashionable, and he had dark circles under his eyes that even concealer couldn't hide, but he had a good base and seemed to have a gentle personality—that was his first impression.
Naturally, since he had investigated her beforehand with the Ratziel, he didn't really think she was just an ordinary young girl.
What ordinary girl would leave home for Tokyo alone in the winter of her final year of junior high, refusing all financial support from her family? -- It seems there really are some, and she has more than one.
Inoseri Nina and Ebizuka Tomo are pretty much like that. Even more outrageous are superhumans like Yōkadō Sakuri, who went abroad when she was in elementary school.
Uh, let's try another one.
What ordinary girl would work part-time while attending school to earn her tuition, living expenses, and rent?
Hiss~ In an instant, the image of a certain blue-haired man flashed into his mind.
Okay, let's try another one.
What ordinary girl could work and earn money while also being ranked first in her grade for three consecutive years?
For some reason, the image of Kasumigaoka Utaha blowing him a kiss popped into his mind.
If the criteria for academic performance were relaxed even slightly, Sakurajima Mai and Aoyama Nanami would also be considered.
Next, what ordinary high school girl can play music and compose songs...? What is this? Immediately pass.
"..." There's nothing I can do; there are just too many perverts around me.
However, at least if we consider all of the above factors together, she is still quite special.
Another point is that he only sleeps an average of 3 hours a day, which puts him ahead of everyone around him, including himself.
There's no way around it; even if he enjoys working and studying, he wouldn't enjoy it to the point of torturing his body. In his case, those things are merely supplements to his life's value, not indispensable.
However, that's because he didn't know beforehand whether doing so would harm his health.
Just like he hadn't tried jumping from the third floor before to see if he would break any bones, he wouldn't do something reckless unless he was forced to.
Chapter 561 The Most Boring Woman
He had heard of people who could sleep very little and still have plenty of energy all day, and he had even seen a few of them, since everyone around him was a workaholic.
A strong body is an essential condition for a strong person to be strong.
Leaving aside his own father, Okura Iyo are so busy every day that they don't get much sleep. Even Esther, who is as gluttonous as a pig, often stays up until two or three in the morning to draw design blueprints.
But isn't sleeping only 3 hours a day a bit... like killing yourself?
Honestly, it's not like it's Elf's body—no, even an ordinary acquired Elf couldn't do that.
This is what it means to fight for one's pride; she's willing to go to such lengths to distance herself from her family of origin... Her mother is no ordinary person either; her life experiences are even more intense than hers.
Her brother, who seems to be in Tokyo now, is a very popular professional online gamer. Recently, after the launch of the Battle arena, he and his teammates have been playing together to climb the Battle, but he has limited knowledge of it.
My preferred romantic relationships... well, I'd better not say, it's a bit too ambiguous.
Although they haven't officially started dating, their interactions seem to suggest that kind of relationship.
Honestly, he's seen plenty of yuri, but this is the first time he's seen that... well, maybe not the first time? Kawaragi Momoka's former roommate too...
It's best to avoid meeting them in the future; after all, he's probably aware of his own innate talents.
Another point that bothered him was the name of the older brother who was six years older than her— Sakayori Asahi.
Damn, another one with the same name as him? Asahi is such a common name.
Incidentally, her mother's name is Sakayori Momiji, the same name as the Kuzuyama Momiji from the novel * Filia *.
Connecting this to Tsukimi Yachiyo and Yamabuki Yachiyo —did he discover some strange connection?
If I had to elaborate further, is the connection between Kaguya-hime on the moon and Luna (the moon goddess) really just a coincidence?
He fell into deep thought.
Could it be that his family actually has something to do with the Moon Person...? Impossible, impossible! If it were true, he would have known long ago. He shouldn't overthink it.
However, if you ask him why he opened the box of Sakayori Iroha's family and why he came over in person, it actually does have something to do with Sakurakoji Luna.
Last time Sakurakoji Luna reminded him that with such a huge business, he should be careful not to be deceived or taken advantage of by his partner.
So, for the sake of his grand plan to make money in his later years and for a happy life, he decided to take matters into his own hands. There were no problems with management at the moment; the only hidden danger was whether Tsukimi Yachiyo would suddenly have a brain fart and launch an attack on him.
Since he didn't know their background, he could only rely on the information provided in the Ratziel to take precautions and make them hesitate before acting impulsively—that's right, that's why he came to show his face to Sakayori Iroha.
Want to keep the partner you've waited so many years for? Then let's live peacefully together!
You opened my box, and I opened yours; that's fair.
What a filthy adult world...
After all, the other party is their own chief technology officer, so they can't just go to their door and shut down their servers.
--The above were Himemiya Chihaya Sakayori Iroha's thoughts before she met Aya Sakuragi, or rather, Sakurakoji Talent's thoughts.
Now that he actually saw her, his thoughts changed slightly.
'Hey, another MyGO ~~~'
His snow-white temples trembled helplessly; his DNA for redemption stirred unconsciously.
Judging from the information, he should be a strong person, but this was the first time he had ever seen such a bored and empty look in his eyes.
It's not about her working and scrimping and saving to cover her living expenses and tuition; nor is it about how she managed to maintain perfect grades and outward appearance under such circumstances.
As mentioned before, Aoyama Nanami and Toyokawa Shoko were in similar situations to her.
He was referring to a more fundamental issue—wasn't the child's behavior driven by her own thoughts at all?
Among the people he has known so far, there are those who lack love, like Shiina Mahiru and Hoshino Ai; those who have endured hardship and suffering, like Aoyama Nanami and RUPA; those who are lost and confused, like Nagasaki Sōse and Yukino Shita Yukino; those whose lives are in danger, like Makinohara Shoko are pursuing their dreams, like...
Although they each had their own problems, none were as serious as the one in front of them—despite her greater abilities than most of them.
All of them, regardless of their circumstances, had one thing in common: they acted entirely according to their own conscience, following their own thoughts and desires.
However, for various reasons, they may not be able to get what they want.
The Sakayori Iroha, was different. In his eyes, she was like a puppet with talent but no life goals, just drifting aimlessly through life.
When she spoke with her colleagues, the gentle hesitation in her eyes and movements seemed to him like an unconscious reflex, merely an attempt to calm things down rather than a genuine attempt to provide an answer.
--Of course, it's also possible that she was too tired to think about these things.
But despite having the ability to solve most problems, he still makes his life so tiring. This alone speaks volumes.
Based on the information he had previously researched, he could roughly conclude that she was not living for herself, but rather for the purpose of becoming someone her mother could communicate with on an equal footing.
This remained unchanged even after escaping her mother's constant nagging and living alone more than 200 kilometers away from home.
Otherwise, there would be no need to deliberately maintain a perfect posture all the time.
Even though I'm living alone now, I still need my mother's permission to act as my guarantor for the apartment rental contract, to call and nag me constantly, and to stop me from being free and independent?
What's the point of living alone like this? Believe me or not, I'll just run away from home!
She's still too much of a good girl. Can't she learn from him and the children around him?
All I did was to gain the approval of the perfect mother, to put into practice the teachings and life path of the perfect mother, just like desperately trying to get closer to the ideal of "correctness," transforming myself into a machine that has already been proven to be perfect.
Boring, so incredibly boring!
He was so bored that his eyes lost their sparkle.
What's the difference between this boring and terrifying life and his previous life, where he desperately studied, worked odd jobs, struggled with all his family members, applied for scholarships and student loans to escape suffering and change his fate... leaving him no time to think about anything else?
Even her use of the internet to vent stress is similar to his use of ACGN (Anime, Comics, Games, Novels) to relieve stress.
And he knew all too well what lay at the end of this road.
"..." The moment he looked up again, he seemed to see a reflection of his past life in that girl.
It's subtly unsettling.
Whether it's this seemingly forgotten memory, or the woman who is still playing out the story before his eyes.
But she was different from me; she was both lucky and unlucky.
Fortunately, although the way it happened was a bit strange, she was still loved by her mother, brother, and grandparents.
Unfortunately, even the path of hard work wasn't one she chose according to her own will.
To be considered as independently putting one's ideas into practice, one should at least have a clear ultimate goal and something definite that one truly wants to do.
Because my mother was raising several younger siblings while also getting into Kyoto University, I figured that to gain her approval, I should at least get into the University of Tokyo —which hardly even qualify as a plan, right?
Even if she had an exceptionally strong physique and was lucky enough not to die suddenly, a good ending would still be awaiting her.
He didn't know what happened to Tsukimi Yachiyo and her afterward; he only knew that Tsukimi Yachiyo had spent some time with her before, but what happened after that?
After she returns to the moon and travels through time, is it a happy ending or a tragic one?
He wasn't sure, but looking at Tsukimi Yachiyo's helpless expression as she waited for Tsukimi Yachiyo, it didn't seem like a happy ending at all... What kind of happy ending is like this?
[Note: The original plot has several twists and turns, whether it's Kaguya returning to the moon, Iroha emerging from the shadows, or realizing Yachiyo identity... none of these constitute a happy ending. Only when Iroha makes up her mind, finds what she truly wants to do, works hard for ten years to overcome the difficulties, and "revives" Yachiyo, can it be considered a happy ending. At the current point in time, obviously nothing has happened.]
Surely something that even the technologically advanced, time-traveling Moon Person couldn't solve could be solved by someone else? That's impossible.