"Birthday present?" The saleswoman glanced at Toyokawa Sakiko beside him. With her bright eyes, delicate lips, and petite nose, even her ordinary dress seemed elegant. She was a beautiful woman from high society. "I recommend the necklace at the counter beside this one. It's shaped like a four-leaf clover, though it's a little more expensive."
Let's see what we're dealing with.
Riki glanced over—40,000 yen.
Riki looked back at the saleswoman. Were you testing his financial strength or something?
Only the Party and the country could test him.
Did she believe he wouldn't use Flame Fist on her?
Toyokawa Sakiko tugged at Riki's sleeve and gently shook her head. It was far too expensive.
Thank you, Sakiko-bao.
The saleswoman didn't want to give up, since the necklace really did suit Toyokawa Sakiko. Smiling, she said, "Our shop is running a special promotion. There's a festival booth across the street. If you can catch a goldfish, you'll get a seventy percent discount at our shop."
Was there really such a good deal?
He was a fish-catching master raised in a coastal city. A mere goldfish was nothing to him.
"Whoosh." The net tore.
"Whoosh." It tore again.
Riki frowned at the goldfish nets breaking in his hands one after another. He wondered if the old man running the stall had given him defective nets. What a despicable Japanese man!
"Ah, I got one!" came a delighted voice from beside him.
Damn it, what had you caught!?
Riki turned and saw a goldfish swimming leisurely in the little bowl in Toyokawa Sakiko's hands. She looked at him happily, water droplets from the splashing fish still clinging to her eyelashes.
"Looks like you're not very good at this," Toyokawa Sakiko said with a soft laugh.
At that moment, Riki felt just like Rebecca facing off against Adam the Heavy Hammer. He had only one thought: She really thinks I'm a joke.
No way. He had to prove himself!
"Whoosh." It tore.
Seriously, who was winning this ridiculous game?
"Haha, I got another one."
Riki turned and saw that Toyokawa Sakiko's bowl held another goldfish. The two fish swam together happily, as if keeping each other company. Her eyes curved into crescents, and her laughter rang like silver bells. She crouched beside the pond with her legs together, her slender legs stretching beneath her black knee-high socks.
What wonderful legs, supporting such incredible skill.
Were you Retsu Kaioh or something?
Sakiko, when it came to catching goldfish, I, Riki, would call you the strongest.
Was he really that bad?
As Riki wondered, the empty bowl in his hands suddenly felt heavier. He looked down and saw a goldfish swimming inside. When he looked up, Toyokawa Sakiko raised a finger to her lips and whispered, "I secretly gave you one. Don't let the stall owner see, or we won't get the discount."
"Okay," Riki replied obediently.
Riki had thought Ru Ware was his favorite art, but today he'd realized that his favorite work of art was Toyokawa Sakiko.
I'd like to propose a theory: the entire universe is one giant Sakiko. She is the supreme god, and the Earth revolves around her. I call it Sakiko-ism. What do you all think?
Copernicus: I have no objections.
As for elementary particles, they can be divided into atoms and Sakikos. What do you think, everyone?
Einstein: I object (muted)... I have no objections.
"I didn't expect you to be bad at catching goldfish," Toyokawa Sakiko said with a smile.
I should be the one asking you. You used to be a rich young lady who couldn't even operate a vending machine. How'd you get so good at catching goldfish?
"Did you used to go to festivals often?" Riki asked.
"Not very often. Just sometimes, back when... I mean, when things were still all right at home," Toyokawa Sakiko said softly. "By the way, let's go to the next festival together, Riki."
You've said everything already. What am I supposed to say?
Toyokawa Sakiko held out her pinky and smiled. "It's a promise, okay?"
Riki looked at her slender, pale pinky and hooked his around it, giving it a little shake.
His hand was so big and warm. Were boys' hands all this big...? Toyokawa Sakiko couldn't help thinking, and for a moment, she forgot to let go.
"Then let's go to the next festival together," Riki said.
"No taking it back. It's a promise for life," Toyokawa Sakiko said with a soft smile.
"Of course."
If Evil Sword Immortal could be the champion of promises, why couldn't Riki?
The saleswoman beside them found it amusing and muttered, "Do new couples really blush just from linking pinkies?"
"Actually, we're not a couple," Toyokawa Sakiko replied hurriedly, blushing.
"Huh? You're going on dates before you're even dating?" the saleswoman exclaimed.
"?" Riki.
Was romance the only thing in her head?
"Ahem, pardon me. I'll wrap up your present right away." The saleswoman looked a little awkward under Riki's furious, The World-like stare.
As Riki and Toyokawa Sakiko left, the saleswoman thought wistfully about her lost high school days. Being a college student really could kill you.
A while later, she saw Toyokawa Sakiko run back, slightly out of breath.
"Um..." Toyokawa Sakiko said.
They took the subway home. The sky had grown dim, and after getting off amid the gentle swaying of the train, they walked into a moonlit street.
Riki had also bought a cake. If he was going to make up for Sakiko's missed birthday, then besides a birthday present, he naturally needed a birthday cake.
Riki glanced up at the second floor of the rented house from a distance. Good. That damn Old Man wasn't home. Otherwise, Riki would've had to beat him up again and chase him out.
Toyokawa Sakiko hadn't opened the gift box yet. Even though she already knew what was inside, she'd decided to wait until she got home.
"What did you go back and buy just now?" Riki asked curiously.
"Well, you'll have to guess," Toyokawa Sakiko said with a tilted head and a smile.
So she'd learned to tease people, huh?
Toyokawa Sakiko looked at Riki's thoughtful profile, hid the present behind her back, and said nothing.
Today was one month after her birthday: March 14.
White Day.
The day when girls gave boys presents.
Changes from the Transmigration
Riki followed Toyokawa Sakiko into her home. Following Japanese etiquette, he took off his shoes in the entryway and said softly, "Excuse me for intruding."
Then he followed Toyokawa Sakiko into her "room." It was only a small bedroom separated off from the rest of the home, but entering a girl's bedroom was just as new to Riki as Louis XVI's head.
The air smelled like Sakiko. Should he hold his breath so she wouldn't think he was a pervert?
A little awkwardly, Riki sat facing Toyokawa Sakiko in the cramped room.
"Sorry. My place is just this small, and the living room is full of cigarette ash and beer bottles my dad left behind. I haven't had a chance to clean it up," Toyokawa Sakiko said apologetically.
"It's fine, it's fine. Back in high school, my dorm had a whole busload of people, and we shared one bathroom with the entire floor. Now that was scary. If you were late getting there after class, there might not be any hot water left," Riki said quickly.
"Are high school classes in China that intense?" Toyokawa Sakiko asked in surprise.
"Not always. It's mostly just tradition."
The older generations had endured the rain, so they tore up the umbrellas of the younger generations and raised their middle fingers.
"But our high school alumni improved the cafeteria. The food was famous nationwide, practically as good as what you'd get at a well-known restaurant," Riki said with a smile. Chinese people could put up with anything. No hot water? They'd endure it. Not enough time to sleep? They'd endure it. But if the food wasn't good, he'd have to report the education bureau.
"Your alumnus must have spent a lot of money, right?"
"Money? No. After graduating from Haicheng University with a music degree, he went back to our high school to work as a chef. He's great at making spicy diced chicken," Riki said after a moment's thought.
People called Haicheng University China's little Florida. It had some of the strangest people and most extraordinary talents in the country. In the last century, seventy percent of the students who went to study in America returned. The other thirty percent were deported by the United States for being extreme nationalists. They'd been discriminated against, so they'd taken up guns and won a shootout with a gang. And during an admissions event, they'd gleefully demonstrated the art of butchering an ox in front of a group of vegetarians, among other things.
Despite all the praise, Haicheng University's president had his own opinion. He thought this land of outstanding people had produced all these misfits—no, talents—and that he'd contributed only a tiny bit. To be precise, none of it was his fault. The mayor of Haicheng had a complaint too: wasn't it because the university hadn't followed the principle of teaching everyone without discrimination?
All he could say was that there was something magical about this place.
Only after speaking at length did Riki realize what he was doing. "Sorry. I think I've been talking about myself this whole time."
"It's fine. I want to know about you too, Riki," Toyokawa Sakiko said with a smile, kneeling on the bedding.
Sakiko was so adorable.
"Oh, right, right. Let's bring out the cake." Riki took out the cake he'd ordered from a bakery earlier and placed it on the small table between them. He opened the box to reveal a cream cake topped with chopped fruit and words written in chocolate.
"Toyokawa Sakiko-san, happy birthday."
The writing was a little crooked, though.
"It's my first time writing in Japanese, so it came out a little crooked. Don't mind it." Riki awkwardly took some candles from beside him. "Let's light the candles. Damn, where's my lighter?"
He'd been through so much in life that it seemed perfectly normal not to have a lighter.
Stay calm, Riki. This is a trial, a trial to help you move on from the past...
But did you have a lighter?
Uh... no.
Then what the hell were you talking about?
Riki was flustered and sweating buckets. He'd prepared everything, so how had he forgotten the most important thing—the lighter?
"Click."
Riki heard a crisp sound. Turning, he saw a warm candle flame slowly come to life. Toyokawa Sakiko smiled as she waved the lighter in her hand. "My dad smokes a lot, so I hid his lighter. Looks like it came in handy now."
Sakiko, you're my god.
The flickering candlelight illuminated Toyokawa Sakiko's face. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and the warm glow softened her features. Her pale skin looked delicate enough to break with a touch, and her glossy lips pressed together lightly.
Riki could understand why Nagasaki Sose was so attached to the old Crychic.
If he lost a Succubus Sakiko like this, he'd want to get her back too.
Damn Succubus Sakiko. She'd made his heart, which had long since stopped feeling joy or sorrow, thump with excitement.
"Um, is there something on my face?" Toyokawa Sakiko asked, a little embarrassed under Riki's gaze.
"No, no, nothing. Let's open the present first." Riki coughed lightly and came back to himself, then took out the present he'd bought that day.
Although Toyokawa Sakiko already knew what it was, she still accepted it with both hands as if it were something important. Touching her chin with her finger, she tilted her head and pretended to guess. "May I ask if it's something valuable?"
Riki broke out in a cold sweat. "My deepest apologies, Your Highness. My family is of modest means."
Toyokawa Sakiko asked again, "Could it be a rare treasure?"
Riki was terribly embarrassed. "Your Highness, it's an ordinary piece of jewelry."
Toyokawa Sakiko frowned. "Then why are you giving me this present?"
Riki immediately grew confident. "This jewelry contains all my heartfelt feelings. Please accept it, Your Highness."
Toyokawa Sakiko couldn't help covering her mouth as she laughed like silver bells. "What are you acting out, some kind of Yamato Drama at a school festival? I'm not a princess. Do you think a princess would live in a little house like this?"
Riki rocked his head and said, "As the ancients said, 'This may be a humble dwelling, but my virtue makes it fragrant.' Wouldn't a princess living in a place like this prove that she's noble and incorruptible?"
Watching Riki shake his head and recite classical prose, Toyokawa Sakiko couldn't help laughing again. She coughed lightly and raised her chin. "Since you gave me such a wonderful present, I'll give you one too, Your Highness."
"A present?" Riki asked in confusion.
He hadn't noticed Toyokawa Sakiko buying anything.
Wait, could it have been when she ran back to the shopping district that afternoon?
Before you continue