Chapter 96 A Night of Mistakes
Beck Cafe is probably the closest cafe to Yotsuya Station, except for the ones directly connected to Yotsuya Station.
You can often see students from the nearby Sophia University coming here to study or date on weekends.
The store plays popular songs and has a youthful décor. Its business philosophy is completely different from that of the Ochanomizu restaurant that Toru Watanabe visited last time.
After ordering an iced latte on the first floor, Toru Watanabe went up to the second floor to find a seat.
The counter seats by the window on the second floor offer a very good view. For example, right now, the colorful skyscrapers of Shinjuku district in the distance are very nice.
Therefore, Watanabe Toru felt less resentful about being forced to meet.
I passed the time drinking coffee and flipping through the few remaining pages of Don Quixote.
He was not interested in the chivalrous dream of the chuunibyou Don Quixote, and the reason he insisted on watching it was purely to avoid being bored while learning Spanish.
As for whether he could enrich his cultural heritage, he did not deliberately pursue it.
She flipped through the previous pages again to make sure she had memorized the previously unfamiliar words, then read the next two pages. Then, with her schoolbag on her back and her coffee in hand, Hanada Asako went upstairs.
"Sorry, I'm late." Asako Hanada also sat down at the counter seat by the window.
"It's okay. It's night anyway." Toru Watanabe watched her put her schoolbag at her feet, humming a song, picking up the spoon to stir the cream on the coffee, looking like she was looking forward to the taste of the coffee.
"Why do you say that?" Hanada Asako looked at Watanabe Toru in confusion.
"During the day, if I sit here alone, I'll be approached so much that I'll want to go home straight away."
Hanada Asako smiled cutely and said, "Watanabe-san really loves to joke around."
"No, I didn't... Never mind, just take it as a joke. So, what's the matter with you calling me out?"
"Hmm~"
Hanada Asako agreed, put down the spoon, held up the coffee with her little hands as if to warm herself, took a small sip, and sighed, "It's so delicious."
"..." Watanabe Toru.
"Hmm?" Hanada Asako tilted her head and looked at Watanabe Toru who was staring at her in confusion, and then she suddenly realized.
She said: "I ordered an Italian fancy mocha coffee, which is a mixture of 1/3 Italian espresso and 2/3 hot milk, and chocolate is added. Because I don't like dark chocolate very much, I added milk chocolate..."
"Italy and chocolate are both good." Watanabe Toru sighed helplessly, "What I want to know is, what exactly did you ask me to come for, senior?"
"Ah, sorry, that's what you were talking about, Watanabe-san."
Otherwise, which one can you say?
"Although I am a member of the Human Observation Department, so far, our company has not yet had a project to 'survey what kind of coffee young human women like to drink'."
"I understand." Asako Hanada put down her coffee, grabbed the hem of her skirt at her knees with both hands, and stared down at the Italian coffee.
Watanabe Toru stirred the ice in his coffee cup and waited quietly for her to sort out her thoughts.
"Actually," Hanada Asako mustered up her courage, "I really hate Watanabe-san."
"...Ah, I see. What next?"
"Sorry, please wait a moment." Hanada Asako picked up the coffee and took a sip, and her tension was obviously relieved.
She continued, "Watanabe-san, what do you think love is?"
"ha?"
"Please answer me!" Hanada Asako grabbed the hem of her skirt tightly, staring at Watanabe Toru without blinking with her eyes like black grapes.
"Don't be so loud, don't get excited!"
"Please answer me!"
"I will answer you. But I need some time to think about this question when I'm asked it so suddenly."
"Then please think about it carefully, Watanabe-san."
Toru Watanabe took a sip of his latte and pretended to think.
How is it possible to suddenly come up with an answer to such a question?
Besides, rather than what love is, he wanted to know what Hanada Asako really wanted to do.
"Have you thought about it, Watanabe-san?" Hanada Asako was like a tutor chasing after her students to ask questions.
"Like coffee." Toru Watanabe said nonsense casually.
"coffee?"
"Hmm." Watanabe Toru held up the coffee cup and looked at the 'Beck' store logo on it. "There is a song that says: 'The taste of love is like this bitter coffee. Even though you can add some sugar, it still makes people feel haggard.'"
“Is there such a song?”
“It’s a Chinese song.”
There is a song, but the original lyrics are: The taste of missing someone is like this cup of bitter coffee.
“So Watanabe believes that even if love has its sweet moments, its essence is still bitter.”
"So that's how it is? Then let's do that." Toru Watanabe felt that this explanation made unexpected sense.
Could it be that after reading too many books like “How to Please a Rich Woman”, he has become an expert at hosting late-night love radio shows?
"But..." Hanada Asako said angrily, "Even if love is bitter, passion will fade, and passionate love cannot be maintained forever, and we cannot do anything to let the other person down!"
It was almost twelve o'clock and there were still four customers in the store, all looking over here.
Watanabe Toru put his hands on the ground and said, "Calm down, Senior, is your boyfriend cheating on you?"
"It's Watanabe-san! You did something wrong to Kujo-san!"
"……No."
"You have."
"No."
"You have it!" Hanada Asako shouted angrily, like an elementary school student who was wronged by an adult.
"Don't think you can talk nonsense just because you are a senior. I am an honest country boy and I hate people who talk nonsense the most!"
"Why do you walk Seino-san home every night?"
"She is in poor health, and I am worried that it is not safe for her to walk alone at night." After explaining, Watanabe Toru said in a lecturing tone: "Senior Hanada Asako, you always suspect that others are not loyal in their relationship because you are too suspicious and look at people with tinted glasses. Although I don't know much about love, I also know that the most important thing between two parties is trust."
"What about you and Asuka-senpai?"
"She came here on her own today, and just for the game." Watanabe Toru pretended to be impatient, but in fact he picked up the coffee with a guilty conscience, ready to drink it in one gulp and leave.
"Why did she take off her clothes for you in the Human Observation Department activity room that day?"
"...I don't know what you're talking about." Watanabe Toru put down his coffee cup, picked up his schoolbag and stood up. "I have to catch the last train, so I'm leaving first."
Asako Hanada grabbed Toru Watanabe's arm and almost pulled him down.
“I filmed it all!”
Toru Watanabe turned around, and although the picture on the mobile phone with a double bass hammer was blurry, he could still easily identify that it was Mai Asuka who was taking off her clothes.
The person sitting opposite Asu Mai couldn't see her face, but she was familiar with him and knew who he was just by looking at his figure.
What's more, the location was obviously in the activity classroom of the Human Observation Department.
"Damn it, I was worried that the people on the other side would see me!" Watanabe Toru regretted it deeply.
But if regret were useful, there would be no regrets in the world. Now that things have come to this, we can only find a way to remedy the situation.
Toru Watanabe straightened his shirt that had been pulled askew and sat down again.
"Hanada-senpai, what are you going to do?"
Hanada Asako took a deep breath and said, "If you don't correct yourself, Watanabe-san, I will tell Kujo-san about this."
"Wait, wait, I'm going to die like this!" Toru Watanabe was shocked.
"Then correct it!"
"It's not that simple." Watanabe Toru deliberately smiled bitterly and suddenly realized that this was a good opportunity to get rid of Asuka Mai.
Although I am a little reluctant, if I want to do something great - in fact, it is for survival, I cannot do such a bad thing as "cheating".
It must be unbreakable and not give the opponent any chance.
"What's so difficult about that!" Hanada Asako asked.
"Don't worry, senior." Watanabe Toru comforted, "I can understand your pursuit of loyalty in love, and I agree with this point of view."
"Then why did Watanabe-san do something to let down Kujo-san?"
"This matter," Watanabe Toru hesitated for two seconds, "was actually initiated by Asuri-senpai."
"Mai-senpai?!"
"Yeah. Well, actually, Asuka Mai-senpai is a nympho."
“…”
Asako Hanada opened her mouth, her pink tongue faintly visible, and an expression of surprise frozen on her cute face.
"She has always been the one taking the initiative to do this," Watanabe Toru said painfully, "I tried really hard to refuse, but you saw today that she still tempted me with so many people around. If this continues, I'm really worried that I will do something to let Meiji down."
"It turns out to be like this." Hanada Asako murmured before she could recover.
"Ever since she harassed me for the first time, I didn't want to go to the orchestra anymore, but I had to practice for the competition. During breaks, I would escape to the activity room of the Human Observation Department at first, but one time she ran over and started taking off her clothes as soon as she entered the door, no matter how I tried to stop her."
Asako Hanada picked up the Italian coffee and gulped down several sips.
Seeing her frightened elementary school student look, Toru Watanabe tried hard not to laugh.
"Later, even if the music classroom was full of people who hated me, I had no choice but to stay there during breaks. But you saw what she did today!"
"Hanada-senpai!" Toru Watanabe held down Hanada Asako's small shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "Please, can you stop Asura-senpai from doing this again?"
Asako Hanada slowly came to her senses, then immediately pushed Watanabe Toru away with a blushing face.
"This is my last gift to Asuka Mai." Toru Watanabe felt a sense of pleasure in breaking a taboo by having physical contact with the girl who suffered from emotional cleanliness.
This is also a punishment for Hanada Asako for meddling in other people's affairs, although she will probably become his tool in the end.
Although the physical contact did not reach the level of a kiss that would commit a lifetime relationship, it still had a significant impact on Hanada Asako. She kept her head down for a long time without saying anything.
Seeing that the store was about to close if he waited any longer, Watanabe Tetsu called out, "Hanada-senpai?"
"ah?!"
"Can you help me persuade Senior Mai Asuka?"
Hanada Asako said in a voice that would have been inaudible if the store hadn't been quiet enough, "I'm not sure yet that Watanabe-san is telling the truth."
"You can ask Asuka Mai to confirm."
"How can I say such things as idiot, idiot, nymphomaniac to your face?"
"Didn't you tell me that?" Watanabe Toru asked curiously.
"I thought about it for a long time before... " Hanada Asako raised her face excitedly, and as soon as her eyes met Watanabe Toru, she immediately buried her face with a "wu——" sound.
Toru Watanabe could only see a small part of her profile and her red ears.
So cute.
If there wasn't a system that was trying to turn him into a scumbag, dating Hanada Asako would have been a good choice.
This damn system is more likely to cause trouble than help!
"So what are you going to do? Let Asuka Mai harass me and watch me continue to go in a direction that will let Miki down?"
"I'll find a way to confirm it." Hanada Asako stood up. "I'm going back today. Goodbye, Watanabe-san!"
"Senior, your schoolbag!"
The two walked downstairs and the coffee shop was just closing.
"It's so late, do you want me to take you home? Don't worry, I'll stay one meter away from you."
"No thanks." Hanada Asako quickly shook her head. She just wanted to stay away from Watanabe Toru now. "Thank you for troubling me today. I'm leaving now."
"Be careful on the road."
Hanada Asako took a few quick steps toward the station and suddenly stopped.
When Toru Watanabe was wondering, she turned around, trembling, and said in a sobbing voice: "The train is gone."
"That's all?" It took Toru Watanabe a second to realize that she meant the last train had left.
"Is Hanada-senpai's home far from here?"
"Yeah." Hanada Asako used one hand that was originally holding her schoolbag to wipe her tears pitifully.
For "primary school students" who have never experienced such a thing, they would indeed feel panic.
"Can I take a taxi? I'll call one for you."
Hanada Asako sobbed as she took out a small pink wallet from her schoolbag: "Thirty, thirty, only thirty yen..."
“So little?!”
"Drink, drink coffee, wow..."
"Don't cry, don't cry! I'll lend it to you first, just return it to me tomorrow!" Toru Watanabe really had no idea what to do when a woman cried.
"Yes." Hanada Asako nodded while sobbing, "Thank you."
Taxi fares are very expensive in the island country. Watanabe Toru had some money on him, but it was definitely not enough, so the two decided to go to a convenience store and withdraw money from an ATM.
Although he should be able to find a convenience store nearby, in order to get back as soon as possible, Toru Watanabe took Asako Hanada and walked towards the convenience store in the direction of his rental house.
At twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, rows of street lights extend to the end of the darkness.
In the quiet world, there is only the sound of wheels rolling over the road, and there is a hint of chill in the air.
The two came to a 7-11 convenience store, and when Toru Watanabe was about to go in to withdraw money, the door opened.
A girl with long hair, wearing the Kamikawa High School uniform with a sweatshirt on the outside and headphones, walked out. She was as beautiful as the goddess of the night.
"Are you on a date?" Qingye Rin looked at the two people in front of her.
While Toru Watanabe was organizing his words, thinking about how to skip over the matter of Asuka Mai and explain the matter clearly without lying, Kiyono Rin had already taken out her cell phone with the headphone cable connected.
"Senior Hanada, do you need me to help you call the police?" Her fingers were already unlocking the phone!
"Why?!" Toru Watanabe quickly grabbed her wrist.
Qingye Rin took off one of her earphones and looked at him with a questioning look.
“…”
"No, Kiyono-san, you misunderstood." Hanada Asako quickly explained in her tearful voice, "I accidentally missed the last train, and Watanabe-san was going to lend me money."
"I see." Qingye Rin nodded and pressed the lock button on her phone again.
"Do you think I have such a bad image in your mind?" Toru Watanabe let go of her hand unhappily.
"No. But I don't know why, when I saw you, Watanabe-san, walking alone with a girl at night, the first thing I thought of was to call the police."
"Isn't this bad enough? Never mind, I'll go get the money first."
"Wait." Qingye Rin stopped Watanabe Toru who was about to enter the convenience store and said to Hanada Asako, "Hanada-senpai is so cute. It's too dangerous for you to take a taxi alone at night. Sleep at my place today."
"Well, this is better." When Toru Watanabe first came to Tokyo, he even saw taxi drivers parked on the side of the road reading pornographic books.
After all, Hanada Asako is a very cute girl, and she is so timid. Although her physical strength is 8 points, she still makes people worry.
"Is it okay?" Asako Hanada was also afraid of staying in a small space with an adult male at night.
"It's okay. We have extra rooms anyway."
Hearing Kiyono Rin's indifferent tone, Watanabe Toru was filled with envy. His rental house only had a living room and a bathroom.
"Then I'll go first." Toru Watanabe's rental house was not far from here.
"Come along too." Qingye Rin called him.
"Huh?" Toru Watanabe suspected that he had heard it wrong.
Asako Hanada covered her mouth and looked between the two of them in disbelief.
"Is lust the only thing on Toru Watanabe's mind? Didn't you ask me to borrow "The Great Matchmaker" and "The Unlucky Girl"? " Kiyono Rin sighed helplessly.
"Ah, that's true."
I was almost done reading Don Quixote, so Toru Watanabe asked Rin Kiyono to borrow a new book.
"The Great Matchmaker" and "The Unlucky Girl" are also famous Spanish masterpieces, and the author has also won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
"I was planning to bring it to school tomorrow, but I happened to meet Hanada-senpai here too, so you can just come with me and get it."
Watanabe Toru could understand her. After all, she only had three points of physical strength, and she would sweat if she carried two more books in the summer.
So the three of them came to Kiyono Rin's luxury apartment opposite the convenience store.
As he entered the living room, Watanabe Toru, who was looking at the simple decoration, heard Kiyono Rin scream.
Looking back, I saw her taking two things from the sofa, which seemed to be stockings and blue top underwear.
Ah, Watanabe Toru remembered that girls do have a habit of taking off their underwear as soon as they get home in the summer.
In other words, Kiyono Rin's upper body is not restrained now?
Watanabe Toru knew that there was nothing interesting to see in the Kanto Plain, but out of male instinct, he pretended to look in another direction and turned his eyes away.
As a result, all I saw was the flat sweatshirt and Kiyono Rin's murderous gaze.
"You, saw it?"
"No."
Qingye Rin pulled the headphone cord straight.
"Wait, wait!"
"Do you have anything else to say?" Qingye Rin said word by word.
"this……"
At this moment, Toru Watanabe remembered something that would definitely help him escape from the crisis.
"Mr. Kiyono, do you remember the Downton Abbey you lent me? There is a line in it: There can be too much truth in any relationships. It means: Between people, if too much truth is told, it will lead to extremes..."
“Go to hell!”
Well, it seems that this won't save him from danger.
In fact, Toru Watanabe certainly knew that he couldn't do that, but he was in a very good mood and just wanted to tease Kiyono Rin.
Although he didn't get the book in the end , he felt that he had made a lot of money on this trip.
On the way back to the rental house, Toru Watanabe ran back.
