Tokyo: Who would still fall in love after being spoiled?

Chapter 93: Subjective feelings have nothing to do with objective beauty

"It's quite difficult to answer." Takeda's mother's question prompted him to think deeply. After a while, he thought about the wording and spoke with a smile on his face.

"That means Miss Amano is prettier. After all, I am Xiaoqi's mother." Takeda's mother joked.

"A person's perception of beauty and ugliness is extremely subjective. There has never been, and there will never be, any organization or institution in the world that dares to define what kind of woman is the most beautiful, just like they define what the hardest composite material in the world is, or put a ruler all over the face to measure out a specific range." He explained with a universal cliché.

"So we're asking about Inoue-kun's subjective feelings," said Takeda's mother.

"That's right, so I can only talk about my own subjective feelings." His goal had been achieved, and the previous preparations were also to avoid comparisons between the two of them. "Have you ever seen a mountain stream after a heavy snow in winter?"

“Only on TV.”

"As I mentioned before, I was born in rural Tottori, so I'm very familiar with mountain streams year-round," he said. "After a heavy snowfall in winter, the trees are covered in snow, their branches encased in pure white. The mountain streams are completely frozen, reflecting the sunlight like mirrors on sunny days."

"It must be very beautiful." Takeda's mother interrupted him when she heard him say that.

"And the visibility is excellent," he nodded. "When it snows, there's fog, and it's hard to see far away. But it's different on a sunny day after the snow. All the snow and fog have dissipated, either falling to the ground or returning to the clouds. The sky is clear and bright, and you can see from one end of the stream to the other at a glance. And there's no noise. You can clearly hear where the accumulated snow has broken off branches and is falling, or where birds are flying by, leaving their chirping voices behind."

"Hearing what you said, I'd like to go and see it if I have the chance... But," Takeda's mother reminded with a smile, "I'm a little off topic, Inoue-kun."

"This is what it's like to be with Amano-san." He smiled back.

"With such a high evaluation, it seems that my Xiaoqi can't compare to it..." Takeda's mother really yearned for the snowy scene he described.

This was especially true for a patient still hospitalized. Takeda's mother, whose severely fractured leg was still encased in a hard plaster cast, couldn't move. She couldn't even go to Tottori to see the snow in the mountain streams, or even go downstairs and walk around the hospital without someone pushing her wheelchair.

"As for Takeda-san," he paused briefly, letting Takeda's mother, who was listening attentively, rest her thoughts and come back from the snowy mountain stream. "Did Takeda-san ever tell you about how we spent our first night in the rental house after moving out of the boarding house?"

"I haven't heard of it. Is there anything special?" Takeda's mother showed interest - at least on the surface she looked interested. She was a listener who knew how to make the person she was talking to feel comfortable.

"It was the first time for both Takeda and me to move into a new apartment. We were unfamiliar with many of the details, and even with the help of the dorm manager, we were inevitably careless."

"So...something unexpected happened?"

"We had no idea we needed to apply for water and electricity before moving so they could be connected in time, so on our first night there was no electricity in the whole house."

"There's still no water," Takeda's mother added, then asked, "Will it be very troublesome? I can hardly do anything... How about staying in the boarding house for another night? It's okay to stay one more night. I can ask the dormitory manager for a favor and move out once the water and electricity are connected."

"That's what I was planning at first..." He shook his head, skipping over the part. "But Takeda can't wait even a day. In her world, whether or not there's water and electricity isn't even a consideration."

"That's how Xiaoqi is." Takeda's mother couldn't help but smile.

"So we went and bought all the tools we needed to get through the night." Another pause.

"What did you buy?" Takeda's mother asked hurriedly.

"I bought a high-powered flashlight," he said.

"Okay! Let me guess Xiaoqi's part." Takeda's mother interrupted him and rubbed her hands.

"As you wish."

"There must be a candle." Takeda's mother bent down a finger.

"It's true."

"Now we have the necessities, and the rest are just things to kill time," said Takeda's mother firmly.

"Maybe so." He smiled.

For Takeda himself, perhaps he should make a complete change. Things that kill time are necessities, and candles are the most indispensable.

"Are there poker cards?"

"Really accurate."

"She's my daughter after all."

"What else?" he suggested. "Let me think—" Takeda's mother thought for a moment, then listed a few more things that she thought Takeda liked, or that she had talked about with her when she lived there.

There are mahjong, nesting dolls and tumblers, wooden handicrafts, building blocks and puzzles...

He always shook his head and revealed the answer - it was a cactus doll that could repeat what people said.

"That's something Xiaoqi would be interested in." Takeda's mother said with a smile.

He pinched his nose and imitated the cactus's tone, "'Xiao Qi would be interested', like this."

Takeda's mother laughed and clapped her hands.

"So, the three of us—me, Takeda, and the cactus—were sitting on the second-floor balcony to pass the time."

Although he never saw the cactus in the rental house again after he won the life-and-death battle that day, it now really made Takeda's mother laugh, so it was worth buying it.

Only after talking to this point did he finally relax, break free from his tired trance, and once again truly feel the huge gravitational force of the earth pulling at him.

I felt that he existed in this world just like the pedestrians in the station and the green train passing by.

He talked about the candles that would be quickly blown out by the breeze blowing across the balcony even if they were lit; he talked about the boxes of snacks that Takeda packed to give to the neighbors; he talked about how they said they took turns singing but he was the only one who spoke all the time; he talked about the light that he saw in Takeda's eyes, which was almost the only light in the dark night.

He almost forgot the original topic, and forgot that he brought it up to describe his feelings when he was with Takeda. In the end, he had to wait for Takeda's mother to remind him that they had talked long enough and that Amano was waiting for him outside the door.

"I'm sorry, I didn't explain it clearly at the moment." He stood up and said to Takeda's mother.

"That's clear enough," Takeda's mother said, rather contentedly. "This is a question that has no definite answer anyway."

"That……"

"Go now," Takeda's mother urged him. "It's been great getting along with Inoue-kun. I've always wanted to chat with him for a while, but tonight it's time to say goodbye."

"If I have time later." He smiled back.

"I want to hear you sing a song. If Xiaoqi likes it, you must sing well."

"where……"

He walked out of the ward and saw Amano sitting on a bench in the corridor, waiting patiently.

Seeing him slip out with the trumpet box on his back as he came, he stood up from the bench and nodded to him in greeting.

"Have you finished chatting?"

"Sorry for the long wait."

He walked towards the elevator, and Amano moved almost in sync with him.

"Ah, if you say that, you feel guilty and want to compensate me for something?"

"How about strawberry milk?"

They stepped into the elevator together, and he pressed the button for the first floor. The moment he pressed the button, he suddenly remembered something.

"One hundred yen coin, one bottle. Put it in through the coin slot, select strawberry milk on the electronic screen, click it, and take it out at the exit below." He spoke in the tone of a teacher.

"Now I have used vending machines before." Student Amano questioned the teaching content and reminded the teacher.

"It's just that I've used it. Maybe I've forgotten it."

"Judge others by your own standards?" Student Amano even attacked the teacher who taught her with good intentions.

"Maybe..." Fortunately, he was generous enough and didn't care.

There were indeed some things that he had forgotten briefly but truly.

(End of this chapter)