I practiced as a monk alone in Japan.

Chapter 69 The Beginning of Night (Seeking first subscription~)

When Tsukino Gen arrived at the apartment, a message came from an unfamiliar number with an address listed on it.

It doesn't look that familiar.

However, Gen Tsukino didn't rush to the location the other party specified; he went home first.

They changed out of their school uniforms and put down their schoolbags.

Then they went directly to the room next door.

When Tsukino Gen opened her door, Kiyono Mizuki was in the bathroom. For Kiyono Mizuki, taking a bath was a particularly difficult thing, since she couldn't afford a caregiver or nanny. She could only rely on the strength of her arms to slowly move herself from her wheelchair to the small stool in the bathroom.

Then I turned on the shower and roughly washed my entire body.

Finally, after painstakingly cleaning up my body, getting dressed, and moving myself into the wheelchair, I was able to get back to work.

It can be said that this process is quite physically demanding. When Kiyono Mizuki first started doing this, she would often fall to the floor because she was not used to it and did not have enough strength, and then she would inexplicably break down and cry loudly.

At that time, I often complained about fate, blamed luck, and even wanted to get stuck in a rut and wished I could die.

But as the days went by, the girl, who had no courage to die, stubbornly kept going. She took care of herself, going to the toilet, washing up, and even taking a bath.

It's becoming more and more familiar, and more and more relaxed.

It even seems to have become some kind of amazing skill.

When he heard Gen Tsukino calling him from outside the door.

The girl was so frightened that she almost collapsed to the ground.

"Why are you coming in at this hour!"

"You're still not happy that I came back early? What were you doing in the bathroom?"

"Take a bath!"

A panicked sound came from inside.

Gen Tsukino, feigning ignorance, smiled and said, "Oh, do you need any help?"

"Who needs your help! You wait here and don't come in!"

"Are you sure you don't need to? I feel like you're being too wary of me. I really want to help you."

"You bastard! I'll fight you to the death if you dare come in!"

There was a lot of noise inside; it sounded like they were doing renovations.

However, despite saying that, Tsukino Gen's steps clearly didn't move towards the bathroom. It seemed that given his current relationship with Kiyono Mizuki, even if he did push the door open, she would at most be embarrassed and annoyed for a while, but wouldn't do anything else.

But this is not Tsukino Gen's style.

Taming a kitten isn't about catching it; holding it tightly without letting it move is what counts as success.

Instead, the moment she sees you, she'll jump into your arms and nuzzle your cheek. At your slightest glance, she'll obediently lie down beside you, gazing at you expectantly, awaiting your next command.

Hmm. Doesn't that make it sound even worse?

"crunch..."

Just then, the bathroom door was pulled open a crack, and steamy, humid air wafted out.

Then a girl with long, still slightly damp hair peeked out and cautiously looked into the house.

She saw Tsukino Gen in the living room, holding a hairdryer and smiling at her.

"Why are you acting like a thief? Come out."

The girl then opened all the doors and carefully moved her wheelchair out of the bathroom.

She had just showered; her hair was still noticeably damp, and water droplets clung to her already fair and beautiful skin, giving it a lovely sheen under the light. Every inch of her skin seemed to glow and shimmer, much like the finest ingredients meticulously plated in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

"Why are you here at this hour? And you've even changed your clothes. Are you going out?"

Although she felt inexplicably nervous and shy, Kiyono Mizuki still possessed all the keenness one would expect from a boy, or rather, she could fully utilize it.

Gen Tsukino nodded. "Yeah, I have to go out for a bit later. I'll blow-dry your hair for you."

He didn't explain what he was going to do, but silently walked behind her and picked up the hair dryer. He first used his palm to feel the temperature of the hair dryer to make sure it was just right—not too cold and not likely to burn her scalp—before he started drying her silky smooth hair.

The damp air blew onto the boy's arm, but Tsukino Gen didn't mind.

Her eyes were calm, as if she were doing something insignificant. But Kiyono Mizuki's cheeks were slightly flushed; she wanted to look at the other person's face, but in the current situation, it seemed impossible to do so easily.

She could only enjoy the inexplicable flutter in her heart as his fingers ran through her hair. His gentle fingers didn't hurt her scalp; they were incredibly tender and careful. It even made her feel like she was enjoying a massage at a beauty salon.

"Is something the matter?"

Amidst the strange contrast of the noise from the hairdryer and the silence between the two, Kiyono Mizuki seemed to sense something.

I have some uncertainties.

Gen Tsukino smiled. "Why do you think that?"

Once his hair was almost dry, he turned off the hairdryer and pushed the other person next to the sofa.

He sat down to the side and just smiled as he watched her.

Facing this boy's direct gaze, I always felt an urge to run away. It wasn't that I should feel guilty; it was just that his eyes possessed an unfair magic. Looking at them for a while longer might make me lose track of what I was thinking, completely captivated, and pulled into a vortex.

"My intuition tells me you're acting differently than usual. And why would you come all the way here first when you're always going out?"

The more Kiyono Mizuki talked, the more correct she felt her thoughts were, and the more her brows furrowed.

Gen Tsukino smiled and said, "It's just a small thing. There are some things I need to tell you beforehand."

"Instructions for me?"

"Yes. For example, don't go out at night, and don't open the door if a stranger knocks."

"Do you take me for a child?" Kiyono Mizuki said irritably.

"Aren't you a child in front of me?" Tsukino Gen feigned surprise.

The girl reached out and slapped Tsukino Gen's thigh, annoyed. "Hey! I'm older than you, okay? Have you forgotten how to call me 'older sister'?"

"Huh? How is it older than me?"

Gen Tsukino gazed at her, his eyes sweeping over her from head to toe without a hint of misunderstanding. He seemed to have thoroughly examined her figure. The girl in the light blue sundress still had a slight pinkish tinge to her skin, as if it were the best evidence that she had just washed in hot water.

Kiyono Mizuki seemed to understand the meaning of that look, and her cheeks immediately flushed. She shrank back into her wheelchair warily.

"Don't say such strange things. Your eyes are lewd too!"

"You said you'd sleep with me before, but now you won't even let me see you? Huh?"

The boy braced himself against the sofa next to him with one hand, leaning his body towards the girl as if it were a fatal approach.

The familiar scent rushed towards her, and Kiyono Mizuki's heart was even more in turmoil. Her face turned red, and she avoided eye contact, wishing she had a turtle shell to shrink her head into.

She murmured, her fingers nervously twirling in front of her.

"I told you before that I didn't want it, but now you're telling me this again. Why are you being so mean to me?"

Am I bad to you?

She kept her head down, and the boy leaned closer, their foreheads almost touching.

Kiyono Mizuki almost lost track of who she was, where she was, and what she was doing.

She felt a little dizzy, as if all the heat from the shower had entered her brain.

She even had the urge to lift her head when Tsukino Gen's forehead touched hers, to look him in the eye with misty eyes, and to pout her alluring red lips slightly.

meeting.
The moment the object was placed on his forehead, Tsukino Gen stopped.

He could clearly feel the sweet scent emanating from Kiyono Mizuki's nostrils, and he could also clearly feel the girl's disordered heartbeat.

He heard her say in a very soft voice.

"You're the bad guy."

The temperature on her forehead felt so comfortable that she couldn't help but close her eyes slightly, wanting to savor this moment of mutual dependence.

Why would I feel like he's dependent on me? Perhaps it's just my own fantasy and wishful thinking. After all, someone as strong-willed as him seems to only use his excess light to illuminate others.

Even if there is a time when someone truly needs to be redeemed, how could the one who redeems them be themselves?

"So, if it weren't for a little white rabbit like you, Mizuki, there would be no point in a bad guy like me living."

"Ok?"

He adjusted his posture and released her forehead.

Kiyono Mizuki looked up at him, bewildered.

The boy had already stood up, stretched comfortably, and shamelessly displayed his perfectly slender figure in front of Kiyono Mizuki.

"gone."

When are you coming home?

Kiyono Mizuki couldn't help but ask.

Perhaps it's something I shouldn't ask, and my personality shouldn't be so eager. Besides, asking seems pointless, since I'm nobody to him. But some people are special because even though you know it's pointless, you still can't help but want to do something for them.

Gen Tsukino stopped and thought for a moment, then asked, "Is there anything you want to eat? I'll bring it back for you tonight."

The girl's intertwined fingers finally loosened slowly in front of her, and she couldn't help but smile, like a new moon gradually emerging from the night.

"I want pizza."

"it is good."

"Bang."

Gen Tsukino closed the door and walked out of the building.

He went downstairs and left the residential area. This time, Tsukino Gen decided to splurge and took a taxi.

It's not that I have so much money I don't know what to do with it, it's just that the location the other party requested is a bit interesting. It's quite far from this neighborhood, and there are almost no direct buses or subways that go there. Or rather, transferring would be even more troublesome.

So I'm too lazy to bother with it.

Money is something you can't take with you when you're born or when you die. The only purpose of money is to make life more comfortable for people while they are alive.

Therefore, the wisdom about money should be about how to use it, not how to save it.

The journey, which takes about an hour, feels like a long distance.

I got off the bus at 19:48, almost exactly.

After paying, night had begun to fall, and the moonlight gradually broke through the dark clouds overhead.

The surrounding streets were already quiet and deserted at this early hour, and the boy's gaze fell on the 'Under Construction' sign not far away.

Behind the fence stood a six-story, unfinished building. The reinforced concrete was clearly visible, and under the night sky, it resembled a wild beast whose internal organs had been ripped out and whose flesh had been removed.

In the dim darkness, shadows seemed to flicker in and out of countless blind spots, like malevolent spirits lurking in the world.

The eerie silence brought a smile to the face of the boy in the black shirt.

"You really picked a good place for yourself."

……

(End of this chapter)