Tokyo: My Girlfriend

"What...what happened? Reina was here, right?"

A dozen minutes ago, Shinichi Kitagawa handed his short story manuscript to the editor in the editorial department. After receiving the editor's surprised approval, he originally thought that so much time had passed that Hina would come to find him.

But he didn't see Haruhi Hina even after leaving the editorial office. He made a phone call, and before he could finish a few words, Shinichi Kitagawa vaguely heard a voice that was all too familiar to him.

It sounds like Rena's voice came through the phone!

But why is she in Tokyo? Why is she with Hina? Shouldn't she be in Kabasaki?

After a brief moment of thought, Shinichi Kitagawa realized that something was terribly wrong.

If that wasn't an illusion, what did she want to do? Or rather, what did she want to do to Hina?

The call ended abruptly just as he was getting into a thought, and when he tried to call back, he couldn't get through. This made Kitagawa Shinichi even more certain that something terrible must have happened on the other end.

Fortunately, he learned the exact location during his brief conversation with Hina, but it was obviously too late when he arrived.

The waiter was wiping the stains in the corner of the wall. Hina and her best friend were covered in black coffee, and there was a middle-aged man whose cheeks were red and swollen from being knocked down.

Shinichi Kitagawa didn't recognize the man, but when he saw the shock in the other man's eyes, he immediately had an outrageous guess.

I can't believe such a thing exists in this world...

The group arrived together at the nearest consulting office of Kyoko Tamura.

Shinichi Kitagawa stood by the window and dialed Rena Kitagawa's number. Fortunately, the girl didn't completely ignore his calls, but her tone was noticeably different from usual, tinged with tears and grievance: "Shinichi..."

Shinichi Kitagawa frowned, trying to soften his voice as much as possible: "Rena, could you find a hotel to stay in first? I'll come find you later, and we can talk then."

"Hmm..." Kitagawa Rena only listened to Kitagawa Shinichi, and she obediently did as he said.

After hanging up the phone, Kitagawa Shinichi turned around and saw the three of them sitting on the sofa. Haruhi Kasuga and Kyoko Tamura had both changed into clean clothes.

He first asked Hina if she was alright. Hina shook her head, her beautiful peach blossom eyes fixed on him, never expecting things to develop this way: "I'm fine, Shinichi... it's just that Kitagawa Reina is actually..."

"Yes, she's my childhood friend, or you could say she's my sister. Three years ago, her mother had an accident, and my family adopted her. I've often talked to you online about my sister before, and I'm referring to Rena."

Haruhi lowered her head, her slender white fingers clenching tightly:

"I see.."

Kitagawa Shinichi glanced at the middle-aged man who was also looking at him. He, too, didn't have a pleasant expression towards this instigator of all the events.

"You...you must be Kitagawa Rena's biological father, right? The one who abandoned her and her mother, and now Hina's adoptive father?"

The middle-aged man hesitated, then nodded in affirmation, and took the opportunity to express his doubt: "Why do you and Reina look so alike... Are you really just childhood friends..."

"You don't need to make wild guesses at all. I can only say that this is a coincidence. Outsiders all think that we are siblings, and of course I think so too, but we are definitely not related by blood."

Although the atmosphere was heavy, it was much better than the intense scene an hour earlier.

Kyoko Tamura couldn't resist opening a bottle of ice-cold beer and chugging it down in one go, exhaling a breath of alcohol fumes: "What is all this nonsense... But thankfully, Shinichi-kun has a mature personality, otherwise this would have been really difficult."

As an outsider who knew everything, she stepped forward and looked up at Shinichi Kitagawa:

"I don't know if Shinichi can trust me as Hina's best friend. Although we've only just met, as an outsider, I can tell you everything. You can scold this man later."

Kyoko Tamura stood up and went to her bedroom, where she found several old photos of herself with Hina's family, proving that she truly knew everything.

"How about you trust me, Yi-kun? If you can, let's go into the bedroom, then I can say whatever I want."

When Kitagawa Shinichi looked at Hina, who was wiping away her tears, he felt a pang of sympathy for her.

Following Kyoko Tamura into the bedroom, Kyoko Tamura closed the door; it was already getting dark outside.

Shinichi Kitagawa sat at his desk, while Kyoko Tamura sat on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed.

Unable to resist any longer, she took a cigarette from the drawer, lit it, inhaled, and exhaled: "You don't mind me smoking, do you? I had quit recently, but I just can't stand not having a cigarette after what happened today."

"Either is fine, I don't mind."

"Oh, by the way, Hina doesn't smoke. She's a good girl. You probably don't smoke either, right?"

"Um."

Kyoko Tamura smiled, a wisp of smoke drifting from her cigarette.

"Hina really found a good man. Enough of the small talk. Hina's current adoptive father, Mr. Murata, is indeed a cheating man, that much is certain. I don't know what version you heard from your sister, but the truth I know is..."

Kyoko Tamura recalls those days:

"Mr. Murata and Hina's mother both had unhappy marriages back then. Hina's mother was an extremely weak person in her early years. Her ex-husband often abused her and her mother. That woman was so weak that Hina, who was in elementary school at the time, needed to protect her mother, although the result was that both mother and daughter would be beaten."

During a business trip, Hina's mother unexpectedly met Mr. Murata. According to her, Mr. Murata was gentle and mild-mannered, but he had a very controlling wife who required him to call her more than a dozen times a day to report to her.

After Mr. Murata accidentally learned about the domestic violence against his aunt, he almost without hesitation stood up for Hina's mother.

They caught him red-handed with evidence of domestic violence and sent him to the police station. So even though the aunt knew he was already married, she fell in love with him without hesitation after that incident, but...

Kyoko Tamura handed an early photo to Shin Kitagawa:

"However, Mr. Murata's first wife found out about this, and the two had a huge fight, which even escalated to the point of drawing a knife. She apparently said something like, 'If you're planning to cheat on me, I'll just cut off your legs,' and she actually stabbed him."

When Mr. Murata talked to Hina about these things, he admitted that he had also fallen in love with his aunt long ago. He explained that his first wife's love was too heavy for him to reciprocate, and he was living in constant pain. His aunt's gentle nature redeemed him, so one night, she eloped with Mr. Murata, and they both escaped their previous lives.

Shinichi Kitagawa frowned.

Kyoko Tamura smiled and said:

"To be honest, I didn't believe it when I first heard this story, but the truth is that for the past fifteen years since Mr. Murata and his aunt got married, they have been loving and affectionate. Even Hina, who has an explosive sense of justice, has accepted that her uncle and her mother are truly in love."

Kyoko Tamura reminds you:

"You know Hina quite well; she wouldn't do anything to cause others pain, but in this matter, she compromised and accepted Uncle when she saw her mother happy every day." She pressed further:

"So, how different is it from the story you heard from your sister?"

Shinichi Kitagawa recalled the memories in his mind:

"Rena rarely talks about her father, but her aunt did say some things before she passed away. There are some differences between the two sides, but if you think about it carefully, the differences may not be that big, because her aunt always emphasized the fact that her husband had changed his mind and abandoned her and her daughter."

Shinichi Kitagawa clenched his fists as he thought of Rena:

"But even so, Rena is innocent in the end. From her perspective, she has not received any happiness, only the memory of being abandoned."

"Indeed, she's a pitiful girl, so as an outsider, I'm just here to tell you the facts. As for what your sister thinks, that's up to you two."

Whether I continue to hate you or come to understand you someday, it doesn't matter. The main reason I called you here alone is for something else.

Kitagawa Shinichi looked up, not surprised, clearly knowing why she had called him here alone—not because of Reina's father, but because of Hina.

As soon as Hina was mentioned, Kyoko Tamura extinguished her cigarette, put down her crossed legs, and became many times more serious than before.

"You know what? Hina is the best and kindest girl I've ever met in my life, and I think she's the best in the whole world."

At this point, a strange sense of sympathy, or perhaps pity, flickered in Kyoko Tamura's eyes:

"But precisely because of this, Hina is also a fool, an idiot. She can easily give up her peaceful life and happiness to make the people around her happy. She is a fool who has dreamed of making the people she likes happy since she was a child!"

To be honest, what did all of the things I mentioned above have to do with Hina? If you're a normal person, who would care about the life, death, or happiness of a stranger? As long as you're happy, that's all that matters. There are so many unhappy people in the world, what does it have to do with me?

Kyoko Tamura frowned:

"But Haruna isn't like that! She's the kind of kind that even normal people can't sympathize with. She says things like this is related to her mother, and she'll be tormented by her conscience if she doesn't apologize or offer some help after learning about Reina's situation." Tamura Kyoko even laughed:

"Do you even know why Hina ran into Rena this time? She could have easily pretended not to know her on the street! But she actually wanted to see Rena happy? Tell me, before she knew about you, what was their relationship? Why should she apologize to Rena?"

For some reason, Shinichi Kitagawa suddenly thought of the time during their last date when Hina tried to injure herself while trying to save two kittens.

If I hadn't caught her in time, who knows what would have happened if she had fallen from that height.

Kyoko Tamura sighed:

"Kind-hearted people are the most easily hurt, Shinichi-kun. The most unlucky people in this world are also those with kind hearts. I have nothing to say about Hina's father, but as for Hina, after all these things have happened, I hope that you two can... In short, don't make her too sad, okay? I'm begging you, sister."

Shinichi Kitagawa also had an idea, and looked up at Kyoko Tamura: "I know, Kyoko-nee."

Tamura Kyoko observed the boy before her and finally smiled:

"She has really fallen for a good man. Although I know the road ahead may be bumpy, I believe you two will eventually be together."

Kyoko Tamura stood up:

"And knowing that Shinichi also loves Hina makes me feel much more at ease."