My love index is at its maximum.

Both are good.

Especially the Super Rubber Man thing.

If you shrink Da Ke'ai by 1.25 times and then grow by 1.25 times yourself, with that size difference, let's see if she still dares to be so arrogant... Tazaki Tsukasa gave a strange smile. In order to get revenge smoothly tonight, he bought it without hesitation.

After shutting down the system, I continued on my way.

It was almost completely dark when he walked through the sanatorium, where a light rain and snow were falling. The temperature felt very low, and the orange streetlights cast a gentle glow on the texture of the paving stones. He was the only pedestrian there.

Upon arriving at the staff quarters, Tsukasa Tazaki pushed open the door to Dr. Kobayashi's residence.

What comes into view is a somewhat deserted living room.

The fire in the stove was out, the kettle had gone cold, the ceiling seemed more open than usual, and none of the lights were on.

Kuriyama Sakura and Dr. Kobayashi were both out, so Tazaki Tsukasa made a phone call. The department head told him to wait there for a moment, and she would be back soon.

Tazaki Tsukasa had no choice but to sit down on the sofa and wait for her to return.

As dusk deepened and the temperature dropped, the feeling of sitting alone in the dark was very uncomfortable. After waiting for a while, he switched on the lights in the hall, threw the coal from the bucket into the stove, struck a match to light it, and then went back to sit down in his chair.

While waiting, he called Kana Shimamoto to report the situation and said that he would be able to return to Tokyo in a while.

Kana Shimamoto expressed her understanding and hoped that Sakura would be alright.

Then I called my aunt and my little cutie, asking my aunt to arrange for someone to pick up my little cutie and bring her back to Tokyo when school starts.

"It must be really difficult to take care of so many women at the same time."

A mocking voice, half-smiling and half-mocking, reached his ears. Tazaki Tsukasa looked up and found Kuriyama Sakura standing in front of him, quietly looking down at him.

The yellow, powdery light outlined the contours of her body. Tsukasa Tazaki gazed up at her for a long time. She was wearing a blue down jacket, her ponytail tied in a bun and tucked into the collar. The rain-soaked down jacket exuded a chilly aura.

The fire was burning bright red, and the flames reflected on the faces of the two people.

"I was really afraid you'd get lost and wouldn't be able to find your way back," Tsukasa Tazaki said with a smile. "I've been waiting here so anxiously."

The kettle on the stove was boiling, steaming out with a "whoosh." Kuriyama Sakura opened the kettle lid, then folded the hem of her down jacket under her hips and sat down next to him: "Dr. Kobayashi, it'll be a few more minutes. Just wait a little longer and we can go home."

"Go home?" Tsukasa Tazaki nodded with satisfaction. "That's a wonderful word."

“The home I’m referring to is where Hanami-nee is.” Kuriyama Sakura rolled her eyes at him, then reached up and gently pulled her hair back into a bun. “It would be more comfortable if you weren’t here.”

"What does home mean to you?" Tsukasa Tazaki asked.

"I don't know. It must be something very beautiful, big, and soft."

Tsukasa Tazaki then asked, "Is it edible?"

Kuriyama Sakura shook her head and smiled, revealing her small, white canine teeth: "I guess I can't eat it, I think."

"Can I touch it?"

"I think I can probably touch it."

"Then I'll try touching it."

As he spoke, Tsukasa Tazaki reached out and touched her hand, which was resting on her knee.

"You're always digging traps for me..." Kuriyama Sakura glared at him slightly, then immediately lowered her head.

"If you answer that you can eat it, that would be a real trap, okay?" Tsukasa Tazaki laughed shamelessly, pulling her into his arms through the cold down jacket and whispering, "Whatever your definition of home, it has to be with me."

Kuriyama Sakura smiled slightly and tilted her head a little: "Is it me who needs you, or you who needs me?"

“We need each other,” Tsukasa Tazaki replied.

"If you put in a little more effort, you'll be able to win me over soon."

As she spoke, Kuriyama Sakura reached out and gently touched the tip of his nose, smiling sweetly, her smile like a ray of gentle spring sunshine breaking through the clouds.

Footsteps came from the doorway.

The thin Dr. Kobayashi looked at the two embracing for a moment, then extended an invitation: "Tazaki-kun, would you mind having a private talk with me about Ms. Kuriyama's past medical history?"

"Wait for me to come back." Tsukasa Tazaki let go of his hand, got up, and followed Dr. Kobayashi out the door.

Kuriyama Sakura watched his retreating figure silently, her face always bearing the same faint smile, a smile that seemed to conceal something deeper.

Chapter 332 The Girl Possessed by a God

Behind Dr. Kobayashi's residence is a small park.

Inside, there was a simple slide and swings, as well as some exercise equipment. She leaned against the slide's handrail, took a cigarette out of her pocket, put it in her mouth, and then glanced at Tsukasa Tazaki: "You don't mind, do you?"

"Please go ahead." Tsukasa Tazaki moved a little to the upwind side.

Dr. Kobayashi lit a cigarette, took a slow drag, and exhaled white smoke that lingered and rippled in the wind as it drifted into the rain.

Her hair was cut short, and she wore a white lab coat. Her breast pocket contained a ballpoint pen, a soft pen, a lighter, and cigarettes.

She was around 45 years old, with gentle crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, and her lips would occasionally purse slightly as if mocking someone.

For some reason, the scene before him reminded Tsukasa Tazaki of a sight he often saw when he lived in Higashi Shinjuku—a scantily clad woman with a Marlboro cigarette dangling from her mouth under the dim pink LED lights.

Why do I feel this way?

He thought to himself that this Dr. Kobayashi was probably more like a social elite who had seen through the vanities of the world and chosen to retreat to the mountains than a doctor.

The rain was still falling silently, but it was heavier than when it first started.

Several staff members wearing black raincoats walked from a distance; it was so dark that their voices were almost inaudible.

Dr. Kobayashi put the cigarette in his mouth and exhaled a puff with relish.

Then she slightly shrank her neck, turned her head and looked Tazaki Tsukasa up and down for a long time: "Tazaki-kun, right?"

“Yes.” Tsukasa Tazaki nodded.

"Thank you so much." She smiled faintly.

"grateful?"

"I'm not good at expressing these feelings, but... well, it's like this: I think that because of your presence, Ms. Kuriyama was able to undergo this change, and the child's condition is visibly improving."

Tsukasa Tazaki looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Well, perhaps..." Dr. Kobayashi turned the lighter over and over in his hand for a while, taking three puffs of his cigarette in the process. "After seeing her again, I felt that the child was much more stable mentally, and her anxiety was much less than before. It must be because you two get along well, but I don't know why. Perhaps there's some kind of connection between you two. Hmm, what do you think?"

"Perhaps it's because Ms. Hoshino is here too?"

"Whether Ms. Hoshino is here or not doesn't affect my conclusion." Dr. Kobayashi exhaled a puff of smoke, scrutinizing his features with interest. "I'm a doctor, please trust my judgment."

After a moment of contemplation, Tsukasa Tazaki nodded and said, "Please explain in more detail, doctor."

Dr. Kobayashi took another drag of his cigarette and flicked the butt away with his finger: "Because the father was the primary factor that led to the mother's suicide, Ms. Kuriyama developed an acquired aversion to men. This was gradually corrected during her six years in the sanatorium, but only to the point that she did not feel aversion towards strangers or passersby."

The cigarette fell onto the cement ground, smoked for a while, and was extinguished by the rain.

She continued, "You are the only man who can have such an intimate relationship with her."

"So," Tsukasa Tazaki asked expectantly, "you mean Sakura is completely recovered now?"

"It's much better than before, but it's still a long way from becoming a truly normal person."

"What do you mean?" Tsukasa Tazaki asked rhetorically. "I think she's basically no different from a normal person, except for her eccentric temperament."

Dr. Kobayashi frowned and stared at his face for a long time: "When she was still in the sanatorium, we tried to encourage her to make friends. It wasn't that she was unwilling to cooperate with the treatment, but... after trying, she painfully gave up."

"Why is that?" Tazaki Shiko asked.

Dr. Kobayashi sat down on a bench by the roadside, took out a cigarette from her pocket again, but this time she didn't light it; instead, she fiddled with it between her fingers.

"She was, after all, a bright child whose heart had been severely traumatized."

Kobayashi spoke calmly, as if making a confession, while Tsukasa Tazaki listened quietly, looking at the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.

"According to her only confidence in her medical records, when she was happy during the day, at night she would feel something following her closely, breathing cold air on the back of her neck and making various noises in her ear."

After saying that, she sighed deeply and stared at the cigarette between her fingers.

What does this really mean?

Tazaki Tsukasa bit her lower lip, pondering her words.

The Minister is undoubtedly a clever child. Her keen senses allow her to perceive things that many people cannot. Although it may seem bizarre at times, such as seeing Cat City, it may sound childish at first glance. However, upon closer examination, one can discover that the so-called "Cat City" is actually her inner world, which she has created by reprocessing the real world in her mind.

Based on this inference...

Was that thing that followed her everywhere she went something like an evil spirit she had imagined?

Dr. Kobayashi lit a second cigarette, his lips curling into a sharp smirk. "These things are hard to explain. I can only tell you what she said truthfully. You have to figure out how to judge it yourself. According to Ms. Kuriyama's description, it was indeed an evil spirit, or something similar to an evil spirit. Even now, she hasn't been able to get rid of it. The happier she is during the day, the more mental torment she suffers at night."

Tazaki Tsukasa murmured bitterly, "She never showed it..."

Dr. Kobayashi smoked silently.

In reality, she only took two or three puffs of the cigarette; the rest turned to ash between her fingers and fell to the ground piece by piece.

“After all, no one would believe her if she said that…” She rolled a pebble with the tip of her shoe. “As a proud and sensitive person, she probably wouldn’t want to be ridiculed for that.”

"I will believe you!"

After saying that, Tsukasa Tazaki clenched his fist.

Dr. Kobayashi, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, asked, "You really believe that?"

"Why not?" Tsukasa Tazaki retorted. "Just as she believed the absurd things I said, I believe what she says too."

“I don’t quite understand what Ms. Kuriyama is saying.” Dr. Kobayashi laughed as he spoke. “However, I believe what you say. I’ve worked here for twenty years and have seen many people come and go, both normal and abnormal. As a psychologist, I can read people and know the differences between them. The feeling I get from you is that you’re the kind of person who’s willing to open your heart.”

Tazaki Tsukasa silently turned her head and glanced at her small building.

The minister is still waiting there; he wants to go back to her now.

“Let’s go back,” Dr. Kobayashi clapped his hands with obvious delight. “You’ll recover eventually. Let’s go.”

The two left the small park and passed by a staff dormitory. Dr. Lin told him to wait a moment and went to knock on a door.

A woman who looked like a housewife came out and chatted with her for a while, then another man came out with a large plastic bag. Dr. Kobayashi thanked the two men and said goodnight before returning to Tsukasa Tazaki's side.

"Look, I brought some grapes, and they're even washed." Dr. Kobayashi picked up a bag containing several bunches of grapes. "Ms. Kuriyama likes grapes, so take these home and eat them tonight."

"Thank you." Tsukasa Tazaki politely accepted the bag.

Back at Dr. Kobayashi's house, Sakura Kuriyama was waiting at the door. Her face was cool and gentle, and her back was straight, but she did not give people a feeling of being tough or arrogant. Instead, under the warm yellow light of the street lamp, she had an ethereal feeling that seemed as if she could be carried away by the wind at any moment.