Anime Heart

After the meal, even Ma Xiandong's offer to wash the dishes was rejected. "We adults will do these! You two kids go play!"

Arima Kento had no choice but to pull Arima Ayako into the living room to drink tea and talk.

Of course, it was mainly Ayako who was asking the questions, and he was answering them.

"Brother, do you know the game 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'?"

Yako recalled the day Lucian recommended his game. Although she had looked at the information, she still didn't quite understand it.

"I've been playing this game recently, and although I'm still pretty bad at it, I've roughly figured out how to play and some of its essentials."

Arima Xiandong was talking big.

With his terrible skill level, he's just a box-killer; he'll be eliminated as soon as he lands.

But I can't admit to being a noob in front of my sister!

He talked about the information he found online, and with some of his own understanding, he surprisingly came up with many tricks that even he didn't understand.

Yako nodded her little head, seemingly understanding but not quite.

I hope Ayako doesn't understand! Otherwise, if I drag Ayako into playing games with me, she'll have a lot of tricks up her sleeve, while I'll still be a complete noob.

That would be very awkward.

Chapter Sixty-One: Piano Accompaniment

After chatting for a while, Arima Sento prepared to leave.

It was already past one o'clock, and Kaori Miyazono should be eating her lunchbox at this time (to correct, the school schedule in the morning is four periods, from nine o'clock to twelve fifty, it should have been written as three periods earlier).

The lunch break is 50 minutes long, and class doesn't start until 1:40.

If you go to see Kaori Miyazono now, she should have some free time.

Now that it has been confirmed that Kaori Miyazono's illness may be curable, Arima Kenjiro wanted to tell Kaori about it now, to tell her that all her previous worries were unnecessary.

A girl like this shouldn't have such a limited amount of time; she deserves a much longer and better life.

After saying goodbye to Ayako, his father, and his aunt, Arima Kento called a taxi and refused his father's offer to take him back.

The journey isn't far to begin with, so there's no need for such trouble.

The taxi was very efficient. When we got back to Municipal Mogu Middle School, it was only 1:20 p.m., and there were still 20 minutes before class started.

Showing the leave slip to the gatekeeper, Ma Xiandong entered the school with his bag.

Go back to your classroom first and put your bag down.

There were only a few people in the classroom. When they saw Ma Xiandong return, they all asked him what he had been doing and why he hadn't been in class.

This is the downside of being popular. After answering all the questions, Arima Kento left the classroom and went to the class next to Miyazono Kaoru's.

Unfortunately, Kaori Miyazono was not in the classroom.

After asking her classmates, Arima Kenji learned that Miyazono Kaori had gone out to eat lunch with Sawabe Tsubaki.

Having learned this, Ma Xiandong knew where to find her.

We headed straight to the rooftop, which is where our group of four usually has lunch.

If Kaori Miyazono and Tsubaki Sawabe are together, they'll definitely be eating on the rooftop.

Rewinding to just over ten minutes earlier, after all the morning classes had just ended, Tsubaki Sawabe came to Kaori Miyazono's side and said, "Since Hitoshi has taken leave, why don't you have lunch with us?"

Tsubaki Sawabe introduced the people who were coming: herself, Kousei Arima, Ryota Watari, and Keiko Aota.

It's just a few of them; no one else can join their little circle!

Kaori Miyazono thought about it and agreed, since she was alone anyway.

After entering junior high school, she made almost no friends due to her health condition.

The fact that they are willing to eat with me means they are willing to become my friends, doesn't it?

She didn't want to end up without even a single decent friend; that would be too tragic.

At this moment, Ryota Watari is talking to Kousei Arima; or rather, Ryota Watari is persuading Kousei Arima.

As a friend, Ryota Watari has just learned that Kousei Arima is preparing to try his luck for the girl he likes, to see if he can win her favor.

But Ryota Watari saw it clearly: wasn't this just poaching his own brother's girlfriend?

On this point, Ryota Watari disagreed with Kousei Arima; he disliked such things and did not want his friend to do them.

Moreover, it's obvious to everyone now that Kaori Miyazono doesn't like Kousei Arima.

There was no pretense involved; Kaori Miyazono genuinely didn't have romantic feelings for Kousei Arima.

It was precisely because Ryota Watari understood this point that he was unwilling to let Kousei do anything foolish.

They are mutually in love; you, as a third party, have no way to interfere.

More likely, Kousei Arima will be disliked by Kaori Miyazono, and they might not even be able to remain friends.

Most importantly, Watari was worried that this incident would cause the two brothers, who had only been living together for a short time, to fall out.

Arima Kousei said, "Xian Dong already knows, and he trusts Miyazono Kaori, so he doesn't mind if I do certain things, as long as it's not too much."

Ryota Watari was speechless. How could something like this be done?

"Fine, I don't care anymore, whatever makes you happy."

Then, the two went to the rooftop and saw three girls chatting away.

Arima Kousei's eyes lit up; he only saw the smiling Kaori Miyazono, automatically filtering out the other two.

"Um, hello Miyazono-san!"

Arima Kousei had no experience interacting with other girls, so he seemed a little uneasy.

Kaori Miyazono turned around and looked at Kousei Arima with a puzzled expression. In her memory, Kousei Arima should be a rather reserved person!

What's going on here?

However, she still harbored a great fondness for Arima Kousei, though it wasn't romantic affection.

Kaori Miyazono gave Kousei Arima a bright smile and greeted him.

"I remember you, Arima Kousei! You are the twin brother of Sento, and the idol of all piano students! Our generation of young people all look up to you!"

"Ah! It's nothing. Besides, I haven't played the piano in a long time."

Arima Kousei was caught off guard because he didn't expect Miyazono Kaori to know him so well.

"It's been a long time since you played the piano? What a pity!" Kaori Miyazono said. "I was hoping to ask you to be my piano accompanist for next week's competition! Now it seems a bit unlikely."

"Piano accompaniment?! Kaoru, you didn't tell me!" Tsubaki Sawabe jumped up immediately upon hearing this. "Kousei agreed! I've decided for him. That's it, he'll be your piano accompaniment next week! This is a done deal, there's no going back!"

Click!

The door to the rooftop creaked open, and Ma Xiandong stepped out, saying, "What things are unchangeable? Tell me about them!"

Arima Kento had just arrived when he heard Sawabe Tsubaki yelling, which is why he asked.

When Kaori Miyazono saw Arima Kenji, her eyes lit up instantly. She jogged over to him and said with some dissatisfaction, "Didn't you say you might not be back by noon?"

"What? You're not happy that I'm back? Then I'm leaving!" With that, Yu Ma Xian Dong made a move to leave.

Kaori Miyazono naturally wouldn't allow it. She grabbed onto the hem of Arima Kento's clothes and wouldn't let go, glaring at him angrily.

"Okay, okay! I was just kidding!" Kaori Miyazono said softly, "Of course I wouldn't mind you staying by my side."

"That's why it's always better to be honest!" With that, Arima Kento reached out and gently patted Miyazono Kaoru's head.

Upon witnessing this scene, Arima Kousei felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.

This is the result of what he did; knowing that such an encounter would occur, he still couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

That's what youth is all about, that's what makes it memorable.

Perhaps he will become more mature when he can see things more clearly.

Chapter Sixty-Two: Kiss (Part 1)

"I see!" Holding Miyazono Kaoru's hand and listening to her recount what had just happened, Arima Kento finally understood.

Kaori Miyazono has not forgotten her desire to save Kousei Arima.

Since you gave up playing the piano because you couldn't hear its sound, is it possible to rediscover that sound by persisting in playing it?

This is a method worth trying. Anyway, she doesn't care about winning or losing. As long as she enjoys playing and can help Arima Kousei, then Miyazono Kaori will be satisfied.

Hearing the reason the girl whispered in his ear, Arima Kento couldn't help but look at her.

With red lips and white teeth, a smile appeared on her fair face, and her light blue eyes revealed determination.

The girl went to great lengths to help Arima Kousei out of his predicament, which made him somewhat jealous.

However, after all attempts to persuade him failed, Arima Kento agreed with Miyazono Kaori's idea. Perhaps after Kousei's persistent playing on that stage, he might actually change.

"Then it's settled. Kousei will accompany Kaoru. None of us here know anything about music, so let's do it this way!" Arima Kento concluded.

"Or are you saying, Kousei, that you don't want to help with this?"

Arima Kento glared fiercely at Arima Kousei, as if Arima Kento would resort to some abnormal means if he dared to say 'no'.

Having already made up his mind to change, and considering it was an invitation from the girl he liked, Arima Kousei finally sighed and agreed.

"However, because I haven't played the piano for so long, I need some time to familiarize myself with the competition repertoire and to recover my form."

"In other words, I need to prepare well in the time leading up to the start of the competition, which may cause some trouble for everyone."

Upon hearing this, Tsubaki Sawabe immediately waved her hand and said, "No problem! It's no trouble at all. I'm so touched that you decided to play the piano again, Kousei! Kousei is the coolest when he plays the piano!"

After saying this, the girl couldn't help but blush.

"Alright, this matter has been decided. I still have some things to discuss with Kaoru, so I'll take her somewhere else first!" Arima Kento thought about what he was going to tell Kaoru Miyazono.

The sooner the treatment is done, the better. Does that mean we have to give up this Saturday's match? However, this is also a good opportunity for Arima Kosei to get out of his predicament, and Arima Kento doesn't want to give up easily.

I'm so conflicted!

Seeing the conflicted look on Arima Kento's face, Miyazono Kaori didn't ask any questions. Instead, she tightened her grip on their clasped hands, making him feel her presence.