Anime Heart

Ding dong ding dong ding dong, ding dong ding dong ding dong..., ding dong ding dong ding ding ding...

Arima Kousei's cell phone suddenly rang. It was always switched off during class, and he only turned it on after class.

The phone was an old-fashioned flip phone. Smartphones have been around for several years now, and my brother was still using one of those. It seems that my decision to buy him a phone as a gift was not wrong at all.

"Hello?" Arima Kousei glanced at Arima Kento and answered the call on his phone.

"What are you calling 'hey'?! Why aren't you here yet? Did you fall into the toilet? I'm giving you ten minutes to appear before me and A-Du, or you're dead! Beep beep beep beep..."

The person making the call was a rather fierce girl, and even Ma Xiandong, who was standing nearby, could hear the voice coming from the receiver.

This call must be from Sawabe Tsubaki! She's still exactly the same as I remember; no one has changed much!

"Let's talk about what you just said later! They're getting impatient." With these words, Arima Kousei changed the subject, clearly still unable to move on from his mother's situation.

Having understood this, Arima Xiandong did not intend to force his brother. People are like springs; the tighter they are compressed, the greater the rebound force.

After washing up briefly and changing back into their old uniforms, Arima Kousei carried his lunchbox while Arima Kento carried his uniform bag and left the classroom.

At this moment, the two realized that Arima Hito hadn't brought a lunchbox! In other words, if they didn't go to buy one, Arima Hito would go hungry for lunch today.

Helpless, Kousei Arima took Hitoshi Arima to the school store, bought a char siu bento, heated it up, and handed it to Hitoshi Arima before the two headed towards their agreed meeting place.

The place they agreed to meet was the rooftop of the school building, a place that the main characters in anime always go to. I don't know where the three of them got the key, because students are not allowed to go up there normally; it's too dangerous.

As Arima Kento climbed the stairs step by step, he didn't feel out of breath at all. On the contrary, his older brother, Arima Kousei, was a little tired.

In the three years since he transmigrated, besides doing the things he did before, Arima Xiandong has also been exercising. He has become quite skilled in military boxing, and at least among his peers, Arima Xiandong considers himself invincible.

He was also fed up with his somewhat bloated body when he saved people in his previous life. Streamlined muscles were definitely more pleasing to the eye and the body.

Dragging his brother to the top floor, at the stairwell leading to the rooftop, Arima Kento suddenly remembered the plan he and the others had devised to 'frighten Sawabe Tsubaki'.

So Arima Kento grabbed his brother, took off his glasses, put them on himself, and styled his hair to resemble Arima Kousei's hairstyle as closely as possible.

Both of them have black hair, but Arima Kousei's hair is slightly longer, while Arima Kento's hair is shorter.

However, they are still about 80% similar!

She snatched the bento from Arima Kousei's hand, handed him her uniform bag and bento, and said, "Kousei, you can go out later! I'm going to carry out our plan. Just you wait and see, I'll give Sawabe Tsubaki a real shock!"

"Um, you have to be careful, Tsubaki's personality is..." Arima Kousei looked at his younger brother's back, his voice growing softer and softer, because Arima Kento had already opened the door and left.

What he really wanted to say was, "Xiaochun has a rather volatile temper; she might just beat you up."

Well, it would be good to beat this guy up. Who told him to come up with such an idea? It seems that Arima Kousei has forgotten that he agreed to this plan in the first place.

On the rooftop, the April breeze was blowing gently, neither too hot nor too cold, the temperature was just right. There were shaded seats on the rooftop, but Sawabe Tsubaki and Watari Ryota were chatting in the sun, their bento boxes unopened, as if they were waiting for someone.

Click!

The rooftop door opened, and Arima Xiandong, wearing glasses and looking apologetic, said, "Sorry, something came up and I'm late. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!"

Sawabe Tsubaki jumped up and pounced on Arima Kento, grabbing him by the neck and yelling, "What's wrong?! What could be more important than eating?! Honestly!!"

"Hey, wait a minute, your hair is shorter than usual!" Sawabe Tsubaki noticed the difference immediately. She reached out to touch Arima Kento's hair, but he brushed her hand away.

Arima Kento doesn't really like people touching his head or hair, except for very close people.

"Huh..." Sawabe Tsubaki was a little confused. She often did this kind of intimate thing with Arima Kousei, and he never seemed to dislike it. What was going on now?

"Sniff..." Sawabe Tsubaki suddenly made a dog-like sniffing motion, smelling the scent of Ma Xiandong, then suddenly retreated and shouted, "Who are you?! Why are you dressed as Kousei? Where is Kousei?!"

Arima Kento was helpless. It seemed that his plan had failed. As expected, Sawabe Tsubaki liked her brother. Otherwise, she wouldn't have noticed something was wrong so quickly.

However, Arima Kento, who calls himself the "Best Actor," still doesn't quite understand how the other person could distinguish the differences between him and his brother.

"Alright! You win, I surrender! I'm definitely not Kousei, but may I ask, how did you figure out I wasn't Kousei? Besides that one flaw in my hair?" Arima Kenji waved his hand and said, while simultaneously calling out towards the stairwell, "Kousei, come out here! That Sawabe Tsubaki guy is really hard to fool!"

Arima Kousei appeared on the rooftop. Sawabe Tsubaki ran over and pulled Arima Kousei around to check if he was injured.

Then, Tsubaki Sawabe suddenly realized that this guy knew about it! Otherwise, he wouldn't have come out as soon as someone called him!

Thinking this, Tsubaki Sawabe reached out and grabbed Kousei Arima by the neck, shaking him violently, saying, "You little brat, Kousei, how dare you team up with others to deceive me! I'll make you pay!!"

"Ahhh, he's dead!!" Arima Kousei hurriedly begged for mercy, and without hesitation betrayed his teammates, "This was all Xian Dong's idea, and A-Wa didn't stop it either, did he? He was involved too!!"

"Never mind others, I'll deal with you first!" Sawabe Tsubaki shook Arima Kousei's neck persistently, as if she wanted to shake him unconscious.

After a long while, they finally let Arima Kousei go. At that moment, Sawabe Tsubaki suddenly realized that the boy who looked incredibly like Kousei was named Kento? Wasn't that Kousei's twin brother?!

“You’re Arima Kento?!” Tsubaki Sawabe exclaimed, pointing at Arima Kento.

Arima Kento nodded helplessly and said, "That's right, I'm back! I've remembered everything, Tsubaki."

"Ah!" Sawabe Tsubaki exclaimed, then threw herself at Arima Kento and gave him a big hug.

"Welcome back, Xiandong!!"

Chapter Ten: Gift

"Alright, Tsubaki! You still haven't told me how you figured out the difference between me and Kousei!" Arima Kento was still fixated on this question.

“Well, it’s very simple.” Sawabe Tsubaki released Arima Kento, took off his glasses, and put them on Arima Kousei himself before turning around to Arima Kento and saying, “Aside from the length of his hair, there are three flaws.”

"First of all, Kousei would never be so polite to me as to say, 'Sorry I was a little late because something came up. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!'"

“Secondly, Kousei wouldn’t stop me from touching his hair; I touch it all the time! That’s why I remembered the previous suspicious point.” As she spoke, Tsubaki Sawabe reached out and grabbed Kousei Arima’s hair.

“Third, I know the scent on Kousei, it’s not the same as yours.” When Sawabe Tsubaki mentioned this point of doubt, she seemed a little shy, and her face blushed.

Only then did Ma Xiandong realize that his supposedly flawless disguise had so many flaws. However, he also confirmed one thing.

That is, Tsubaki Sawabe really likes Kousei Arima.

"Brother, don't you understand? What are you hesitating for when you meet a girl like this! Be her boyfriend!" Arima Kento turned to Arima Kousei and said.

Arima Kenji doesn't know much about his older brother's feelings for Sawabe Tsubaki, but he's certain there's no dislike in them, so giving it a try in this situation is a good option.

When Tsubaki Sawabe heard what Arima Kento said, her face turned bright red instantly. It was just a little red before, but now it was practically steaming.

Arima Kousei, on the other hand, didn't react much, only looking at his younger brother with a rather helpless expression. It seems the older brother has never had any romantic feelings for Sawabe Tsubaki!

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Upon seeing this, Sawabe Tsubaki reached out and punched Arima Kento's arm, causing him to grimace.

This isn't an act, it really hurts! Sawabe Tsubaki's grip is really strong!

Seeing Arima Kento's expression, Watari Ryota knew it was his turn to step in. As expected, Tsubaki's most powerful form was when she was embarrassed.

After helping Arima Kento to the side, Watari Ryota muttered, "Serves you right for being so talkative. It's best to let things take their natural course when it comes to relationships. You're getting your comeuppance now!"

"Alright, Chun, Xian Dong was just joking. Hurry up and sit down to eat!" Watari Ryota was a master peacemaker, incredibly skilled at it.

It seems that before I came back, the two of them often bickered like this, and Ryota Watari acted as a buffer between them.

"Alright! I'll let you off this time. Hurry up and eat!" Tsubaki Sawabe wasn't being unreasonable; nothing is more important than eating.

While eating their respective bento boxes, Tsubaki Sawabe finally realized that Ryota Watari was also involved in what had just happened! He hadn't even told her about the two brothers' conspiracy.

Seeing the fiery look in Sawabe Tsubaki's eyes, Watari Ryota knew he couldn't avoid it any longer, so he said, "Two bottles of 'Ginbashi' milk, no more, or my date fund won't be enough." (Official comment: How much did Ginbashi give you? Mengniu will give you double!)

“Three bottles! And there’s Xian Dong too!” Tsubaki Sawabe shouted.

"Okay! I'll keep my promise after school." Ryota Watari then realized that of the three participants, Kousei Arima was punished by having his neck choked, and he was punished by having to buy milk. But what about Hitoshi Arima? He didn't seem to have been punished at all!

No way! This can't go on. Watari Ryota is going to bring this up properly after dinner. We can't let Arima Kento get away with this so easily!

After finishing their bento boxes, everyone was about to take the boxes to wash up when Arima Kento stopped them.

"Wait a minute, everyone!" Seeing that the three of them were looking at him, Yu Ma Xian Dong cleared his throat and said, "I came back in a hurry this time, so I didn't know what you liked. I just took the liberty of buying you gifts. I hope you won't mind."

As he spoke, Yu Ma Xian Dong took out three well-packaged boxes from his uniform bag and handed them to the three men, saying, "The latest Apple smartphones, one for each of you."

Apart from Kousei Arima, the other two quickly refused, saying, "We can't accept this phone; it's too valuable!"

"But this means nothing to me, or rather to my family, so please accept it! This is a gift from me. If you don't accept it, it means you don't consider me a friend," Arima Kento said, feigning anger.

Over the past three years, his father's extravagant spending has had a significant impact on him, and this amount of money is really nothing to him.

However, Watari Ryota and Sawabe Tsubaki couldn't see it that way. The latest iPhone smartphone cost at least seven or eight thousand RMB, which was almost as much as their parents' monthly salary.

However, considering Ma Xiandong's sincere words, they couldn't refuse. They secretly resolved to work hard in the future to make it up to Ma Xiandong, but said aloud, "Okay, we'll accept it."

Seeing their expressions, Arima Xiandong knew they had other ideas, so he said, "Don't think too much about it. This can also be considered as a meal ticket for Kousei and me to mooch meals at your two families in the future. Just don't kick us out then."

The two were relieved and generously handed over the phone. Although it was somewhat valuable, it was more valuable than their friendship.

However, at this moment, Arima Kousei reached out and grabbed Arima Kento's ear, saying, "You better save your money! Even if there's still a lot left, it's all earned by Father, you don't get a single penny!"

"Ahhh, let go! What kind of behavior is this?!" Arima Xiandong said, "At worst, I'll just take good care of my father in the future, and I'll buy him things with the money I earn!"

“Then let’s talk about it after you’ve made some money!” Arima Kosei said.

However, since they had already bought it, they had no choice but to use it. They imported the things they needed into the new phone, and the three of them, including Arima Kousei, started using the new phone.

The four of them had the same phone model, the only difference being the color: Arima Kento's was blue, Arima Kousei's was black, Sawabe Tsubaki's was white, and Watari Ryota's was purple.

It seems like Arima Kousei and Sawabe Tsubaki are like a couple's phone.

As a new generation of young people, who doesn't like new things? Not to mention the latest Apple smartphone.

Holding their new phones, the three of them were so enamored with them that they even forgot about the fact that Arima Kento hadn't been punished, or rather, they let Arima Kento go.

After washing the lunchboxes, the three of them started fiddling with their phones, and even their usual midday conversation lost its spark. This feeling wouldn't disappear until the novelty of the new phones wore off.

The 50-minute lunch break passed quickly, and the afternoon classes began again.

There are only two classes in the afternoon, and the teacher dismisses the last class early. At 3:30 pm, students who did not participate in club activities can go home or go to work.

Chapter Eleven After School

Even though school was over, the four-person team couldn't leave immediately.

Arima Hitoshi needs to go see the homeroom teacher. This was something that had been arranged beforehand. He needs to understand what it entails as a class monitor, as well as his responsibilities and rights.

Sawabe Tsubaki is going to participate in baseball skills training, and Watari Ryota is the same, as he has soccer training to do.

All three of them had things to do, and Arima Kousei naturally couldn't leave first; he was working a part-time job. His job required people to listen to songs, mark the notes and melody, and then hand them over to karaoke bars for customers to sing.

This kind of part-time job can be done anytime, anywhere, so he chose to stay at school to complete his task while waiting for the other three.

Karaoke shops should ideally have professional equipment available for customers to use, but those devices need to have their songs updated frequently to meet customer demands.

If a song becomes a huge hit, but your store doesn't have the corresponding lyrics and music, wouldn't you lose a lot of customers? That's why part-time jobs like Arima Kousei have a place to exist.