Tokyo: Love Begins with Controlling the Rich Girl

"Next stop, Shinjuku West Exit—Shinjuku West Exit Station has arrived."

The broadcast started.

Shimada Sho stood up and walked to the back door.

The car stopped, and the door opened.

Raindrops pounded on the ground, splashing up tiny droplets of water.

Nozomi Sasaki was still standing there on the platform.

She didn't have an umbrella and seemed to have walked this way. Her hair was wet and stuck to her face, and her clothes were also soaked.

Seeing the car door open, she instinctively moved aside to make room for people to get out.

Shimada Sho got off the bus, opened his umbrella, and stood by the bus stop, looking at her sitting on the chair.

Nozomi Sasaki lowered her head, clutching her schoolbag, with raindrops splashing at her feet.

Perhaps because of the cold weather, her shoulders trembled from time to time.

But her expression remained calm.

They were so calm, as if they had grown accustomed to being rained on, neglected, and ignored.

Shimada Sho walked over and stopped in front of her.

The umbrella cast a shadow over her head, and her legs shielded her from the rain splashing up from the road.

Nozomi Sasaki noticed that there was someone in front of her and subconsciously looked up.

When she saw the person standing in front of her, a hint of panic flashed in her doe-like eyes.

She subconsciously moved to the side and then lowered her head.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the sound of the rain. "I...I was blocking your way..."

Shimada Sho didn't move aside, looking down at her.

Why are you hiding?

Nozomi Sasaki's shoulders twitched.

"I didn't... I didn't dodge..."

"Then why are you looking down?"

She pursed her lips and remained silent.

Raindrops pounded on the umbrella, making a dense sound.

The platform was so quiet that only the sound of rain and the breathing of two people could be heard.

Looking at her curled-up figure, Shimada Sho felt a surge of inexplicable emotion.

The family faced difficulties: the father was swindled out of money, the mother was in poor health, and their only source of income, the pastry shop, was almost taken over by the underworld.

I finally made a new friend, Yukine Kamishiro, but then the young lady transferred schools.

Although the two may still keep in touch, they are no longer in the same school.

The boy she had mustered the courage to thank, who was none other than him, repeatedly treated her with coldness.

Anyone would feel like they've been abandoned by the whole world.

"Get in the car," Shimada Sho said.

Sasaki Nozomi was stunned for a moment, "W-what?"

"Get in the car," he repeated. "You're soaked to the bone, aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"

“I…” Nozomi Sasaki seemed to want to explain.

Shimada Sho didn't listen to what she was saying at all, turned his head and said coldly, "Get in the car."

After taking two steps, I realized there were no footsteps behind me.

He turned around and saw Nozomi Sasaki still sitting there, head down, clutching the strap of her schoolbag.

"What are you still standing there for?" His tone was impatient. "Are you waiting to catch a cold and spend money on medicine?"

Nozomi Sasaki's shoulders trembled slightly.

She hesitated for two seconds, then took a step and jogged to catch up.

The bus hasn't left yet.

The driver was looking in this direction through the rearview mirror, looking impatient.

Shimada Sho walked to the front, got on the bus, and swiped his card.

Nozomi Sasaki followed behind him, took out her bus card from her bag, and swiped it after a couple of shaky steps.

There were no other passengers in the carriage.

Shimada Sho walked to the back row and sat down in a window seat.

Nozomi Sasaki stood in the aisle, looked at the empty seat next to him, and then at the empty seats at the front of the carriage.

She chose a seat at the front, the one furthest from Shimada Sho.

Shimada Sho watched her huddled in the front seat, her soaked clothes clinging to her body, outlining her thin shoulder blades.

He sighed inwardly, then stood up, walked to the front row, and plopped down next to her.

Nozomi Sasaki's body visibly stiffened for a moment.

She shrank closer to the window, almost pressing her entire body against the glass.

"Why are you hiding?" Shimada Sho turned his head to look at her.

"No, no..." Her voice was very soft, her eyes fixed on her knees.

"What would I shrink from without you?"

Nozomi Sasaki fell silent.

Looking at her timid appearance, Shimada Sho remained outwardly indifferent, but inwardly he was deep in thought.

He couldn't expect the other party to show any enthusiasm after several instances of automated management had ruined the relationship like this.

But if I want to explain, I can't just go along with her whiny personality.

So he simply spoke up and asked in a deep voice, "Why did you pretend not to know me at the sushi restaurant?"

"I...I didn't..." Nozomi Sasaki denied softly.

"No?" Shimada Sho's tone turned cold. "Then why did you lower your head when you saw me? You didn't even say hello?"

"I..." Her voice trailed off, "I thought Shimada-kun didn't want to talk to me..."

Chapter 169 Is the Bracelet Pretty?

As June arrives, temperatures gradually rise, and even on rainy days, the train carriages remain stuffy and hot.

The middle-aged man in the front seat was playing a loud video on his phone, and the noise drowned out Nozomi Sasaki's voice.

Shimada Sho was close enough to hear it clearly.

But he didn't know how to explain it.

Everything was caused by the AI-managed system during the period when consciousness left the body.

Now, however, it has become a barrier between him and Nozomi Sasaki.

"That's a misunderstanding."

In the end, that was all he could say.

When Sasaki Nozomi heard this, she looked up at him.

But when Shimada looked at him, he quickly lowered his head and asked uncertainly, "What... misunderstanding?"

"I was in a bad mood those few days," Shimada Sho casually made up an excuse, "It wasn't directed at you."

Nozomi Sasaki fell silent.

After a moment of silence, he said softly, "Oh."

The response was very brief; it's unclear whether the person believed it or not.

"You don't believe me?" Shimada Sho frowned, deliberately raising his voice.

"I...I believe you..." Under pressure, she responded, "Shimada-kun has no reason to lie to me."

Shimada Sho looked at her face, which was full of caution, and sighed.

"Then don't hide from me anymore when you see me in the future."

"I……"

Sasaki Nozomi instinctively wanted to say that she didn't dodge.

But the words still couldn't be spoken.

She is indeed hiding.

“You can’t escape it either,” Shimada Sho said to himself.

Before Sasaki Nozomi could react, he suddenly leaned closer and said with a mischievous smile, "If I'm not mistaken, you work part-time around Gyoenmae, so you must take this train quite often, right?"

"I...no, I..."

"Stop pretending, you can't escape. Guess why I took this train today?"

Shimada Sho made no attempt to hide his wicked grin and unbridled arrogance.

He decided to resort to his usual shameless tactics.

Explanations are useless.

This timid girl really falls for it.

Sure enough, she sighed, a troubled look on her face. "Shimada-kun... why did you come looking for me?"

"What do you think?"

"I...I don't know."

Nozomi Sasaki shook her head and muttered to herself, "We're clearly not related..."

"..." Shimada Sho looked at her and remained silent for a moment.

Yes.

Their relationship seems far too distant.

Although I helped her in the train carriage last time.

But she thanked him with a gift afterward.

After that, the two basically had no contact.

She had no idea that the person who had approached her several times at school and wanted to be her friend was herself.

Little did they know that someone had actually been familiar with the young lady for a long time beforehand, using her body as a pretext.

From Sasaki Nozomi's perspective, the two were really just strangers who had met a few times.

In this situation, one's actions seem very abrupt no matter how you look at it.

"I've had the coffee you gave me."

Shimada Sho racked his brains and finally came up with a plausible reason.

He added after a while, "And I really enjoy helping cute girls."

As soon as she said it, Nozomi Sasaki blushed.

But she naturally ignored the less-than-serious remark that followed, and said in a muffled voice, "I... I thought Shimada-kun didn't like it..."

"I didn't say I didn't like it."

"But that day..."

“I told you, I’m in a bad mood,” Shimada Sho interrupted her. “It’s not directed at you.”

Nozomi Sasaki lowered her head and remained silent.