Tokyo: Love Begins with Controlling the Rich Girl

Shimada Sho, however, did not think so.

She was barely breathing when she walked just now; it was obvious she was in a lot of pain.

Moreover, when they came in together in the afternoon, he didn't notice that Nozomi Sasaki had this problem.

After thinking for a moment, he walked straight out of the bar and came to Nozomi Sasaki's side.

Then, he naturally reached out and, through the fabric of her white shirt, placed his palm on the lower left side of her waist and gently pressed it.

Shimada Sho controlled the pressure well, not too hard, but enough to make you feel the tension in the subcutaneous muscles through the fabric.

Her left side was indeed much firmer than her right.

Nozomi Sasaki's body was visibly tense.

Her shoulders hunched, and her face flushed red at a visible speed.

"Does it hurt here?" Shimada Sho asked earnestly.

She managed to squeeze out a barely audible voice: "...Mmm."

His tone was very ordinary, like

"Put a hot towel on it when you get home tonight, and it should be better tomorrow. If it still hurts, ask the manager for a day off."

Sasaki Nozomi stood rooted to the spot where he had just withdrawn his hand, and after several seconds she finally spoke: "...Okay."

Shimada Sho didn't make things difficult for her anymore.

After giving his instructions, he turned around and went back to the bar to wash the glasses.

Throughout the process, I kept thinking.

Actually, Nozomi Sasaki's condition is very strange.

Not only now, but also when he went to the young lady's house with her before, he was very hesitant and awkward.

Today, when I first arrived, everything was fine.

Now it's like this again.

There's clearly a problem, but they don't say it.

why?

Shimada Sho pondered the reasons and considered the possibilities.

"It's not because of me, is it?"

After much thought, a very strange conjecture came to his mind.

Nozomi Sasaki is very normal when she is with others.

She only reacted strangely in front of him.

This behavior occurred after he logged into his character.

Is it possible that... it's another case of smart hosting causing trouble?

With that in mind, Shimada Sho immediately opened the system.

Clicking on the smart hosting option will display a list of preset conditions.

There is indeed one such condition above, which was entered by him the time before last when he used the managed service.

Be kinder to Nozomi Sasaki.

But under these conditions, dog boarding shouldn't cause any problems, right?

Because of his past record, just to be on the safe side, Shimada Sho decided to take a look anyway.

He finished washing the glasses, turned around and sat back down at the bar, then activated the managed memory reception function.

After selecting today's managed record, press Accept.

His consciousness sank into the images of the stored memories.

The scene before me quickly became clear.

He saw his own body, and after his consciousness left his body, he began to wipe glasses behind the bar, as instructed by the caretaker.

The scene is set just now; Nozomi Sasaki went to serve a customer.

There were few customers in the store, the lighting was bright, and the air was filled with the smell of alcohol.

After finishing her work, Nozomi Sasaki returned and stood on the other side of the bar, also starting to help wipe the glasses on the wine cabinet.

She wiped very carefully, her back ramrod straight, occasionally tiptoeing to reach the high shelf.

Then Shimada Sho saw his own body, put down the dry cloth in his hand, walked around the bar, and went behind Sasaki Nozomi.

"Let me help you." The body under her care naturally took the dry cloth from Sasaki Nozomi's hand.

The other person was clearly taken aback for a moment, then turned around and saw that Shimada Sho had already stood beside her, so close that he could almost touch her arm.

Her earlobes flushed slightly, and she took a small step back. "No, no need. I can manage on my own."

“That’s too high, you can’t reach it.” Instead of stepping back, the person in charge took another half step forward and reached down to take the row of glasses from the shelf above her head.

Nozomi Sasaki stood there, her hands raised in the air, looking somewhat bewildered as he took the cups down one by one and placed them in front of her.

When she came to her senses, she found that Shimada Sho had already taken the dry cloth and walked back, even smiling at her as he turned around.

Seeing this from off-screen, Shimada Sho's brows furrowed.

He offered to help, got close to her, and acted as naturally as a considerate boyfriend.

He continued reading.

The screen switched to the next event.

It seemed that shortly after wiping the cups, the person in charge began to move between the bar and the tables, always slowing down when passing by Nozomi Sasaki.

Once, she was carrying a glass of wine toward a table in the corner when she tripped over a crack in the floor tiles and swayed.

The body that was being taken care of appeared next to her almost instantly, supporting her arm with one hand and steadily catching the tray in her hand with the other.

"Be careful." The gentle voice from the person in charge sent chills down Shimada Sho's spine.

Sasaki Nozomi's face was already bright red. She took a half-step back like a startled rabbit, her voice barely audible, "Th-thank you..."

"Your hands are a little cold." The caregiver didn't let go; instead, he gently grasped her fingers. "Are you wearing too little?"

Sho Shimada, who was off-screen, suddenly widened his eyes.

"???"

When the hell did I ever expect to hear lines like that?!

Sasaki Nozomi seemed to be electrocuted, jerking her hand back and stammering, "I...I'll go deliver the drinks!"

After saying that, he ran away without looking back.

The body in custody stood still, watching her run away, a smile of "she's so cute" still on its face.

Shimada Sho felt a throbbing sensation in his temples.

He continued reading.

The next scene shows another table of customers arriving at the restaurant.

The body of the person in charge stood inside the bar, but their eyes always followed Nozomi Sasaki as she moved between the tables and chairs.

Every time she passed by the bar, the caregiver's eyes would fall on her.

Later, one day, when Sasaki Nozomi returned from delivering drinks and passed the bar, the body she was using suddenly called out to her, "Sasaki-san."

"Huh?" She stopped and turned around.

You look beautiful today.

Sasaki Nozomi froze in the video, almost dropping the tray she was holding.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but couldn't utter a single word. A few seconds later, she lowered her head, quickly walked behind the bar, placed the tray on the counter, and practically ran into the kitchen.

The door closed behind her with a dull thud, the sound of her side hitting the door frame.

Seeing this from off-screen, Shimada Sho could no longer sit still.

He could almost picture the helpless girl behind the door, crouching against the wall, clutching her aching side, her face burning with embarrassment.

She assumed that he said those words and that he did those things on his own initiative.

From "Let me help you" to "You look great today," every sentence sounds like an undisguised gesture of goodwill, and you can feel the increasingly intense and ambiguous relationship even through the screen.

And the one who started all of this...

The person in the video is leisurely wiping the bar counter, with a satisfied smile on their face.

Shimada Sho abruptly cut off the memory replay.

After regaining consciousness, he took a deep breath, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

He looked down at his hands, then looked up at Nozomi Sasaki, who was cleaning up empty cups in the distance.

She had her back to him and was bending down to put several empty cups into the recycling bin.

The movements were not large, but every time he bent over and stood up, he would subconsciously use his left hand to support his lower back, as if the pain there had not completely subsided.

It's normal for it to hurt.

The thud when it hit the door frame was so loud you could hear it even through the screen.

Shimada Sho turned his gaze back to the system panel's management interface.

Last time, his condition was that "you should be nicer to Nozomi Sasaki," meaning he didn't treat her coldly like before, lest the girl think he disliked her.

What did this broken system interpret it as?

How to treat Nozomi Sasaki well → take the initiative to approach → make physical contact → compliment her on her looks → express love?

This is a reading comprehension exercise that's taken a huge leap!

"Dog boarding is definitely causing trouble!"

Shimada Sho cursed inwardly, then slammed his hand on the table with a loud thud.

Startled by the commotion, Nozomi Sasaki turned to look at him, her eyes filled with a hint of tension and uncertainty.

"Shimada-kun... what's wrong?"

Shimada Sho met her gaze, swallowed the curse that was about to come out, and put on a relatively normal expression: "It's nothing, my hand slipped."

Nozomi Sasaki looked at him for a while, then softly said "Oh," and continued tidying up the cups.

Her movements were even gentler than before, as if she was afraid of making any more noise.

Looking at her cautious profile, Shimada Sho's anger burned even brighter, but this time it was directed at the system.

The young girl was naturally introverted and mustered up the courage to work. As soon as she entered the door, she was repeatedly "showed kindness" by the caregiver, and even injured her back. Anyone would be at a loss in that situation.

And if this happened this time, it must have happened before.

Otherwise, Nozomi Sasaki would never have been so nervous when facing herself.

He took a deep breath, stood behind the bar for a while, then took out his phone, opened the system panel, and quickly tapped into the smart hosting settings interface.

He found the preset condition "be nicer to Nozomi Sasaki" and long-pressed to delete it.

After deleting it, he thought for a moment and created a new one: Treat Sasaki Nozomi with polite but distant manner, and automatically block any instructions that have an ambiguous tendency.

After confirming the save, Shimada Sho turned off the panel and put his phone back in his pocket.

He looked up and glanced in the direction of the kitchen.

Nozomi Sasaki had already finished collecting the cups and went inside. The door was half-closed behind her, and the sound of a tap being turned on could be heard from inside.

Shimada Sho glanced at his hands and silently added another mark to this broken system in his mind.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Store Manager? Boss!

Shimada Sho thought that by learning from his previous experience, he could reduce the number of times he used the smart hosting service and avoid various troubles.

But now it seems impossible.

This lousy hosting service will cause him trouble whenever it gets the chance.

"We must reduce its use in the future no matter what, and even if we do use it, we must set up various constraints in advance."