I live my life in Tokyo

"Sakakibara-senpai, should we try another activity?" Mai Sakakijima tapped her toes a little embarrassedly. She couldn't bear to watch it anymore.

She couldn't bear to watch Sakakibara Kaede doing charity in front of her anymore, so she hurriedly tried to persuade him kindly.

The young man sighed deeply, "Is this the White Gate Tower?"

"Ah, who is Sakakibara-senpai's Diao Chan?"

He put down the elastic ball, turned around and walked away, like a person who had been eliminated by the times.

Mai Sakurajima smiled and walked quickly forward in her wooden clogs, chasing the young man in the crowd.

The figure seemed very close and yet very far away, as if within reach, but in fact, it was so close yet so far away.

She stopped and her clogs made a crisp sound.

Her figure was gradually swallowed up by people.

The girl's hand was grabbed by someone. Sakurajima Mai raised her head and looked forward along her arm. What appeared in front of her was the slightly panting face of the young man.

"It's dangerous to stop suddenly in a crowd of people. That's how stampedes happen." Sakakibara Kaede said softly, gently grabbing her wrist, "Don't go to the main road now."

"oh oh."

Mai Sakurajima lowered her head. She was led to a bench nearby like a child. Her long hair hung down in front of her forehead, covering her face which was almost burning.

That hand was so warm, she didn't want to let go.

"Hey, Sakakibara-senpai..."

"what happened?"

"We've been friends for a year, right?"

"We became friends last November, so it has been a year and a month now, so of course we are still friends."

The young man sat down next to Sakurajima Mai. He loosened his hand, but the next moment, Sakurajima Mai grabbed it reflexively.

Mai Sakurajima's fingers were cold. I don't know if women's fingers are naturally colder, or if she was just being brave by wearing a kimono instead of a heavy coat today.

"Yes, we have been friends for a year and a month..." Sakurajima Mai's face was calm, and her eyes reflected the warm orange light and the brilliant starry sky.

"From now on, I will call you Feng Senior, and you can only call me Mai Junior from today on."

"Hey - did you hear that?"

In anime, classmates and even good friends are addressed by their surnames, just like his relationship with Takeda Uehara. The three of them have a pretty good relationship, and they omit the pendants "君" and "桑" when addressing each other. But until now, he still calls them by their surnames.

This may be because the distance between people in big cities is far, politeness is paramount, and even among friends, they will not be too close to each other.

It’s fine if he doesn’t call Uehara Takeda, Yao, or Hao, but how close does the relationship have to be for him to call her by her name directly?

"——Sang, Feng Sang——"

Sakakibara Kaede was slightly revived by Sakurajima Mai's call. He suddenly had a sense of déjà vu of playing a galgame. In the common plot of galgame, the male protagonist usually calls the female protagonist by her surname. . . . But once it enters the personal plot, after getting along with each other in daily life, the male protagonist will gradually use her name to call the female protagonist, and the latter will also shyly call the male protagonist by her name.

The young man looked at Sakurajima Mai and saw that she kept calling "Feng Sang, Feng Jun, Feng Senior" without any shyness.

Of course, it is definitely unscientific to substitute galgame into reality.

"Okay, since you don't mind... I'll call you Mai from now on. But wouldn't it be better for us to call each other that in private? After all, we are both public figures." Sakakibara Kaede suggested.

Sakurajima Mai nodded stammeringly. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster and she wanted to just run away.

However, she still found the grammatical error in Sakakibara Kaede's words, "Ha - so Kaede-senpai would do that kind of thing when he is not a public figure... Could it be that Kaede-senpai wants to start a harem? I remember that Kaede wanted to film a live-action version of an anime about harem in another world."

Sakakibara Kaede didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "You actually still remember this?"

"Exposed. Feng is indeed a scumbag, a small fry."

Sakakibara Kaede suddenly felt her fist harden, and Sakurajima Mai quickly put away that expression, "Ahem, recently the popular character design in the two-dimensional world, I wonder how I perform in the role?"

“It’s very impressive.”

Sakakibara Kaede cleared her throat and turned away, "You're almost bruising my hands."

After being reminded, Mai Sakurajima's face turned red again. She withdrew her hand as if she was guilty of a crime and turned her head away without looking at Kaede Sakakibara.

Too bold. Was it really because of the atmosphere? There were a hundred voices speaking in Sakurajima Mai's heart at the same time. One was accusing Sakurajima Mai of being timid, saying that she should just go ahead and make it a fait accompli today so that others would regret it for the rest of their lives. Another one was praising Sakurajima Mai for doing a good job, saying that relationships between people should be taken step by step. Another one pouted and said that Sakurajima Mai should continue with her performance as a female devil, and let Sakakibara Kaede get her fist hard and execute her on the spot. That would be the right thing to do.

Mai Sakurajima's face turned red and pink, her expression changing from one face to another was extraordinary.

It would be nice if this ambiguous atmosphere could continue forever.

"Arnold... Senior Feng, let's go pay our respects."

"it is good."

Kaede Sakakibara stood up and extended his hand to Mai Sakurajima. The latter was slightly stunned, then smiled happily after a moment, held his hand, stood up, and then let go.

The young man knew that the girl beside him had broken through the solid wall of his heart with her courage and was taking a step towards him.

At the beginning, it was Mai Sakurajima who led me, a newly-appointed actor, to move forward, and we worked hard together and made progress together.

Mai Sakurajima was and is his salvation.

The scene of her asking with an angry and self-blaming face where he didn't belong was still vivid in my mind.

He wanted to give the same kindness to this girl who had always been kind to him.

Blowing a breath into their hands, Sakakibara Kaede and Sakurajima Mai walked up the bluestone steps one step at a time.

The crowd had already formed a long queue here, and Sakakibara Kaede saw faces he knew, but there were even more unfamiliar faces with smiles and happy faces.

He walked forward holding the coin and threw the coin into the money box before paying homage to express his gratitude. The coin to be put into the money box should preferably be a five-yuan coin, because in Japanese, five yuan has the homonym of fate.

Kaede Sakakibara and Mai Sakurajima put coins into the purse box, clasped their hands together, and silently made wishes for their family and friends.

Sakakibara Kaede's wish is simple, he hopes that his friends can realize their dreams and wishes and shine like stars in this world. As for his stepmother and sisters whom he has never met, he hopes that they can spend the new year smoothly.

Even though they had never met before, the young man still made this wish.

Tourists are waiting for the New Year's countdown at this time. After the countdown is over, Hatsumode begins.

"What wish did Senior Feng make?"

"It won't work if you say it out loud, do you understand, Sakurajima-san?"

"It's not a birthday wish." Sakurajima Mai pouted, "Besides, you should call me Mai-scholar at this time."

Sakakibara Kaede coughed and said, "Isn't it because I'm not used to address you? My wish is naturally to hope that my friends and family will be healthy and have smooth work in the new year."

"It feels so ordinary." Sakurajima Mai looked at Sakakibara Kaede in disbelief.

The young man curled his lips, "I'll make unusual wishes on my birthday."

"Like... a harem?"

"Mai-san, are you being too aggressive today?"

Sakakibara Kaede frowned.

Sakurajima Mai had a smile in her eyes but didn't say anything.

Can such a gentle senior Feng, who treats everyone as a friend, really say no to Yuanxiang-chan's confession?

Of course, Yuanxiang-chan's personality doesn't seem like she would confess actively.

Sakurajima Mai sighed. Sakakibara Kaede really looked like the male protagonist in the anime that was popular some time ago. He was handsome, cool, and rich. He had won the hearts of many girls. Facing them, he waved his hand and said, "I want them all."

This doesn't mean that Sakurajima Mai won't be jealous. Her eyes were sometimes soft and sometimes serious. She stared at Sakakibara Kaede, making the latter feel quite strange.

Sakakibara Kaede dare not know that he has become a character like the male protagonist in the two-dimensional world in the fantasy of the girl next to him. If he knew, he would laugh out loud and go out. We are the two-dimensional world.

Chapter 43: The Divine Fortune is Very Effective

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Happy New Year!"

The crowd burst into warm cheers, with smiles on their faces and their hands waving in the air excitedly. The festive mood washed away the mediocrity and gloom of the past year, and they warmly welcomed the arrival of the new year.

If emotions have a color, it must be the warm orange-red. Red symbolizes enthusiasm, liveliness, and publicity, while orange symbolizes fashion, youth, dynamism, etc. The combination of the two blends into the most beautiful picture.

"Happy New Year, Feng-senpai." Sakurajima Mai stood beside Sakakibara Feng and whispered congratulations. At this distance, she could feel the warmth coming from the other person, and this warmth made her heart warm and itchy.

Sakakibara Kaede smiled, "Happy New Year, Mai-san."

"Well, the crowd is starting to move, let's go to the Hatsumode."

"Okay." Sakurajima Mai agreed. She had already had enough delicious food today and was satisfied at this moment. She originally wanted to take the opportunity to hold Sakakibara Kaede's hand but put it back in her pocket.

Everything must be done step by step. She is already far ahead of others tonight. Not to mention Yuanxiang-chan, Chizuru-san hasn't even entered the track yet.

The girl followed the young man's footsteps and washed her hands. At this moment, she thought of the New Year's visit to the shrine. It was a tradition to come with family. Although she and Sakakibara Kaede were known as the masked duo, they were still a little far away from their families.

After paying homage, the two of them will be greeted by drawing fortune sticks. This step is usually done after paying homage. The first fortune stick of the New Year is very important. Many people avoid drawing a bad fortune on this day.

In fact, this is not always true. Even if you draw a bad fortune, as long as you tie it to a branch or rope in a shrine or temple, the gods or Buddhas there will help you get rid of disasters and misfortunes.

"Senior Feng, do you want to draw lots together?" Sakurajima Mai invited.

Sakakibara Kaede is still a little nervous about unknown things. He is the kind of person who would rather believe it than not. He would rather avoid watching supernatural programs and horror movies.

The activity of drawing fortune sticks is too metaphysical.

"Oh, Feng, are you scared?" Sakurajima Mai covered her mouth and laughed.

Sakakibara Kaede raised his head and sneered, "Pull."

I took the fortune-telling box from the neatly dressed shrine witch, and after shaking it for a while, a fortune stick slid out from the hole.

The two men stood aside holding the lot, neither of them opening it to take a closer look for a while.

"Ahem, according to common sense, a shrine wouldn't prepare bad or extremely bad fortunes... They wouldn't do anything that would make their business worse, right?"

Mai Sakurajima swallowed and gently peeled off the skewer with her fingers.

"!"

"It's Dajiye."

The girl smiled in front of Sakakibara Kaede and pasted the word "Daji" in front of the young man's face.

"Wow, that's amazing." Sakakibara Kaede read.

Sakurajima Mai glared at him, snorted and began to read her fortune. "Well, the things you have always hoped for will come true. Your love life will be smooth sailing, and you should remain tolerant and forgiving. Your career will gradually improve, step by step and steadily."

"..."

Sakakibara Feng nodded slightly, "It sounds like it makes sense. Is this signature accurate?"

"I don't know, but I believe it anyway." Sakurajima Mai suppressed the smile that was about to burst out, and carefully put the signature into the small bag that she had prepared in advance, and put it into her wallet as if it were a treasure.

The young man sighed, and Mai Sakurajima pressed on, "Senior Feng, if you buy a lottery ticket and don't open it, you will have bad luck."

Sakakibara Kaede sighed slowly, and was so nervous because of a lottery. Following Mai Sakakijima's movements, Sakakibara Kaede slowly opened the lottery.

"Nakayoshi, not bad, Senior Feng."

Sakakibara Kaede grinned strangely. Well, this shrine was pretty good and he was lucky too, as nothing happened to him.

"Well, let me see." Sakakibara Kaede opened the small paper and read, "Next year's overall fortune will be smooth sailing. Your family will suffer, but you can prevent it as long as you use your heart. Your relationship will encounter ups and downs, and it is important to maintain tolerance. Your career will be smooth sailing, and you can make further progress if you keep your original intention."

"Well... family."

The young man was amazed. This fortune was quite accurate. Although he still didn't know who his father's other half, stepmother and future sisters were, he was not prepared to deal with them carelessly.

After all, the other party is innocent and he has never lost anything from the other party. It is inappropriate to show such a bad face to him.

Sakakibara Kaede was indeed planning to meet the other party seriously. How the conversation went was a matter for the future. He didn't know whether to accept or ignore this new family relationship.

"What's going on with this relationship?" Sakakibara Kaede stared, "The relationship line is experiencing ups and downs? Does that mean I'm in love this year? No, stay tolerant, it's a failed relationship?"

He was a little confused. Putting aside other things for the moment, he couldn't believe that this year he would completely regard himself as a member of this world, accept himself and thus accept the existence of his girlfriend.

"Ah - Feng has had so many misfortunes this year." Sakurajima Mai covered her mouth and laughed. Her playful look as if she knew everything made Sakakibara Feng's fist subconsciously harden.