I live my life in Tokyo

On the way home, the fiery red sunset was still in sight. Listening to the urban rock music played by Miss Sato, Sakakibara Kaede leaned against the window and squinted his eyes slightly.

June is coming.

The filming of the movie is about to come to an end. What should he do during the summer vacation?

"I should give myself a break after all."

Ms. Sato glanced at Higuchi Madoka, who was dozing off in the back seat, and said to Sakakibara Kaede, who was sitting in the passenger seat, "Are you taking a break? I'm not your manager, but I think you have a lot of work to do, and you're considered a very hard-working artist in STARS."

"I have to go to college and work at the same time, and I have to take extra classes in the afternoons and evenings. To be honest, I feel a little breathless during this period." The boy put his fingers on the corners of his mouth, slightly raised, and looked at the rural farmland passing by outside the window with his deep blue eyes. He felt extremely calm.

"It's better to take a break for a while. This is my personal advice."

Ms. Sato is not Sakakibara's agent and cannot arrange his work. She can only give Sakakibara advice as an outsider or a company elder.

"Well... to be honest, I don't know how to relax."

The boy smiled and shook his head slightly. "Enjoy life, enjoy life. To me, the concept of enjoying life is to sleep until you wake up naturally in the morning and go to bed whenever you want at night."

"——This lifestyle is too unhealthy."

Hearing Ms. Sato's complaints, Sakakibara Kaede lowered his voice and chuckled a few times.

Higuchi Madoka opened her eyes slightly, but she didn't say a word. From her angle, she could see the boy's beautiful profile painted by the sunset.

"I suggest you sign up for a tour group," Ms. Sato suggested. "Sakakibara-kun, you are from Chiba, and you live a life like this, so you don't know much about Tokyo."

“That’s a good suggestion.”

The boy smiled, taking in all the beautiful sunset clouds. After a moment, he said, "I really want to blend in here."

Miss Sato smiled but didn't respond.

“It’s impossible to make a decision if you just hold a doubtful attitude towards life and a rejection attitude.” As if telling himself, the boy took a deep breath.

Now that you are here, why not give it a try?

With expectation and hope, try to integrate into this world.

In this world that does not belong to me, I fill it with my own colors... But it is not enough.

Is it enough to live every day passionately for just a few months?

The fireworks that night were so beautiful and soul-stirring, and the boy was alone that time.

During next year's summer festival, he hopes to go out with many friends in Tokyo, eat snacks, play games at the stalls, and stroll to the river to watch the fireworks.

Is it a problem of thinking or perspective?

When Sakakibara Kaede looked at this world before, he thought of it as a simulated game, or a dream world of illusions. All people and things were tinged with gray, which seemed unreal.

Fireworks light up the soul.

The interactions between friends are like nectar, dripping into a dry and withered heart.

In the past, Sakakibara Kaede treated all of this as a game and never expected any return for her investment.

He wanted to try and see if the world would be a little different from Kaede Sakakibara's perspective.

The world suddenly became clear before my eyes.

Mai Sakurajima’s smile, Yoh Uehara and Hiroshi Takeda’s banter, Yu Kashima and Ken Sano’s comments, Madoka Higuchi’s sarcastic remarks…

These are real things, which bring a touch of brightness to the world in Sakakibara Kaede's eyes.

"Well - I'll call Iida-san later."

The boy smiled from the side, a warm smile.

Ms. Sato smiled and nodded. She was worthy of being chosen as the leading actress. Her every move exuded her own charm.

Higuchi Madoka closed her eyes. She had seen enough of the boy's colors.

The ride was still a while long, and the boy did not fall asleep. Instead, he opened his phone and began searching for Tokyo's famous sights, places to eat, drink and have fun. He wanted to integrate into this world while he had free time in the autumn.

No matter when I wake up from the dream, I will never regret it.

Kaede Sakakibara scrolled through the posts with a smile on his face, and at the same time planned to learn to drive in the fall - he had no plans to buy a car now, and was preparing to get a motorcycle license.

The extremely low desire to purchase is also a manifestation of never thinking about integrating into the world. To be honest, if it were a boy in the past, he would definitely use all his assets to buy a house.

Buy thirty houses, go to one house every day to collect rent, and then spend all the rent on the same day. Who wouldn’t be tempted by such a perfect landlord life?

However, the boy is still very satisfied with the apartment he rents now and has no plans to buy a house for the time being.

When the time comes to buy a house, I will have to consider whether to buy a tower or a single-family house. Don’t think about that for now.

"Higuchi-san, Higuchi-san, we're home."

The boy opened the car door for Higuchi Madoka, who muttered something and leaned unsteadily on the boy's outstretched hand.

She woke up suddenly, and her eyes instantly stared at the innocent and harmless Sakakibara Kaede, her face slightly pink under the setting sun.

"Can I leave?"

"It's a small thing that I can certainly do, Mr. Good Man."

The boy closed the car door and thanked Miss Sato who was inside the window.

He turned around and saw two people standing in front of the Higuchi family's door. Masashi Higuchi and Mrs. Higuchi were smiling.

They watched as Higuchi Yuanxiang was helped out of the car by the boy, stood there for a few seconds, and walked towards the door.

"I'm back." Higuchi Yuanxiang said softly.

Mrs. Higuchi reached out and hugged her daughter who had just returned home.

The three of them haven't left yet.

Instead, they looked at Sakakibara Kaede who was staring at them, as if waiting for him to take a step closer.

This feels like coming home.

The smile of recollection flashed across her face, and Sakakibara Kaede walked forward carrying a backpack full of textbooks.

At some point, the boy began to treat this place as his home.

I am back.

The last sentence, however, was not spoken because the meaning it carried was too passionate.

Chapter 46: Different Meals Every Day

"I'm gonna start now!"

The four of them sat at the dinner table, put their hands together, and after whispering, they picked up their chopsticks at the same time.

Masashi Higuchi is on a business trip again, this time to Kyoto, and he is indeed very busy.

When he was at home, he would occasionally look for Kaede Sakakibara, and the two of them would sit on the second-floor terrace, drink a few glasses, and discuss the shortcomings of modern society with a critical eye.

Naturally, what Masashi Higuchi complained about the most was the company. He has been working in the company for more than ten years now. Judging from his age, he has now become a supervisor - the person he complained about was naturally his immediate boss.

The boy picked up a piece of potato and put it in his mouth, looking at the remaining three people at the table.

Mrs. Higuchi with her gentle smile, Higuchi Yuanxiang who was silently picking up food and eating, and Asakura Toru who was eating rice vigorously.

It seems that this can be called a home more.

"Sakakibara-kun, eat more." Mrs. Higuchi smiled and picked up a piece of meat for the boy, her tone gentle.

Such actions could be seen many times almost every night in these short few months - similarly, Higuchi Madoka would also stare at him coldly many times.

"Well, you're very polite." Sakakibara Kaede accepted everything and smiled warmly.

"It seems that Sakakibara-kun is very busy." Mrs. Higuchi propped her chin with both hands. Even though she is older, she still looks cute like a little girl. "I am a little worried whether Sakakibara-kun can arrange his time. He must be very busy at school."

The boy said modestly, "It's not as busy as I thought. I will try to finish the homework assigned by the dean during the club activities in the afternoon. After all, in addition to working in the cafe in the afternoon, I also need to tutor the five sisters."

Higuchi Madoka glanced sideways. She had heard Sakakibara Kaede mention the five sisters more than once. His words were full of pride, as if the five sisters were his treasures.

In fact, during the brief period of communication with Nakano Ichika on the set, she did feel that Nakano Ichika had a kind of admiration and love for the boy that a fan would have for an idol. . .

This feeling can be traced back to the time when they were filming their graduation advertisement. At that time, Sakakibara Kaede took care of the newcomer Nakano Ichika who had just debuted, and she never tired of practicing her scenes with her. Her warm words during the filming made Nakano Ichika, who had just entered the industry and was treading on thin ice, feel the warmth of spring.

Seeing the smile on the boy's lips, Higuchi Yuanxiang frowned slightly. She still felt it was fake.

Why are there such gentle people in this world?

"Hmm... I'm a little worried about whether Sakakibara-kun can eat enough for lunch." Mrs. Higuchi smiled and picked up some food for Asakura Toru. "By the way, which dish do you think is more novel, delicious and unique in lunch?"

Higuchi Madoka gritted her teeth slightly and secretly glared at her mother, who gave her a big smile.

"Well... if we talk about something unique, it must be the sweet hamburger patties and scrambled eggs. Eating sweet things can make people feel refreshed. To be honest, I prefer sweet things to salty things." Sakakibara Kaede thought for a moment and then said.

For example, for a simple dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, boys prefer the sweet version, so a lot of sugar must be put in the eggs to suit his taste.

It's not that he hates salty food. It's the same reason why people like to eat drier rice or wetter rice.

"Hey, so you like sweet hamburger meat~"

Mrs. Higuchi laughed, like a little witch who had succeeded in her trick. She stretched out her tone and glanced lightly at Higuchi Madoka who was eating with her head down.

"Um...what's the problem?"

Mrs. Higuchi coughed lightly, shook her head and smiled, "No, no, I just thought that Sakakibara-kun has a good appetite. Maybe I can eat sweet hamburger meat every day in the future."

"I'm done eating."

Higuchi Yuanxiang put down her bowl and chopsticks and walked up the stairs in two or three steps.

Toru Asakura looked at the back of her childhood sweetheart, blinked her beautiful eyes, and seemed to be thinking about something.

"Higuchi-san, do you have a poor appetite?" Sakakibara Kaede sighed, then patted his head, "Maybe it's because you were too serious when acting opposite me at work, so you're tired."

There was a lot of self-blame in his words.

"You, too, need to rest." Asakura Toru said.

She pointed at Sakakibara Kaede's eyes. Under the light, the color applied by the makeup artist in the morning gradually disappeared, revealing light gray dark circles.

"Do not force."

"Of course, I still have some control over my body." Sakakibara Kaede curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled, and was also surprised at Asakura Toru's meticulous observation.

"Sakakibara-kun, if the evening tutoring affects your rest, I would rather not have you tutoring."

Mrs. Higuchi put away her smile and spoke seriously.

The boy was startled for a moment, his smile softer than before.

It has been a long time since I felt someone cared about me.

If you have suffered any grievances at work, or if you look up at the stars on the balcony late at night, or if there is anything unsatisfactory in life, at this time you want to pick up the phone and call your parents far away, pour out your troubles to them, and get comfort while acting coquettishly.

Can. . .

Report good news instead of bad news. Telling these things will only make your parents more worried.

So in the end, I kept all the words in my heart, which turned into a stone pressing on my chest. I had to experience the suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe. Even though my eyes were red from holding my breath, I would not make any cry for help.

This may be a person's last stubbornness.

Sakakibara Feng controlled his emotions very well. He smiled and said, "No problem, auntie. Asakura-san, don't worry about me."

The worried look in his eyes did not disappear, and the boy buried his head in eating.

At the corner of the stairs, Higuchi Yuanxiang took another step forward and returned to the room. She stepped barefoot on the soft floor, closed the door gently, and slowly sat down on the floor along the door.

She hugged her legs and looked at the sunset outside the window with her purple eyes.

After a while, there was a knock on the door.

It's Asakura.

"I am full?"

"Ah."

Higuchi Madoka answered quite honestly, it was just as Sakakibara Kaede said, the two of them were very serious in their scenes today, some running shots were taken many times, and Higuchi Madoka was already tired.

She fell asleep on the way home.

The boy was chatting with Ms. Sato in the passenger seat... Higuchi Yuuka knew that Sakakibara Kaede did this not because he had endless things to say, but to relieve the driver's fatigue, so he kept talking nonsense.