Chapter 265 Ichinose Shiki
"If you're scared, don't delay me and Jian from going home."

Sakurai Haruka held Shimizumi's arm and stared at Mizuki intently.

She probably thought she was trying to scare the other person, but to be honest, she lacked courage.

Her level can probably only scare those seven or eight-year-old children who have just entered elementary school from kindergarten.

"It doesn't matter to me, but..."

"Why are you looking at me..."

It was impossible to ignore the look in Ruixi's eyes that seemed to ask Shimizu to make the decision.

But whether it is her or Haruka Sakurai, it is their own freedom to do whatever they want and go to whose house.

"No, it's nothing."

Mizuki watched as Shimizu shook his head and said it was okay, then jumped gently from the back of the bicycle and walked in front of Sakurai Haruka.

"Then go to your house."

"Go to my house?"

"Didn't you just say that yourself?"

Sakurai Haruka hesitated for a moment, obviously just saying it casually, but she didn't expect Ruixi to actually agree.

But now Shimizu was right beside him, and for the sake of face, Sakurai Haruka couldn't take back what he had said, so he could only say reluctantly:
"Forget it...it's just one night anyway."

"Well, as long as we can get out of the rain."

Ruixi stretched her hand out of the umbrella, and a few drops of rain slid down the umbrella into her palm, and then fell to the ground through the gaps between her fingertips.

Afterwards, the two of them reached a consensus and decided not to bother Shimizu and walk back by themselves.

Sakurai Haruka's house is very close to here, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Although he was still somewhat worried, Qing Shuijian thought that he was probably overthinking...

Watching the two of them walking away under the same umbrella, Qingshuijian felt that it was about time to go back.

Because the bar has slightly delayed its opening hours, it is now almost midnight.

Come to think of it, this seems to be the first time I'm still outside at this time.

Although I told Hoshino Akiko in advance that I was going to Amemiya Iori's house to review my homework, I didn't know if I would be scolded if I returned so late.

The rain seemed to be getting heavier again. Before anything bad happened, Qingshuijian got on his bicycle and pedaled all the way home.

……

……

The asphalt road was filled with the smell of summer rain. After walking for about ten minutes, Sakurai Haruka and Mizuki arrived at the bottom of a luxurious high-end apartment building.

Ruixi stopped in front of the apartment and looked at the huge building in front of her.

If I force myself to take it all in, I'm afraid my neck will feel extremely sore.

"The eldest daughter of a wealthy family..."

"What's that? Wasn't it you who wanted to come here just now?"

Sakurai Haruka was dissatisfied with Mizuki's slightly sarcastic words, so she took out her umbrella and walked downstairs to the apartment building to shelter from the rain.

"You misunderstood. I just wanted to ask, is this really okay?"

Ruixi followed, folded the umbrella and shook off the rain.

"What do you mean?"

Sakurai Haruka didn't want to be splashed by the falling rain, so she took a step back and kept a distance from Mizuki.

"So if I move in, Ms. Sakurai, wouldn't you mind?"

Mizuki closed the Velcro on the umbrella to prevent rain from dripping in, then raised her head and looked at Sakurai Haruka.

Sakurai Haruka met her gaze without showing any weakness.

"What if I said I minded?"

"Well... then I should just go back to Mr. Shimizu."

Ruixi clenched his right fist and gently rested it on his chin. He thought for a while and nodded to himself to indicate that this was the only way.

"no!"

Sakurai Haruka grabbed Mizuki's hand as she was about to open the umbrella again.

The two of them were in a stalemate again. Sakurai Haruka's face was full of confusion. After a few seconds, she finally let go of Ruixi's hand.

"Come in with me."

After saying that, Sakurai Haruka turned and walked into the apartment entrance made of white marble.

"Thank you."

"There's no need for that. It's just one night anyway."

"Even if that's the case, I will remember Miss Sakurai's kindness forever."

"lifetime……"

When Sakurai Haruka heard this, she felt extremely awkward and her body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

If she had been allowed to stay at Qingshuijian's house for one night, would she have to remember Qingshuijian for the rest of her life? Or even find a chance to repay him someday?

When she thought of this, Sakurai Haruka felt that it was right for her to be on guard.

Although there is no basis for this and it's just based on her own feeling, Sakurai Haruka still feels that this girl named Mizuki seems to know Shimizu Mi.

However, they both work in the same bar now, so it is natural that they know each other... For a moment, Sakurai Haruka didn't know what he was thinking.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it.

After walking through a hall that was even quieter than outside, Sakurai Haruka took Mizuki to the elevator and pressed the button for the second floor.

After reaching the second floor, as soon as the elevator door opened, Sakurai Haruka walked through the carpeted corridor to the door at the end and took out the key from her pocket.

However, Sakurai Haruka did not insert the key into the lock of the door, but left it jingling in her hand.

After a slight hesitation, Sakurai Haruka put away the key, grasped the door handle, and turned it gently - the door opened.

Because she is the only one living on this floor, she often forgets to lock the door when she goes out.

After walking in, I took off my shoes, whose soles were completely soaked by the rain, at the entrance and put them aside. Then I took down dry indoor shoes from the shoe rack and put them on.

Then, Sakurai Haruka went to the inner room to get a new pair for Ruixi, but when she came back, she found that she seemed to be looking at a pair of men's indoor shoes on the shoe rack with some concern.

"That's what I saw."

Sakurai Haruka didn't say much, but the meaning of her words should be very clear.

"Really? Thanks."

Mizuki didn't seem to care much. She took the indoor shoes that Sakurai Haruka handed to her and said thank you.

Seeing her indifferent reaction, Sakurai Haruka felt a little unhappy for some reason.

"I'm going to take a shower. Your room is the first one on the right. You can stay there today."

After saying this, Sakurai Haruka went to the bathroom with clean clothes to change into, and Mizuki thanked her again.

Coming to the bathroom, Sakurai Haruka took off her clothes one by one and soaked in the super luxurious bathtub that was large enough to accommodate two people.

Because she was very busy in the bar just now, Sakurai Haruka originally wanted to take a bath to relax, but every time she closed her eyes, she thought of Mizuki's existence, and her mind could not calm down no matter what.

As a result, in less than ten minutes, Sakurai Haruka simply took a bath and changed her clothes.

When she came out of the bathroom and returned to the living room, Sakurai Haruka found that Mizuki had not returned to the room yet, but was sitting in front of the small tea table on the sofa, writing something.

Sakurai Haruka walked closer and saw something familiar but also gave her a headache - a summer homework exercise book.

Mizuki seemed to be stumped by a math problem. When she noticed Sakurai Haruka approaching, she asked:

"Can you do this question?"

"……I?"

"I remember that Miss Sakurai is also a third-year student like me, so she should be able to do this kind of questions." "This... Of course I can do such a simple question."

Sakurai Haruka glanced at the question and hesitated.

"Can you teach me then?"

Mizuki handed the pen to Sakurai Haruka.

"..."

Sakurai Haruka hesitated and didn't take it.

"Ms. Sakurai can't do it?"

"I... Of course I can do it, but... but... but this is your summer homework, why do you want me to help you with it?"

Sakurai Haruka turned her head away, with a hint of unnaturalness in her voice.

"That's right, that's what you said..."

Ruixi nodded slightly, said nothing, withdrew her gaze, and continued to think about the question.

Sakurai Haruka stood aside and looked at the exercise book for a few more times, then felt bored and decided to go back to her room to sleep.

However, when she was about to turn around, she inadvertently noticed a few small words printed on the upper right corner of Ruixi's exercise book - "Kyoto Rokunan High School Holiday Exercise Book".

"This is... Kyoto's exercise book?"

Sakurai Haruka pointed to the holiday exercise book.

"Any questions?"

"Are you from Kyoto?"

"Don't be so surprised. Aren't there people from Kyoto everywhere in Tokyo?"

Although it may be a bit of an exaggeration to say that they are everywhere, there are indeed quite a few people from Kyoto in Tokyo.

However, the real reason that surprised Sakurai Haruka was this exercise book.

This exercise book is the holiday homework of Kyoto Rokunan High School, which means that Ruixi goes to school in Kyoto.

If that's the case, why did she come all the way to Tokyo to work?
Although the salary in Tokyo is higher than other places, many students from nearby schools come here to work part-time during holidays.

However, considering the distance between Kyoto and Tokyo, it would take more than two hours just to take the Shinkansen, and the ticket would cost at least 10,000 yen, which is not worth it no matter how you think about it.

"Since you study in Kyoto, why did you come to Tokyo?"

Ruixi didn't seem to want to dwell on this topic any longer. She just casually said that she wanted to travel to Tokyo and then left it at that.

Since the other party didn't want to say, Sakurai Haruka didn't bother to ask, but there was one thing she had been very curious about since a long time ago.

"By the way, that... aren't you going to take it off?"

Because it was summer, even though it was raining outside, it still felt a little stuffy, but Mizuki was still wearing a mask, making it hard for Sakurai Haruka not to suspect that that was her true identity.

Or there is another possibility.

That is, judging from Ruixi's eyebrows and eyes alone, she is still quite delicate compared to most girls, but in fact the part from the eyes down is simply unsightly, so she always wears a mask to cover it.

"Is that what you mean? That's right."

Ruixi only paused for a moment before slipping her fingers behind her ears and removing the mask.

As the mask slowly slid off, Sakurai Haruka's eyes involuntarily became tense.

When the last edge of the mask was removed from his face, all the previous speculations disappeared in an instant.

Sakurai Haruka was surprised to find that Mizuki's face was not only flawless, but even more flawless than her eyebrows and eyes. Her skin was as delicate as the first snow, with a hint of pink, which complemented her clear and bright eyes, making her breathtakingly beautiful.

The overall impression she gives is that of a quiet girl.

"I'm sorry, I seem to disappoint you a little?"

Ruixi said softly, with a faint smile on one side of her mouth, which seemed to soften the air around her like a spring breeze.

Sakurai Haruka was stunned for a few seconds, then realized her gaffe.

"Ms. Sakurai, you just thought I was ugly."

Sakurai Haruka felt very uncomfortable when the other party said it directly.

"Boring... I'm going to bed."

It is already past midnight, which is far beyond Sakurai Haruka's usual rest time, and her body is already feeling tired.

After saying this, Sakurai Haruka planned to go back to her room to rest, but when she walked to the door of the room, she suddenly remembered that the air conditioner in Ruixi's room seemed to have broken down a few days ago.

If there is no air conditioning in this kind of weather, it would be difficult to fall asleep at night.

Thinking that there were several other empty rooms anyway, I could just let her change to any one of them, so I called out:

"Hey, that Rui something..."

"What is that? Are you calling me?"

"What else? Isn't that your name?"

Could it be that I remembered her name wrong?

But Sakurai Haruka remembered that Shimizu seemed to have called him that before.

Although I don't have a good impression of her, it seems a bit too much if I call her name wrong.

"Ichinose Shiki."

"Eh?"

Sakurai Haruka looked over with some confusion, and the other person just turned around.

"Ichinose Shiki, my name."

"Ichinose Shiki..."

Although Sakurai Haruka knew that her memory was not very good, she was not so bad that she could not distinguish between two words and five words.

This means that the girl in front of him, Ichinose Shiki, who had previously told Shimizu Mita a fake name.

"You lied to me?" Sakurai Haruka frowned subconsciously.

"Although it's almost true, this statement is a bit hard to accept."

"Why did you lie to him?"

Although she didn't know why, Sakurai Haruka felt a little angry when she learned that Shimizu Mi was deceived.

"If you were Miss Sakurai, would you tell your personal information to a stranger you just met on the first day?"

"This……"

If that's the case, it's not actually hard for Sakurai Haruka to understand.

In her daily life, sometimes people would approach her and ask for her name or contact information. Although she could usually chase them away with a cold look, she still found it very troublesome.

"In that case, why did you go to see my family and spend the night?"

If you are concerned about your privacy and safety, why would you stay overnight at someone's house?
"Ms. Sakurai, don't you know the hotel prices in Tokyo?"

"..."

Sakurai Haruka paused.

In fact, most of the hotels in Tokyo are very expensive. An ordinary single room alone can cost four to five thousand or five to six thousand yen a night. A slightly better one can cost nearly ten thousand yen a night.

"Even so, aren't you afraid that something might go wrong?"

Even so, for Ichinose Shiki, Shimizu Mi was still a stranger, and spending the night at a stranger's home would still be quite risky, not to mention that the person was of the opposite sex.

Ichinose Shiki was silent for a moment.

After a moment, she smiled.

"Because I found that Mr. Shimizu is different from those people. He is a pretty good person."

(End of this chapter)