The next day, a hungover Miki Kashiwagi was woken up by Sakiko Toyokawa, who was getting ready for school. According to Sakiko later, when she woke him up, he was sprawled across the sofa with his head on the floor and his legs in the air.
Thus, Miki Kashiwagi temporarily decided to take a half-day sick leave to go home and pull himself together, take a shower, change his clothes, and head to school with his violin.
After all, he had promised to accompany Gotoh Hitori on the violin.
Boarding the train back to Haneoka Girls' High School, looking at the scenery flashing past the window, Miki Kashiwagi received a call from Li Xiao.
"Hello hello, Ke-zai?"
"It's me." Hearing the other person's deliberately lively voice, Miki Kashiwagi inexplicably felt like hanging up right away.
"I'm so sorry, I talked a lot of crazy nonsense last night. Were you hurt by it? I am really, really sorry, gomennasai!"
"It's fine. Is there something wrong with your health?"
"My health is super good, nothing major at all." The other person paused, then asked cautiously, "Ke-zai, let me ask you something."
Miki Kashiwagi took a deep breath. His sunken eye sockets were filled with determination and helplessness: "…I'm sorry."
"Heh, I knew you were going to say that." Li Xiao was silent for a long time before responding calmly, followed by words Miki Kashiwagi had heard countless times. "However, Ke-san, let me tell you, I won't give up. I won't give up until the day you get married."
The phone hung up abruptly. Miki Kashiwagi irritably shoved his phone into his pocket, his knuckles tapping out a rhythm unconsciously—a gesture many people made when they were feeling down.
He was somewhat regretting it now. If he had known, he should have decisively cut off this asymmetrical relationship destined to have no result, instead of ending up like this: because of a low-impact project, he had been chased all the way from Guangdong Province to Tokyo ever since his freshman year of college. If he went back to China to work in the capital, would Li Xiao abandon everything in Tokyo and start over in the capital again? What about Europe? What about North America?
While he was feeling upset and flustered, the phone rang again. Miki Kashiwagi wanted to hang up without even looking, but a voice in his heart warned him.
*Interpersonal Skills Mastery [Kifune Jump] is taking effect periodically. Please pay attention to related events in the near future.*
Hesitating for a moment, he answered the call: "Hello?"
It was a call from the insurance company: "Hello, Mr. Miki Kashiwagi. Regarding the repairs for your beloved car, our company would like to have a chat with you."
"Alright, please go ahead."
"It's like this..." The person rattled off quite a few professional insurance and legal terms, which could be summarized as follows:
The car manufacturer had already been contacted on an emergency basis to prepare the replacement parts for repairs. However, since the damage to the car itself was minor, and insurance payouts were categorized based on the severity of the damage, the price of the parts was so expensive that it exceeded the compensation limit specified in the insurance policy. Therefore, they hoped Miki Kashiwagi could either pay a portion of the money out of pocket, or take over the lawsuit the insurance company was currently pursuing and find his own lawyer to demand compensation. That way, Miki Kashiwagi wouldn't have to pay out of pocket for the car repairs.
Miki Kashiwagi was someone who thoroughly detested troublesome matters, and he wasn't short on that bit of money either. Just as he was about to choose to pay and let the insurance company handle their own business, he suddenly thought of the system prompt.
That hit-and-run driver from that night—according to Sakiko, it seemed to be her father?
"…I understand. Please keep the relevant documents safe, and I will find a law firm to take over the lawsuit in due course."
Since that was the case, he might as well go meet Sakiko's old man.
……
Twelve o'clock noon.
Sakiko Toyokawa sat alone on a bench on the rooftop. Next to her were only a few couples whispering sweet nothings. The sky was azure, and the sunlight was quite intense.
She snapped apart a pair of disposable chopsticks and opened the simple bento she had bought on her way to school. Inside was a thick layer of rice, topped with a few pieces of tonkatsu, a piece of broccoli, two slices of dried tofu skin, and a small pinch of white sesame seeds.
Ever since she got rid of that loser dad's exploitation, even though it had only been a few days, Sakiko's financial situation had improved a lot. At least she didn't have to eat expired bread and chicken-less chicken curry rice anymore.
If she could maintain this kind of life for a month or two, she would be able to save up quite a bit of money and buy a slightly better keyboard to pick up her hobby again. Well, after buying the keyboard, she would have to keep it at Dr. Kashiwagi's place, or her dad would sooner or later take it to exchange for money. Whenever she wanted to satisfy her itch to play, she would visit Dr. Kashiwagi's home, have Dr. Kashiwagi cook, and play the piano on the side to liven things up.
Ever since Crychic disbanded, Sakiko had barely touched the keys. She could occasionally steal a moment to play in the music club room, but she mostly had to yield before finishing a single song so the regular club members could practice. Even if they let her play a whole song, who was there to listen to the sweet piano music?
In the past, it was everyone in Crychic; now, probably only Dr. Kashiwagi was willing to listen.
*Jingle-ling-ling-ling*—
Her ringtone blared. Sakiko Toyokawa forcefully swallowed a piece of tonkatsu that had gone soft and felt somewhat stuck in her throat, picked up her phone, and answered: "Hello."
However, a voice that Sakiko utterly detested sounded from the other end of the line, making her want to hang up immediately and go wash her ears thoroughly. "Sakiko, it's me."
Sakiko's dad.
He was still her father, after all, so Sakiko kept her temper and continued the conversation: "I've said it long ago: unless you turn over a new leaf and start working, I'm not going back."
"Hahaha, Sakiko, I'm right here in your teacher's office."
Sakiko's pupils suddenly contracted. Indescribable fear descended upon her, and at that moment, Sakiko felt as though ten thousand hands were dragging her.
Dragging her back into that bottomless abyss.
Instinct made Sakiko hang up the phone and hurl it far away. The lunchbox resting flat on her knees fell to the ground, scattering rice everywhere.
"…Find Dr. Kashiwagi. Right, find Dr. Kashiwagi first."
When did she become so weak that her first reaction upon encountering trouble was to look for Dr. Kashiwagi?
A hazy jazz tune echoed in her mind, one she seemed to have heard in Dr. Kashiwagi's car.
*[I don't want to set the world on fire.]*
Along with that vivid, loving yet sharp gaze.
*[I just want to start a flame in your heart.]*
Taking a deep breath, Sakiko feigned composure as she cleaned up the scattered food, threw it into the trash can, and dialed Miki Kashiwagi's phone: "Dr. Kashiwagi, are you at school?"
"I took a half-day off, but I'll be at school this afternoon. I'm already on the train and will be there in about half an hour. What's wrong, Sakiko?"
"Um... It's, it's my father. He found his way to the school." Hearing the news that Miki Kashiwagi would arrive soon, the stone hanging in Sakiko Toyokawa's heart finally dropped. An indescribable sense of relief made her lean back against the chair, almost dropping her phone. "I don't know what he's here for, but, but he's probably here to take me away."
"Buy some time. We'll talk when I get there. Where is he right now?"
"In the faculty office."
"Alright, go to the nurse's office and rest for a bit. The key is under the doormat."
"Please, I don't want to go back," Sakiko said, her voice even carrying a trace of tears. "You're my only hope."
"…I'll do my best." It wasn't a sure thing; Miki Kashiwagi never promised success, but this time he was truly going to give it everything he had.
Hanging up the phone, Miki Kashiwagi checked the time—twenty-seven minutes, that should be enough. Pulling out his phone and flipping through his contacts, Miki Kashiwagi began contacting law firms he was familiar with.
So what if it cost some money? Sakiko only had one buddy, but buddy had plenty of cash. How could a good-for-nothing, child-exploiting middle-aged man be allowed to snatch away his student!