Chapter 54: Sincerity Does Not Always Guarantee Sincerity (Rewritten)

Satou Sayuri was standing right in front of Kitahara's house, surveying the building before her.

It was a very dilapidated detached house, quite aged, with its courtyard walls completely overgrown with Boston ivy. Nearby stood farmland and factories, from which dark water would occasionally ooze out and seep into the fields...

A flash of heartache crossed the depths of Satou Sayuri's eyes. How had he managed to live in such a wretched environment until now?

And what was the deal with these factories discharging wastewater? Didn't the agricultural cooperatives care? Japanese agricultural products were so expensive—they should take some responsibility!

The thought vanished in an instant, replaced by a slight chill. The spring breeze swept across the fields, bringing rain and a hint of cold air. Satou Sayuri rubbed her arms and spoke in a petulant, endearing tone: "Hiraoki, hurry up and come out! Your teacher is freezing to death out here, stop messing around."

"...You're at my doorstep?" Kitahara was stunned.

"Yeah! Didn't you say your foot was injured this morning? I figured living alone must be really difficult, so I came over to check on you..."

At this, a trace of bashful coyness flashed through Satou Sayuri's eyes: "However, don't read anything else into this. You're my student, and whenever a student has a physical issue, teachers always come by to check... I don't mean anything else by it."

"I'm definitely not worried about you."

"Yeah..."

Cold sweat beaded on Kitahara's forehead.

Why had this female teacher shown up here?

Didn't he say he had a sore leg and was taking the day off this morning?

If she saw he wasn't home, it was going to be a huge problem...

He quickly walked out of the office, muted his phone, and moved with swift steps. Slipping into the car, he said, "Drive me back. Right now. Quickly."

"Huh?"

"No 'huh's. Here's the address, hurry up and drive me back!" Kitahara quickly rattled off his home address. Although Nakamaki Miyako was puzzled, she didn't refuse.

To her, this was an absolute godsend.

Without having to do a single thing, she had borrowed money and even ended up with a sedan.

Even though it wasn't hers, she could still drive it!

She pressed her foot all the way down on the accelerator, a flicker of joy dancing in her eyes. Although she didn't understand why Kitahara had changed his mind, she could easily imagine how envious, jealous, and resentful her colleagues would be at work tomorrow.

Naturally, office politics existed within the Financial Services Agency. Nakamaki Miyako was delicate in appearance and a recent university graduate, making her an obvious target... Aside from male colleagues and superiors, the ones who hated her the most were her female peers.

It was one thing for them to make snide remarks behind her back, but they would also occasionally flaunt whatever watch or designer bag their husbands had bought them right in front of her face.

Too funny.

Tomorrow, she'd slam the Mercedes key right in their faces! Let those bitches dare say something then!

A wave of smug satisfaction crossed Nakamaki Miyako's eyes.

Meanwhile, Kitahara, sitting beside her, was breaking into a cold sweat... It was about a twenty-minute drive from here to his house, or fifteen minutes even if she sped. How on earth was he going to explain this to Satou Sayuri?

Outside the window, the rain poured heavily, and the faint, rumbling sound of thunder brewed among the dark clouds.

His phone rang insistently.

After ten minutes of silence.

Boom.

Thunder shook the sky.

...

When Kitahara arrived home, it was exactly seven-thirty. The sky was pitch black, and streaks of rain danced wildly under the illumination of the streetlights.

Right at his front doorstep, he saw Satou Sayuri curled up on the ground, quietly waiting.

Kitahara quickly hurried over.

Hearing footsteps, the female teacher raised her head. A light film of rain dampened her cheeks, stray strands of hair clung to her forehead, and her small face was slightly pale from the cold... Satou Sayuri bit her lip as she looked at Kitahara's entirely uninjured left leg, a glint of distress flashing in her eyes.

Just as she was about to speak, however, Kitahara scolded her angrily:

"Why are you being so foolish? If I hadn't come back tonight, were you planning to squat out here the entire night?"

"Huh?"

Looking at Kitahara, whose eyes were filled with fury, Satou Sayuri's eyes widened.

Wait...

Clearly, you're the one in the wrong, why are you yelling at me?

If you hadn't lied to me?

How could I possibly have been squatting at your doorstep for so long!

A trace of grievance flickered in Satou Sayuri's clear, aloof eyes, and she whispered softly, "I was angry, and I wanted to see you and get everything straight, so I just kept waiting."

"What if you caught a cold? What if you fell sick, wouldn't my heart ache?"

"What good does doing something like this do for you?"

Facing Kitahara's barrage of questions, tears welled up in Satou Sayuri's eyes. This wretched younger brother had lied to her, and now he was standing here blaming her... What kind of logic was that?

Did he even have a conscience?

Yet, confronted with Kitahara's concerned gaze, Satou Sayuri ultimately just lowered her head submissively and muttered:

"I'm sorry..."

"It's fine."

Kitahara accepted Satou Sayuri's apology quite naturally and reached out to hold her hand. Satou Sayuri bit her lip, pushed Kitahara away, and silently tucked her hands inside her clothes to keep him from holding them.

Kitahara glanced at her affection meter.

[Character: Satou Sayuri]

[Status: Stood in the rain for over ten minutes because of your lie. Now cold, hungry, and harboring resentment toward you...]

[Affection: 60]

Her affection had dropped by five points.

It seemed she had stayed outside for too long and felt a bit wronged.

Kitahara pondered for a moment, hesitating briefly before suggesting, "This isn't a place to talk. Let's go inside and chat."

"No, I'm leaving right now."

Biting her lip, Satou Sayuri pulled out the clean, well-preserved gift she had hidden behind her back and pushed it toward Kitahara: "Take this..."

"What is this?"

Kitahara lowered his head to look at the gift box wrapped in exquisite decorations. The rain poured relentlessly, yet the box wasn't dampened at all; Satou Sayuri must have truly cared deeply about this present.

"You said you were sick, so I wanted to buy something to visit you..."

Satou Sayuri stammered, her lips moving nervously: "Inside is a sweater. Now that you've received it, I'll be going..."

A complicated look crossed Kitahara's eyes.

True feelings in exchange do not always guarantee true feelings in return...

What a fool.

She turned to leave the moment she finished speaking, but her hand was naturally intercepted and held by Kitahara. Her heart gave a sudden tremor, and she yanked her hand back, biting her teeth together as she asked with aggrieved frustration: "What are you doing?"

Looking at her raised, beautiful eyes, Kitahara remained silent for a moment, deciding not to speak, but rather to express his thoughts through action.

He once again reached out and grasped Satou Sayuri's icy little hand: "Don't go. Stay at my place tonight..."

"No way!"

Satou Sayuri's eyes widened in profound shock. How could he possibly say something like that?

Spending the middle of the night staying at a male student's house—how was she supposed to explain that to anyone?

A hint of a smile laced Kitahara's voice: "Are you scared, Sayuri?"

"I am not scared!"

Satou Sayuri turned her head away in a huff, but she was greeted by his warm breath. She instinctively closed her eyes, but nothing happened.

When she opened them again, she met Kitahara's smiling gaze.

The female teacher puffed out her cheeks.

"You bad person!"

"Teasing me every single day!"

A blush bloomed across Satou Sayuri's face. Whether to mask her embarrassment or for some other reason, she glared at him angrily: "Always acting so cheeky and disrespectful—aren't you afraid I'll call the police to come arrest you?"

"If the police come, I'm afraid my teacher won't be able to bear letting me go." Kitahara tightened his grip around Satou Sayuri's waist.

Ambushed at the waist, the female teacher let out a sharp intake of breath on her cool, aloof face. She shot Kitahara a resentful pat: "Stop roaming around."

"Come inside..."

Kitahara lowered his voice, speaking intimately close to her ear: "Stay right here tonight, no one will see."

"Don't you want to come in and take a look at my place, Sayuri?"

"I certainly do not..."

Satou Sayuri crossed her hands protectively in front of her firm chest, biting her lip in silence.

If her colleagues were to see this demure, girlish demeanor of hers, their jaws would surely drop to the floor.

Knowing she no longer had any intention of resisting, Kitahara smiled and pulled Teacher Satou into the house.

The front door clicked shut, sealing them inside the pitch-black house as two warmly beating hearts drew close together.