"Yes!" Yoko was cheerful, but quickly she seemed a bit reserved. "Is it okay?"
The television was abandoned by the previous tenant. This bulky televisions were almost worthless as scrap items nowadays. Kazuya kept it but rarely used it. He only used it once when he arrived to confirm where he was and if he had accidentally ended up in a world similar to Japan. Now, if the kid wanted to watch, he was willing to satify her. Given Yoko's personality, she wouldn't have asked unless she really wanted to watch. This night drame may be really interesting.
He turned on the television and let Yoko choose a channel. It was in the middle of an advertisement featuring a group of leggy girls dancing while holding milk. Kazuya sat down with a bamboo sword in hand, practicing how to control sword.
In kendo, the standard grip was with both hands, but actually only one hand exerted force, while the other adjusted the blade's direction. It was quite different from the usual grip, so it required extra practice. With no strength in both hands now, 'soburi' was out of the question, but he should make full use of time. He tried to make his hands adapt to this sword-holding style as much as possible because he felt his body was not quite accustomed, resulting in a somewhat asynchronous response, as if his reactions were half a beat slow.
Yoko glanced at the bamboo sword but said nothing. It was quite common in Japan to take part in clubs. As the ad ended, her attention quickly shifted to the TV.
Using his left hand's ring and pinky fingers to manipulate the sword handle, Kazuya tried to make the bamboo sword rotate according to his will. His eyes also turned to the television, curious about what show could captivate Yoko so much.
...
In a quiet park, a man and a woman embraced each other, and the air was filled with the scent of melodrama.
"Toratoro Sensei(Teacher), can we really be together?"
"Of course, there's nothing that can stop us, Mikan! True love can conquer all!"
"But we have such a big age difference, and you're my teacher. This is an illicit affair! I'll beacome your burden... No, I can't do that! I'm sorry, Sensei!" A girl wearing the high school uniform suddenly pushed away a handsome middle-aged man and covered her face. Then she ran away, weeping. "I can't do that, please let me leave you, please!"
"Mikan!" The man named Toratoro extended his hands, shouting loudly!
But Mikan just covered her face and ran wildly, tears streaming down like a water tap. In the blink of an eye, the scene switched, and she darted onto the road. At that moment, a car roared in, appearing to be going at least 180 kms per hour. It was on the verge of taking off, and without even applying the brakes, it collided with Mikan. She soared into the air like a flying monkey.
"Mikan!!!" Toratoro screamed with his heart torn apart, while Mikan tumbled through the air in a turntable pose. Cherry blossoms filled the sky, creating a scene of unparalleled beauty. She spewed blood like a fountain, yet managed to keep her eyes half-open and made soft groaning sounds. "I love you, Toratoro-sensei!"
Mikan flew for a whole minute before crashing to the ground. Surprisingly, a burst of white smoke emit to create a colossal sound like a meteor landing. There were special effects! Toratoro teleported to her side miraculously, weeping bitterly as he embraced her lifeless body. "Mikan, don't leave me!"
Mikan uttered, "Forget about me, Toratoro Sensei. I am an ominous woman!"
...…
"Woof~~" the dog Toratoro inside the box barked, probably shocked by the bizarre plot. What the hell! By the way, when a car accident happens, shouldn't you call an ambulance? What's the use of wailing and crying while holding her?
Yoko's eyes were slightly red, seemingly moved by the scene. She reached over and covered the dog's mouth, apologizing shyly, "Sorry, Onisan. Its name I called is the same as the actor's. It thought the calling in TV was calling for it, so it barked."
"It… it's okay... But Yoko, what is this drama about?"
Yoko sniffled and looked at the actor who was beating Mikan's "corpse" as if he had gone mad. The actress was bleeding but she was still alive. She said with some emotion, "This is a popular night drama called 'Mikan, for your love!' It tells the story about a poor country girl, Mikan. She falls in love with Toratoro who is the only heir of a big conglomerate. However, at this point in the plot, Mikan hasn't discovered that Toratoro is worth trillions. She still thinks he's a poor high school teacher, afraid of delaying his future. She loves him but can only refuse him, which is very touching."
Kazuya remained silent for a while. It's said that watching TV lowers people's intelligence, and it seemed to be true. He couldn't get into this kind of TV drama. After watching Toratoro beat Mikan into a ragdoll, an ambulance finally rushed over. After being speechless for a moment, Kazuya closed his eyes and began to feel different sword-gripping methods based on the imprints in his mind. Meanwhile, Yoko hugged Toratoro and focused on watching.
After a while, Kazuya opened his eyes and found that Yoko had fallen asleep. The night drama had already finished, and the late-night news segment had started. Yoko snuggled up with Toratoro, curled into a ball, emitting cute and even breathing sounds, having entered the dreamland. Toratoro also closed his eyes.
Kazuya looked at Yoko's sleeping face, which had truly relaxed, sighed slightly, and took a blanket from the closet to cover her. Toratoro opened his dog eyes, looked at Kazuya, licked his hand, trying to please him. Kazuya glanced at the saliva stains on the back of his hands with some disgust. Just like he was worried about whether Haruka would infect him by the noodle soup, he was afraid that this wild dog would also have an infectious disease.
Yoko was awakened by a familiar sound of vomiting. She sat up Almost instinctively, and Toratoro had long since opened his eyes, looking towards the door with a hesitant expression, as if wanting to call out but not daring to.
Had I accidentally fallen asleep? Yoko looked at the blanket on her body, feeling warmth as she pinched it in her hand. However, she quickly realized and searched for Kazuya, finding him standing at the doorway observing.
Yoko quickly got up, and Kazuya heard the commotion and turned back, "It seems like your mom is back..."
The woman vomiting in the hallway in the middle of the night could only be Yoko's mother. He had never seen her, probably because of their different schedules. When he went to school in the morning, Yoko's mother probably hadn't woken up yet. When he rested at night, she would just come back. So, despite being neighbors for over a week, he had never seen her.
Yoko quickly picked up her backpack, put on her hat, and hurriedly ran to the entrance, bowing deeply to Kazuya, "I'm sorry to trouble you, Onisan!"
"You're welcome" Kazuya replied, while the vomiting outside intensified. Yoko quickly ran out, and Toratoro followed closely at her feet.
Yoko reached the corridor and reached out to help her mother up. But her mother suddenly pushed her hand away, muttering, "Don't... don't pull me, I can still drink."
Yoko stumbled and almost sat on the floor. Her mother knelt against the wall, muttering something incoherent. Yoko didn't dare to look back at Kazuya's expression and quickly rushed to help her mother up, whispering, "Mom, let's go home! You're disturbing others like this."
"No...no, I don't want to go home!" Yoko's mother, with her hands waving in the air, raised her voice even louder. Drunk people are stronger than usual, and Yoko was too young to resist. She was thrown aside, and her mother couldn't maintain her posture, falling directly onto the vomit.
Toratoro saw Yoko fall and jumped in front of her, crouching down and growling, but it was too small to have intimidation.
Kazuya couldn't bear to watch anymore. He sighed and went forward to help Yoko's mother up. She not only had revealing clothing but also emitted a strange smell—a mixture of stomach fluid, undigested food, alcohol, and cheap perfume. The odor made Kazuya feel like vomiting.
Enduring the stench, he forced a smile at Yoko, "Go get the keys and open the door, Yoko."
"Yes." Yoko bowed her head, picked up her mother's small purse, searched for a moment, and then ran towards the house door without looking at Kazuya's face. Toratoro hesitated for a moment but still followed.
Dragging Yoko's mother like a dead dog, Kazuya couldn't stand it because her mother constantly gropped him. After Yoko opened the door, she ran back, helping Kazuya lift her mother, and finally managed to move her into the room.