The next morning, cherry blossom petals covered the ground beneath the apartment building, and the towering trees had only a few pink remnants, looking somewhat desolate and sorrowful.
The ground was wet, and a few steps would reveal a small puddle, clearly the aftermath of a heavy rain the previous night.
The hurried figure of a young man was reflected in the water.
Carrying a week's worth of groceries, Hoshino Jun quickly ran upstairs.
"It's not tiring at all. Is the difference between 7 and 8 that significant?"
Hoshino Jun hadn't expected that adding one point to his stamina in the system could bring such great benefits.
Last weekend, when he bought groceries and came home, he had already broken a sweat.
But this time, he didn't even breathe heavily.
Well, this was a good thing, nothing to dwell on.
Reaching the fourth floor, Hoshino Jun noticed that the door to 403 was open. Inside, a young man sat cross-legged by the coffee table, with a plate in front of him.
Hmm.
A breakfast that he couldn't tell what it was.
It smelled awful.
"Jo-kun, why are you eating that 'Oli-give'?"
Hoshino Jun held his breath, preventing the smell from entering his olfactory system.
"baka yarou, what I eat is none of your business, you bastard!"
Takayanagi Jo impatiently shouted, with tissues stuffed into both nostrils.
Even if it tasted bad, he made it himself, so he had to swallow it.
[Ding!]
[Detected malicious cursing from Takayanagi Jo!]
[Choose not to pursue, and acquire a C-rank favor debt.]
A day of good mood starts with Jo-kun actively sending money.
[It has been determined that Takayanagi Jo is unable to repay this favor debt and it has been automatically transferred to his mother, Takayanagi Yuki.]
"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect Jo-kun to be so surprising. I couldn't tell before when he didn't cook, but now that he does, he makes such an incredible dish."
Unable to resist a few more snarky remarks, Hoshino Jun received only a death glare from Takayanagi Jo, then uninterestingly withdrew his gaze.
Looking down at the apartment building, he didn't notice Takayanagi Yuki's figure.
Hoshino Jun asked curiously, "Jo-kun, where is Yuki?"
Takayanagi Jo glanced at him: "Hmph, do you think I'll talk to you? Get lost, don't be an eyesore!"
At this moment, Takayanagi Jo's dislike for Hoshino Jun had reached its peak. If he weren't afraid of being heard by the neighbors, he would have given that guy a good scolding.
Hearing this, Hoshino Jun raised an eyebrow slightly, scoffing:
"Nah, Jo-kun is truly ungrateful. And here I was, kindly letting Jo-kun off the hook yesterday."
"Who needs your fake kindness? That was clearly Kaoru herself who didn't want to bother with me, just using you as an excuse."
"You're right, I was indeed being disingenuous."
His gaze noticed another plate opposite Takayanagi Jo, and the food on it had clearly only been half-heartedly touched twice.
Hoshino Jun smiled, saying nothing more.
He carried the groceries back to his own home, then grabbed a sandwich from the convenience store and sprinted downstairs.
"Running in the hallway early in the morning, how uncivilized."
Seeing Hoshino Jun's figure flash past, Takayanagi Jo muttered softly, then began to ponder again.
'My relationship with Mom has already improved.'
'Now, only Kaoru is left.'
After a night of consideration, Takayanagi Jo had figured it out. Yamada Kaoru did like Hoshino Jun, that was true.
But her relationship with him wasn't bad either, and she had even kindly helped him so many times before.
How could she really hand him over to Hoshino Jun? Most likely, she knew Hoshino Jun's hypocrisy, so she just used him to let Jo off the hook.
'Kaoru is so good, but this time I probably really angered her. How should I mend this relationship in the future?'
What Takayanagi Jo didn't know was that while he was still thinking about how to reconcile with Yamada Kaoru, Hoshino Jun had already run downstairs and successfully found Takayanagi Yuki, who was still waiting for the bus at the opposite bus stop.
The morning sun pierced through the clouds, and golden light fell upon Takayanagi Yuki. This beautiful woman was once again wearing a business dress today.
It seemed her high heels were uncomfortable, so she bent her slender waist to adjust her shoes, and her large bosom, under the force of gravity, appeared even fuller.
"Jun, why are you here?"
Takayanagi Yuki's peripheral vision caught Hoshino Jun, and her body trembled as if having an allergic reaction, then she immediately stood straight and silently took two steps back.
Recently, her intimate actions with this boy next door had been a bit too frequent, and Takayanagi Yuki was somewhat worried that Hoshino Jun would hug her at the bus stop.
This big boy was perfectly capable of doing such a thing.
Unexpectedly, Hoshino Jun didn't rush up to take advantage, but instead bent over, hands on his knees, breathing heavily.
He seemed very tired.
"Jun, what's wrong?"
Takayanagi Yuki wanted to help Hoshino Jun up, but she was also afraid he would take advantage of her.
If it were evening when she returned home, it would be fine, but now she still had to go to work.
She couldn't possibly be uncomfortable all over at her workplace.
"Hoo~ Hoo~"
After resting for a few seconds, Hoshino Jun stood up straight, wiped away non-existent sweat with his sleeve, and then handed the sandwich in his hand to Takayanagi Yuki.
"Yuki, I saw the breakfast Jo-kun made. I just ran to the convenience store to buy this."
Under the golden morning sun, Hoshino Jun stepped forward, his tone filled with concern: "How can you go to work on an empty stomach? Luckily, I made it in time."
"Jun-kun."
This time, Takayanagi Yuki was truly bewildered.
Just by seeing the breakfast Jo made, he realized she hadn't eaten, then ran to the convenience store to buy a sandwich, and then ran to give it to her.
Was Hoshino Jun's affection for her really that deep?
"You don't have to go to so much trouble. I work at a supermarket, you know, so I'm never short of food."
"Ah?"
Hoshino Jun was stunned for a moment, then awkwardly turned his head away: "That's right, I forgot. But this is a small token of my regard, so please accept it, Yuki."
The sandwich was placed in her hand.
Takayanagi Yuki looked down at the sandwich, a subtle feeling welling up in her heart. She was asking herself:
'Should I really ignore Jun's affection for me because of worldly prejudices?'
When she looked up again, Hoshino Jun had already left and was heading in another direction.
'Jun, he called me Yuki today.'
'He also didn't try to touch me.'
Looking at the spot where the young man had just been, now empty, Takayanagi Yuki suddenly felt a sense of emptiness.
As if something was missing.
"..."
"..."
The streets were quiet on a Saturday morning.
After leaving Takayanagi Yuki, Hoshino Jun did not return home, but slowly walked forward, following the location set by his phone navigation.
"Ding-dong—!"
Someone sent a message on LINE. He opened it and looked.
It was Yamada Kaoru, who seemed to be perfectly fine, continuing to chatter about everyday matters on his LINE.
"Jun, I feel so tired."
"..."
"That woman is so annoying, seeing her just irritates me immensely."
"..."
"Yamada Tsukasa is annoying too. As soon as he comes home, he follows me around, calling 'Sister, Sister.' Who's his sister?"
Hoshino Jun quickly scanned the long string of chatter, then exited the chat interface with Yamada Kaoru.
He found today's main target in his contacts.
"Nana, I'm almost near your house. When are you coming out?"
"Ding-dong—!"
Kato Nana on the other end of the phone replied very quickly: "Hoshino-kun, please wait five more minutes, I'll be done with my makeup soon."
"Okay, I'll wait for you."
It was said that directly opposite Kato Nana's house was Takasaki Yusuke's house.
So, after Hoshino Jun arrived, he first turned his head and waved at Takasaki Yusuke's window.
"Ahayo, Takasaki-kun!"