In Tokyo: They are heavily dependent on me

Chapter 120. Hoshino Kaoru is destined to die this summer.

As Kaoru left the fireworks festival venue and arrived at the subway station, she looked at the time on her phone screen for the third time. There were still ten minutes left until the agreed-upon 7 o'clock. It was time to explain the situation to Rin.

After a final moment of hesitation, Kaoru turned around, opening her mouth as if to say something but then stopping herself.

"Brother, you still have things to do, don't you?"

Rin spoke first.

Rin looked at him with a surprisingly calm expression.

When were we discovered?

"In that case, I'll head back now."

After a brief silence, seeing Kaoru looking speechless, Rin turned around and felt her wrist being gripped tightly as she walked into the crowd at the subway station.

They turned around and looked each other in the eye, openly and honestly.

"What's wrong, brother?"

"Um... I'm sorry, but at such an important moment, I can't even do something as simple as being by Rin's side."

"It's okay, brother."

Rin said these words in a completely flat and emotionless tone.

Only when her figure was swallowed up by the dark mass of people did the complicated thoughts disappear from Kaoru's mind.

In short... there are still things to do next.

After composing herself slightly, Kaoru took out her smartphone. Just then, the screen lit up; it was a call from the young lady.

After the call was connected, a girl's languid voice immediately came from the other end.

"Hoshino-san, if I don't see you in five minutes, I'm going back."

"No... I'm already at the subway station, Minakami-kun..."

"Cars can't drive in, so I'm on the outskirts now, about a kilometer from the subway station. Hoshino-kun, you'd better get here within five minutes... no, it should be within four minutes. Hurry up, or I'll consider it a breach of promise and let you have a pleasant night with my shark friend."

The call was abruptly ended.

Looking at the address sent by the other party, it was a location outside a block, more than a kilometer away, and four minutes away... It was doable.

Kaoru started running. Although he was wearing uncomfortable wooden clogs, running 1,000 meters in four minutes was easy for him, as his stamina was almost unmatched among his peers. So, three minutes later, he reached the designated location.

Looking around, they couldn't see the young lady or the car.

At this moment, the phone screen lit up again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Hoshino-san. I set the location to the wrong place. Are you there now? Please come back within ten minutes. It's a bit far... but I believe you can do it."

After explaining the matter, the young lady decisively hung up the phone.

This time, the location was a coffee shop three kilometers away.

Running three kilometers in ten minutes...that's too difficult!

We've been tricked!

Xun had nowhere to vent her resentment, and in the end she could only reluctantly move her legs. Although she had just finished a one-kilometer run, her body was not yet exhausted.

He started running along a road that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance.

The wooden clogs on his feet became very cumbersome, so he simply took them off and threw them by the roadside. Gradually, his chest felt as heavy as if a stone was pressing down on it, his heartbeat became extremely violent, making him feel noisy, and he began to feel suffocated in his lungs. His throat could no longer withstand such violent breathing, and each inhalation was accompanied by a feeling of bursting.

That idiot, Mizukami-san! She can lie to others so easily now. Has she become so brazen after telling a lie once? Or is she just doing it out of a desire to play tricks? Ah... there's no point in thinking about all that trouble now.

Kaoru banished the complicated thoughts from his mind; at this moment, there was only one thing he could do.

Run with all your might.

Two thousand meters, one thousand five hundred meters, one thousand meters.

As we got closer to the finish line, the fatigue in my body became more and more obvious.

If an ordinary person were to run four kilometers at such a high intensity, they might immediately faint, or they might have to stop halfway through due to exhaustion.

Kaoru arrived at the coffee shop just as he could clearly feel his legs were about to go numb.

My body was nearing its limit; even taking out my phone felt incredibly weak.

"Wow, Hoshino-kun is amazing, she actually did it."

On the other end of the phone, the teasing tone of the voice made Kaoru feel uneasy.

And indeed, things turned out exactly as he had predicted.

"Hmm—I was planning to go to a coffee shop, but I suddenly don't want coffee anymore. How about this, Hoshino-san, you can run back here. I'll wait for you at the subway station."

"Hey! What exactly do you mean? Even jokes have their limits, right?"

"Because—Hoshino-san seems to be using me as a substitute."

The young lady's laughter came from the other end of the phone.

"You made a promise with me, but then you made the same decision with another girl behind my back. I don't want to be treated like trash. I was really angry when I found out what Hoshino-kun did. If you want me to calm down, be prepared to run all over Tokyo."

"But... I'm almost gone..."

"Believe in yourself, Hoshino-kun."

The young lady's voice was so cold it was despair-inducing.

"After all, you're the kind of man who can attend a fireworks festival on the same day as three women. You should believe in yourself if you can do something like that."

"Let's set the time for this time at fifteen minutes. If Hoshino-san can get here within the allotted time, I might calm down."

"Okay, that's enough for now. Let's start the timer."

How did the students on the water know about this?

Rin? Kobayashi-san? Captain Yanagi-no-shita? Who leaked this?!

Without time to think too much, Kaoru controlled her legs, which were nearing their limit, and ran again on the road to her destination.

What exactly are they doing?

do not know.

At this moment, the brain has lost even the ability to think; all it can do is run, keep running, and run endlessly.

My vision began to distort and spin, everything in front of me was dazzling, the feeling of suffocation continued to intensify, and I had already reached my limit just by maintaining the movement of my legs.

[Hoshino Kaoru, you were destined to die this summer after all]

He started yelling irrationally. He must be in a terrible state now. His running posture was devoid of any grace, but even so, he still had no intention of stopping. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, and he ran forward recklessly.

Covered in the relentless, humid heat, his body felt like it was on fire; he could even feel the blood flowing through his clenched palms. Suddenly swerving around the bend ahead, Xun nearly collided with a car that couldn't brake in time. He stumbled and nearly fell, running in this utterly disheveled state. He dared not stop; he knew perfectly well that if he hesitated even for a second, he would never be able to catch up.

So—no matter what, don't stop.

------------

"Miss, no matter what, Mr. Hoshino's physical abilities are only those of a high school student. Asking him to run ten kilometers in thirty minutes... isn't that a bit too much?"

The man in the driver's seat of the black sedan parked on the side of the road spoke.

The car's interior, equipped with specially designed glass, offers excellent sound insulation, effectively isolating external noise and allowing only the faint sound of the air conditioning to be heard.

"Are you pitying him, helicopter captain?"

Sitting in the back seat, playing with her fingernails, Mizukami looked up and gazed casually out the window through the glass.

"No, I was just worried about you, Miss."

"Worried about me? What do you mean?"

"If something were to happen to Mr. Hoshino, the first person to feel guilty and remorseful would be Miss. I am trying to prevent such a thing from happening."

The act of playing with her fingernails stopped, and the face that initially gave the impression of being indifferent slightly lifted, her gaze focused on the neck of the man in front of her.

"Helicopter Captain, please don't try to guess what I'm thinking. I hate it."

"If you want to avoid any regrets, Miss, you'd better face your feelings directly."

"By the way, Helicopter Captain, I've decided that from now on, your rest time each day cannot exceed one hour, um... including sleep time. Please try your best to comply."

"...Let's just pretend I never said anything."

After sighing, the man known as the "attack helicopter" captain turned to look out the window.

Based on my understanding of the young lady, if the other person is an insignificant stranger in her heart, she will not feel any emotion because of their existence. Whether it is joy or sadness that is normal in the eyes of others, to the young lady, it is something that can only be attached to important people, and will not appear in other people at will.

Therefore, Hoshino Kaoru, the man who has repeatedly troubled the young lady, is able to do such things with impunity because he receives preferential treatment that others do not.

He was simultaneously dating several women on this day, which held special significance for him.

The blatant betrayal and deception, and the young lady's reaction upon learning of it—as if she were looking at scum—was entirely predictable.

That's amazing!

At that moment, the high beams from a distant vehicle shone on the glass, and the intense light made everything in front of us appear white.

Because of the backlighting, when the captain of the attack helicopter saw the unfamiliar figure running towards him from directly in front of him, he instinctively reached for the pistol hanging on his waist and prepared for action.

The figures were already very close.

A general outline appeared in the field of vision, and the facial features gradually became clearer.

"Miss...how much time has passed?"

"Fourteen minutes and thirty seconds."

"Ideally, it would take me fifteen minutes to run five kilometers. Mr. Hoshino, who had already expended a considerable amount of energy, finished five kilometers thirty seconds faster than me. His physical abilities... are they really those of a high school student?"

For a brief moment, Shui You couldn't understand the meaning of what he said.

However, when she looked up at the car, her expression froze as if she had seen something astonishing.

Her purple pupils began to tremble slightly as she could no longer suppress her emotions.

That's a lie...

Why... can this guy even do something like this...?

"Miss, would you like to get off, or... proceed to the next location?"

The helicopter captain sitting in front turned his face away and fell silent, as if waiting for her instructions.

"That idiot... ran ten kilometers in thirty minutes..."

"This kind of thing... no... no matter how you look at it, it's impossible... how could he do something like this..."

They even instinctively ignored the words the other person mentioned.

Staring blankly out the car window, the person was dragging their body toward them.

The world has always lived according to the principles she adheres to.

What is listed as impossible will absolutely not happen.

However, one day, that person's arrival shattered everything.

While giving her joy, that person also inflicted pain upon her.

Even though he was suffering, and even though he looked utterly wretched, he still showed no intention of stopping.

What could possibly have driven you to this point...?

This guy is... hopeless.

"Ignore him...keep driving forward."

"but......"

"I told you, just ignore him."

".......yes."

Even so, he did not stop his pursuit.

As she turned the next corner, she fell to the ground in a disheveled state. Instinctively, she opened her mouth to try to say something, but before she could utter the first syllable, the figure got up again and ran towards her with all its might.

Why... This guy, who looks like a stray dog, is chasing after me like a victor. Why is he so annoying no matter where he goes? He knows that doing so will make him angry, but he still makes the same decision again and again. Is it just because he knows that she won't actually do something that cruel?

If that's the case... this guy... is too cunning...

At that moment, her complicated feelings seemed to be reconciled, and her clenched hands slowly loosened.

All the feelings of injustice I had experienced disappeared.

Why is Hoshino willing to go to such lengths?

You clearly can't hold on any longer, so why won't you stop? A sentimental person like you is doing the most touching things...

This tactic... is incredibly cunning...

He only ever takes advantage of your concern, going to any lengths to achieve his own ends, even though... even though that feeling is fake, even though he can conveniently let that feeling exist for multiple people at the same time. Since that's the case... such a despicable guy... whatever, it doesn't matter anymore...

Mizukami tried to force herself to think that way.

However... that approach is ultimately impossible to achieve.

I could no longer suppress the complex emotions welling up inside me.

The only thought in my mind... was to see him as soon as possible and question him about the authenticity of those feelings.

As for that stubborn pretense, let's just take it all off...

what......

Let's just do it this way.