Tokyo: Starting with the Gear-Conscious Male Gods!

Chapter 25 Uemura-kun, you don't want your dad's pen to be unusable, do you?

(P.S.: I made some minor revisions to the previous chapter. Sorry about that.)

Before she came, Chiba Sena had already told her that the person who bought her paintbrushes was a distant cousin of hers, and that she shouldn't worry about it.

Nozomi Uemura didn't actually hold any resentment about what happened that day; on the contrary, she was very grateful to Yuta Shirakawa.

Because her mother's surgery was successful and her recovery was going well, she is very content with her current life. No matter how good the paintbrushes her father left behind are, they are ultimately not as important as her living mother.

If her mother were to die because of that 100,000 yen, she truly wouldn't know how to go on living.

Moreover, Yuta Shirakawa promised her, giving her hope of redeeming her paintbrush.

Once her mother felt a little better, she planned to take on two more part-time jobs so she could buy the pen back as soon as possible.

Seeing the somewhat frightened look on Uemura Nozomi's face, Shirakawa Yuta wisely kept quiet.

With the addition of Nozomi Uemura, Yuta Shirakawa no longer needed to interfere with matters in the front hall.

He could stay in the back and make ramen with Chiba Daio without worry, and the two of them were much more efficient.

Unlike before, after they finished all the noodles, some regular customers didn't leave. Instead, they invited Chiba Daio to sit down and drink, and chatted with them.

Yuta Shirakawa and his two companions sat in another corner, eating their meal while quietly listening to Daio Chiba recount his past. When Daio's eyes began to redden, he looked at Sena Chiba, who was sitting opposite him with tears welling up in her eyes, and whispered, "Go and comfort her."

"...No way."

Yuta Shirakawa smiled as he looked at Sena Chiba, who was stubborn yet somewhat eager to try. He knew this would happen.

Even if she really wanted to go up, he would stop her. It's better to let Chiba Daio vent some of his emotions. He was just teasing Chiba Hoshina.

As if she could read Shirakawa Yuta's mind, Chiba Sena rolled her eyes at him in annoyance.

Yuta Shirakawa touched his nose, not seeming to mind, and said to Nozomi Uemura, who had been silent the whole time, "Let's go, we'll take you home."

"No, no need..."

Uemura Nozomi instinctively wanted to wave her hand to refuse, but before she could finish speaking, Chiba Sena grabbed her waving hand: "It's almost ten o'clock, we're worried about you going back by yourself, it's okay."

Sensing Chiba Sena's sincerity from the pressure on her hand, Uemura Nozomi hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "Okay, thank you."

Because the one-week post-operative observation period has not yet passed and Nozomi Kamimura's mother has not been discharged from the hospital, Nozomi still has to go to the hospital that night.

The distance from Chiba noodle shop to the hospital wasn't too far, about two or three kilometers, so the three of them didn't take a taxi and simply walked there.

The three chatted for a while on the way, talking about school gossip. Uemura Nozomi didn't say much, but she would occasionally chime in, no longer as reserved as when she first met Shirakawa Yuta.

In less than half an hour, we arrived at the hospital.

Chiba Sena didn't rush to leave. Instead, she took out a small wad of cash from her pocket and handed it to Uemura Nozomi: "Here you go, this is your pay for tonight."

Yuta Shirakawa glanced at it; there were coins ranging from one thousand to two thousand to five thousand, totaling about twenty thousand yen.

Uemura Nozomi was startled and took a step back, saying with some resistance, "No, I don't want to. I only helped with a small thing."

Chiba Sena grabbed Uemura Nozomi's hand, handed her the money, and comforted her, "We agreed to hire you for a part-time job, so how can we not pay you?"

Nozomi Uemura resisted forcefully: "But... isn't this a bit too much?"

"It's not much. How can this amount of money be too much? Even if you work part-time at other restaurants, you can earn 1,300 or 1,400 yuan per hour. Besides, there are so many people in the restaurant tonight, and everyone is so tired. It's already past 10 o'clock, so we should pay overtime. It's normal to give them a little more."

"That doesn't need to be that much. I'll just take ten thousand."

"No, this was given to you by my dad..."

Seeing the two still struggling, Shirakawa Yuta, who was exhausted after a long night and just wanted to rest, yawned. He knew that he had to put some pressure on them.

So he pretended to be a little impatient and said, "Just take it, Uemura-kun. You don't want to lose your dad's paintbrush, do you?"

Nozomi Uemura paused as she pushed the money forward. She might not care about anything else, but she still cared a lot about that paintbrush.

She could only silently put the money away. Of course, she knew that what Shirakawa Yuta meant was not a threat, but simply that he was doing it for her own good.

Feeling the warmth emanating from the two "classmates," and recalling those indifferent and heartless relatives, her eyes involuntarily reddened.

She bowed gently yet deeply to the two people opposite her.

……

As she walked home, Chiba Sena's steps became lighter.

She had always wanted to help Kamimura Nozomi, but never had the chance. Tonight, she finally got to fulfill her wish under the pretext that the shop needed someone.

Thinking of the genuine smile on Uemura Nozomi's face as she left, she sighed, "I hope the shop will stay open in the future, so Nozomi can keep coming here part-time."

Yuta Shirakawa didn't reply, but couldn't help rolling his eyes.

Even if Chiba Noodle Shop continues to operate, she doesn't need to work part-time.

We've been open for so many years, and this is the first time I've ever asked for a part-time job, especially on the day we're closing down.

Having received no reply, Chiba Hoshina snorted coldly, then suddenly turned around as if remembering something, glaring fiercely at Shirakawa Yuta and saying:

"You bastard, did you just threaten Xixu? It's so unfair to bully someone as pitiful as her!"

"what?"

After saying that, without waiting for Shirakawa Yuta to explain, she turned around and walked quickly towards Chiba Noodle Shop.

If it weren't for the slight smile that appeared on her lips at the end, Shirakawa Yuta would have really been fooled by her.

He could only smile helplessly and followed her back.

When the two returned to the noodle shop, the regular customers were nowhere to be seen.

Only Chiba Daio remained sitting in the shop, a bottle of sake in front of him, his cheeks slightly flushed.

When Chiba Sena saw that Chiba Daio was about to pour more wine, she frowned and stepped forward to take the glass away.

Chiba Daio didn't stop her, but pointed to the seat opposite her, indicating that she should sit down.

Yuta Shirakawa stood still and didn't go over. The father and daughter clearly had something to say, and his going over would likely make things awkward for them.

But after thinking about it, he didn't leave. Instead, he found a place to sit down by the door.

He swore he was absolutely not gossiping!

He was just thinking that if the two of them started arguing later, he could try to mediate.

However, after Chiba Daio started speaking, his little ears involuntarily perked up.