Although Saionji Mina felt a certain inexplicable fondness for Kiryu Kazusuke, and was grateful that he had helped her out before, wasn’t this moving a little too fast?
“I want to watch TV. Really.”
“And I have work tomorrow. City hall has been very busy lately. The section chief, that old… Section Chief Yoshino has been in a bad mood recently. I can’t be late.”
“Thank you very much for the invitation, but I really can’t!”
She took a step back, her back pressed against the door, shaking her head desperately.
Instinctive defense mechanism, activated!
Kiryu Kazusuke looked at her as if she were facing a mortal enemy. It was a reaction he had expected.
She was like an injured stray cat.
You wanted to feed it, but it would hiss at you instead.
“Saionji-san.”
“Today was hard, wasn’t it?”
“You really want to go back into that six-tatami room in front of you, turn on the TV, watch other people’s love stories, and then pretend you’re part of the world too, don’t you?”
“You want to laugh a little, or cry a little, and let today end just like that, don’t you?”
“You want to lie in bed and tell yourself that tomorrow is another new day, that everything will get better, don’t you?”
“But are you really going to keep deceiving yourself like this forever?”
Kiryu Kazusuke’s voice was calm, not especially aggressive, yet every sentence struck where it hurt.
With every word he said, Saionji Mina’s body stiffened a little more.
This was exactly what her life had been like for the past two years.
Loneliness was something tangible.
Like damp air, it seeped into every pore, penetrating all the way into her bones.
“I…”
She opened her mouth, wanting to refute him, but her throat was dry, and she could not say anything.
“If this goes on, you’ll break.”
As a doctor, Kiryu Kazusuke had seen too many cases where long-term repression led to psychological distortion, and finally physical collapse.
People needed release.
Just like a pressure cooker. If you didn’t pull off the pressure valve and let out steam, once it passed the critical point, it would explode.
Although he was not a psychologist, once people found out he worked at a hospital, they would ask him questions anyway, whether or not it was his specialty.
“Break…”
Saionji Mina murmured to herself.
She remembered the morning more than a week ago, when that pleasure had surged up from the base of her spine…
Hadn’t that been the only time in the past few months when she had felt alive?
If she went back now to watch TV, she would probably toss and turn in bed all night again, unable to sleep.
“Then… where are we going?”
She raised her head, and a trace of wavering appeared in her eyes.
“You’ll know when we get there.”
Kiryu Kazusuke smiled, deliberately keeping her in suspense.
At a time like this, maintaining a bit of mystery would actually increase the other person’s anticipation, and also spare him the trouble of being rejected on the spot if she was dissatisfied.
Saionji Mina bit her lip and hesitated for a few seconds.
“All right.”
In the end, she nodded.
After all, the worst possible outcome was that she would be treated like a fool and toyed with.
That was still better than being alone in her room, rotting away.
“Um… do I need to prepare anything?”
“Change your clothes.”
Kiryu Kazusuke pointed at her Room 301.
Right now she was wearing a thick dark-blue wool coat, buttoned all the way to the top. Underneath was a gray office uniform skirt, and her legs were wrapped in thick black tights.
This outfit was clearly not suitable for what they were about to do.
Saionji Mina blinked.
Change clothes?
If they were just going to a nearby convenience store, or simply taking a walk downstairs, there was nothing wrong with what she was wearing.
Were they going to some high-class place that required formal attire?
No, that wasn’t right. Dr. Kiryu himself was dressed casually too, in nothing more than an ordinary black coat.
Then… there was only one other possibility.
Her cheeks began to grow hot.
She remembered what her senior classmates often used to say when she was studying at university in Tokyo.
“Men, you know, say they’re taking you for a drive, but what they’re really thinking about is how to get you into one of those rooms with a rotating bed.”
“They’ll ask you to change clothes because tearing stockings is too much trouble…”
“Or maybe they like some specific kind of uniform…”
Saionji Mina lowered her head and glanced at the somewhat old-fashioned office suit she was wearing.
Indeed, there was nothing feminine about her outfit at all.
If that was the case…
Just as she was about to open her mouth and back out, Kiryu Kazusuke spoke first.
“Something easy to move in. If you have sportswear or a hoodie, that would be best.”
“Wear flat shoes. Sneakers would be ideal.”
After saying that, he had already turned around, pushed open the door to Room 302, and walked inside.
Click.
The door closed.
Only Saionji Mina was left in the corridor.
She looked at the tightly shut iron door, somewhat confused.
Were they going for a night run?
Or to the park to do calisthenics?
Or perhaps, like in a TV drama, going to the seaside to look at the stars?
But Maebashi City wasn’t by the sea.
All sorts of ridiculous guesses flashed through her mind.
Thinking of the wild thoughts she had just been having, her cheeks seemed to grow even hotter.
…
The light was on in Room 302.
Just as Kiryu Kazusuke had said earlier, it did indeed make the place feel slightly warmer.
But that was all.
The layout of this apartment was exactly the same as Saionji Mina’s next door. Narrow and cramped.
Minimalist style—or, in other words, poverty.
Kiryu Kazusuke casually pressed the switch on the wall and turned on the main light.
A pale-red light curtain unfolded across his retina.
【Saionji Mina: A place like city hall ought to be flattened by a meteorite! Trash like Yoshino ought to be thrown into a meat grinder! I want to see firelight, I want to hear explosions—only Dr. Kiryu would understand that feeling, right?】
【Converging World Line—】
【Branch One: Take her to engage in high-intensity physical release, thoroughly venting the negative emotions that have built up. (Reward: Slight improvement to physical constitution)】
【Branch Two: Nothing happens. You go home and sleep, in order to welcome tomorrow’s rare day off. (Reward: 20,000 yen)】
【Branch Three: Watch a TV drama with her while drinking, play the considerate big brother, and provide appropriate physical comfort. (Reward: Three years later, she will bring your daughter to the medical office to find you)】
This was the world line that had appeared just as he had returned to the apartment and seen Saionji Mina while going up the stairs.
And Kiryu Kazusuke had already made his choice: Branch One.
The reason was very simple—
First, Branch Two’s 20,000 yen.
Although that meant he could get money without doing anything, everything had marginal utility.
He was still poor, but not so poor that he could not afford to eat.
So it was not that he couldn’t choose it. They simply needed to add more money.
Second, Branch Three’s reward: gaining a daughter three years later?
He eliminated it at a glance.
It was not that Kiryu Kazusuke had some exceptionally high sense of morality. In his view, when the atmosphere had reached that point and both parties were willing, how could one call it taking advantage of someone in distress?
The main issue was that it was too sudden. For the moment, he was not mentally prepared to raise a daughter.
Yes, he could try taking safety measures.
But that would mean gambling—gambling on whether it would be “my fate is mine, not Heaven’s,” or “Heaven’s will is ultimately hard to defy.”
However, he believed that in order to ensure the reward was issued successfully, his world-line convergence plan would inevitably make the rubber break and the pills fail.
So he had chosen Branch One almost instantly.
After all, in the career of a surgeon, when it came down to the very end, what one was competing with was not actually skill, but stamina.
Whoever could stand longer would have steadier hands, and whoever had steadier hands would be the one laughing last.
As long as enough of these “slight” improvements accumulated, one day quantitative change would bring about qualitative change.
What if, one day, he could pinch a neutron star between his fingers?
For this book to have made it this far is all thanks to everyone’s support. Whether it’s monthly tickets, comments, recommendation votes, or continued reading, I’m truly grateful. In another few tens of thousands of words, this book will leave the new book rankings. I really want to take one last look at the scenery near the top of the new book list before it goes. Thank you all for your support.