In fact, before the two met, Ogiwara Kazusa's understanding of Yusuke was limited to some information collected by private detectives.
Apart from thinking that he was an excellent young man, he actually didn't pay much attention to him. He was even quite dissatisfied with him for helping to hide his sister, so he even thought of teaching him a lesson.
However, after communicating face-to-face in person, he discovered that the other person was far from what he had imagined. He was a high school student who could be manipulated at will.
Not only is he capable of easily defeating professional bodyguards in terms of combat power, but his words and deeds are not as childish as those of a student, but full of maturity and stability.
It even made him feel as if he was facing an adult. It was very strange, but it was something that people dare not underestimate.
Then he hesitated and asked: "Well, what are you talking about?"
Faced with Ogiwara Kazusa's inquiry, Kato Yusuke responded without thinking.
"We made a promise to go to Hokkaido together."
"Hey, you actually said to go together!?" Ogiwara Kazusa suddenly showed a dumbfounded expression.
It’s not surprising that he was so gaffe-like, because Yusuke’s words were so impactful that anyone in such a state would have such a reaction.
This sentence not only means that the other party intends to interfere in his own family affairs, but also plans to visit his mother in his hometown in person, and it seems that he wants to see it through to the end, even though the two parties have never met before.
This made him feel very incredible, and he immediately thought of the possible impact of this incident.
"What's wrong? Is there any problem?" Kato Yusuke asked.
"It's not so much that there's a problem... To be honest, I don't know what to say at all." Yi Sa held her chin in thought and slowly shook her head, looking straight at him with her eyes without any hint of teasing.
"You're not joking about this, right?"
"I never joke with strangers."
"Does your family agree with this?"
Yusuke raised the corner of his mouth with a hint of meaning, "Since you have already done an investigation on me, then my uncle must also know about my situation, so this is not a problem."
"I'm sorry... I've caused you trouble." Yisha lowered her head with difficulty. After a few seconds, she looked at the two of them alternately and said hesitantly: "Let me confirm... the relationship between the two of you should be...
You haven’t reached that point yet?”
The room suddenly became quiet.
Yusuke and Sayu looked at each other and exchanged glances.
"I am, Yusuke's girlfriend!"
The girl blushed and said, looking at her brother without blinking.
"Really...that's it." Yi Sa smiled bitterly and nodded, sighing slightly: "Then Sayu doesn't think it's okay? Let Kato-kun intervene in our family affairs."
After being asked this question, Sayu glanced uneasily at the boy next to her. It happened that Kato Yusuke was also looking at her and gave her a gentle smile in return.
"Yeah!" She took a breath and nodded vigorously, "That way... I will feel more at ease."
"That's it... I understand." Yi Sa, who witnessed this scene, murmured, and then said slowly: "You seem to be able to speak more clearly than before."
His expression was gentler than before, but it was also mixed with a hint of indescribable loneliness. This was probably due to the gratification of the role of "brother". Yusuke couldn't help but think like this, he was too fond of this cheap uncle.
One point of recognition.
"Hmm... maybe." Sayu lowered his gaze as if embarrassed, and suddenly felt a pang of guilt in his heart.
"To be honest, it's really embarrassing to let Kato-kun interfere with our family's affairs, and it's unknown how my mother will react to this..."
"However, it is also necessary for me to give Sayu the courage to go home, so thank you very much." Having said this, Ogiwara Kazusa bent down and bowed to Yusuke.
"This is just for Sayu, so there's no need to be like this." Kato Yusuke shook his head, his expression very calm, but Issa still felt a kind of determination and courage from those words.
"For Sayu...I understand."
He murmured deeper and lowered his voice and said, "Thank you for... cherishing Sayu so much. Thank you very much."
"Brother... I'm sorry." Sayu murmured softly, her eyes slightly red, and she held Yusuke's sleeves with her hands.
Yusuke patted her hand gently to express comfort, and then said to Yi Sa: "Please raise your head, thank you for agreeing to my request, and... I am also sorry about Mr. Lin and the others."
The other party couldn't help but smile bitterly, straightened up his upper body, hesitated a few times, and then took a deep breath.
"Actually, regarding that matter..."
Just when he was trying to say something...
"Since it's a misunderstanding, forget it, uncle." Kato Yusuke interrupted him directly and looked at him deeply.
Being swept away by that deep gaze, Ogiwara Kazusa instantly felt as if someone had seen through him. He couldn't help but shuddered in his heart and fell into silence.
Then he nodded again, calmed down and said, "Well, I'm sorry... but fortunately, Mr. Lin's doctor said it's nothing serious. He just needs to recover for a while and it won't have much impact on the future."
"Really, that's good." Yusuke agreed indifferently, then asked: "So, when will we leave for Hokkaido?"
This happy attitude made Yi Sa slightly stunned, but he immediately reacted and said after pondering for a while: "Yes, although I also think that I should go back as soon as possible, but is there no problem here, Kato-kun?"
"I'll take care of the details later. I'll just cooperate with you when the time comes."
"Is that so... Sayu?" Yi Sa turned her gaze to the side.
"……Um."
Sayu nodded with a subtle expression as a response.
"Okay, I understand." Yi Sa seemed to be relieved, her expression relaxed, and then she thought for a while and said, "If you can accept it, can we leave on the flight tomorrow morning?"
"good."
"……knew."
The two responded together.
Ogiwara Kazusa stood up from the ground after looking at them, "Then I'll go to the hospital first. I'll ask the secretary to handle the air tickets. Today you guys..."
Looking at the only double bed in the room, he couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth, but after all, he still didn't say the words "have a good rest".
In the end, he just shook his head with a wry smile, said hello to the two of them, and hurriedly left the apartment, arranging for the driver to go to the hospital.
As the door closed with a click, the room fell into silence again.
"...Then, continue to eat?"
"After what happened just now, I suddenly feel no longer hungry."
"Me too……"
When they returned to the living room, the two of them sat on the carpet, leaning against the bed, both speechless for a moment.
"that……"
"Um?"
Sayu slowly leaned her head on his shoulder and said in a tone like the setting sun: "I can only stay one more night, this home."
"It's just temporary, and it's not like I can't come back." Kato Yusuke said with a smile.
"...can you come back?" the girl murmured.
"Of course, it's better to say that I'm going there just for this reason."
"Huh?"
"Find a way to convince your mother to agree to your transfer to Tokyo to study. That's what I'm thinking about."
"That kind of thing-"
When he finished saying this, Sayu looked up at him with a hesitant expression, and then immediately lowered his gaze, repeating this process many times.
"...can it really be done?"
Kato Yusuke joked unhurriedly: "You are young and rich, and you are a handsome and handsome son-in-law. I don't think he will be rejected in any case, right?"
Instead of blaming her as usual, the girl just shook her head slightly and said, "That's because you don't understand her..."
"Whether you understand it or not, there are some things that you have to do, otherwise there will be no hope at all, right?" Yusuke narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the entrance in a daze, and said directly.
There was a moment of silence.
"that……"
Sayu opened and closed his mouth, and then said as if he had made up his mind: "...You didn't ask about my past..."
"Do you want to say it?" Kato Yusuke paused and said.
"Yeah!" Sayu made a swallowing motion and nodded.
"Please listen to...my story so far..."
The words were full of tension, and the voice was trembling slightly.
Kato Yusuke put his arm around her shoulders and realized that the girl's body was very stiff at this time, so he began to massage her gently to slowly relax her.
"Sorry, I'm a little nervous."
"You don't have to force yourself. It doesn't matter if you don't say it."
"No, I have to say."
Thinking that he was going to give himself a shot, Sayu took a deep breath and his eyes gradually became firm.
At this moment--
Dong Dong Dong, Dong Dong Dong.
A gentle knock sounded from outside the door.
"Is it brother again?"
"have no idea."
The two couldn't help but look at each other, and then Kato Yusuke got up and walked to open the door.
The metal door opened with a "click".
It's both unexpected and reasonable...
"Excuse me~ As usual, I'm here to attend the study meeting."
The person who appeared there with a greeting in a strong voice was Asami, who had a shoulder bag with one hand on her shoulder.
His sassy dark blond hair hangs softly, and the smile on his face is still bright, making people feel full of vitality at a glance.
"Where's Sister Sayu?" she asked.
Yusuke remained silent about this, but turned to look at Sayu in the living room, and saw him waving to Asami who was peeking through the crack in the door.
Then he asked hesitantly: "Is it okay at this time?"
"Well... I hope Asami will listen too."
"good."
"Eh? What are you talking about?" Asami tilted her head in confusion.
"Let's talk about it in detail later."
Kato Yusuke said expressionlessly, and led the frightened Asami all the way from the entrance to the living room.
Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere in the room, Asami became more reserved, even daring to sit halfway down the bed.
"So what's going on? At least someone can explain it."
Yusuke looked at Sayu and briefly explained to Asami the series of events that had happened before, omitting the part about the fight with Mr. Lin and the others.
Asami was obviously a little surprised at first, but from the middle on, her expression remained calm.
Until Kato Yusuke stopped talking.
"I see...that's it."
Asami shook her eyes as if she was organizing her thoughts, and murmured: "Tomorrow, Sayu-san will go back."
"...Well, I'm sorry." Sayu nodded gently and responded.
"Why is Sayu-san apologizing!"
Asami took a deep breath and lay back on the bed as if she was exhausted, and her legs began to flap alternately.
"Look, I'm going to get lonely."
There was a hint of loneliness in her tone, and then she suddenly sat up from the bed and faced Sayu with a bright and firm expression.
"...However, since my friend is determined to face the past, all he can do is support him."
Sayu held his breath for a moment at these words, snorted softly from his nose, and nodded imperceptibly.
Glancing at Asami's backpack, she saw that in addition to the reference books packed inside, there was also a tan paper bag, with wisps of mist floating out of it.
"What do you have inside?" Kato Yusuke asked aloud.
"Ah, I almost forgot!" Asami said this, quickly reaching for the shoulder bag at her feet, and then took out three roasted sweet potatoes from the paper bag that were neatly packed in convenience bags.
"Here, this is a condolence gift."
She gave two of them to Sayu and Kato Yusuke one after another, and kept one for herself.
As he started eating the hot roasted sweet potatoes, the light in Yusuke's eyes suddenly became trance-like, and an indescribable loneliness suddenly emerged in his heart, as if this kind of time would never happen again.
Looking at Sayu, the girl obviously thought of the same thing as him, and a shadow sank under her eyes.
"I said-"
Asami suddenly said: "It's impossible for you to be like this. You are obviously going to face a challenge soon, right? How can you be discouraged at this time? Hurry up and cheer up!"
Then he turned his attention to Kato Yusuke, "Especially you! Kato! You don't want to be separated from Sayu, do you? Then stand up and let us listen to Sayu's past, and then..."
As if she felt that her tone was too strong, she paused temporarily and continued speaking in a softer tone.
"Please, at a certain moment, when Sayou-mei is in need... along with me, rush to save her."
After saying this, an extremely rare and gentle smile appeared on Asami's face, which quickly disappeared like a phantom of foam in the sun.
"Asami..." Sayu murmured, her delicate nose twitching slightly as if she was breathing in.
"Okay, okay, ah! It's all your fault for being dry and crispy. I feel like the roasted sweet potatoes are getting cold."
Asami said in a complaining tone, turning her back and not looking at the two of them, "I really hate this atmosphere. Can't you talk happily while eating delicious food...?"
"Ah, that's right." Kato Yusuke couldn't help but smile on his face and turned his attention to Sayu.
"We are ready, you can tell us at any time."
"...Well." Sayu took a breath quietly, then slowly exhaled it, "Then...I'm going to start."
As she spoke, the atmosphere in the room seemed to change.
Although the girl's expression was calm, there was an illusion of a dull feeling wrapped around her body... like a series of dull shackles.
"During my sophomore year of high school...I was always alone."