The azure sky, dotted with a few white clouds, offered a pleasant view from the rooftop.
The midday spring breeze carried a refreshing coolness as it brushed against faces.
Hojo Tetsuji looked up, taking in the sky, recalling interviews with manga masters who always seed to draw inspiration from such everyday scenes.
He stared at the sky, hoping to glean so manga inspiration from the view.
After a while, aside from dry eyes, Hojo Tetsuji had gained nothing.
Perhaps he lacked talent.
He heard the creak of a damaged door and turned his head, saying, "You're here."
After speaking, he pushed up his sunglasses with his right hand; the cloth wrapping Aozawa's bento box looked very familiar.
"Where did you get this bento?"
"This is a love-filled bento that Shouko made to thank for helping you correct your manga's plot," Aozawa said, not hiding it from his friend. He sat down beside him, placed the bento on his knees, and unraveled the cloth. "Let's see what's inside. The last bento Maggie made for got knocked onto the floor, and everything inside was a ss. And Chitose refuses to make a bento."
"Chitose... you have a sister?"
"To be precise, she's my future primary wife."
Aozawa answered nonchalantly and opened the bento lid, revealing an exquisitely arranged love-thed bento.
In one corner were three large atballs drizzled with sauce, alongside six egg rolls. Cute octopus-shaped sausages were tucked into a bottom corner, and a heart-shaped fried egg sat atop the white rice.
He picked up the fried egg with chopsticks, revealing a big smiling face sprinkled with sesa seeds on the white rice underneath.
"This perfectly ets my fantasy of a girl's bento!"
"You like this cute style of bento?"
"Tetsuji, think about it. How would you feel if Little Sayuri made you a bento like this?"
Aozawa's words caught Hojo Tetsuji by surprise. "I consider you a brother, and you have those kinds of thoughts about my sister?!" he exclaid.
"Co on, I was just asking you to imagine it from that perspective. I didn't say I have thoughts about Shouko."
"Oh."
Hearing this, Hojo Tetsuji imagined Yoshikawa Sayuri handing him a bento.
He instantly beca fired up. "That's great!" he said loudly. "I have to add this to the manga's plot! Bentos are aweso!"
"Exactly."
Aozawa nodded in agreent. The bento's appearance passed the test; now it was ti to see how it tasted.
He took a bite of the fried egg.
The taste wasn't mind-blowing enough to trigger fantasies of clothes exploding off or a drug-like euphoria; it was just ordinarily delicious.
It reminded Aozawa of Chitose's cooking, which had a comforting, motherly flavor that he could never tire of.
"Delicious! Tetsuji, you gave up a bento like this for bread? You're such a hopeless idiot. Truly hopeless," Aozawa said after swallowing the fried egg, teasing Hojo Tetsuji.
"I think bread tastes good too."
Hojo Tetsuji unwrapped his sandwich, opened his cola, and began to enjoy his lunch.
The two chatted about manga plots while eating, occasionally drifting to the topic of how to pursue girls.
Ti quietly slipped away.
Although June was still so ti away, the season already felt like sumr.
Even at six o'clock, the sunlight remained bright.
After saying goodbye to the mbers of the Kendo club, Aozawa started the trek back ho.
Reflecting on his day, he felt like he'd done sothing, yet at the sa ti, like he'd done nothing at all.
It seed the knowledge his brain had absorbed was pushed aside by muscle mory during Kendo practice. I need to review it later.
While thinking about this, Aozawa also pondered how to help Chitose relax.
The best way is to dissociate Dio from the KGB. I should rebrand Dio as a principled cri fighter, a nesis to other criminals. This way, I can convince Chitose that Dio only targets the guilty and won't harm the innocent. This should stop Chitose from being on edge all the ti. Continuing to pressure her might convince Chitose to change her mind and start that shaless life with prematurely. But if that life could only be obtained by pressuring Chitose, Aozawa would rather not have it at all. He worried that if Chitose continued to be overly suspicious, she might develop so kind of ntal illness.
Returning to Ayase Apartnts, Aozawa took the elevator to the sixth floor, only to be shocked to find a new surveillance cara installed by his front door.
A bad feeling flashed through my mind, Aozawa thought as he opened the door and said, "Chitose, I'm back."
"Mhm, wash your hands. I have sothing for you."
Morimoto Chiyoda was still busy in the kitchen. Her hair was tied in a single ponytail, and she wore a tight black-and-white checkered T-shirt and loose black sweatpants that concealed the curve of her hips.
Aozawa walked over, his face full of curiosity. "What wonderful thing do you have for ?" he asked.
"A watch with a tracker."
Morimoto Chiyoda turned off the induction stove.
She had already installed caras throughout the house, including Aozawa's bedroom, to ensure she could monitor it at all tis.
This was to ensure she had imdiate access to relevant information if Aozawa encountered danger. She could then remotely instruct him not to resist people from the KGB.
"Adachi District has been unsafe lately, so don't go running at night anymore," Morimoto Chiyoda warned. "If I see your tracker showing you outside, I'll deal with you when you get back."
"Chiyoda, isn't that a bit too harsh?"
Aozawa looked at the watch, a shocked expression on his face. "I'm not a criminal," he said, "and this isn't my first ti going out for a run."
"Special tis call for special asures. Don't even think about leaving the tracker at ho and sneaking out. I've installed surveillance caras everywhere in the house, including the entrance," Morimoto Chiyoda reminded him. "So don't even think about trying to break the rules."
Aozawa was dumbfounded.
If she's this strict, how can I clear up the misunderstanding?
"Chiyoda, you're violating my personal freedom and privacy! I protest!"
"I make the rules in this house. On what grounds can you protest?"
Morimoto Chiyoda rolled her eyes, her attitude more inflexible than before, leaving no room for negotiation.
Aozawa panicked. If he couldn't go out, he would have no way to clarify the misunderstanding, which ant that both he and Chiyoda would remain under imnse ntal pressure.
Being watched like this wasn't pleasant at all.
"Chiyoda! I need to exercise. How about this: I go for a one-hour run at night and co back on ti."
"No."
Seeing his firm stance rejected, Aozawa resorted to his sweet-talking tactic, saying, "Chiyodaaa~ darling, just one hour. I'll co back imdiately after an hour's night jog, okay?"
Morimoto Chiyoda frowned slightly, appearing to think, but she had already made up her mind.
She had proposed a complete ban on going out at night just to test him. If Aozawa accepted, great. If not, he could only negotiate for a little outdoor ti within the frawork of that ban.
For example, an hour for jogging.
This was the bottom line Morimoto Chiyoda was willing to accept, but she didn't agree right away.
She wanted to see if Aozawa would comply obediently.
The pressure from the KGB was imnse. Unlike dealing with an individual, such a ruthless organization would inevitably harm innocent people.
She was worried about accidentally losing Aozawa.
"Fine." Seeing Aozawa didn't back down, Morimoto Chiyoda pretended to agree reluctantly. She nodded and emphasized, "You must be back in an hour. If you're even one minute late, don't bla for being harsh."
"No problem."
Aozawa inwardly sighed with relief.
He decided to scrap the one-hour run plan and focus on quickly dissociating Dio from the KGB. This was to prevent Morimoto Chiyoda's nerves from fraying further.
After dinner, Morimoto Chiyoda headed to Setagaya District.
Aozawa quickly used his Ti Stop ability, went to the bedroom, took out his hidden stash of money, stuffed it into his pocket, then returned to the kitchen and let ti resu its flow.
In the world where ti stood still, no machine could record his actions, nor was he worried about Morimoto Chiyoda noticing anything abnormal.
He put the dishes into the dishwasher and hurried out.
Leaving Ayase Apartnts, Aozawa started to run. He soon found a woman who often jogged after als.
He saw this woman every day on this route.
He stepped forward, stopped her, and used his Hypnosis Ability. "Excuse , miss, I'd like you to participate in an activity. Wear this watch, carry this phone and keys, and jog. Here's ten thousand Yen. After the run, I'll give you another thirty thousand Yen."
His hypnosis currently lasted only twelve minutes, clearly not enough ti for him to return.
To ensure nothing went wrong, he needed to pay the woman to run in his place.
Since she ran every day anyway, earning forty thousand Yen for a little extra running was a deal she wouldn't refuse, even if the hypnosis wore off.
The woman paused for a mont, then nodded. "Alright," she said.
Aozawa handed her the ten thousand Yen and quickly gave her the watch and other items.
After doing this, he hurried away.
Once in a deserted place, Aozawa used Catalyst Induction to check his surroundings. Confirming there were no caras or people, he imdiately transford into a peregrine falcon and soared into the sky.
Thanks to yesterday's eavesdropping, Aozawa knew the location of Morimoto Chiyoda's stakeout point for the Yasuda Family.
All he had to do was intercept Morimoto Chiyoda before she reached the stakeout point and explain his position.
As for why Dio would specifically explain his position? That wasn't his problem to ponder; it was Morimoto Chiyoda's. Because intercepting Morimoto Chiyoda would itself prove that the power behind Dio was far beyond their imagination. Throughout history, the strong rarely try to guess the thoughts of the weak; typically, it's the weak who try to interpret the intentions of the strong. Morimoto Chiyoda and the others would be the ones to analyze his actions; he didn't need to waste brain cells concocting reasons.
Aozawa flew swiftly through the sky, occasionally landing to use his Catalyst sensing ability.
He used tall buildings to pinpoint his location and determine the route to Morimoto Chiyoda's surveillance spot.
Once he had the route, he continued to soar, rushing towards the route Morimoto Chiyoda would inevitably take to her destination.
Reaching the street, Aozawa quickly descended. He used his Catalyst sensing ability again, turning the surrounding buildings into his eyes and ears to confirm the absence of caras or pedestrians.
Aozawa deactivated his Transformation Ability, reverting to his original form.
His Catalyst sensing ability remained active, monitoring the surroundings.
Leaning against a wall, Aozawa patiently waited for Morimoto Chiyoda to arrive, ready to clear up her misunderstanding about Dio being a KGB mber.
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