In a speechless atmosphere, the two walked forward one behind the other.

After walking like this for a while...

Dongdongdongdong——

A rush of footsteps sounded from behind them.

"that--"

A girl's voice shouted: "Please wait...you guys!"

Serizawa Yu ran to catch up, put her hand on the young man's back, and stopped them.

"Please, please wait... Huh... Huh... Please, wait a moment..."

She first bent over and breathed for a while, holding her knees, and then raised her head after she recovered a little.

"That... I'll give you the extra!"

She gasped and said: "I only need to leave ten thousand yen..."

Facing their gazes, Serizawa Yu took out one card from a wad of cash and handed all the remaining money to him.

Shinjoka's eyes suddenly became strange, and he looked at the girl with interest.

"..."

Kato Yusuke looked at the money that was brought to him, but did not reach out to take it. Instead, he said: "I told you, you can use this money."

"Hmm~ So I took one. This already gives me a place to sleep, hehehe..."

"...Then what are you going to do next?"

"Well..."

Serizawa Yu hesitated at first, then forced a smile and said: "It doesn't matter, there will always be a way. Thank you for your help, but this is too much, so I give it back to you...!"

Just like his previous behavior, the girl grabbed his hand, forced the money into his hand, and then bowed seriously.

"Thank you very much! Big brother, you are a good person. I will remember this kindness well. Goodbye then~"

After saying that, he straightened up, chose a direction at random, and walked forward aimlessly.

The lonely back figure unconsciously exudes a kind of abandoned confusion...

Two steps, three steps, four steps, the young man frowned and said nothing.

Five steps, six steps, seven steps, the girl kept walking.

Until the frail figure was about to disappear into the crowd, Kato Yusuke's brows tightened and relaxed, and finally he spoke.

"Just wait a moment -"

"...?"

The girl stopped in confusion and looked back.

"——Um, what else can I do——Hello...!"

"New article..."

Kato Yusuke asked in a low voice without squinting: "Do you think there are any traces of man-made or something wrong here?"

"Well...it's hard to say now~"

Shinjoka's eyes flickered slightly, he looked around intentionally or unintentionally, and replied: ...

"At least there seems to be nothing suspicious so far, but the information is still too little. It would be nice if we could learn more about it."

"Is this so..."

Kato Yusuke nodded and asked without emotion: "Would you mind having an extra roommate?"

"If you really want to talk about it, people will really mind it!"

Shinjoka said with great resistance at first, then changed the topic and smiled at him.

"However, the president's words are everything to me, so the answer is completely OK~~?"

"...Go and bring her over and have dinner together."

"Follow me~"

◇

Ten minutes later.

Diagonally opposite Takadanobaba Station, there is a barbecue shop called "Shichiwa Yakiniku An'an".

In the noisy atmosphere, the sounds of cheers and cheers came and went.

The smells of charcoal fire and oil smoke are intertwined, and the air is filled with the aroma of food.

It was in this environment that the three of them sat down at a table.

Sizzsssssss~

On the hot stove, the meat slices are undergoing the most primitive Maillard reaction on the iron net, playing a beautiful melody.

The rich aroma of meat is astounding to the nostrils, as if to seduce the greedy worms in people's stomachs, and goes straight into the depths of the nasal cavity.

Gudu~

Serizawa Yuu stared intently at the barbecue in front of her, swallowing a mouthful of saliva for the first time.

As a girl, this kind of behavior is not only unladylike, but also very impolite.

She was fully aware of this, but the hunger in her belly was like a monster.

No matter how much she endured, her appetite, which had been neglected for a day, was completely out of her control and she just wanted to eat it eagerly.

Seeing her reaction, Shinjoka joked: "Even if you keep staring at it, the meat won't cook faster, right? Ms. Serizawa."

"Ah, yes! Sorry...that..."

"Xintiao Xiang, you can call me Xintiao, but you don't need to add the honorific."

"...That's it~ Well, the same goes for me, just call me Xiao Xi."

She must have had a personality that was relatively close to people. The girl responded politely and cheerfully, then blushed slightly and involuntarily cast her eyes on the face of the boy next to her.

"Then...where's the big brother's name?"

"Kato Yusuke."

"Brother Yusuke..."

"No need to add honorifics, just Kato."

"Then... Brother Yu?"

"…………"

Kato Yusuke couldn't help but pause, but in the end he didn't say anything and acquiesced to this title.

"It's up to you."

"hey-hey……"

The girl showed a shy and soft smile, and said with a little uneasiness:

"Um, is this really okay? Not only do you give me money, but you also treat someone like me who comes from unknown sources to dinner..."

"It's a small thing, don't worry about it."

Kato Yusuke glanced at her and said, "Besides, what we ordered is a buffet, so you can eat whatever you want."

"Um...thank you, haha..."

"I'm talking about you, Xiao Xi." Shinjoka took over the topic with a smile, "Are you a godly girl~?"

"God treats girls..."

Serizawa Yu blinked twice in confusion, then immediately shook her head left and right in denial: "No, really! I'm still a high school student, and I'm not doing that kind of thing." ...

"Hey~ But you clearly said "Yes" to the president before?"

"That...that's because..."

The girl lowered her head in shame and whispered:

"I'm sorry... I just... don't want to go home, but I have nowhere to go. I'm sorry... for saying that to your boyfriend without permission."

"Don't worry, and the president is not my boyfriend. And then, how old are you? Where are you from? And why did you run away from home?"

Facing a lot of questions thrown by Shinjoka one after another, although Serizawa Yu was a little embarrassed, she still opened her mouth to respond.

"Well...I am 18 years old and a native of Tokyo. As for the reason why I ran away from home..."

She said apologetically: "Can I not say anything about the last one...?"

Shinjoka didn't press too hard on this, but asked in a different way: "From your tone, it should be more than a simple reason like quarreling with your parents, right?"

"Um...no..." Serizawa Yu slowly shook her head, her expression becoming a little gloomy.
To be continued...