"Lin-kun, come and have breakfast. I was a bit rushed this morning, so I'm not sure if it's to your liking..."
Back at the house, Nanako, ever the thoughtful caregiver, retrieved the bento she had prepared earlier that morning and warmed it up. Having spent so much time with him, she was well acquainted with Lin Yu's preferences. Unlike many Japanese people, Lin Yu rather enjoyed his food served hot, so Nanako always made it a point to reheat the bento she brought.
Lin Yu paused at the doorway for a moment, his gaze sweeping the street outside before he stepped into the house.
"What's wrong, Lin-kun? Is something the matter?" Nanako asked, a little puzzled by his hesitation.
"During our run earlier, I kept feeling like someone was following us. But when I looked just now, there was no one. Perhaps I was just imagining things," Lin Yu said, shaking his head as he closed the door and walked further inside.
Outside, concealed within a of refuse by the garbage collection point, Ohara Shijuro pressed his back tightly against the wall, patting his chest, a sheen of cold sweat on his forehead. 'That was close, too close! I was almost discovered!' he thought frantically. 'I didn't expect that kid to be so alert! There must be something fishy going on. Nanako, hold on! Dad is coming to save you right now!'
With the stealth of a seasoned spy—or so he imagined—Ohara Shijuro crept from the garbage pile towards Lin Yu's house. His thin figure darted past the front entrance and slipped into the backyard, where he cautiously poked his head out to observe the scene inside.
Indoors, Lin Yu and Nanako finished their breakfast amidst lighthearted conversation. Lin Yu then prepared to head to his room to start working on his manuscripts. Nanako brewed some coffee, the memory of yesterday's incident bringing a faint blush to her cheeks. She couldn't bring herself to say anything about it; Lin Yu was oblivious anyway, so it was best to let the matter rest deep in her heart.
However, when the two of them went up to the second-floor room, it spelled trouble for Ohara Shijuro, who was still lurking outside. His grand plan to protect Nanako was now in complete tatters. How could he protect her if he couldn't even see her?
Ohara Shijuro paced anxiously in the yard, practically wringing his hands and scratching his head in frustration. A young man and a young woman, alone in a room, coupled with Nanako's strange reaction last night… as a writer with a vivid imagination, countless inappropriate, R-rated scenarios began to flood his mind. He pictured Nanako, looking pitiful and aggrieved, yet unable to resist.
Agitated, Ohara Shijuro circled the yard, desperately searching for a solution. Unfortunately, there was nothing on the exterior of the house that he could use to climb and get a view into the second-floor room. After racking his brain, his gaze eventually settled on the drainpipe running up the side of the house. It seemed the only way to see what was happening on the second floor.
Gazing at the drainpipe, Ohara Shijuro grit his teeth, reached out, grabbed hold of it, and began to climb.
Inside the room, Lin Yu sat down at his desk, spread out a sheet of A4 paper, and picked up his drawing pen. Without turning his head, he asked Nanako, "Nanako, did Ohara-sensei have any thoughts on yesterday's manuscript?"
Nanako sat beside the small table, her chin resting in her hand, gazing at Lin Yu's back, her thoughts a mystery. Hearing Lin Yu's question, she smiled a little sheepishly. "Actually, I don't know. I went straight to bed when I got home last night, so I didn't ask."
"Have you been working too hard lately? After all, I trouble you to wake up early and make me a bento. Why don't you take a break if you're tired?" Lin Yu said, genuinely concerned. "If you don't mind, you can use my futon..." Nanako took such good care of him, and he, in turn, worried about her well-being. He had so few friends in this world; he certainly didn't want anything to happen to her because of him.
Before Nanako could refuse, Lin Yu stood up, went to the closet, and took out his folded futon. "I'll just put the futon here beside you. If you get tired, just rest for a while..."
As Lin Yu was speaking, he failed to notice a head painstakingly, inch by inch, appearing outside the room's window. Ohara Shijuro, for Nanako's sake, had truly summoned the strength of nine bulls and two tigers to finally make his way up the drainpipe. What he hadn't anticipated, however, was the "scandalous" scene that would greet him the moment he managed to peek inside.
Bringing out a futon in broad daylight and placing it right next to Nanako?!
'That fiend! He's actually planning to assault Nanako in the middle of the day?!' As a doting father who considered his daughter his most precious pearl, Ohara Shijuro felt a rush of hot blood surge straight to his head. He hadn't been wrong to come! This seemingly refined young man was nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing!
"You bastard! What do you think you're doing?!" His furious roar shattered the room's tranquility.
Lin Yu and Nanako both started in shock, completely bewildered by the sudden outburst. They instinctively turned towards the window, the source of the yell. There, framed in the window, was a furiously red face, bellowing at them.
Even though it was broad daylight, the sight made Lin Yu's heart skip a beat, let alone Nanako's. Although the head looked vaguely familiar, it couldn't overcome a young woman's natural tendency to be a little timid. After all, the sudden appearance of a disembodied head in the window was more than enough to deliver a significant fright at first glance.
Nanako let out a startled cry and instinctively scrambled towards Lin Yu, desperately seeking a sense of security. She tightly gripped the corner of his shirt.
Pulled by Nanako, Lin Yu stumbled back a couple of steps. Unfortunately, with Nanako sitting on the floor, he tripped over her. Still clutching the bulky futon, he had no time to react and crashed heavily to the ground, sending both of them tumbling into a tangled heap.
Before Ohara Shijuro, still clinging precariously to the drainpipe, could utter another word, a loud shout suddenly erupted from behind him. "Thief! Catch the thief!"
Ohara Shijuro twisted his head to look and saw a middle-aged woman on the second-floor balcony of the adjacent house. She was in the middle of airing out her own futon and was now pointing her futon-beater—a rattan stick—directly at him, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"I..." Before Ohara Shijuro could even begin to offer an explanation, the drainpipe he was gripping suddenly felt lighter. A sharp, creaking sound ripped through the air. To his utter horror, the screws on the iron brackets securing the drainpipe popped loose, and the entire length of the pipe, with him still attached, tipped backward and plunged towards the ground.
CRASH! BANG!
Inside the room, Lin Yu and Nanako, still dazed and trying to figure out what was happening, heard a cacophony of clattering and banging sounds from outside, punctuated by what sounded like a distinct yelp of pain.
"Um... Lin-kun..." Lin Yu, his mind a complete blank, heard Nanako's voice, as soft and faint as a mosquito's buzz, right beside his ear.
"Your hand..."
He looked down. Nanako was lying on the floor, her face flushed a deep crimson, and his hand... his hand was resting squarely on...