Chapter 123

Saitama, Super Arena.

To ensure the concert goes smoothly, staff arrive at the venue early in the morning to prepare, and rehearse at least three to four times to ensure that the sound, camera, lighting, and other equipment and procedures are all in perfect working order.

Therefore, Kazuma Hatori and Satoru Gojo need to go to the stage first to scout out the location and familiarize themselves with the entrance and singing positions.

However, there was no need for Natsumi Yuki and Ieiri Glass to arrive so early. After arriving in Saitama, they parted ways and went shopping together.

Araki Junko also arrived at Super Arena early, chose a seat in the audience, and familiarized herself with the final presentation of the stage.

When it comes to the singing part, they just play the accompaniment and pretend she's on top of the stage—this is mainly to make sure the equipment is working properly, rather than actually having the singer sing and dance on top of the stage and waste several hours of energy.

"Hello, Runzi-neechan!"

"Wow, you're here very early."

When she saw Kazuma Hato and Satoru Gojo approaching, Junko Araki's gaze swept between the two of them, and the smile lines at the corners of her eyes deepened slightly.

"You two have a really good relationship, no wonder you can write lyrics like that."

After saying this, she smiled and nodded at Gojo Satoru, her beautiful and delicate earrings swaying gently.

"Happy birthday."

Gojou Satoru happily hummed in agreement and thanked Arashō Junko.

At Gojo's house, he could hear "Happy Birthday" a hundred and eighty times, in tones ranging from respectful and humble to obsequious and timid.

But Gojo Satoru truly felt that this was the happiest birthday he had ever had since leaving the Gojo family!

"It's still early, you can go and explore the area first."

Araki Junko raised her wrist, glanced at the concert which was at least five hours away from starting, smiled and waved to them with a sarcastic tone, as if to say, "Young couple, don't stay here with her, go find somewhere else to have fun."

“…”

As Gojo Satoru and Hato Kazuma walked down the street, they couldn't help but mutter to each other.

"Don't you think she's figured out what's going on between us?"

Are they that obvious? Why do I feel like everyone I run into today who knows them is giving me that strange, knowing smile?

"Hmm? Is that so?"

Kazuma Hatori tilted his head as well, his voice a little light and airy.

Gojo Satoru looked at this new love interest whose black eyes were shining and who walked as if he were walking on cotton.

Gojo Satoru silently covered his face.

"...Okay, now I'm pretty sure our relationship is really obvious."

He also had to admit that the sparrows in his heart were still singing loudly at that moment, chirping and singing "Can't Stop Fallin' in Love" in unison.

They were perfectly synchronized, without even a single note out of tune.

After all, he's an amazing singer, and his inner voice is even more impressive!

Kazuma Hatori forced a smile, trying not to show his happiness too obviously.

The person she thought she would never see again in this lifetime was suddenly regained, and she stood before him full of energy.

The reason why Kazuma Hatori didn't sing was because he couldn't sing, not because he didn't want to.

“…Ha Qiu”.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Gojo Satoru raised his hand to hold down his hat, which was about to be blown away, and then sneezed slightly.

The streets are quite deserted in winter, and even on sunny afternoons, the temperature doesn't rise much.

The two walked side by side on the road, wearing the same style of black and white solid color windbreakers. The cut was quite neat, which made them look very elegant and could be regarded as a blatant declaration of their close relationship.

Not to mention his height and looks, which are far above average, attracting the attention of a few passersby.

Kazuma Hatori was quite oblivious to the stares from strangers and showed no reaction whatsoever.

He was more concerned about the sneeze that Gojo Satoru had just sneezed than about the passersby.

"Are you cold? Do you want me to... hold your hand?"

Kazuma Hatori reached out his hand to Satoru Gojo, his black eyes blinking rapidly. His tone was as calm as if he were talking about something trivial, showing no shyness whatsoever about this interaction between lovers.

Gojo Satoru stared at the hand for a few seconds, then looked up at Hato Kazuma.

Before he finally understood, he was still hesitant and stammering, and even a casual question could startle him.

Last night it suddenly clicked, and I suddenly became super knowledgeable!

Although there were few pedestrians on the street, their features and figures were super easy to recognize. He was wearing a hat just to give fans a hint that he didn't want to be disturbed, but it didn't mean that fans couldn't recognize them.

Moreover, he had extensive combat experience since childhood and possessed [six eyes], so he had long noticed those gazes that he thought were subtle, but he had been pretending not to notice them.

But now, Kazuma Hatori is asking him if he wants to hold hands while shopping.

Gojo Satoru hummed to himself.

This kid, does he not know what this means?

This is Super Arena merchandise for their upcoming concert. If reporters take pictures of it, it'll be all over the news!

Ah, the forums he frequents will probably explode like fireworks, um... just like the server crashed before?

"I know."

Perhaps because Gojo Satoru's reaction was too obvious, Hato Kazuma took the initiative to speak.

His outstretched hand gesture remained unchanged, and his black eyes continued to stare calmly at Gojo Satoru, as if asking, "So what?"

"Oh dear, really."

Gojo Satoru suddenly burst into laughter, realizing that the one who was hesitant and cautious at this moment was actually himself, who was usually free-spirited.

As expected, this is the kind of person he likes.

Gojo Satoru reached out and grasped the other person's hand, their fingers intertwined.

—Dry, soft, with a touch of scalding, sincere heat, steadily transmitted.

Just like his mind, it is unshakable.

Where should we go for fun?

Gojo Satoru spoke with a cheerful laugh, looking at the rolling clouds in the distance as if they were a large, fluffy, and soft cotton candy.

“Saitama, I remember it was right here last time, your first promotion assessment mission. I came all the way here because I was worried you wouldn’t be able to handle it…”

Gojo Satoru and Hato Kazuma strolled hand in hand, casually chatting about whatever came to mind.

"So you were worried I couldn't beat you."

Kazuma Hatori listened attentively, occasionally responding with a few words—his head tilted slightly as he looked at Satoru's warm, gentle eyes, which always held a soft smile.

Everything seemed to have returned to the first timeline, only time had been reversed, and they had gone from being young adults back to being more spirited teenagers, walking on the same familiar street.

At this moment, the love has not faded in the slightest.

"This is the ramen shop. I ate here before when I was doing a mission. Ugh, it was terrible, the soup was super salty."

Gojo Satoru passed by a shop and nudged Hagoromo Kazuma with the elbow of the hand he was holding, signaling him to look over there.

"The owner is a bad person too. He'll start swearing and spewing spittle when he's unhappy, and he won't allow customers to give feedback. He insists that his ramen is a century-old family recipe, so how could it not taste good..."

“That’s really bad,” Kazuma Hatake agreed with him. “How come it hasn’t gone bankrupt yet?”

"I guess most of the customers are elderly people who like strong flavors."

Gojo Satoru stared at the ramen shop, sticking out his tongue with an expression that said, "It's so salty I can't stand it."

Kazuma Hatori was so charmed by his cuteness that he pursed his lips slightly before looking over at him.

The shop sign was faded and white, clearly indicating that it had been in business for many years; the wood, which had not been oiled or maintained, was already rotten and discolored, with small black spots covering the lower half.

There is also a wooden sign next to it, which reads about the craftsmanship that has been passed down from the Meiji era to the present day.

Just seeing the sign of this century-old shop would indeed attract unsuspecting passersby to try it.

Before Kazuma Hatake and Satoru Gojo had gone far, the shop suddenly opened its doors.

"Go, go, get out of here right now!"

A middle-aged man wearing a chef's hat and apron waved his arms impatiently, shooing a little girl outside.

"But……"

The little girl with her ponytail seemed to want to say something, but she was pushed several steps away more roughly, almost falling.

"But what 'but'? Do you need to look at your age? Five? Six?"

The middle-aged man seemed to really want to yell at her, but he held back out of consideration for the fact that she was just a young girl. He slammed the door shut and told her to go somewhere cool and stay there.

"Working at my shop at this age? I think you just want me to work as a tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) rice bowl in the police station!"

This farce, which wasn't particularly large-scale, ended in just a few words.

The little girl who was kicked out did not show any signs of discouragement or sadness. Instead, she straightened her coat, which had been crumpled earlier, and ran off in a certain direction.

Kazuma Hatake and Satoru Gojo both slowed their pace subconsciously, their eyes following her—until she reached the streetlight next to them, where they noticed a little boy standing there, slightly younger than her.

"I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."

She took the little boy's hand, her voice gentle.

In his presence, she, who was only about five years old, suddenly transformed into a reliable older sister.

"I've already said it's no use."

The little boy, whose lower half of his face was buried in a thick scarf, spoke even softer and calmer, lacking any of the energy one would expect from someone his age.

"I want to try it..."

The little girl was disappointed for a moment, but quickly cheered up again, "If all else fails, let's go outside and collect some wood to burn at home!"

December is a cold winter month, and the temperature is even lower than zero at night. If they do not rely on any heating equipment to spend the night, they are very likely to catch a severe cold from the cold.

Collecting wood to burn at home—doesn't that mean they can't even boil water with electricity or gas and can only rely on primitive methods of heating?

"...I really can't pretend I didn't hear those words."

Gojo Satoru suddenly turned his foot and led Hato Kazuma toward the two children.

Hello everyone!

He bent down and asked the little girl, who was clearly startled by him but also seemed easier to talk to, with a smile.

"I just saw you get kicked out of that ramen shop I really dislike—what happened? Did you complain that his ramen broth was too salty too?"

Instead of asking them directly about their family situation, Gojo Satoru cleverly took a roundabout approach, using a more humorous question to break the ice.

Compared to the wary little boy, the little girl burst out laughing.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to laugh,"

She swayed her ponytail behind her head, and when she looked up at Gojo Satoru, her eyes were wide open.

"I just wanted to come out and do odd jobs for a few days to earn some living expenses."

Gojo Satoru exclaimed, "Huh? You're still too young, there's nothing we can do about it, right?"

"Yes, but we're almost out of money, and we don't know when Mom and Uncle will be back... As long as we can hold out until one of them comes back, we'll be fine!"

The little girl, her shoulders slumped, nodded, but didn't seem particularly sad—she was used to this kind of life.

"They won't come back."

The little boy beside him added a nonchalant remark, his attitude toward the future even more pessimistic.

"No, Mom came back once last month, didn't she?" the little girl said. "She's probably busy with something. She'll be back in two months. And Uncle might come too..."

"He's even less likely to do that; I've completely forgotten what he looks like."

"Hui, don't talk about your father like that..."

Listening to the conversation between the siblings and Gojo Satoru, Kazuma Hatori, who had just appeared with a familiar name, was taken aback.

"Megumi? Megumi Fushiguro?"