Chapter 2 Announcement Update: New Life, Action!
Ruan Lisha, no, she should be called Matsuno Lisha now.
She stood in the station restroom, staring intently at her reflection in the mirror.
She had black hair that reached her waist, with bangs slightly covering her eyes. Her features were delicate but not stunning, and she was also considerably shorter than average.
This is not her body.
Risa pinched "herself" hard.
pain.
"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath, slamming her fist on the sink. "I really time-traveled?!"
and......
Or did I end up dressed as a Japanese person?!
Anti-Japanese sentiment surged instantly.
"Slap! Slap!" She raised her hand and slapped herself twice. "Ruan Lisha, you've really grown up! Dressing like a commoner now, huh?!"
A terrified voice came from outside the door: "...Risa-nee? What...what are you doing in there?"
Risa took a deep breath, opened the door, and said expressionlessly, "It's nothing, just swatting mosquitoes."
Kirihara Akaya: "..."
He looked at the girl's half-swollen face and didn't dare to speak.
-
On his way home, Kirihara Akaya kept stealing glances at his older cousin.
Every time the words are about to come out, they hesitate and stop.
"Um... Risa-nee..."
When they reached the fork in the road, Kirihara finally couldn't help but ask, "Are you... under too much pressure?"
Risa: "?"
Kirihara scratched his head, looking conflicted: "It's just... a sudden transfer to a new school and a change of environment. If you're feeling down, you can talk to me. I'll be a freshman at Rikkai Affiliated High School starting next week, so with me here, you'll adapt quickly."
Risa stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly laughed.
This kid... is surprisingly considerate?
"Don't worry, I'm fine." She reached out and ruffled his seaweed-like hair. "It's just... a little strange."
Kirihara said "Oh," paused, and then added, "But that 'little life' you shouted in the bathroom just now... was pretty cringeworthy."
Risa: "......"
Wait a minute, what did this kid just say?
Rikkai University Affiliated High School? He'll be a high school student next week?
Risa was shocked once again.
When her younger brother was hospitalized, he loved watching "The Prince of Tennis." To have something to talk about with him, Risa would also use her spare time during breaks from filming to binge-watch anime and read manga.
She clearly remembered that in the original comic book setting, these tall and strong boys were just junior high school students.
Oh well, never mind.
Let's take it one step at a time.
Five minutes later, the two appeared at the same intersection again.
"Kirihara-kun...it seems like we..."
Risa was about to ask if they were lost, but when she looked up and met the boy's confident expression, she swallowed her words.
“This way, we should be on the right track this time.” As Kirihara Akaya walked, he kept glancing at Risa, as if afraid she might get lost.
Seeing his serious expression, Risa felt both amused and touched.
This girl, like her brother, is clumsy and impulsive. But she's also kind of cute.
After walking for a while, Kirihara Akaya suddenly stopped. He looked at the road sign ahead, his face showing confusion.
The next second, he regained his confidence, patted his chest and said to Risa, "Don't worry, I'm sure I can find the way. Let's try this path again."
"are you sure?"
"Of course!" Kirihara pouted, looking completely certain.
Risa obediently shut up and followed behind him.
-
Meanwhile, on the overpass
Yukimura suddenly stopped and looked at the boys and girls passing by under the overpass, his eyes flickering slightly.
"What's wrong, Yukimura?" Sanada turned to look at his friend, then followed his gaze down the bridge. "Isn't that Akaya? And the one walking next to him is...?"
Sanada blinked, confirming that he wasn't mistaken; it was the girl from across the clock tower shopping mall.
The girl followed beside Kirihara Akaya. Compared to Kirihara's scratching his head, she was relaxed and looked like she was watching a good show.
Yukimura narrowed his eyes slightly, a smile playing on his lips.
"Hey, Sanada. That girl is quite interesting."
Upon hearing this, Sanada's lips twitched, and he thought to himself: After all, he personally pinched your face, fulfilling the wishes of countless girls.
From childhood, Yukimura's appearance was exceptionally striking. Countless girls confessed their love to him during his three years of junior high school, and the situation only intensified after he entered high school.
Countless love letters and gifts piled up on his desk every day, but he never showed any special feelings to anyone.
Today, this girl actually dared to pinch his face directly, which made him feel a little... curious?
Yukimura: "Didn't Akaya say today that he was going to take the day off to pick up his cousin who transferred from Tokyo?"
Sanada: "...It seems like that's true."
"It would be great if you transferred to Rikkai University." Yukimura's smile widened.
Sanada felt a chill run down his spine when he saw his friend's wicked expression.
Sanada: "...He actually held a grudge."
"Hmm?" Yukimura turned around and looked at his friend. "Sanada, what are you muttering to yourself?"
Sanada: "N-nothing."
"Speaking of which, Akaya will be a high school student soon. He has missed a lot of training recently because of his exam preparation. It seems we need to strengthen his training."
"Uh, you've already started taking your anger out on others, Yukimura?"
It seems my friend is quite bothered by the fact that his face was pinched earlier.
"I heard that Liu is currently researching 'devil training' and happens to be short of test subjects."
Sanada remained silent and quietly lit a row of candles for his junior.
Better to die for your fellow Daoist than for me.
Akaya, may you rest in peace.
-
This guy has absolutely no sense of direction! Absolutely!
After experiencing numerous instances of being trapped in a maze, Risa reached the above conclusion.
"Um... Kirihara-kun, shall we use the navigation?"
Kirihara scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed: "Ah, haha, navigation..."
Risa sighed and took out her phone. "Tell me your home address."
"Ah, my house, it's that one, that one..."
Goodness, this kid doesn't even know where he lives.
Risa: "Don't rush, think slowly. Is it the road with lots of cherry blossom trees? Or the one closer to the sea with a small bridge?"
Kirihara frowned: "It doesn't seem to be either of those. There are no cherry blossom trees or small bridges near my house..."
Risa: "So, are there any special buildings near your house, like supermarkets, shopping malls, or schools?"
Kirihara's eyes lit up: "Ah, right, there's a big shrine near my house called Inari... something like that."
"A shrine? Let me see." Risa scrolled through the electronic map and finally found a useful clue.
About half an hour later, the two finally arrived at their destination following the navigation.
The Kirihara family's house is an ordinary two-story building with a few low shrubs planted in the yard.
"We're back," Kirihara called out as he opened the door.
"Welcome back." A gentle female voice came from the kitchen. A middle-aged woman wearing an apron poked her head out and greeted Risa with a smile, "Risa, you're finally here. Was your journey safe?"
Risa nodded stiffly: "...Yes, it went smoothly."
This must be Kirihara's mother.
"Aka, take your cousin upstairs to put her luggage away first," Kirihara's mother said to Risa. "Your room is on the second floor."
Risa thanked him softly and was about to follow Kirihara upstairs with her luggage when a woman's voice came from upstairs.
"Aka, you didn't get lost again, did you? It took you more than an hour to cover a distance of one kilometer."
Risa looked up and saw a young woman with long, curly hair like the boy's, draped over her shoulders.
The boy scratched his head: "Hehe, we took a slightly longer route."
"You're such a chatterbox." The woman tapped Kirihara on the head, then looked at Risa. "Risa, welcome to Kanagawa. My name is Kirihara Akina, and I'm Akaya's older sister. You can just call me Akina-nee."
Risa politely replied, "Hello, Akina-nee. I'll be bothering you from now on."
Akina pulled Risa down to sit, then turned to her younger brother and said, "Go put your luggage away."
Kirihara's mother brought a hot towel and handed it to Risa to wipe her hands.
"This will be your home from now on." She smiled. "Akaya is a clumsy kid, please bear with him."
"Mom!" Kirihara's protest came from the second floor. He leaned on the railing and shouted defiantly, "I'm a high school student now!"
Akina didn't even look up: "The high school student who got lost in the shopping street last week?"
"That was an accident!" Akaya's face flushed red.
Kirihara's mother laughed out loud.
At dinner, Risa's bowl was piled high with food without her realizing it. Kirihara's mother kept putting stewed beef on her plate, saying, "Risa, eat more."
Akina pushed the green peppers that Akaya had picked out back into his bowl: "A high school student being picky about food?"
"Ugh—the green pepper is so bitter!" Akaya's face scrunched up in pain.
Under the warm yellow light, the shadows on the dining table swayed gently. Risa gazed at the lively scene before her, momentarily lost in thought.
After the meal, Akina sent her younger brother to take Risa for a walk nearby.
As she cleared the dishes, she heard her mother's hesitant voice say, "Actually, when Momoe called to say that Risa would be staying with us, I was quite worried..."
The water flowed over the rim of the bowl, and Akina looked up at her mother.
"I heard that the child encountered such a thing at school and even attempted suicide due to depression."
As her mother wiped the dishes, she spoke softly, "But when I saw her today, although she was a bit quiet, she was a sensible and good child."
Qiu Nai took the bowl from her mother's hand, her fingertips glistening with cool water droplets: "Hmm, she even offered to help wash the dishes just now."
"His eyes are too somber," Mom sighed.
Akina put the bowls and chopsticks into the sink, the sound of the running water from the tap masking her brief silence.
"Actually... Aunt Baihui probably asked several relatives, right?" She gently rubbed the sauce stains on the rim of the bowl. "I heard even my maternal grandmother's family..."
"Yes, they only called me last." The mother's voice lowered. "They said they're going abroad with their new partner; they're both childless by choice, and it's inconvenient to have a child with them..."
"That child...do you know?"
"He probably just said he was staying temporarily," the mother said, wiping her hands. "But he must have realized it too; that child isn't stupid."
Kanzaki Momoe—Risa's mother, was a distant cousin of the Kirihara family, but they had almost no contact with each other.
Akina's memory of this aunt still lingers from a summer festival in her childhood, where a blurry figure would kneel down and gently tie her yukata sash.
However, when we met at the coffee shop last month, the woman was dressed in designer brands and had a sharp and mean appearance, completely different from the gentle aunt I remembered.
Mom sighed: "I heard that Momoe still holds a grudge about the divorce back then, and she hasn't been very friendly to Risa all these years."
"It's ridiculous. The mistakes adults make always end up being blamed on by the children."
Akina turned off the tap, and water dripped down.
She recalled Risa eating quietly and felt a pang of heartache for her.
"Take Risa to LUMINE to buy some new clothes tomorrow," Mom said, untying her apron. "I heard that girls these days like that... what's it called again?"
“Snidel?” Akina replied.
"Yes, yes, that's the brand." Mom took out her credit card from her wallet. "Buy some more skincare products. That child has fair skin and gets sunburned easily."
Akina nodded and put the last bowl into the cupboard.
-
After Risa and Akaya returned, they greeted Kirihara's mother and Akina, and then went back to their rooms.
Her room faces south and is simple and tidy.
A single bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a small pot of succulents on the windowsill.
Risa closed the door and let out a long sigh of relief.
"After a whole afternoon of tinkering, I finally have some time to sort things out. It's been a tough start right from the beginning..."
The suitcase contained some clothes, skincare products, a wallet, keys... as well as a photo album and a notebook.
Risa picked up the photo album and looked through it first.
As a child, Risa Matsuno was an innocent and carefree girl. Gradually, her father disappeared from the photo album, the light in the girl's eyes dimmed, and fewer and fewer photos were taken.
"Sigh, she's had a tough time as a child." Risa closed the photo album, her feelings a mix of emotions. She then opened her notebook.
It's a diary, recording trivial troubles: parents arguing, father leaving home, mother becoming indifferent, being isolated at school... These pieces of information are scattered throughout the diary like puzzle pieces.
"Mom seems to hate me. Is it because I said something wrong?"
"Is it because the aunt Dad took to the castle wasn't Mom that they were arguing?"
"......"
Looking at these lines of confusing text, Risa's heart clenched.
Silly child, you did nothing wrong.
That's not some fairytale castle, but a cheap theater where adult desires run rampant.
Risa, having been through similar experiences, saw right through him. This man had probably taken his mistress to a hotel for a tryst, only to be caught by his daughter. The child's unintentional description became the spark that ignited the conflict.
Shifting blame and taking it out on the weak are common despicable tricks used by adults.
"If I could just disappear, wouldn't everyone feel a little more at ease?"
Tsk, typical self-manipulation.
However, taking all the blame for adults' mistakes is indeed very much in line with a child's way of thinking.
"I'm eating alone again today. It seems like my mom forgot my birthday."
"Those people in my class are gossiping about me again... I really want to leave here."
Turning to the last page, next to the date were two hastily written words: "Goodbye".
Risa closed her diary and sighed, "This script... is even more depressing than 'Dark Glory'."
But it didn't matter. She thought to herself that the Bodhisattva would intervene if necessary.
Comforting herself with this thought, she stretched and shook off all the gloom of the past.
"Don't worry, poor thing. From today onwards, I'll take care of your life. It's a bit heartbreaking that you're starting with a 'simple life' script, but I promise I'll make sure you live a prosperous and successful life, one that no one can bully."
"so--"
"When you come back someday, you'd better thank me properly. Then, you can secretly rejoice!"
She put her diary aside and picked up her phone to check her assets. After logging into online banking, Risa glanced at her bank balance and counted it twice.
“Heh~” She raised an eyebrow. “A little bit of maternal love, but not much.”
Well, something is better than nothing.
Risa patted her cheeks, trying to cheer herself up: "Announcement update, the lead actress for this drama has changed—Ruan Risa, let's get to work!"
She crossed out "Goodbye" on the last page of her diary with a single stroke, then deftly added a line next to it:
"New life, action!"
A note from the author:
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