Throughout the journey, Akiba Reiko never turned around to speak with Hanyu Nan, simply enjoying the scenery along the way. Hanyu Nan, unhurried, quietly followed behind.
They came all the way to the entrance of the forest.
Reiko Akiba stopped, tilted her head back slightly, and took a deep breath, as if feeling the embrace of nature.
Yuzuru stepped forward and said, "The air here is indeed very fresh. No wonder you come here for a forest bath before every concert."
Akiba Reiko gave a soft hum in response, then stepped into the forest.
In the forest, warm sunlight cleverly filters through the gaps in the leaves, creating patches of dreamlike light.
Reiko Akiba stepped lightly through the dappled sunlight.
The two walked one after the other on a quiet forest path.
Suddenly, a clear, melodious singing voice came from ahead: "Masked Blade~ Masked Blade~ As long as everyone calls out to him in unison~ Masked Blade~ Masked Blade~ he will arrive immediately~"
As the singing grew closer, several children appeared, cheerfully singing and skipping towards them. As they passed by Akiba Reiko and Hanyu Nanasu, they all stopped and politely greeted the two of them: "Good afternoon!"
"good afternoon."
Akiba Reiko's response was rather cold; she didn't even glance at the person who spoke before continuing to walk forward on her own.
Yuzuru followed behind, turning his head to give a gentle smile to the children who were curiously watching from the roadside, "Good afternoon, kids."
The two then continued on their way.
Just then, a boy wearing a hat watched their receding figures and asked in confusion, "Are they a couple?"
“I think so, look, they look so good together!” a little girl quickly replied.
Another girl quickly added, "They could also be a couple, but it looks like they've been arguing."
"I think it must be the older sister's fault. The older brother is so good-looking, he can't possibly be wrong."
"I think so too."
"Agreed..."
Although the children's discussion was not loud, because of the close proximity, every word they said reached the ears of Yuzuru Nanami and Akiba Reiko, who had only walked a few steps.
Upon hearing this, Akiba Reiko's face darkened, and her hands, which were tucked into her pockets, tightened involuntarily.
Hmph, children should all be beaten to death.
Yuzuru, however, was in a great mood. He stopped and walked back several steps, then half-squatted down in front of the children, a broad smile on his face, and said, "Big brother and big sister didn't quarrel~"
Upon hearing this, one of the little girls with pigtails timidly raised her head, glanced past Yuzuru Hanyu, and stole a look at Akiba Reiko standing in the distance. Then she muttered softly, "But... but it looked like they were arguing just now."
Yuzuru smiled and explained, "Haha, we're not arguing, we're playing a game called 'whoever speaks first loses'."
As soon as he finished speaking, another chubby little boy widened his eyes and asked curiously, "Big brother, now that you've spoken, doesn't that mean you lost?"
A little girl wearing glasses next to him chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, big brother, if you lose, will the big sister punish you?"
At this moment, the little girl who had spoken first suddenly remembered her own family situation and excitedly interjected, "Does it happen like my dad? Every time he makes my mom angry, he gets punished by having to sleep on the sofa at night? But strangely enough, my dad seems to be quite happy about it..."
The children chattered incessantly, instantly conjuring up a multitude of scenes.
Yu Shengnan found it amusing, stood up, looked at the little girl who was talking about her father being punished by her mother to sleep on the sofa, and really wanted to say, "Are you sure this isn't a reward for your father?"
He dusted himself off and said, "Yeah, I lost. As for the punishment..."
As he spoke, Yuzuru paused slightly, rummaged through his spatial storage, and then opened his palm, revealing four golden, palm-sized Kamen Rider figurines strung on wooden sticks.
"And the punishment for this failure is to give the next person you meet a little surprise."
As Yuzuru spoke, he handed out the four Kamen Rider figures to the jubilant children one by one.
After distributing the food, he patted their heads and said with a smile, "Alright, it's almost lunchtime. Hurry home and don't keep your families waiting."
Okay~
"Thank you, big brother!"
After saying goodbye to the children who continued to sing the Masked Blade song cheerfully, Yuzuru turned and walked towards Reiko Akiba. Reiko Akiba, who had just seen Yuzuru turn around, also silently stopped in her tracks.
Seeing Yuzuru Hanyu return, Akiba Reiko silently continued walking forward. As she walked, she couldn't help but ask, "Is that gold?"
Hanyu Nan, who was leisurely enjoying the scenery, turned his head upon hearing this and asked, "Hmm?"
"I'm saying, the Masked Blade figurines you gave those kids were probably all made of extremely pure gold, right?"
Akiba Reiko turned around from the front with a confident tone, her beautiful eyes fixed on Yuzuru Nanami, as if trying to see through his expression to his true thoughts.
“That’s right, it is indeed made of gold.” Yuzuru nodded slightly, then tilted his head and asked, “So, is there a problem?”
"Hiss~"
Akiba Reiko took a breath, feeling a pang of heartache. She had sung all afternoon yesterday and only received a tiny bit of gold, while these children had done nothing and yet received such a large piece of gold for nothing. It was so unfair.
Thinking of this, Akiba Reiko felt a sharp pain in her heart and muttered indignantly, "You just casually gave them such a valuable thing away for nothing? That's too generous!"
“It’s not like they gave it away for nothing…” Under Akiba Reiko’s resentful gaze, Yuzuru thought seriously for a moment and said, “Don’t you think these kids all have very nice voices?”
No, I don't think so!
Akiba Reiko sniffed her pert nose hard, then turned and strode away without saying a word.
She didn't want to talk to these wicked rich people.
After all, interacting with such extravagantly wealthy people only made her more aware of the huge gap between rich and poor, which made her feel increasingly worse.
What happened to the promise that those who get rich first will help those who get rich later?
Why are they the only ones who are rich? That's not fair!
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