Chapter 320: Neighbor |
"Moving?"
Hoshino Rin looked at her brother with a rather strange expression. "Just because Daihaku pooped on the living room floor?"
If that was truly the case, she felt she had drastically underestimated her brother's obsession with cleanliness.
Fortunately, Hoshino Gen shook his head. He had not lost his mind to that extent. He simply replied in a calm tone, "That is one of the reasons, but mostly I just feel that if we are going to have animals in the house, it is best to live somewhere with a courtyard. And then there is also..."
Hoshino Gen pointed at the floor. "A woman recently moved into this building. I have run into her twice. I cannot pinpoint anything abnormal about her, but she gives me a very eerie feeling. However, since she has not provoked me, I currently have no reason to eliminate her... Anyway, after considering various factors, I think it is necessary for us to move."
After speaking, he paused to think for a moment and added, "Of course, if you want to continue living here, I have no objections. I can just move out by myself."
"No way!" Hoshino Rin immediately exclaimed in a panicky voice. "Of course I am going to stay with you—"
As she spoke, Hoshino Rin glanced at Monica beside her, who could only wear a bewildered expression since she did not understand Japanese. She rubbed her little cousin's head and asked, "Fifth Maternal Uncle specifically arranged to live nearby to make it convenient for us to visit each other. If you want to move now, where are you planning to go?"
"I just decided to move a moment ago, how would I know what place is suitable?" Hoshino Gen sidestepped and walked toward his room. "The location here is quite good. It should not be too difficult to find a house with a courtyard nearby."
Pushing open his bedroom door, Hoshino Gen replied, "I am going to take a shower first. If you are free, it would be good for you to ask around."
Hoshino Rin paused for a moment before abruptly changing the subject. "Because Fifth Maternal Uncle and Fifth Maternal Aunt just arrived in Japan and are very busy with work, Monica will be staying with us for a few days."
"Got it," Hoshino Gen responded casually before entering the bedroom and closing the door.
The living room fell silent for a few seconds. Monica tugged at the hem of Hoshino Rin's shirt. "Rei, what were you and Jane just talking about?"
"We were talking about moving, since a high-rise apartment is not very suitable for keeping pets."
"Oh." Monica nodded in understanding, then asked in confusion, "Then why did Jane ignore me?"
"..." Hoshino Rin squatted down and placed the wolf cub Daihaku on the floor, then rested her hands on Monica's delicate shoulders. She thought for a moment before saying, "It might be because he does not really like being called directly by his first name. Aren't you going to start studying Japanese with a private tutor tomorrow? How about I teach you in advance what you should call him from now on?"
Monica blinked. She did not quite understand what was wrong with addressing him by his first name, but she still went along with Hoshino Rin's words and nodded.
...
Hoshino Rin cooked dinner again today.
The warm yellow lighting of the dining room bathed the dinner spread, coating the already mouth-watering dishes with an appetizing, cozy glow.
At the dining table, Hoshino Gen and Tamamo-no-Mae sat on one side, while Hoshino Rin and Monica sat on the other.
During the meal, Monica's gaze was almost entirely fixed on Tamamo-no-Mae, who was happily burying her face in a pile of cake. The ten-year-old girl's eyes sparkled brightly, looking as though she was ready to pounce at any moment to scoop up the doll-like, white-haired little girl into a tight hug and rub her cheeks against hers.
She turned her head and whispered to Hoshino Rin in English, "I did not get much of a chance to get a good look at her back in the UK, but seeing her up close now, little Kyukyu is just so cute!"
"Rei, what should I do to make her let me hug her?"
Hoshino Rin looked at her and smiled. "Well, you will have to ask Kyukyu that yourself."
Monica blinked, her expression deadpan. "Rei, I don't speak Japanese."
Hoshino Rin giggled and reached out to pinch her cousin's slightly chubby, baby-faced cheek. "Then you can just ask her whenever you finally learn Japanese."
Right at that moment, Hoshino Rin's mobile phone left on the dining table began to ring. She reached out, picked up the telephone, saw the caller ID, and immediately answered the call—
"Good evening, Aunt Fujiwara..."
"That is right!"
"Right now?"
Hoshino Rin covered the receiver and whispered to Hoshino Gen, "Brother, there is a small villa in a nearby residential area being sold urgently that might meet our needs. She is asking if we have time to go look at the house today..."
"Sold urgently?" Hoshino Gen raised an eyebrow. "Ask for a photo or a video. If it looks good, we can head over right after dinner."
Hoshino Rin nodded. Removing her hand from the receiver, she said, "Could we see a photo or a video first? If we are satisfied with it, we can head over in a little while."
A short while later, the call ended, but Hoshino Rin's mobile phone quickly emitted a continuous chime of a message notification sound—the other party was sending the photos over.
Hoshino Rin and Monica huddled together to quickly browse through them first, before handing the mobile phone over to Hoshino Gen.
Hoshino Gen held a piece of bread in one hand while swiping through the mobile phone with the other. The little girl Tamamo-no-Mae also leaned in out of curiosity. Glancing at the exquisite little courtyard villa on the screen, she could not help but ask, "A-Gen, is this where we are going to live from now on?"
Hoshino Gen held a piece of bread in one hand while swiping through the mobile phone with the other. The little girl Tamamo-no-Mae also leaned in out of curiosity. Glancing at the exquisite little courtyard villa on the screen, she could not help but ask, "A-Gen, is this where we are going to live from now on?"
Regarding the decision to move, Hoshino Gen had naturally already mentioned it to Tamamo-no-Mae while she was nestled in the bedroom binge-watching shows on his computer earlier when he went back to his room to shower.
The little girl obviously had no objections. In her eyes, wherever A-Gen was, that was her home. It did not matter where they moved, but she only had one demand: her cabinet nook had to be moved there too...
Leaving those hypothetical matters aside for now, Hoshino Gen casually replied while flipping through the photos, "Not necessarily. It looks nice in the photo, but seeing it in person might be a completely different story."
After speaking, he turned off the mobile phone and handed it back to Hoshino Rin. "Let's go take a look later. How far is it from here?"
"About three kilometers, I think? Or maybe a little less?" Hoshino Rin was also a bit unsure. "Are you very satisfied with the photo, brother?"
"It is alright." If Hoshino Gen had been slightly unsure from just looking at the photo earlier, then hearing the distance Hoshino Rin mentioned now meant he already had a pretty good idea of where it was...
And this perfectly explained why he had been satisfied enough after just a few glances at the photo to want to inspect it in person right after dinner—it was likely because he had once been invited as a guest to a house with a very similar layout to the one in the photo, and he had even felt a twinge of envy toward the young master of that house.
He just wondered how that idiot would react upon discovering that they were going to be neighbors.
Unconsciously, the corners of Hoshino Gen's lips curled up into a slight smile.