Coming back to his senses from reminiscing, Kasuga no Tōru opened the phone box in his hand. After checking the appearance, the boy pressed the power button.
With the activation complete, the inspection of the goods was all finished.
“Hello, where should I sign for delivery?”
While Kasuga no Tōru was reminiscing about the past, the middle-aged man from the delivery company didn't say a word the entire time, just quietly waiting on the side.
In this regard, it has to be said that Japan really does take service to the extreme.
Of course, Kasuga no Tōru didn't find anything wrong with it, because extreme service means extreme fees.
To give a simple example, taxi fares in Japan are notoriously high.
The Japanese once conducted a survey, comparing the taxi prices of several famous cities or countries around the world, to see how many kilometers you could travel for 1000 yen.
The results of this survey were shocking. For the same 1000 yen, you could travel 87 kilometers in India, 55 kilometers in Thailand, 24 kilometers in Beijing, 8 kilometers in New York, but in Tokyo, that number dropped to 2.9 kilometers.
The reason for this result is that the Japanese take service to the extreme. Drivers have to wear suits and white gloves, they have to inspect the car before driving, the air-conditioned cars are spotless, and the doors automatically open when you get off. They can be drivers, free tour guides, and they can even carry your bags. When they inspect the car's condition, they have a special checklist, and the driver has to go through the contents of the checklist, not missing a single item.
This is extreme service, but extreme service comes with extreme fees.
If he could, Kasuga no Tōru would rather go get the phone himself, saving him the delivery fee.
Don't believe the stores' lies about delivery, they just factor the cost of transportation into the price of the goods and give you a favor as a bonus.
But this is also the norm in Japan, Kasuga no Tōru, an ordinary boy, naturally couldn't change anything. At this moment, he could only obediently follow the delivery man's instructions and sign his name where he was supposed to.
“Ding-dong, this is a surprise from Kyū for big brother.” As soon as he closed the door, his sister’s message popped up.
The emoticon at the end of the message brought a warm smile to Kasuga no Tōru’s face.
“Don't spend money randomly next time.” After thinking for a long time, Kasuga no Tōru finally edited a message and sent it over.
“Humph, big brother, you can't tell me off. You were the one who said, Kyū should spend the money she earned on things she thinks are important. In Kyū's heart, making big brother happy is the most important thing.”
In the dormitory of the private Ōtome-zaki Girls' Academy, Kasuga no Kyū was wearing pajamas, lying on her bed, her smooth legs exposed to the air, swaying back and forth. Her arms were propped in front of her, she seemed to be in a great mood.
“Kyū, are you chatting with your brother again?” The roommate saw the girl’s appearance and knew what she was doing without having to ask.
This brother-con, she can’t go three sentences without mentioning her brother, the ears of the entire dormitory are about to develop calluses from hearing it.
“Yes, I gave big brother a present today, and I'm asking him if he likes it.”
“You, you can't go three sentences without mentioning your brother, are you a brother-con Kyū?” Another girl asked teasingly.
“That's right, Kyū is a brother-con, big brother will definitely be mine!” Without any shyness or hesitation, the girl made this outrageous declaration.
……
Kasuga no Tōru was oblivious to what was happening hundreds of kilometers away, he was busy fiddling with his new phone.
He first swapped the SIM card to his new phone, then downloaded some commonly used apps and familiarized himself with the phone's operation before he remembered that he had promised Eriri today that he would add her as a Line friend.
Thinking of this, the boy quickly downloaded the Line client, then typed in the string of numbers he received from Eriri today.
“Ding.” Only a few seconds passed, and a notification sound of a friend request being accepted came. A few seconds later, a cute emoticon popped up.
“Kasuga-kun, good evening.”
“Good evening, Sawamura-san.” Kasuga no Tōru wasn't worried about making a mistake, because the profile picture of this account was Eriri herself.
Golden twintails hung down on both sides, matched with a pink headband and fair skin, Kasuga no Tōru had to admit that this girl was definitely one of the prettiest girls he knew.
But on second thought, it seemed like he didn't know that many girls, so he kept this compliment in his heart.
After a simple greeting, the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence.
After two minutes, Eriri finally sent a very bland message.
“Kasuga-kun, did you just finish eating?”
“Not yet, I just got home, my sister gave me a present, so I've been fiddling with it.”
Not only did Kyū admit that she was a brother-con, but Kasuga no Tōru never shied away from the fact that he had a good relationship with his sister.
Rather, having such a heart-wrenching sister was something countless people envied.
If he could, he wished the whole world knew that Kasuga no Kyū was his sister.
His most important, most cherished sister, Kasuga no Tōru.
“Eh? I didn't know Kasuga-kun had a sister.” Eriri was surprised to know this for the first time, but it was normal, after all, she had only known Kasuga no Tōru for a few days.
“Yeah, she's in her third year of junior high now, and I heard she's aiming for private Toyozaki Academy.” Thinking back to his sister's determined look when she said she was going to get into Toyozaki, Kasuga no Tōru laughed again.
“She will definitely succeed!” Eriri offered her blessings.
“Thanks for the encouragement, Sawamura-san.”
“Hee hee.” The girl sent another cute emoticon, and Kasuga no Tōru felt that this giggling girl seemed like the way Eriri giggled.
“By the way, have you used the digital drawing tablet yet? Have you encountered any problems?”
“Not yet, if I encounter any problems, I'll definitely ask for Sawamura-san’s help. I hope Sawamura-san won't mind if I'm a bother.”
“Of course not, I wouldn't do that!” Eriri sent an angry emoticon.
What's with that, does she think I'm the kind of person who doesn't have any patience?
Even the girl herself hadn't realized that the way she was interacting with Kasuga no Tōru was completely different from how she was at school.
Maybe because when Kasuga no Tōru drew her portrait, he saw through her heart at a glance.
Eriri always felt that this boy was very trustworthy.
“Sawamura-san, I think you must have something you want to ask me, right?” After hesitating, Kasuga no Tōru still sent this message.
He didn't think the other party would reach out to him for no reason.
He wouldn't be so enthusiastic for no reason either.
They say that people who do favors without a reason have ulterior motives. Although Kasuga no Tōru believed that the girl's family background wouldn't make her do anything bad, he didn't believe that Eriri had no ulterior motives towards him.
Sure enough, after a long silence, a message finally came.
“Kasuga-kun, how did you see through me?”
“？？？”