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Chapter 610: Heartbeat
Then, on that day, Keiko Hatoyama finally noticed the boy was "late".
That was when the boy was getting out of school. According to past experience, the boy should have appeared at the end of their street at that time.
But that day, he did not show up.
Noticing this, Keiko Hatoyama suddenly became happy, as if she had finally completed a special research project that took a very long time, and she excitedly began to record the time.
I didn't expect it. I didn't expect it.
"On time boy" you actually let me catch you being unpunctual!
There is a problem, there is definitely a problem!
Let me guess, what is holding you back from being on time?
Did you fail to finish your homework yesterday? Did you get punished by your teacher? Or did you finally make a good friend and play with him on the street?
Or even... Did he not do well in the exam? He was afraid to take the test paper home to show his mother, so he kept dawdling on the way?
While constantly making guesses in her mind, Keiko Hatoyama kept accurate track of the time.
One minute, three minutes, five minutes... until almost ten minutes had passed, the familiar figure of the boy finally appeared again at the end of the street.
He still walked over alone, with no one following him.
But when he came closer and Keiko Hatoyama could see the expression on his face clearly, all her previous speculations about this vanished into thin air.
Because there was a bruise on the boy's cheek, it was very obvious, a bruise left after a fight.
Apart from this, he was no different from who he was yesterday, or who he was before.
She guessed everything wrong. The boy was not punished by the teacher, failed the exam, and made no friends.
He was bullied at school.
After realizing this deeply, Keiko Hatoyama immediately threw away her pocket watch and ran down the watchtower without looking back.
She chose to escape.
Because she once again realized deeply that the boy was living in a very bad environment, and she was powerless to do anything about it.
Therefore, escape is the only option she can choose and it is the best way for herself.
Having said that, Keiko Hatoyama could not convince herself.
That night, she tossed and turned in bed until very late, when she slowly fell asleep.
It wasn't until she got up the next day that Keiko Hatoyama finally made a decision.
She wants to see the boy.
She had to find out whether the boy's condition was as bad as she had guessed.
She had to find out, maybe this boy was actually a school bully, and she was the only one here thinking that he had a hard time in school.
If this is true, she will never visit this person again.
The free mind gave Keiko Hatoyama a strong motivation to act. That afternoon, she was already on the watchtower.
When the boy appeared at the end of the street on time as usual, she immediately called the old housekeeper, and rushed out of the door without even changing her clothes.
At this time, the boy just walked to the door of the Hatoyama family residence, and the two met face to face. Hatoyama Keiko rushed directly to the boy and stretched out her hand to stop him.
Then, before she, who was still catching her breath, could say anything, the boy she had stopped spoke first.
The boy took something out of his schoolbag and handed it to her.
"This, you dropped it yesterday, right?"
His tone was calm but somewhat cold. Hatoyama Keiko looked at him in confusion. In the boy's outstretched hand was a pocket watch.
A pocket watch that looked very familiar to her.
Eh?
As if she had thought of something, Keiko Hatoyama suddenly froze.
Isn't this the watch she lost in the watchtower yesterday? Why is it in his hand?
"It fell from the sky and hit my schoolbag when I was walking past your house yesterday."
As if he knew Keiko Hatoyama's doubts, the boy explained again. He still kept extending his hand, but his tone and expression gave people a feeling of keeping people at a distance.
"Huh?"
Upon hearing this, Keiko Hatoyama looked back at the watchtower in the yard behind her, and then looked back at the pocket watch in the boy's hand.
Did she...almost hurt someone yesterday?
"H-How do you know it's mine?"
Her cheeks, which were already a little red due to asthma, became even redder, and Keiko Hatoyama asked back in a low voice.
She was very curious. The boy never looked up when he walked past her house. Even if he guessed that the pocket watch was thrown from the watchtower, he couldn't have known it was her.
Why are you so sure?
"Because the smell of the pocket watch is the same as the smell on your body."
The boy calmly said something astonishing.
Looking at the boy in front of her who still had an expressionless face and kept his hand outstretched, Hatoyama Keiko was completely stunned.
This time, even her neck and ears turned red.
Don't say such perverted words without changing your expression! !
However, no matter how much Keiko Hatoyama complained in her heart, the boy didn't seem to have any intention of taking care of her girlish mentality.
Seeing that Keiko Hatoyama stood there in a daze for a long time, the boy walked up to her and put the pocket watch back on her neck.
The old butler standing by widened his eyes when he saw this scene.
"Wear it well, and don't throw it around next time, or it will hit someone."
After saying that, the boy didn't care about Keiko Hatoyama's reaction and simply walked around her and went home as usual.
Behind him, Keiko Hatoyama, whose face had already turned red, lowered her head, looking at her toes with her eyes wide open.
She slowly raised her hand and gently pressed it on her left breast.
Strange, her heart just...
Jumping so fast.
"wait wait wait!"
Instinctively unwilling to think any more in this direction, Keiko Hatoyama shook her head vigorously, turned around quickly, and called the boy again.
Although the boy did not respond to her, he stopped and turned to look at her.
"you you……"
She wanted to speak, but for some reason, the moment the boy looked at her, she forgot what she wanted to say.
"I, you..."
Just like that, under the boy's puzzled gaze, Keiko Hatoyama stuttered. At this time, she subconsciously raised her hand and held the pocket watch that the boy had just hung back around her neck.
This did seem to bring some sense back to her, allowing her to finally remember the real purpose of stopping the boy.
So, with the bit of remaining rationality and with the "assistance" of her still confused brain, Keiko Hatoyama finally uttered the shocking words, which she wanted to strangle herself to death countless times in the future.
"Why do you look unhappy every day?!"
Chapter 611: Keiko Hatoyama is very cunning
"Why do you look unhappy every day?!"
With that little bit of rationality left in her, Keiko Hatoyama shouted out these shocking and amazing words to the boy.
「Ah… I screwed up…」
As soon as these words were spoken, Keiko Hatoyama reacted instantly and felt hopeless.
Why are you unhappy every day?
Is not this nonsensical?
If I live a happy life, without any pressure of survival, I can have whatever I want, and good things happen every day, how can I not be happy?
Her question is essentially the same as the one asked by the emperor in ancient times, “Why don’t you eat meat?”
How could she ask such a stupid question? !
However, Keiko Hatoyama still wanted to defend herself. In fact, what she really wanted to express at that time was:
You see, I am already so sick that I have to undergo countless treatments and examinations every day. Even if I want to go out for fun, I am subject to various restrictions...
But even so, I am trying to live every day of my life as happily as possible and try not to waste any time.
So, please stop making that bad expression, okay?
To be fair, her thoughts at that time were naive and childish. Happiness is simple, but suffering is different for everyone. How could she bring her suffering to others at will?
The boy was surprisingly mature and wise. Even with such offensive words, he seemed to have glimpsed what Keiko Hatoyama was thinking.
So, looking at Keiko Hatoyama's self-destructive look, he slowly nodded his head.
Although he still had that cold expression, he thanked her.
"Thank you."
Why are you unhappy every day?
Thank you.
To outsiders, this conversation is totally irrelevant.
But the two parties involved each understood what the other party really wanted to express.
Later, Keiko Hatoyama found out that because the boy lived nearby, he had actually known for a long time that the Hatoyama family had a frail eldest daughter.