aircannonsinc Page 447
Page 447
"Let's take a look at the apartment you're renting first."
Stepping out of the east exit of the station, the city's nightscape, enveloped by the evening breeze and neon lights, rushed towards him. Jun Matsue slowed his pace and looked at the girl following behind him.
"Senior, please lead the way. After all, it's your rented apartment."
“…Okay!” Yamami Maki gripped her handbag tightly and walked up to the boy.
When did you rent the house?
"I started looking after Songzhi after we met last time." The girl took out her phone and checked the route on the map navigation.
"After all, if you've always lived at home, how could you possibly bring up the topic of leaving the family?"
Jun Matsue blinked. No wonder his senior hadn't contacted him lately; she was holding back something big...
“Ah, turn left here.” Yamami Maki stopped in front of the path and looked back at him.
The boy turned into a side street. The buildings, which were not tall, stood on both sides of the road. There was not a single person in sight. Long hair, blown by the wind, drifted past him, carrying a fresh herbal scent.
"We're here!" The girl's voice rose a little as she stopped by the streetlight and looked at the apartment in front of her.
This is a classic square Japanese-style building, only about four or five stories high. When Jun Matsueda looked up, he could see the clothes that the residents were drying on the second-floor balcony.
"Matsueda-kun, this way!" Yamami Maki waved to him from the first-floor corridor.
Following the girl into the stairwell, all the way to the fourth floor, Jun Matsue watched her take out her key in front of the security door at the end, opening the door with a practiced ease.
"You've already been here?"
Yamami Maki turned her head to look at him. "I just came to clean up today."
"I was delayed in going home for dinner because of looking at houses, and my dad asked me about it. Then we argued about the plan to move out."
As she spoke, she opened the door, and the boy followed her into the room, where a soft yellow light shone in the small living room.
"Please sit here, Matsueda-san." Yami Maki patted the small sofa in the room, and then sat down at the small dining table next to the stove.
“These are all pieces of furniture left by the landlord, and I haven’t touched them much.”
"..." Jun Matsue first stood in the entryway and looked around the living room before sitting down on the sofa.
The apartment my senior rented was a "1DK" (one-bedroom, one-kitchen) apartment. The living room wasn't very big; it was shaped like an elongated "凸" (convex) character—connecting the entrance hall and the bedroom at both ends, with the stove and window set up against the wall in the protruding upper space in the middle.
The other side is a slightly cramped living space, where the two are now sitting, occupied by a small dining table and sofa left by the landlord.
"How big is the room, and how much is the rent?"
Yamami Maki unconsciously clenched her small hand on the dining table a little tighter, as if she were facing an assessment from a university professor.
"A 30-square-meter apartment costs 85,000 yuan per month in rent and management fees."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "It's much cheaper than I expected."
“I think so too.” The girl smiled. “This house is over twenty years old.”
"And I asked Kokoro, and she said it's probably because the Kanda River flooded during the previous torrential rains in Tokyo, exposing the drainage problems in Nakano Ward, which is why house prices here are a bit lower."
"Would Chun-kun like to come and see the bedroom?" She stood up. "I came today to secretly make the bed."
Jun Matsue didn't move, but just looked behind her.
The window above the stove doesn't show the Kanda River at night, which is a hundred meters away; it only shows the dark gray wall of another building, ten meters away.
"Are you really going to move out of the house?"
“It’s about leaving the Yamami family.” Seeing that the boy had no intention of visiting, Yamami Maki sat down again to correct his statement.
"Even if your father kicks you out of the house?" Jun Matsuoka looked at her.
The girl's eyes lost some of their luster. "...Anyway, I've already rented a place."
The boy looked up and sighed at the ceiling light.
"So how did you two start arguing?"
"..." Yamami Maki hugged the handbag on her lap.
"Actually, I've already explained the cause to Matsueda-san—"
“When I got home from Higashi-Nakano, they were already eating. My dad asked me why, and I told him I wanted to move out.”
"He flatly refused, saying that we don't need to consider living apart before we get married, and he didn't give me any room to discuss it."
The girl's voice trembled slightly, perhaps recalling her father's harsh tone at the dinner table—
"It was one thing to skip the ancestral worship during the Ghost Festival before, but now you're thinking of moving out on your own before even graduating from university—are you planning to leave the family in another two years?!"
Her thick eyelashes trembled. "My father's tone made me a little angry, so I told him directly that I wanted to leave the family."
No wonder… Matsueda Jun looked at the girl’s vulnerable appearance, “So he just let you out like that?”
"Otherwise, would you still keep me tied up at home?" Yamami Maki's eyes showed some annoyance.
"Dad didn't even bother to get me out here nicely—"
“‘If you really intend to break away from the family, then you must not use a single penny of the family's money, nor are you allowed to have any dealings with any of the family's businesses. You will also have to pay your own university tuition!’”
"That's what he said, and I replied 'okay,' and my dad immediately told me to get out of the house right away."
"..." The boy pursed his lips.
He had met the senior's father, a rigid, serious, and controlling man who would surely be angry to find his daughter had changed so quietly.
"The handbag I'm carrying now was secretly given to me by my mother before I left," the girl said, biting her lip. "It only contains my pajamas."
"Wasn't this a bit impulsive?" Jun Matsue asked softly.
“It’s okay!” Yami Maki blinked hard to hide her sparkling eyes. “Anyway, I was planning to move out first, and then talk to my family about living independently.”
"It's just a little early now!"
Her father's stubbornness and determination only fueled her rebellious spirit. The grievances and frustrations she had felt since childhood became even more vivid in her mind, igniting a growing desire to escape her family.
The boy thought for a moment, "Do I really want to cut ties with my family without spending a single penny?"
"No need!" The girl shook her head. "I've been saving the pocket money and New Year's money that my grandparents give me."
"Furthermore, I'm participating in a school internship project, which pays me a little, and I'm also considering working part-time!"
"And what about your tuition?" Jun Matsueda continued, "National university tuition is about 500,000 yen a year, right?"
When he visited the University of Tokyo with Tomatsu, they happened to witness a student protest speech, and he vividly remembered the amount of tuition fees.
"I've already paid my tuition for this year. I can apply for a tuition reduction next year, and I'll also be eligible for a scholarship!"
He looked at the girl's determined expression and asked, "What if your father says that you have to pay back all the resources he has spent raising you over the years?"
“If we can’t pay it back now, we can pay it back little by little,” Yami Maki said without hesitation.
She immediately realized something, and a hint of grievance appeared in her eyes again.
"Is Matsueda trying to put me down?"
"You don't want me to do this?"
"..." The boy hesitated for a moment, "I just don't want you to have this kind of strained relationship with your family because of me."
He didn't want things to be like this when they were dating, and now that they've broken up, it's even less of a concern.
"It's not just because of Tsunkun!" the girl exclaimed, clenching her hands.
"After having that simulated dream, I've realized that I can't find the happiness I want in a home like this!"
"I'm not doing this just for Jun-kun, I'm doing it for myself too!"
The bright room fell silent for a brief moment as Jun Matsue gazed at the girl's face.
Now that things have come to this, it seems he has nothing left to advise.
"You really think about it?"
“I’ve thought it through!” Yami Maki nodded vigorously. “Even if I can’t be with Jun-kun, I’m still going to leave the family.”
She looked into the boy's eyes, "Is it only allowed for Matsueda to change, but not for me?"
"..." Jun Matsueda finally sighed.
"I just hope you won't regret it."
"I have no regrets!" the girl said resolutely.
The boy's expression froze for a moment—that was the same answer he gave when their relationship ended.
He smiled helplessly and got up from the sofa.
Have you had dinner?
Yamami Maki blinked in surprise, “...No.”
"I don't have any either." Jun Matsue walked towards the door.
"Let's not talk about the future, let's go and fill our stomachs first."
The girl was stunned for a moment, then happily got up with him.
"Ok!"
The two walked out of the room, and the round lights in the corridor swept overhead.
“I don’t like your house.” The boy suddenly said as he stepped onto the sturdy staircase of the old-fashioned apartment building.
"I've wanted to say this for a long time."
"..." Yami Maki watched his back as he descended the steps one by one.
"Actually, I don't like it either." The girl smiled.
She then asked, "Isn't it a bit late to say that?"
The lights in the hallway gradually illuminated with each step he took, but Jun Matsuoka did not answer.
Chapter 706 Yamami Maki's Survival Dilemma
Leaving the small apartment building, the young man and woman walked into a Japanese restaurant called Xi'an at a nearby intersection and sat down at a window seat.
Jun Matsue took the handwritten menu from the waiter and pushed it in front of the girl.
"What would you like to eat?"
Maki Yami flipped through the menu, her gaze sweeping over the sashimi, seasonal vegetables, and Kagoshima cuisine before settling on the last page.
"I want to eat Dan Dan noodles." She looked up.
The boy blinked. "Is this all we're going to eat?"
"Hmm!" The girl put down the menu. "Dandan noodles are usually quite spicy, right? I want some spicy."
"..." Jun Matsue recalled the time he went to Kumamoto with her to participate in a competition and ate "Torpedo" spicy dipping noodles together.
Her family told her to eat less spicy food because it might affect her image at the dinner table—that's what her senior from back then said.
"Then two bowls of Dan Dan noodles—" the boy gestured to the counter, "one regular bowl and one with extra noodles."
After taking the iced water from the waiter, Jun Matsueda looked at the girl opposite him.
"Has the senior already paid the deposit?"
The initial payment is the first fee paid when signing a rental agreement in Japan. It usually includes the first two months' rent and management fees, plus miscellaneous expenses such as access control replacement and fire insurance, which can be a considerable burden for young people just entering the workforce.
"..." Yami Maki nodded, holding the glass.
"how much is it?"
"Twenty-one thousand."
Before the man could speak, she began to explain, "I've seen the bill—this month's and next month's rent plus management fees will be 150,000, then changing the locks will cost 20,000, fire insurance will cost 20,000, and there are other fees..."
"Then you're pretty lucky." Jun Matsue took a sip of ice water, holding the ice cubes clinking between his teeth.
"This place didn't ask for any gifts or deposits."
The girl smiled and said, "I spent quite a while choosing one too."
The boy was about to speak again, but their bowls of dan dan noodles had already been served. Yamami Maki nodded slightly and said "thank you" as she looked at the steaming soup noodles in front of her.
The pale yellow ramen noodles are soaked in a bright red oily broth, topped with stir-fried minced meat, finely chopped onions, half a soft-boiled egg, two pieces of green vegetables, bean sprouts, and plenty of white sesame seeds.