20 Ch-20 Unlikely Bonds

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Ino arrived with the bento box her mother had given her, heading towards the place where Jiryoku was training. Jiryoku sensed Ino's presence but didn't care and continued his training without stopping this time.

Finally, when Jiryoku completed his training and sat down to rest, Ino approached with the bento box. She handed it to Jiryoku and said, "Here, I brought a bento box for you. It was specially prepared by my mother."

Knowing Ino's stubborn nature and her determination to achieve her goals by any means, Jiryoku decided not to argue with her. He simply replied, "Wait a moment." After saying this, he went inside his home, returned, and accepted the bento Ino had given him, eating it.

After finishing the bento, Jiryoku took money out of his pocket and while handing it to Ino, he said, "I know this money isn't enough to cover the cost of the bento, but please accept it."

"No, how can I accept money from you? I brought this bento as an apology, not to sell it for money," replied Ino.

"But I don't need your apology. As I mentioned yesterday, don't bother me, and that will be enough," said Jiryoku. He continued, "This amount of money is almost one-tenth of my monthly allowance. Whenever you bring me this bento, out of respect for your mother and the food, I can't simply throw it away or reject it. So, I will pay for it every time, and if I'm unable to pay, then I'll have to work extra to earn the money."

Ino had a tear-filled, crying face as she said, "You bully!" She threw the money on the ground and ran away sobbing.

After she fled, Shikamaru confronted Jiryoku, saying, "Your behavior is truly cruel. It seems like you don't want to have any kind of relationship with anyone."

Jiryoku didn't comment on this.

Shikamaru picked up the money Ino had thrown and handed it to Jiryoku, saying, "Here's your money."

Jiryoku replied, "No, it's not my money. I gave it to her, and she threw it. It's her choice. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired after training." With that, Jiryoku left and went inside his house.

Shikamaru looked at Jiryoku's retreating figure with a thoughtful expression and then headed to Ino's house. Upon reaching Ino's house, Shikamaru learned that Ino had locked herself in her room.

After Ino's mother asked Shikamaru, he recounted everything that had happened at Jiryoku's house. Ino's mother let out a sigh upon hearing this.

When Yamanaka Inoichi heard about it, he became furious and almost went to teach Jiryoku a lesson, but Ino's mother stopped him. Eventually, after comforting Ino, Inoichi decided to take her to Ichiraku Ramen shop. As they reached the shop, Jiryoku was leaving after finishing his ramen. Inoichi wanted to confront him, but Ino held him back and stopped him from attacking. Inoichi snorted at Jiryoku, who didn't react and continued on his way home.

All of this was witnessed by Ichiraku and Ayame.

"Two bowls of ramen, one for me and one for my daughter," said Inoichi.

"Based on both of your behaviors, it seems that you both know Jiryoku and have strong opinions about him," remarked Ayame.

"Yeah, who cares about that bastard," Ino said angrily.

"It seems your friendship was rejected by Jiryoku," chuckled Ayame.

"Don't hate him for this. He has been like this ever since I've known him, which is for the past five years. He cares about everyone around him but doesn't want to have relationships with them," Ayame explained.

"Yeah, he is a very good boy, even though he doesn't show it. He cares about those whom he knows," Ichiraku added, bringing the ramen to the table.

"No, he's a heartless bastard," Ino said.

"Haha, very true, he really is," agreed Ichiraku.

"Did he do something to you too?" Ino asked with interest.

"Yeah, it was around when he first started coming to our shop. As he was blind, he would ask us to give him the ingredients and trusted us. So, we would give him all the ingredients at a low price. It went on for about a month, but then he somehow found out the real price. The next day, he came with the exact amount that we should have charged him for the entire month. We decided not to take it, but he placed the money on the table and said, 'I don't want anyone to pity me. I told you this before, but you're still pitying me. If it's like this, then I'll stop coming from tomorrow.' After that, he was about to leave, but I accepted his money, and since then, I never dared to lie to him about the prices. So, you can see how heartless he truly is," explained Ichiraku.

At that moment, Shikaku and Shikamaru also arrived. Shikamaru said, "He is right. Here, take the money you threw."

"You picked that up? Since when did you lack money?" Ino said, her face twitching.

"I picked it up and tried giving it to Jiryoku, but he rejected it and said it's yours. He mentioned that you threw it and it doesn't matter to him," explained Shikamaru.

"That bastard," Ino muttered as she took the money.

Then, with determination on her face, she declared, "If he doesn't want to be friends with anyone, then I'm going to be one."

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