Mistakes

"Ring, ring, ring—"

"Is it already that time?" Katsuya Nakamura glanced at his watch with a warm smile and addressed his students from the podium, "Class is over. Everyone, please be careful on your way home."

"Yes~~! Nakamura-sensei."

The class responded in unison, some girls playfully teasing him.

"Teacher, will you go out with me after school?"

Katsuya Nakamura didn't get upset; instead, he smiled at the girl and replied, "Unfortunately, I'm not interested in dating children."

"Hey~~ why not?" The girl pouted. "Then what type of girl does Nakamura-sensei like?"

After pondering for a moment, Nakamura answered, "Probably a gentle, intellectual woman," and then he exited the classroom.

Yusuke Kato capped his mechanical pencil, surrounded by his densely filled notebook—a combination of the lecture's content and notes from his classmate, Megumi. Blending these with his own insights, he had written extensively without realizing it.

"Amazing, Kato, you really work hard."

Yamaguchi and Takei approached him.

"Want to head home together?"

The pair looked expectantly at Yusuke.

"Sorry, you go ahead. I've got a part-time job to get to," Yusuke replied while packing up his bag.

"Part-time work again..." Takei slumped his shoulders. "You should take a break once in a while."

"That won't work. I need to save up for next year's tuition," Yusuke stated flatly, "Maybe next time."

"But..."

Before Takei could finish, Yamaguchi placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, shook his head slightly, and smiled at Yusuke, "Understood. Then, feel free to join us whenever you can."

"Okay," Yusuke nodded, grabbed his bag, and quickly walked out. Pausing at the door, he turned back and added, "Next time, drinks are on me."

"OK!" Yamaguchi replied, leaning on Takei and giving Yusuke a thumbs up.

Yusuke hurried off to his job.

...

At home.

Sayu woke from a dream, her thoughts scattered like beads on a string, eyes still clouded like a freshly awakened water lily, serene yet disoriented.

"Um..."

She wriggled up from the bed, rubbed her sleepy eyes with her hands, and said unconsciously.

"what time is it now..."

The room was silent, only the ticking of the clock reminded her of the passage of time.

The hour and minute hands on the dial stop above the numbers 8 and 12, respectively.

"It's already this late...!"

"Oh no... dinner!"

Her consciousness gradually became clear, Sayu jumped out of bed in a panic, ran from the living room to the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator.

Inside was a small box of tofu, a few eggs, half a radish, and two slices of bacon left over from breakfast.

"That's not enough... that's right!"

Sayu murmured, and then, as if remembering something, closed the refrigerator door again, and ran back to the living room with a "da-da-da" step.

Picking up the white envelope on the table, she took out a 10,000-yen bill and stuffed it into his wallet. She hurriedly ran out the door, and kept mumbling, "Buy vegetables, buy vegetables".

After asking all the way, Sayu finally found a supermarket not far from the apartment after 20 minutes.

"Isn't this... going around...in a big circle.

"

Seeing the crowd coming in and out, Sayu gasped, her chest heaving up and down.

"Just hurry back home and cook...before Yusuke gets home."

She murmured and hurried into the supermarket.

If the workplace is a battlefield for men, then the supermarket is undoubtedly a battlefield for women.

Its intensity is not only not inferior to the former, but even surpasses it.

She hastened inside, where the supermarket battlefield was alive with discount-driven frenzy, mostly led by a brigade of determined housewives.

Limited by the sale, Sayu only managed to snag some fresh produce and hurried home, her anxiety mounting.

Walking on the road, she couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

"Will Yusuke be upset? I promised to shop for groceries today but I messed it up on my first try."

The traffic on the street is endless, and the flashing neon lights illuminate the city as if it were daylight.

Sayu just carried shopping bags in both hands, and walked like this, walking into a street.

Many white-collar workers passed her by, talking with their companions about where to go for a drink.

For the social animals who have been squeezed all day, their nightlife has just begun.

"Lawson", "7-Eleven", "Family Mart"

One convenience store after another came into her eyes.

"Family Mart...?" Sayu couldn't help but stopped and whispered, "Isn't this where Yusuke works part-time?"

Her eyes lit up slightly.

"Should I go in and take a look?"

Before the brain starts to work, the body has already responded.

So Sayu walked over there.

There was a parking space in front of the door, and the store was brightly lit. Sayu walked around the railing and passed the trash can placed in front of the store, just as he was about to enter the store.

"..."

There were whispers from the side, and one of them was slightly familiar.

"...What are you doing...?"

The words were a little vague.

She looked up and saw two figures faintly flashing behind the air conditioner in the dark corner.

"Yusuke...?"

Sayu's footsteps paused slightly, and said somewhat uncertainly.

"..."

And no one responded.

After a little hesitation, Sayu chose to find out.

She raised her arms to cover her chest, assumed a defensive posture, and cautiously approached the other side.

One step, two steps, three steps.

The darkness is like a huge mouth that is addictive, quietly waiting for the prey to be hooked.

Da da da...

A small voice came from under her feet, and Sayu moved her body gently.

As she approached, the shadows clarified into a man and a woman embracing tightly. From her angle, Sayu could only see the woman's back.

"Yusuke...?"

Snapped--

The shopping bag fell to the ground with a dull sound, and the ingredients purchased for dinner slowly rolled out from it.

...

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