At the hem of her clothes, a flash of fair, snowy skin flickered past.
"Lin-kun, would you like something to eat? I just made some coffee..."
At Lin Yu's place, Nanako wasn't really just lazing around and slacking off all day as she claimed. At the very least, with Nanako around, Lin Yu had bid farewell to his days of hastily settling three meals a day or ordering pizza delivery.
Every day when she went for a morning run with Lin Yu, Nanako would buy some groceries. At noon, she would cook at Lin Yu's house, and in the evening, she would prepare things before heading home. From time to time, she would also prepare some afternoon tea. In any case, since it was primarily spent on Lin Yu, Yueisha Publishing would reimburse it all. After getting used to this routine of grocery shopping and cooking, it rather felt like a young cohabiting couple.
Ding-dong...
The clear chime of the doorbell suddenly rang, interrupting Nanako's words.
Lin Yu glanced at the time, a little puzzled. Ever since his last visit to Shinchan's house, the two families had become quite close. Especially after Nanako started coming over, they often visited each other. But Shinchan had just been here yesterday, and Mitsy should be sleeping in right now. So, who could it be?
After a moment's thought, Lin Yu stood up and smiled at Nanako. "I'll go get the door and see who it is."
Nanako smiled gently and got up to prepare the coffee.
Arriving at the entryway, Lin Yu opened the door to find a somewhat unexpected person standing there.
"Miss Nakamura?" Lin Yu looked at the person before him in surprise. It was indeed Miss Nakamura, the clerk he had met at the sports bookstore.
"Teach... Teacher Qingsong, hel... hello..."
"To come uninvited... I'm truly sorry..."
Seeing Lin Yu, Yoko Nakamura was clearly a little nervous, a faint blush on her face as she stammered her greeting. However, upon hearing Lin Yu call her name, a flash of joy flickered in her eyes.
"It's alright, please come in." Lin Yu smiled and waved his hand. He had come to this world alone. Apart from Nanako, Kanda Shinobu, and the Shinchan family, Lin Yu didn't have many other friends. Making more friends was a good thing.
"Excuse me for intruding." Yoko Nakamura entered the house, still looking slightly reserved.
After she changed her shoes, Lin Yu led her towards the living room.
"Miss Nakamura, how did you find out I live here?" Lin Yu asked Yoko Nakamura with some curiosity. It seemed they had only met that one time at the bookstore and hadn't seen each other since. Her visit today puzzled him somewhat.
"I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Yoko Nakamura immediately tensed up and began to apologize.
Seeing her so nervous, Lin Yu found it a little amusing. "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. I'm not blaming you. I don't have many friends, so making a new one is a happy thing for me."
"I was just a little curious."
Hearing Lin Yu's explanation, Yoko Nakamura finally breathed a sigh of relief and explained, somewhat embarrassed, "It's like this..."
As Yoko Nakamura explained, Lin Yu pieced together the story.
The last time they met at the bookstore with Shinchan, Yoko Nakamura had overheard Nanako mention that Lin Yu lived next door to Shinchan's family, making them neighbors. This morning, Mitsy happened to take Shinchan to the beauty salon. With nowhere else to go, Shinchan went to the bookstore where Yoko Nakamura worked, planning to browse for free.
Seeing Shinchan, Yoko Nakamura immediately remembered what Nanako had said last time, and an idea sparked in her mind. After much persuasion, which involved treating Shinchan to ice cream and chocolate cookies – a heavy price to pay – she finally managed to get Lin Yu's address from him.
"Um... Teacher Qingsong, I'm really sorry about what happened last time. These are some pastries I made myself. If you don't mind, please accept them as my apology..." After speaking, Yoko Nakamura offered a very exquisite-looking gift box with both hands, lowering her head in embarrassment.
Seeing Yoko Nakamura like this, Lin Yu naturally wouldn't make things difficult for her. After all, she was one of his fans, and the incident last time wasn't a big deal to begin with. Now that she had come all this way to apologize, he certainly wouldn't blame her.
"Then I'll accept the pastries. As for what happened last time, let's just let it go. You don't need to take it to heart. If you hadn't mentioned it, I probably would have forgotten already."
Hearing Lin Yu's comforting words, Yoko Nakamura looked up, her eyes shining with admiration. Yoko Nakamura was like a fangirl from his previous life; facing her idol's gentle and soft-spoken reassurance was incredibly gratifying.
"Lin-kun, the coffee is ready." At this moment, Nanako came downstairs carrying two cups of coffee. Seeing Yoko Nakamura in the living room, she paused slightly, feeling that she looked somewhat familiar.
Lin Yu took a cup of coffee from Nanako's hand, passed it to Yoko Nakamura, and introduced them with a smile. "This is Miss Nakamura. We met once at the bookstore."
"She came specially today to apologize for what happened last time..."
Lin Yu then gestured towards Nanako. "Miss Nakamura, this is Miss Ohara. She's my editor."
Originally, upon seeing Nanako at Lin Yu's residence, Yoko Nakamura's heart had tightened, inexplicably feeling like a mistress caught by the legitimate wife. However, after hearing Lin Yu's introduction, she relaxed considerably. Even the slight feeling of disappointment she had just experienced quickly dissipated, and she greeted Nanako with a polite smile.
An editor, appearing at an author's house, was quite normal. If the relationship between them was truly unusual, Lin Yu wouldn't have introduced them that way just now.
'Go for it, Yoko! You still have a chance!' she silently cheered herself on. Although she had come with the intention of apologizing, Yoko Nakamura's true purpose was Lin Yu.
If before she had simply liked Inuyasha and greatly admired the author of this manga, thinking him very talented, her feelings changed after her encounter with Lin Yu at the bookstore. Lin Yu was young, handsome, gentle, and talented – simply the perfect candidate for a boyfriend. Coupled with her love for Inuyasha, Yoko Nakamura's affection for Lin Yu skyrocketed, almost qualifying as love at first sight.
She had originally thought it was just a casual encounter and that they would probably never meet again. So, Yoko Nakamura had silently kept this affection in her heart. But seeing Shinchan again today, Yoko Nakamura felt as if a new path had opened up after a period of darkness – like a ray of hope. The opportunity given by heaven seemed to be right before her eyes.