Just before sunset, Akira returned to Kobayashi.
He pushed open the courtyard gate, walked to the front door of the house, and was about to take out his key to open the door when he heard a greeting from the side.
"Akira-kun, welcome back."
"…Oh, I'm back."
Akira paused for a moment before replying, mainly because Miyako's attire was too striking.
She was wearing old-fashioned gym clothes, labor gloves, and holding a sickle. Coupled with her indifferent expression, she looked just like a female assassin who had just finished disposing of a body.
This was the benefit brought by S-rank talent, allowing her to completely change her aura simply by changing her clothes.
If she chose to be an actress, she would definitely be the type who could portray any role perfectly, with no character she couldn't master.
"Are you weeding in the yard?"
"Yes, Granny Kobayashi said the weeds in the yard were getting a bit tall, and she wants to plant some cilantro in the fall, so she asked me to help weed."
Cilantro is quite rare in Japan; perhaps there are more people named Cilantro than actual cilantro, as Japanese cuisine doesn't use cilantro for flavor or to remove fishy smells.
In fact, in Akira's hometown, not everyone could eat cilantro, as its unique smell is very polarizing, and many people are allergic to it.
Speaking of which, growing vegetables in the yard is also a very Chinese impression; most Japanese elderly people plant flowers and trees in their gardens, play with bonsai, and create small gardens, as growing vegetables isn't considered aesthetically pleasing.
Moreover, detached houses in Tokyo are extremely valuable, especially in areas like Chiyoda Ward, where many houses don't even have yards, so there's no place to grow vegetables. Therefore, Granny Kobayashi growing vegetables at home was actually quite a 'luxurious' hobby.
One could only say that spouses truly influence each other. Granny Kobayashi had a lot of 'hometown flavor' in many aspects, making her seem as familiar to Akira as an old neighbor from back home.
"So you weeded all day?"
"Yes, just a little more and I'll be finished."
Are you a human weed-cutting princess…?
Akira had done this work before and knew how tiring it was. After all, Kobayashi didn't even have a weed whacker, so they could only manually swing a sickle. After a day of work, his waist and knees felt like they were solidifying.
Moreover, it was before summer then, not as hot as it is now, yet Akira was still drenched in sweat and only earned a thousand yen.
Because the Old woman was too stingy, he stated that next time the compensation needed to be increased, or he wouldn't bother to bow again.
Now that Miyako had arrived, the Old woman had found another young person to order around.
Unexpectedly, even though Miyako was a young lady, she was surprisingly capable of enduring hardship.
However, Miyako came from a remarried family, so her family's financial situation might not have been very good when she was young.
It was precisely because she knew that her stepfather's money wasn't rightfully hers that Miyako didn't want to spend the money her father gave her.
Nevertheless, Akira was still a bit speechless; making a super genius like Miyako do such manual labor—wasn't that a waste of talent?
"Next time the Old woman tries to dump this kind of troublesome work on you, just refuse it. She's just treating you like cheap labor, even though she's unwilling to prepare a separate room for you."
"No, it's what I wanted to do. Because when I went shopping with Granny Kobayashi this morning, I made her spend a bit more money, so I said I would repay it with labor…"
"Oh, so all the daily necessities are bought? And replacement underwear and stuff…"
"All the essentials are bought, and Granny Kobayashi even bought me a pair of sneakers."
Akira looked down and saw that Miyako was wearing a brand new pair of sneakers, very similar in style to his own, probably from the same brand.
Akira's sneakers were also bought by Granny Kobayashi, the price being three months of shoulder massages for the Old woman.
"And…"
"And?"
"No, nothing. I'll tell you when we get inside."
Miyako put her hands behind her back, appearing hesitant, as if she had secretly bought something she shouldn't have.
Perhaps it was sanitary pads or something; Akira didn't intend to ask in detail.
"You don't have to report the shopping list to me. Anyway, that ten thousand yen is yours; how you spend it is your business. I don't really understand what girls need."
"Mm."
Miyako showed a faint smile, Akira's trust making her feel warm inside.
"By the way, did the Old woman prepare these clothes for you?"
"Yes, because the ten thousand yen Akira-kun gave wasn't enough to buy clothes, so Granny Kobayashi went and found me a tracksuit. It's just… a bit too short."
Wearing this tracksuit that exposed her long, slender legs, Miyako also seemed a bit shy.
The main reason was that the old-style gymnastics uniform had tight super-shorts underneath that were almost like panties, commonly known as buruma, which would accentuate lines that made girls embarrassed.
If one didn't wear underwear inside, the outline of a camel toe would be directly visible, making archaeologists exclaim: "This ancient rock!"
Precisely because it was too eye-catching, the girls' gymnastics uniforms at Hibiya High School, which Akira attended, had been changed to a non-triangular style. Although still short like hot pants, they were at least no longer so form-fitting, no longer like Superman, with the awkward feeling of wearing underwear on the outside.
However, it seemed the girls were still dissatisfied with the current length, so there were plans to change the gymnastics uniform, or tracksuit, to the same five-point shorts as the boys.
It seems that in this world, the super-short, tight version of gymnastics uniforms will also become a tear of the times.
Is this progress of the times? Nonsense! It's regression! Buruma is good civilization!
Fortunately, Miyako will continue to wear this gymnastics uniform. This should be her home wear from now on, as she has no other clothes to wear besides that sailor uniform.
However, the top of the gymnastics uniform should originally have a name tag, but the one Miyako was wearing didn't, perhaps removed by Granny Kobayashi.
So Akira was very curious where the Old woman got this gymnastics uniform from.
"This couldn't be what the Old woman wore when she was young, could it? That would be truly ancient. It's a miracle it hasn't yellowed."
After saying that, Akira thought that given the Old woman's age, she must have been in her teens during a chaotic era. Forget gymnastics uniforms, she probably couldn't even attend school properly.
As it happened, Akira's comment was overheard by Granny Kobayashi, who had come out to check on the weeding progress.
"Brat! Stop spouting nonsense! I am a daughter of a warrior family. How could I wear such an immodest outfit?"
"…"
You yourself think it's immodest, yet you still let Miyako wear it?
Granny Kobayashi also looked at Miyako with some helplessness and said.
"I originally planned to buy her a few more clothes, but Shion-chan still insisted on not spending her father's money, nor did she want me to spend more, so I had no choice but to find free clothes… This is the gymnastics uniform my granddaughter wore when she was in junior high. Now that she's in High School, she's switched to the new style, so I asked for the old one. I didn't expect it to fit Shion-chan perfectly."
A junior high student's gymnastics uniform… fits Miyako perfectly?
Akira glanced at Miyako's chest; there was no sense of tightness, nor any prominent points.
It seems the Old woman's granddaughter developed quite well, already so big in junior high.