Chapter 751: 51. Tokyo
“5000 yen, thank you.”
The driver’s voice came from the driver’s seat. Fisher probably didn’t know what the specific price was, so he casually pulled out a corresponding amount from his wallet since coming to this world and slapped it into the driver’s palm. Just then, Jasmine, who was beside him, pulled him out of the car with a pained expression on her face, and as the door swung open, what greeted them was a sign in front of the building that read, “Kyoto Station.”
Looking at the train station sign, Jasmine opened her mouth and turned her head to Fisher, who was casually flipping through the map beside him. After hesitating several times, she couldn’t help but ask,
“Fisher, do we really have to travel now, during school?”
“Ah.”
Actually, it didn’t matter where they went; Fisher just felt that no matter what, they couldn’t stay here any longer, especially not in the same city as Hela, who was presumably already fully prepared.
So, Fisher nodded and placed the map he had spread out in front of her. Since he wasn’t familiar with the geography of this world, he decided to let Jasmine choose the direction.
“Jasmine, is there any place you want to go?”
“Uh, me?”
Jasmine hesitated and took the map Fisher handed over, not choosing a destination but instead looking at Fisher again to ask,
“Fisher, do we really have to…”
“Okay, hurry up and choose, Jasmine. Anywhere is fine, just the two of us, okay?”
Fisher let out a sigh of relief, raised his finger, and lifted the map in her hands a bit higher, redirecting her attention back to the map.
Although she was still a little worried about leaving school to travel, academic studies were important, as were Fisher’s work duties. But since Fisher had said it, Jasmine obediently started to pick a place according to his thoughts.
She extended her slender finger, first landing on “Kyoto,” where they were at the moment, and then moved eastward, tracing along the cities on the way. Following the path she traced with her finger, it was as if each point in her memories lit up.
Before her finger submerged into the ocean, it finally landed on a place deep in her memories.
She opened her mouth, and with a slight movement of her eyes, she said to Fisher,
“Fisher, let’s go here.”
Jasmine’s tone also carried some fluctuation, causing Fisher to lean in a bit closer to her, following the outline of her finger towards the map. At the end of her fingertip, the name of the city finally emerged.
“Tokyo?”
“Yeah!” Jasmine bit her lip and nodded, then continued, “I heard Tokyo is very large and vibrant, with many people, and the people there are very wealthy, with lots of delicious food. Previously, many wealthy people from Tokyo came to play in Kyoto, and they spent very generously. I heard them say that even the United States across the ocean is almost being bought out.”
“Mm.”
Fisher scratched his chin, and distant memories flashed in his mind, reminding him that Tang Zeming Asuka had also mentioned this city name before; it was a place she had lived.
He was indeed a bit moved. Not only was he curious about the place where Asuka had lived, but perhaps Asuka’s memories would conflict with the fictional scenes in his current dreams. Maybe going to that place would alleviate the intensity of the dreams?
After thinking it through, Fisher ultimately nodded and turned his head towards the train station, saying,
“Alright, I’ll go buy the tickets.”
“Okay. By the way, we’re in such a rush; I haven’t had a chance to ask Mom for money yet. I heard that Tokyo has a high cost of living, and I should also call them to let them know. Let me see, I think I brought some cash with me.”
As Jasmine spoke, she took out a cute little bear wallet from the pocket in her coat, but the sound of scattered coins inside indicated that she was short on money.
Fisher had many bills in his teacher’s wallet, which he took all out—probably close to 100,000 yen—but he couldn’t discern the actual purchasing power. He had been eating and living in a temple for the past few weeks, with very few places to spend money. He had to ask Jasmine,
“Is this enough?”
“Uh, if it’s just for traveling, it should be fine, Fisher.”
“Then it’s enough. I’ll go buy the tickets.”
“Mm-mm.”
As Fisher took Jasmine to the ticket counter to buy train tickets, they purchased a ticket for just after nine in the morning. In the waiting room, Fisher remained tense, not relaxing at all.
He was genuinely worried that Hela, who had suddenly appeared after a few weeks, would show up out of nowhere, so he preferred to stay close to Jasmine, feeling anxious rather than letting his guard down and risking everything.
In contrast to Fisher’s intense focus, Jasmine seemed quite relaxed. Except for a bit of anxiety about heading to the public phone to report to Xu and Gouwen, she was already fully in travel mode.
Meanwhile, Xu and Gouwen’s response seemed more open than Fisher had imagined, as they actually agreed.
“Mm-mm, I’m at the train station with Fisher right now.”
“What time is the ticket for?”
“9:25.”
“How many days are you going for?”
Holding the phone receiver, Jasmine turned to Fisher, who was holding two bottles of strawberry milk, silently asking for his opinion.
Fisher blinked, extended five fingers, and Jasmine nodded in understanding.
“Five days. We’ll be back in five days.”
“Okay. I’ll have your dad put some money in your account later. We should have enough in Fisher’s account for you two to use for five days.”
“Okay, thank you, Mom!”
“And…” Xu’s clear voice suddenly shifted, sounding a bit like a warning, “Make sure to take precautions, okay?”
“Mom!!”
“.beep beep beep”
Jasmine hung up the phone with a red face, and while the automated voice announced “service completed,” she sneaked a glance at Fisher in front of her, as if checking whether he had heard Xu’s words.
But Fisher remained unfazed, simply handing her the strawberry milk with a smile, saying,
“We’ll be in the train for almost two hours. We’re about to board.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Jasmine held the strawberry milk, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the bustling crowd around them, following the broadcasting information to check tickets and board.
“Dear passengers, welcome to the Tōkaidō Shinkansen. This train is the ‘Memory’ heading to Tokyo Station. The scheduled stops are Kyoto, Nagoya, Shin-Yokohama, and Shinagawa. This train is a non-smoking train. Please use the designated smoking room at the rear if needed.”
Inside the carriage, Jasmine surveyed the aisle and the seat they were about to sit in. Then, suddenly, she seemed to have noticed something and picked up a small brochure from the seat, turning back to smile at Fisher.
“Fisher, look at this!”
While Fisher helped her sit in the inner window seat, he looked at the brochure filled with Japanese text she was holding up.
“What is this?”
“Um, it seems like a travel guide left by a previous guest for traveling in Tokyo. Look, it has Tokyo Tower, Senso-ji, and so on.”
Fisher didn’t recognize any of it, so he lowered his head to look at the colorful images left by some copying technique.
“Speaking of travel, Fisher, let’s think about our specific travel plan now!”
“Is there really a need for a plan?”
“Of course!” Jasmine pouted her cheeks and raised a finger, saying, “An advance plan makes the experience more enriching, and it can also help anticipate possible problems. But it doesn’t need to be too complicated; I just want to have an idea of what to expect from this trip.”
As Jasmine continued speaking, she took a pencil out from a pocket in her coat and smiled as she began sketching on the travel promotion brochure.
“If today is March 26 and we’re going for five days, today we’ll head into the city, find a hotel, and then check out Tokyo Tower. March 26, going to Tokyo Tower with Fisher. What about tomorrow? Fisher, can you take a look at what we should do tomorrow?”
As Jasmine drew a circle around the image of the red Tokyo Tower in the travel brochure with her pencil, Fisher rested his chin on his hands. While Jasmine was focused on the picture of the scenery in the brochure, Fisher was simply watching her.
“Jasmine, do you really want to go to Tokyo?”
“Uh? Well, I wouldn’t say I really want to. It’s just that I feel like I’ve never had a chance to see many places in Tokyo before, so if I get the chance…”
As Jasmine spoke, she suddenly froze, unsure why she had said that.
She clearly hadn’t been to Tokyo even once, right?
Why did she have the illusion that she had been there before?
However, the excitement of going to those places felt good. Even if she had been there before but didn’t remember, seeing it this time would also be delightful.
Jasmine shook her head and stopped thinking. Fisher noticed her brief daze.
At that moment, the train was about to depart, and the wind outside was surprisingly quiet, causing a fleeting daze on Jasmine’s face.
Fisher didn’t say much, just reached out and gently pressed down on her hand that was still on the brochure, softly saying,
“Plans can’t keep up with changes, and since this opportunity is rare, if there’s anything you want to see when the time comes, we can go. If we limit our plan to five days, we might have to make some sacrifices for certain things, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, that makes sense, hehe.”
Jasmine sheepishly touched the back of her head, complying and putting down the pencil she had in her hand. Yet, a new confusion arose on her face,
“So what should we do during this time on the train?”
Fisher extended his hand and rubbed her eye corners, sighing,
“Recharge?”
Jasmine felt a bit drowsy from the rubbing. Thinking about it carefully, it was still morning, and ordinarily at this time during math class, she would definitely be struggling to keep her eyes open. Why was she this energized as soon as she left school and the classroom?
Could it be that math class was truly a natural sleep aid?
However, thanks to Fisher’s reminder, Jasmine actually found a bit of drowsiness. She nodded and comfortably leaned against Fisher’s shoulder, squeezing her little fist as she murmured,
“Um, that’s right. It’s rare to be able to travel; I have to rest well, so I won’t get tired later and will be able to go to more places.”
Fisher couldn’t help but chuckle, and while Jasmine was resting, he turned his head to look down the aisle, repeatedly confirming whether he had that uncomfortable feeling of being followed by Hela.
But the carriage was quiet and pleasant, with only the crisp morning light and the sound of the train advancing quickly. Over time, he too began to feel a bit drowsy and couldn’t help but glance back at the comfortably sleeping Jasmine.
At that moment, she had her eyes closed, a strand of black hair falling near her lips, making Fisher want to reach out and brush it away. But as he raised his hand halfway, he paused, not wanting to disturb her peaceful slumber, and closed his own eyes, gently leaning against the top of her head, forming a supportive embrace.
“Click click click”
The train’s wheels rolled, moving further away from Tokyo.
Beside them, the half-transparent closed train window reflected the images swirling by, shadowed by the morning light in the opposite direction, revealing the people nestled together in the seat.
Just because Jasmine was leaning against the window, the reflection on the train window only clearly showed her, while Fisher was somewhat blurry and unclear.
Upon close inspection, the girl’s image leaning against Fisher on the train window, while similar to Jasmine, was also somewhat… different?
The morning sun had already tilted, making the reflection on the window lag slightly behind Jasmine. If it remained in the past, it seemed to gaze longingly at the shadow of Jasmine.
However, the shadow maintained the same posture, continuing to sleep peacefully, still nestled with Fisher and unwilling to awaken.
Upon further examination, the black-haired face that tightly closed its eyes in the mirror of the train window was indeed the lonely soul who had crossed over thousands of years ago,
Tang Zeming Asuka.
“Click”
Suddenly, a passenger on the other side, bathed in sunlight, found the sun glaring and raised his hand to pull down the curtain hanging on that side of the window to block out the incoming sunlight.
Inside the carriage, sunlight intermittently dimmed, and silently, the uneven shadows on the window with Jasmine seemed to vanish, seemingly completely dissipating or perhaps merging with the now-sleeping Jasmine.
“Wuwuwu, it’s probably like this. Hela, Hela, teach me. If I just give up like this, I definitely won’t be able to sleep at night! And not just today; I won’t be able to sleep every day!”
In the teacher’s office, Hela, holding a cup of coffee, looked somewhat helplessly at the sight before her—Renee was holding her head in her hands, looking like she was on the verge of a headache, with a face full of despair, unsure what to say.
After all, when Renee saw Hela, it was as if a dam had burst, releasing the pent-up tension of these past few weeks. The sensation of feel “sated” moments ago transformed instantly into the plunging feeling of falling into a frigid abyss.
“Ah, they just left like this. Do you think Fisher and Jasmine are secretly doing some… things? I can’t handle it; just the thought of that makes my teeth want to clench down.”
“Mm.”
Hela pouted, resting her chin in her hand, sounding quite troubled as she said,
“Well, if that’s the case, do you still want me to help you?”
“At the very least, let me have a deeper taste of Fisher’s flavor, okay?”
Renee’s fiery expression suddenly froze upon hearing Hela’s words, and she quickly nodded earnestly, saying,
“Deal.”
Listening to Renee’s slow realization, Hela appeared to be in more pain than before. Her casual one-handed chin support nearly made her entire face sag into her palm as she stopped, tilting her beautiful face slightly.
“Such words are exactly what a loser would say, like a pitiful little dog picking up leftovers.”
“Well, what can I do? Fisher walked away with Jasmine right in front of me!”
“Then let me draw you a path. Shall we go?”
“.What path?”
“To chase after him and take Fisher back. How about it? Shall we go?”
Renee opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and nodded.
“Let’s go! But… how do we know where he and Jasmine went? Should we ask Jasmine’s mom and dad?”
Hela smiled slightly, stood up, picked up a paper bag from the floor beside her, and shook her head, saying,
“No need. I’ll always know where he is, just as he knows where I am, regardless of whether he catches up with him.”
Renee seemed to vaguely understand but could comprehend Hela’s meaning. She clenched her fists and stood up with righteous indignation.
“Then let’s set off now. Where… to?”
Hela gently patted her on the head and said affectionately,
“To Tokyo, silly child.”
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(The End)
