Chapter 279: Sister? I'll Settle for Being a Little Sister

In fact, Okubo Yoko herself knew that between her and Ren Amamiya there was only that life-saving kindness.

But she hadn't helped Ren Amamiya much; on the contrary, she had always been the one taken care of by Ren Amamiya.

"I originally wanted to help you, but in the end, I'm the one who was helped."

She had originally thought that, as an adult, she could help a boy.

But Okubo Yoko could tell that this boy was extremely strong-willed; on the contrary, she was the one who needed help.

"You guessed I was alone, so you wanted to help me?"

"Mm."

Okubo Yoko's original idea was quite good — this boy had saved her life, so she ought to give him some help in return.

But the result was completely the opposite.

Ren Amamiya felt it wasn't necessary; he had already weathered the most difficult phase, and his days were now starting to move in a better direction.

However, he wasn't opposed to this goodwill, which was like repaying a debt of gratitude.

Otherwise, he would have sent her packing long ago.

Okubo Yoko suddenly raised her head.

"Did you know from the very beginning? 12"

Ren Amamiya gave a slight nod.

"Your intentions were way too obvious."

"Those few times you came over on your own initiative before — you might as well have written 'I'm here to be your big sister' right across your face."

Reflecting on those previous encounters, Ren Amamiya could only shake his head helplessly.

"If we're talking age, it's actually quite fitting."

"But when it comes to reliability, I feel more like I'm looking after a little sister."

"Mm…"

The fact that she didn't seem like a big sister at all — Okubo Yoko herself had done some soul-searching on that.

But she just didn't know why; in front of this quiet boy, she always inexplicably felt pushed down a notch.

He had clearly seemed inarticulate at first, but now he felt like he could talk quite smoothly.

"Speak up! Were you deliberately acting like you weren't good with words?"

"I'm just not good at socializing."

"Then apart from the very beginning, every other time we've talked, you've been perfectly fine?"

"Because I'm not good with strangers. The more contact we have, the more words gradually come out."

What Ren Amamiya was worst at was socializing.

Because he didn't know how to find suitable topics, and worried that what he said wouldn't be picked up, he simply wouldn't take the initiative to talk with others.

In this situation of not actively socializing, it was even harder to interact with girls.

This was also the root cause of Ren Amamiya's difficulty in dealing with girls.

If he was alone in his room, he would still occasionally say a few things.

But in front of strangers, he really couldn't squeeze out a single word for the longest time.

No way around it — social anxiety is just like that.

"Oh, that explains it."

Okubo Yoko finally understood what was going on.

Social anxiety really was like that.

Ren Amamiya briefly interrupted the conversation and pointed instead at the front door of his house, which was still open.

"Even though this is a two-unit-per-floor layout and only the two of us are neighbors on this floor, isn't it a bit cold to be talking out here?"

Very timely, a gust of cold wind blew over.

Okubo Yoko felt her toes get several degrees colder.

"It really isn't appropriate."

"Then you go back first. I'll bring over the yam and pork rib soup I just stewed, and we'll eat together tonight."

Saying that, Okubo Yoko didn't give Ren Amamiya any chance to refuse, and breezed back into her room in a whirlwind.

Ren Amamiya was left standing outside, shaking his head helplessly.

He wasn't opposed to this kind of contact between friends, but as for a big sister — forget it.

It was really hard to treat this whirlwind, always somewhat unreliable female celebrity as a big sister.

An energetic little sister might just about work.

He pulled the suitcase at the door and walked into the house.

There was no need to close the door either — on this floor, only the next-door neighbor could come in, so there was no need to worry about that much.

Outside was cold, and inside the room was even colder.

Perhaps it was because of certain residual traits left by the malevolent spirit, or perhaps because no one had been home for the two days of the weekend, the entire house's temperature felt even colder than outside.

There was also a faint smell of dust.