The nearest commercial district to the Kurose Clan’s home is called Sunshine Town. They say “nearest,” but it’s actually just over a kilometer away.
But for Rinna, the concept of a kilometer was never measured in meters, but in whether she could walk it or not. Luckily, today she didn’t need to walk.
The city where Rinna and Hisaki lived was called Mountainsea City. Mountainsea City had five districts under its jurisdiction, of which the largest and most densely populated was Banyanfield District.
On the side of Banyanfield District that leaned inward, where high-rises stood in clusters, people were accustomed to calling it “City Center.”
As for the location where Rinna and the others lived, it was jokingly referred to as “the countryside” by those living in the city center. Actually, that wasn’t too harsh… The geography here was farther out; a short walk east and you could see the sea.
Weekdays weren’t too crowded; most pedestrians were nearby residents, their pace slow, and the air carried a leisurely feeling diluted by the sea breeze.
But on holidays, quite a few people would drive specifically to play at the seaside, and then the streets would be livelier.
But today was Friday. A little past one on a Friday afternoon, most people were still zoning out at their computer screens in their companies, or pretending to take notes in meeting rooms.
The streets were sparsely populated; occasionally a young mother pushing a stroller would pass slowly along the sidewalk, or a few high school students in uniform would sneak out during lunch break to buy snacks.
Rinna sat in the Kurose Clan’s vehicle, looking out through the thick bulletproof window. The window glass was so thick it felt like a whole layer separating the world… outside sounds couldn’t get in, and inside she couldn’t hear the cicadas either; she could only see the street scene silently receding.
The ginkgo trees by the roadside were at their most lush, their leaves green to the point of black, glossy and oily under the midday sun.
She had ridden in this car many times, but every time she would sigh to herself in her heart… ‘It’s really damn heavy.’
The whole car was matte pure black, a Mercedes-Benz S-Class extended bulletproof version. The body was restrained and thick, the exterior so plain it had no extra badges except for the three-pointed star logo at the front, which glowed with a faint silver halo in the sunlight. The paint was matte…
The wheel arches were more than a full circle wider than a regular car’s, because the tires were run-flat, with steel liners embedded inside that could continue to support the body for dozens of kilometers even after a puncture.
The sound of the V12 engine, after being filtered through layers of bulletproof armor and soundproofing, reached the inside of the car as only a very faint, steady, and deep low-frequency vibration.
The interior was so quiet it was almost sealed… the cold air from the vents was set to a temperature that just wouldn’t make Rinna feel cold. The seat leather was dark gray, soft and thick; sitting on it, the whole body would sink in gently.
The dedicated driver in the driver’s seat was a middle-aged man, wearing a pitch-black suit with his tie tied immaculately. There was no extra expression on his face… not coldness, but a disciplined calmness that had naturally formed after many years in the Kurose Clan.
He held the steering wheel with both hands, always maintaining a pace that wouldn’t make Rinna feel jolted, the transitions between acceleration and deceleration so smooth they were almost imperceptible.
His gaze was always fixed ahead, occasionally glancing at the two in the back through the rearview mirror, then quickly returning.
A few minutes later, they arrived at Sunshine Town. The driver parked in a designated spot outside the north gate of the commercial district, turned off the engine, got out, walked around to Rinna’s side, and opened the door. His movements were clean and crisp.
After opening the door, he stepped back half a pace, one hand supporting the top edge of the door, his body slightly leaning forward… it was a standard, countless-times-trained welcome posture. Door.
There was no expression on his face, but that silence itself was more reassuring than any smile.
Rinna stepped out of the car door, the soles of her black leather shoes landing on the gray tiles, making an extremely soft “tap.” She looked up at the driver and said quietly, “Thank you.”
Her voice was so light as if afraid to disturb something. The driver didn’t respond… no nod, no smile, no “You’re welcome.”
He just maintained that posture, waited until Rinna was completely steady, then released his hand from the door frame and walked around the front of the car to open the door for Hisaki.
Rinna was used to it. That’s how the Kurose Clan people were… they weren’t being cold; they were just doing everything in silence.
After Hisaki got out from the other side, the driver returned to the driver’s seat and closed the door.
The Mercedes S-Class’s V12 engine emitted a low roar again, and the car smoothly drove away from the parking spot, soon disappearing at the end of the tree-lined avenue outside the north gate, lined with ginkgo trees.
That car clearly had other important things to do… in the Kurose Clan, a car never set out for just one destination.
Hisaki walked over to Rinna’s side and naturally linked her arm with Rinna’s.
“Let’s go eat first.”
Rinna nodded.
After taking ibuprofen, the menstrual cramps in her lower abdomen had indeed eased quite a bit…
The layout of Sunshine Town’s commercial district wasn’t complicated, but it was large in scale. The entire district was surrounded by six twenty-four-story buildings forming a huge ring, like a circle of silent gray giants holding hands, embracing the open plaza in the center.
The six buildings were numbered clockwise starting from the north gate… Buildings 1 and 2 were in the west, 3 and 4 in the south, 5 in the east, and 6 in the north.
The north gate was the main entrance of Building 6, which was also where Rinna and Hisaki currently were.
The plaza in the center had a four-story atrium; it was the core area of the district. Looking up, you could see the glass dome blazing white under the midday sun, light leaking through the gaps in the steel frame, drawing crisscrossing patterns of light on the ground.
Just after one o’clock, the two had lunch in the dining area on the third floor of the plaza. When they finished and came out, it was already 2:14 in the afternoon.
The midday sun poured down through the glass panels of the dome, illuminating the entire central plaza brightly.
The water jets in the fountain sprayed upward rhythmically, the spray breaking into silvery white sparkles in the sunlight, landing on the pool surface and stirring up concentric ripples.
Fragments. A few young people sat on the edge of the fountain eating ice cream. Drops of condensation on the paper cups dripped down their fingers.
In the distance, the soft music from the mall’s broadcast could be heard occasionally, interrupted by the sound of the fountain and the chatter of passersby.
Hisaki stood to Rinna’s left, holding Rinna’s hand. Rinna’s fingers were still cool even in the June weather… That coolness seeped through the skin of Hisaki’s palm bit by bit, like a small movable piece of winter in this sultry afternoon.
Hisaki thought, ‘Would it be even more comfortable if I held Rinna in my arms?’ Rinna’s body must be cool all over; holding her would definitely be harder to let go of than just holding her hand.