Tokyo: My Superpower Refreshes Every Week-Chapter 456 - 454: Shouko Can’t Be Contacted Without Reason_1
August 3rd, Thursday.
Early morning.
Hojo Shouko woke up early. During the holidays, she never slept in and always set her alarm to wake herself promptly at six in the morning every day.
The air in the bedroom was slightly cool. She slipped out of her pajamas, revealing her blue and white underwear, then changed into a light blue camisole dress from the wardrobe. She stepped in front of the mirror to quickly straighten her hair. Hojo Shouko didn’t like long hair like other girls; she preferred short hair, and even among short-hair enthusiasts, she was in the minority. She kept her hair short not for looks, but simply because it was easier to manage and clean. Putting down the comb, Hojo Shouko turned and left the bedroom to busy herself preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
Even during the holidays, her mornings were no different from school days. If her parents were at home, she would prepare breakfast for them and her older brother. If her parents worked overtime and slept at the company, she would just prepare her brother’s breakfast. Doing these chores, even at her young age, Hojo Shouko didn’t feel tired; on the contrary, she enjoyed the work. She was happy to be able to help her hardworking parents.
If there was any regret during the holidays, it was undoubtedly that she couldn’t prepare lunch for Aozawa-senpai. Since the summer vacation had started, they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, only chatting about manga plots through their mobile messaging app, occasionally sharing what they were doing.
Hojo Shouko sighed softly. She felt inexplicably agitated, yet there was nothing she could do about it.
After all, what could she do? She and Aozawa were merely senpai and kouhai—or, to put it another way, she was his good friend’s younger sister.
Without a reason, it was impossible for them to meet during the summer vacation.
Even chatting required the pretext of her brother’s manga; otherwise, it was hard for her to press the send message button.
In her heart, Hojo Shouko felt a bit envious of Phoenix Academy’s Senior, who probably didn’t need to worry about anything and could meet with Aozawa-senpai every day during the holidays.
She flipped the fried egg and began to fry sausages. The Hojo family’s breakfast was simple, leaning towards Western style: fried eggs with fried sausages, and finally, a warm glass of milk. Her and her brother’s portions were served on plates with milk in glasses. For her parents, it was different; she packed their food in disposable paper bags and poured their milk into a thermos. Then, she proceeded to make her parents’ lunch bento.
After that was done, she laid out the breakfast and the lunch bento on the table. She timed it perfectly, as she soon heard footsteps thundering down the staircase.
"I’m going to be late!" Her father wailed, sounding like a student about to miss class.
Her mother retorted, "I told you not to oversleep! Why didn’t you listen to the alarm?!"
"You have the nerve to say that? Weren’t you the one who said we should sleep for just three more minutes?!"
Her parents bickered while quickly straightening their clothes, washing their faces, and brushing their teeth.
"Shouko, thank you for your hard work."
"It’s okay, Father, Mother. Here’s your breakfast and lunch for today." She smiled as she handed them their meals.
"Thanks~"
"My precious daughter is so considerate, unlike that bratty son of mine! Now I feel motivated for work today!"
"Stop your nonsense and let’s go!" His wife nudged him toward the door.
Married for many years, the couple’s affection for one another was still strong, no different from when they were passionately in love. Hojo Shouko admired this and truly hoped that she, like her mother, could find a partner like her father in the future.
She turned and went to the ground-floor bedroom, knocked on the door, and called out, "Brother, it’s time for breakfast."
After three knocks, a reply came from inside, "Okay."
...
Breakfast was quickly finished. Hojo Tetsuji wiped grease and milk from his mouth with a napkin, then hesitated before asking, "Shouko, are you really okay doing this alone?"
"Brother, don’t worry. Leave the coloring to me; just go and gather manga material with Yoshikawa-senpai." Hojo Shouko cleared the plates and volunteered for the day’s coloring work.
Hojo Tetsuji scratched his head, still looking hesitant. Thanks to Aozawa’s advice the previous day, he’d had a burst of inspiration and drawn sixty-five manga pages in one go. Although it was a black-and-white manga, areas like hair, sword blades, and tree shadows still needed to be inked black. His meticulousness in these details was why his manga had been serialized for so long. However, Hojo Tetsuji had already arranged to gather manga material with Yoshikawa Sayuri today. To complicate matters, a burst of inspiration the day before had led him to draw so many pages at once. Most of the characters in his manga had black hair; only the character modeled on the young lady didn’t require her hair to be inked. This resulted in an exceptionally large workload for coloring his manga.
"Shouko, are you sure you’re okay?"
"I told you to leave it to me, Brother. Go ahead with your ’manga material gathering’ without worries."
"It’s not a date," Hojo Tetsuji defended himself, blushing, then sighed. "It’s just scheduled manga material gathering."
Having explained this, he stood up and left the house.
"Have a safe trip~"
Hojo Shouko waved goodbye. Once again, she was home alone. She washed the dishes, put away the cutlery, and wiped her hands on a paper towel. Instead of rushing to color, she first swept the house, both inside and out.
After ensuring the home environment was clean, she took out the stack of manga originals and laid them on the living room table. Ink and brushes were neatly arranged. Hojo Shouko prepared to color all these manga drafts. Dipping her brush in ink, she carefully began to fill in the hair on the manga originals. It was a task requiring immense patience; one careless slip could smear ink on an original, likely ruining it beyond recovery. She worked very seriously.
...
DING DING!
The crisp sound of the doorbell made Hojo Shouko jump slightly in surprise. Putting her brush aside, she stood up and walked to the door, calling out, "Coming!"
Reaching the entryway, she asked, "Who is it?"
"Little Red Riding Hood, please open the door. It’s the Big Gray Wolf."
Hearing the familiar voice, Hojo Shouko’s face showed a hint of surprise. She quickly put on her shoes and opened the door.
Outside, the sunlight was brilliant. A handsome, clean-featured young man stood at the door. He wore a white T-shirt and black casual pants. Raising a hand, he said, "Good morning, Shouko."
"Aozawa-senpai, why did you come over?"
"It was that guy Tetsuji, practically begging me to help with the coloring. He sounded so pitiful, I came over to lend a hand."
"I’m so sorry. I already told Brother I could handle it myself." Hojo Shouko bowed, a flicker of apology on her face.
Aozawa smiled. "Tetsuji said you’re stubborn. If he left it all to you, you’d insist on coloring everything yourself. How could one person handle work meant for two?"
"Aozawa-senpai." Hojo Shouko still wanted to gently refuse his help.
Aozawa patted her shoulder. His broad palm landed on her shoulder. The thin dress strap was all that separated her skin from his touch, making it feel almost as if nothing was there. Hojo Shouko shuddered. Her earlobes grew hot, and she felt as if she were standing naked in front of her senpai.
"Tetsuji and I are good friends. You don’t need to be so polite. You can ask me for help whenever you’re in trouble."
"But manga coloring isn’t something a layperson can just do..." Hojo Shouko murmured softly, worried his help might make things worse.
Aozawa’s smile was a bit sheepish. He patted his chest. "Don’t underestimate people. Mere coloring is nothing to me."
With that, he stepped inside, took off his shoes in the entryway, and walked into the living room. Seeing the brush on the table, he asked, "Where’s Tetsuji’s other brush?"
Hojo Shouko closed the door and said, "Please, take a seat, Aozawa-senpai. I’ll go get the brush."
"Alright."
Aozawa glanced around the living room and noticed the floor had been swept. "Are you responsible for the house cleaning?"
"Yes, I don’t have much else to do when I’m free."
"Shouko, you really are diligent, a true homemaker."
To Aozawa’s compliment, Hojo Shouko, entering her brother’s bedroom, replied, "It’s just a small thing." She picked up the brush from the table and turned back to the living room.
Aozawa picked up the manga on the table and looked at it.
Hojo Tetsuji really trusts me, Aozawa thought. Entrusting me with something like this is pretty daring. Then again, aside from me, Hojo Tetsuji probably doesn’t have any other friends he could ask. Handling these manga originals all by herself is clearly overloading Shouko.
Hojo Shouko returned to the living room and asked, "Aozawa-senpai, would you like some tea?"
"No need. I came here to help, not to enjoy your hospitality." Aozawa shook his head and said, "You start coloring and let me watch. I can learn just by observing."
"Okay." Hojo Shouko placed her brush on the table, sat down, and began to explain, "Senpai, when you’re coloring, you must be very careful. Make absolutely sure not to go outside the hairlines. You must be precise and color strictly within the designated areas. Be careful and color slowly," she instructed.
As she spoke, she carefully inked the protagonist’s hair black with her brush. Her movements were gentle, like a breeze caressing a face without stirring a single strand of hair.
"Oh." A hint of admiration appeared on Aozawa’s face. "Shouko, you’re really meticulous."
Hojo Shouko shook her head. "It’s nothing. Just remember, Aozawa-senpai, be extremely careful and don’t rush."
"Leave it to me." Aozawa sat down, also took a manga original, and then dipped a brush in ink.
Hojo Shouko watched his movements nervously; coloring was not an easy task. Especially for a beginner, it was quite common to accidentally drip ink outside the lines. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
She really didn’t understand why Brother thought Aozawa-senpai could do this kind of work right off the bat. Isn’t this just asking for more trouble? Hojo Shouko sighed softly.
However, Aozawa didn’t make any mistakes. His formidable physical conditioning, combined with his willpower, allowed him to control his hand movements with precision, ensuring not the slightest tremor. He was as precise as Star Platinum, filling in the black of the hair without a single drop spilling outside.
"Aozawa-senpai, are you sure this is your first time coloring?"
"Sword Dao and coloring share a common principle of precision. I’m not an impatient person," Aozawa replied, his expression animated. He grinned. "So, can I help out now?"
"I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you earlier, or even thought you were here to cause trouble." Hojo Shouko bowed in apology.
Aozawa feigned a stern expression. "Make me a delicious lunch. If I’m satisfied, I’ll forgive you."
"Yes!" Hojo Shouko nodded emphatically, taking his joke to heart. She resolved to go all out, to cook her very best dishes and make Aozawa-senpai truly happy.
