"The keepsakes Mother left behind should be on the third shelf of the storage cabinet. I only checked them once when we moved into this house… I've really been a pretty lousy son."
Inside the cramped storage room, Kamiyā Yuu rummaged through an old cabinet. The dust he stirred up, along with a musty smell, made him sneeze several times in a row.
"Ah, finally found it."
He pulled open the cabinet and saw a gift box about the size of a small suitcase. He carefully took it out and opened it. Inside were some gold and silver jewelry pieces, a simple platinum ring, and a pile of miscellaneous items.
"A handkerchief? This should be one Mother used often… and it was Father's first Valentine's Day gift to her. Looks like Father was quite the cheapskate."
Kamiyā Yuu chuckled inwardly. Spreading the handkerchief open, he saw a fairly delicate white lily pattern on it—likely handmade. He folded it neatly and set it aside, then placed the valuable-looking jewelry on top. Among the remaining keepsakes, the only thing of real significance was a photograph—a graduation photo of his father and mother from their university days.
His mother, Kamiyā Kaoru, wore a pure white kimono. Though she had the same smooth silver hair and delicate features as Kamiyā Sora, she possessed a gentle and graceful temperament that Sora lacked. She was a true Yamato Nadeshiko, comparable even to Uehara Etsuki.
However, in the photo, his father Su Yang's right arm was being held by another woman whose face had been deliberately cut out above the nose.
—Whoa. This reeks of melodrama.
"Did Mother do this? No… from what I remember, her personality wouldn't lead her to do something like this. But these cut marks look old. After my mother passed away, I was completely devastated and didn't have the energy to sort through these belongings. The first time I skimmed through them was when I left the orphanage, and even then, I didn't notice anything unusual."
After thinking for a while, Kamiyā Yuu put everything back in order and returned it to its place. No matter what, he had at least gained a subtle but useful clue. Years of watching dramas in his previous world told him that this photograph likely hid a complicated backstory full of twists.
"Yuu, what are you doing?"
Kamiyā Sora's indifferent voice came from behind him. Seeing him rummaging through their mother's belongings, her delicate brows furrowed slightly.
Kamiyā Yuu put the gift box back into the cabinet, locked it, then turned to her with a smile. "Had some time, so I thought I'd organize Mother's things."
Holding her white rabbit plush, Kamiyā Sora—still a bit groggy from just waking up—shook her head lightly. "I'm hungry."
Kamiyā Yuu stood up and walked over to her, amused as he gently patted her hair. "That's what happens when you don't get up properly for breakfast. On days off, just wake up a bit earlier. It's only ten now. There's some bread left in the kitchen—will that do? I'm planning to make your favorite hamburger steak for lunch."
"That's fine," Kamiyā Sora replied.
Kamiyā Yuu walked past her, and she followed. Before leaving the storage room, she cast a complicated glance at the cabinet holding their mother's belongings. A faint, almost inaudible sigh escaped her lips.
"Unnecessary."
...
On the afternoon of his day off, finding himself with nothing much to do, Kamiyā Yuu simply sat in the living room watching a variety show on TV. His personal philosophy was similar to that of the frivolous production assistant Kimura Jirō—rest when it's time to rest, and never slack off when it's time to work. The difference was that Kimura Jirō only talked big, while Kamiyā Yuu actually followed through.
The apartment's living room used tatami flooring, with a table about knee height. Normally, people would sit on the tatami with their legs tucked under the table—something that felt quite awkward if you weren't used to it.
"Next is a history question: Who was the first emperor of the Tang dynasty in China?" the host on TV asked curiously.
Japanese variety shows were undeniably entertaining, but thinking about it more carefully, the performers really went all out. To amuse the audience, they often did things most people wouldn't even imagine. For example, in the show Kamiyā Yuu was watching, a performer had to answer questions, and if they failed, they would receive a punishment—being dropped, seat and all, into a pool of spicy noodle broth up to their waist.
Every performer who fell into the spicy broth looked on the verge of collapse. The more dedicated ones even exaggerated their expressions to keep entertaining the audience. Regardless of their reaction, they all exited the stage quickly afterward—probably to clean themselves off backstage.
—This kind of punishment… how is it any different from putting medicated oil in… certain sensitive places?
Kamiyā Yuu felt a chill between his legs. Not only were these shows exaggerated in effect, but the performers' expressions were wildly over-the-top, practically redefining the limits of facial acting.
Just as he was getting engrossed, Kamiyā Sora walked in holding his laptop.
She wore a conservative gothic-style white dress. The sleeves, trimmed with white lace ruffles, were lightly tied to her arms with ribbons, revealing only her hands. The skirt extended down to her calves, which were wrapped in white stockings, with a slit up to the knee for ease of movement. It was the kind of outfit that wouldn't look out of place even in winter.
Holding the laptop, she walked up beside Kamiyā Yuu and looked down at him with a calm gaze, saying nothing.
Kamiyā Yuu sighed helplessly, already knowing what she wanted. He adjusted his legs and shifted slightly to make space.
A satisfied look appeared on Kamiyā Sora's delicate face at his compliance. She placed the laptop in front of him, then lightly sat on his lap, nestling into his arms.
Kamiyā Yuu asked with a troubled expression, "Sora, isn't it hot sitting like this?"
"Mhm. There's air conditioning," Kamiyā Sora replied calmly, already focused on browsing a video website on the laptop.
Her body was light, and as she leaned against him, the scent of her shampoo and a faint natural fragrance drifted over, making Kamiyā Yuu slightly intoxicated. What he feared most was losing himself in that scent and accidentally embarrassing himself.
His body was enjoying it, but his will was suffering.
He wrapped his arms around her slender waist to steady his posture, resting his head lightly on her shoulder as he continued watching the variety show. As long as he didn't let his thoughts wander, there wouldn't be any uncontrollable reactions.
"Yuu, what are these programs?" Kamiyā Sora asked curiously, rubbing her head lightly against his cheek.
The laptop she was using was actually Kamiyā Yuu's. Since he only used it for work, she was the one who used it most of the time.
"They're software for programming," Kamiyā Yuu replied absentmindedly, still distracted by her scent.
"Programming?"
"Yeah, for work."
Looking at the software icons on the desktop, Kamiyā Yuu sighed with a headache. There were plenty of 3D modeling programs in his previous world, but he couldn't directly bring them into this one. So he had to find open-source or cracked software and painstakingly "port" them over using the most basic code.
Fortunately, the underlying system architecture of both worlds was the same. He had found a modeling program commonly used for 3D animation in his previous world that was compatible with this world's Windows system—MAYA.
Even so, given the scale of the project, it would take him at least a month to fully replicate it onto this world's computer system—and that was assuming he spent all his spare time on programming.