"Are you free today?"

"What's up?"

"The weather is so nice, how about we meet at Toyosu Park to read books? You bring 'Love's Exile,' and I'll bring 'Paradise Lost,' and we can swap."

"So you're into this kind of literature."

"No, I'm just interested in the heroine, Linzi."

"Is that so? It's a pity I'm not interested in Dubian at all."

"Be clear! You mean you're not interested in 'Dubian Chunyi,' right?"

"I'm not interested in Dubian."

"Don't tell lies or truths, Miss Kiyono, you're really something! I intentionally didn't say 'interested in the heroine Lin' just to tease you, and here you are teasing me!"

"You not saying it actually surprised me, it's not like the playboy persona you love to play."

"I only tease Miss Kiyono."

"Ah, that sounds about right."

"What do you mean? I've never had that kind of persona!"

"Anyway, you were definitely going to say 'I'm only interested in the heroine Lin,' then hesitated, thinking about your girlfriend, so you changed 'Lin' to 'Linzi,' expressing your endless love for me in a roundabout way."

"Are you monitoring me, or are you really a 'God'? What's this 'endless love' you're talking about?"

"I know exactly what you're thinking."

"Devoted: 'The most special is her, above all is she, my god, Kiyono Lin.'"

"My disciple, tell your god, what time?"

"9:00, I'll treat you to lunch, you can eat the fish I catch myself."

"Going fishing? Weren't we going to read?"

"Eh, didn't I tell you? I bring a book when I go fishing."

"Don't tell lies or truths, Mr. Dubian, you're really something."

"Proud: 'The great Dubian Che.'"

"Indifferent: 'Dubian Che.'"

"Paul Ekman's 'Lying'?"

"Commendation: the well-read Dubian Che!"

"Miss Kiyono, I think you need to learn from me how to compliment someone."

"Oh?"

"'Even your fingertips are a beautiful color,' how about that?"

"Let's read a book by Kawabata Yasunari today."

"The well-read Mr. R! See, don't you like the way I compliment?"

"Caught using a famous quote, pretending it's your own, a good tactic to relieve embarrassment, making it hard to dislike."

"9:00, Toyosu Park, today at Tokyo Bay, definitely a must!"

"Looking forward."

Dubian Che wore a T-shirt with an abstract print, overlaid with a red and black checkered shirt—front still open, bought by Meiji, and navy blue casual trousers.

After changing, he picked a book by Kawabata Yasunari from the shelf.

Passing through the living room, he saw the champagne roses on the table, delivered that day.

He went out, picked up the roses, and neatly inserted trimmed branches in the book.

It looked as though a rose had grown from the book.

Dubian Che thought for a moment, then removed the flower, plucking only one petal to leave in the pages.

Putting on his shoes in the entranceway, he slung his ready fishing tackle box over his shoulder and left.

He took the Tobu Line to Yorozu Town, changing trains before getting off at Toyosu Station.

Today in Tokyo, many areas enacted traffic control, a marathon underway.

The weather was lovely, clear, calm, a perfect day to catch some sun.

Exiting the station, not far ahead under the shade of beech trees, was a bench where Kiyono Lin sat reading.

Dressed in a blue and white windbreaker, light blue denim jeans, her beautiful black hair cascaded to her waist.

Her striking beauty and mystical aura made her seem unapproachable.

As the sun rose, bathing the entire eastern hemisphere in light, but to nearby passers-by, it seemed as if the sun had risen just for Kiyono Lin, all its rays focusing solely on her.

And that beech tree.

Although a common street tree, that single one seemed to have been planted specifically to shade her.

Dubian Che approached her.

"'The Dancing Girl of Izu'?" he noticed the book in her hands.

"Read it?" Kiyono Lin lifted her delicate, fair face.

"Using this chance to revisit a book already read is interesting." Dubian Che took out his own book, "Have you read this?"

"'The Harbor of Young Girls'?"

"It tells a delicate story: Chisako first makes sisters with Yangzi, turning down Kezi. After Chisako and Yangzi spend happy times together, on a vacation, she is attracted to Kezi, ultimately the three become good friends."

"Your thoughts are really pure." Kiyono Lin took the book, standing up.

"Pure, in terms of contemplating life, is a pursuit of a mental state. It's not ignorance, it's a level of life stripped of noise and vanity." Dubian Che also took "The Dancing Girl of Izu."

"It seems you have a problem understanding, let me put it bluntly —you're too naive."

"Naive, pure-hearted, sincere, devoid of any pretense or falsehood..."

Kiyono Lin sighed as if exasperated by him, "Mr. Dubian, please have some self-awareness."

"Eh? Are you saying that 'pure' and 'naive' was scolding me?"

Both walked side by side toward Toyosu Park.

The sky so blue, the trees so green, the scent of Kiyono Lin's shampoo so sweet.

Entering the park, they crossed a lawn bustling with kids and adults, descended a slope dotted with cherry trees, and reached Tokyo Bay.

There was no beach.

The ground underfoot was a concrete walkway, Tokyo Bay separated by a railing.

Looking left and right along the fence, many chose this weather to fish here.

Dubian Che picked a spot with a bench.

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