♥Futarigurashi♥Kotarou lives Alone♥

Chapter 19 - Good bye

Rio was holding a cake box in her left hand and her toolbox in her right as she's making her way home. Rio was in a good mood because the customer was so happy with her service and promised Rio they will recommend her to her friends, family, and colleagues. Rio was glad she's able to network well. She decided today's a special day and she bought cakes for her neighbors at the Shimizu apartment to enjoy. "I'm sure they will like this. I wonder which one old man will like? Knowing Kotarou, he will choose the one with Tonosaman's face on it. It's a good thing Aota is not here; one less person, one less cake. Hm?" She noticed there was a man standing in front of Shimizu apartment. Who was he? He didn't look friendly. He looked annoyed as if he's waiting for someone to come out. She secretly took a photo of him in case anything went wrong.

At the same time, Karino came out of his room. What was he doing out at a time like this? 

"Gotta...hic...take the trash out..." But he's not holding any trash. 

'Holy crap, he is drunk and re-enacting himself taking the trash out!' Rio was about to give him a piece of her mind but then the strange man who looked annoyed at Karino's presence and was making a move to go near Karino. "Oh, what the-?!" 

"Hee~ all items are burnable..." Karino drunkenly said. "I learnt a lot of things from research! I should use what I learnt on Rio~." 

The strange man was about to grab Karino but Karino fell forward and landed onto the trash bags that were already there at the collection spot. The man was about to grab Karino again but Rio grabbed the man by the shoulder. "Oi, fucker...don't go touching that old man. I'll kill you." 

The man was about to argue with Rio but when he saw Rio was holding a pipe wrench while looking at him like she really will kill him, he chose to walk away...when he walked away by ten steps, he thought it was safe to look back but Rio smacked the lamp post with her pipe wrench, alarming him because the noise resounded loudly into the night!

"Get out of here before I kill you." It was a promise, not a threat. 

"Geh!" The strange man really ran away. 

Rio stopped looking like she will bite him to death when he ran away for sure. "Hmph. That's what I thought." She went back to fetch her cake box and to make sure Karino was not part of the trash to be collected.

"The next time we're alone, I won't be an old man." When Karino drunkenly said that, Rio wondered just what on earth was he talking about...

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The next day, Rio only told Tamaru about the strange man from last night. Why? Because Karino was not someone you'd want on your team if you want to show off fighting prowess and Mizuki was too delicate to rough someone up and Rio didn't want her to feel scared because a strange man was standing outside of their apartment building. 

"That being said, Rio, don't go dealing with these people by yourself. You must tell me and let me deal with it. It's what a man should do." Tamaru reminded her.

"I wasn't by myself. Old man was there." 

"By being drunk? Why is it that Karino always go out of his way to embarrass himself? You need to tell him what kind of danger you were in last night." 

"I have a feeling if I tell him what happened last night, he will feel sorry for that guy." 

"Yeah I can picture him doing that."

"Just who is he?" It was a good thing she took a picture of him. If she didn't, it will be hard to describe him. 

Tamaru looked at the picture from her phone. While the picture was clear, even Tamaru had no idea. If it was someone he had wronged in the past, he will know them. It was obvious the man was not a neighbor either.