Chapter 146：You Take My Burden Away

"こんにちは (Konnichiwa-Hello)," Aiko greets while bowing her body deeply. Both of her hands are carrying a furoshiki* wrapped box. "I.. I made you a bento for lunch," she says, handing the package toward Takeshi while lowering her head. Takeshi awkwardly accepts it. "Thank you. But really.. you don't have to," he says politely. "It is nothing," Aiko tells him while waving her hand. "I used to make lunch for father. So I thought I just made one for you, too," she explains, keeping her head low. Takeshi glances at Hiroshi who just shrugs. "Thank you," finally Takeshi can only say that while bending down his body. "I.. I better leave," she says while bends back to Takeshi. They are bending their bodies to each other repeatedly until Aiko closes the door. Takeshi stares at Hiroshi with a look to ask for his opinion. Once again Hiroshi just shrugs. "She just makes my job easier. What should I complain about ?" Hiroshi then says. Takeshi takes his shoe off and throws at Hiroshi while Hiroshi quickly dodges with a loud laughter.

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"Why are you so quiet ? Are you jealous ? Should I reject her offer next time ?" Takeshi asks in worry to know Xiao Ping didn't respond anything after he told her about Aiko gave him a lunch box. "No, I'm not jealous," Xiao Ping types to answer him, "I.. I'm envy her."

"Envy ? What are you envy her about ?" Takeshi is confused on Xiao Ping's unexpected response. "Nothing," Xiao Ping then answers after a minute. Takeshi furrows his eyebrows. "Babe.. come on, why don't you tell me ?" He tries to coax. "It's a silly matter, really," Xiao Ping still dodges. "A silly matter won't make you unresponsive that long," Takeshi urges. "It's also something that you can't do anything about. So it is better for me not to tell you since it will only burden your mind," Xiao Ping explains. "My mind doesn't mind being burdened by you," Takeshi replies. "Come on, Love.. just forget about it, okay? You also kept something off of me to avoid them being a burden on me," Xiao Ping says. "It's work stuff. It has nothing to do with you," Takeshi insists. "Well, it is girl stuff. It has nothing to do with you also," Xiao Ping stubbornly replies. Takeshi sighs. His girl is very stubborn.

"You know that by not telling me is still going to burden my mind, right ?" Takeshi changes his move. "I know. I'm sorry. I should not tell you the first place," Xiao Ping answers, still refuses to tell him. "Let's sleep then," Takeshi suggests to end the conversation. "Are you mad at me ?" Xiao Ping asks. Takeshi lets another sigh out. "No. I'm just curious. And worry," Takeshi answers truthfully. "Don't think about it. It is really a silly matter. Nothing needs to be curious about, even less to be worried," Xiao Ping says to him. She then sends him a kiss emoji and says good night. She goes offline after Takeshi replies her.

Xiao Ping sighs. She scolds on her self to bring up such a silly thing. She knows that Takeshi is very busy and hectic, so she should not tell him that she is envy in the first place. Xiao Ping sighs again. When Takeshi told him that Aiko Waseda brought him a lunch, her envious suddenly growth. At first she thought it was jealousy to Aiko, but after she analyzed it for a minute, it was more to envious. She wanted to be able to bring Takeshi lunch out of the blue. She wanted to be there physically for him, to support him with a little massage, or reminds him to eat, or well.. anything. Xiao Ping just envies that Aiko can do what she can not do to give Takeshi her attention. Xiao Ping is so far away from Takeshi and she feels so useless as a girlfriend. But this condition.. nothing can be done about it. Takeshi also can not do anything to fix it. So it wouldn't be a good choice to let him know about it, right ? It will only make him feel guilty while it is not his fault.

*Ting*

A chat notification. Who would it be ? With a furrowed-eyebrows Xiao Ping takes her cellular from her bedside. Takeshi.

"I forgot to thank you for always waiting for me to come home all this time. No matter how late I was, you still loyally waited for me. I can't be grateful enough for that. Just to be able to spend the end of the day to talk with you is the most precious moment for me. Maybe you don't realize it, just talking to you, even though only for a short moment, takes my burden away. And that's all I need. I really do not need anything else from you. You don't need to envy Aiko. She's the one who should envy you. You have my love, she doesn't. So nothing that she would do is matter for me, even less compared to what you do. So, once again.. Thank you, My Shiawase, My Love. Sweet dream. I love you so much."

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*Furoshiki is a Japanese traditional wrapping with clothe that usually used to transport food, gift, or other small to medium stuff.