Starting a New Life in Tokyo by Inheriting a Shopping Street [9]

In all honesty, Chiba Shuuichi really wasn’t trying to avoid the home visit—he was just being considerate.

In his previous life, he’d seen it all: young professionals charging into the workforce full of ambition, only to be broken by workplace pressure within a few months, sobbing on the phone to their parents.

Middle-aged men crushed by corporate life, dragging their exhausted bodies home every night for the sake of their families, only to one day snap and break down in tears.

Getting driven mad by marriage pressure. Falling into despair over real estate prices.

All of it—far too common.

Unfortunately, Nase Sumire didn’t believe a high school student could have that kind of empathy. To her, it just looked like Chiba was trying to play games. So she snapped right back into serious-teacher mode.

The rest of the train ride was quiet. Chiba, bored, glanced around the carriage and took another look at Nase herself.

She was tall—definitely over 170 cm—with impressively long legs and a well-balanced figure. Apart from being a little on the lean side, she didn’t have any flaws to speak of.

Frankly, Chiba thought she had the build of a model.

After they arrived at the station, Nase, who had been following behind, began to frown as she watched which line Chiba was heading for.

Something didn’t add up.

According to the records, Chiba’s home wasn’t in this direction.

Arms crossed, she narrowed her eyes. “What are you trying to pull this time? If you think you can waste my time with some kind of wild goose chase, don’t bother."

"I’m not leaving today without meeting your parents. Tomorrow’s Saturday. I’ve got all the time in the world to wear you down.”

A teaching career without at least one battle of wits with a student wasn’t complete. Nase had long since accepted this part of the job.

Chiba glanced over. “You must have a lot of free time, Sensei. Then again, makes sense. Single people don’t usually have weekend plans.”

Before she could get mad, he quickly added, “But don’t worry—I’m not trying to avoid anything. It’s just that since you insist on meeting my parents, we’ll have to go to Haneda Airport to buy plane tickets.”

“…Haneda Airport?” Nase froze.

“Yep,” Chiba said smoothly. “My parents are working in South Africa. If you want to see them, we’ll need to hop on an international flight.”

He even helpfully calculated the route: “From Tokyo, it’s a direct flight to Dubai, then a transfer to Johannesburg. Roughly twenty hours. Should be just enough to go there and back over the weekend.”

“…”

Nase stared at him in disbelief, a vein twitching in her forehead. All I wanted was a quick home visit—why does it suddenly require flying to South Africa?!

Chiba put on an innocent face. “Still want to go, Sensei? I mean, it’s a bit of a trek. Being a teacher sure is tough.”

Nase’s teeth ground audibly. A part of her wanted to call his bluff and actually book the damn flight.

But the more reasonable part of her kicked in almost immediately.

Was it really worth giving up her entire weekend?

She could be passed out at home for two days straight. Or visiting Akihabara. Or cranking out two new cosplay sets.

Just the thought of it was enough to kill the idea. She cleared her throat.

“Ahem. Well then… if your parents are overseas, it wouldn’t be appropriate to disturb them. I’ll give them a call later instead.”

“The signal where they work is pretty bad. You probably won’t be able to reach them.” Chiba saw that she’d backed off and resisted the urge to gloat—but she looked so conflicted, he couldn’t help poking her again.

“Then I’ll just send an email,” Nase said through gritted teeth. “They can respond when they’re back in range.”

Not wanting to give him more room to twist the knife, she quickly switched tactics. “Well, even if I can’t meet your parents, I can still check where you live. Let’s head there.”

She fully expected Chiba to panic, but to her surprise, he just smiled with perfect composure.

“If that’s what Sensei wants, I don’t mind at all.”

That reaction unsettled her.

Something’s off… This student’s not as easy to handle as the others. Maybe he really does have something up his sleeve…

Still, she couldn’t back down. If she let herself get looked down on, how would she ever maintain her authority as a teacher?

They transferred trains.

Somewhere along the way, Nase had a sudden chilling thought—What if I really had gotten on that flight to South Africa? What if it wasn’t a joke? Would I have been… trafficked?

She shuddered.

God, I’ve read too many thrillers. I’m becoming paranoid.

But then she glanced at Chiba again, calm and mild as ever, and felt another wave of discomfort—Is he… playing me like a fiddle? Am I just letting him lead me around in circles?

This is bad.

Chiba, oblivious to her spiraling imagination, calmly led her off the train and through the narrow alleys until they arrived at the entrance of Chisuzu Shopping Street.

“You live here now?” Nase asked skeptically. “That’s not the address listed in your student file.”

“I moved over the summer,” Chiba said casually, and kept walking.

It wasn’t until they stepped inside the management office that Nase finally snapped.

“You’re not seriously telling me you live here, are you? Isn’t this the leasing office for the shopping street?”

“That’s right,” Chiba said, dropping into the desk chair like he owned the place. “I handle leasing for all the shopfronts.”

He pointed outside. “The entire shopping street is mine. Any other questions, Sensei?”

Nase wondered if she’d heard wrong.

She turned to look out the window—at the rows of shops they’d passed—and then back at Chiba.

There was no trace of sarcasm or jest on his face. Just quiet sincerity.

Then he delivered the final blow.

“As I mentioned before, I filled out my career survey very seriously. I’m being completely realistic, Sensei.”

Nase stood frozen, slack-jawed.

It took her several long seconds to even blink. And when she did, her heart twisted.

She worked so hard every day, putting her all into teaching, and she still couldn’t afford to buy her own place. She was stuck living with her parents, getting nagged to get married every week…

And here was her student—owning an entire shopping street.

Life is so unfair…

I wanna cry…

She slumped into a chair, deflated. “…Alright. I guess your survey was pretty serious. I won’t press the issue.”

“That’s great news,” Chiba said with a smile.

Still, Nase forced herself to rally, trying to salvage a shred of dignity as an educator.

“But that doesn’t mean you can just slack off in class. Learning isn’t just for jobs—it helps you grow, develop character, meet great people, build your network. Those things are important.”

“You’re absolutely right, Sensei.” Chiba nodded earnestly. This wasn’t lip service—he genuinely agreed.

And for a teacher to bring up something like “networking” with her students? That meant she took her job seriously.

But to Nase, his easy agreement just sounded patronizing. Like she was being humored.

She felt like she’d lost the whole day. She couldn’t even hold on to her professional dignity.

I’m a failure!

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T/N: AHHH SHES SO CUTE SHES 26 RIGHT? NOT MUCH OF AN AGE DIFFERENCE AAAAAAAAA

This is a fan translation of 从继承商店街开始东京生活 by 净消尘土 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!