Girl Band, Gravity Capture

Page 47

Moreover, even though her appearance has reverted, Ruoye Mu's inner self is indeed gradually changing, something he can sense. Perhaps given a little more time, the girl herself will be able to show everyone her transformation.

As for today, the original purpose of their meeting... although it didn't immediately help her find the "real Wakaba Mutsu," after talking, Mutsu didn't seem to care much about that kind of thing anymore, so it could be considered that the problem was successfully resolved.

Having achieved their goal, and seeing that it was almost time for dinner, Yuan Xudou said goodbye to the girl and they went home separately.

As they parted, a hint of reluctance reappeared in Ruo Yemu's once calm golden eyes, making him look quite pitiful. Unfortunately, he had promised Su Shi he would go home for dinner that night, so he could only politely decline the girl's silent plea to stay. He patted her pretty head reassuringly and then turned to leave.

Watching his retreating figure without hesitation, Ruoye Mu stood there in a daze for a moment.

It wasn't that I was disappointed that Yuan Xudou couldn't stay—at least, that feeling didn't dominate my emotions.

I just really want to be the next person to make a promise with him.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Crossing the street, returning to his own building, taking the elevator on the separate floor, and then, Yuan Xudou pushed open the door.

"I am back."

No one responded.

From behind him, the dim, yellowish light of the setting sun pierced through his silhouette and illuminated the pitch-black room.

—What is Su Shi doing?

Even though it wasn't completely dark outside, the room was pitch black... She must have drawn all the curtains to create this effect.

However, knowing how the girl did it doesn't mean understanding why she did it.

Slightly puzzled, Yuan Xudou did not hesitate to move forward despite this unusual situation. On the contrary, he walked into the house quite calmly and closed the door behind him.

Anyway, Su Shi couldn't possibly do anything to hurt him, and there was no sign that her usual behavior was going to change from a heavy and gloomy type to a paranoid and yandere type, so he felt that he had nothing to be afraid of.

Following his familiar memories, he walked out of the entrance hall and into the living room, which was also mostly shrouded in darkness.

Here, he finally saw a glimmer of light.

A candle sits in the center of the dining table, its flickering flame casting a faint, indistinct glow.

Across the table, the familiar girl, who wasn't there to greet him at his first return as usual, struck the same familiar pose.

With her hands crossed under her chin and her slender elbows resting on the table, Nagasaki Motoyo, trying her best to maintain a quiet sitting posture, looked over the moment he appeared. She suppressed the urge to speak and simply gestured with her eyes for Minamoto no Koto to sit down in front of her.

On the table, two plates of clearly carefully prepared dishes were already laid out, with tableware and handkerchiefs neatly arranged beside them, along with wine glasses filled with liquid.

...It was a candlelight dinner.

He recalled that the candles that were always kept at home in case of power outages did not seem to be of this type; some of the side dishes on the table were also not in the refrigerator.

In other words, did Su Shi secretly prepare all of this in the afternoon?

She bought candles and ingredients, cooked dinner, arranged the dishes, and drew all the curtains. Alone in the quiet darkness with only the flickering candlelight, she suppressed her loneliness and the habit of greeting him when he came home, all to give the boy a surprise at this moment...

...Such unrealistic and laborious romantic ideas are indeed very much like what a girl her age would have.

But... this feeling is really good.

Knowing that someone at home is thinking of you, spending time and effort preparing and creating little moments of happiness and warmth in your life, just to bring you joy...

　Yueyi*7⑵3 Mingshijiu Qisan Temple was originally just a house for living and experiencing, but because of her existence, it truly has the concept of "home".

It's truly... a feeling that I have no choice but to respond to, Su Shi.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Inevitable Fragility

Genjiro quietly stepped forward and sat down opposite Nagasaki Motoyo.

Seeing this, the girl's lips moved slightly, as if she couldn't help but want to say something to him.

But just as she opened her mouth, her pink lips uttering words that broke the tranquility she had created, Yuan Xudou raised a finger first, signaling her not to speak.

Although she felt a little confused, since the boy had made such a request, Nagasaki Motoyo suppressed her feelings, obediently closed her mouth, and just looked at him affectionately.

In the dim candlelight, the girl's light blue pupils rippled with clear light, like a transparent turquoise lake, perfectly reflecting the boy's handsome face that one could never tire of looking at.

Unable to discern the intentions in his dark eyes, which almost blended into the shadows of the background, Nagasaki Motoyo couldn't help but start to daydream.

What is Xu Doujun trying to do?

'Could it be... that you were moved by my actions and are going to give me some reward?'

'In that case, it would be great if you could praise me... or even better, pat me on the head like you did with Akari-chan.'

Actually, I wanted to be treated more like an adult.

But having spent so much time with Yuan Xudou, she knew he wasn't the type to suddenly make overly intimate moves.

Therefore, Nagasaki Motoyo is prepared to spend several years, or even decades, accompanying her partner.

From junior high to high school, and from high school to university, whether she continues her studies or enters society directly, she will always stay by the side of the young man, accumulating knowledge day by day until she wears away the stone.

Although she occasionally has fantasies like "I woke up and Xu Doujun suddenly confessed to me," it's not that she doesn't hope for such a thing... However, the girl understands where the line between imagination and reality lies, and she won't set her goals too high, lest she disappoint herself.

For the sake of the person she loves, Nagasaki Motoyo is willing to restrain her desires, which seem somewhat excessive compared to her peers.

So... what will he do? Pat her head, or let her lean against something to rest? In any case, he's unlikely to kiss her, or let her sleep here tonight.

Well, it's okay. If it's just this level of attack, it won't be able to defeat me, who has already honed the skill of chatting and laughing with Yuan Xudou without changing expression or showing any abnormality even when my heart rate is too high and my breathing is rapid, all while I've been by his side!

As Nagasaki Motoyo stared intently at the boy's every move, a thousand thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant.

Then, she saw Won Heo-doo pick up the knife and fork in front of him and gracefully select a piece of steak that he had been carefully studying online, all in order to cut a piece that would taste the best today.

— Shall we taste it first...?

However, the moment this thought flashed through her mind, the boy leaned forward slightly.

As she drew closer to the firelight, Nagasaki Motoyo finally saw the tenderness that filled his eyes, which were as bright and dark as the night sky, a tenderness clearer than ever before.

He forked a small piece of steak and brought it to the girl's mouth.

The liberated, gentle, and authentic voice illuminated her mind like starlight.

"Thank you, Sushi."

…………What?

The body is easily captured in an instant, losing the power of free control; the mind also becomes blank at the same time, and all the plans and responses are instantly rendered meaningless.

Unable to think of anything, Nagasaki Motoyo instinctively opened her cherry-colored lips, mechanically put the food in her mouth, chewed stiffly, and swallowed, her silver teeth making a crisp clinking sound as they hit the metal fork.

It was very juicy, and cooked to the perfect doneness; all the preparation work was worthwhile...

--what happened?

Nagasaki Motoyo stared blankly as Genji Hiroto withdrew his fork, pulled back his leaning upper body, and his face disappeared back into the shadows.

He cut off another piece of steak, put it in his mouth, and savored it carefully.

...the forks were not replaced.

In other words, this, this is—

'Xu Doujun initiated, indirectly, by kissing me...?'

A slow-moving mind, belatedly realizing this unbelievable fact.

The girl's heart began to pound violently, the thunderous thumping against her eardrums, pumping restless blood into every inch of her skin.

She unconsciously opened her small mouth, squeezing out a difficult breath from her throat, trying to calm her chaotic thoughts.

—Why are you suddenly being so nice to me? Could it be that Xu Doujun has finally decided to…?

—No, this, this was just an indirect kiss. Come to think of it, we actually use the same set of cutlery all the time, so this kind of thing isn't particularly uncommon...

—Yeah, right! It was Xu Doujun who took the initiative, right in front of me… his voice, and it was so gentle—

—This is definitely a temptation, isn't it? It's implying that he doesn't actually mind, right? That's correct, isn't it?

—Okay, I understand completely now.

Fast forward to sleeping together under the same blanket, premarital pregnancy, shotgun wedding, devoted wife and mother, thriving family, growing old together...

"Soyo."

Yuan Xudou's restored calm tone interrupted the girl's fantasy that in just a few seconds she had already traversed decades and was about to see the end of her life, which was shimmering with the rainbow of happiness and fulfillment.

Faced with Nagasaki Motoyo's expression suddenly darkening and his azure eyes flashing with a darker light than his own pupils, Genji Koto, whose intuition was sending out a danger signal, did not feel resistance or fear, but instead sighed softly in his heart.

...As a result, I became the source of her stress.

The fact that they became so desperate to go deeper into each other's lives after just a slight change in the distance shows just how much emotion the girl had been accumulating and suppressing.

Suppressing these thoughts, maintaining gentleness and consideration, and accepting all his decisions...

Although it sounded subtly dangerous, once he learned the reason behind those inappropriate thoughts, Yuan Xudou couldn't bring himself to hate her for it.

What happened to Wakaba Mutsu today should serve as a wake-up call for him.

The mental state of adolescent girls may be more unstable than he thought.

He didn't want the idea of ​​suppressing Nagasaki Motoyo's feelings to eventually overwhelm her and cause her to do something irreversible one day.

The girl believed she possessed strong self-control, able to endure contemplation and loneliness, and accompany him until the time came when he achieved clarity of mind and their relationship reached its happy ending...

But that's impossible. Just like before she met Yuan Xudou, she thought she could bear the loneliness of playing the role of a good child, but in reality, when she met someone she could entrust her life to, her outward strength crumbled at the slightest touch, and within a few days, she completely surrendered her heart.

Once a crucial event occurs, her fragile will, like a dam breached by a flood, expands rapidly from a small opening and eventually collapses completely within minutes.

Moreover, Nagasaki Motoyo's personality meant that she couldn't convince herself not to be selfish, nor could she truly bring herself to hurt others; at most, she could only say things to herself with a cold face...

If left unchecked, it will inevitably do something unexpected one day, ultimately leading to an outcome that no one wants to see.

So... let's try to comfort her today.

Yuan Xudou got up from his chair and walked towards the girl who was staring at him blankly.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Express Your Feelings with Your Words (Part Two)

A soft breath extinguished the flickering candlelight on the dining table.

The silent darkness completely engulfed the outline of the living room, and coupled with the gloomy atmosphere emanating from Nagasaki Motoyo, it was as if the air itself had turned into a thick, stagnant swamp, quietly clinging to and entangling the senses of the two people trapped within it.

Before the eyes can immediately adapt to the sudden darkness, vision loses its ability to perceive the outside world, and the remaining senses of hearing and touch become exceptionally sensitive.

Nagasaki Motoyo sensed that Genjiro's steady breathing and footsteps broke the stagnant atmosphere. He slowly approached from beside the table and finally stopped in front of her.

Although she couldn't see clearly, she subconsciously raised her head and looked at the outline of the boy's face that was vaguely emerging in the shadows.

Before she could think too much, a warm touch brushed through her hair and gently pressed against the girl's cheek.

The index and middle fingers passed through both sides of the earlobe, the slender and strong fingertips lightly touching the soft skin, and the warm palms were placed in the center of the face. Although they did not touch tightly, there was no gap.

Nagasaki Motoyo had imagined countless times the feeling of those hands wandering over her body, but when Genjiro Toto actually did it, she realized that all her previous fantasies were just shallow conjectures.

The real, touching sensation was many times more intense and wondrous than she had imagined or when she tried it with her own hands.

Ultimately, no matter how rich or heavy her emotions were, she was still just a naive and innocent middle school student... Not to mention the real adult stuff, Nagasaki Motoyo hadn't even experienced her first kiss yet. She seemed to have fantasized about married life countless times, and even picked out names for her children, but in reality, the most crucial parts were just glossed over... She couldn't even fully imagine the scene of kissing.

Faced with Yuan Xudou's direct attack, the girl could only subconsciously raise her hand, press down on the back of his hand, and grip his forearm tightly, instinctively trying to hold on and prevent his hand from leaving as soon as it touched her.

As for what to do next... she didn't know.

I just feel at ease this way, and I don't want this feeling to leave me.

Unconsciously, the melancholy and urgency surging in my heart were easily wiped away by the sense of reassurance brought by the boy's simple action. Like a shadow illuminated by clear moonlight, it vanished in an instant.

The abnormal heartbeat and breathing gradually subsided, and the thought of attacking the other party also disappeared. Nagasaki Motoyo carefully held Minamoto no Koto's palm, as if afraid of disturbing this peace, gently rubbing his palm with very small movements, and not even daring to grip his arm tightly.

She should have been happy about his advances... but the girl's heart was now filled with unease because of this unreal feeling of happiness.

"Why... Xu Doujun, are you suddenly being so nice to me?"

"I didn't mean to say you've been mean to me...it's just..."

Hesitant and timid words were uttered softly by Nagasaki Motoyo.