Mygo, you guys seem to be getting a bit heavy-hearted.

Page 13

The sun that could illuminate her eyes had already gone out yesterday.

"Okay, Mom."

Takamatsu Akari doesn't know how she got up, washed, or went out.

After a dizzying sensation, I found myself standing on the bridge where the sun had first appeared.

The sunlight was very strong.

The sun has disappeared.

Can't see clearly.

Was it in the sky, or did it fall somewhere else?

Crychic has disbanded.

I didn't do it.

My body felt light and airy, as if my soul had been ripped out.

Spring shadow.

nothing left.

What stands here is just an empty shell.

I can't... become human.

The flowers have withered.

Xiao Xiang, Xiao Mu, Li Xi, Su Shi... I'm sorry.

I probably can't go on...

"boom!"

Takamatsu was knocked away.

She was already petite, and the pedestrian who bumped into her used too much force, so the two of them fell to the ground on the bridge.

The scorching hot floor tiles, pressed against the exposed skin of the lamp, quickly turned red.

...but it didn't hurt at all.

"sa...ki-chan...?"

Xiaoxiang?

Is that Xiaoxiang?

"Hey! Are you okay?"

"I think I used a bit too much force and pushed you down."

"But! Suicide is absolutely out of the question! You're still so young. Even if you've suffered some injustice, you still have four-fifths of your life ahead of you. Don't do anything rash!"

...It really is Xiao Xiang!

There's no mistake, there can't be any mistake!

Once again...once again, Xiao Xiang saved me...

"Hello? Can you still talk? Look me in the eyes."

Gao Songdeng subconsciously looked up, only to see a completely unfamiliar face.

strangeness?

The force with which he knocked her down was the same as Xiao Xiang's, and the words he said were almost identical.

Is it strange?

Gao Songdeng asked herself the question, but her soul gave her a negative answer.

Just to be on the safe side, let me ask you this: you were just trying to commit suicide, weren't you?

"..."

The difference this time is that the lamp can no longer give the same answer as before.

Does she really not have any of those terrible thoughts at all?

The lamp itself didn't know either.

Spring's last vestiges had vanished; between the collapsing summer and herself, which would leave first...? She could no longer contemplate that question.

To think about how to continue living... that is a right that only "human beings" possess.

"I knew it..." The older brother in front of me, who looked a lot like Xiao Xiang, rubbed his temples with a worried expression, then stared at me with a stern look. "In short, don't try to do that kind of thing again, understand?"

Gao Songdeng was certain that she had never seen this man before, but she inexplicably felt that he looked very familiar.

Clearly, both in appearance and voice, the man who saved her was completely different from Xiao Xiang, but...

"like……"

It really seems

The feeling was exactly the same as the one Xiao Xiang gave me.

"What?" Yanming didn't hear clearly. From the beginning, this short-haired girl seemed to be immersed in her own world, ignoring what he was saying.

"Sigh... Get up from the ground first. Since I've run into you, I can't just leave you here. Here, give me your hand." Yanming sighed and offered his broad hand to Gao Songdeng.

Gao Songdeng stared blankly, not reacting for a moment. Then, the hand that was resting on her lower abdomen was taken by someone else, and then she was pulled up from the ground by an irresistible force.

Your knee... is scraped.

"A mere minor injury is nothing compared to the heartbreak a young girl suffers," Yanming said, waving his hand.

Then, he walked to the side, picked up the motorcycle that had fallen to the ground, pushed it to the bridgehead, turned off the engine, removed the key, and then spoke again to the girl who was still in a daze:

"You probably can't go to school in your current condition anyway, so why don't you skip it? Hmm—I remember there's a pretty good coffee shop around here, shall we go?"

In this country, going with a complete stranger is absolutely a very dangerous thing.

Gao Songdeng's inability to integrate into the group is simply due to her unconventional way of thinking; it does not mean that she is ignorant of common sense that even children know.

Although the young man exuded a familiar aura and seemed very approachable, simply walking away with him without any explanation was still...

"Thank you for your trouble..." Deng agreed to 'Xiangzi' in a daze, but his eyes kept glancing at Yanming's knees.

Xiao Xiang injured his knee...

In Takamatsu's eyes, the young man's figure gradually overlapped with the blue-haired girl in his memory, and finally merged into one.

Yanming smiled at her and said, "It's my pleasure."

This unfamiliar sentence ending...

No, it's not Xiao Xiang, it's an older brother I don't know!

Gao Songdeng clearly felt his breathing become rapid.

However, her consciousness once again defied her will, and in the blink of an eye, she followed the young man into a lavishly decorated coffee shop, where the older brother who had saved her was waving at her.

"Don't worry, it's on me. You can order whatever you want." Yanming led Gao Songdeng to an empty seat and called over a waiter. "Please give the menu to this young student."

The other person bowed respectfully and gently placed an exquisite menu in front of Deng, but Deng didn't recognize any of the complicated terms written on it.

If Xiao Xiang were here... she would definitely recognize her...

"..."

I can't be so rude, but my throat... I can't make a sound...

So sad……

"A cup of Earl Grey tea, a glass of their signature mango juice, and a caramel waffle, please."

Reading between the lines is a basic skill for adults.

After handing the menu back, Yanming smiled kindly at the lamp and said, "I don't really understand these things either. Seeing that you seemed even more hesitant than me, I ordered for you. Is the mango juice okay?"

Gao Songdeng shook his head.

“That’s good… I also have a girl in my family who’s about your age. She should know better than me how to put a sugar cube into black tea.”

Yanming knew that the first step in starting talk therapy was to find topics that interested the other person and build rapport to the point where the girl would be willing to share her troubles.

A girl of the same age can certainly be a good excuse to start a conversation.

Xiao Xiang, I guess I'll need to use you.

"……Eh?"

Takamatsu Akari cautiously looked at the young man in front of her.

He was very young, only a few years older than me, no more than twenty years old at most.

And there's a girl in the family who's about her age... It sounds like she's a kidnapper...

but.

Deng recalled the scene on the bridge when the young man tackled him.

Probably... not a bad person.

"I met you on that bridge in the morning because I was taking her to school—my child goes to Tsuki no Mori, that famous elite school. Judging from your green school uniform... you must be a middle school student at the school next door, right?"

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Little Girl with the Lights Off is So Cute!

"...Um, junior high school...third year...nice to meet you."

Yanming scratched his nose and said, "Well, if you want to ask for my guidance, you should say your name first, right?"

"Ah, ah... I'm sorry!" Takamatsu Akari realized her rudeness and quickly lowered her head.

“Don’t be so formal, we’re the same age.” Yanming pushed the pancakes and mango juice the waiter brought over in front of Gao Songdeng, then rested his chin on his fingers. “My name is Yanming. May I ask your name?”

Yanming...

The lamp lowered its head even further: "Takamatsu... Lamp."

She suddenly couldn't bear to look at the young man in front of her.

His movements, expressions, and even the way he greeted people were so similar to Xiao Xiang's.

Even though their appearances are completely different, the feeling they give off is essentially the same.

Gentle, kind, passionate

It was as if Xiao Xiang's soul was possessing this man at this moment, continuing to guide him in her place.

Then, Deng noticed that the young man in front of her was clearly stunned after hearing her name, and then his eyes seemed to start to dart away.

"Um... Takamatsu Akari, have you... lost anything recently?"

Gao Songdeng was startled, and his eyes immediately lit up with hope: "You, you've seen it? That notebook, the one with my name on it, like this...like this notebook!"

The lamp kept gesturing with its hands to show the shape of the notebook, looking very excited.

"Ah...ah ah..." Yanming stammered, cold sweat already dripping down his forehead.

I left it at home when I went out today—who would have thought I'd run into her like that? And it seems like this notebook is very precious to her…maybe that's part of the reason she wanted to commit suicide.

...Damn it!

Yanming roared in his mind: 'System! Get out here!'

[Call me, call me, host...]

Upon hearing Yanming's questioning tone, the system instantly activated the "From the Heart" function etched into its underlying code.

'Tell me honestly, were all those things you gave me stolen?'

[…gurgle]

'say!'

I'm sorry...

Hearing this ambiguous tone, Yanming was immediately furious, and at the same time, felt a sense of disappointment and frustration.

"You're really something! Someone as upright as me, keeping a petty thief in my home! How am I supposed to face you, Xiao Xiang, you bastard?!"