Episode 52 Cappuccino.
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It wasn’t a lie that Aina said that it was difficult to learn from the second meal.
Although I had devoted almost all of my time to honing Ryujin except for lecture time and the time required for physiological phenomena, my skills showed no sign of improving.
Occasionally, there were days when I couldn’t resist Priscilla’s urging and met Priscilla, but it is a self-evident fact that the time I spent on training was much longer.
Nevertheless, the only technique I could use properly was to use a mixture of forward rotation and rotation at best.
Due to my dislike of hard work, I had many thoughts of giving up halfway through, but even looking at Aina’s face, I couldn’t do that.
Even though my growth is slow, I don’t get angry at all and quietly guides me by my side, how can I say I’m quitting now?
“Stop it, let’s do this for today.”
“why? Do you still have a lot of time left?”
“It’s okay to take a day off.”
It’s an unexpected break.
That doesn’t mean I’m feeling particularly good though.
Even if I have free time anyway, there is nothing to do in particular.
All I do is watch a movie in the dorm room.
I don’t even see it these days.
“Okay then, see you tomorrow.”
“Wait, do you have any appointments or things to do after this?”
“No. I am free.”
“then… Would you like to go for a walk together?”
It seems that this is the first time Aina asks what to do first.
It may not be the first time, but it feels like the first time for me.
It’s more likely that I can’t remember because of my bad memory.
“That’s right, what. Where are you going?”
“It’s the North Gate. Isn’t that the only place to go for a walk?”
“It is.”
“Then let’s go.”
Aina leaves the training ground first.
Naturally, I followed her.
Her footsteps at the forefront seem particularly cheerful today.
Because it’s light, it’s a word that doesn’t really go well with Aina.
It really can’t be that bizarre.
Until now, her footsteps had been infinitely cold, heavy, and quiet.
It will probably look strange in the eyes of other people as well.
“Are you in a good mood today?”
“You see?”
“Oh, you look so good, don’t you?”
It is surprising that Aina, who does not make a single footstep sound even while wearing hard-soled shoes, walks like that.
Even a person who is completely ignorant of it will immediately notice that it feels good.
“You seem to be in a better mood than usual.”
Aina is honest.
However, there is one thing that is not honest about it.
It’s time to talk about your feelings.
Because she has hardly ever revealed her honest feelings until now.
I have no intention of criticizing it.
Is that also Aina’s personality?
Her honest feelings would come out of her mouth.
A lot of amazing things are happening today.
“Why are you talking like that?”
“Are you the one who said that in order to feel better, you have to confide in what’s on your mind?”
did you remember that
It’s a nice line, but hearing those words from Aina’s mouth makes me feel weird.
“That’s right.”
“There are days when I feel good. I just don’t express it.”
“Have you ever had a good day?”
“Why not?”
There doesn’t seem to be any.
This is not strange to me.
The usual Aina looks like that from anyone looking at it.
By the way, we’ve already been to North Gate Park.
“After all, I am the North Gate rather than the West Gate.”
“So do I.”
“You don’t like the North Gate, do you?”
“Yeah, I mean, you hate the preface.”
Given Aina’s personality, it is natural to dislike the introduction.
Because she hates messing around with other people needlessly.
I’m not that fond of prefaces, but I’m not on the same level as Aina who dislikes prefaces.
It’s just that it’s a little difficult to adapt to that futuristic city atmosphere.
It’s no longer the future.
Here is modern.
“I like the North Gate. It’s one of the few nature-friendly spaces in Ainir, isn’t it?”
“I don’t really care about that. It’s just that there is only the North Gate in a quiet space, so I hear it often.”
“Certainly, the more people there are, the more inconveniences there are. Loudness is a typical inconvenience.”
“It’s not that I hate a lot of people. A lot of people who don’t like it hate it.”
A lot of people who don’t like it hate it.
It’s not wrong.
Because everyone will.
“Then, you can go to a place where there are a lot of people you like.”
“What if there is no one you like?”
“Are you going to make someone you like?”
“… So who do you like?”
“What do you mean by what you like? friend? Sane? family?”
“Just, that’s all.”
That’s a really difficult question.
The question ‘what kind of person do you like’ seems simple but difficult to answer.
Of course, there are those who say that you don’t need a good reason to like someone.
I do not deny that opinion.
There are people who like you for no reason.
However, most people obviously like people for some reason.
Some people may like their good looks, some people will be attracted to their flamboyant talk, or many will be attracted to their vast wealth.
“The question is too broad to answer. Simply put, wouldn’t you like someone with a lot of strengths?”
“Then, do you hate people with more flaws than you?”
“It’s not.”
“What is that.”
Aina sticks out her mouth so minutely that she can’t see it.
Still, she is difficult to read.
There was a tree hanging over it, so even the light did not come in, so it was only faintly visible.
It doesn’t look bad though.
“I don’t like many people either. Because you don’t have to like everyone. But, I think so. If there is joy where there is someone you like, wouldn’t it be better to make someone you like?”
“Wherever you go, is there someone you like?”
“Of course.”
People tend to go to places they like.
“A place I go often… .”
“If you think about it the other way around, you could say that there is someone you like where you go often.”
“Is that so?”
“You don’t want to go to places where you feel uncomfortable, do you?”
“I will.”
Aina falls into thought.
Not wanting to disturb her contemplation, I followed her silently.
And, we stopped at one place.
It was a space where the trees were not overgrown, and the light of the rising full moon permeated through.
“Hey.”
Aina turns her head to face me.
Only now can I see her face properly.
The face reflected in the moonlight was unusually bright without being childish.
“It was a lie.”
“what?”
“I don’t have anyone I like.”
The question of who it was made up his throat, but he didn’t ask.
I didn’t have the courage to listen to an answer.
But, she seemed to be waiting for my question.
Unfortunately, I’m not a great person to break Aina’s stubbornness.
In the end, I was the first to speak up.
It wasn’t a question of who it was.
“But why did you say no?”
“I thought no.”
“Then, did it happen all of a sudden?”
“No, I didn’t know. And now I know who it is.”
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
My chest is throbbing and I have chills all over my body.It feels like being stabbed in the head with a needle.
Still, it didn’t hurt.
“The one I like is you.”
When was it?
It’s not that I didn’t notice.
It was just something I wanted to ignore.
The fact that she likes me is burdensome.
Because I’m not on her level.
Because I’m not a clean enough person to set foot in her supreme heart.
“At first I thought no. I thought it was just a funny story to have someone I like where I go often. But, I have changed my mind.”
Aina catches her breath once.
It’s the first time I’ve seen her tensed face.
“I was a person who had never thought of anything other than the iron rules of my family all my life. So far, I have followed that rule well. Until you show up.”
“The first iron rule of the Mitsuru clan is, ‘Whoever opposes you, cut it down with your own sword’. And, I never cut you down.”
“I couldn’t even achieve the second iron rule, ‘Poke the vital point to those who betray you’. I knew you were friendly with Priscilla. When I found out, I felt a sense of betrayal. Even though there was no good reason for it. Isn’t that weird? Still, I didn’t do anything to you.”
“The third iron rule is, ‘Doubt those who claim to believe in you’. Why? I couldn’t doubt you.”
“The fourth rule, ‘Enable the incompetent,’ I thought you were incompetent. But, it was me who was incompetent. I didn’t have the ability to make you competent.”
“So, I will only follow the fifth and last iron rule. No, I was keeping it. even I did not know.”
“’Give everything to the one you love. Even if you break the rules of the family.’”
Aina comes to me.
His determined eyes grew closer and closer.
“Do you know the language of the flower I just stepped on?”
The flowers that were cut under her feet catch my eye.
The yellow flowers in full bloom still maintained their shape.
Yellow flowers blooming at night.
that
“The flower language of the evening primrose is waiting. And, I won’t wait anymore.”
Her lips overlap mine.
The first kiss tasted like milk foam on a cappuccino.
Then it tasted like fishy blood.
Because she bit my lips.
She licked the blood that flowed from the pale scar.
“I remembered.”
What did you remember?
this moment?
Or, taste my blood?
“Now you’re mine. There’s nothing I haven’t had before. until you show up You stole everything I should have, so I’ll have you instead.”
Leaving only the words that were not known whether it was a confession or a threat, Aina left.
What happened to me, I still don’t know.
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That was one abrupt confession haha