Looking for another woman?
No way!
Ryou Fujibayashi's first instinct was to deny it; she really didn't think Lin Ye would have any reason to come see her before going off to find some other woman.
"Sister, don't talk nonsense—Lin-kun isn't that kind of person,"
Ryou Fujibayashi explained, and faced with her little sister's defense of him, Kyou Fujibayashi only felt that her sister trusted Lin Ye far too much,
because now that her body had fallen, her heart had fallen a step further as well.
"You should know that right now he's still being flirtatious with other girls."
Hearing this, Ryou Fujibayashi's spirits dipped a little,
"I wonder if you noticed—there's a faint scent of perfume on him, a woman's perfume."
"Hm?"
Ryou Fujibayashi thought back, but couldn't recall anything at all.
"Sister, surely not!"
she said, somewhat hesitantly.
"Not even sensitive to the smell of perfume—you really have given yourself over to him body and soul,"
"..."
"Ryou, you—you've got to be on your guard. He needs managing, otherwise he'll go and put on a show of finding even more women in no time at all."
"Lin-kun—Lin-kun is not that kind of person,"
"Heh heh,"
"Besides, besides I'm not even… his… girlfriend yet."
In that instant,
Kyou Fujibayashi buried her face in her hands.
This little sister of hers was still hung up on titles—you've already handed yourself over to him, the two of you are this intimate already, so you should just manage him directly, instead of still waiting around for that so-called acknowledgment of status.
"Next time, push him—make him confess to you."
"Uh… mm,"
Ryou Fujibayashi knew her sister was doing this for her own good.
Though she felt that keeping things as they were, without pushing, would be fine too—Lin Ye was now willing to set aside time every day to come see her, and kept in contact with her every day,
which was unlike anything before.
After first meeting Lin Ye and being saved by him, their relationship had grown closer, but generally speaking, Lin Ye wouldn't take the initiative to message her—it was always she who reached out first.
But after this incident, Lin Ye had taken the initiative to show concern for her, and that concern was something she saw and held dear.
As long as things could always stay like this, Ryou Fujibayashi could accept it.
Still, she knew that if she said as much to her sister, her sister would probably be furious—probably want to grab a dictionary and give her a good whack to knock some sense into her.
...
...
After getting off at the tram station, Lin Ye kept walking in the direction of Sora's home according to his memory.
The same road,
no wrong turns,
Lin Ye arrived before a residential house.
"This is the place,"
It was now nine o'clock—not too late; the starry sky was dotted with twinkling stars, glittering with light.
Yet the house before him sat in pitch darkness, without the faintest glimmer of light.
Although the girl lived alone and wouldn't go to bed very late at night, at this hour there wasn't a trace of light, which Lin Ye found rather strange.
He took out his phone and dialed the number.
Beep, beep, beep, beep...
After a short while,
the call connected.
"Hello,"
The voice was very soft, a girl's sweet voice, yet carrying a thread of sorrow as well.
As if the girl were sunk in grief,
stirring up an unhurried feeling of pity in others.
"It's me, Sora—the Big Brother who saw you home a couple of days ago."
Lin Ye's tone was calm,
"Mm, I remember,"
Lin Ye still didn't see any light come on in the house.
Still not turning on the light?
Should he take a look with perspective?
"I bought a matcha mousse cake, brought it specially for you."
"Eh!"
In that instant, there was the slightest change in the girl's tone.
"I'm right at your front door,"
At this moment,
the window of a pitch-black room on the second floor opened,
and under the light of the starry sky, Lin Ye saw the girl appear at the window.
She stared blankly down at Lin Ye, who was waving up at her in greeting.
"Today I came here especially for you, Sora,"
Those words sounded exactly like a big villain harboring ill intentions.
An ordinary girl living alone could never possibly accept them.
Even an adult would be the same,
but that silver-haired girl, Sora Kasugano, clearly did not fall within that category.
'Thud, thud, thud...'
Soon, the sound of footsteps rang out.
The door opened,
"Here,"
The first thing Lin Ye did was lift the cake and wave it before the girl.
"How did you know I like to eat cake?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she reached out and took it with both hands.
Not the slightest bit of ceremony with Lin Ye.
"Don't girls generally like sweets?"
"..."
She glanced at Lin Ye, then suddenly leaned in close,
"Sniff, sniff, sniff..."
Sora Kasugano sniffed at Lin Ye,
How was this like a little silver-haired kitten?
That was Lin Ye's impression.
She took a deep breath, as if confirming something.
"The scent of a woman, and more than one at that,"
When she finished, the look she gave Lin Ye was exactly the kind one would give a scummy lecher.
"Then shall I head back?"
"..."
Clearly, Sora wasn't willing to let him either.
She then turned around, neither saying anything to signal that Lin Ye could follow her in, nor refusing him.
Lin Ye followed in without standing on ceremony—the girl hadn't refused, which meant acceptance.
Stepping through the entrance, Lin Ye distinctly felt the temperature drop.
At least three or four degrees colder than outside, by the feel of it.
This cold—could Sora's slender little frame really endure it?
Moreover, even after going inside, the girl still hadn't turned on the light; the room was a dim haze.
Lin Ye could still make out the general layout, though,
"Sora, I'm turning on the light."
"Mm,"
Her answer carried the slightest hesitation, but in the end she agreed.
To Lin Ye, this seemed like the girl had already grown used to living in darkness, and instead found his act of turning on the light a little odd.
'Click...' came a sound, and the dim room lit up,
Lin Ye saw clearly the layout of the room.
It was much like the layout of an ordinary house,
and perhaps because only the girl lived there, there were very few things,
Lin Ye had thought there would be a lot of household trash strewn about, and had even mentally prepared himself to tidy up for the girl, yet there was none.
Maybe in the bedroom where the girl rested?
He couldn't help thinking.
"Please, sit."
With that,
she pointed to the sofa,
"All right,"
Lin Ye came over to the sofa, and after sitting down, found the feel of it a little different.
Dust—there was a faint layer of dust on this sofa.
Clearly,
this sofa hadn't been used for quite some time, and no one had cleaned it either.
Living alone, Sora basically never spent time in the living room, so naturally things like the sofa and coffee table went uncleaned.
After a little while,
she came over carrying a glass of water,
"Please, drink,"
"Thank you,"
Lin Ye took it,
The silver-haired girl sat down on the sofa beside Lin Ye, and only then did she realize the problem with it,
"I, I… forgot to clean it. I'll do it right away…"
"No need, it's fine, I don't mind,"
Lin Ye held back the girl who was about to leave.
Up to this point, Lin Ye hadn't detected any problem at all.
If it were something connected to the Strange, the Strange Game would issue a mission under conditions that triggered it, so right now either there was no Strange thing present, or the trigger conditions simply hadn't been met yet.
Lin Ye leaned more toward the latter.
He felt he needed to go take a look at the girl's bedroom.
The place where the girl spent the most time living was where the likelihood of a problem existing was greatest.
Sora sat down, her eyes resting on Lin Ye, her two slender little legs swinging now and then, as if passing the time out of boredom.
"Aren't you going to eat the cake now?"
"After brushing my teeth at night I can't eat anything—Mom said so,"
"..."
How to put it!
The girl still obeying the words of her deceased mother was a good thing, but compared to that slightly willful girl in the original work, Sora,
this obedient one gave him an added touch of illusion.
Of course, Lin Ye also knew that the portrayal in the original work couldn't serve as how she actually behaved now in reality.
There were still differences between the two; the personality and behavior shown in the original work could only be taken as reference,
everything should be measured against reality.
"Since Big Brother is here, you can eat it!"
Lin Ye said, "I give you permission to eat it—really, Mom won't get angry or blame you,"
"Really?"
Her eyes were hesitant, but she seemed to hold high expectations for eating the cake, thoroughly tempted.
"Really,"
Having received Lin Ye's affirmation, Sora immediately rose and headed for the kitchen, taking out the cake she'd put in the refrigerator.
It was just that there was rather a lot of dust in the living room, so Lin Ye took the initiative to stand and suggest moving to the dining room off to the side.
Since the girl used the dining room daily, it was a bit cleaner over there,
She opened the cake box,
and breathing in the faint, wafting scent of cream,
Sora couldn't hide the smile at the corners of her mouth.
It was a happy smile, a wistful smile.
Lin Ye gazed at the girl's profile, his heart filled mostly with sympathy.
A beautiful, happy life, yet one that had met a sudden calamity and come to an end—both parents and her elder brother had died in a car accident, a disaster out of nowhere.
"Here…"
After taking a bite and basking in that happiness for a moment, Sora quickly came to her senses and split the little cake Lin Ye had brought in two.
She pushed one of the halves over in front of Lin Ye.
Those bright eyes gazed at him, expectant and nervous, as if afraid he would refuse.
"Okay,"
Lin Ye accepted it, and once he had it, he began to eat.
The faint scent of cream spread across the tip of his tongue,
sweets always make it so easy for a person to feel happiness and joy.
Soon,
the little cake had vanished completely.
Leaving behind only a few crumbs.
Lin Ye pointed at the girl's cheek; she tilted her head, not at all understanding what Lin Ye meant.
This prompted Lin Ye to take out a tissue and wipe the corner of the girl's mouth.
As she stared blankly, she realized what had happened.
After Lin Ye finished wiping, she turned away, glancing aside and lowering her head slightly.
A little uncomfortable, and a little shy too.
The silence lasted a few minutes.
"Sora, how have things been lately?"
"..."
She clearly didn't know how to answer.
"Have you run into any difficulties in your daily life?"
She was still silent,
"Have you been going to school?"
Silence, as before.
"Not going to school just won't do,"
"..."
"Staying home alone all the time will only make your mood worse,"
Seeing that Sora still didn't answer, he didn't rush her, but went on speaking calmly and gently, "If anyone at school bullies you, Sora, I'll go settle the score with them, give them a harsh lesson, and make them pay the price,"
"No one does."
At last, faced with this question, Sora answered, "School—I don't like it."
She didn't want to go to school, simply didn't want to.
"I don't like school either—I don't want to go to school either."
This answer made the girl slowly open her eyes, as if she'd found a kindred spirit,
In her view, she'd thought Lin Ye gave off the air of a good, proper student, the sort who surely wouldn't dislike school.
"I used to skip class and not show up all the time, and got scolded by teachers often."
This was a fact too—even now, after he'd crossed over here, this kind of thing had still happened; though it was by accident, it had indeed led to Shizuka Hiratsuka-sensei and Tachibana-sensei coming to his door.
"You stopped going to school?"
"I went."
Sora was startled again,
"Why?"
Since he didn't like school and skipped class, why still go to school?
"Because..."
Lin Ye raised a smile, "because there are lots of cute, pretty girls at school, just like you, Sora,"
Her eyes instantly widened in surprise,
"Let me show you,"
As he spoke,
Lin Ye took out his phone and found a photo.
"Cute, right!"
Lin Ye was referring to Yukino Yukinoshita.
Sora saw the girl in the photo—a beautiful girl with long black hair, a delicate face cute to the point of being criminal, cool, clear eyes glittering with peerless charm.
Sora knew she herself was cute too, but compared with this girl, even she felt she seemed to fall just a little short.
She looked at Lin Ye, unable to help wondering whether Lin Ye liked this girl.
"I once confessed to this girl,"
The moment this topic came up,
Sora instantly grew interested.
No girl can resist the topic of romance.
"Did it work?"
"Of course… she rejected me."
Lin Ye's whole manner shifted, "From childhood on she's never lacked for pursuers and admirers; how could a man like me catch her eye? It was only natural that she rejected my confession back then,"
"You… you're very nice."
Sora's tone was a bit hurried, as if she very much wanted to express the view that Lin Ye was a good person, so that Lin Ye wouldn't feel inferior or upset.
"Really?"
"Really, very nice—you're a good person."
"..."
Lin Ye fell silent instead, not knowing what to say.
Even he, of all things, couldn't accept being handed the "nice guy" card.
"Really, you really are a good person."
Her anxious manner made Sora's sincerity all the more palpable.
But the content of those words made it all the more pitiful.
How sorrowful for Lin Ye.
And just as the girl was preparing to speak again, he spoke up, "Sora, I know, I know, all right, all right,"
But Sora could still sense that Lin Ye couldn't quite accept it—that feeling—and this was her intuition as a girl.
"Just don't tell me I'm a good person—I don't want to be handed the nice-guy card."
After Lin Ye's round of explanation, Sora finally understood the other layer of meaning behind calling a man a good person.
"I, I..."
"It's fine, I know you don't really understand, Sora. In any case, I know the impression I have in your heart, and I'm still happy."
"Mm."
She gave a soft "Mm."
"I go to school just to look at cute girls—seeing them puts me in a good mood,"
"Look here..."
Lin Ye opened another photo, "My junior—not bad either, right! Pretty cute, huh!"
It was Isshiki,
That playful look made even Sora realize this girl was a completely different sort of person from her, from a completely different world.
But inexplicably,
she felt a bit envious too,
because she lacked it, because she couldn't be cheerful and outgoing, which was exactly why she envied such an extroverted, cheerful girl.
...
...
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