"That's good."
Hearing Fang Qiu's answer, Hu Tao's smile grew even brighter. She started telling Fang Qiu about all the interesting things she'd come across lately.
From the high reaches of Liyue Harbor's politics — things like the latest decree issued by Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing — all the way down to something she'd spotted just yesterday while making her rounds by the seaside: a blacksmith at his forge, hammering out the Demon Sword from Sword and Fairy.
Fang Qiu sat quietly beside her, listening, chiming in every now and then with a word or two.
She wasn't saying much, but she found she truly loved this — just listening. There was something deeply comfortable about it.
After soaking for roughly the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Fang Qiu finally rose and spoke.
"That's about enough, I think. Shall we head back?"
It wasn't that she'd had her fill of the bath. It was more that falling into the river and changing clothes had eaten up a good chunk of time, and if it got much later, she wasn't going to enjoy walking home alone.
Never mind that past a certain hour, most of the lanterns along the streets would go dark — even with the lights still burning, walking those roads at night was unsettling enough. Empty streets. Lanterns swaying in the cold wind. The sudden clatter of stray dogs and cats rummaging through trash cans echoing out from pitch-black alleyways.
The whole scene was straight out of one of those horror films from her past life.
She had absolutely no intention of spending the entire walk home jumping at shadows, only to crawl into bed clutching Tingyu and still have nightmares.
"Mm."
Hu Tao gave a small nod.
The two of them rose and made their way out of the bathhouse. Getting dressed again set off another round of flushed cheeks and racing hearts between them, and then at last they stepped back out into the night.
It was late now. Liyue Harbor had fallen into a deep quiet, and a clean, cold breeze swept through — instantly dissolving that warm, dizzy feeling that had been lingering around them.
"Well then. Until next time."
Fang Qiu gave a soft little wave.
"Mm. Until next time."
Hu Tao nodded.
After parting ways with Hu Tao, Fang Qiu made her way home alone.
The light inside was still on — she hadn't bothered to turn it off before heading out.
The moment she opened the door, Tingyu glanced over in her direction, then quietly tucked herself back into her little nest without so much as a greeting.
"Lazy cat."
Fang Qiu shot Tingyu an exasperated look. Could she not take a page from Sanmi's book? Sanmi at least had the decency to come and welcome her owner home.
She closed the door behind her, slipped off her shoes, shed her outer clothes, washed up, and then collapsed onto the bed in a heap. She pulled the blanket over herself, and sank into a deep, heavy sleep.
—
The following day. Dusk.
Fang Qiu was curled up in her Jumpy Dumpty with Tingyu in her lap, lazily reading a book, when Wanwen Bookhouse was hit by its second wave of customers.
This was the ripple effect — novel enthusiasts who had already finished Your Name recommending it to everyone they knew, sending them streaming toward the bookhouse in turn.
What caught Jifang off guard, though, was that today's crowd was noticeably larger than usual. There was already a line of several dozen people snaking out from the entrance.
At the very back of the queue, two young men were chatting away.
"Damn it, my little sister had never touched a novel in her life, so when I came home yesterday with Your Name, I was grinning the whole time. That girl is a menace at home — always picking on me — so I parked myself right next to her, fully ready to watch her bawl her eyes out. Figured it'd do my heart some good." The tall young man shook his head, exasperated. "And then what? Old Thief Fang Qiu goes and turns over a new leaf on me. I'm furious."
"So you're here to buy Your Name again?" the short one asked.
"No. I'm here to buy Your Lie in April."
"Hiss… you really are something else."
Just then, a younger boy wandered over. He'd caught the tail end of their conversation and couldn't help but speak up.
"What's wrong with Your Lie in April? I just finished Your Name yesterday and I was thinking about picking up Fang Qiu's other books."
"Nothing's wrong with it — it's an exceptional work, honestly," the tall young man said immediately. "It's the book that made Fang Qiu's name, after all. Really wonderful. I'd strongly recommend you grab The Eternal and Sword and Fairy while you're at it — the quality on those two is just as outstanding. Those who break their contracts shall suffer the Wrath of the Rock, I never lie."
"Really?"
"Of course. They're genuinely incredible works. All of them." He nodded firmly.
The boy's face lit up with pure, earnest longing. "Alright, I'll trust you — I'll buy the whole lot. This is the first time I've ever read something that felt so… warm. The rumors must be true. She really is a beautiful, gentle older sister — someone like that couldn't possibly write something this healing otherwise. The part at the end where Miyamizu Mitsuha and Tachibana Taki finally meet — I actually cried. It was so moving. I want to become an author too someday. I want to write something that touches people's hearts like that."
The two older youths looked at him with expressions of quiet, helpless pity.
—
At that same moment, inside Yanfei's law firm.
Yanfei sat at her desk, expression hollow, staring at the last page of Your Lie in April — a page she had already turned to.
On that page: Miyazono Kaori, dying in the snow. Time passing. April drawing near.
The April where we met is coming. The April without you is coming.
That was the final line of the text.
Yanfei's tears spilled over before she could stop them.
She had wanted so badly to see Miyazono Kaori and Arima Kousei end up together. For that hope, she had spent one of her precious weekly days off today — and what she had gotten in return was an ending this heartbreaking.
She didn't understand.
Why wouldn't Fang Qiu give this story a happy ending?
During that final sequence — watching Arima Kousei play the piano — Yanfei had convinced herself, over and over, that the moment the performance ended, Miyazono Kaori would be alright. That she would pull through.
But when the music stopped, Miyazono Kaori's life stopped with it.
Yanfei wept, utterly unable to stop herself.
____
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