Anime Crossover: About How I Spoiled an Angel

Page 336

She habitually pulled out another cigarette, put it in her mouth, and the lighter hovered in the air as usual.

The wind suddenly picked up, and she reached out to protect the fire she had just started, then skillfully lit the cigarette.

A moment later, wisps of white mist drifted into the sky, but gusts of wind quickly dispersed them, and the wind disappeared as well, as if no one had ever been there.

Hiratsuka Shizuka's smile faded. She suddenly felt weak all over, so she had no choice but to lean against the wall.

She tilted her head slightly, and the sky was no longer so blue.

The sun was about to set, and visibility was starting to dim.

Hiratsuka Shizuka let her right hand fall limply, and the cigarette fell to the floor, unpicked up.

In that instant, I forgot what I was going to say, and I no longer liked smoking the cigarettes I had always enjoyed.

"Am I... really not suited to be a teacher...?"

……

Dark crows swept across a corner of the Tokyo sky, their dark plumage clearly dividing the day into day and dusk.

It was already afternoon and school was over, but Mahiru was not in Class C classroom and had not waited for Su Qing.

Has he already gone to the Service Department?

"Yui, where did Qing go?" Mahiru walked into Class C and went straight to Su Qing's seat.

Yui is packing her schoolbag right now, and there's a cute pink dumpling keychain hanging from the knuckle of her right index finger.

"Didn't he come to see you?" Yui paused for a moment, her unease growing stronger.

She pursed her lips. "Xiao Qing wasn't in his last class this afternoon either. I don't know where he went..."

"No class?" Mahiru was also stunned.

"Hmm... Could something have happened to him?" Yui leaned forward unconsciously, her voice slightly anxious.

"He probably had something urgent to attend to and didn't have time to tell me..."

The phone vibrated at that moment. Mahiru opened it and saw that it was Su Qing.

The message was simple, just three words: I'm at home.

"See? So it's okay." Mahiru herself breathed a sigh of relief, and then took out her text message and smiled at Yui.

"Phew, that Xiao Qing is just trying to scare people! I'm going to beat him up next time I see him!"

Yui's tense nerves finally relaxed, and she pressed her hand to her heart, still shaken.

It's jumping really fast there now.

"Okay, then I'll help you too." Mahiru covered her mouth and chuckled twice, then waved her hand. "I'm not in any clubs, so I'll be going now."

"Yeah, bye~"

"Bye-Bye."

……

I was walking home alone.

It's strange, even though it's the exact same road, it felt very short when I walked it with Su Qing and the others this morning.

Now that I'm walking alone, the road seems so long, long enough for a person to walk for ten years or so.

What kind of nonsense am I thinking?

Mahiru lightly patted her cheek. Instead of thinking about these random things, she should think about what to eat for dinner.

Thinking about things more practically might make the journey seem shorter.

This method really works.

Just as Masuna was still trying to come up with the last dinner idea, she had already returned to her apartment.

"I haven't finished thinking about it yet..." Mahiru said, somewhat troubled.

There were too many things to worry about along the way.

Ultimately, there are many dishes I want to make, but it's impossible to make them all at once.

"Let's ask Qingjun for his opinion..."

Mahiru decides to give the other party the choice of the last dish.

As the girl thought about it, she took out her key and opened the door.

After a series of twists and turns...

The door didn't open.

?

Mahiru's forehead formed a small "川" (river) shape.

Didn't you figure out your own door lock and Su Qing's?

But in the past two months, Mahiru has opened it countless times, and she's as familiar with it as opening her own front door.

She took a step back, glanced at the house number—it was correct…

So, why is the surname missing from the house number?

Neon house numbers do exist.

Just like the sign outside Mahiru's house that reads "[Shiina]".

Unless no one lives there, there should be one.

The girl was puzzled, but the door quietly opened at that moment.

The boy's face was hidden behind the door, as if he had been waiting for a long time. He glanced at the key in Mahiru's hand, then looked up and said:

"I changed the lock. By the way, why didn't you ring the doorbell?"

"Huh? I see. I... I thought I went to the wrong place."

Mahiru lowered her eyes awkwardly, her voice softening.

"But why did you suddenly change the locks? And Yui said... you didn't seem to have class this afternoon, is something important going on?"

"Come in first." Su Qing opened the door and walked in front. "It's not anything urgent, but I have something I'd like to talk to you about."

"okay."

I still didn't tell her why I changed the lock.

Mahiru pursed her lips nervously, her right hand unconsciously clenching the hem of her clothes.

She took a deep breath in place before going inside.

After putting down her schoolbag, Mahiru sat on the sofa in the living room, where Su Qing was also there.

"Can we talk about this now? Or should I cook first and we'll talk after we eat?"

Mahiru, having calmed down, inquired.

"No need to do it... I mean, you don't need to do my share anymore, from now on."

"What...what does that mean???"

Mahiru's pupils contracted sharply. What Su Qing said was really too strange. What did he mean by not having to do his share anymore?

It was almost as if they were leaving.

Without realizing it, she took the initiative to move closer to the other person.

This time, however, Su Qing shifted her body and stepped back, maintaining an invisible distance between them.

"I-I'm sorry..." Mahiru was stunned by Su Qing's actions, and she calmed down and sat back down.

Su Qing gently shook his head, then suddenly asked, "That day at the hospital, I said I liked Yui. You heard me, didn't you?"

Su Qing asked the question with absolute certainty, leaving Mahiru with no way to avoid it any longer.

"Yes, I did hear it..." Mahiru bit her lower lip and nodded vigorously.

"Then why haven't you asked me anything these past few days? You're my girlfriend, you have no right not to ask me anything, do you?"

“That’s right, but…” Mahiru suddenly looked up, her gaze fixed on Su Qing, who was also staring back at her.

"But, but..."

For some reason, her throat felt like it was filled with lead, and Mahiru found that she couldn't utter a single word.

But she saved you, she risked her life to save you.

Even if you fall for him, it's understandable, isn't it...?

"I like Yui... not just for the moment she pushed me away to take the knife for me."

"That actually started a long time ago, so long that I didn't even know it myself."

"Perhaps I already realized it when I realized I liked you."

"But you confessed to me first, and I must admit that I liked you more than I liked Yui back then."

"But I think... you must have known about this before me, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have been so eager to confess to me first." Su Qing smiled faintly.

"So... you knew."

"Because you always say you're cunning, I have to think more about where your cunning lies."

Upon hearing this, Mahiru bit her lip even harder.

Her little schemes, which she thought were kept secret, were seen through, and she suddenly felt a deep sense of shame and embarrassment.

But she doesn't actually need that.

"So you know how...despicable I am, yet you still like me so much?"

Mahiru slowly raised her eyes, and an unreadable, complex emotion spread through the caramel-colored tassels.

"I like it, but I'd say I love it." Su Qing's lips curved slightly upward.

"People always seem to say that it's actually very simple for men to like women."

"As long as that woman is pretty, that's fine."

"Virtuous, gentle, kind... Of course, all of this is on the premise that the woman is pretty, or at least presentable."

"But I think, if it were you... beautiful, sweet-voiced, and academically excellent, possessing all the qualities that are hard to find in ordinary people, I certainly wouldn't have liked or loved you because of these qualities."

"Then...what's the reason?"

Mahiru knew that Su Qing didn't like her for these reasons; she could tell from the way he looked at her.

Love can give rise to desire, but desire cannot give rise to love.

Eyes filled with desire and eyes filled with emotion are truly two different things.

"It's probably because...you're a very unique girl."

"In my entire life, I have never met anyone like you."

"You're very stubborn. So stubborn that you'll stand in the rain alone because of what someone you don't like, and you like to show off until you fall ill at your own doorstep."

"You're also clumsy. You're a recognized excellent student at school, but you're surprisingly awkward at home."

"If you think about it carefully, very, very few people would decide to have a meal with someone just because that person hands them an umbrella or takes care of them when they are sick."

With each word Su Qing spoke, her smile grew softer.

"You are very vulnerable."

"So fragile that she would grip my hand tightly in fear during a rainstorm or a power outage, even though we'd only known each other for a short time."

"So vulnerable that when I'm sick I'll mutter to myself, 'I still long for that family bond.'"

"But you are also very strong."

"I have been strong from middle school to university, and I have always walked this path alone."

"Even if you didn't earn your living expenses yourself, but Shiina Asahi sent them to you, you can still manage everything in your life in an orderly manner, without being cynical or resentful of the world. That's already amazing and impressive."

"So even if everything you do at school is a pretense, even if that angelic, merely polite smile is fake, that is still you, the most resilient you."

"You may call yourself sharp-tongued, but you are genuinely kind at heart."