ALL NOVEL chapter 61
61. Prepared a Birthday Cake
So.
Since that incident happened, Youyu and Wuyue walked home together for the first time.
“……”
Yet, there was still no communication; each person remained silent, not speaking.
It was roughly the same as before.
But…
When Youyu glanced at Wuyue, who was pushing her bicycle beside him, he noticed.
Her gaze towards him was somewhat evasive, but it was much less than before.
Moreover… it seemed like she had something to say.
But right now, she just couldn’t bring herself to say it.
“…As expected, it’s up to me to break the silence.”
It wasn’t a solution to keep dragging this out, so Youyu decided not to wait any longer. He took the initiative to speak:
“Wuyue? Is there something you want to say to me? I can still tell; you don’t have to hold back. Just say it if you want to.”
“……”
“Actually… it’s nothing much.”
After hearing Youyu’s words, Wuyue was taken aback for a moment, then shyly replied:
“It’s just… I feel like the time we spend walking home together has really decreased a lot.”
“Not long ago, we used to walk home together, but recently, because of our own matters, it’s been hard to have such moments…”
“……”
After listening to Wuyue, Youyu fell silent for a while, then said:
“What you said… isn’t wrong. Recently, each of us has our own things going on, and it’s difficult to return to how it was before…”
“But, it’s not impossible to achieve.”
After saying this, Youyu turned to look at Wuyue, sincerely and with heartfelt apology, he said:
“I’m sorry, Wuyue. I heard about your situation from Baiyu.”
“……Mm.”
Upon hearing Youyu’s words, Wuyue’s heart suddenly jolted, her expression a bit flustered, but she quickly calmed down.
Youyu… would definitely say a lot of things to teach her a lesson, right? It’s fine; she was mentally prepared for it.
However, in her anticipation, Wuyue didn’t expect that what Youyu would say next was this—
“She told me it’s because I’ve been accompanying you too little… that’s why you’ve become like this now.”
“……Huh?”
It seemed that Yuyou did not notice the shocked expression on Wuyue’s face and continued speaking:
“…Although I really don’t understand much, it seems that, based on recent events, it truly is like this.”
“After all, during the past period, we have been busy with combat training, haven’t we? This has led to both you and Bai Yu feeling somewhat exhausted after training.”
“And when we get home… we still have to deal with academic matters, leaving little time to do what we actually want to do.”
“And I… have also been busy with work and haven’t been able to observe your situation in time.”
“So…”
After a brief pause, Yuyou finally said:
“I’m sorry, Wuyue, during this time… I haven’t really paid attention to your situation.”
“If I had noticed you earlier, perhaps it wouldn’t have turned out like this.”
“Although I have a lot I want to say to you, right now, if I don’t directly express what I want the most, there might not be another chance.”
“So… what I want to say is—”
Taking a deep breath, Yuyou said:
“Can our current relationship go back to how it used to be?”
“I really don’t like how things are now.”
“…Huh?”
Wuyue did not expect Yuyou to say such things.
This was completely beyond her expectations.
“…”
Because Yuyou had, for the first time, made a request to her.
And it was because of this matter.
Now, Wuyue’s heart was filled with contradictions.
She was happy that Yuyou could make a request to her, but if it was because of this matter that he felt he had to do so…
Then, would he truly be happy himself?
Thinking this, Wuyue met Yuyou’s gaze.
Then… after thinking for a while…
“I think… it should be possible.”
“It’s just that, perhaps it will take some time.”
Wuyue gave her answer.
In fact, when she thought about it, there really wasn’t much to hesitate over. Would rejecting Yuyou make him happy? Definitely not.
During this time, Yuyou might have been suffering from this atmosphere just like she was.
Even if it’s not for herself, for Yuu, she must agree.
“…Do you need more time?”
After hearing Wuyue’s response, Yuu fell silent for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief.
Then, with a tone of gratitude, he said to Wuyue:
“Thank you… Wuyue, for accepting my proposal. To be honest… I was a bit uncertain from the very beginning.”
“…You’ve worked hard during this time.”
“…After all, I haven’t really talked to you much before, right?”
“That’s true.”
Seeing Yuu nodding, Wuyue, who had let go of the heavy pressure that felt like a boulder in her heart, couldn’t help but smile and said:
“Yeah… it’s only been a few days since we argued.”
“But… every day felt like a year, and it was… really tough.”
“Even the red gem on my neck has become a bit dull…”
“…Dull?”
Extracting this key information from Wuyue’s words, Yuu furrowed his brows, then quickly changed the subject and asked:
“What do you mean the gem on your neck… the one that turned you into a magical girl, has become dull?”
After hearing Yuu’s question, Wuyue thought for a moment and replied:
“I’m not quite sure about the specifics. It was the day after we argued; I got up to wash up and found that the gem on my neck had darkened.”
“Did it have any effect on you?”
“Effect? Hmm… let me think. There should be some. During my first training this week, when I transformed into a magical girl, I felt… my power was a bit weaker than before.”
“I see… That was probably when you were feeling down, right? How about now? How do you feel now?”
“Not as dim as before; I can feel that.”
After answering Yuu’s question, Wuyue fell silent for a moment, then continued:
“I think… the reason the gem darkened is probably related to my feelings at that time.”
“After we argued, I kept questioning myself: Can I really protect you? Will I hurt you? Wouldn’t it be better to… not interact with you at all?”
“At that time, I doubted myself like that.”
“But when I saw the expression on your face, when I saw you in pain because of me…”
“I thought, what’s the use of continuing to blame myself?”
“Simply avoiding it will only make you hurt even more.”
“So, it’s better to accept who I am now, and… do my best to move forward, to make myself better again, so you won’t have to show that kind of expression.”
“At least this way… I can say I’ve protected you, Yuu.”
“I made that decision after all…”
“The gem has started to shine again.”
“……”
“I see.”
After listening to Wuyue’s explanation, Youyu fell silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh and said:
“So it turns out… you’re so strong…”
“What?”
“……”
“It’s nothing.”
Shaking his head, Youyu decided to bring up what he ultimately wanted to say, and so he turned to Wuyue and said:
“You should remember, tomorrow is your birthday, right? Wuyue.”
“I’ve prepared a birthday cake for you.”
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