Chapter 369: Perhaps it’s envy.
On a street-side path at night, the clear and sweet sound of silver bells rang out from afar, causing the few pedestrians nearby to turn their heads.
Beneath the dimly lit streetlamp, the serene and elegant tall girl covered her mouth with one hand, looking at her companion with a suppressed smile in her eyes, while the sunny and robust blond young man beside her looked troubled, looking at the tall, long-haired girl next to him with a helpless expression.
“Hey, Shinomiyai, is it that funny?!”
Looking at the girl beside him laughing so hard that her body swayed, Sato Shinichi’s bitter smile deepened.
If Mai Shinomiyai, who was also a girl like Kazumi, reacted this way after hearing his story, it would prove that there was indeed some problem with his approach to the previous matter.
“No… it’s just that Kiyomizu-san really has it quite tough.”
As if realizing that her mockery was hurting Sato Shinichi, Mai Shinomiyai calmed herself by touching her ample bosom, but the smile on her face did not diminish, and she continued to look at Sato Shinichi with a strange smile.
“What do you mean! I’m very troubled by this matter.”
Looking at Mai Shinomiyai, whose dignified smile carried a hint of mockery, Sato Shinichi couldn’t help but retort.
In fact, his relationship with Mai Shinomiyai was quite subtle. Due to their fathers’ connection, they had met when they were very young.
However, at that time, Mai Shinomiyai was quite withdrawn due to the death of her parents, and decisively refused the advances of the little kid Sato Shinichi, saying that they knew each other, but in reality, they only knew of each other’s existence.
No, it should be that only the boy remembered! After all, Mai Shinomiyai had forgotten his name, which led to a big blunder in the previous investigation.
After the blunder that occurred before, they had actually become friends in a rather strange way of getting along, or rather, compared to himself, she was more willing to be friends with Kazumi.
“Well… how should I put it? While your intention to protect your girlfriend is good, you should also think about things more from Kiyomizu-san’s perspective sometimes.”
The girl drew a small circle in the air with her fair, jade-like fingers, raised her eyebrows slightly, and replied.
“Think about it from her perspective?”
Sato Shinichi was stunned by Mai Shinomiyai’s words, but still asked with some confusion.
“Yes, you said earlier that Kiyomizu-san encountered a fugitive who kidnapped her, and you saved her at the risk of your own injury, right?”
Seeing Sato Shinichi agree with her point, Mai Shinomiyai nodded and continued to ask.
“Yes, yes, that’s right.”
Listening to Mai Shinomiyai’s words, the boy raised his head with a little pride. No matter how mature he was, in the mind of this fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, risking his life to save the person he liked was indeed a cool thing.
“And you felt quite proud, didn’t you? Saving the girl you like at the risk of your life, didn’t it feel particularly fulfilling?”
Looking at the boy’s reaction with an “as expected” expression, Mai Shinomiyai narrowed her eyes, her tone carrying a hint of regret for not being able to beat iron into steel.
“Ah… isn’t that right?”
Sensing something from the girl’s tone, Sato Shinichi tilted his head and asked with some confusion.
“Idiot.”
The girl decisively gave her answer to Sato Shinichi’s understanding, and then continued.
“Didn’t I tell you to consider it from Kiyomizu-san’s perspective?”
“Kazumi’s perspective… she must have been very scared at that time, and all I could think about was how to protect her, and then…”
“…”
Looking at the serious boy in front of her, Mai Shinomiyai was momentarily speechless.
The boy was wooden, but his earnest appearance indeed inexplicably stuffed a mouthful of dog food into her, the spectator.
“Ah, forget it, I’ll just say it directly.”
Seeing that Sato Shinichi was really incorrigible, Mai Shinomiyai was also helpless. She slapped her forehead in exasperation and stopped beating around the bush, saying directly.
“You, Sato Shinichi, as a psychic, see the world differently from civilians.”
“Perhaps you feel that rescuing Kiyomizu-san at the risk of danger is an everyday occurrence or completely within your control, but in the eyes of Kiyomizu-san, who doesn’t know your identity, you are completely risking your life, and for her.”
“This might be a cool thing in novels and movies, but reality is different. Imagine, the person you love most does very dangerous things for you. Besides being moved, what most ordinary people feel is worry and fear, right?”
“I…”
Mai Shinomiyai spoke slowly, her gentle tone exceptionally clear to the boy’s ears at this moment. The boy mumbled, wanting to explain something, but in the end, he found himself unable to say anything.
“So this is the problem that easily arises with the combination of a psychic and a civilian. Coupled with your special circumstances, it becomes even more troublesome.”
“But Kiyomizu-san, she’s really… she’s just a civilian, and she must really, really like you to be able to do this. In that case, why is she so angry with you, you should be able to understand now, right?”
With one hand crossed over her chest, Mai Shinomiyai analyzed the situation she heard from Sato Shinichi point by point, looking like an emotional master, completely unlike her previous disheveled state after being deceived by a scumbag artist.
“I… I understand.”
The boy pursed his lips with a complicated expression, looked up, and his gaze met the girl beside him, then he nodded heavily.
“Thank you, Shinomiyai!”
“No, no need, I’m just giving you some advice as a friend.”
After accepting Sato Shinichi’s thanks with a few light laughs, Mai Shinomiyai asked.
“But what are you going to do now? Are you going to apologize to her directly?”
“I don’t think so. I’ll wait for her to calm down before I go apologize. If I go now, it will probably make her even more unhappy.”
“And, what you said, Shinomiyai, is quite thought-provoking…”
“Perhaps I was too thinking for granted in the past. If we want to stay together for a long time, this is definitely something that needs to change. And I also need to work hard to become stronger, so that I can tell Kazumi the truth!”
Sato Shinichi’s face was filled with a smile, and the disappointment he felt from knowing the reason disappeared, and he instantly returned to being that eternally sunny, eternally hopeful, open-minded boy. He waved his arm and made a serious vow to the sky.
“Mmm…”
Looking at the boy who suddenly ignited beside her with a complicated expression, Mai Shinomiyai didn’t know how to describe her feelings for a moment.
Perhaps it was envy?
Even though the two people who were willing to give to each other before didn’t make Mai Shinomiyai feel sour, the Sato Shinichi now did. This kind of willingness to consider the girl’s future and strive for the future of them being together truly made the inexplicable emotions in her heart gather continuously, unable to disperse for a long time.
[Sigh…]
