Chapter 1: Will the moment of reunion make you cry? Part 3
After half an hour, Jiuyuan, who had been buried in my arms, finally stopped sobbing and began to sniffle.
I gently stroked her hair and asked, “Have you cried enough?”
She slowly raised her head, her eyes red from crying, her slightly pouting lips expressing her dissatisfaction with me.
Is this body really my body? It’s become so cute. This is too much.
Jiuyuan, although using my body, had reverted to her original appearance and physique. Her pure yet alluring 17-year-old self, especially in a school uniform, was simply perfect. I felt an urge to take out my phone and set her as my wallpaper immediately.
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she declared with forced strength, “Not yet, but it’s enough for now.”
“Just enough for now?”
“Yes, we’ll have plenty of time later, won’t we?”
“Indeed, we have all the time in the world.”
“Then for now, this is fine. We’ll settle things slowly later, but this time, I won’t let go.”
“I’m afraid you’ll get bored of me by then.”
Her hand tightened around mine, our fingers interlocked, her grip firm as if to show her resolve.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
I sat up, holding Jiuyuan, and stood up with her.
San Taijie retreated awkwardly, but still clung to my arm, holding me so close as if she wanted me to focus all my attention on her soft cleavage.
Jiuyuan, as she pulled me towards home, said intimately, “If I hadn’t forgotten to bring my swimsuit for swimming class, I would have missed you. Thank fate for this, let’s go inside first.”
“Maybe later. That swimsuit is a bit… ”
“Hmm, you want to see me in a swimsuit? That’s a bit much, isn’t it? You’d probably prefer a bikini with more coverage, right? Or maybe you’d be interested in a school swimsuit too? Should I put that on for you first? Then we can go buy a swimsuit you like together, and I’ll wear it for you, okay?”
The conversation leaped forward so quickly that I couldn’t react before Jiuyuan had rattled off a long speech. I had just mentioned it casually, without thinking much, but she had “understood” something and said a string of words that would make any man happy.
“SF Light Novel.”
I said with a wry smile, “Although I’d really like to see it, there’s no need to rush…”
This is too enthusiastic. Jiuyuan’s attitude now is as if she wants to show me everything. A woman can’t really do this for a man. This is starting to look like an addiction.
“Mm-hmm, yes, that’s right, I’m a bit impatient… We have plenty of time.”
Prompted by my realization, Jiuyuan seemed to notice her own haste. She calmed herself down, then gave me a perfect smile.
“Excuse me for troubling you.”
I followed Jiuyuan into the old house I hadn’t returned to in a long time. As I closed the door behind me, I unconsciously greeted the empty entrance.
Seeing my action, Jiuyuan chuckled and said, “What’s there to be troubled about? This is your home.”
How should I put it? I still felt a little unaccustomed. It was like coming home after running away from home for a long time, not knowing how to step through the door.
I hesitated for a moment, and the sensitive Jiuyuan’s expression changed drastically. She leaned closer, hugged me, and looked up at me, saying emotionally, “I’m sorry… I’ve taken your place…”
“I should return it to you, let you return to this—”
I kissed her, cutting off her words. When you don’t want the other person to say self-deprecating things, just respond with a kiss. I learned this trick from Ling just now.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at me disbelievingly for a few seconds before immersing herself in the kiss, closing her eyes with an enraptured expression. Her body went soft in my arms. I immediately held her slender waist and supported her rear to prevent her from falling to the floor.
After a slightly rough but sweet moment, I released her lips. She gasped for air, her body trembling slightly, her face flushed crimson. I didn’t know if it was from holding her breath or from shyness, but she was incredibly cute.
Damn, I feel like continuing. Hmm, I should hold back for now.
I held her like that in the entrance for a while. After her heartbeat calmed down, I asked, “Are you calmer now?”
“No… I’m even more flustered.” (This is likely a misinterpretation of her expression based on context, implying increased emotions.)
“Oh, is that so? I apologize for kissing you without your permission.”
“N-No, it’s alright, I…”
“Heh, you’re not like the ‘Victory Witch’ I could never beat at anything.”
Thinking back to her cold, ruthless, and overwhelming demeanor then still evokes a sense of untouchable majesty.
Jiuyuan blushed deeply when I brought that up, shrinking her shoulders as if a dark secret from her chuunibyou days had been exposed. She said shyly, “Th-That was different… I thought I could change everything by myself and bring you back to me—”
“I know. I mean, I never won against you, but you still returned my memories.”
“I never thought of taking anything from you… rather, I didn’t want to be forgotten by you. Before, I was afraid you were just a phantom in my memory. Seeing you… I was so–”
As she spoke, Jiuyuan’s eyes began to well up again.
“Seriously, why have you become such a crybaby?”
“Now… I’m afraid you’ll disappear again… You won’t, you won’t suddenly disappear, will you?”
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t disappear again, I promise. You know how long I searched for you, and how long I waited for you. How could I abandon you?”
Hearing my words, Jiuyuan rested her head on my neck, her forehead against my chin, and nuzzled me like a cat. “It’s a promise, okay? Don’t leave me again. If you disappear, I’ll destroy the world.”
“Ah… If I do, Ling will kill me first.”
“Huh? Ah, the world… are you living with her now?”
“Yes.”
After I answered, I realized how bad my response was and broke out in a cold sweat. I had made a huge mistake. Mentioning another woman to the woman I was sweet-talking with was a classic self-destructive move. And I had just kissed her, taking advantage of her, making me seem like a total scumbag.
Uh, Jiuyuan… is she jealous? It’s normal for her to be jealous. Any normal woman would have a bad expression if her man lived with another woman.
This is bad. This is the start of a Shura Field. Is it going to begin just because I met one woman? Later, will I be completely torn apart? The worst part is, I can’t die right now. If I’m torn apart, I’ll just suffer continuously. It’s too much.
“Don’t stay here. Let’s go to my room first.”
To my surprise, Jiuyuan didn’t get angry, nor did she question me or complain. She left my embrace and, holding my hand, started walking towards the second floor. I couldn’t see her expression from behind. Was she suppressing her emotions? Perhaps she didn’t want to ruin the good atmosphere of our reunion.
Ah, but ultimately, it’s my fault for being unfaithful… The guilt surged again. What about the other girls later… My stomach churned.
Following Jiuyuan back to the familiar second floor, I expected her to go up to the third floor where my old room was. Instead, she walked towards Keling’s room. I saw a nameplate on the door that read [Jiuyuan An], and the nameplate on Xinran’s room, which we had just passed, read [An Xinran & An Keling].
Oh, so they’ve divided the rooms like this now? Even though I saw it, I asked after entering Jiuyuan’s room, “Are you living in this room alone now?”
“Yes, I live in this room alone. As you saw, Xinran and Keling share another room, so the attic room is still empty.”
It was a very ordinary room, unlike Keling’s former room, with no girlish decorations at all. There were some strange-looking ornaments.
“I’m sorry, my room isn’t very interesting…”
“I think it’s fine. It calms me down. It feels like a comfortable room to live in.”
“Then stay here.”
“Stay here? Please~” Jiuyuan leaned closer, leaning against me. Her face was so close I felt like I could kiss her honey-sweet lips with a slight tilt of my head. She looked at me with full expectation, her eyes sparkling. “You know, this was originally your home. It’s not strange for you to live here again… If you don’t want to stay in my room, you can stay in the attic too.”
“SF Light Novel.”
She even tried to persuade me with reasoned arguments. It wasn’t my imagination earlier; she deliberately mentioned the empty attic, hinting at something.
“Cough… Speaking of which, didn’t you come back for your swimsuit? Is it okay not to go back to school?”
“I only went to that school place to mask my special abilities. For someone like me, who grasps the truth, that level of knowledge isn’t even the lowest level.”
That’s true. Jiuyuan is still an Akashic record keeper. She holds the truth of the world. For her, there are no ‘unsolvable problems.’ She gets the answer the moment the question is asked.
Even high school knowledge is easy for me to handle.
“But ‘knowing’ is one thing, and ‘experiencing’ is another… I’ve seen everything you’ve gone through and wanted to participate myself, but could only watch… Now I’ve finally obtained what I’ve always wanted, so I won’t get bored. I’ll cherish every experience.”
“I see, I think that’s wonderful.”
“Of course, I want to be with you more. You are the most important person.”
“You don’t need to emphasize it so much…” Her heartfelt confession made me a little embarrassed.
“You didn’t just come here to see me, did you?”
Her question left me speechless. I thought, “Here it comes. She’s going to blame me.” But looking at her expression, it didn’t seem like that. She was asking me this seriously, so I didn’t need to overthink it. I just needed to answer honestly.
“Do… they remember me?”
“They do. Don’t you want to see them?”
Does this even need thinking about? Of course, I do.
“I want to, I miss them immensely.”
I really want to see my dear sisters.
