Chapter: 77. The One Who Truly Cares
As Kanade navigated through the scenes of Qinglong’s past, he gradually discovered the strange aspect of this dream.
He could control the scenes of this dream to a certain extent, as if operating an old-fashioned television, speeding up, pausing, or rewinding.
Kanade could stop the flow of time in the dream at any moment, but he could not precisely adjust the content he wanted to see.
It was like the scene in the Japanese garden: no matter how Kanade tried to control the dream with his own will, it always came to a sudden halt at the moment when Yako encouraged Qinglong.
In this scene, Kanade could not know what happened afterward.
And going back, it only extended to the moment when the two walked into the garden from outside.
The dreams of memories seemed to be divided into independent scenes, like small segments of a film reel.
Moreover, in Qinglong’s memory dreams, Yako seemed to appear in every one.
Whether it was when Qinglong was encouraged by Yako after a fight at school or later when he began to complain about his heritage and hid in his room, it was Yako who came to comfort him.
Through these fragmented memories, Kanade seemed to have glimpsed the most vulnerable area of the man named Dongcheng Qinglong.
This dream that allowed him to peek into memories seemed to selectively highlight “the most fragile” aspects.
However, thanks to this, Kanade finally understood why Qinglong cared so much about Nagi.
It was when Qinglong was still in elementary school that Nagi had just become a child star in the entertainment industry, gradually shining as the brightest star in horror films thanks to her exceptional acting skills.
In contrast, Qinglong’s life at that time had hit rock bottom.
His parents divorced, and his mother’s departure led to an outburst of resentment that had long been building in his heart against his Yakuza father.
After a fierce argument with his father, Qinglong felt as if he had lost his purpose for living.
His father no longer cared about him, immersed only in Yakuza affairs, and during that time, Qinglong often locked himself in his room, not even going to school.
During that time, Yako, who stayed by Qinglong’s side, visited him every day with various items to help him open up.
Yako became the only link connecting Qinglong to the outside world.
And it was during these days that the uninterested and unresponsive Qinglong was pulled by Yako to sit in front of the television.
At that time, Nagi had just starred in a horror movie and revealed her talents in this regard.
The tapes of the horror movie Nagi starred in were extremely popular, and every shop selling film tapes displayed Nagi’s works prominently.
What Yako brought back was just such a tape.
When the image appeared on the TV screen, Qinglong felt “warmth” for the first time, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Thus, he began to develop different feelings toward the girl starring as the ghostly girl on the screen.
His life turned into a road movie chasing that warmth.
“No, that’s not right… It’s just a misunderstanding…”
Watching this scene, Kanade finally understood why Qinglong cared so much about Nagi.
But because he had seen this memory, as an outsider, Kanade could view this matter more objectively and comprehensively.
“…What he truly cares about is—”
As Kanade murmured, the dream before him seemed to decide that he no longer needed to stay there.
The scene before him was slowly enveloped by a mist again.
What Kanade saw last was a pair of young boys and girls sitting closely together beside a large house, looking at the summer courtyard in front of them.
In front of them was a still pond, the water like a mirror, reflecting the shadow of the moon.
A few lotus leaves floated on the water surface, seemingly protecting a stone lantern in the center of the pond.
The faint light emanating from the lantern, combined with the silvery glow of the bright moon, illuminated the figures of the two.
The boy excitedly narrated the content of a movie he had seen to the girl beside him, animatedly gesturing with his hands and feet.
Only at this moment did Kanade feel a childhood innocence fitting for Qinglong’s age.
The girl never showed a hint of boredom at the boy’s chatter; instead, she always looked at him with a gentle smile, occasionally exclaiming in surprise or agreeing with him.
By the pond, a few koi fish occasionally leaped up, their splashes creating momentary brilliance in the air before returning to calm.
It was like some kind of omen.
Qinglong, who had been excited, suddenly calmed down.
“Yako, I’m sorry, I’ve been talking non-stop…”
“You don’t need to apologize…” Yako looked at Qinglong with tender eyes and softly replied, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze.
“As long as I see Qinglong-kun happy, I will feel happy too~”
Yako propped her cheek with one hand, maintaining a pose of leaning her head to stare at Qinglong.
“…Is that so?”
“Yeah, so could Qinglong-kun tell me more about Hoshimura Nagi?”
“Really? You won’t find it boring, Yako?”
“I won’t, okay? Qinglong-kun’s smile is the most interesting thing in the world to me; I could never get tired of seeing it.”
The sounds of their conversation grew increasingly distant to Kanade.
On the left side of the courtyard was a meticulously trimmed bamboo grove, the shadows of the bamboo swaying in the wind, making a soft rustling sound, like a low requiem.
With this sound as a conclusion.
Kanade’s consciousness left the dream, and the scene transformed from the Japanese garden into darkness, quickly replaced by a new sight filling his vision.
What appeared in front of him was a familiar yet unfamiliar ruin, due to Kanade having peered too long into Qinglong’s dreams.
The ruins of Noah Hall before him gave him a surreal feeling.
“What have you done—”
Qinglong’s roar echoed from Kanade’s side, yanking his consciousness back to reality.
Instinctively, Kanade summoned a silvery blade, using his intuition to raise his double blades for defense.
In the next moment, he felt a tremendous impact through his hands, accompanied by enough heat to scorch a person in an instant.
Although Kanade reacted incredibly quickly due to his beastly instincts, Qinglong’s strike had still burned Kanade’s right hand from fingertip to elbow.
If it weren’t for that “nonexistent” silver blade dispersing some of the heat, this intense heat would have turned half of Kanade’s body to charcoal.
The delayed, excruciating pain hit like an adrenaline rush, almost causing Kanade to faint while his eyes were dyed with a wild frenzy.
In that instant, Kanade realized that this time, Qinglong showed no mercy.
And the dream he had just seen would simultaneously reflect back onto Qinglong.
This once again validated Kanade’s speculation about his dreams from back then.
That was undoubtedly when DD-chan used this ability to enter his memories…
—Little Nagi, is this related to you?
Unexpectedly, this time, there was no voice of any question from within Kanade.
