monosyllable echo

"sorry."

Feeling Kazuki's tears made my heart tremble for a moment, countless thoughts drifted away, but in the end only these three words escaped my throat and were uttered by me.

Hesitating, I tried to raise my right hand to stroke Kazuki's cheek, my fingers kept trembling even I could feel it—these trembling fingers wanted to control but didn't listen to me.

Hey, don't cry, Kazuki.

Don't cry, okay?

When I really touched the tears that overwhelmed me, these temperatureless water droplets still made me shiver uncontrollably.

After a sudden realization, I started to wipe away the tears that kept falling in a panic, and secretly I was afraid that the strike would hurt him because it was not serious.And Kazuki didn't dodge, just stared at me quietly. I couldn't understand what those eyes were looking at, and I didn't bother to interpret it.

.

The moment my right hand was suddenly grasped, I didn't see Kazuki's expression clearly.

If I want to say why, it is because I suddenly heard the sound of the bedroom door being pushed open, and then followed the sound and turned to see Bai Yin who pushed the door open.

silver?why are you here

Uh, put it another way, why do you have the key to my bedroom?

I just looked straight at Bai Yin who was standing by the door, it was impossible not to be surprised.

For a while, no one spoke.

I can't react to the current situation. As for the thoughts of the other two people, how could I know.

The first person to recover from the stuck silence was Shirogane standing by the door.

"Yo~ Ajiu, you're awake! I brought your schoolbag back from the classroom." Bai Yin, who greeted with a smile, didn't approach, just raised the schoolbag in his hand, shook it and put it on my desk, "I got the key to the dormitory from the dormitory manager, because I didn't expect you to come back so soon, so I went in directly... Anyway! My mission has been completed, and I don't have to worry about it if there is a tree here! Hehe ~Next, I’m going to break the key to the dormitory teacher, so see you tomorrow~”

After saying this, Baiyin walked away without looking back.

"silver!"

He raised his hand to stop Shirogane, only to realize that his right hand was still held in Kazuki's hand.

Suddenly I seemed to understand the situation just now, uh, I will be misunderstood, I will definitely be misunderstood!

At the thought of this, my face suddenly burned like a fire.

He tried hard to pull his hand out, but it was fruitless because it was held tightly.I looked at Kazuki inexplicably, "Hey! Kazuki, let go and stop Shirogane. I haven't thanked him yet! And just now... that guy will definitely misunderstand!"

"Do you care? Care about that guy's feelings."

What do you mean?

Facing Kazuki's question, I couldn't react at all.

What exactly is going on?Ask me if I care?It's not me who cares, but you, right?

Don't you care if you obviously like Yuezi but are misunderstood by your friends?

These thoughts are on my lips but I can't answer them, because Kazuki asked me if I care.

……

Kazuki stubbornly grabbed my hand and wanted to wait for my answer, but I remained silent.In the end, he sighed as if admitting defeat, gently stuffed my hand into the quilt, stood up and said, "Forget what you said just now. Take a good rest today, and I will pick you up tomorrow morning."

After I nodded, I belatedly refused and said: "Today is already a lot of trouble for you, right? Kazuki still has something to do with the student union? There is also Xiao Yi. So, don't come to pick me up tomorrow, I can do it myself Going to class... Also, Kazuki, don't tell Soujiro's father about this, I'll be fine soon, so don't let him worry unnecessarily."

I don't want to trouble you guys.I, Natsume Jiu, never want to do things that bother you, never.

After listening to this passage, Kazuki kept his back to me and didn't speak. He just walked to the door step by step, and said "wait for me at the door at 07:30 tomorrow morning." Then he walked away without looking back.

# # #

I got up in the morning, washed up, packed my schoolbag and walked out of the dormitory.

Raise your wrist and look at your watch, the second hand has just turned back to the apex.

The time now is ten past seven.

—It's still early.

Thinking this way, I walked out of the dormitory building and saw Kazuki standing under the cherry blossom tree.

Although it is said that it has entered the early spring, the weather is still very cold, and the trees are bare without shelter from the wind or rain.

Even with the scarf and hat I gave him as a gift, it's still going to be cold.

Fool, since when have you been waiting there?

Kazuki who was standing under the tree happened to turn his head at this moment, and when he saw me, he trotted over and asked, "Morning. How is your health? Is there anything uncomfortable?"

Kazuki's tall figure just blocked the oncoming sunlight and cast a shadow, and the words he exhaled scattered with white water vapor.

I stood in this little darkness, raised my head and stared into his silver-gray eyes, shook my head slightly, and said with a smile: "I'm fine, although I can't feel the distance with one eye, I use one hand to organize my schoolbag." Wasted most of the time. But, well~ everything is alright."

He lowered his head and listened to me seriously, frowning slightly to express his doubts, but seeing my relaxed expression, he had no choice but to give up and stop asking.The moment I turned to leave, I suddenly turned around and took off my wool cap and put it on my head, "It's very cold today, the weather forecast says it may snow, I'll lend it to you first, don't catch a cold."

Feeling the warmth burning from my ears, I froze for a moment, then looked at my right hand that was being held.

So happy.

Really happy.

I think my expression at this time must be the same as the above two sentences, it is too warm to do.

# # #

"Xiao Jiu~ It's okay, right? Are you okay? Is there really no problem?"

What rushed towards me was Huohua's hurried questioning voice and worried expression that wanted to hug me but didn't dare to touch me anywhere.

I was very happy to see her worried expression, but I didn't find it funny, "I'm fine, just like you can see. There is no major problem, and it will be fine after a while."

Hearing my answer, Huohua's expression relaxed, and after saying hello to Kazuki next to me, he gave me a hug carefully: "Xiao Jiu, it's good that you are fine, when I heard from Yuezi yesterday that you had an accident I was really scared to death. At that time, I wanted to see you right away, but Xiao Zhi stopped me. He said that you were at Teacher Xingyue, and Senior Shiranui and Senior Baiyin were also there. If I went again, I wouldn’t be able to help you. It might make trouble if I'm busy, so I didn't go. It's great to see that you're okay now."

"Yeah." I loosened my hold on Kazuki's hand, and I hugged a Spark next to me, "I'm fine, Hikaru. I'm fine. I'm sorry for making you worry."

Huo Hua lightly rubbed my cheeks, and let go of the hand that encircled me: "It's good that Xiao Jiu is fine. Then, I'll go to class first. Wait for me to have dinner with you at noon! Next, please have a Senior Tree will send you off again."

Saying that, Hoka nodded to Kazuki, blinked at me, and ran away with a smile.

I watched the figure of Spark disappear into the corner of the corridor, and Kazuki continued on the way to the classroom.

Turn right to the first classroom on the third floor of the teaching building. It doesn’t take long to walk here from the first floor.

But, well, I admit, in the bottom of my heart I want this journey to be extended indefinitely.In this way, I can continue walking with Kazuki.

Even though we didn't hold hands like just now, I can still feel his fixed gaze on me, which makes my face slightly hot, and I don't dare to turn my head to look at him, but I just grasp the sense of distance more seriously Go up the stairs step by step.

And Kazuki, he followed me right behind me.When pedestrians pass by, they will stretch out their hands to protect me, leaving a small space for me to move forward slowly.

So happy.

When I climbed the last step, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Turning back, I took off the hat on my head, tiptoed and put it on Kazuki's head, covering his stubborn hair.Seeing his unnatural expression of dodging unconsciously and then standing still stiffly, I pursed my lips and laughed.

So happy.

But, stop there.

Taking a few steps back, I nodded my thanks: "Kazuki, I've already arrived in the classroom. Thank you."

As soon as I finished speaking, Kazuki grabbed my shoulders. He looked behind me and said, "I'll leave this guy to you."

There was no response from behind, but the strength on my shoulders gradually moved away from me.

I turned around suspiciously, and Baiyin was standing there.

Even though they were not far away, I still felt that I couldn't see Shirogane's expression clearly.

Maybe it's the sunlight hitting his weird goggles right?

I just watched him come step by step, took my hand and said to me: "Let's go."

The hand that he wanted to struggle to let go but was held tightly by him was slightly painful.