Anime Crossover: About How I Spoiled an Angel

Page 347

Boom.

The rumbling thunder had been brewing in the cumulonimbus clouds for a long time, and in an instant it illuminated the night as if it were daytime, along with the boy's pale face.

Is it raining...?

Su Qing looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, and it seemed as if millions of raindrops were falling from a point in the sky into his eyes.

I hate the rain... It's winter, why is there so much rain?

Why... is it always raining in my world?

Although it seems to be my own problem...

But is there any way to stop it from downloading anymore?

……

Let me think, it seems there were some instructions.

/weather clear?

No.

/weather sunny?

It doesn't seem to be either.

Ah, I remember now.

Yes--

/suicide.

……

……

"So, he didn't even say goodbye to you when he left, is that right?"

In the service department.

Yukino stood by the window, her back to the others.

Even Yui couldn't see her face.

The egg tarts on the table, baked to a golden crisp, were slowly losing their temperature in the chilly air.

"Kiyoshi did say goodbye to me... I felt something was off at the time, and I only found out about it last night when I asked Mahiru."

Yui lowered her head, her eyes lacking their usual sparkle.

"He didn't tell me anything, damn it, we're friends!"

"Even if he really is going back to the mainland, shouldn't his friends at least give him a proper send-off?"

"Damn it, damn it!"

Hachiman Hikigaya clenched his fists; he had only received the news that afternoon.

Before this, he had always assumed that the other party had something important to deal with.

Why is this happening?

"Perhaps, we were never considered friends..."

Yukino's voice came over so lightly, without any inflection, it was as light as a feather.

"How could that be! Don't talk nonsense!"

Hikigaya stepped forward, staring at the girl's back with eyes full of doubt and anger.

"Hachiman, calm down..." Ayaka pulled at Hikigaya, her eyes filled with worry.

"Otherwise what?" Yukino slowly turned her face at this moment.

There was no wind or rain outside the window; only the last ray of light, from orange to dim, fell on the girl's face.

The girl's face, along with the glass window, was illuminated, shattered by the light, and her voice was just as shattered.

"I want to...I want to think we're friends too..."

When Yukino said those words, it looked like she was crying.

None of them had ever seen Yukino like this before.

Hachiman quickly calmed down and bowed apologetically, "I'm sorry... I was too emotional just now."

"Xiaoxue..." Yui stepped forward and called out with a worried look in her eyes.

Yukino did not respond.

"No one should be coming to today's club activities, so let's end them early." Yukino turned her face back to the sky, staring blankly into space.

The flames there are devouring the last gray of the sky.

I don't know whether it was a struggle before darkness descends or a harbinger of dawn.

……

Hachiman is gone.

Ayaka left.

The Service Club suddenly became quiet again. Yukino glanced back at Yui and said:

"Yui, you should go too."

"Xiaoxue, I..."

"I'm fine. Your relationship with Shiina... seems pretty good, right? I think she's the one who needs my company right now." Yukino smiled at Yui.

That was the first time Yui didn't understand Yukino's smile.

"I'm fine, I just want to be alone... to have some peace and quiet."

……

After that, Yui also left.

The Service Club is now left with only Yukino.

When did it start?

She was asking when she started to get used to not being alone.

Yukino pursed her lower lip tightly, gripping the window frame with one hand. After a while, she looked down and found that her hand was already red from gripping.

She suddenly chuckled softly.

It sounded like a faint self-mockery, and also like a faint sense of helplessness.

"Making this choice... was absolutely terrible..."

"Hey, young lady, you seem a bit lost?"

A bold and cheerful voice rang out from behind.

Yukino didn't turn around, but simply said, "Hiratsuka-sensei, I've told you many times, please knock before coming in. I think my ears were in working mode just now."

"Really? Haha, but the door isn't closed."

Hiratsuka Shizuka showed no sign of reflection. She took a few steps forward and stood beside Yukino.

"You all know already..."

"Does the teacher think we're all idiots, or slow-witted paramecia?"

"Don't say that... Besides, you know perfectly well that paramecia haven't evolved reflex nerves..."

So, what was his reason for dropping out of school?

Yukino turned around and looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka with an extremely serious gaze.

“I don’t know,” Hiratsuka Shizuka said.

"do not know?"

Aren't you his homeroom teacher? Shouldn't his withdrawal from school go through you?

Yukino's eyes were filled with such questions.

"I wanted to ask, but he wouldn't tell me. The only thing I know is that it's related to Yuihama and Shiina."

"Oh..." Yukino responded indifferently, as if she didn't care at all. She even had the mood to tease, "Could it be that you were caught trying to have your cake and eat it too, so you ran away?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka lowered her eyes. "Maybe he felt that he would eventually have to cheat on his wife, so he ran away before anything even started."

“But everything has already begun,” Yukino said. “It’s a little too late to run away now.”

“You’re absolutely right. His approach was too extreme, yet it was also full of rationality; his judgments lacked any emotion.” Hiratsuka Shizuka looked up and smiled.

Seeing Yukino's confused expression, he pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket, just like Doraemon.

There was a long string of numbers on it, just like the enemy codes that need to be cracked in spy movies.

Hey, that's exciting!

And so, Hiratsuka Shizuka smiled and waved the little note.

"Lost girl, if you sincerely tell me three times, 'Hiratsuka-sensei is the best teacher in the world, and she won't need to knock when she comes in from now on,' then I will entrust this mysterious number to you!"

Yukino remained silent, probably too stunned to speak.

Hiratsuka Shizuka's smile faded, and her tone became serious.

"This is probably the only way we can contact him right now..."

"He must be very troubled right now, right?"

"so……"

"Go help him."

……

……

Chapter 381 "Their" Hearts

?

In the days following Su Qing's departure, Mahiru did not show any unusual behavior at school, at least not in the girl's own eyes.

Studying as always; eating alone as always; going home as always...

Life is beautiful, and so is this world. We shouldn't stop for someone, just like giving up an entire garden in full bloom for a flower that's about to wither.

That's stupid.

So... what the boy said seems to actually be true.

They had known each other for a little over three months, all in all.

This span of time is too small in the past twenty years, and too insignificant in the fleeting century.

Their encounter was probably just an insignificant ripple in their lives...

Beautiful, but merely a fleeting firework.

But... Qingjun, if it's really as you say, why do all the little things we did together, and the expression on your face when you left, keep replaying in my mind, like a dull knife slowly slid across my heart?

If relationships between people are measured by the span of time, wouldn't that be unfair to those who meet later in life?

If you spend a lot of time together, the relationship will be good; if you spend a short time together, the relationship will not be as good as with other people.

What's the point?

Is the bond between people, from meeting to getting to know each other, to becoming familiar with each other, determined by time itself?

Qingjun, I have so many questions I want to ask you.

Could you... tell me?

"careful!"

Beside her, Yui's urgent reminder came with the movement of her arm.

Mahiru was stopped by Yui's action; there was a telephone pole in front of her, only a few steps away.