Chapter 53 Damp Dreams of Mimosa

Late June is Risa's busiest time.

• Preparing for final exams

Traveling to Tokyo for a photoshoot for Seventeen magazine

• Go to the Kanto Tournament to cheer on Akaya

Memorize the lines from the script of "Blue Bird".

Despite being just a high school student, her schedule is just as packed as when she was an actress.

As dawn broke, she was already seated on the early morning train bound for Tokyo. She closed her eyes to rest, listening to a listening comprehension test on repeat in her headphones.

The scenery outside the car window rushed past, and her reflection in the glass revealed the faint dark circles under her eyes.

(Just one more week...)

(Once the final exams are over, I'll be free.)

As soon as the tram arrived at the station, she rushed to the Seventeen photography studio.

As the makeup artist applied her makeup, she exclaimed, "Your skin condition is a bit worse than last time."

Risa forced a business-like smile and replied perfunctorily, "Final exams are coming up, so I've been staying up late to study."

"You still need to get some rest." The makeup artist lifted her chin and lightly swept a makeup brush under her eyes. "Your dark circles are quite noticeable. Haven't you been sleeping well lately?"

"No, not at all," Risa smiled.

It's true that I stayed up all night to study, but it's also true that I tossed and turned and couldn't sleep.

The body during puberty is like a mimosa plant thirsting for rain and dew, secretly stretching its branches and leaves in the dead of night.

Those beautiful dreams came without warning, suddenly and violently. The familiar scent of shampoo lingered around her nose, carrying an aggressiveness she had never seen during the day, dragging her into a muddy abyss.

Those hands, calloused and soft, moved with an irresistible tenderness, like turning the pages of a precious painting. The faint fragrance of flowers mingled with her hot breath, always entangling her deepest desires until she sobbed and begged for mercy.

The most unbearable moment was upon waking: the dim eyes under the moonlight, the gentle bite, the shiver that slowly slid down my spine... every detail is etched deep in my memory.

The air conditioner hissed cold air, and my cotton nightgown was soaked with a thin layer of sweat, outlining my damp silhouette. My wet bangs clung to my forehead like some kind of shameful brand.

She curled up in a ball, unable to stop her tense, trembling body and her heart pounding as if it would burst from her throat. The pain of her nails digging into her palms couldn't mask the guilt surging deep within her.

That's terrible.

I felt incredibly embarrassed and ashamed.

How could she allow these damp dreams to desecrate that spirited and handsome young man?

She couldn't imagine—

If he knew about the absurd scenes in her dreams, how disgusted would he look at her?

-

When the spotlight comes on, the body automatically switches to working mode, chin slightly raised, shoulders and neck relaxed, skillfully changing postures.

"Fantastic! That's the expression!" the photographer exclaimed excitedly. "One more set!"

No one knew that Risa wasn't silently reciting the shooting requirements, but rather the classical grammar she had reviewed the night before.

As soon as the shoot ended, she rushed into the dressing room.

The phone screen displayed a message from Kirihara:

[Risa-nee! It's the Kanto Tournament semi-finals today! You absolutely have to come!!]

Risa glanced at the time; there were still forty minutes left before the Rikkai University match began.

After changing her clothes, she said goodbye and left in a hurry, without even having time to remove her makeup.

The Shinkansen roared towards Kanagawa.

When he arrived at the arena, panting heavily, Kirihara Akaya was already dominating the field.

The young man was arrogant and flamboyant, yet he had the means to act recklessly, and every spike he made drew cheers.

"Thanks for your hard work."

When the gentle voice came from beside her, Risa's fingertips curled up involuntarily.

She slowly turned her head, and there stood the boy beside her, his purplish-blue eyes curving upwards, clear and bright in the sunlight.

(Yukimura...)

Ever since realizing what that fluttering feeling meant, she deliberately avoided encountering him. However, the more she avoided him, the more those suppressed thoughts would surge and engulf her in the dead of night.

“Akaya only came on in the third round, so you didn’t miss the exciting parts.” He tilted his head slightly and handed over a bottle of chilled soda.

He's just a high school student, so why is he always so composed? He said those ambiguous things, so why can he act like nothing happened?

Whenever she met those gentle eyes, she had the illusion that he could see right through her. Just like now, he was clearly smiling, yet he threw her into complete disarray.

"Th-thank you..."

Risa took the water bottle and gently pressed it against her burning cheeks.

The cool water droplets against her skin helped clear her muddled thoughts.

On the court, Kirihara scored a beautiful point and excitedly waved to the stands. Risa smiled in response, raised her phone, and snapped a picture of the boy's shining face.

How's your revision going?

Yukimura's voice was soft, his gaze falling on the corner of her modern Chinese textbook peeking out of her bag. It was as if he was trying to find a topic to dispel her unease and embarrassment.

Risa pulled out her textbook: "My modern Chinese is still lacking..."

"Risa-nee!"

The boy, covered in sweat after the match, ran over and asked, "Did you see my last smash?"

"I saw it. He's so handsome!" Risa smiled and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from the boy's forehead.

Kirihara immediately turned to Yukimura, excitedly boasting about his achievements, clearly seeking praise. Risa was about to interject when she suddenly realized that her textbook had somehow ended up in Yukimura's hands.

The way he looked down as he flipped through the pages was focused and calm, and his slender fingers held her pink ballpoint pen without any sense of incongruity.

—Hands with distinct knuckles, fair and clean. Long and slender.

Risa's gaze unconsciously followed those hands. In a damp dream, those hands had parted the misty fog, wandering the boundary between illusion and reality. And now, they were casually turning the pages of her textbook, the fingertips occasionally brushing against the edges of the pages, making a soft rustling sound.

"Matsuno-kun?"

Yukimura's voice suddenly rang out, and she snapped back to reality, realizing that she had been holding her breath without even realizing it.

He looked up at her, a smile playing on his lips: "What does this sentence mean?" His fingertip lightly touched a line of Chinese characters—an ancient poem:

"In dreams, one is unaware of being a guest; one indulges in fleeting pleasures."

The handwriting was messy, and the ink at the end was somewhat blurred, as if the writer had paused here for a long time.

Risa's face suddenly flushed.

His throat was dry: "I just copied it randomly..."

Yukimura closed the textbook thoughtfully and handed it back to her.

"I've marked a few grammar points that were tested last year, and they're likely to be tested again this year in different forms."

Risa took the textbook and was about to thank them when someone gently patted her shoulder.

"Hey~ Busybody." Asuka appeared behind him.

Taking advantage of her momentary daze, he skillfully stuffed a grape-flavored gummy into her mouth.

"We've found a great shady spot over there, would you like to...?"

Halfway through her sentence, Asuka noticed Yukimura standing to the side, a glint of light flashing in her glasses. "Excuse me. You guys continue~" she said, then made a move to slip away.

"Wait!" Risa reached out, grasping at this straw.

"Risa-nee, go to the rest area!" Kirihara pointed to the stands, "It's too sunny here."

Yukimura smiled and nodded: "Akaya is right, heatstroke is not good."

"Hmm..." Asuka narrowed her eyes and grabbed Risa's arm: "Then it's decided~"

As she left, Asuka leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Your little brother and that guy... they know a lot, don't they?"

Risa's ears felt hot.

(What do you mean, "my family's"...)

Asuka pulled her forward a few steps, and she couldn't help but look back.

Akaya was waving excitedly at Niou as he approached, and the two immediately started bickering upon meeting. Yukimura stood to the side, smiling, his slender hand covering the corner of his mouth, his eyebrows curving into a beautiful arc.

(That's how he should be...)

(Always standing in the sunlight, clear, bright, and dazzling.)

(How can those delusions that breed in the darkness be worthy of touching such a beautiful existence?)

As if sensing her gaze, Yukimura suddenly looked up at her.

The moment their eyes met, Risa's breath hitched.

His purplish-blue eyes shimmered like hydrangeas blooming after the rain, carrying a moist warmth.

Deeply affectionate, a glance that lasts a lifetime.

But the next second, the clouds swept across the clear sky.

The light in his eyes suddenly dimmed, like the deep sea in the twilight, with undercurrents surging silently beneath the calm surface, intense and unyielding.

For a fleeting moment, his gaze, which fell upon her as she leaned down in those unspeakable, damp dreams, subtly overlapped with hers.

His pupils constricted sharply, and his heart pounded like thunder.

Risa hastily averted her gaze, shaking off those inappropriate delusions.

That's too presumptuous.