Although he knew Ai didn't mean it that way, her words were still very misleading.
Ai felt slightly embarrassed by the way Kōyū was looking at her.
She realized something was wrong as soon as she said that.
I wanted to add something to prevent Guangyou from misunderstanding.
But she was still speaking rather slowly.
The awkward expression only lingered on her face for a moment. Soon, Ai regained her composure and even reached out to gently pat Kyou.
The latter put away her previous expression and smiled slightly at Ai.
Remembering Ai's question earlier, Kōyū answered seriously, "I think Ayumi's smile is very pure, which is nice."
"Mmm." Ai hugged her knees, looked at the river in the distance, listened to the babbling water, and nodded gently.
"It's also a good thing she didn't experience all the mess we went through."
As he spoke, Guangyou's gaze swept across the ground around him. Then he picked up a flat stone and threw it forcefully into the stream.
The stone splashed water on the river surface, creating ripples, and floated for a couple of moments before sinking to the bottom.
"I hope she can keep that pure smile."
"Yeah, I hope so," Ai Haibara agreed.
"By the way, Ai, why did you suddenly ask about this?" Kōyū dusted off his hands, turned to look at Ai, and asked.
"It's nothing," Ai shook her head and said, "I just wanted to ask."
"Okay." Guangyou didn't ask any further questions. He nodded in agreement, then turned to look at the ground around him, preparing to pick up another stone.
If Ai wants to tell him, she will do so sooner or later; there's no point in asking now.
A few seconds later, Guangyou found a suitable stone next to him and was about to throw it, but he suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Ai asked when she saw that Kousuke had stopped what he was doing and was still standing there in a daze.
After regaining his senses, Guangyou did not respond immediately. Instead, he stood up and threw the stone in his hand away.
Watching the stone splash three different-sized water droplets on the river surface before finally sinking into the water, Kōyū finally spoke to Ai.
"I just want to tell you that you are you, don't worry about what others are like... No matter what others are like, I will always love you."
Upon hearing this, Ai paused for a moment, then a faint smile bloomed on her delicate face.
"I see."
The ripples caused by the stone sinking into the river gradually disappeared. Guangyou glanced at the now calm river surface, looked away, and sat down next to Xiao Ai.
Turning his head to look at the smile on Ai's face, Kōyū also smiled, reached out and ruffled Ai's hair, and said.
"That smile is nice too."
As she finished speaking, Ai's face lit up with a smile.
"You're such a wimp," Guangyou said, deliberately frowning.
Hearing this, Ai's smile faded, and she said calmly, "I wonder who was thinking so much back then, running out alone late at night..."
"Cough cough..." Guangyou hadn't reacted yet, but when he felt Ai's slightly teasing gaze, a memory suddenly surfaced in his mind.
At that time, for some reason, he was acting a little strange all day.
In the evenings, he would go to the training area by himself and use exercise to vent his frustrations.
Unexpectedly, Ai found him.
After snapping out of his reverie, Kwang-woo felt somewhat embarrassed.
He wanted to talk about Ai, but he ended up being completely outmaneuvered by her.
Speaking of overthinking, he was definitely more prone to overthinking back then than Ai is now.
He was aware of that.
So, after Ai said those words and he realized what was happening, Mitsuyu could only cough twice to ease his embarrassment.
"Ai, don't bring up what happened back then. I was only overthinking things because I cared about you," Kōyū said, looking at Ai.
"So what do you think is the reason I'm overthinking this?" Ai rested her chin gently on her knees, looked at the river in front of her, then looked at Kōyū, met his gaze, and asked.
"Well..." Guangyou knew the answer without much thought, and it was because of this answer that he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"It's because of me."
"Mm." Ai nodded in response and then fell silent.
Looking at Ai, Kōyū understood what the girl meant. He reached out and ruffled her hair, chuckled softly, and then fell silent.
Apart from their breathing, the only other sound between them was the babbling of the nearby stream.
...
As time went by, a touch of gold appeared in the originally azure sky.
Then, this golden hue quickly spread across the sky.
"Ya--Ya--"
The leaves in the woods rustled, and two jet-black crows flapped their wings and flew from the branches into the golden sky.
Under the tree, Guangyou squatted down, reached out and picked up a wild vegetable growing beside the tree, and smelled it.
Although it's unlikely that there are highly poisonous plants in this forest, it's still better to be cautious.
Many plants may look unremarkable and seem safe, but eating them can easily cause diarrhea in humans.
After smelling it and finding nothing amiss, Guangyou put a leaf of the wild vegetable in his mouth, chewed it, and then immediately applied it to his face.
Immediately, a faint bitterness spread from the tip of the tongue to the entire mouth.
However, Kōyū's expression did not change.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
