Chapter 17
"Impossible, it's impossible. Why are you so excited?" Hayakawa Reiko gave her a puzzled look, then turned and walked to Kurozuka Kirishi, smiling attentively: "Come on, Kurozuka sister, I'll take you to the restaurant!"
As soon as the three of them sat down by the window in the restaurant, the sky outside the window darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye.
What was originally just the gray-blue of the evening gradually turned into a thick lead-gray color. The clouds hung low, making it difficult to breathe. The air was filled with the dull and earthy smell of the coming heavy rain.
When the waiter brought the drink, Kurozuka Kirishi was gazing at the gathering rain clouds outside the window in a trance. A pink drink garnished with sliced fruit and mint leaves was placed in front of him. It looked no different from the juice in Kurozuka Aoi's glass next to him.
Without thinking much about it, she picked it up and took a sip. It had a sweet fruity taste and almost no trace of alcohol, so she drank it as if it were an ordinary sweet soda.
But she didn't know that this seemingly harmless drink was actually the restaurant's specialty drink. For someone like her who almost never drinks because she doesn't like the taste of alcohol, the aftereffect is long and strong.
After dinner, I walked out of the restaurant. The evening breeze blew on my face with a damp and cold feeling, slightly dispelling the warmth in the restaurant.
The taxi that Hayakawa Reiko called arrived quickly. After getting in, Kurozuka Kirishi straightened his back and looked out the window at the street scene that was passing by quickly. His eyes seemed to be too focused, yet he seemed to be taking in nothing.
Reiko Hayakawa and Aoi Kurozuka were still immersed in the excitement of shopping and the satisfaction of delicious food. They whispered about what they had just seen and did not notice anything unusual about her - after all, she didn't talk much.
When the car was halfway through the journey, the long-brewing rainstorm finally came pouring down. The big raindrops hit the car window fiercely, and instantly formed a deafening curtain of water.
The vision became blurred, the halos of street lamps and neon lights distorted and diffused in the rain, and the whole world seemed to be immersed in a noisy, dark water tank.
When the taxi stopped at the gate of Tachikawa Base, the rain was at its peak.
Kurozuka Kirishi opened the car door, took the umbrella handed to him by Hayakawa Reiko, opened it, and walked into the rain holding the doll.
After finishing the remaining documents, Hoshina Soshiro leaned back and stretched his arms to relieve some of the pain in his shoulders and neck.
The sound of rain outside the window was weakened by the building's good sound insulation, leaving only a slight sound seeping in through the crack of the door.
He walked to the door, and the moment he pushed it open, the roar of rain hit him in the face.
"Why is it still raining? I don't have an umbrella with me." Hoshina Soshiro couldn't help but sigh when he saw this situation.
The thunderstorm was so huge that it was beyond imagination. Lightning suddenly streaked across the sky, and in an instant, the dense rain curtain was illuminated like a huge spider web.
And in the center of the net, a man in white clothes and black hair was slowly walking towards him.
She walked up the stairs with a strange lightness, as if she was treading on invisible strings, and each step deviated subtly from the expected landing point. The raindrops beat on her black umbrella in a fragmented and messy rhythm.
The bangs that always hung down long and almost covered half of the face were now casually tucked behind the ears, revealing the entire face.
"Do you want to... go?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm, but with an imperceptible tremor and distraction.
"Thanks for your help, Kurozuka~" Hoshina Soshiro swiftly got under the umbrella, but his words were stuck in the middle.
He stared blankly at the uncovered face in front of him. Without the shadow of her bangs, her face unexpectedly showed a soft and gentle feeling, with clean and fragile lines.
The moisture brought by the rain made her overly pale skin glow with a cool luster, like thin porcelain under the moonlight.
The skin on the forehead and eyebrows that had not seen the sun for many years appeared particularly delicate, contrasting with the slightly greenish skin under the eyes that was stained by alcohol and fatigue.
Then there is a kind of color that is so light that it is breathtaking, and even the scar on the forehead looks charming.
Kurozuka Kirishi slowly and hesitantly turned her head to look at him. Her eyes, which were usually hidden behind her hair, were now trying hard to focus on his face.
Deep in her eyes, a hazy mist softened by alcohol was hidden. She tilted her head slightly and carefully formulated her words, "It's not a coincidence."
She paused, the air filled with a faint, sweet smell of alcohol: "I am..."
"I came here specifically to pick you up."
Hoshina Soshiro's lips curled up slightly, and he spoke again, but his voice was involuntarily softer: "Thank you so much... If it weren't for Kurozuka, I, the vice-captain, would have become a drowned rat."
Heizhong Wushi didn't say anything else, but just looked at him for a while with his eyes filled with water vapor and intoxication, then tilted the umbrella towards him.
Seeing this, Hoshina Soshiro took the trembling umbrella handle from her hand. His fingers inevitably brushed against her cold fingers, and then he raised the umbrella steadily.
"It's raining heavily," he whispered, his eyes sweeping over her wet and quiet face that was completely exposed to the light.
"Come closer, it will be uncomfortable if you get wet."
The two walked side by side into the pouring rain. Outside the umbrella was the roar of the world collapsing, but under the umbrella was a strange quiet area wrapped in the sound of rain.
He could only faintly hear her light breathing and his own uncontrolled heartbeat. Her arm was touching his, and her body temperature was particularly clear in the coolness of the rainy night.
Hoshina Soshiro's gaze inadvertently dropped, finally landing on the doll she had always carefully protected in her arms, the familiar mushroom head, squinting eyes, small canine teeth,
"Is that... my doll?" He finally discovered the doll in Kurozuka Kirishi's arms.
Kurozuka Kirishi followed his gaze and looked down at the cute version of Hoshina in her arms. Her arms subconsciously tightened a little. She was silent for a few seconds before she whispered, "...This is mine."
"Yours?" Hoshina Soshiro laughed subconsciously, finding the statement extremely amusing. He pointed at the doll, then at himself, "What about me standing here now?"
The sound of rain pattered as she raised her head. Her gaze passed through the rain and landed on his face, yet it was as if she was looking through him at something else. She answered clearly and simply, "Deputy Captain of the Defense Force."
Hearing this clear, distance-demarcating label, the smile on Hoshina Soshiro's face faded a little, because he keenly grasped the subtle but firm boundary.
"What's the difference?" he asked, his voice slowing down, with a subtle guidance: "Aren't 'your' one and the one standing next to you both me?"
The air under the umbrella seemed to be stagnant for a moment, leaving only the white noise of raindrops hitting the umbrella.
She lowered her head again, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the outline of the doll's mushroom head, as if that could provide her with some kind of answer or courage.
"It's different." After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice so soft as a sigh, almost drowned out by the sound of rain.
"What's the difference?" he asked patiently.
She was silent for a while, as if she was organizing an extremely unfamiliar and difficult language.
"What you have... and what you need to face are different." Her words were a little fragmented, trying to piece together the complex maze in her heart.
"Possession... can just be possession, but when facing a living person... they will have expectations, demands, and... a price to pay."
Kurozuka Kirishi cast his gaze towards the distant lights blurred by the rain. "Nothing in this world comes close without reason. All 'good' has a price tag, doesn't it?"
Hoshina Soshiro turned his head to look at her profile, which was half hidden by the shadow of the umbrella. The chill brought by the rain seemed to penetrate his heart. He sighed helplessly: "I see, you have always thought so."
Then, he stopped completely and turned around, no longer walking side by side with her, but facing her completely.
The umbrella tilted, enveloping the two of them more tightly in this small space. Rain slid down the ribs of the umbrella, forming a rain curtain around them.
"So," he said with a smile, his voice clear through the sound of the rain, "what do you think I'll ask you for this umbrella I'm holding for you now?"
Kurozuka Kirishi was startled, as if she had not expected him to ask such a direct question. She tightened her arms around the doll and moved her lips slightly.
But Hoshina Soshiro didn't give her time to formulate an answer. He took half a step forward, and the distance between them was instantly shortened. She could almost feel the faint airflow brought by his breath.
He raised his hand - not to touch her, but to gently place it on the head of the cute version of Hoshina that she held tightly in her arms.
"This 'Hoshina' you're holding tightly in your arms..." His tone was gentle, yet somehow gave people a sharp feeling: "It's just a doll that doesn't respond or move. What can it give you?"
"I..." Kurozuka Kirishi was speechless. He subconsciously lowered his head to look at the doll in his arms, then looked up at him hurriedly. There seemed to be some cracks in the barrier of logic.
Hoshina Soshiro's eyes fell on her. He lowered his head slightly to look into her eyes.
"Kurozuka Kirishi, you distinguish so clearly between 'your Hoshina' and 'the Hoshina of the defense force'."
"Then I'm telling you clearly now, there will only be one Hoshina Soshiro from beginning to end, and the 'me' standing before you right now—"
He paused, then smiled, as pretty as a seductive little fox.
"I just want to hold an umbrella for you. It doesn't cost you anything, and I don't expect anything in return. Are you willing to accept this answer?"
The sound of rain seemed to become a distant background sound. Heizhong Wushi was completely stunned and looked up at him. His straightforward words were like a huge rock, slamming into the rusty lock on her heart, making a heart-pounding buzzing sound.
Looking at her confused and shocked eyes, Hoshina Soshiro sighed again, and his tone slowed down, with an indescribable gentleness and firmness:
“Not every approach requires a reason, and not every ‘good’ is for the sake of taking.”
“Maybe it’s hard for you to believe now… but maybe you can try to start by believing ‘I just want to hold an umbrella for you’?”
"Also," he continued, his eyes falling on the doll, "if you like it, the genuine Baoke will approve it, and it will be yours forever, but..."
After he finished speaking, he paused, his gaze returned to her somewhat dazed eyes, his tone became lighter, the ending tone rose, and he joked:
"Why don't you just choose the one standing in front of you? After all, my warranty period is much longer than that rag doll's."
suddenly-
"OK……"
A very light, yet unusually clear response fell into his ears as quietly as a feather. Hoshina Soshiro was slightly startled.
Heizhong Wushi slowly raised his head. Under his rain-soaked hair, his eyes, which were shrouded in mist and alienated, now clearly reflected his outline and a few broken and gentle halos.
Then, the corners of her lips curved up into a tiny, awkward arc.
It wasn't a very bright smile, and even had a bit of stiffness from not being used for a long time.
But at the moment when the corners of his lips curved up, he saw a tiny crack suddenly appear on the frozen lake surface, and warm spring water shimmered out from underneath.
Or maybe it was the first faint ray of dawn that finally broke through the horizon after a long polar night, instantly lighting up the entire wasteland.
She looked at him, her voice soft but with an unprecedented, almost solemn certainty:
"I choose you."
The world outside the umbrella was still raining heavily and noisy, but in the perception of Hoshina Soshiro at this moment, all the sounds faded away and the world was quiet.
He could even clearly see the tiny raindrops sticking to her long eyelashes, trembling gently like broken diamonds as she blinked.
Time seemed to be stretched infinitely, he stood there in a daze, forgetting to breathe.
I felt as if my heart was being tightly grasped by a warm hand, and then gently released. A sour and scalding warmth surged up and instantly spread to every part of my body.
After a while, the corners of his lips, which had been flat, rose again, revealing his sharp fangs:
"Really... isn't that a bit unfair to laugh?"
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