Okinawa trip
As the plane took off and soared into the sky, the view outside the window instantly brightened after it stabilized. The cumulus clouds, like piles of white cotton balls, and the sky, a clear, deep blue, were sights impossible to see from the skyscrapers of the city.
The flight from Tokyo to Okinawa takes about two and a half hours.
The quiet cabin environment depicted in movies and TV shows is all fake. The noise from the turbines is so loud that you don't even want to talk. You can't use your phone on the plane, and the noise makes it impossible to chat, so it seems like there's nothing to do except catch up on sleep.
The person sitting to Yuko's left had fallen asleep at some point. Yuko leaned out a little and saw that Draken, who was across the aisle, also had his eyes closed.
Yuko fidgeted but dared not look at the person to her right, afraid that if they made eye contact, she would have to awkwardly chat with Mikey, who was in a bad mood. So Yuko simply closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. The annoying engine noise in the cabin seemed to get used to after a while, and Yuko actually fell asleep with her eyes closed for a short while.
A pair of eyes were fixed on her.
Mikey was a little annoyed that this person had actually fallen asleep on his own.
"What a capricious guy," Mikey thought to himself.
But one can't help but wonder why one cares whether another person is sleeping or not.
Before his doubts could be resolved, the plane, which had been flying smoothly, encountered a slight turbulence and lurched slightly. Sleeping Yuko, due to inertia, leaned towards the airfield. Seeing this, Mikey, without thinking, reached out and supported her tilted head, then pulled her towards him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. Yuko, moved closer, unconsciously turned her head, rubbing against Mikey's shoulder like a cat or dog.
This made his whole body stiff.
What am I doing?
My hand... it seems to be moving on its own?
His left arm was around her shoulder, and even though there was clothing between them, his fingertips felt hot. He was so close that he could even smell the lemon scent of her shampoo on her hair.
A wave of belated shame washed over Mikey, who turned his head away and covered his face with his right hand. He knew his expression was terrible and he absolutely couldn't let anyone see it. He cursed under his breath in annoyance, "This is so noisy! Quiet down, my heart is racing!"
Moreover, it was as if he had found an answer. This answer was like a seed that had been planted long ago, which sprouted at this moment and grew into a tender seedling. The two new green leaves on top of it, one of them said "like," and the other also said "like."
Mikey is making a final struggle.
No, I don't like her at all.
But the swaying seedling told him: You do. You've fallen in love with her at first sight, in a very old-fashioned way.
fart!
The tender seedlings danced joyfully: You just like her, and you're not worried that Jianzai likes her, you're clearly afraid that she likes Jianzai, and you even think you're helping Emma.
Upon closer inspection, the seedling's feet weren't on soil, but on a swamp filled with rotten leaves and putrid stench, with foul bubbles rising from the swamp: "Then make her yours, get her, possess her!"
The seedlings tucked their leaves together, making an "X" sign: No way.
Bubbles in the swamp burst, splashing mud and water all over the tender seedlings. The seedlings grumbled pitifully, "You can't do that..."
Shut up, all of you.
Mikey banished the voice in his head and looked down at Yuko.
He saw Yuko, who had woken up at some point, looking up at him with a blank expression.
Mikey was so frightened he almost had a heart attack and immediately reached out to cover her eyes.
Yuko, with her eyes covered, was plunged into darkness. Although she had opened her eyes, she was not yet fully conscious, and drowsiness returned as the light was blocked.
Mikey felt the touch of her eyelashes brushing against his palm as she closed her eyes, and knew she had fallen asleep again, which relieved him.
We really can't be careless at all.
Yuko, who was asleep, entered a dream.
In the scene of ruins and rubble, a person stood in front of her. Yuko walked up to him and saw his face clearly.
It is the grown-up Huayuan Martial Arts.
Unlike last time, Yuko was not at a loss and calmly followed behind Wudao.
Wudao seemed to be searching for something, rummaging through the long-abandoned building. Yuko followed closely behind. Finally, in a place where the ground was littered with scrap metal and the roof had collapsed with the erosion of time, Wudao stopped, his expression a mixture of nostalgia, surprise, and sadness.
"Wu Xiaodao."
His emotions had barely begun to build when a familiar voice drew his attention away. Yuko and Takedo turned to look together.
To their left, on a small hill made of stones and scrap metal, sat a dark-haired man with a dragon tattoo on his neck, relaxed and smiling in the light dust.
“Mikey-kun…” Takedo was deeply moved by this reunion. He had always wanted to contact Mikey in the future, but had never succeeded. Now, more than ten years had passed since their last meeting. Takedo spoke somewhat awkwardly, “Mikey-kun, how have you been?”
After a brief silence, Mikey uttered a syllable from his throat: "...Mmm."
As the two reminisced about the past, unlike the naive belief that Mikey's martial arts hadn't changed, Yuko, as an observer, was able to see more.
Those eyes that had left such a deep impression on her no longer shone with an intimidating light; they were like extinguished ashes, dead. Yuko's heart suddenly ached. She thought that perhaps while she wasn't good at dealing with Sano-kun, she also admired his ability to do whatever he wanted, his arrogant and self-important attitude... Well, it wasn't just admiration; maybe there was a tiny, insignificant liking, just a tiny bit.
“They were amazing, weren’t they? I killed them all.” Mikey was able to laugh as he said this, but the laugh was like a black datura flower carrying deadly poison.
He said, "So please, end it, kill me. I want to end it here, to end my dream."
This is the burial place he chose for himself.
The situation took a sudden turn for the worse, leaving both Yuko and Takedo in shock, speechless as if someone had grabbed their necks.
What... what is this development?! What on earth is going to happen in the future?! Yuko's mind was in complete chaos.
Tears welled up in Wudao's eyes. He couldn't believe it: "What are you saying, Mikey-kun? Suddenly saying you want to kill me? I just want to see Mikey-kun!"
Mikey suddenly revealed a nostalgic and sad expression: "I want to see him... There's someone I really want to see too."
Wu Dao was reminded of something by his words, and he said with a trembling voice, "Yuko would be very sad to see you like this."
Yuko, whose name was called, blinked, not understanding why Wudao had brought her up at this moment. Yuko looked at Mikey, whose expression only deepened her confusion.
What kind of obsession and madness was that?
Mikey hadn't heard that name in a long time. For so many years, no one dared mention it in his presence. After Yuko's death, Emma soon followed in an accident. People like Jichang and Shinichiro, who should have been by his side, disappeared one by one into the flow of time. Even after learning the mastermind behind it all and avenging them, what did it matter? His voice was hoarse, like a broken stereo: "I heard that people who commit suicide can't go to heaven." Of all those people, only Yuko Takiya died by suicide.
“That girl is so weak. Without me by her side, she’ll definitely be bullied in hell and then she’ll cry again.”
At this point, he suddenly broke down in tears, unable to hold back his sobs: "I promised to protect her, and she was right beside me, yet I didn't notice anything! Why didn't she tell me? Why did she commit suicide? Why, why!!" This was something he hadn't been able to understand for over a decade, constantly tormenting and questioning himself.
Seeing Mikey like this, Wudao also shed tears, and suddenly he understood: "So you did this so you could see Yuko-san..."
The road to hell is paved with bones and blood.
To embark on this path, one must transform into a demon. He indulged his dark impulses, knowing that anything that stood in his way could be eliminated.
You see, it's very simple, just killing someone.
Standing to the side, Yuko now knew the future she would face through suicide. In the future she hadn't experienced, she couldn't control her feelings for him and was fortunate enough to be with him. But her departure became a demon in Sano Manjiro's heart, driving him relentlessly towards her even as hell lay ahead.
"This is wrong! Yuko definitely doesn't want Mikey to see her like this, she'll be absolutely furious!" Takedo shouted at Mikey.
Mikey suddenly flew into a rage, punching Wu Dao to the ground and pointing a gun at his face: "Why did you leave Dongwan? It's too late to say that now, Wu Xiaodao, it's already... there's no going back."
During their argument, a gunshot rang out, and a bullet pierced Mikey's skull, causing him to fall to the ground.
Yuko was already numb from the barrage of messages. She saw Takedo hugging Mikey's body, crying out his name. Naoto Tachibana, who had fired the shot, arrived and discovered that Mikey's gun wasn't even loaded.
Beneath the ferocity lay weakness and tenderness. Looking at the person lying in a pool of blood, Yuko felt a heart-wrenching sadness that made it hard to breathe.
Mikey, lying in Wudao's arms, weakly opened his eyes: "Tachibana Naoto? Thank you. Wudao might not be able to do it... It's finally coming to an end..." The sky was clear without a single cloud. On the verge of death, his vision blurred and then cleared again, and he saw a familiar figure.
The girl's appearance hasn't changed at all.
He wanted to ask.
Will you be angry? You should be angry.
But I had no choice.
I miss you so much.
Why...why are you crying?
Yuko's tears had already fallen. Even knowing she couldn't touch the person in her dreams, she still placed her hand on his, crying as she asked, "Is it... is it because if I held back, you wouldn't like me, and we wouldn't have this future..."
But he could no longer answer, and Sano Manjiro embraced a peaceful eternal sleep.
"Yuko, Yuko..."
When Yuko woke up after being called, she felt extremely tired, and her hands felt numb, as if she had lost all feeling.
Ye Ye stood in front of her: "We've arrived at our stop."
Yuko looked around and saw a black head resting on her left shoulder and a gold head resting on her right shoulder. No wonder she felt as if her hands had been amputated.
"I'm going to die!" Ye Ye hurriedly rolled up her sleeves and flicked each of them on the head. "Wake up!"
"It hurts so much!!!"
"Who hit me?!"
The two, jolted awake, clutched their heads and groaned. Ye Ye hadn't known how much force she used; those two blows brought tears to their eyes, and they felt an urge to jump up and fight.
"How dare you complain about the pain? You've made Yuko cry! Apologize to me with a dogeza!" Nono stood with her hands on her hips, not afraid of them at all.
Yi Hu peeked out from the front row: "Wow, I also want to rest my head on Xiao Youzi's shoulder, you guys are so lucky~"
"You guys are really trash." Draken looked down on the two of them.
Although the venue and Mikey wanted to get angry, they held back when they saw that Yuko's eyes were indeed wet.
"Um, is it really that heavy? I fell asleep, I'm sorry." The driver unbuckled his seatbelt, stood up, and apologized to Yuko.
Yuko hadn't recovered yet; not only that, her hands, which had gone from being completely numb to being so numb they wanted to tremble, were now completely numb. But thanks to this real feeling, she realized that she was in reality.
Mikey pulled out a tissue from somewhere and handed it to her: "Sorry, it wasn't on purpose, I fell asleep too."
"It's okay." Yuko quickly asked Nono to help her unbuckle her seatbelt, but Mikey thought she was being redundant and just unbuckled it for her. Yuko was in such a hurry that she didn't dare to stay a moment longer and got up from her seat.
"How come she runs so fast?" Mikey asked, watching Yuko's retreating figure.
Mikey, with a sullen face, answered haphazardly, "You probably want to go to the bathroom." It's unbelievable; she's even faster than before after I woke up.
The people in the field nearby thought Mikey's words made sense and nodded in agreement.
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