Anime Crossover: About How I Spoiled an Angel

Page 295

Yuihama's mother sighed softly, then gently knocked on the door again.

"I know, but your friend came to see you."

"Huh? A friend?"

The room was filled with Yui's extremely surprised voice, accompanied by some strange sound, like something falling and hitting the floor.

"In short, that's her current situation, although I don't know what happened to the child."

However, I'm leaving it to you..."

Yuihama's mother's worried hand hovered in mid-air. She hesitated, then turned to Yukino with a troubled expression and earnestly pleaded.

"Auntie, please don't worry. She is my most important friend."

It was also... a request from another of my most important friends.

After Yuihama's mother left, she completely left the space to the two girls.

Yukino cleared her throat, then knocked on the door and called out:

"Yui, it's me. I'm coming in, okay?"

"It's Xiaoxue? You startled me... You can come in."

With her master's permission, Yukino pushed open the door and entered.

But what met my eyes was a scene of utter chaos.

Yui had just picked the chair up from the ground. Although I didn't see it with my own eyes, judging from the noise just now, she must have fallen.

After closing the door, Yukino sighed and said helplessly:

Did you fall while sitting on the chair?

"Hahaha... The floor was so slippery, and I was startled when I heard it was you!"

Despite the pain, Yui kept rubbing her injured buttocks with one hand.

This is really a headache.

Upon noticing this, Yukino said with a rather helpless tone, "Really? I thought you fell off the chair because you were thinking about Su Qing."

"Hey, hey, hey? Why did you suddenly bring up Xiaoqing?!" Yui hurriedly denied it with both hands.

But when she saw Yukino's ambiguous smile, she awkwardly withdrew it, saying, "It has nothing to do with Kiyoshi."

"Oh," Yukino replied indifferently, stepping forward to glance at the girl's learning progress.

It was a densely filled notebook, in which the girl had written down some wrong answers and key points in neat handwriting.

If you can review frequently, it's a good learning method.

"He taught you to do this?" Yukino asked without thinking.

"Yeah, but he used to say that my foundation was too weak, and that it would be more appropriate for me to do this kind of thing when my grades reached the middle level."

Yui said softly, then smiled smugly, "And then I happened to be ranked 500th in the last exam!"

"Really? But that's not enough, is it?" Under Yui's questioning gaze, Yukino tilted her head and said, "Su Qing is the top student in the grade, and by a wide margin. Last time, he almost got a perfect score."

"You mean why did you bring up Xiaoqing again?!" Yui was stunned for a moment, then asked anxiously.

"Yes, why is that?"

Yukino's gaze shifted, her fingertips brushing across the notebook as she murmured to herself.

She never understood why Su Qing and Yui, who seemed to have such a good rapport, didn't end up together.

Now, looking at all this effort, she seems to understand a little bit.

"Take this. It's a gift from him. He asked me to give it to you for some reason."

Yukino handed the gift box to Yui unopened, and only then did the girl notice that the other girl had such a thing in her hand.

"Xiao Qing gave it to me? What is it?"

Yui took it, looked down at it, and quickly raised her bewildered gaze.

"Let's open it and take a look; it should be a music box."

"Maybe he gave you this so you can relax and listen to music after you finish studying," Yukino guessed.

"A music box? It sounds expensive..."

Yui scratched her head, thinking to herself that she didn't seem to have much of a musical talent.

but……

Why did Su Qing suddenly give her this?

Filled with curiosity and trepidation, Yui slowly opened the gift box.

A gift box with mechanical butterfly wings was revealed, along with a note on which Su Qing had written an English word.

That was Su Qing's handwriting; the girl couldn't possibly mistake it.

"Hey?"

Yui paused for a moment, her thoughts returning to the English word chain game she had played on Friday.

The next moment, she seemed to understand something and, as if possessed, opened the music box.

Soon, an unknown melody came from the box, somewhat similar to Michio Miyagi's "Haru no Umi".

Sorrowful but not tragic.

The two listened quietly to the music, and the mechanical butterfly wings retracted as the last note ended.

Is that all?

Yukino frowned slightly. What was Su Qing trying to do by making Yui listen to this kind of music?

Yui does need an emotional release right now, but she's probably more confused than anything else, which is why she keeps using studying to numb herself.

No... that person wouldn't do anything meaningless.

"Would you like to hear it again?" Yukino asked, but received no response.

She turned her head in confusion, only to see a shimmering light in Yui's clear eyes.

It was as if it contained a grand autumn rain.

Then, a quiet smile flowed from her eyes, like tears streaming down her face.

"Yui...?"

Yukino's heart trembled violently.

Upon hearing this, Yui seemed to wake up from a dream and come back to her senses.

There was no itching or soreness.

It wasn't until her tears fell to the ground like raindrops that she realized she seemed to be...

Are you crying?

Then, the emotions that had been building up for who knows how long burst forth like a dam breaking.

"Why...why did you send me something like this?"

"Idiot Xiaoqing... Is he an idiot...?"

Indistinct words kept escaping from the girl's increasingly painful throat.

Yukino heard with her own ears that the originally gentle and energetic voice gradually became hoarse and struggling.

She didn't say anything, but silently stepped forward and gently patted Yui's shoulder.

After an unknown amount of time, Yui raised her face, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

The girl sobbed, looking at Yukino, trying to string together the broken words into a sentence:

"Why...why does Xiaoqing bully me and make me cry...I clearly...I clearly didn't want to cry..."

I didn't cry that day, and I tried my best to stop the tears.

We clearly agreed to be best friends for life.

Why are we doing all this unnecessary stuff now?

All you do is bully me, all you do is bully me.

Why do you have to make me cry?

Why……

"Xiaoxue... Xiaoxue..."

Yui suddenly grabbed Yukino's hand tightly and buried her head deep into the latter's heart.

Only when the whole world could no longer see her did that not-so-brave, but certainly gentle, girl dare to reveal anything.

It was at this moment that Yukino caught a glimpse of the English words written on the note.

—[release].

Besides "to release," it also means "to release."

It's about releasing emotions... [Release].

"Why am I so stupid..."

"If only I were more outstanding..."

"Why was I so timid? I didn't even dare to muster the courage back then..."

"I don't want him to worry about me anymore, but why can't I stop crying?"

"Xiaoxue, do you know? I like Xiaoqing, I like her the most!!!"

In the end, the girl hugged Yukino's body tightly, choking back tears, but finally managed to release the emotions in her heart.

But it was all too late.

Justice delayed is not justice; it is retribution.

Courage that comes too late isn't courage; it's regret.

But what gives that girl, who belatedly realizes she likes him, the courage to be brave?

In Yui's eyes, Su Qing always radiated light.

It's like an inextinguishable flame, shining brightly.

Excellent grades, handsome appearance, gentle temperament...

So many people at school like him, so what gives her the right to express her feelings?

Based on Su Qing's claim that she was cute?

But besides that, what else does she have left...?

In terms of looks, she considers herself inferior to Yukino or Mahiru.

In terms of family background, her family was just an ordinary working class.

In terms of grades, she did terribly.

Even when making a simple cookie, she can turn it into charcoal...

Even so, the boy still ate it all, bit by bit.

……

She had thought that the relationship could continue for a while longer.

It doesn't take long.

Because she thought she would make herself excellent as quickly as possible.

If I become excellent, I'll be worthy of Xiao Qing, right?

Even if such an idea is silly, the reality is that there is no Cinderella story.

Even if an ordinary person forces themselves to be with an outstanding person, they will eventually be separated in the shoving of the crowd.

But it seems it was too late from the very beginning.