"Ngh… Mmh…" I muttered. "What just… happened?" I asked myself as I lowered my right arm, which I'd been holding in front of my face just a moment ago to shield my eyes from a sudden and—normally—unnatural occurrence.
A few seconds earlier, in this room—which Kaito, Anna, the kids, and I had discovered together a short while ago while searching for a so-called treasure in the wine cellar of an abandoned mansion—a bright light appeared out of nowhere, though it didn't last long and slowly faded after a moment.
Even though the light had now completely disappeared, my eyes still struggled to readjust to normal vision. Despite my protective arm and my closed eyes, the light was simply too bright, making me feel that my eyes were burning.
"What on earth is going on here?" I muttered, furrowing my brow. "Is anyone hurt?" I called out into the room. I was surprised that Kaito didn't ask that question, since he's usually the one whose focus is always on his party members.
"Thank God nothing happened to my body, but I still can't open my eyes because of the sudden light," said the red-haired salamander woman, who clutched the hilt of her staff with both hands as she slowly sank to the floor on her knees.
"Ah!" Eiko, the silver-haired dragon child, suddenly cried out. Her scream echoed through the room.
What's wrong with her? I wondered.
Usually, the two children, Eiko and Reiko, are quiet and don't make a peep when we're travelling. Or am I mistaken? During my absence—when I was bedridden with a high fever and was abducted by the vice commander—the twins seemed less shy. According to Alicia's account, they wanted to go to the battlefield where that idiot, Kaito, and the vice commander were fighting over me. Although my memory still shows me blurry images—before, I only felt an icy coldness in my chest—but since the incident, a warmth I'd never felt before has flared up in my chest, one I can hardly describe or comprehend. Since I'd never experienced this feeling before.
Kaito is probably responsible for this; after all, he—… Wait a minute… Kaito? That reminds me—Alicia also said that the children were only more open because they were so worried about their father when he was on his way to rescue me.
Does that mean…? I looked over at Eiko again; she was pointing with her right index finger toward the center of this mysterious room.
Don't tell me…
"Where is… Papa?" Eiko added.
"Huh?" I looked around and realized that only Eiko, Reiko, Anna, and I were present. But there was no sign of him. "Kaito has disappeared."
"WHAAAAT??? My hero has DISAPPEARED?! My hero, where are you? My hero! Ahhh… My vision hasn't fully returned yet… Cursed be that parasite who set up this blinding trap! DO YOU HEAR ME, I CURSE YOU!!!" Anna practically exploded, quickly losing her inner calm.
A blinding trap? No. This was definitely not a blinding trap. According to my information, a trap is only triggered when a specific, associated mechanism is activated—like a button, for example. But I didn't hear any sounds that would indicate a mechanism like that. In other words, in this case, that strange light must be something else—something related to Kaito's disappearance.
Yeah, right. When Kaito stepped into the center of the room, the floor beneath him suddenly lit up brightly, like… a magic spell…
"Magic. That's it!" I said aloud, voicing my thoughts.
"Huh? Magic? Where? What kind of spell??" She turned her head frantically from side to side, but she still couldn't see anything.
Meanwhile, I made my way toward the center, to the spot where Kaito was standing just a few minutes ago. At first glance, the dark, gray, grimy stone-paved floor showed no signs of anything unusual, but when I touched it, I felt a slight surge of energy. Or rather, a spark of mana.
Unfortunately, I only have a small amount of mana in my body and therefore can't cast a proper spell, but I am able to sense mana in my near surroundings. In addition, I prefer to use Magic-Items created specifically for people like me with little mana, as well as a so-called Magic-Ball that not only stores mana but also amplifies it when you possess a weapon-type Magic-Item.
It's just a shame that I don't have my Mana-Parameter-Item with me, otherwise I could have figured out exactly where the spell was cast and how much mana was required to enable it. Unfortunately, I left all my Magic-Items—which are in my Storage-Bag—at the inn today, since I didn't expect to need them here.
Maybe I'll figure out what kind of spell was involved even without them. But how…?
"Nrgh… Uwaahh… I can finally see! Hm? Where on earth did my hero go? Did he really disappear?! My hero! Where are you hiding? Come out—this isn't funny!"
That's right! Anna!
"I'll even undress my clothes for you, so come out, my hero!" Anna exclaimed loudly and tearfully, already beginning to loosen her robe.
"We really don't need that!" I shouted, stopping her from undressing. Although I suspect Kaito wouldn't have objected to this, knowing him as I do. It was his main goal in this quest, after all…
"Anna, focus! Now is not the time for games!" I raised my voice again.
"Yes," she replied in a squeaky voice, looking at me with the remaining tears on her face.
"You're a mage, right?"
"Is that supposed to be some kind of insult, or why are you asking me such an unnecessary question?"
Can't you just answer, you perverted bitch? I'd have loved to say that, but—even though I hate to admit it—Anna's right. She introduced herself to us as a magician back then, so I should have phrased my question differently.
"No, no. Not at all," I tried to change the subject. "But do you know a spell that would let us examine the magic in this room more closely? That would certainly help us clarify Kaito's disappearance."
"I'm really starting to feel offended. Of course I can decipher magic—I am, after all, a Level 4 mage. I learned the art of deciphering when I was seven," she said proudly as she stood up and crossed her arms.
I'm not sure if that's astonishing or what, but I should appear impressed. "Would you please perform this deciphering?"
"I'll do anything for my hero!" Anna said, encouraged—and surely thinking of something dirty again. I could tell by the drool dripping from her mouth.
Without further ado, Anna and I switched places. I took the children and walked with them to the entrance of the room, while Anna stood right in the middle of it, clutching the hilt of her staff with both hands. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.
She briefly touched the stone-paved floor with the tip of her staff, which produced a dull thud of wood. A second later, the magic crystal in her staff started glowing a yellowish-green. Its light moved down the wooden staff like a swarm of ants and scattered throughout the entire room. The floor and walls were filled with these individual lights; it looked like the light was eating its way into the walls.
Shortly afterward, some of the lights came to a halt at various points, glowed brighter, and drew roots-like lines from all the walls until they connected with the wand in the center, in front of the Salamander Princess.
From these root-like magical lines, various symbols—such as numbers, letters, and ancient runes—appeared, were drawn out, and transmitted.
"Strange," murmured the mage. "This can't be right. It doesn't make any sense." she continued murmuring. "What do these symbols mean? Hm? What the-... Kyahh!!" Anna screamed and was pushed back four meters by an unknown shockwave.
"Anna!"
The glowing lines of Anna's decryption magic vanished. The twins and I ran over to her, worried.
"Are you okay, Anna?" Reiko asked in her usual monotone way.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Anna rubbed the back of her head and tried to straighten up. But the shockwave seemed stronger than expected; even after Anna was back on her feet, she staggered for a moment. Reiko and Eiko held the salamander woman steady on either side so she wouldn't fall over.
"Anna, what just happened?" I asked her.
"I don't know. While I was encrypting the spell, my thoughts were interrupted by something… No, someone. In my mind, I saw a figure—judging by its outline, it was a person—but unfortunately I couldn't make out a face since it didn't even have one. It was a figure made of pure white-gold light…" Anna explained.
"A figure made of white-gold light? What are you babbling about, Anna? Have you lost your mind?"
"Just as I said, I saw a strange figure! It suddenly came towards me and pointed its hand at me, and after that… I was back here…" she added.
"So you're saying that someone stopped you from finding out more about the spell. Hmm… I guess whoever cast this spell doesn't want just anyone to pry into everything. Maybe it's hiding some kind of government secrecy or something…"
Apparently, Anna saw a figure? I can't really make sense of that kind of information. I have no idea what Anna actually saw, but I don't think she's lying right now, especially since we're dealing with Kaito's disappearance. There's probably more to it than that, but first I need to find out if she discovered anything useful for us.
"Were you able to figure out what kind of magic it is?"
"All I managed to learn was that it's a personalized teleportation spell. That means only certain people can teleport to a specific location that the caster specified when creating the spell. And if I've analyzed it correctly, it's a one-way teleportation—in other words, the user can travel to the specified location, but not back," Anna explained.
"That means Kaito can't just use the same method to come back," I muttered thoughtfully. "Is there any clue about where Kaito is right now?"
Anna shook her head. "Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out who can activate the spell or how it's activated, nor do I know where this teleportation leads," Anna said sadly, her gaze lowered.
So it really is a teleportation. Kaito was sent to an unknown location against his will by something or someone. Perhaps that figure Anna just mentioned has something to do with it, too. But the question is, how can we find him…
If Alicia and Dorilla were here, we could track him down quickly using the hair Anna secretly brushed off Kaito and hid. Then we'd go pick him up, but… But we don't know what kind of situation Kaito is in right now. Maybe he's fighting some kind of monster right now. Or is he wandering through an endless desert? Where on earth could he be? What am I supposed to do now?
"
"Huh? What's that about? Are you talking to yourself?"
"Isn't that exactly what's going through your head right now? Your face tells me that you're thinking about something. I don't know exactly what it is, but I can tell which direction your thoughts are heading."
"How would you of all people know what's going on in my head? I don't need a lecture from an idiot like you," I pouted.
"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear the 'idiot' part, but whatever. If you don't want my help, then I'll just talk to myself out loud," Kaito said with a grin.
"I told you, you are and always will be an idiot."
"Ngh… Anyway. If there are moments when you're asking yourself questions like, 'What am I supposed to do?' or 'Why is this happening right now?', then is untangling the best help."
"Untangling?" I repeated.
"I thought you didn't want my help. Hihi…" Kaito giggled with a grin.
I grit my teeth and was about to punch him. But before I could, Kaito continued. "Close your eyes, breathe in and out slowly, and calm your mind. As you do, you'll notice how one question after another disappears on its own. But if you reach a point where you really don't know what to do, just think of a specific person—someone who could help you in a situation like this—and ask yourself, 'What would that person do right now?'" Kaito continued.
"What would that person do now? I see. Thinking of someone you're very close to, so you can guess what course of action they'd take. Right?"
"Bingo! You've got it."
Suddenly, Kaito's words echoed in my head again. The words he shared with me as we were leaving the town of Duisol—the town where Kaito first stepped into the Adventurers' Guild building.
It's hard for me to say this, but he's right. I mustn't overthink things. I should listen to his words and calm down. So I closed my eyes and breathed in and out calmly.
It's exactly as Kaito said. My mind, once filled with endless questions and anxiety, cleared up after a short while. The only thing I'm still wondering is what he would do now…
Kaito, how would you handle this situation?
I guess the first thing he'd do is cheer everyone up. Whenever we're in a bind or feeling scared, Kaito always has his gentle, encouraging words ready.
"Don't worry, girls. We'll find Kaito no matter what. Since we're not getting any further here, let's go back to the inn and brainstorm some more there."
The three girls nodded in response. I took turns with the twins, helping Anna walk, since she still seemed a bit unsteady from the blow. Instead, the twins took turns holding Anna's staff in their little hands as they followed us up the stairs from the wine cellar to the surface.
It wasn't until we were on our way up that I realized just how much Kaito actually cares about us. Whether it's just our group, his friends, or an ordinary citizen—he helps everyone without hesitation. He doesn't care if he puts himself in danger; I pretty sure of that. But if he ends up dying right in front of us one day, his words won't be of any help to us either.
During our lesson with the heroes Dorilla and Alicia, they told Anna and me how they first encountered Kaito. When we learned that he had suffered a life-threatening injury and that it was, above all, a miracle that his heart was still beating at all, Anna was deeply shocked.
For my part, I was more puzzled. At that point, I was still mainly on the organization's side, and I was accompanying Kaito and the others simply to continue my mission at the time. For unknown reasons, the organization wants me to follow him and submit reports based on my observations. But why? What does Kaito have that makes the organization keep an eye on him? That remains unclear to me to this day.
Furthermore, I have no idea what Kaito is thinking as he goes about all this. Why is he risking his life for us? He's done so much just for me. He destroyed my old heart—which had been created and controlled by the organization—and, through some kind of magic, created a new one. Even though it's actually impossible to just randomly conjure a new heart out of thin air—I've never heard of anything like that. On top of that, I don't understand why he saved me of all people. Me—his murderer, whom he'd been searching for for months and wanted to take revenge on.
Ever since he learned the truth, I've been afraid—afraid that he'd look at me with horrified eyes and hate me deeply. But instead, he stays close to me and smiles at me as if nothing had happened. Ever since he gave me this heart, I've realized that it must be more than just a simple heart. Kaito's feelings and hopes now seem to be a part of me, too. It feels like we have an even stronger bond than before.
Shortly afterward, we arrived on the ground floor and walked to the entrance of the dilapidated building. Unexpectedly, the wolves—which had once been green, slimy creatures but had been transformed into a pack of wolves by Kaito's magic—had gathered at the entrance. Wagging their tails, they sprinted toward us and laid something before our feet. Each one placed a golden object—which they'd been holding in their mouths—on the ground.
"Is that… jewelry?" I asked in amazement.
"So there really was a treasure after all… But where was it hidden? We'd searched the entire house," Anna remarked.
"Maybe the slimes were guarding the treasure, but since they're now in Kaito's service, they trust their master." But… Kaito isn't with us right now, so why did they bring us these items? …Anyway, whatever the reason may be, we should be grateful, I thought, petting one of the wolves.
We put the items in a bag we found on the property, which turned out to be a storage bag that could hold a certain number of items of various sizes. We were now ready to leave the building and return to the city. But strangely, the wolves didn't accompany us; instead, they sat at the entrance and watched us as we walked away. It was like someone or something was preventing them from leaving this abandoned and dilapidated estate.
After walking three kilometers west, we arrived back in town just before sunset. Before returning to the inn, we decided to first stop by a merchant who would buy our items.
I know we should wait for Kaito, since he's surely on his way back to where he was last. But since we planned to go look for him instead, we needed the money to continue our journey. So we set out to find a merchant, but unfortunately, we don't know our way around this city. There's nothing marked on the town map, unfortunately…
"You look like you've lost someone, hohoh."
Unexpectedly, an elderly woman's voice rang out. We turned toward the voice and saw an old woman whose hair and the upper half of her wrinkled face were covered by a dark blue headscarf. She was sitting on a small stool, and in front of her was a small table with incense sticks and a small green cushion on which rested a shiny glass ball. She looked like a fortune-teller. To be more precise, like the fortune-teller from back then who sent Kaito and me on our way to Pezowa.
"Huh? You're… What are you doing here?"
"You know this lady, Monika?" Anna asked.
"Well, I wouldn't say I know her. But she was the reason Kaito and I set out on this journey in the first place," I explained to Anna.
"Is that so…?"
"But something just occurred to me… How did you manage to get here from the north so quickly? It's a very long way from Aldére to Zyronthar."
"Hohoh… It seems you're misunderstanding something, young lady. The one who helped you in the north was surely my younger sister. Hohoh…"
"Your younger sister? Are you twins? Because you two look so much alike it's hard to tell you apart."
"Strictly speaking, we're quadruplets. Each of us chose our own path and scattered to the four corners of the world," explained the fortune-teller.
"I see… But that comes in handy, Ms. Fortune-Teller. As you may have guessed, we're looking for our friend. Do you perhaps have any idea where he might be right now?"
"Let me see what I can do for you," she said. She reached for the crystal ball and set it aside under her small table. Then she took the incense sticks and lit three of them. She waited a moment until the smoke suddenly turned green.
That moment reminds me very much of the time when Kaito and I were told about our journey to Pezowa. Except back then, the crystal ball was used instead of the incense sticks. We were also told that we would find brave friends to accompany us.
And that's exactly what happened. First we met Anna, then we became friends with the inhabitants of the Demi Village, and later with the heroes and their servants as well. Not to mention Eiko and Reiko. Who would have thought I'd ever get to experience something like this, just because I followed some idiot.
He may be an idiot, but he's a sensitive and cool idiot. Hehe…
"I see something… Oh dear. How on earth did he end up there?"
"What do you see?" I asked.
"Your friend isn't anywhere near this town, no—quite the opposite. He's in another kingdom far to the east, where the landscape is teeming with snow and mountains."
"Far to the east?" My eyes widened in surprise. Shortly afterward, Anna pulled out a map—which she brazenly snatched from my vest pocket—and let me take a look at it too. I snatched the map from her hand and handed it to the old lady.
"Can you tell us roughly where he is right now?" I asked her.
"Let's see… Mmmh… Here." She pointed her finger at Kaito's exact location. "Wait a second—I think I have something here that might help you find him." She withdrew her hand and turned around, rummaging frantically through a large travel bag that I hadn't even noticed until just now.
"Hmm… Where is it? … This one? No… Maybe this one? No, not that one either…" She pulled out one object after another. Anna and I watched her, feeling uncertain and slightly confused.
"Ahhh, there it is," said the fortune-teller, proudly presenting us an object…
"What is that?" I asked, since I'd never seen anything like it before.
"That, my dear, will be your guide. If you place even a single hair or a nail, or even a drop of blood from the person you're looking for inside it and then hold a map over it, a glowing dot will appear at the spot where that person is. Go ahead, try it out for yourself if you don't trust me."
At first glance, it seemed like witchcraft, or just the nonsense of an older lady, but I guess it's worth a try.
"Hey Anna, you still have your bag full of Kaito's hair, right?
Anna flinched, her eyes widening. "H-… How do you know that?? Um, I mean… What made you think that? Why would I brush my hero's hair off, stuff it into a bag, and use it as filling for my 'my hero' stuffed toy so I can smell him in bed at night? That would be crazy… Only a pervert would do something like that. Besides, you have no proof… Ohoho…" Anna tried to talk her way out of it when she felt caught red-handed.
"You just gave yourself away, you pervert… Now just give me that darn bag! Knowing you, you definitely have it on you right now."
"No, don't do that!" Anna refused and screamed. But I didn't hold back. I groped this busty pervert from head to toe; even when she tried to push me away, I clung on tight.
I found nothing in her pockets… Maybe under her clothes? That wouldn't surprise me at all, knowing her…
"No! Please stop, that tickles… Mnh…!" she screamed and suddenly started making strange noises.
She started moving her body strangely the deeper I sank into her. My hands wandered along her waist to search under her dress. Why is she sweating so much? I wondered. And what on earth are those noises? A short, uncontrolled 'Mnh…!' escaped her throat again.
I looked up, bewildered. Her amber eyes were wide, and her lizard-like pupils had narrowed to slits. Framed by her fiery red hair, her face glowed a deep, unnatural red.
Her head was tilted slightly back, and she bit her lower lip in panic, while her hands suddenly clawed into my shoulders instinctively.
"Stop… please…" she gasped, her breath going much too fast.
I didn't get it at all and continued to feel my way along her ribs in confusion.
"Nmmmhh…!" A deeper, uncontrollably trembling moan escaped her. Behind her, her red-scaled salamander tail began to lash wildly and tellingly against the floor in time with her heartbeat. Even the fine scales on her hip seemed to tremble slightly with excitement.
At first, I didn't think anything of it, since I already knew she was a perverted creature. So I reached under her clothes again and searched more closely until I was eventually stopped by those two huge monstrosities. For now… Since I'm a woman too, that shouldn't be a problem anyway! With that thought, I grabbed those round mounds and tried to clear a path through them with a little force. These things have been getting on my nerves for quite a while now, as I'd like to mention.
"Mnh… Ahhhh…!" was all I heard, escaping from Anna's mouth. "I… I didn't know you'd be so… so rough…! " she whispered with a glassy stare.
Oh my God. Is she actually enjoying this right now?! It suddenly dawned on me what was going through her mind, and I felt the heat rise to my face.
My hands were still busy with the giants, but just as I was about to stop moving, my left hand felt something unusual. I reached for it immediately and pulled it out.
"No! Please don't…!" she screamed.
Looks like I found the right thing. "Don't be such a crybaby, I just need a single hair for this."
"Guards! Stop this crazy woman! She's trying to steal my hero right now!" she suddenly screamed, wailing, and pointed her finger at me.
"SShhh… Be quiet! Have you lost your mind? Besides, you're the only crazy one here! And we're not at the Salamander Palace, so behave yourself! Geez… I'll give you the bag in a minute." Can't believe I just said that…
Oh man, and I have to endure her all by myself until we find Kaito? Well, I'm not exactly all alone—there are still the twins, after all, though they did witness the whole scene with Anna's weird fetish, if you can even call it that. Luckily, they're still kids and hopefully don't understand what just happened. Man, this is so embarrassing and awkward…
Anyway. After a fierce battle against two cannons, we can take the next step. I opened the lavender-colored cloth bag and took out two or three strands of hair that shimmered white-silver. I won't even get into the amount of hair in the bag, since Alicia already warned me about it. So I'll leave it alone for now…
"So... I have a few strands of hair now, but what do I do next?" I asked the fortune-teller directly. She was clearly flustered by what had just happened and stared at me, frozen, as if she'd turned into a statue.
"Ah… Yes, ahem… Place the hair on the black, glass-like material and let it do its work."
I did as she said. The object is about the same size as a compass, but it's more egg-shaped and looks like a amulet. The base is silver with a dark glass dome on top, and it's adorned with a long chain so you can wear it as a necklace.
I placed the hair on the glass dome, whereupon it vanished instantly, as if the dome had swallowed the hair like a swamp.
"And now hold the map directly over it; a small light point should appear on the map."
When I held the map over it, nothing seemed to happen at first. For a moment, I was afraid that believing this nonsense had been a complete waste of time. But I was jumping to conclusions. I held the map a little closer, and then it happened. The guide glowed with a shimmering yellow light, illuminating the map. Every line on the map became clearer, and then the point of light the old lady had mentioned appeared.
A glowing red dot far to the east, almost outside the boundaries of my map, since this isn't a complete, detailed map. But Kaito seemed to still be within the map—that's a good sign. What isn't so good, however, is that we'll have to travel almost halfway around the world to find each other.
"Thank you so much. How can we ever make up for this?"
"100 gold coins."
"…Huh?"
"That's right. 100 isn't enough. Let's make it 200 gold coins," the old woman corrected herself, holding up two fingers with her right hand and grinning.
"…Um… I don't quite understand what you mean…"
"What's there not to understand? 200 gold coins for the fortune-telling and the guide. What else would I mean?"
"HUUUUHH??? 200 gold coins for such a thing?? Hey Grandma, that's a total rip-off!!"
"What's a rip-off here?!! Did you seriously think it would be for free?! PAH! The youth nowadays, thinking everything's free! Shame on you!"
"HEY GRANNY! How about we turn the quadruplets into triplets right now?!"
"Uh… Monika…" Anna said cautiously.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Ya wanna see???"
"THAT'S ENOUGH, YOU TWO!!!" Anna shouted, cutting in.
Granny and I stopped. Just then, Anna suddenly rummaged through my bag. It was the Storage-Bag containing the items from the estate. She pulled out a few rings with red and blue gemstones and a gold chain.
"Is that enough!" Anna raised her voice.
The fortune-teller took a closer look at the jewelry with a magnifying glass she'd quickly pulled from her sleeve and said, "You got off easy this time. Why didn't you just do that from the start? Seriously."
'What did you say…?' I got angry again and was ready at any moment to introduce her face with my fists, but Anna and the twins pulled me away from the scene.
Our next destination was finally a merchant where we could sell the remaining items. Our profit came to about 1,000 gold coins, which was more than I'd initially expected. But that's more than enough to get to Kaito.
…At least we won't have to make another purchase like the one we did earlier, though we're now well-equipped when it comes to clothing…
After our dealings, we returned to the inn and had dinner. Our dinner consisted of venison ragout, served with a small bowl of salad, and we drank delicious and refreshing mate-tea. While we ate, Anna and I discussed how we would proceed; in the end, we both agreed and decided to buy all the necessary provisions first thing tomorrow morning and then set off right away.
After dinner, we went up to our rooms. Since our original room assignment had Kaito and the twins sharing a room, just like Anna and me, I decided to spend the night in Kaito's room so the twins wouldn't be alone.
At first, Anna tried to prevent me from doing this and wanted to snag Kaito's room for herself, but I already had a plan.
I opened our bedroom door and tossed the bag filled with Kaito's hair into the room, whereupon Anna ran after it like a dog. Once she was inside, I quickly locked the door with the key, as if she were a wild animal.
Once that was taken care of, I first put the children in a tub filled with warm water and gave them a thorough wash. After that, I put them straight to bed, and thankfully they fell asleep quickly—though I'd been worried they might not be able to sleep a wink without Kaito. They're surely exhausted from all that walking on their little legs. No wonder they're sleeping so peacefully now. Anna has probably fallen asleep too, with Kaito's hair in her hands.
But me? I can't stop thinking about him. His travel bag was still lying on his bed; just seeing that made it even harder for me to think of anything but him.
I picked up his bag and hung it over the chair in front of the desk, then got ready for bed.
I took off my brown boots, removed the short swords, let my vest and skirt slide down my body, and threw myself—still wearing my shirt—onto the bed, continuing to think…
I wonder why? Somehow my heart is pounding hard and I feel something strange. Yet all I'm thinking about is Kaito—how he's doing right now and what he's up to. Is there a deeper meaning to this?
I've had this strange feeling before—it was a few weeks ago when Kaito's lips touched mine.
…We… kissed. Unexpectedly, my heart started beating even faster, and I felt my head about to burst from overheating.
During these quiet hours of reflection at night, a captivating jumble of emotions envelops me. My gaze wanders to the ceiling above me as I try to untangle the subtle nuances of my emotions.
The memories of our time together bring warmth to my heart. Yet a pinch of uncertainty mingles with the shadows of those moments of happiness. The thought of the heart's vulnerability and the uncertain future of my feelings casts quiet doubts. A slight melancholy creeps in and etches the scars of the past into my soul. Yet within this melancholy lies a kind of strength—a reminder that, despite everything, I've moved on...
The longing for a deep connection is reflected in my eyes. I'm searching for a deeper understanding of myself and the relationships that shape my heart. In this moment of pause and reflection, my emotional world reveals itself as a complex tapestry of hope, uncertainty, and the constant search for the essence of what these feelings mean to me.
After much thought, I may have finally realized what's going on with me…
Does that mean I'm… in love with Kaito?