"Dong—!"
"Dong—!"
The dusk bells rang out atop the cathedral roof, and the dim, dusky twilight spilled into the cathedral.
The sisters piously finished their evening prayers, bringing a day of toil to its end.
It was clock-out time.
Deaconess Barbara hurriedly bid the sisters farewell and, book in hand, went to find Rosaria, who was sitting and reading on a bench in the back row of the cathedral.
Just before prayers, she had finished reading the part where Arima Kousei and Miyazono Kaori confessed their feelings and encouraged each other amid the heavy snow.
Next would come Arima Kousei's recital and Miyazono Kaori's treatment.
And so, she was dying to know what happened next.
She was looking forward to a perfect ending.
But as much as she anticipated the novel's contents, correcting Rosaria's habits was also a necessity.
Only, what felt a little strange to her was that Rosaria seemed to be in a daze...
How odd.
Granted, when she had asked Rosaria to read the book that morning, Rosaria had worn a thoroughly displeased look.
But after reading for a while, Rosaria had clearly become interested—otherwise, given her personality, how could she possibly have sat reading in the cathedral for an entire day?
So why was she in a daze now?
"Sister Rosaria, what's the matter?"
Barbara asked.
Rosaria gave no response. Barbara tried calling out once more, and only then did Rosaria snap back to her senses.
"I've finished the book. Remember about my time off."
Rosaria closed the book, turned, and walked away.
"Uh..."
Watching Rosaria's retreating figure heading out of the cathedral, Barbara's gaze grew a little crestfallen.
She sighed and sat down on the bench. Just as she was about to open Your Lie in April, Rosaria's voice rang out.
"I'd advise you not to read any further in that book."
Rosaria said.
"Huh? Why?"
Barbara turned back around and saw Rosaria looking at her.
"There's no need for so many whys."
Rosaria waved a hand, turned, and continued on her way out of the cathedral.
"Where are you going?"
Barbara asked, puzzled.
Whether it was because of the setting sun she couldn't tell, but she seemed to see that the rims of Rosaria's eyes were a little red.
"I'm off the clock. Going to the Angel's Share for a drink."
Without even turning her head, Rosaria waved a hand and said, "Don't forget to put in for my leave."
"Mm."
Barbara nodded.
Her mood had lifted quite a bit.
Rosaria wasn't so cold after all.
Though she had no idea exactly why Rosaria had urged her not to keep reading...
After Rosaria left, she looked at the copy of Your Lie in April in her hands, feeling a little hesitant.
Even though Rosaria had advised her not to read on, the story was stuck right at its climax—how could anyone bear that?
So, after hesitating a while, she opened the book in her hands anyway.
The story continued on from the deep of winter.
Miyazono Kaori began her treatment, and Arima Kousei stepped onto the stage.
As Arima Kousei's memories welled up, Barbara quickly threw Rosaria's advice to the back of her mind.
The sound of the piano began to play.
As the music rose, everyone present was moved by it.
"Kousei's performance overflows with brilliant colors... sorrowfully... full of color."
Arima Kousei played on.
"Don't leave me all alone..."
In his memory, Miyazono Kaori was weeping, tears streaming down.
"Idiot, aren't I still here?"
Arima Kousei played, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"In my heart, you exist."
"How could I ever leave you alone? Let it reach her... let it reach her... let it reach her..."
Arima Kousei prayed.
"Lord Barbatos, Anemo Archon, bless me—let a miracle descend."
Barbara's heart was tugged along with it, hot tears brimming in her eyes. She couldn't wait to see Miyazono Kaori recover and play beneath the cherry tree together with Arima Kousei.
She couldn't wait to keep reading.
As Arima Kousei prayed, it was as if snow had begun to fall inside the concert hall.
He lifted his head to look, and as far as the eye could see, he was no longer in the concert hall, but upon a boundless sea.
At that moment, Miyazono Kaori appeared at Arima Kousei's side.
She gave Arima Kousei a wordless smile and began to play along with the sound of his piano.
The two performed together between sea and sky, intimately, in perfect harmony.
Just when Barbara thought that Miyazono Kaori would get better next, as Arima Kousei's playing came to an end, Miyazono Kaori too scattered away into a flurry of drifting cherry blossoms.
"Farewell."
Arima Kousei returned to reality, and the piece came to a close.
The song ended and the audience dispersed—and the people, too, parted ways.
Miyazono Kaori was gone...
Barbara sat on the bench, her face streaming with tears in an instant, the tears falling unstoppably onto the pages printed with cherry blossom petals.
After a good while, she finally continued reading on.
Only, when she saw the letter that Miyazono Kaori had left for Arima Kousei, the floodgates of her tears utterly broke once more, and she began to cry all over again.
"I told a lie—the lie that Miyazono Kaori liked Watari Ryouta. That lie was what brought you, Arima Kousei, before me."
"Did it reach you? If it reached you, then that's enough... Arima Kousei, I love you, I love you, I love you."
"For so very many things, I'm so sorry. Thank you."
April is your lie.
Outside the cathedral.
Hearing Barbara's sobs and the voices of the sisters drawing near to ask after her, Rosaria took a deep drag of her cigarette, lifted her head to look at the sky, and said, "I told you not to read on."
After exhaling all the smoke, she lifted her feet and, bathed in the dusk sunlight, headed toward the Angel's Share.
As she passed by the bookstore, a long line still stretched out in front of it.
A destitute astrologer, for the sake of her dinner, was holding a bulging coin purse and standing in line on someone else's behalf.
Not far off, the alchemist girl who belonged to the Knights of Favonius but had been driven out of the laboratory because of an explosion was staring with a curious face at the signboard in front of the bookstore.
Trouble on top of trouble—though admittedly an adorable sort of trouble—the Knights of Favonius Spark Knight was bragging to her drinking buddy Kaeya about a lizard with strange markings she'd caught that day, asking Kaeya whether he wanted to take a look.
After a single sweeping glance, Rosaria drew her gaze back and looked at the signboard by the bookstore entrance.
The signboard was advertising Fang Qiu's new book, The Forest of Fireflies' Light.
"Fang Qiu? What a troublesome fellow."
Rosaria grumbled, then lifted her feet and headed toward the Angel's Share.
Because of that troublesome fellow, she figured she'd probably be drinking a bit more than usual today.
Thinking thus, she pushed open the door of the Angel's Share.
The moment she stepped into the tavern, she saw that green-clad drunkard of a bard drinking his wine, working himself into the right mood, getting ready to tell a story.
Rosaria found a seat and sat down, ordered a glass of hard liquor, and began to drink.
Before long, Venti's storytelling began.
"Today's tale is the one everyone has long been waiting for—Your Lie in April."
Venti said, his face flushed red from drinking.
Hearing which book Venti was about to tell, the hand with which Rosaria held her wine cup couldn't help but tremble.
"Today's really not my day."
Rosaria grumbled and looked out the window.
Outside the window a gentle breeze drifted by, and the windwheel asters turned softly with the breeze in the dusk sunlight.
At this moment, in Liyue.
Dusk closed in on all sides, and the curtain of night was about to fall.
The dim, dusky sunlight poured down upon the land.
Supported by Hu Tao, Fang Qiu, bathed together with her in the dusk sunlight, made her way toward the rented house.
The production supervision of Your Name had already been preliminarily completed.
On Albedo's end, needless to say—a top-tier painter, with top-tier comprehension.
As for the voice acting, she had corrected quite a few places as well, and it could be said to have gotten on the right track.
As for the music, she had simply hummed out songs from her past life such as "Dream Lantern" and "Zenzenzense," and had the great musicians from various nations compose the scores.
The level of completion was quite high.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, progress was going very smoothly, and finishing before the Lantern Rite wouldn't be much of a problem.
She was very much looking forward to the impact of the Your Name animation, confident that it would surely be a grand audiovisual feast.
She had dinner together with Hu Tao at a restaurant.
Hu Tao then escorted her all the way back to the rented house, helped Fang Qiu wash up, then helped her change into her pajamas, and afterward left.
After Hu Tao left, Fang Qiu sat down on the Jumpy Dumpty, picked up a book, and began to read.
The title was The Raiden Shogun I Drew Came to Life.
It told of a protagonist who was a light-novel illustrator. One day, the illustration of the Raiden Shogun she had drawn came to life and stepped out of the picture.
Only, she had just read two pages when the door was opened.
Shenhe had returned.
After they greeted each other, Shenhe noticed that the movements of Fang Qiu's foot were a little unnatural.
"What's wrong with your foot?"
Shenhe asked, somewhat puzzled.
"It's nothing, I just carelessly twisted it."
Fang Qiu shook her head, smiled, and said.
"Twisted it? Is it serious?"
Shenhe walked over in front of Fang Qiu and, looking at Fang Qiu's foot with some concern, asked.
"It's nothing, I've already taken care of it."
Fang Qiu smiled and said.
"Give me your foot, let me take a look."
Shenhe crouched down in front of Fang Qiu and said.
Her tone brooked no refusal.
Truly unable to win against Shenhe, Fang Qiu had no choice but to tug up the trouser leg of her panda pajamas and extend her bare foot toward Shenhe's chest.
Shenhe gently took hold of Fang Qiu's ankle, her long, slender fingers softly stroking and pinching at Fang Qiu's ankle, then said, "It's been given emergency care, but if it's left unattended, it won't heal anytime soon."
"It might hurt a little, so bear with it."
Shenhe said.
"Huh? What?"
Before Fang Qiu could react, a stab of pain came from her ankle.
Shenhe was pressing on her ankle.
"Don't squirm, bear with it. Once the massage is done, your foot will be back to normal."
Shenhe said as she pressed.
Hearing Shenhe say so, Fang Qiu had no choice but to bite down on her lower lip and endure.
And Shenhe slowly began to apply force with her fingers, pressing rhythmically.
At first Fang Qiu still felt the pain, but then it became a numb, swollen sensation.
A very strange feeling.
Whether or not it was because she was using Adeptal power, with each rub of Shenhe's hand came waves of scorching heat.
This wave of heat radiated out from the ankle, spreading endlessly toward her whole body.
Under Shenhe's kneading of her ankle, Fang Qiu felt as though her entire self were about to fly up into the sky, like a sky lantern drifting on the wind, bobbing up and down in the night sky.
She couldn't help herself.
Even her body began to grow hot, stirring with an inexplicable restlessness.
Just as Fang Qiu's face flushed crimson and she was on the verge of being unable to hold back a cry, Shenhe's massage came to an end.
"What's the matter with you?"
Looking at the flush on Fang Qiu's pretty face, Shenhe was somewhat puzzled.
"It's... it's nothing..."
Fang Qiu lightly bit her moist lower lip, forcibly suppressing her body's reaction, and replied.
"That's good, then. Get up and try walking a couple of steps."
Shenhe said.
"Mm."
Fang Qiu answered softly, her arm bracing lightly against the desk as she propped up her limp body and stood.
"How is it?"
Shenhe asked.
"Mm, it doesn't hurt at all anymore."
Fang Qiu said.
She had to admit, Shenhe's massage really was effective—her ankle didn't hurt in the slightest, and there wasn't the faintest abnormality.
Only, the process of that massage really had been far too strange...
She couldn't tell whether it was a problem with herself, or a problem caused by Shenhe using Adeptal power during the massage...
After her leg was better, Fang Qiu chatted with Shenhe and took the opportunity to mention the matter of moving house to her.
Shenhe naturally had no objections whatsoever to this.
Since Shenhe had already returned, the move could naturally begin right away.
Early the next morning, after greeting the landlord, Fang Qiu went to the Wanmin Restaurant and the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to call over Hu Tao, Xiangling, and Guoba to prepare for the move.
As for the others, with the Lantern Rite approaching, they were all swamped with work.
Yun Jin was preparing a new opera, while Xinyan, Beidou, and the others were out at sea salvaging collectibles together with the Traveler and Paimon.
"Old Meng, hurry up. If we dawdle too long, we'll never get it all done."
Hu Tao, hugging a stack of books taller than herself, set the books down onto a small cart.
"Director, come give me a hand, I can't hold on much longer."
On the staircase, Old Meng—whom Hu Tao had called over to be a laborer—had the veins bulging on his forehead as he carried Tingyu's oversized cat tree down the stairs one step at a time.
After Hu Tao had set down Fang Qiu's book collection, she stepped forward in two quick strides, effortlessly took over the cat tree, and carried it over to another small cart.
Seeing this scene, Fang Qiu suddenly felt a good deal more at peace inside.
It seemed that not everyone in Liyue was a monster.
Though in close-quarters combat, she figured she probably wouldn't last even a single punch at Old Meng's hands...
Behind Old Meng was Guoba.
It was hoisting up a Jumpy Dumpty doll many times larger than its own body, walking down the stairs one steady step at a time.
Seeing this scene, Fang Qiu felt rather ashamed of herself.
To think that even Guoba was stronger than her.
She didn't have many belongings.
Apart from some daily necessities, clothing, and books, all that remained were the things Tingyu used.
It was soon all moved out and cleared away.
After bidding farewell to the landlord and the neighbors, they pulled the carts and made their way all the way to the new home.
The moving process went unusually smoothly.
After everything had been moved in, they went together to purchase a batch of daily necessities, and then arranged her room for her.
Fang Qiu had wanted to treat them all to a meal to thank them, but everyone was busy, so with no other choice, it would have to be another day.
After they left.
Fang Qiu and Shenhe sat for a while in the corridor of the courtyard, then set out to go shopping as well, to pick out a Lantern Rite gift for Cloud Retainer.
Shenhe had wanted to give Cloud Retainer a copy of The Forest of Fireflies' Light as a gift, but it was firmly vetoed by Fang Qiu.
No matter how she thought about it, that didn't seem quite right...
However, Fang Qiu wasn't too clear on the Adepti's preferences either, and had no idea what to give, so in the end she could only choose to give some food.
In any case, giving food was sure to be a safe bet.
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