Tokyo Sick Girlfriend

Chapter 14 A Sickly Love
Have you been eating well lately?

The moment the text message appeared in his eyes, Shiratori Seiya knew almost without thinking that the sender was Hojo Shione.

We've been dating for too long.

For more than two years, her voice, tone, and fragrance have been etched into my mind, along with the sunshine of youth.

So much so that just looking at this line of text makes me unconsciously recall the gentle tone in which she said those words.

Shiratori Seiya took a deep breath, rubbed his temples with a slight headache, and tried his best to suppress his emotions, replying with two words:
"fine."

The message instantly became read, and then a new line of text appeared on the screen:

"But I haven't been very happy lately."

With a twitch of his eyelids, Shiratori Seiya's finger hovered over the screen, indicating that he had read the message but would not reply.

Hojo Shione seemed unwilling to make things difficult for him, and added:
"I'm at the school gate now."

"..."

Shiratori Seiya pursed his lips and replied with his hand:

"Aren't you afraid of being photographed? Go home early."

However, the constant messages from the girl's phone kept tugging at his heartstrings.

"It's not good, but I can't go home right now because it's at your school, Seiya, which is too far from home."

"Go home quickly."

"But a lot of people are taking pictures of me with their phones right now. If you don't come to my rescue, I'll probably have a hard time getting away, right?"

"I can't leave if you don't come."

I won't leave unless you come.

Seeing Hojo Shione's seemingly unreasonable words, Shiratori Seiya thought for a moment and decided to make things clear.

"I'm going there now."

He put away his phone and quickly walked outside.

It takes about ten minutes to walk from the cafeteria to the school gate.

The sun was still scorching today; under normal circumstances, I would definitely feel anxious and annoyed.

Shiratori Seiya especially disliked the sticky feeling of sweat making his shirt stick to his skin.

She was thinking about what she should say to Hojo Shione later.

Lost in thought, he found himself standing at the school gate in the blink of an eye.

Looking around, I didn't see that familiar figure from my memory.

Suddenly, a shadow blocked the scorching light overhead.

Immediately afterward, he smelled the familiar perfume scent, and his body stiffened involuntarily.

Before he could even turn around, the girl holding the umbrella stood gracefully in front of him.

Hojo Shione tilted the umbrella slightly toward him, standing in the summer sunlight.

She was wearing a white mask, and a few strands of hair slipped out from behind her ears as a gentle breeze blew by.

She seemed to have been crying; the corners of her eyes were slightly red, and her watery eyes blinked gently, like glass soaked with morning dew.

She looked at Shiratori Seiya, probably not wanting their reunion to be too painful.

The girl tilted her head slightly, narrowed her eyes, and smiled in a relaxed tone:
"Hey, Kiyoya, you're still so naive, you got fooled by me."

"But even if I lied to you, could you please hold my umbrella for me?"

"..."

Unable to speak, Shiratori Seiya silently accepted the umbrella.

However, the moment their fingers touched, the girl's burning emotions seemed to be unable to be suppressed any longer.

She tiptoed, wrapped her delicate arms around Shiratori Seiya's shoulders, buried her face in his chest, and deeply inhaled his scent.

Shiratori Seiya suddenly felt a dryness in his throat, and his lowered arm instinctively wanted to hug the other person, but stopped in mid-air.

As if afraid he would push her away, a soft, pleading voice suddenly came from her arms:
"Don't go, please..."

The two stood by the school gate, attracting curious glances from passersby before chuckling and walking away.

It's probably mocking the two of them for being too clingy.

Time seemed to pass both very long and very quickly at that moment. When Shiratori Seiya came to his senses, Hojo Shione had already left his embrace.

"I'm sorry, it's been too long since I've replenished my energy from Kiyoya. Please forgive my selfishness."

She tossed her long hair and chuckled softly, her loving eyes lingering on the boy's face.

Once he calmed down, Shiratori Seiya moved the umbrella closer to her, his gaze unconsciously lingering on her.

She still looks the same as before.

Her light brown hair curled slightly from her shoulders down to her chest.

Her shoulders and waist were very slender, but her breasts were unusually full, like cantaloupe, making her clothes bulge at the chest.

Hojo Shione leaned forward slightly, and Shiratori Seiya took in a glimpse of her deep, white skin.

He glanced away, suppressing the agitation in his heart, and asked calmly:
"It's nothing. Why did you suddenly come?"

"That's a difficult question to answer..."

Hojo Shione's eyes hardened with conflict. She sighed and said helplessly:

"It would be fine if I didn't know your contact information, but once I did, I just couldn't suppress my desire to see you."

"..." Hearing her say such sentimental words, and suppressing the stirring emotions in his heart, Shiratori Seiya looked away from her face.

"I listen to what Qingzai says very well."

Hojo Shione suddenly spoke, drawing his attention back once again.

"Aunt Ando must have called you just now, right? She told me that she gave you a good scolding."

"But actually, I really didn't tell her on my own initiative, although Kiyoya, you were really rude, unilaterally breaking up with her and all that..."

After listening to Hojo Shione's explanation, Shiratori Seiya finally understood what was going on.

Even after she went to university, Norika Ando still frequently called Shione Hojo.

Ask her if she went out with Shiratori Seiya, and when they would be back together, etc.

Once or twice is fine; Hojo Shione can barely manage to get away with it.

However, after a while, Norika Ando noticed that the two of them didn't match up at all, and she also noticed that her mood was off every time she mentioned Seiya Shiratori on the phone.

Under repeated questioning, Hojo Shione had no choice but to tell the truth.

This was to be expected.

Shiratori Seiya already knew this and had prepared a countermeasure in advance.

However, he didn't know how to start the conversation.

"Let's go talk over there. It's not very polite with people coming and going like this..."

Seemingly noticing the constant gazes directed at her, Hojo Shione spoke, skillfully taking his hand and stroking the calluses on his palm, a wave of nostalgia washing over her.

As she walked, she spoke in a deliberately casual tone:

"It's been a long time! How have you been?"

"good."

"Really? But I'm not doing well."

She repeated the words from the text message, and when she reached the shade, she took Shiratori Seiya's umbrella and closed it tightly:
"Kiyoya, you're really heartless, leaving me just a letter like that..."

"It took me several days to realize, oh no, I've been dumped."

Hojo Shione spoke casually, looking intently at Shiratori Seiya, and asked:
"Can I know why?"

"..."

Shiratori Seiya looked at the girl in front of him, his lips moved, and he felt the emotions that had been building up inside him pounding against his heart.

Finally, he steeled himself and uttered the lines he had prepared beforehand:
"Xiyin, I have a girlfriend."

"..."

A moment of silence fell over the air, the sweltering heat swirling between the two.

Shiratori Seiya had expected her to burst into tears, but to his surprise, she seemed to have anticipated it. Her watery eyes flickered twice, and then she tilted her head to confirm:

"Really?"

Unable to see the expression on her face, Shiratori Seiya nodded and said:
"real."

"All right……"

Was it while you were dating me? Or before you broke up?

"No."

"Oh, then I'm not so bad off."

She nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly chuckled softly:

"I made a mistake just now."

He stretched out his hand, pointed at Shiratori Seiya, and said:
"You made a mistake too."

I shouldn't have hugged you just now.

"Honestly, now that you have a girlfriend, shouldn't you keep your distance from other girls?"

"Otherwise, if someone who knows you sees this, they'll probably think you're cheating on them."

"..."

She took a deep breath, stepped back half a step, and took off her mask.

In an instant, the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves fell on her delicate, pretty face, making her radiant like a rose under a clear sky.

Suddenly, she smiled gently at Shiratori Seiya:
"Okay, I just wanted to see you today, that's all. Don't overthink it."

It's been so long, you don't smell of me at all anymore. Consider it selfish of me, but I hope your girlfriend won't mind.

"Okay, I'm actually quite busy. You probably know I'm having a concert next month, right? I snuck out today."

"That's enough for today. I'm leaving now. You don't need to see me off; there's a car ahead."

She continued talking to herself, giving Shiratori Seiya no chance to interject.

Putting her mask back on and opening her umbrella, Hojo Shione turned and left, seemingly without a trace of regret.

However, the moment she turned around, crystal tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes.

Hojo Shione gripped the umbrella handle tightly, her knuckles aching, as she desperately suppressed the pain in her heart.

The emotions in my heart were almost unbearable, and the sadness kept burning inside me.

She took two steps, then suddenly chuckled softly, a cold glint in her tear-filled eyes.

……
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(End of this chapter)