Heavy girl? I feel worse than Black Hole Trigger!

Page 25

...Failed again.

My legs felt like they were filled with heavy lead and I couldn't move them.

The air seemed to turn into an invisible hand, tightly gripping her neck and making it difficult for her to breathe.

His hands, already tightly gripping the notebook, were so tight that his knuckles began to turn white.

Her lowered eyes were trembling.

Then she saw the man squat down and reach out to pick up the stone that had broken into two pieces.

"Is this... a stone?"

The man squatted on the ground and looked at the two stones for a while before raising his head.

He smiled at Gao Songdeng.

"What kind of stone is this?"

"……I have no idea."

The girl's throat was dry.

"I just think...it's beautiful."

"Very beautiful." The man repeated.

He seemed to become somewhat solemn as he held the two broken stones.

But Gao Songdeng just felt that it was a mockery.

"Well, I..."

In order to prevent myself from straying from this world

She tried hard to lift her legs, tried hard to turn around and run away.

But it seemed that the invisible hand that had just strangled her neck now tightly grasped her legs, leaving her completely unable to exert any strength...

At this moment, a hand was extended in front of her.

"Give."

The man whispered. In his palm lay a cracked stone.

Gao Songdeng looked at the strange-shaped stones and felt a chill invade his whole body.

……

"I'm sorry, my child likes to collect small round things. I don't think she did it on purpose..."

Did I do something wrong?

"Deng. I know she likes it, but if someone gave her a lot of dango worms, she'd be disgusted too..."

Have I caused trouble to others?

……

"sorry……"

She said sobbingly.

Not a single tear rolled down those eyes that were already drooping.

It seemed as if they had shed all their remaining tears long, long ago.

However, the man who was still squatting just frowned suddenly.

“…Why are you apologizing?”

The man looked up at her face.

The sound was low and long.

It was like time was tightening around her throat.

"...Stone, you don't need it...right..."

Gao Songdeng's nails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists.

Perhaps it was the sting of pain that made her voice tremble even more.

I took the liberty of—

“That’s not right.”

"……Eh?"

She raised her eyes timidly.

He was clearly a tall man, but he was squatting on the ground, supporting his knees with his elbows.

His long black windbreaker was scattered and even covered with dust. But he didn't care at all. Instead, he held a pair of broken stones in his hands and looked at them solemnly.

It was as if this ordinary little stone was far more valuable than his clothes.

"I don't know what kind of stone this is, but is this your treasure?"

"So, please don't say things like 'no need' casually. And then..."

The man weighed his palm, as if asking her to look carefully.

I saw him bring the stone in his other hand together, put the two together, and then separate them.

Then he held one of the pieces tightly in his palm and handed the other piece over.

The man looked at her with a smile.

"I accept this gift. So please accept my gift as well."

"……Gift……?"

She took it blankly.

The cracks are a bit prickly. Through the cross section, you can see the pattern inside the stone.

"You gave me a stone, and my gift in return is—"

The man raised the remaining half of the stone in his hand and said seriously:

“It’s this unique crack.”

"……unique."

Obviously, it just split into two halves irregularly.

There were stones everywhere on both sides of the bed, as if they had been accidentally run over by a car.

Gao Songdeng stared at the half-broken stone in his hand.

but--

She suddenly felt that this little stone seemed much more beautiful than before.

The man finally stood up, smiled and shook the other half of the stone at her, and under her gaze, he slowly but carefully put it into his pocket.

"Please treasure this from now on. With that, I'll take my leave..."

“—That, that!”

Subconsciously, the girl opened her mouth.

The man turned around again and said, "I'm listening."

There wasn't a trace of impatience on his face, only a kindness that was calmer than the night.

Under his steady gaze, Gao Songdeng only felt his trembling body gradually calm down.

"...Tou. My name is Tou, Takamatsu Tou. I..."

[I made friends just like everyone else]

[I am with everyone, but I feel like I am alone]

The words wrapped around the tip of the pen quietly escaped into the throat.

——Then, it turned into a voice and was transmitted.

"'I really want to be human'..."

"..."

The man blinked.

His eyes reflected the girl trying to raise her face and speak.

And through those eyes, the girl saw herself, who was extremely strange, extremely unique, and separated from the whole world.

The man just watched silently. He seemed no different from anyone else, as if he would disappear from her world in the blink of an eye.

Until the girl's voice disappeared in the night, until the bleak wind once again took away the courage to speak.

A gentle voice sounded.

"My name is Zheli. Baodeng Zheli."

The man's smile looked very unreal.

As dazzling as the stars, and as distant as the stars.

……but.

“I, too, really want to be human—!”

“————…….”

My breathing seemed to stop for a moment.

Under the night sky. Under the stars. He shouted to the world.

The moment before, he was so calm that it seemed as if nothing in the world could shake him in the slightest.

At this moment, it was as if someone had ignited the flames in his heart, and he shouted to the world in an extremely ferocious, yet also extremely proud manner.

Was it the dim streetlights? Was it the moonlight? It simply fell upon him, lightly and effortlessly, failing to obscure his unique silhouette in the night.

Just like, stars.

Just as dazzling, just as distant...

But it’s the same——

After traveling countless light years, he finally arrived by her side.

"So, let's work hard together as partners on the road to becoming human."

The man named Zheli smiled and waved to the girl named Deng.

"Goodbye."

This time, his figure really disappeared from sight.

And the lamp hugged the notebook tightly.

She watched the receding figure.

just like……

My eyes were also filled with a ray of starlight.