Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

"Wait a minute," Xiangzi called out to Chuhua, "Where's the girl who brought me here? Have you seen her?"

"I only saw you leaning against the porch outside my house," Chu Hua said, shaking her head. "Is there anything else?"

"never mind."

Click.

The room was quiet, just as it had been a moment ago.

Xiangzi opened his phone and saw a new note on the homepage.

I'm going back to let my family know I'm safe. I'll be back later. —Lamp

The Tale of Nirvana: Where Did You Sleep Last Night? Chapter 11: The Four Seas

Last night I was stuck in a tiny private room at an internet cafe, unable to even stretch my legs, but tonight I'm lying on a 1.5-meter-wide, soft bed with starry wallpaper on the ceiling, which makes me feel sleepy as I look at it.

Xiangzi turned off the light, and the stars on the ceiling became even more eye-catching. It turned out that they weren't just wallpaper; the stars on them were fluorescent stones.

Fluorescent stones form a starry sky on the ceiling, as if they are about to fall from the sky and envelop everything in the world.

Chu Hua still loves stars.

Xiangzi couldn't help but sigh.

I still remember that summer in Ryukyu. Chu Hua would often take her to a small lawn with a wide view at night, and the two of them would lie on the lawn like that.

Chu Hua would point to a spot in the sky and say to Xiangzi, "This star, this star, and this star together form the Summer Triangle."

Xiangzi looked in the direction she was pointing and could only see a vast expanse of starry fields.

Which one, which one, and which one else?

Here you are, see those two brightest stars? They cross the Milky Way; they are the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. They connect with the stars at the other end, forming the Summer Triangle.

The two ends of the Milky Way...

Xiangzi squinted and strained to look up at the sky. The three stars that Chu Hua was pointing to gradually became clearer. Their starlight shone through the thin clouds, making them appear even larger. The edges of their glittering lights seemed to be wet with water.

Ah, I see it!

That's fantastic! Xiangzi, look over there, those stars together form the constellation Scorpio!

And those two, can you see them? They're especially bright; those are Saturn and Venus!

Chuhua, you're pointing too fast, I can't see it!

And that! That's an astronomical telescope! If you look at it with the best astronomical telescope, you can see its solar panels.

ha?

It's true! My mom said it's a geostationary satellite that stays in the same position every day.

Chu Hua's mother was an American astronomer who met Chu Hua's father while stargazing in Okinawa, and that's how Chu Hua was born.

That's why Chu Hua knew so much that Xiang Zi didn't.

The starry sky of his childhood gradually overlapped with the ceiling and became dim. Xiangzi returned to his bedroom.

Luweiyuan is a city with severe light pollution, and there are very few places where you can see the stars. Even if Xiangzi wanted to see the stars, he wouldn't have had the chance.

However, Takasatsu was also a star enthusiast, and Xiangzi would often accompany her to the planetarium to see the stars, so her memory of the stars was not completely lost, and she still remembered some of them.

At the beginning, there were quite a few funny incidents.

For example, they mistook the winter triangle for the summer triangle, mistook the part of the ceiling covered by the smoke mirror alarm for a black hole, and mistook the laser pointer used for the narration for a UFO, etc.

Suddenly remembering the stupid things I'd done in the past, I felt so embarrassed I wanted to dig my toes into the floor. My sleepiness vanished along with the embarrassment.

Just as Xiangzi was feeling embarrassed, she heard the sound of the bedroom door opening.

--"Hello......"

"Don't be so formal..."

There was someone talking, but Xiangzi couldn't hear clearly.

"lamp?"

The voices lingered in the entryway for a moment. Xiangzi heard the sound of shoes being changed, followed by footsteps.

The footsteps grew closer and closer, finally stopping outside the bedroom door, followed by the sound of the doorknob being turned.

Xiangzi quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Click.

The door opened, and footsteps approached the bedside.

Xiangzi felt someone tidy her hair and pull the blanket up to her neck.

"You've worked hard today, Xiao Xiang. Good night."

The lamp whispered in her ear.

Warm, moist breath brushed against Xiangzi's ear, making her shiver involuntarily. Fortunately, Deng didn't notice her movement, assuming she was fast asleep, and turned to leave the bedroom.

The moment the door closed, Xiangzi opened her eyes, which she had been pretending to be asleep. Her face was flushed and her breathing was rapid. She pulled the blanket up to above her nose, leaving only her eyes exposed, to cover her burning face.

She didn't know who she was hiding from in the room, just as she didn't know why she was pretending to be asleep.

Her heart was beating so fast that she could feel the artery at the back of her head throbbing.

Thump, thump, that was the sound of Xiangzi's own heartbeat.

Toyokawa Shoko, you have to go to work tomorrow, look for a school, and hunt witches. How can you waver just because Takamatsu Akari says goodnight? You can't do this, you can't do this.

With a calm and pure mind, Toyokawa Shoko, you must fall asleep immediately.

Take a deep breath.

His heartbeat gradually calmed down, but Xiangzi had absolutely no desire to sleep.

She stared blankly at the stars on the ceiling.

Deng's here. What's she doing? Why did she come all this way so late? Is she worried about me? And Chuhua... can Deng get along with her? Maybe I should go and explain things to them.

Xiangzi thought for a moment, then got out of bed and walked towards the door.

He placed his hand on the doorknob, ready to open the door.

"Do you also like going to planetariums?"

Chu Hua's voice.

--"Um."

The sound of the light.

Xiangzi stopped, let go of the door, and pressed his ear against the door panel to eavesdrop.

"I usually go on Sundays if I'm free."

"I'm on Saturday..."

"No wonder we've never seen this before."

Wow, we started chatting so quickly! It's great to have common topics.

Xiangzi pursed his lips, leaned against the door, and slowly sat down on the ground, continuing to eavesdrop on the conversation outside the door.

Deng and Chuhua are both her very good friends, and they are both benefactors who helped her when she needed help the most. She should be happy that her friends can get along well, but for some reason, Xiangzi feels very uncomfortable now.

"I thought I couldn't see the stars in the Reed Plain, but actually the sky outside the planetarium is very clear, and you can see them much more clearly. I was so surprised when I first discovered it."

"Wow, that's amazing..."

Xiangzi eavesdropped for a long time, and Deng and Chuhua also chatted for a very long time, which made Xiangzi sleepy again.

Gradually, her eyelids began to droop, and she could no longer keep them open.

"Sorry, it's getting late, I have to go."

"There are no more trams at this time, so I might as well stay here tonight. This house is so big, and I usually live alone. There are definitely enough guest rooms."

"Is it really okay?"

"It's okay, I get lonely too, and it's nice to have someone with me..."

Xiangzi vaguely heard this conversation, and after that she remembered nothing.

The alarm clock woke her up at 7:00 a.m. the next morning, and she found herself curled up asleep by the door.

Even though the bed is so close to me.

The Tale of Nirvana: Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Chapter 12 Stubbornness

I opened my eyes, and the sunlight outside the window was a bit dazzling.

Xiangzi shielded his eyes from the sunlight with the back of his hand, got up from the cold floor, stretched, and yawned.

Although I slept on the floor all night, I was probably too tired yesterday, so my sleep quality was surprisingly good. Perhaps the decoration of Chuhua's house also contributed to this; the room has a cold loft style, but after adding various starry sky decorations, it actually gives people a sense of vastness.

Unlike the cramped, oppressive, damp, and cold private rooms in internet cafes.

Xiangzi took sixty seconds to come to his senses, then turned around and grabbed the doorknob.

The moment I grasped the doorknob, fragments of last night flashed through my mind.

[I am Xiao Xiang's jealous heart.]

Whom am I jealous of? Chu Hua or Deng, or do I have both of them? Whether it's Deng or Chu Hua, I was the one who came first, wasn't I?

No, Toyokawa Shoko, how could you think such a blasphemous thing?

Xiangzi closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Isn't it a good thing that they can get along? Anyway, you're a dead man in the futures market, so what does it matter to you what they do?

Then open your eyes and turn the doorknob.

"Good morning, Xiaoxiang."

"Good morning, light."

Xiangzi squinted and greeted him.

When she opened the door, she realized that the window behind her wasn't facing east; the living room window was the one facing east. The clean, clear sunlight illuminated the interior space, and the tall lamp sitting on the sofa seemed to have a faint halo around it in the sunlight, making it look exceptionally ethereal and beautiful.

After his eyes adjusted to the bright light, Xiangzi looked around.

Chu Hua's house is really big, conservatively estimated to be 150 square meters. From the window, you can directly overlook the reinforced concrete jungle of the reed field, and it looks like it's on a very high floor.

As expected of a professional artist's home, it's truly luxurious.

Just as Xiangzi was expressing his feelings about Chuhua's home.

"Remember the notebook from yesterday? The one the witch left behind." Lamp placed the tattered notebook on the table. "I've brought it back."

"It's not a good idea to keep this kind of thing," Xiangzi frowned.

“But I really love what’s written inside.” Deng turned her head and smiled, “I want to be Xiao Xiang’s heart-shaped box, filled with Xiao Xiang’s happiness.”

"Emmmm......"

Upon hearing this phrase again, Xiangzi tilted his head and said...

"But if you only have happiness, you'll eventually break down."

"why?"

"If there's only happiness and no unhappiness, it's like having no shadow and only light—you'll be scorched to death." Xiangzi shrugged. "Without misfortune, nothing can define happiness."

“Let’s put all of Xiao Xiang’s happiness and unhappiness in that heart-shaped box,” Deng said with a smile. “I hope there will be more happy things.”

"...Thank you." Xiangzi felt his face burning.

Just as she was feeling ashamed of her lapse in behavior, Deng walked to the entrance and began to put on her shoes.

"Are you leaving?" Xiangzi asked.

"Yeah, we have class today." Deng turned around and chuckled.

"Oh......"