My love game with them that will lead to certain death

Even though he was talking about something that concerned himself, Ming Hai's expression was much calmer and composed than that of Yukino, an outsider.

"I have the same face and personality as the person you are talking about. Who knows when my time will come?"

It could be now, it could be the next second.

"Don't say such unlucky words..."

"I was serious."

But as I have mentioned many times before, Ming Hai is a person who doesn't like things to slip out of his control.

"Rather, I'm ready."

He wants to take even the inevitable death into his own hands and make his own "rules".

"As for when this moment will come...you will know it eventually."

He ignored Yukino's suspicious gaze and looked at the dilapidated torii gate built beside the town on the road leading to the mountaintop shrine.

He used his crutches to support himself and stood up, using the foot on the side that was not seriously injured to slowly step onto the slightly collapsed stone steps. Even though the amount of information that needed to be digested was too huge, Yukinoshita Yukino still followed his steps after a moment of distraction.

While they were talking, Eriri and Yamada had already climbed the stairs leading to the mountaintop shrine, but Eriri deliberately didn't want to talk to Yamada Ryo beside her.

The reason was simple. First, she was one of the women who coveted her brother. Second, she was naturally wary of this woman who looked cold but often said shocking things from time to time. Who knew what shocking words she would say in the next second.

"Eri, you're a brother complex, right?"

"Ha ha?!"

As expected, Yamada Ryo, who was climbing the mountain with a steady pace, suddenly made such a conclusion that was as powerful as a depth bomb, and this successfully caused Eriri to slip and almost fall to the ground.

“Whahaha what is that! What are you saying all of a sudden for no apparent reason? You…!”

"He showed up, stuttering and bluffing like a tsundere, and he kept going around in circles but refused to deny what I just said."

“Ughh ...

Although Yamada looks dull, he is surprisingly sharp in such places. Eriri also realizes that she is far from being a match for this man, so she can only declare war in anger.

"It's okay, Eriri can hate me as much as you want, I don't mind."

Who would have thought that such straightforward emotional catharsis would be useless to Yamada. She responded to Eriri's hostile provocation with exceptional calmness.

"Just ask Eriri not to hate Xiao Hai."

"When did I ever say I hated him?"

"I can tell. It's not because I'm sensitive about this, but because Eriri is so obvious about it."

"I'm so annoyed. Even if I want to hate Toru, that's my business. It has nothing to do with you guys."

Eriri tried hard to suppress her impatience that would affect her climbing pace. After all, for a stay-at-home who had been staying at home for so many years and had very poor physical fitness, it was not an easy task to climb to the top of such a steep mountain in a short period of time.

"Why are all of you acting like you're the only ones who know Toru best... It's so annoying."

Obviously, she is the only one who has been with him since birth, the most original and purest "childhood sweetheart" in the true sense - these people who just come in halfway are taking themselves too seriously.

"Because if you still hate him now, you might regret it later."

Yamada didn't care about Eriri's sudden rebellious mood at this moment, and stated his current thoughts in a straightforward manner.

"When you don't even have the chance to vent your anger on him, it's too late to regret it. Isn't this often the case in TV dramas and animations?"

"Hey, why are you suddenly saying something like that...Tetsu is obviously fine."

Yamada did not answer, but her calm gaze made Eriri feel a little guilty - although she said so, everyone could see her brother's health condition recently.

"He just... has suddenly become particularly unlucky recently."

In the end, Eriri could only deceive herself with this reason that even she couldn't convince herself.

"I can see it. He has that expression on his face."

Yamada did not refute anything, but continued climbing the mountain while calmly explaining the source of his uneasiness.

"When Xiao Hai wants to hide something from others to reassure them, he will show that expression."

Even though it might be a lie.

"Can you please stop treating my brother like someone you once knew - he's just my brother!"

Eriri, who was standing side by side with Yamada, raised her voice slightly and almost subconsciously refuted Yamada's speculation.

"No, Xiao Hai is Xiao Hai."

However, Yamada also refuted it very firmly.

"Even though his appearance has changed a little, his hair color has become different, and his personality has changed a little, he is still him."

Whether it was reincarnation or soul possession, the only thing Yamada Ryo could be sure of was that this person named "Tetsu" was definitely an old friend she was familiar with.

It's just very sad that she came to this conclusion only when she found out that her old friend had started to prepare for her own funeral - after all, his current condition was exactly the same as that of the young bassist who had died from taking medicine.

"This guy still likes to keep his thoughts to himself and leave alone."

Therefore, only Yamada herself knew how much bitterness was mixed in her seemingly calm tone.

Chapter 53 That's not my name

"…I've already told you not to take the liberty of claiming that someone else's brother is someone you know."

What's more, both Yukinoshita Yukino and the old person mentioned by Yamada Ryokou have passed away long ago.

"Saying that is like saying my brother will be next... He's already unlucky enough."

Not wanting her brother to be troubled by such an unlucky crow's mouth, Eriri could only make such a feeble rebuttal. After all, she found that she could not argue with anyone in her group, so she simply gave up the idea of ​​making the other party give up through conversation.

"If Xiao Hai doesn't want this, I will respect his wishes."

Yamada continued to talk to himself, not taking Eriri's reminder to heart at all.

“…I have always respected his wishes.”

However, there seemed to be a little bit of hidden emotion in Ms. Yamada's calm voice, as if she was really expressing her feelings based on her past experiences.

So her tone of voice also fluctuates? Eriri noticed this and couldn't help but think so in her heart.

Eriri found that she could not really understand the hidden meaning in other people's words, especially when facing Yamada Ryowa, who was like a riddle man and was unwilling to reveal anything to her brother.

This feeling of being the only one kept in the dark, along with the physical exhaustion and fatigue brought by the climb, washed away her already not-so-strong willpower. Moreover, she gradually realized that -

With every step I climbed, getting closer to the shrine, my heartbeat would unconsciously speed up to an abnormal level.

The scenes of the dreams I had before kept flashing through my mind.

The gray sky symbolized the coming of a rainstorm. The howling wind made the leaves buzz as if it was going to sweep across the world, and the earth began to emit subtle chirps as if it was obeying the whispers of the Mother Goddess from deep underground.

Just when Eriri swallowed her saliva and thought that all this was just a dream, a whirring cool breeze brushed across her cheek, and at the same time took away part of her body temperature——

Only then did Ying Lili realize that what she was experiencing might not be a dream.

"What if... it's a prophetic dream?"

The moment she realized this, Eriri broke out in cold sweat.

In the dream, the meteorite that cut through the air flow and roared towards her hit her head directly. The heart-pounding horror experience is still vivid in her mind today.

"I-I wonder how far we have to go."

Ying Lili could only slightly raise her voice to ask about the progress, trying to give herself courage through this bluffing and to cover up the fact that she really wanted to back out at this moment.

"We should be there a few more steps up."

In stark contrast to Eriri who was panting and almost fainting, Yamada didn’t look like an athletic person, but she climbed to the top of the mountain in one breath without even taking a breath - perhaps this was the difference in physical strength between a homebody and a bassist who often travels around for performances.

Fortunately, what Yamada said was true. They only walked forward for another four or five minutes before gradually crossing the steepest slope. The road gradually became flat at the end of the field of vision, and at the same time a brand new shrine building slowly came into view.

In stark contrast to the dilapidated surroundings that looked like they had not been cleaned for a long time, the shrine looked brand new inside and out, as if it had just been built not long ago - but the fact that no one was running it also proved that it was indeed an abandoned shrine.

Yamada walked into the shrine without a care in the world, leaned against the stairs and began to drink water and rest. Eriri, who was fidgeting, looked pale at this moment, staring at the shrine standing in the middle of the open space on the top of the mountain without uttering a word.

This place is exactly the same as the place where she died in her dream.

"Let's wait for Xiao Hai and the others here. Wow... the wind is really strong."

The wind blowing through the forest grew stronger. Although Yamada was still resting leisurely, not taking this subtle phenomenon seriously at all, Eriri was pacing back and forth in a panic. Any slight movement around her would make her break into a cold sweat.

Although this omen of "death" had been denied by her mind, the physiological phenomenon was difficult to control.

Just as she was hesitating whether to hurry down the mountain, Yukinoshita Yukino appeared from the steps they had just climbed, supporting a curly-haired boy who was limping on crutches.

“Tetsu, Tetsu! Now that we’ve finished our stroll, let’s go back!”

Ying Lili was still trying to remain calm, but her uncontrollable speaking speed still exposed her guilt and uneasiness at the moment.

"Well... I also think it would be better to leave here early. The weather has been a little strange since the beginning."

Yukinoshita Yukino confirmed Eriri's anxiety. When she looked up, the dark sky with rumbling thunder was too oppressive.

"Hmm. I think it's okay - huh."

Yamada, who had not taken it seriously at first, was almost blown away by the sudden strong wind the moment he walked out of the shrine. The mountain wind that had been dormant in the mountains and forests suddenly revealed its ferocious appearance as if it had finally erupted.

Along with the sound of muffled thunder, raindrops began to fall from the sky. I believe that it will turn into a downpour soon.

"I already told you to leave now!!!"

If this continues it will definitely turn out like that.

"A meteorite will fall here soon!!"

"Huh? Meteorite?"

"Please believe me, I'm not kidding!! Seriously——!"

It turned into a horrible scene in a dream.

Even though she was dominated by terror at this moment, Eriri still used the last bit of her reason and emotion to push away Yukino who was standing there in a daze, and put her arm around her brother who had difficulty moving.

"I'll hold you, let's go down quickly!!!"

"..."

Ming Hai looked at her with some surprise, but his lake blue eyes soon calmed down.

He did not allow Eriri to pull him away, but began to give orders to Yamada and Yukino.

"We'll still have time to go down the mountain and back along the road in five minutes. It'll be up to you two to take Eriri back later."

"What-what are you talking about, Toru?!"

Unlike Eriri who was anxious to the point of hysteria, the curly-haired boy's tone was calm and composed from beginning to end.

"Haven't you figured it out yet, Eriri? Only one of us can leave here alive - you've already dreamed about it, haven't you?"

"That, that was just my nightmare, at most a premonition dream. There was no such unreasonable thing...!"

Unable to pull her brother away, Eriri was almost crying. But at this moment, the secret spell that could exchange bodies suddenly flashed through her mind -

She no longer cared whether the secret of the brother and sister's body swap would be exposed. She clasped her fingers with her brother and touched his forehead, wanting to control his body by body swapping.

"At worst...at worst, Toru must use my body to escape!"

"Let me take control of your body, Sawamura Spencer Toru!!"

But the spell that had never failed brought nothing at this moment.

"Of course it's useless, Eriri."

Ying Lili suddenly opened her eyes, and all she saw was a faint smile in her brother's lake-blue eyes.

"Because I was never called that."

Chapter 54: The Man Who Cheated Fate

Eriri Sawamura never dared to imagine such a question.

The twin brother who grew up with me and knows me well has actually been hiding a huge secret from me, or there is a mystery about him that I have never known.

"What do you mean by not calling this name?"

Eriri didn't want to believe it, but it was a fact that the body-swapping spell that had never failed suddenly stopped working at this moment.

It could only be because the prerequisite of "calling each other's names" was not met.