Kaori’s POV
"Hey, Tsubasa."
I said his na while he was doing exactly what I expected him to be doing—sitting quietly, eyes lowered, completely absorbed in a book. He always looked like that when he read, like the rest of the world had faded out and only the words in front of him mattered.
"What are you reading?"
"Nothing," he answered without even looking up. "It’s not going to interest you anyway."
I frowned at that. "What? It’s not a porn manga, is it?"
He finally lifted his eyes, clearly unimpressed. "Of course not. Do you seriously think I’d read sothing like that here?"
"Well," I said, leaning closer, "you’re not letting see it, so how would I know?"
Before he could react, I reached behind him, grabbed the book, and yanked it straight out of his hands.
"Oh my!" I said dramatically, flipping it around. "It is a porn manga!"
"It’s not," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose like he was already exhausted. "I don’t know what kind of image you have of , but that’s obviously just a shoujo manga."
"Oh. Okay," I said, lowering my voice as I actually looked at the cover properly. I flipped through a few pages. "Huh. I read this before. This is actually... really good. Honestly, it’s a nice twist on a shoujo manga. And it’s set in a fantasy world too."
"Well," he said calmly, "that’s exactly why it’s interesting. At least to ."
"It’s about a romance between a knight and a princess," I continued. "And it’s actually pretty well-written. Don’t you think the drama is interesting too? The princess already has a fiancé, because she can’t marry the one she actually loves—the knight. But the knight keeps trying, using everything he has to be with her. It’s kind of tragic, but also really sweet."
"It’s an overused trope," he admitted, "but the monologues and the dialogue make it work. That’s what hooked ."
I glanced at him sideways. "Oh? Are you sure it’s just that? Or is it actually the sex scenes?"
"The sex scenes are just a cherry on top," he replied plainly.
"Right?" I said, grinning.
Monts like these were honestly the best.
I was in his room, just like always, and we were doing sothing completely mundane—reading manga together. Yet sohow, it never felt boring. It was one of those quiet pastis that didn’t need excitent to be enjoyable.
I was used to being here. So used to it that I didn’t even think twice about lying down on his bed like it was my own. That had beco normal for us over ti.
Usually, I’d stretch out on his bed while he sat on the floor, leaning against it, both of us reading our own manga in comfortable silence. No pressure. No awkwardness. Just... peace.
"You know," I said suddenly, staring up at the ceiling, "I’m really having fun like this."
He paused. "Where did that co from?"
I didn’t really know myself. The words had slipped out before I could stop them, like my heart spoke faster than my head.
"I don’t know," I said honestly. "I just felt like I needed to say it. Like... sothing bad is going to happen, and if I don’t say it now, I won’t get another chance."
"What’s that supposed to an?" he said, his tone sharpening slightly. Then he sighed. "You know what, you should go ho now. Or I’ll kick you out myself. It’s already late."
"What?" I protested. "At least let stay for another hour."
"You’re just going to laze around on that bed and do nothing anyway," he said. "Just co back tomorrow."
"Really?" I said, smiling without thinking. "I love you, Tsubasa!"
***
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was pain.
My entire body felt heavy and restrained. Cold tal pressed against my skin. I tried to move, but the mont I did, the chains tightened, biting into and making it painfully clear that I couldn’t move at all.
My wrists, my legs, my torso—everything was bound.
"Oooh, looks like we got one. We lost a lot of people, but at least we managed to grab her. She’s going to fetch us a lot of money."
"Money’s fine and all," another voice said, "but can we have a go with her first? It’s been stressful as hell. We attacked what was basically a den of monsters and didn’t even get to do any pillaging. We could’ve fucked so villagers, but those people were monsters. We couldn’t even get through."
"We’re lucky they hesitated to kill us," soone else muttered. "Most of them did."
"Yeah," another agreed. "If they hadn’t, we’d be completely screwed."
My head was pounding, every sound echoing too loudly in my skull. My thoughts felt sluggish, tangled, like I was wading through thick fog. It hurt just to think.
The last thing I rembered was... getting captured.
Still... I guess it was worth it.
I saved the mother and her child.
I was too late to save the father, but he protected them until the very end. He put himself in harm’s way so they could live.
That scene...
It reminded of Tsubasa.
That’s right.
Tsubasa saved Chihara during the accident. He pushed her out of the way, and because of that, he was the one who died.
Was this the sa thing?
Was this the sa kind of choice the father made?
Was it because Tsubasa loved Chihara that he saved her?
I didn’t know.
Maybe it really was that simple.
At that mont, I didn’t know what I was supposed to feel. Everything inside felt tangled and heavy.
It felt like Tsubasa was slowly drifting away from , even before he died, while he got closer and closer to Chihara. That jealousy... that ugly feeling—that was what made hate her. More than the fact that it was her fault he died, it was my own jealousy that poisoned my heart.
If I had been honest about my feelings sooner, maybe I could have stayed by his side.
But it was too late now.
My feelings had nowhere left to go. I had betrayed him in my own way, and maybe this was my punishnt. Maybe this was my karma.
I didn’t know what was going to happen to next.
But I knew one thing.
It wouldn’t be good.
I know you’re not here, Tsubasa, but...
"Save ..."
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