[Warning 15+]
Part Four
"―From Now On, You Better Treat Me with That Same Energy, Too!"
Chapter 150
A Life Fadin' to Black
"―From Now On, You Better Treat Me with That Same Energy, Too!"
Chapter 150
A Life Fadin' to Black
The second he finished hearin' Haruki out, Hayato straight-up clutched at his chest and dug his fingers in, lookin' mad as heck like a literal demon.
Then, sigh, Hayato let out a single-*ss heavy, kinda shaky breath, desperately tryin' to cool down the wild emotions buildin' up inside him.
"Hayato…?"
"It's nothin'…"
"What do you mean, it's nothin'…?"
"…"
"…I see."
Haruki peered up into Hayato's face lookin' a little-*ss taken aback, and then she straight-up lost her ability to speak.
Nah, truth is, the look on Hayato's face already-*ss told the whole-*ss story, so words weren't even necessary for real.
Honestly, it was probably better that Hayato didn't try to force those messy feelings into some half-*ssed words, though.
Hayato was just straight-up acceptin' Haruki's past exactly-*ss how it went down.
That right there, more than any d*mn thing, made Haruki feel crazy-*ss happy.
Still, Hayato desperately wanted to get his actual-*ss feelings across somehow, so he aggressively scratched his head all over the place, slowly spinnin' his words out.
"…Well, I don't even-*ss fully get it myself, but how do I put this... ...I think it's totally fine for you to be a little-*ss selfish or demanding sometimes, Haruki."
"Selfish…?"
Bein' selfish―that was straight-up an unexpectable phrase for Haruki.
Right now, it just wasn't clickin' with Haruki at all.
While Haruki was tilting her head all puzzled-*ss, Hayato made an even-*ss more complicated face and groaned.
"Come to think of it, like our hiding spot at school, lunch, or playin' video games together after school, the stuff you actually-*ss ask for is always pretty petty, or should I say… …Oh, that's why! How do I even put this! If you say somethin' kinda reckless, I can straight-up clearly visualize a future where I'm gettin' dragged around by you! So, yeah, let's just pretend I never-*ss said that!"
"Hold up, what the heck is that supposed to mean?!"
"Haha, exactly-*ss what it sounds like!"
"Mooo~!"
Their usual-*ss vibe started flowin' again.
The tension on both of their faces began to soften up.
And with that, their hearts were low-key untangling a bit too.
Because of that, Haruki casually let out somethin' she'd been holdin' onto deep inside.
"Hey, Hayato. Is it cool if I ask for just 1 thing?"
"Already-*ss goin' for that selfish streak?"
"Selfish… …Hmm, who knows, I don't even get it myself. Honestly, lately, there's somethin' I've straight-up been thinkin' about from time to time."
"Somethin' you've been thinkin' about?"
Pausin' right there, Haruki cut her words short.
Fixin' her posture, Haruki placed her hand right over her chest and stood dead-on facin' Hayato.
"Am I... ...straight-up the real me right now, I wonder?"
"…Huh?"
Hayato's eyes popped wide open in total shock, completely-*ss catchin' his breath.
Gettin' stared down by Hayato's eyes that were growing bigger by the second, Haruki could literally-*ss feel a frown forming right between her own brows.
It was definitely-*ss a tough-*ss question to answer.
In the first place, even inside Haruki's own head, a clear-cut answer didn't even-*ss exist.
But it was also somethin' Haruki'd straight-up been overthinking about for a minute.
Maybe the version of Haruki in front of Hayato was also, just by any chance―
It was completely-*ss ridiculous.
But there were times when Haruki started thinking about it and just couldn't straight-up stop.
Especially-*ss when Haruki became heavily-*ss aware of Saki.
"…"
"…"
Whether Hayato caught a vibe of what was goin' down inside Haruki's head or what, the mood completely-*ss flipped, lettin' a weird-*ss silence stretch between 'em.
Hayato was makin' a complicated face, lookin' troubled, then scowlin'—his face was straight-up shifting through a thousand expressions like a damn cartoon.
Haruki let out a soft-*ss chuckle, thinkin' about how Hayato always wore his heart right on his sleeve.
Come to think of it, that might've low-key been a slightly messed-up question to throw at Hayato.
Just as Haruki shook her head to snap out of it and was about to open her mouth―she straight-up heard somethin'.
"Haru―"
"Shh! …You low-key hear somethin'?"
"…Ain't that just the sound of the wind outside or what?"
"No… …the second floor?"
It was tiny and faint as heck, but somehow it straight-up hooked right into Haruki's mind.
And it kept aggressively-*ss aching the most fragile-*ss part deep inside Haruki's chest.
Honestly, it even-*ss felt a little irritatin', but for some d*mn reason, it wasn't somethin' Haruki could just brush off.
Driven by that wild urge, Haruki tracked down where the noise was comin' from and scrambled up to the second floor.
Strainin' Haruki's eyes to the absolute-*ss limit and tunin' her ears in.
"―!"
"I heard it!"
"I caught it too, right over there!"
"…Huh?"
Right inside the gap of the tools that had collapsed and piled on top of each other when Haruki first busted into the place.
Haruki's eyes, finally-*ss adjustin' to the pitch-black room, locked dead-on it.
"A kitten…?"
"…Miauw."
It was a straight-up tiny-*ss kitten, the kind of size that could literally fit right in the palm of your hand, with its fur mixed with three colors—black, brown, and white.
Did a mother cat slip through the window Haruki busted into and give birth to it here or what?
But there wasn't a single-*ss sign of the mother cat anywhere to be found.
Whether it got ditched or somethin' bad happened to the mother while she was out huntin' for food, nobody even-*ss knew.
The only d*mn thing for sure was that while it lay there completely limp, it squeezed out every single drop of its remaining strength, cryin' out "Miauw, miauw" like it was desperately-*ss beggin' for its life.
"…Oh."
The kitten that Haruki cautiously-*ss scooped up was shocking as heck—it was freezing cold.
Was it because the kitten couldn't even regulate its own body temperature yet or what?
Haruki could feel it—she could straight-up feel the warmth, the literal life, fading to black right from the palm of her hand.
Yet, despite that, the kitten was frantically-*ss tryin' to cling to Haruki, diggin' its tiny claws in like a tickle, pleadin' with a faint-*ss meow that was right on the edge of disappearing.
"Wh-Wh-Wh-What do we do, Hayato, this baby...? ...It wants to live, that's why... ...it's cryin' out to get noticed, but... ...it's so small, so weak, and freezing cold! Hey… …hey!"
"Haruki! Get a grip!"
"If it stays like this, this baby is gonna…! What should I do, what am I supposed to… …I don't know, I don't straight-up know anymore, hic, it's so tiny and it can't even do anything, someone should've… …but I can't do a d*mn thing, no way… …no d*mn way!"
Overlapping the image of the kitten with her own past self, Haruki completely-*ss lost her mind.
With her thoughts spinnin' out of control, unable to keep up with the overwhelming-*ss emotions pouring out, Haruki got totally wrecked by it and burst into tears. She was straight-up bawlin' her eyes out.
Only Haruki's sheer obsession, somethin' like a sense of duty that she absolutely-*ss had to save the life in her hands, was spinning its wheels in vain.
Hayato was shaking Haruki by the shoulders and calling out to her, but for some d*mn reason, she couldn't even process it.
The inside of Haruki's head was a messy-*ss soup of random thoughts and emotions, and the world in front of her eyes was rapidly-*ss fading to total darkness.
"You d*mn idiot!"
"?!"
But right at that exact-*ss moment, Haruki caught a massive-*ss impact straight to her forehead, snappin' her right back to reality.
"Ow, that hurts like heck! You straight-up got a rock-hard head!"
"Huh? Wait, Hayato…?"
"Don't give me that 'Huh? Wait, Hayato' cr*p! Just shut up and take a deep breath first! Come on, inhale, exhale, hurry the heck up!"
"Y-Yeah… …Inhale, exhale… …Inhale, exhale."
As Haruki fixed her breathing pattern exactly-*ss as she was told, her field of vision slowly-*ss started clearing up. The stinging sensation on her forehead perfectly-*ss cooled down her panicking brain.
Right in front of Haruki's eyes was Hayato, straight-up cupping her cheeks with both of his hands, with tears low-key welling up in the corners of his own eyes.
Looks like Hayato literally-*ss just headbutted Haruki. That was just so d*mn typical of him.
But Hayato's gaze was filled with absolute-*ss seriousness, leaving zero room for arguments, and for some d*mn reason, it brought a total sense of relief to Haruki's chest.
"Haruki, we're straight-up gonna save this baby."
"…Yeah!"
And drawn in by the fearless-*ss grin on Hayato's face, Haruki gave a firm nod right back.
There was straight-up zero actual proof to back it up.
But even-*ss so, by some d*mn miracle, Haruki already found herself believin' that the kitten was 💯% gonna make it.
Author's Notes:
That was officially-*ss the first weekend after Tenbin Volume 3 dropped.
I straight-up wanna put out a sequel volume! (Meow).
Meow. (Meow).
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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