[Warning 15+]
Author's Notes:
Got a little-*ss Announcement waitin' for ya in the Afterword.
Got a little-*ss Announcement waitin' for ya in the Afterword.
Part Four
"―From Now On, You Better Treat Me with That Same Energy, Too!"
Chapter 144
The Real-*ss Heat and Color
"―From Now On, You Better Treat Me with That Same Energy, Too!"
Chapter 144
The Real-*ss Heat and Color
Before she even-*ss realized it, Haruki was standin' in a dim, gloomy-*ss gray space.
Haruki looked all around her, but there was straight-up nothin'—she was totally-*ss alone in the world.
It felt kinda suffocatin' for some reason.
Haruki wanted to bail and go literally anywhere else just to escape from it.
But Haruki had zero-*ss clue what to do.
Trapped in the heavy-*ss air clingin' to her body, Haruki frantically-*ss reached out her hand, struggling like crazy while keepin' her head down.
But Haruki couldn't grab a d*mn thing.
Haruki just kept loopin' that pointless-*ss routine over and over.
There was absolutely-*ss nothin' in sight, and Haruki's mind was slowly grindin' down to nothin'.
'Haruki, over here!'
'―Huh?'
Right then, out of nowhere, someone straight-up snatched Haruki's hand.
Completely-*ss ignorin' how confused Haruki was, they started draggin' her away by force.
Just as Haruki lifted her face, wonderin' who the heck they could be, a bright-*ss light streamed in and―
"―A dream."
And just like that, Haruki's consciousness floated right back to the surface.
Probably 'cause dawn had barely-*ss broken, a faint, weak-*ss sliver of early morning sunlight seeped through the edges of the blackout curtains.
Lookin' around with a groggy-*ss post-sleep brain, a dim, unfamiliar traditional tatami room—clearly a girl's bedroom—caught Haruki's eye.
On top of the low table sat the apron and the cellphone case.
Turns out Haruki'd stayed up crazy-*ss late last night, grindin' away with Saki until everything was totally finished.
"Oh, right, that's what happened... ...wait, huh? Saki-chan's not here...?"
Right then, Haruki finally-*ss remembered she was crashed out in Saki's room.
They actually-*ss had a guest room prepped just for Haruki, but since Haruki usually kept workin' with Saki in Saki's room until Haruki was straight-up about to pass out, Haruki'd often end up just sleepin' right there.
But the master of the room was nowhere to be found.
The futon bedding was neatly-*ss folded up.
Checkin' the clock, it wasn't even six in the mornin' yet.
It was the perfect-*ss time to grab some extra shut-eye, but unfortunately for Haruki, she was wide awake.
More than that, Haruki was low-key curious about where the hell Saki had gone.
Haruki quietly-*ss slipped out of the room.
"Man, it's pitch-black..."
Haruki muttered under her breath.
The hallway was still dark and dead-silent with everyone fast asleep, makin' Haruki's footing pretty-*ss clumsy.
Pressin' her hand against the wall, Haruki walked along while keepin' an eye on her surroundings.
But there wasn't a single hint of anyone being awake in any of the other rooms.
And once Haruki made it to the front entrance, she noticed Saki's traditional sandals were straight-up gone.
"Did Saki-chan straight-up go outside... ...wait, whoa-aaa!"
The exact-*ss second Haruki opened the front door, a powerful-*ss gust of wind howled right at her, sendin' her long hair flyin' all over the place.
Lookin' up at the sky, gloomy, heavy-*ss clouds were straight-up chasin' each other in from the south.
"Oh yeah, Minamo-chan was actually-*ss sayin' the other day that a typhoon was headin' our way, right..."
Haruki walked across the shrine grounds while holdin' down her hair, which felt like it was gonna get straight-up ripped away by the gale.
The trees were rustlin' hard like they were paranoid as heck, and the ancient-*ss shrine building let out a low, heavy groan. It was straight-up singin' a dark tune, like it was cursin' the arrival of the typhoon.
While the mountain was showin' off a pretty-*ss creepy vibe, Haruki caught sight of the main worship hall standin' dead-still and majestic in the dark.
Haruki stepped toward it, almost like she was bein' magnetically-*ss pulled in―
"―!?"
―And in a straight split second, the whole vibe was overwritten by a holy-*ss atmosphere, makin' Haruki gasp for air.
The edge of Haruki's gaze was locked onto the back of the worship hall, on the wooden-floored space right in front of the altar that stood one tier higher.
There, performing the Kagura dance in her shrine maiden outfit, was a mystical-*ss girl―Saki, whose self-made world was straight-up swallowin' Haruki's mind whole.
The flawlessly moving sleeves, the solemnly paced footsteps, and the sharp-*ss jingle of the bells ringing in between movements. On top of all that, Saki's infinitely changing expressions.
A sacred ritual. A dance dedicated to the enshrined Deities.
That's what it was supposed to be, but for some reason, it straight-up looked like a drama to Haruki.
A mythical tale of a local Earthly Deity falling hard for a Heavenly Deity who visited this land to bring prosperity, only to pack up and leave in the end.
A love story of a girl who couldn't suppress her burnin' desires, even though she knew d*mn well a goodbye was bound to happen.
A passion that literally scorched the soul, the frustrating agony of stressin' over her own status, and the pure terror of an unavoidable separation.
Every single one of those feelings was being vividly-*ss painted by Saki, all by herself.
It was straight-up overwhelming.
Haruki forgot to even-*ss breathe, completely locked into the view.
Paralyzed like Haruki was nailed to the floor, she couldn't tear her eyes away to save her life.
Oh, no wonder Hayato would totally-*ss praise Saki for this.
What was out there was the real-*ss heat and color, somethin' you could never straight-up fake through calculated acting alone.
Compared to that, just how shallow-*ss was Haruki's own deal?
Haruki felt like she was gettin' physically-*ss scorched by the sheer radiance radiating from Saki.
What flashed back into Haruki's mind were those words from Saki last night.
'...I got a compliment from Big Bro.'
And Saki's face at that exact moment had been so gorgeous and sweet, the description of a pure-ass girl fit her to a T.
Even if Haruki tried to put on an act to copy that expression, it'd end up lookin' like a cheap-*ss counterfeit.
―Yeah, Haruki'd already-*ss figured that out on pure instinct.
Because the emotion poured into that dance was―
"―Oh."
Haruki's heart gave a straight-up violent-*ss thud.
It started poundin' so crazy it actually-*ss hurt.
Grittin' her teeth, Haruki snatched a tight-*ss fistful of her shirt over her chest, and in that exact-*ss movement, she knocked over a broom leanin' against the wall with a loud-*ss clatter.
"Who's... ...Who's out there~?!"
"…!"
Saki caught onto Haruki.
Haruki's brain was completely-*ss trashed like a crazy typhoon, makin' it hard as heck to even-*ss think straight.
It wasn't like anything bad would actually-*ss happen just 'cause Haruki got busted.
But Haruki had zero-*ss clue what kind of face she was even supposed to show Saki right now.
So, Haruki straight-up bolted from the spot, runnin' away like her life depended on it.
Author's Notes:
The official Tenbin Twitter (Now: X) account is straight-up live now.
Even I'm totally-*ss shocked.
https://twitter.com/tenbin_sneaker (Now: https://x.com/tenbin_sneaker )
Make sure to smash that follow button.
There's a link at the bottom so you can jump over there easily, so show some love.
Now, you guys already-*ss know what the celebratory message for the official account is supposed to be, right?
Whether it's on Twitter (Now: X) or in the comments, just dropin' a "Meow" is totally-*ss fine!
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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