Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 587

This was her true desire, or rather, her wish.

The pure super-causality is equivalent to giving the magical girl a second chance to make a wish.

Xiangzi was afraid, afraid that when Chuhua held it, some strong thought would pop into her head and she would do something foolish.

"I won't give it to you." Chu Hua clutched the flower tightly. "I've said it so many times."

"This is never going to end." Xiangzi frowned. "It seems you won't listen to me unless we have a fight."

She took out the last bit of the Lamentation Cube and used it to heal her injuries. The pain from overusing magic wasn't just physical, but even more so, it was soul-crushing. But once her body was healed, she could endure the excruciating pain and move around.

"I'm not afraid of you, Xiao Xiang." Chu Hua clenched her fists, staring intently at Xiangzi, her pupils gradually turning into ferocious vertical pupils.

"Now, Xiao Xiang is more like a puppet than before, a soulless puppet that only obeys orders. It's like a cloudy night that obscures the starry sky."

"It took me a long time to figure out that I was selfish. The Xiao Xiang I am now is not the Xiao Xiang I wanted."

"So even if there's only a sliver of hope, as long as it can dispel the gloom over Xiao Xiang's head, I'm willing to do anything."

I'm willing to do anything—

It's like that again.

again and again.

I never want to hear that again.

You simply don't understand the immense price that comes with saying this.

Xiangzi's anger was getting closer and closer to the breaking point.

If Chu Hua didn't know the price, she would have to wake her up and tell her—

Buzz——————————

A dull, heavy blow came from his abdomen, and almost instantly, Norlin carried Xiangzi a hundred meters away, along with Del.

The next moment, right where she had just stood, in the center of the park's woods, a huge semi-circular hole was suddenly carved out without warning.

======================

"After passing through the long tunnel that marks the county boundary, we entered the snow country. The night sky was a vast expanse of white. The train stopped in front of the signal station."

Xiangzi rested his chin on his hand, leaning against the train window, exhaling a breath. His breath fogged up the cool windowpane. Xiangzi wiped away a patch of fog with his finger, revealing Chuhua's eyes reflected in it.

Chu Hua's eyes overlapped with the distant, hazy night lights outside the window, as if a light was shining deep within her violet eyes.

"What's this?" Chu Hua tilted her head and turned the streetlight away.

"The text," Xiangzi turned around, "Don't you know it?"

“…uh.” Chu Hua scratched her cheek, her face slightly flushed, and looked away.

She, well, you know.

Yes, my grades are not very good.

What can be done? She spends more time at work than at school. The most she spends at school each semester is during the final exams. She can even use magic to conjure up superhuman eyesight and copy answers from the students around her.

to be honest.

She just didn't get much formal education.

What's wrong? !

"Alright, alright, I know you're usually busy," Xiangzi sighed. "But you still need to study—"

bang——

The window was suddenly opened, and a rush of cold air, along with falling snowflakes, poured in. Chu Hua leaned out of the carriage, her body positioned in front of Xiangzi, breathing in the fresh, dry air while admiring the approaching lights of the city.

"You can see the Milky Way from here!" Chu Hua exclaimed. "The angle is really good!"

"Come back quickly!" Xiangzi grabbed her waist and pulled her back forcefully. "Be careful not to bump into something!"

"Wow!"

The two of them rolled around in their seats.

Just then, the ticket seller happened to pass by and saw the two girls rolling around together with the window open. She immediately understood what had happened and gave them a stern scolding. She basically said things like how dangerous it was and how it would disturb others. The two girls apologized politely and calmed the ticket seller down.

After the ticket seller left, the two looked at each other and smiled.

"What did you just do?" Xiangzi feigned anger, pouting. "It was so sudden."

Chu Hua scratched his head.

She didn't want to say that she was embarrassed because her vulnerabilities had been touched, so she just made up an excuse.

"I want to see the stars. You can't see the stars here in the reed fields," Chu Hua said. "It's a rare opportunity to come to this snow country, and I want to see as many stars as possible."

Especially when it's just the two of us.

She kept the second half of that sentence to herself.

Snow Country, a city on a plateau at an altitude of over 1,000 meters, is the place described in the text that Xiangzi just recited. The train they are on is not a common railway tram, but a more retro-style tourist train, and their destination is a tourist resort area with ski resorts and hot spring hotels everywhere.

The time was December, before the winter vacation, just before the peak tourist season.

On the third day after Xiangzi recovered from his completely unresponsive state, Chuhua took advantage of her free time after work to secretly ask the school for a few days off under the guise of work, and took Xiangzi out to relax.

Because on the eve of the final exams, everyone except Chu Hua, who was on leave, was too busy to come together; it was just the two of them.

To prepare for this trip, Chu Hua even applied for a make-up exam.

In a snow country, the most important thing is, of course, to see the snow, and secondly, to see the stars.

This area is over 1,400 meters above sea level. It has a cool summer and hosts a renowned rock music festival every year at the ski resort. But since it's winter now, it naturally belongs to the skiing area.

The cold winter air makes the skies even clearer at high altitudes, and combined with the altitude, this place is an excellent spot for stargazing in winter. In fact, even just through the glass, Xiangzi could vaguely see the stars in the sky, let alone when Chuhua suddenly opened the window. To pull Chuhua back, Xiangzi also leaned out a little and inadvertently caught a glimpse of the starry sky out of the corner of her eye.

The stars that fill the Milky Way are sparkling and clearly visible, and even the bright clouds look like grains of silver sand, transparent and clear.

That feeling of emptiness, yet as if the whole thing was pressing down, enveloping the heavens and the earth.

It really is beautiful.

Based on this information, Xiangzi readily accepted her excuse of "wanting to see the stars."

"Alright, but don't do that again next time," Xiangzi said, pretending to be serious. "Safety is secondary; it wouldn't be good if you affected other people's work like this again."

"Why is safety secondary?"

"Because I believe you will definitely not have any problems."

"Xiao Xiang seems worried about me, but also seems to think I'm in the way," Chu Hua said. "Should I be happy or disappointed?"

"I'm not going to care about you anymore." Xiangzi turned his head to look out the window again.

"No." Chu Hua hugged Xiangzi's waist and rubbed against him forcefully.

"Then let go."

"No."

"I am angry."

"Waaah." Chu Hua let go of her hand and hung her head listlessly.

Chu Hua calmed down, and Xiangzi had time to look out the car window again. How long had it been since she last went out? Chu Hua said it seemed like half a year, but she had been staying in her dark little room the whole time, so she didn't feel anything at all. It was as if it was still summer yesterday. Only when she stepped outside did she realize that the wind was chilly.

As his thoughts returned to that time that seemed both very long and very short, Xiangzi's mood sank again, like a stone falling into a pond, creating ripples before sinking to the bottom.

"Xiao Xiang."

Perhaps sensing that Xiangzi was not in a good mood, Chuhua suddenly called out to her at that moment.

"Hmm?" Xiangzi turned his head to the side.

“Xiao Mu said that the videos and messages Su Shi sent you have been unread for a long time.” Chu Hua’s gaze pointed to the corridor.

“…Hmm.” Xiangzi nodded.

"One day it suddenly became a read message, and then the subsequent video messages almost immediately became read messages as well."

"......"

"besides.

"The report I left on your desk has remained untouched for a very, very long time."

"One day, it seems someone had already rummaged through it."

"...So you already found out," Xiangzi asked in a low voice. "Why did you tell me all this?"

Isn't it better to keep it inside your stomach?

She didn't want anyone to know about this, and even if someone did, she didn't want to know who knew. But Chu Hua had to bring it up at this crucial moment.

"Everyone is trying to find their own future."

As she spoke, Chu Hua's gaze lingered around the carriage.

The train carriage wasn't full; on the contrary, on the eve of the peak tourist season, it wasn't crowded. Even so, Chu Hua noticed young people quietly playing on their phones, children trying to cause trouble but being held back by their parents, and tourists who looked like they were from abroad.

“Everyone hopes that you can move on from the past.” Chu Hua turned her gaze back to Xiangzi. “Everyone is happy to see you cheer up.”

"And what about you?" Xiangzi said, "You've always been by my side, what about your future?"

“You are my future.” Chu Hua narrowed her eyes and looked directly into Xiangzi’s eyes. “So I’m the happiest one of you to be able to cheer up, happier than anyone else.”

Xiangzi blushed slightly, looked away, and nodded hesitantly.

squeak-

Just then, the train sounded a sharp whistle, followed by the piercing noise of brakes coming from underfoot, and the train began to gradually slow down.

"We've arrived." Xiangzi stood up abruptly, straightening his scarf, which had become somewhat disheveled during their earlier playful antics. "Let's get off."

Chu Hua sat in the chair, looking up to admire Xiangzi's shy expression, while simultaneously preparing herself—

squeak!

The train finally came to a complete stop, and the resulting inertia caused Xiangzi to lose his balance and fall backward.

— Be prepared to help Xiangzi.

"Let's go," Chu Hua said, turning around and taking Xiangzi's hand. "Let's get off the bus."

=======================

Xiangzi loosened his grip on his hands, looked up, and felt enveloped by the sky.

"The hotel is still a ways away, but we're already quite high up here." Chu Hua stood beside her, and they both looked up. "It's actually easier to see things clearly on the mountain road since there are no lights."

The hillside offers a wide view, with no one or trees to block the view, and the starry sky is right above you.

"Then, shall we stay here and look around a little longer?" Xiangzi asked.

"How about we go to the hotel first?"

"I'm a little tired from walking, I want to rest for a while." Xiangzi put his backpack down on the bench by the roadside and sat down. "After all, I haven't been out for a long time."

"That's true." Chu Hua nodded and sat down next to Xiangzi.

Shoulder to shoulder, their down jackets rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound.

“My mom mentioned this starry sky in her notebook,” Chu Hua said. “I’ve always wanted to see it, and this time my wish has come true. The Milky Way in winter is truly beautiful.”

"I've only read about it in textbooks; this is the first time I've actually seen it." Xiangzi raised his hand and pointed to the sky. "What is that thing? It doesn't look like a star."

She was pointing to an area slightly below Orion's Belt, where there was a faint, hazy patch that could only be seen with a telescope.

However, they both have very good eyesight and can see a little bit even with the naked eye.

“That’s the Orion Nebula,” Chu Hua answered almost instantly.

Her knowledge of the cosmos was already deeply ingrained in her mind, so there was no need for further study.

"What's that really bright one?" Xiangzi asked, pointing to a corner of the sky. "The North Star?"

"That's Venus, it's very close to us, and it's in the southwest direction."

"Oh...and that red one, is it the North Star?"

"That's to the east, Xiao Xiang. The red one is Mars."

"This side is always north, right? Is that the Big Dipper?"