Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 171

The man pinched her chubby cheeks helplessly and said:

"There might be rough seas this time. How about we take you out to sea again when the sea is calm?"

"...It's a promise."

Chu Hua raised her little finger.

"Hang yourself on a hook and you won't be able to change it for a hundred years."

The man's rough little finger hooked with hers and swayed up and down.

"Yes, pinky promise, never to change for a hundred years."

Crossed fingers, shaking and swaying.

rock Me.

It gradually transformed into a fishing boat that swayed with the waves.

On the vast sea, several fishing boats sailed on the surface, spaced roughly the same distance from each other, looking out for one another and forming a stable formation.

Xiao Chuhua stood at the bow of the boat, enjoying the cool spray of water splashing up from the bow, feeling the sea breeze, and swaying as she called out to the sea.

"Ah ...

The man was hauling in his fishing net at the stern of his boat when he heard the singing, but he didn't pay any attention to it until a fellow boatman on the next boat called him over on his walkie-talkie.

"Hey, old man, is that your daughter singing?"

"Oh, my little darling!"

The man hurriedly dropped the fishing net and ran from the stern to the bow of the boat, quickly supporting Xiao Chuhua's waist.

He breathed a sigh of relief after he helped Xiao Chuhua steady.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the cabin?"

"But it's so stuffy in there." Xiao Chuhua pursed her lips, pointing at her fingers with a wronged expression. "I just want to come out and get some fresh air."

"Breathability is fine, but tell Dad about your back, okay?" The man ruffled her hair. "If your mom finds out I let you go up on the deck, we'll both be kneeling on the floor."

"I'll understand from now on..."

Looking at her aggrieved little face, the man wondered how he could make her happy.

He remembered Xiao Chuhua's singing just now.

Although it was just a casual song, not even a proper tune, Xiao Chuhua's voice was clear and bright, enough to penetrate the sea breeze and waves, and could even be heard by the boat next door.

A thought suddenly popped into the man's mind.

"Chuhua, do you like to sing?" the man asked, tidying Chuhua's hair.

"like!"

Have you ever thought about letting more people hear you sing?

"More? How much more?"

"It's a huge number of people, too many to count."

"Is it just like Xiao Xiang said, that there are people everywhere under the stage, as many as the ocean?"

"So you've heard her talk about it."

"Yes!" Chu Hua nodded. "I like it!"

"If you were asked to leave home and sing in a big city with lots of people, would you want to?"

"...Why do you want to leave home?" Chu Hua looked at him blankly. "I want to stay with my mom, dad, and Mio."

"Because..."

The man himself got stuck.

He paused for a moment, then raised his hand, making a gesture resembling a flying bird.

"Because Chuhua will eventually grow wings and, like this, fly out of her home and into a wider world."

"This home cannot become a prison for you, and your parents cannot be with you forever. You must learn to walk on your own."

Chu Hua's eyes were fixed on the man's hand, which resembled a flying bird soaring in the sky against the backdrop of a clear blue sky, and then transformed into a commercial airliner bound for Shenbin.

Chu Hua hugged her backpack, curled up alone in her airplane seat, and looked at the blue sky outside.

After discussing it with her mother, they decided that she should go to Shenbin for junior high school, where she would know people who could take care of her. She reluctantly agreed and left her hometown before she could even object.

The first time I left home was when I traveled far away by myself.

Chu Hua huddled in the chair, feeling a tightness in her stomach.

Everything was already arranged, and I couldn't go back on my word; it was all to force myself to agree.

Adults are always like this, making choices they think are for my own good without ever asking me what I really think.

They didn't even ask if I would miss them.

Chu Hua pouted, huddled in the spacious business class chair, rubbed her sore nose, and looked at the sea of ​​clouds outside the window with a wronged expression, feeling an urge to cry rising within her.

To prevent herself from actually crying, she pulled back the window shade and decided to take a good look at the blue sky and sea of ​​clouds that she had never seen before.

The plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters, and the clouds below really looked like the surface of the sea.

Chu Hua stared blankly at the sea of ​​clouds, but she didn't feel the same shock she had felt when they first met.

She remembered the night before she left.

Instead of going out to sea to fish, her father took her to the flower-covered shore, carrying his worn-out wooden sword and shield.

"Want to play one last duel before you leave?" the man said. "You used to really enjoy this game."

"I'm past that age." Chu Hua crossed her arms and snorted. "It's not that I want to play, it's that you want to play." Chu Hua was like a typical rebellious teenager, always speaking a bit impulsively.

After all, she was still sulking.

Although she agreed to her parents' opinion out of consideration for what she had already promised them, she was still angry despite her agreement.

She doesn't want to talk to that old man right now.

"Yes, I wanted to play it. After all, your dad was the only one who played this with you."

"No."

"That's a shame."

The man put down his wooden sword and shield with a hint of disappointment, then plopped down in the sea of ​​flowers, facing the ocean.

He patted the grass beside him and said.

"Then sit for a while."

"..."

Chu Hua pouted, sat down next to the man, and asked in a sullen voice.

"What are you doing?"

"Just sit for a while." The man looked at the distant sea.

Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything, Chu Hua simply hugged her knees and sullenly watched the sea with him.

Let's have a competition, see who can't hold it in any longer.

Today is a full moon, and the moonlight shines on the sea, making it sparkle.

After gazing at the sea for quite a while, Chu Hua was the first to lose her composure.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" she said.

I'm wondering what will happen to you in the future.

The man looked into the distance, in the direction of Honshu, which was also the direction where Kamihama was located.

"But no matter what, promise me you won't give up singing."

"Oh..." Chu Hua nodded perfunctorily.

"besides......"

"What else?"

"When you're unhappy, go home and visit your parents. They'll always be your support." The man raised his hand and extended his little finger. "Pinky promise, pinky promise, never to change for a hundred years."

"..." Chu Hua thought for a moment.

Raise your hand.

Hooked together with the man's little finger.

"Pinky promise..."

"Oh, right," the man suddenly interrupted.

"What else?"

"Next time you come back, let's play a duel game again, just to keep this old man happy."

"You're only in your early forties, you're not old at all." Chu Hua said with a sullen face, shaking the man's hand forcefully. "Then it's settled, I won't give up singing, and when I'm unhappy, I'll come home and play duel games with you."

"Ah."

"Hook up and hang yourself—"

===========

"—It must not change for a hundred years."

A man's voice came from the darkness.

Chu Hua turned around and looked at the figure that emerged from the darkness.

The sound of footsteps was mixed with the sound of something wriggling.

The man who emerged from the darkness gradually deformed and disintegrated, becoming no longer like a human.

Finally, a sea slug crawled out of the darkness, making the same sound as the man from its mouthparts.

"Chuhua, come and have some fun. It's been a long time since my daughter and I have talked."

The Lost Tale: A Boy's Spirit: Chapter 209 Duel Game (Part 2)

The man tapped the wooden shield with his wooden sword, making a knocking sound.

He looked at his daughter, whom he hadn't seen for many years, and a smile appeared on his lips—or at least, the smile he perceived.

"To be honest, I'm an old man now, playing these childish games..." He shrugged, twirling his wooden sword twice. "There's a saying that a man is a boy until he dies, so it's quite fitting."

"..."

Chu Hua stood there blankly, holding an identical wooden sword and a small round shield, a few meters away, without saying a word.

"What's wrong? Are you still angry with your father?" The man took a step forward, puzzled.

Chu Hua's pupils suddenly contracted, and she took a step back warily.

She looked at the man, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.

The man stopped walking, a somewhat hurt and forlorn expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"..."

He saw Chu Hua grip the wooden sword tightly, her expression turning ferocious, as if she were undergoing a tremendous internal struggle.

"These past few years you've been all alone out there, and we haven't been able to help you much." The man lowered his head and said softly, "I'm sorry—"

"Stop talking!"

Chu Hua raised her one-handed sword and charged at the sea slug in front of her who was speaking in her father's voice, her tears of despair flying into the air.

Bang!

The blade was blocked by a fan-shaped polyp, encased in hard keratin, that extended from the sea slug's body.

"don't want----"