NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29
Airi is dead. I knew it that night.
“Take me… back to Shejia Town…”
After saying those words, she suddenly vomited a lot of blood. While she still had a breath in her, I carried her out of the inner ring and rushed straight to the car.
Not comfortable leaving her alone in the back seat, I secured her in the passenger seat, adjusting the angle.
“Does it hurt to lie down like this?”
She half-opened her eyes, trying to say something, but more blood poured from her mouth, and she could only muster her last bit of strength to grab my hand.
“Miss Somezaki, let’s talk when we get back, okay?”
I gently pried her hand open, covered her with my coat, then immediately started the engine and sped all the way.
But, I was wrong.
When I brought Airi to the doorstep, her arm limply slid down, like a broken doll.
“I’m sorry, I should have listened to you just now…”
I lost my mother when I was 8.
Before entering university, I lost my grandparents.
Later, I lost my first close friend, Mikawa-senpai.
Now, I’ve lost her, who I hadn’t even had the chance to become lovers with.
There’s no denying that from the first day I met her, I was very concerned about this girl. After so many events, this vague affection gradually fermented, but I never had the courage to break through that layer of window paper.
Thinking of that kiss she struggled to leave, my heart was in agony. Neither a confession nor a kiss should have happened in such a situation.
2.
I don’t remember how I handed Airi over to everyone, just that I fell seriously ill that night, with a splitting headache and shivering all over.
The heat inside my body seemed to want to burst through my skin, but my pores had closed their doors, trapping it inside to stew and steam.
In a daze, I heard people whispering—
“He has a high fever, could it be that he’s infected with the virus?”
“They just checked the blood at the corner of his mouth, it’s Miss Somezaki’s.”
“Drinking the Blood of the Gods should prevent turning into a Rakshasa ghost, right?”
“Right now, he’s likely suffering from a mental illness, we can only observe more.”
…
The voices around me became fainter, and my consciousness slipped into chaos.
I don’t know how much time passed, but a mournful shakuhachi suddenly reached my ears, swirling around me. I opened my eyes, only to find myself lying in the grass beside the God Blood Stone.
The streetlights were completely out, leaving only a blanket of silver frost. In the moonlight, I saw a vague shadow moving in the distance.
I squinted, holding my breath, silently waiting for the person to approach. Gradually, the shadow became clearer, revealing a slender figure.
However, the figure seemed unsteady, suddenly shrinking significantly. I quickly stepped forward and supported her.
“Miss Somezaki!”
“Sorry, I lost too much blood, feeling a bit dizzy…”
“Actually, Miss Somezaki is the Divine Descendant, right?”
“Sorry for keeping it from you all this time, are you angry?”
“It’s okay, Miss Somezaki must have had her reasons, right?”
“Thank you, I’m now completely freeing myself from the shackles of ‘Divine Descendant’…”
“Don’t go.”
“But I’m already dead…”
“Can you stay a little longer?”
“Alright then.” She gave a faint smile and said no more.
Under the moonlight, we embraced and kissed. As the passion deepened, my hands began to move uncontrollably, reaching for the ties around her waist. The white robe and red hakama scattered on the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
I averted my gaze, but my peripheral vision unavoidably swept over her jade-like, snowy body, my face instantly burning hot and red.
“It’s okay, come…”
3.
The dream ended abruptly.
Upon waking, I could still feel her warmth in my arms, her faint breath like gossamer, and the subtle fragrance of her skin.
The room was filled with the scent of chestnut flowers. Was it a wet dream? Damn, I’m so lewd.
But the overwhelming sorrow soon drowned out this shame, gripping my heart—she’s gone forever. A meeting only in dreams, yet afraid to be known.
Just as my eyes heated up, overwhelmed with grief, an unexpected voice came from outside the door.
“Genji, are you okay?”
Mikawa-senpai? Why would he appear in Shejia Town?
“May I come in?”
“Wait!”
I covered the wet spot on the bed with a blanket, quickly changed clothes, opened the window to ventilate, and then clumsily opened the door.
“You silly boy, why so embarrassed…” Seeing my guilty
demeanor, he frowned and handed me a thermometer, “Take your temperature, see if the fever has gone down?”
Mikawa-senpai had lost weight, his face haggard.
After getting my permission, he sat down, hesitated to speak, and finally began slowly:
“Miss Somezaki’s condition is very bad, she’s currently being…”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Sigh, you already know? Cicada Hiding Shrine was worried you wouldn’t be able to handle the shock when you woke up, so they asked us to conceal her death.”
“…”
“I’m sorry, Genji.”
“I want a decompression spray, is that okay?”
“You know, the medical team here doesn’t recommend using that, it needs a prescription.”
“Please…”
Mikawa-senpai reluctantly agreed to my request: “I can only give you a little bit, remember to eat and sleep properly, okay? We’ll do our best to bring Miss Somezaki back.”
How can the dead be revived? I didn’t take it seriously, just felt heart-wrenching pain.
4.
On the night of August 15th, I heard movement outside my door.
The footsteps were light and slow, seemingly hesitant. After a long pause, the sound on the wooden floor resumed.
Wait, could it be…
I rushed out, throwing myself at that shadow.
It was her!
But she only wanted to avoid me, crying and saying many strange things.
So silly, I brought up “fiancée” and “Divine Descendant” just to make a joke, how could I hate you!
But she was so adorable like that.
I’m sorry, Airi, I’m burning up, I can’t control myself anymore.
The raging fire inside me compelled me to embrace her and bring her into the room. She didn’t resist, lying obediently on the bed, her eyes full of confusion.
“Genji, is this really okay?”
“Are you scared? I’m sorry, I was too hasty.”
“No, it’s like I’ve been stuffed with a lot of memories that seem mine, yet don’t belong to me. Am I really the Airi you like?”
What does that mean?
The image of that robotic teacher on the first day of school flashed in my mind. “He” had human emotions, just a slightly lower body temperature than a real person.
And Airi, she felt slightly cool yet warm to the touch, indeed similar to “his” sensation.
It’s okay, this is good. Airi is just living on in another form.
“Airi, let’s complete what we left unfinished in the dream…”
I suppressed the pain in my heart, raised my flag, and marched into the deep valley.