My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

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It was as if light shone from those eyes, illuminating me.

"(Next time, I won't be scared or afraid anymore, and I'll be prepared.)"

"(What preparations?)"

"(I have my own plans. You just need to understand that the next time you get an erection in front of me, that's when you'll lose your virginity!)"

Ugh... This person is here again. Doesn't she feel ashamed to use such vulgar language? But since they were talking about vulgar topics anyway, maybe we can't entirely blame her.

In short, that should solve the problem—just as I was thinking that…

"(By the way, is that alright?)"

Hong lowered her already soft voice further and spoke.

"(Later... um, did you manage to resolve that?)"

"(...What? Try to solve which one?)"

"(No, it's because... I heard that once a boy goes into that state, he can't go back to normal without some kind of treatment...)"

........................

"(Hong, please throw away that reference material.)"

"(What...! How did you know I was looking at documents?!)"

"(Because it was wrong again.)"

Please, someone teach this person proper sex education. I don't have the confidence to do so.

Asou Aisa◆ In the midst of ordinary daily life, she falls into an ordinary love affair.

It started with a hostile attitude.

His condescending advice infuriated me, making me furious and thinking, "Since that's how it is, I'll show you my full power." I'll force you, senior, to look at me with the same indifferent gaze you claim has little value. With this thought in mind, I started looking for opportunities to provoke him.

I don't know when it started, but this feeling turned into affection.

Perhaps, definitely, I'm not sure... it might have been a small scene in daily life that became the catalyst.

--Hey!

I was working in the student council office at the time. As I was rummaging through the cabinets for documents, a senior student suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?" I turned around.

Then there was a loud "clang".

The sound came from above.

When I looked up, the corrugated cardboard box on the cabinet was already wobbling and tilting towards me. I didn't have time to react and could only watch helplessly as it fell.

So, even after my senior rushed over and reached out to help me hold the box, I was still just standing there in a daze.

"Ah," I groaned softly.

Then, I finally figured out what I should say.

Thank you, senior...

—No... Be careful.

Yeah, right, I know it's cliché.

But wait a minute. I didn't fall for him over something so trivial. If I were to fall in love with someone just because they stood up for me a little, my first love would have happened long ago.

What is imprinted in my eyes and heart is...

The senior student let out a long sigh, revealing his expression.

Even now, I still don't know what that expression meant.

I don't know whether it's relief, astonishment, confusion, or bewilderment—

All I know is... he looks so fragile.

His expression made him look utterly vulnerable.

So he can have that kind of expression too.

This carefree, unrestrained, and invincible student council president... always manages to deflect any of my actions with ease, maintaining a poker face...

Only in that moment did he look like me, a weak, ordinary person.

...So cunning, you're too cunning, senior.

How can I possibly forget this? Don't you know that girls are most vulnerable to contrast?

It was clearly me who wanted to imprint myself in your eyes—

How could it be you who imprinted yourself in my eyes?

By the time I noticed, it had become the norm. I searched for that expression in the depths of my mind, and began to pay close attention to my senior's every expression.

This has become part of my daily life.

—That's right. No special circumstances are needed.

The student council room or a coffee shop will do. We'll chat about mobile games and share interesting videos. We'll just idle away the time, living aimlessly. These ordinary moments, just the two of us together, are more important to me than anything else.

So I won't be doing anything special today.

The slightly more elaborate clothes and the first-time visits to tourist attractions are just a little something extra. We just need to be ourselves as usual—because, senior, in order to maintain this relationship in the future, I want to be the girl you value most.

Have a happy day!

Let today be like any other day, nothing new, but let's have a happy day.

So, at the end of today, are you willing to...

Will you spend a little time with me, someone who is serious about being with you?

"Senior."

Time flies.

Before we knew it, the setting sun had already painted the sky red.

"Before we go back...would you like to...take a ride on the Ferris wheel?"

Nan Xiaoyue ◆ She reaped what she sowed

"Wow, it's so late already!"

Looking up, the once azure sky was gradually turning red.

I glanced at my phone's clock; it was just past four in the afternoon. In late November, the sun always sets so early. It forces me to start preparing to go home this early, like a schoolchild.

By the way—around that time during that period, we also told each other that it was time to go home.

Xiao Xiao said that since we are neighbors, we can still play together after we get home, and he held my hand like a little sister.

Ah—I've forgotten what this is called. I think I saw it in a comic book or somewhere.

"How do you describe this, Kawabata?"

"........."

Kawaba didn't answer me. I turned my eyes to look at him and saw that his face was pale and his lips were tightly pressed together.

...It was just the two of us sitting on a bench, with me resting my head on his shoulder.

Even this little thing... is not allowed.

A sharp pain pierced my chest. Was this sadness? Or was it pity for Chuanbo? Perhaps I should stop. No, showing leniency halfway through treatment would diminish its effectiveness. But I can't; I don't want to hurt Xiaoxiao anymore. No more acting recklessly; these are the wounds I inflicted. If I don't take care of him, who will?

It's your own fault.

This time, an adjective immediately came to mind. Yes, this kind of situation is called reaping what you sow.

Everything that happened during junior high was my fault. Xiaoxiao seems to still feel guilty about yelling at me in the hospital, but that's my own fault. I treated a perfectly normal person like a puppet or toy, letting myself manipulate them. The things she said to me were actually quite mild.

The incurable thing is that there's still a part of me that wants to treat him the way I did back then.

Even now, my desire still burns like a flame. I want to lay down Xiaoxiao, who is feeling unwell, help him take off his clothes, wipe him clean from head to toe, cook porridge and blow on it to cool it down, feed him, and then kiss him repeatedly until he falls asleep. This is probably my fetish, and I can't change it.

I think I'd better not look for a partner anymore.

It's either the other person breaking down, or me breaking down, or we both breaking down—it's easy to imagine the end we're headed for. So, if Xiaoxiao wants to find another girlfriend, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

But at least, I hope to continue being his childhood sweetheart.

Because Xiaoxiao, like me, cherishes the memories of playing with me when we were little. So at the very least, I hope to continue being his childhood sweetheart.

It's okay if this is the last time.

Whether it's holding hands, resting my head on your shoulder, or walking arm in arm, I'm willing to make today the last time.

So that one day I can hand over this position to someone else—to have a proper ending, and go back to being just an ordinary childhood sweetheart.

I will settle all these negative legacies.

"...This is called...time flies."

Hearing the groaning sound, I looked up at the small face.

"I think it meant... Don't waste time, time that flies by like an arrow."

"……How are you?"

"Hmm... thanks to your help, I think I'm... getting used to it a bit."

Despite her still pale face, she forced a small, defiant smile.

"That's it."

That's good—but I can't say those words out loud.

Because the sense of reassurance hidden in the words will inevitably reveal... an excessive amount of goodwill.

"You actually know quite a lot. You're clearly a fool."

"I'm not an idiot, okay? I even got into Rakuro... Don't compare me to Iriho and the others."

"Don't waste time, which flies by like an arrow... right?"

That really hit a nerve. I looked up at the sunset sky.

I will not waste this time. I absolutely will not waste this time.

I've already caused Xiaoxiao so much pain... I absolutely, absolutely cannot do that.

The truly obsolete satellite navigation system is...

Join us when you have time.

The persuasive phrases used to get me to join the student council, roughly translated, would be something like this.

It was entirely a matter of going with the flow.

When I gave up basketball and felt aimless, someone appeared and said to me, "Why don't you do this?" When I couldn't find a new version of myself, an opportunity came along to help me start over. So without much thought, I seized the opportunity. That's all.

I never expected that I would end up becoming the student council president—I just casually did things that seemed like things I could do, and before I knew it, I was president. I didn't talk about morality or have any ulterior motives; it was just going with the flow.

That's right.

If I became the student council president after I stopped playing basketball, I would have achieved a balance. I wouldn't have let down the older students who cared about me.

This thought seems to frequently...flash into the corners of my mind.

Because…yes, it's all my fault for being lazy and not going to rehabilitation, and now I still can't lift my left shoulder. So I'm out of options. I can only find something I can do. It's better than doing nothing, right? Am I wrong?

Yes, that's fine.

As long as I have these rambling excuses, I'm satisfied.

But that time...

--Hey!

Ya Shuang was startled and turned around. "Now's not the time to look at me! Didn't you see that? There's a box wobbling above your head, it's about to fall!"

That was a reaction made in a moment of panic. I reached out my hands and narrowly caught the box that was about to hit Ya Shuang on the head.

Ya Shuang looked up and exclaimed, "Ah!" before stammering, "..."

Thank you, senior...

—No... Be careful.