NOVEL NEXT chapter 6
6. Dialogue!
Rainbow Middle School.
“Goodbye~ Wuyue.”
“Mm! Goodbye!”
After waving and smiling to bid farewell to her classmates, Wuyue walked out of the school gate, heading in the direction of home.
As she walked, she stopped under a tree, placing her hand on her chest to feel her heart pounding, taking a deep breath.
“Phew… today is really strange.”
Wuyue didn’t know why… Clearly, today she had managed not to be late, arriving at school, and logically, she should have been ten times more serious about studying!
But for some reason… she had been absent-minded all day, unable to absorb anything…
It even led to her being called out by the teacher in class without realizing it, resulting in a ten-minute punishment of standing.
Though it was just a small matter, it was enough to make her feel frustrated.
“Why didn’t I feel this way before…”
“What’s wrong with me…”
“…”
Reflecting on the events of the morning, Wuyue fell silent for a moment, then sighed.
Alright… she wasn’t a dull person; she had read her fair share of shoujo manga.
So, the reason she had been so absent-minded since arriving at school this morning… was probably thanks to him, right? After all, most manga have that trope where the male lead does something for the female lead, leading to her heart fluttering!
She must have experienced that!
“Sigh! I really need to adjust my mindset quickly.”
Shaking her head with a grimace, Wuyue didn’t linger any longer and continued to walk briskly toward home.
She was clear-headed… she and Youyu were merely acquaintances, and they didn’t know much about each other.
And the emotions that were currently bothering her were just a result of the misattribution of arousal.
If she let these feelings develop further… it wouldn’t just be her who would be troubled; Youyu would be affected too.
“… After all, Grandma said that a truly strong person is someone who can stay true to their heart!”
Thinking of this, Wuyue began to murmur the words her grandmother had once told her, in an effort to adjust her mindset.
She kept repeating it to herself… and miraculously, her twisted emotions began to fade?!
Uh, while it was indeed absurd that a few words could change one’s mindset, she was a magical girl (tentatively), so it seemed reasonable enough!
Yes! Verbal affirmations are an essential skill for any protagonist!
“If I want to become stronger, then I can’t just rely on others!”
So, after mustering her spirits like she had when facing past setbacks, Wuyue returned to a state of emotional MAX!
“Ahaha! I told you this method works!”
“OKOK! Emotions fully unleashed!”
With a smile on her face, Wuyue started to run.
Now, she had to get home immediately! Then cook for Youyu!
Although it felt a bit funny to be running for this reason?
But he had helped her so much; it was just asking her to cook again, how could she not do it?!
Let’s consider it a reward for the morning!
After settling things, she no longer thought about being some kind of savior.
Just being an ordinary friend would be enough!
————
“Bang!”
“?”
“Hi hi~! I’m back!”
“…Oh, welcome back.”
Seeing Wuyue push the door open, her excitement and bright smile made Youyu visibly pause for a moment, then he laughed and said:
“Just a morning apart, and you’ve already turned back into the way you were yesterday? I thought you’d come back and say something apologetic.”
“Hey—! Don’t tease me about that! It was just a coincidence, a coincidence, you know!”
Hearing Youyu’s words and recalling her “self-deprecating” demeanor from the morning, Wuyue couldn’t help but blush and retorted.
“Hey~ A coincidence? Then I must be quite lucky, after all, I’m the first one to see you like that~ Isn’t it quite memorable?”
“What’s so memorable about that! Stop talking about it! Otherwise, you can cook lunch! You look like you have nothing to do anyway!”
“Alright, alright~ My fault, okay?”
“…Hmph.”
Watching Youyu make a gesture of ‘I was wrong,’ Wuyue huffed and didn’t continue to argue. Instead, she turned and walked towards the kitchen.
Meanwhile, inside Youyu, after watching Wuyue enter the kitchen for a while, Mamba finally couldn’t hold back and asked:
“Youyu, why is your conversation so smooth? Isn’t that a bit strange…? Did you really manage to handle this magical girl so easily?”
“…Handle? Um, may I ask, what’s your definition of ‘handle’?”
“Okay, I might have expressed it a bit incorrectly. What I meant to say is, that behavior you just displayed should be considered ‘flirting,’ right? How come you can execute such behavior so skillfully?”
“No, no, no! Let me clarify, everything I’m doing right now is for ‘development,’ ‘development’! Got it? That behavior is a necessary part of ‘development,’ it’s not flirting at all!”
Youyu suddenly spoke in a flustered manner for some reason.
“Hmm… Simply put, it’s like an older brother raising his biological sister, you know? There are no ulterior motives or concerns, so such simple actions, similar to enhancing familial bonds, naturally don’t count as anything!”
“…Is that so?”
—
Although he was somewhat puzzled as to why Yuyou particularly liked to nitpick on such matters, Mamba wisely chose not to ask further. Perhaps it was because there was some reason he couldn’t say it outright.
Well… of course he couldn’t, after all, these so-called “magical girls” are all of legal age! Just like Wuyue, who is merely two years younger than him…
Though Yuyou’s age isn’t that much older than hers… uh, but he still didn’t want to be seen as a fanboy!
So why did he act that way? Wouldn’t it be enough to just play the role of a “big brother”?
The answer is that he couldn’t help it, um, that’s a very honest answer.
“I can only use the self-deceiving term ‘nurturing’ to alleviate my guilt… Uh, it seems I’ve really become the villain, huh~”
“Hey! The food’s ready, hurry over!”
“Coming, coming~”
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Yuyou approached the dining table.
“Here! These are the dishes I made yesterday… But I can’t guarantee they’re as delicious as they were yesterday, okay? After all, you were injured and weak when you ate them yesterday, right? So there might be some psychological effect…”
“Haha! No, no, no, I still believe in your cooking skills.”
With a smile, Yuyou picked up his chopsticks and bowl, and started eating right away.
Although the dishes on the table were all common home-cooked meals, they looked ordinary but tasted better than usual, simply because these were the few dishes Wuyue had been making since she was little.
Whoever gets the chance to eat her cooking regularly in the future will be truly blessed.
Thinking of this, Yuyou took another big mouthful.
“But… just eating isn’t enough.”
He hadn’t forgotten what he was supposed to do now.
So, just as he finished this bowl of rice and lifted his head to speak—
“Um—!” x2
“?”
Their voices overlapped.
“…”
It seemed they both had something to say.
“…So! That!”
Wuyue was the first to speak.
“Yuyou, you go first.”
“…”
“Mm.”
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