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I: The Flowers Are Not Sleeping
Chapter 48: Full of Sunset
To you in the distance.

***

Yayoi recently started writing letters to people.

Yayoi had never written a letter to anyone. For various reasons, she was hidden in the deepest part of the clan. Her existence was kept secret from others. Those who knew the inside story unanimously regarded her as an unspeakable taboo.

As long as she could remember, Yayoi had been living in that mansion. The cherry blossoms in the courtyard bloomed and then faded, withered, fell, got muddy, and rotted in the moist soil. They bloomed again in the spring of the next year. After the flowering period, it withered again, repeating itself day after day, year after year.

Until a red-haired girl climbed up the high wall and saw the doors and windows covered with sealing charms. Perhaps out of curiosity, the girl ignored the patriarch's prohibition and cautiously approached the room and heard shallow breathing outside the wall.

The breathing sound came from the red-haired child sleeping huddled in the sealing formation.

After Mito learned about Yayoi's existence, she was severely scolded by the clan leader at the time. In the end, the clan leader unexpectedly allowed her to come and play with Yayoi.

Yayoi once saw the red-haired man from a distance. At that time, Yayoi and her sister were still two little girls, and he was still a handsome middle-aged man. By chance, after meeting Yayoi's eyes from a distance, Yayoi noticed him. The eyes that looked over her were filled with bitterness, pity, guilt, and many other emotions that she couldn't see.

Yayoi had forgotten the last time she saw him. Yayoi only remembered him standing under the vermilion torii gate of the shrine. The years have left the old man's groove on that handsome middle-aged face, and his red hair was still bright like fire.

Yayoi was allowed to move within a certain range, but there were limits to what she could do. One of the things she could not do was that her existence could not be known to others, so writing letters was not allowed.

Many people write letters to people they want to meet. Yayoi had has seen many letters, but she had never written a letter to anyone else.

Today's communication technology was much more advanced than that time. As long as you meet someone and exchange phone numbers with them, you could hear his or her voice by making a call. Both parties could make an appointment in their free time to meet somewhere.

After parting ways with Riko, Yayoi realized that she had forgotten to exchange phone numbers with Riko. She sent a message to Satoru and asked for Riko's phone number. Satoru was strangely silent for a moment, and then sent her a string of addresses, with a note at the end that it was Riko's address.

No phone call or other information.

The letter only had a beginning, and Yayoi thought of many ways to greet her. Often, as soon as she finished writing the beginning, Yayoi would cross out that line.

Nothing could satisfy her.

After writing down the words and crossing them out over and over again, she didn't know how many times, there were already several paper dumplings on the ground.

Yayoi scratched her red hair in distress, making it a mess.

Autumn was here, and the cherry leaves outside the window were stained with golden yellow, curling and falling. The bicycles outside the window were ringing their bells, and they were flying by.

Yayoi licked her dry lips, turned the pen in her hand, and finally lowered the tip.

"To Riko-chan who is far away:

How are you recently?

I recently doing well.

There is a large cherry blossom tree in the courtyard of my house. My mother said it was an old tree that was older than my great-grandfather, and it was considered an old man in our family.

Autumn has arrived, and the leaves of my cherry blossom tree have begun to turn yellow. When I saw the fallen yellow leaves this morning, I suddenly wanted to write to you.

This is my first time writing a letter, so I may not write very well. I have thought about writing letters to people before, but I don't know who to write to, and my family doesn't allow me to write letters to outsiders.

This morning when I told my mother that I wanted to write a letter to a friend, my mother said yes and happily encouraged me to write to you. I felt very happy, so I started writing.

Speaking of family, Miss Kuroi must still be with you, right? It is a very happy thing to have family by your side. I thought so in the past, and I still think so now. Family members don't necessarily need to be related by blood, this is what Riko-chan and Kuroi-san told me.

Fate is a wonderful thing. It can make people who have nothing to do with each other become friends and family. I guess before meeting Riko-chan, Kuroi-san never thought that she would become Riko-chan's most important family member, just like me. Before I met my mother, I never thought that my mother would become my mother.

Time is very long, and we will meet more people in the later time, just like I met my mother and you met Kuroi-san. All kinds of encounters are surprises, allowing people from all over the world to build relationships. Create invisible connections and make your empty heart full.

When I was shopping and visiting the aquarium with Riko-chan, I was very happy and satisfied.

Autumn is here and Tangerine is starting to shed her hair. Speaking of Tangerine, I think of Fluffy again, Gojo's cat. I haven't seen him for a long time. Although he is said to be Gojo's cat, I have raised him, so I unilaterally believe that he is also my cat.

You said you have something very important to do, have you finished it? Whatever the outcome, I hope you keep smiling.

Winter may be coming soon. Will I receive your reply before autumn ends?

..."

Yayoi thought for a while, and after writing blessings of peace and joy at the end, she signed the letter, wrote down the recipient and address, neatly folded the letter paper, carefully stuffed it into the envelope, and sealed it.

The way her sister sent mail was through a slug. After writing the letter, seal it and give it to the slug who was summoned. The slug would then find her brother-in-law. Finally, the slug who was summoned by her brother-in-law will forward the letter to her sister.

There were no slugs summon here, so Yayoi took the sealed envelope to the post office and stuffed the letter into the mailbox. The postman would take the letter out and hand it to the recipient.

The reeds were rising and falling in the golden autumn wind, and there were waves one after another. Fallen leaves fell all over the ground at the feet of jizo statue on the roadside.

Yayoi bought a bouquet of pure white lilies, the soft petals still stained with crystal dew, and took the train all the way to the prefectural hospital in Saitama Prefecture.

After entering the hospital gate, Junko-san who was on duty raised her slightly tired eyelids, and her eyes were attracted by the bright red color.

"Yayoi-chan came to see her mother again?" Junko-chan smiled with crooked eyebrows.

"Mom will be discharged from the hospital today." Yayoi blinked, and the white lily in her hand was elegant and delicate in the golden sunshine.

Autumn had arrived and the weather had turned cooler. Her mother went straight to the hospital a few days ago. She originally planned to just lie down at home for a while. Her mother had done a lot of this kind of thing in the past and she was able to get through it every time. But she picked up her mother and got on the tram all the way to the county hospital.

From the first day after moving to Saitama Prefecture, the hospital had been a must-go place for a mother who was in poor health, not to mention that there was a little redhead with bright hair beside her. Thanks to Yayoi's hair, Dr. Kimura, who treated her mother, remembered them both mother and daughter in one visit.

Dr. Kimura was an old acquaintance of her mother and Yayoi. When Yayoi dragged her mother to the hospital, the doctor in charge of treating her mother was also Dr. Kimura.

When the diagnosis report came out, Dr. Kimura looked very unhappy and seemed to be in a bad mood. He immediately sentenced her mother to be hospitalized for observation for a few days. A few days later, her mother finally received permission from Dr. Kimura to be discharged.

When packing, a report slipped out of the duffel bag and fell to the ground with a clatter. The white paper was smudged with a faint halo in the golden sunlight.

Yayoi subconsciously wanted to pick it up, but her mother picked it up before her and stuffed it into the duffel bag, stuffed it into the folded clothes, and zipped up the duffel bag.

"Mom...?" Yayoi subconsciously turned to look at her mother, her mother's face turned a little pale.

"I'm fine." Mom smiled, her face still a little pale in the golden halo.

Yayoi didn't think much, but carried her duffel bag, her mother holding her in front of her, slowly walked out of the hospital, walked to the tram stop, and got on the tram.

The tram moved forward along the railway track, and the scenery outside the window flashed by.

Yayoi and her mother sat down by the window.

"...mom?" Yayoi shouted.

Her mother had been in a daze, watching the telegraph poles passing by and the rapidly changing clouds outside the car window.

When she heard Yayoi calling her, her mother was stunned for a moment, turned to look at Yayoi, and said the syllable "ah" blankly.

The light and shadow in the carriage were mottled. She stared at Yayoi blankly for a while, then suddenly reached out and touched Yayoi's red hair. Her cheek slowly moved towards the top of her hair, and finally she gently pressed against the top of Yayoi's hair.

"Mom, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?" Yayoi looked up at her mother with confusion in her eyes.

Haruna closed her eyes gently, curved her lips slightly, and shook her head, "No, let me lean in like this."

"Oh." Yayoi did it obediently and let her mother leant against the top of her hair.

The carriage swayed slightly, the scenery outside the window flew by, and the light and shadow under the feet flowed.

"Yayoi." Haruna said softly, "It's great to be your mom."

"You are as alive as the Yayoi flowers blooming in March." Yayoi heard her mother say, "Yayoi has been supporting me for a long time."

For a long time, you were the meaning of my life.

"Thank you, Yayoi." Haruna said softly, "You must continue to live like this in the future."

Yayoi felt that her mother had been a little strange lately, but she couldn't tell what was strange.

The food would be delicious and the sleep would be good. The strange thing was that recently her mother would hold a big quilt and squeeze Yayoi into her bed. Obviously the bed in her mother's bedroom was bigger, but she liked to go to Yayoi's bed. They squeezed into her room and slept together on her little bed.

"When Yayoi was just born, she would be a little one and nestle in mom's arms obediently." Haruna rubbed Yayoi's hair, "Other children in the ward cried so loudly, but my Yayoi was obedient. She slept next to mom without crying or fussing all night."

The wheel of time never stopped, it kept moving forward. After the working day, there was a rest day, and after the rest day, there was a new working day.

Yayoi had been having a headache recently.

The thing that gave her a headache was a table full of papers. The white papers covered the entire table, and there was very little writing on them.

Little redhead: The paper is so scary QAQ

Yayoi's red hair had faded, the end of the pen has been bitten, the red hair had been scratched and messed up, the headband had been removed from somewhere, and the hair was scattered from the shoulders.

The formulas and letters on the paper seemed to be the notes of a lullaby. Yayoi was so confused that she didn't even know when she fell asleep on the table. When she woke up, her eyes were filled with the bright sunset.

The horizon and most of the sky were burned red by the setting sun. The cherry blossom trees in the courtyard were still shedding their leaves, and the shadows on the ground were stretched out and fell slanting on the floor.

Someone pinched Yayoi's nose harshly. The blocked breathing passage was unable to absorb oxygen from the outside world. Yayoi felt as if someone had thrown her into the water and she couldn't breathe.

It's uncomfortable, so uncomfortable.

After waking up from her dream, the first person she saw was Satoru's big face, who shamelessly came over and pinched Yayoi's nose.

Yayoi's cheek turned red, and the dusk sunset dyed the fair skin with a gorgeous glow.

Yayoi puffed up her cheeks and swatted away the hand that was pinching her nose.

"Why are you here?" Yayoi rubbed his nose.

Satoru curled his lips, "I rang the doorbell many times outside."

He rarely wanted to go through the front door.

"You didn't open the door for me." Satoru angrily grabbed a piece of soft flesh on Yayoi's cheek.

"It's not my fault." Yayoi said bluntly, "It's all those papers fault."

Satoru glanced at the white papers on the table and noticed how little writing there was on them. He grinned like a mischievous cat.

"It's a very simple question."

Satoru casually pulled out a blank paper from under the thick paper, slapped it on the table with his hand, and scanned the smooth paper surface with his fingertips. He randomly selected a set of questions and solved them in a few steps.

Yayoi turned over the answer and compared it with Satoru's problem-solving steps, and found that he actually simplified the complex problem-solving steps and solved the problem to the point.

Yayoi: redheas shocked. jpg

I couldn't tell at all that this naughty cat was actually a top student, and the top student was actually by my side!

"There's no need to explain such a simple question, right?" Satoru changed the topic, grinned, and smiled wildly and cunningly, "Anyone who needs to explain again is a big fool."

Yayoi: "..."

She didn't understand, she's a big idiot QAQ

Yayoi's red hair faded because her brain was shut down. Her bright red hair lost its highlights, and she was filled with frustration. The depression was accompanied by Satoru's inhumane laughter.

"You can help me with my tutoring." Yayoi had a bold idea.

"Huh?" Satoru curled his lips, "No, I don't do such troublesome things."

"You don't know how to teach?" Yayoi doubted and doubted again, "Then I'll find someone else."

Satoru: "..."

Redhead, you successfully attracted my attention.

Satoru rolled up his sleeves and started tutoring the little redhead.

In the process of tutoring Yayoi, Satoru discovered that when she was hitting someone, her brain was extremely smooth, and when she bumped into the test paper, her brain shut down.

"You're so stupid." Satoru reached out and poked Yayoi's forehead twice, "Super stupid!"

Yayoi, who was tortured by quadratic equations and was dizzy, raised her head in a daze and saw a pair of beautiful pale blue eyes. The dusk gave them a gorgeous glow, and the white eyelashes seemed to be decorated with snowflakes.

Satoru put one hand on the edge of the table and caught Yayoi's eyes off guard.

The wind was filled with the rustling sound of leaves, the snow-white curls were stained with brilliant rosy gold, and the red hair fell on the table, with a few strands hanging down the edge of the table.

Yayoi tilted her head, and the hair on her forehead brushed her cheek.

Her amber eyes fell into the delicate afterglow of dusk, tilting her head to look at him like a little fox, a little red fox.

Time seemed to have stopped flowing, and the air seemed so silent that only his own heartbeat remained.

"You..." Satoru's eyelashes twitched slightly.

It was as if something began to swell silently in his heart, and the warm, unfamiliar emotions made him tremble.

"Are you an idiot?" The words that came out of his mouth turned into this sentence inexplicably.

Yayoi: "You are the idiot!"

This person was really hateful!

***

· Genuine translation can be found only in OchatimesBlogspotCom, FanFictionNet, and Wattpad

• Omake •

High school Satoru: I said I didn't do it on purpose. Do you believe it?

28 y.o Satoru: As expected of you, the high school student me.



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