I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

The crisp sound of wind chimes echoed between the two silent people. Suddenly, Reina reached out and pinched Yukinoshita's cheeks, lifting them up. A comical smile appeared on Yukinoshita's face, accompanied by a "what are you doing?" look in her eyes. Reina was once again struck by a strange sense of amusement and laughed to herself.

Completely bewildered by Reina's rude actions, Yukinoshita couldn't help but smile slightly at the sound of Reina's silvery laughter.

Kiyori Tachibana, what kind of person are you? Why is your surroundings always filled with laughter and joy?

I think I'm becoming a little curious about you.

"Whoo-"

Yukinoshita's phone vibrated in her pocket. Although she had no intention of prying into Kiyori's privacy, she still opened the latest LINE message. It was a contact name she had never seen before—"A Woman with a Terrible Personality."

Most of their chat history was sent by the other person, and Qinglai was mostly indifferent, only giving polite replies.

The message was a video; Yukinoshita clicked to load it.

The video shows a girl sitting at a piano, her ten fingers flying across the black and white keys, and smooth and beautiful music flowing from the piano. She is so engrossed in the music that she seems completely unaware of the person standing at the door secretly filming her.

There is also a sentence below the video:

Isn't she adorable? She looks a bit like you.

I could hardly breathe under the snow.

Chapter 18 A Weekend Where Sanity Drops Like Crazy (Part 6)

When Yukinoshita took Reina home and returned home, both mothers had already left.

Taking advantage of the fact that she was alone, Yukinoshita took out Kiyori's oboe and walked towards the practice room. She had just found a video on Kiyori's phone that was probably recorded for her. She clicked play, and Kiyori's figure appeared in the camera. The camera gradually focused, and Kiyori, who was sitting on the stool with his back straight, gradually became clear.

This is different from the feeling that Yukinoshita saw Tachibana Kiyori in the mirror, but that she herself was inside. The Tachibana Kiyori in the video is Tachibana Kiyori. Yukinoshita realized that she and Kiyori were completely different types after seeing her in person. Although she was temporarily fooled, she could quickly realize the difference between the two after seeing Tachibana Kiyori in person.

Perhaps she was consciously comparing herself to the other person.

Yukino followed the steps in the video one by one, but she didn't know that the reed needed to be kept moist, which might be why she couldn't make a sound at the time.

In fact, Kiyoyori didn't need to worry so much. Yukinoshita could sense that when she picked up the oboe, it was muscle memory in her body. Even though she herself was unaware of it, her tireless practice every day had successfully made Kiyoyori's body remember it.

Although it's just a matter of technique.

When Kiyoyori played that solo in the video, Yukinoshita finally understood why Reina had looked at her that way that day. Sometimes, for those who understand music, music can reveal a person's true nature more than human language or even behavior, because people can lie, but music cannot; it honestly reflects the performer's most authentic self.

No wonder the other party specifically warned against playing the instrument in front of Touko's mother.

The biggest difference between Yukinoshita and Kiyori's playing lies in their emotions. Yukinoshita simply played the score with perfect technique, while Kiyori played the music with perfect technique and rich emotion.

This is Tachibana Kiyori.

The music in the video stopped abruptly, as if someone had made a phone call. The last second of the video stopped at the moment Kiyoyori stood up and walked towards the phone. Just as Yukinoshita was about to watch it again, the phone rang, and the caller ID showed Eriri.

Yukinoshita immediately recalled information about her; it must be her "older sister" on LINE.

Yukinoshita answered the phone, "Hello."

"Hello my foot! Why isn't the doorbell working?"

The woman on the other end of the phone sounded short of breath, as if she was still panting.

"what?"

"You're practicing again?"

Eriri seems to have gotten used to her cousin's intermittent dementia. Whenever Eriri starts practicing, her mind becomes completely absorbed in the practice, and her brain reacts much slower than usual, her reflexes slowing down from Uji to Kyoto.

"Ah."

"Ha—" Eriri sighed, "Come open the door for me, I'm at your door right now."

"At the door?"

Kiyoyori seemed unusually dazed today, but Eriri, remembering that she still needed her help, had no choice but to swallow her anger. "Didn't I say a couple of days ago that I would come to see you this weekend? I also said last night that I would come today."

Yukinoshita fell silent. With her photographic memory, she did remember that the other person had mentioned coming over the weekend. However, judging from the other person's accent, they were someone who lived in Kanto and spoke standard Mandarin. Why would they make a special trip from Kanto to Uji on such an ordinary weekend?

Seemingly hearing footsteps on the other end of the phone, Eriri stopped urging and fanned herself with her hand.

The door opened, revealing her cousin's cold face, whom she hadn't seen in a long time. She was probably still sulking about how she'd been so insistent on asking her to help with coloring yesterday. As the older sister, she wouldn't hold a grudge against her younger sister over something like that. Eriri stepped inside, expertly taking her slippers from the shoe cabinet, and without waiting for Yukinoshita, went straight into the room.

Yukino was surprised when she saw the other's face. Although the two were cousins, their facial features and European face shapes were so similar that they could be mistaken for sisters. However, even so, it was easy to tell the difference between them. Eriri, who was a year older, was more playful and cute, while Kiyori, who was a year younger, was more composed.

"Are neither of my aunts here?"

Eriri glanced towards the living room.

"They went out."

“That’s perfect. Come up with me,” Eriri breathed a sigh of relief. “Let’s go to your room.”

The other person looked upright, showing no sign of having any ill intentions, but considering that she was Kiyoyori's older sister, it shouldn't be a problem for her to just enter the room, and she seemed quite used to it.

To avoid giving herself away, Yukinoshita kept her mouth shut, and Eriri, who was feeling a little guilty, didn't pay any attention to Yukinoshita.

Eriri pulled Yukinoshita's arm and led her into the room, then closed and locked the door.

Yukinoshita watched the other person's last move and inexplicably began to feel anxious.

Eriri moved a small coffee table from the cabinet and placed it by the window. Then she took out all the things from her bag: a box of various pens, a stack of drawing paper, and a novel with a rather awful cover.

Yukinoshita awkwardly looked away. Seeing that novel would involuntarily remind her of the painting she had seen that morning. Just thinking about that painting would instantly turn any good impression Kiyoshi had of her into dust and scatter into the air.

“Come sit across from me,” Eriri pointed to the empty seat opposite her. “Let’s get this straight, you’re my sister, and you and Tomoya haven’t made up. Just say the lines from the book, but try to be a little more in sync with the story. It’s not like I have any other feelings for you!”

Yukinoshita looked at Eriri's slightly flushed face and said, "Why don't you go find 'Tomoya' for help? You can make up with him while you're at it."

Eriri suddenly blushed and yelled at Yukinoshita, "Come here right now!"

Unaware of what was going on, Yukino sat upright in front of Eriri, her hands neatly folded on her knees, looking at Eriri with innocent eyes. This suddenly made Eriri, who hadn't thought anything of it, feel a sense of guilt.

"Ahem," to cover her unease, Eriri cleared her throat by making a fist to her lips, neatly arranged the necessary tools, and then opened the book to the designated page, where Eriri had folded a corner and thoughtfully marked the paragraph to be read in red pen. "Here you go, just read it from here, I'll go over the lines with you."

Rehearsing lines? Like acting in a sitcom?

Yukinoshita took the book with suspicion, focusing her gaze on the highlighted paragraph, next to which were written "deep and gentle." After a moment, she spoke:

"Hey, stop crying. It's not good to use such beautiful eyes to shed tears."

Her voice, slightly lower than that of an average girl, had a grainy, bubbly quality.

"Smile, you look even cuter when you smile."

The lines were a bit embarrassing, but still within acceptable limits. Yukinoshita glanced at Eriri's suddenly smiling face and was secretly surprised. Was she really that dedicated? Yukinoshita, who had been thinking of getting away with it for the time being, couldn't help but take it seriously.

"Hehe," she said, her voice deliberately lowered, which gave her a special charm. "That's how it is, and I hope you will always smile at me like that in the future."

"Hmm..." Eriri lowered her head, "Then you shouldn't get hurt again, it breaks my heart..."

This is a story about a male protagonist who is injured, and a female protagonist who stays by his side all night to take care of him.

“Okay.” Yukino swallowed hard, following the script, “You’re so beautiful in the moonlight, so beautiful that I want to eat you up…”

What kind of strange line is this? Is the "male lead" supposed to be a cannibal?

"I don't mind, come on!"

Eriri's tone suddenly became excited, completely contrary to her "scripted" shyness, but out of "professional ethics," Yukinoshita decided to continue her lines.

"Your smooth skin is like translucent jade, and your chest—"

"What...what is this?!"

She stood up abruptly and looked down at Eriri.

Yukinoshita had never been so out of control before. Shyness and fear tormented her already tense nerves, straining her vocal cords to the point of breaking her voice. She could hardly believe the words she was seeing.

What's going on? She recognizes every single word, but when they're put together, they form a sentence she can't understand.

"Don't stop! We're at the most crucial moment!"

Eriri's excitement was practically tangible, "Next up is the moment everyone's been waiting for—!"

"How can we stop at a time like this! This is a matter of dignity!"

"How could anyone utter such shameless lines!"

Yukinoshita could feel her face was completely red, the kind of red that would probably make someone stop their car if she were standing at a crossroads.

"This is what you promised me last night! I traded my first time for it!"

My first attempt at a yuri (lesbian) book.

Yukinoshita Yukino:! !

"What's wrong, Qinglai? I never expected you to be such a faithless and heartless person!"

Having shed her yuri otaku identity and donned glamorous clothes, does she no longer recognize her older sister who used to share a pair of underwear with her since childhood?

"Or do you feel you're not capable enough to do it?"

Eriri snorted and glanced at Yukinoshita, whose eyes were lowered, out of the corner of her eye.

"I accept your challenge." Yukinoshita gripped the pages of the book as if she wanted to tear it to shreds.

Eriri smiled triumphantly. "Then let's continue."

Moments later, Yukinoshita never expected the sequel to this book to unfold in such a way, which was even more shameful than shamelessness itself.

She held the book listlessly, staring blankly at Eriri, who was suddenly becoming excited.

"Ouch, it hurts..."

"Love me a little more..."

"Wait a moment……!"

"what--!"

Her hands moved swiftly across the drawing paper, almost invisible beneath the snow.

Forced to open up a new world and becoming disoriented, Yukinoshita can only mechanically respond to the lines in the "script":

"sorry."

"I love you."

Is this the place?

"Ha ha……"