I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

"I've always envied Kiyora..."

Asuka followed Kiyori's gaze and saw her bookshelf.

A pang of pain shot through his heart, and Kiyoshi found it hard to stay any longer.

Kiyotori was eager to leave as soon as he finished his homework. "Asuka, I'll head back now. Yui is waiting for me."

When did she have to use dango as an excuse between her and Asuka?

Asuka didn't try to stop her. She stood up, her face somber, and said, "I'll see you out."

The Tanaka family has a fairly large garden. Because the building is in the Japanese style, the garden is very picturesque. The two of them used to play in the garden when they were young, but now it seems to have become a cage that confines them.

"This is fine." Kiyoyori stood by the door, about to take his leave, but Asuka grabbed his hand.

"Indeed, this is about enough."

The light from the doorway flickered above their heads, hiding Asuka's expression in the shadows. Kiyoshi's heart sank, and he wanted to escape.

But the more Kiyoshi struggled, the tighter the grip on her wrist became.

"Kiyori originally wanted to ask me about club-related matters today, right?"

"But I never managed to ask it."

His hand was suddenly released, and Kiyoshi's shoulder seemed to be pulled hard by the heavy schoolbag.

“I won’t go back,” Asuka said calmly, making Kiyoshi tighten his grip on his backpack strap. “It’s good to give the opportunity to Natsuki. She will fulfill her responsibilities, unlike me.”

"That's not good!"

Kiyoyori's chest heaved dramatically. "Everyone is waiting for Asuka to come back. The brass band is incomplete without Asuka! How could we possibly win the gold medal without Asuka!"

"No one can't live without the other."

This is for you, Qinglai.

Yes, it's for myself.

"The brass band is like that, and so is Kiyori," Asuka said coldly, her lips moving as she spoke words Kiyori couldn't understand. "Is Kiyori going to continue deceiving himself?"

shut up.

"Kiyoshi and I cannot walk the same path."

To shut up!

“From the very beginning, Kiyoyori and I were not from the same world.”

That's enough...

"It was Kiyori who barged into my world."

If it weren't for that encounter that day, if she had never met Kiyoyori.

“But our interaction is temporary,”

If she had never seen the sunlight,

"Two intersecting straight lines are destined to drift further and further apart."

She could still endure the darkness.

"Enough, stop talking, please..."

"How long are you going to keep running away?"

Don't you understand yet? Qinglai.

"Kiyoshi, you can't be my euphonium."

God, why?

"It was not possible before, and it will never be possible in the future."

Why do you need to teach me how to open the cage?

The schoolbag landed heavily on the ground, and Qinglai heard a loud bang.

Language is a sharp blade; at this moment, Qinglai's heart is bleeding profusely.

Goodbye, Kiyoyori.

This time, I can no longer follow behind you. This time, you should learn to let go.

A pair of warm hands placed the schoolbag back into Qinglai's hands. A thousand words stuck in his throat, and Qinglai could only watch as the door closed in front of him.

The moment Asuka's figure disappeared, a sentence echoed in her ear.

"Kiyoshi, do you know that?"

"Longing is the emotion that is furthest from being understood in this world."

P.S.: Actually, the relationship I defined for the two of them was that of the most familiar strangers. They both regarded each other as their ideal selves, so what Asuka said to Kiyori wasn't just for Kiyori, but also for herself. The last line is from the character Aizen in Bleach. I was quite shocked when I first saw that line, and it stayed with me for many years.

Chapter 77, Section 315: The Broken Mug

Kiyoshi didn't know how he got home. In the cold and quiet house, only Dango came out to greet him.

Holding the fluffy body of the dumpling in his arms, Kiyotaka tried to draw some warmth from it, but still felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. Warm tears wet the dumpling's fur, and his short sobs were all the more clearly heard in the darkness.

Kiyoshi knelt at the entrance, with Tuanzi quietly nestled in his not-so-comfortable arms, silently keeping him company.

With her little, barbed tongue gently licking Kiyoyori's cheek, the little dumpling called out a few times in a childish voice towards the door. Only then did Kiyoyori realize that someone was knocking on the door. Hoping that the person outside was Asuka, Kiyoyori rushed over and opened the door without even wiping away her tears.

The black-haired senior standing outside the door was not the one she had imagined.

"Senior Shiyu...?"

"Good evening..." Kasumigaoka was equally surprised; she never expected to see Kiyori so distraught after knocking on the door. "Shimizu-kun?"

Kiyoyori then realized what had happened and hastily wiped his cheek with his hand, saying, "Excuse me."

Kasumigaoka noticed a dark room behind Kiyoyori, and shoes that had been carelessly kicked aside.

Composing himself, Kiyotaka spoke as calmly as possible, "Why did you come here at this time, Shiwa-senpai?"

"A souvenir." Kasumigaoka gestured to the gift box he was carrying; the white paper bag was trimmed with gold, both elegant and understated.

"Excuse me, just a moment," Kiyotaka said, slightly closing the door but not completely. She quickly ran inside and turned on the light. "Please come in."

Even though he had just suffered a great blow, Kiyoyori should have invited Kasumigaoka in for a while, or at least had a cup of tea, both out of courtesy and reason.

The two sat in the living room, where the only sound was the boiling water coming from the kitchen.

"Aren't you going to open it and take a look?"

Kasumigaoka pushed the paper bag in front of Kiyoyori.

"I... I didn't know that Shiyu-senpai was coming back today."

A while ago, Kiyoyori received a message from Kasumigaoka. It seemed that the other party had to go on a business trip because of copyright issues related to the work, and asked if he wanted any souvenirs.

At that time, I was still troubled by Asuka's situation and didn't take this matter to heart at all.

did not expect……

Qinglai opened the gift box, and inside was a star chart.

"This is……"

"Didn't Shimizu-kun say he wanted to see the aurora? This app randomly plays different astronomical phenomena. Shimizu-kun can try it when he has time."

She couldn't take Kiyoshi to see the aurora, so she would bring the aurora back, even if only in a small room.

Holding the star gauge carefully, Kiyoyori finally showed her first smile of the day. "I didn't know that happened... Thank you, Utaha-senpai, I really like it."

Her smile seemed a little forced. Kasumigaoka could tell that Kiyori was preoccupied today, but seeing her forced smile made her feel sorry for her.

That fleeting glimpse in the darkness just now—it really was a tear.

After crying, Qinglai only had a red blush at the corner of her eyes. If you don't look closely, you'll be fooled by her acting skills.

Kiyoyori had no intention of confiding in anyone, and Kasumigaoka didn't intend to press further. "It's getting late, so I'll head back now."

Perhaps she came at the wrong time; it's time to return the space that originally belonged only to the other person.

“Wait a moment,” Kiyoyori stood up and walked towards the kitchen. “At least have a cup of tea before you leave. I haven’t returned the favor yet, since Shiwa-senpai gave me such a valuable gift.”

“It’s alright, it’s just a return gift,” Kasumigaoka said, not caring about it. “I bought it in the first place to give Shimizu-kun a return gift.”

I've never had a chance to thank Qinglai for his support before; this is just me making up for what I owed him.

"That's not proper etiquette."

"Shimizu-kun, you're being too polite."

Without further hesitation, Kasumigaoka sat back down on the sofa.

Well, since I've already bothered you, a cup of tea won't make a difference.

A sudden cracking sound came from the kitchen. Kasumigaoka reflexively jumped up from the sofa and rushed towards the kitchen. "Shimizu-kun? What happened?"

As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw Kiyoshi squatting on the floor with his back to her, next to a broken mug.

Kasumigaoka frowned, his heart still pounding, when he saw Kiyoyori reach for the sharp shards with his bare hands.

"Wait a moment!"

"hiss--!"

The bright red blood droplets fell onto the white tiled floor, starkly jarring.

Kasumigaoka immediately crouched down, reached out and grasped Kiyoyori's finger that had been cut by the porcelain shard, and covered the wound with the handkerchief she always carried with her. "How could you be so careless?"

Kiyoyori did not turn around, remaining with his back to her, but the hand held in Kasumigaoka's hand trembled slightly.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Kasumigaoka occasionally removed her handkerchief to check the wound; beads of blood were still slowly seeping from it, but fortunately, the cut wasn't deep and didn't require further treatment.

The pure white handkerchief was stained with patches of red, and a faint smell of blood permeated the air.

"Shimizu-kun, do you have any disinfectant at home?"