Comics, daily stories

Thinking about these things, he sped through the woods, scattering the snowflakes.

It was moving straight north at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, without showing any sign of weakening.

At some point, he finally broke through those forests and began to traverse mountains where no trees could be seen, heading towards the polar regions.

He walked through a world of white, and then a snowflake appeared before him.

The snowflake drifted very slowly, almost instantaneously, floating in front of him.

He remained silent, looking down at his feet treading on the snow.

It looks like we won't be able to reach the end of the world.

My body has reached its limit.

She sensed that she had stopped on the opposite mountaintop.

Nomiyama smiled, speaking to her for the first time in six months: "I knew the second-place finisher wasn't as smart as the first. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have miscalculated this kind of problem; at least I could have saved some energy for that."

He knew she could hear him, and he also knew she wouldn't respond.

But it doesn't matter, he just wanted to make sure it was time and mock her for coming in second place.

Turning his head, Nomiyama surveyed his surroundings.

They began to determine whether this place was suitable as a burial site.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The 260th person should die. Okay, no!

Yukino Yukinoshita: "I'm leaving."

Nomi Yamakaze: "I disagree."

Yukino Yukinoshita: "But I'm leaving anyway."

Nomi Yamakaze: "..."

......

Yukino Yukinoshita: "I'm leaving. I'm going to die."

Nomi Yamakaze: "I disagree."

Yukino Yukinoshita: "But I'm going to die."

Nomi Yamakaze: "..."

Nomi Yamazaki: "Then let's go together."

......

Nomiyama could see the distance between them; he was at the foot of this hillside, and she was at the top of that hillside, separated by a few hundred meters of flat land.

Fortunately, this place shouldn't be one that people pass through often. If someone dies here, even if they are discovered, it will be a long time before they are found.

Thinking this, Nomiyama glanced at the large, snow-covered rock a few meters away, took a deep breath, and slowly moved over to sit down.

He watched the snowflakes falling before his eyes and began to think about things from long ago.

When he was a child, he thought about many things, such as his future plans. He thought about becoming a pirate, as free and romantic as Jack Sparrow; he thought about becoming a vigilante in the city at night, but he didn't have a principle of not killing, and he had no empathy for street thugs. His idea at the time was to catch a few and then pour a few piles of earth in Tokyo Bay; he also thought about becoming a teacher, probably influenced by Natsume-sensei, who was indeed a very gentle and caring person for his students; of course, what he thought about most was finding his non-existent 'parents'. Being born into this world, one must know where one came from.

Later, all those ideas were shattered. Whether it was being a pirate, a vigilante, or even a teacher, he lost interest. Temporary enthusiasm would eventually dissipate, and he couldn't bring himself to like those professions.

As for 'parents', Nomiyama later discovered that he had no parents, so the search became impossible.

With his exceptional physique and talent, everything becomes readily available. When bored, Nomiyama even considered becoming a soldier in a war-torn country, enduring bullets and artillery fire to charge forward and become an immortal black demon on the battlefield of the new era, getting promoted, receiving a raise, and marrying a beautiful and wealthy woman. Then he thought, if he wanted to, he could carry a tank all the way into the enemy's presidential palace to capture the king, so why bother being a king of soldiers?

Yukinoshita also thought his idea was stupid, saying that if he wanted to enjoy life, he should just rob a bank. Anyway, if he planned it well, he wouldn't be discovered.

But she quickly realized that it was wrong of her to say such things, so after saying "brainless Nomiyama-kun", she started flipping through the book pretending that she had never said those words.

Ah yes, Yukino Yukinoshita, the starting point from which his life began to twist.

He should have followed his whims and tried all sorts of lives: be a pirate, a vigilante, a teacher, a murderer, a robber, a brave soldier, maybe even try to be a king in some country, or perhaps spend most of his life at sea as a captain who spends his days fishing with poisoned fish to numb himself.

But the snow came too early and stayed by her side for too long. When she left, Nomiyama found that his fantasies about life had become boring. After thinking it over, he gave up those thoughts that she considered wrong and began to wait for her to come back and for their marriage many years later.

Yes, if things continue as they are, they should get married.

But all of this happened too fast, so fast that Nomiyama didn't have time to make any preparations.

In reality, there's not much preparation that can be made.

Everything was settled when he accepted Gong Yu.

Yukinoshita couldn't accept it, couldn't face it, and couldn't bear to hurt those people, so she gave herself an ending: she was leaving.

Faced with life and death, nothing else matters. Nomiyama couldn't accept her leaving, so he followed her.

She was terrifyingly resolute, not wanting any more accidents to happen, so she destroyed all the beautiful memories they had of each other, destroyed everything in the house, and then she began to go to the places they had wanted to go in their memories, as a final farewell to this world.

Nomiyama didn't speak, but simply remained silent, following along and agreeing.

While in Brazil, he thought of the people who were still waiting for him and realized that he had made many promises that he hadn't kept.

But she was about to leave, so he couldn't think about it anymore and continued to follow her.

Yukino once held up the "elixir of immortality" and said that if he wanted to live forever, he should remember to tell her so that she could live forever with him; if he didn't want to live forever, then they should grow old and die together; that was an explanation of "living together" and "dying together".

That's what he thought too.

And so it became a dead end. Nomiyama couldn't let her complete the journey alone, ending up alone at the undiscovered edge of the world. There were very few people in the world who could keep up with their speed, and they were all outsiders. No one could intervene in the process anymore. The end was inevitable for both of them, and everything was irreversibly heading towards death.

But it shouldn't have been like this. If Yukinoshita could have been more ruthless, if she had just summoned that sword and killed him, the origin of everything, she could have corrected everything.

No, that's not right. She was really ruthless this time. She didn't say a word to him for the past six months, nor did she let him see her again. She just silently went through the motions, wearing him down.

Nomiyama watched the snowflakes fall onto her eyelashes and blinked.

He must look terrible right now; his eyes are probably bloodshot, his magic robe is filthy, and his hair is likely tangled.

After all, he hadn't stopped for a moment during those six months, not eating, drinking, or sleeping—except for alcohol.

Thinking of this, Nomiyama smiled.

Last autumn, he discussed his plan to kill himself with Yukinoshita.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a knife. If you don't want to see blood, then hurt yourself inside. If you don't want to see me, then don't look at me."

"There's always a way for you to kill me without lifting a finger or even seeing me."

She truly did it. She didn't lift a finger, she didn't even look at him, she just silently circled around this world, and he silently followed her. In the end, the more she cultivated, the stronger she became, while the more he ran, the weaker he grew.

After all, he couldn't cultivate, and the energy in his body was too scarce, so he couldn't use energy to eliminate fatigue and hunger. In fact, during his last crossing of the ocean, he squeezed out a wisp of energy from his blood to build a foothold.

Although his body was incredibly powerful, such a long journey without replenishment would eventually wear him down, as he no longer possessed the pure divine body he once had.

Maybe Yukinoshita was waiting all the way, waiting for him to leave on his own; maybe he was also waiting all the way, waiting for her to stop.

They all knew that no one would stop or leave, and this became their common deadlock.

Thinking of this, Nomiyama sniffed. In fact, the root of all the problems lay with him. His existence and greed distorted the story. Yukinoshita shouldn't have had to endure all of this. She was gentle and kind, had unwavering beliefs, and was very strong. She should have had a brilliant and beautiful life, instead of constantly compromising with him and ending up like this.

His thoughts drifted back to the night they parted many years ago, when they huddled together on the sofa, their heads touching.

Yukinoshita said with some worry that her family members were destined to be attracted to a certain person.

Nomiyama answered quickly, saying that if there really was such a person, he would beat that person up until that person could no longer get close to her.

Now that promise has come true; he has made himself so close to her that he can no longer get near her.

With a slight smile, Nomiyama thought of the snow falling late in the evening.

If I'm not mistaken, then Xuexia Xuewan should be the first human exception he has encountered in his tens of thousands of years of existence.

This incredibly powerful human exception entered his mountain village, and through thirty years of interaction and affection, shattered his 'carefree' existence, pulling him towards becoming more human.

Then, after he became human, he encountered a second exception, this time even worse, who took him to his death.

Yuko stabbed him in the heart, Haruno forcibly pried open the door between him and Yukinoshita, and Miyagi delivered the most devastating blow to this part of his life.

Nomiyama's smile widened until he grinned broadly.

We really owe you Yukinoshita family a debt. In the end, all the accidents in my life were caused by you people.

Leaning back against a rock, Nomiyama looked up at the still-snowy sky.

His life had been smooth sailing, with all the happiness and sweetness seemingly coming his way. Even the poisonous fish that immobilized him were proof of someone's love for him a thousand years ago. He originally thought that all problems had been solved and that he was destined to continue being happy like this. However, life is like those candies that you eat all the time; sooner or later, there will be an unacceptable stinky herring flavor. After being sweet for so long, it turned out that it was just a prelude to the final stinky herring.

Looking at the snowflakes, Nomiyama finally thought of the day he was born.

The world was dark. He opened his eyes amidst the breath of the stars, but the world did not welcome him. Powerful immortals, ghosts, and monsters wanted to kill him. Their malice was poured onto the mountain and onto the weapons.

But Nomiyama didn't see them at first glance.

What he saw was starlight and snow all around him.

The wide grin gradually narrowed, eventually turning into a subtle, gentle curve.

His eyes were gentle as he watched the snowflakes dance in the air and fall to the ground.

The snow is so beautiful.

He closed his eyes, and the connection he had been with her finally snapped.

The sky darkened, and the polar night descended upon the Arctic ahead of schedule, then rapidly expanded, reaching this tranquil snowfield.

The stars shimmered and sparkled, sending starlight and snow to the dying young god, just as they had tens of thousands of years ago.

......

Yukino Yukinoshita stopped the moment he stopped.

Because she had been constantly focused on sensing the other person, she could clearly understand that the other person had reached their limit.

She looked up at the white wasteland before her and exhaled.

All that's missing is this barren, mountainless wasteland. Once they cross this place, it will be the end of the world, their final destination.

In the end, even their planned journey took an unexpected turn; they were destined to stay here and never be able to reach the ends of the earth.

His voice rang in my ears: "I knew the second place wasn't as smart as the first. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have miscalculated this kind of problem; at least I could have saved some energy for that."

Yukino Yukinoshita slightly raised the corners of her mouth, then lowered it.

She gathered her kimono, carefully sat down on the snow, and then hugged her knees.

This was actually the first time he had spoken to her in the past six months. Ever since she stepped onto the Pacific Ocean, he had fallen silent, simply following along quietly, and occasionally trying to get closer would only scare her away.

Actually, there's no need for that. Just let yourself go. You are the only obstacle. As long as you are gone, everything will be corrected. As long as you are gone, he will definitely be able to handle their problems.

Thinking of this, she pursed her lips slightly. What exactly did you want to do by following me? You know perfectly well I won't stop.

She thought of the second-place answer from earlier.

She knew she was second place a long time ago, ever since elementary school, because she would ask him for help when she didn't know how to solve a problem, and he always came in second in every exam in elementary school.

How stupid of me! How could I not see through this? I deliberately endured it for years, and then deliberately got first place at graduation to mock myself. How incredibly stupid.

Yukino Yukinoshita reached out and took a snowflake.

He spoke to me, so I should speak to him too, but let's wait a little longer, until the very last moment.

I didn't let him see me along the way because I was afraid that it would be painful if we made eye contact. I also didn't let him get close to me, which tormented him for a long time. So I can't look at him or get close to him either. I have to be fair and torture myself.

He knew it was still unfair, though. He had to endure hunger, fatigue, and drowsiness all the way, even though he loved to be lazy and sleep and eat. In the end, he had to suffer for so long because of her.

But why is it like this? Shouldn't we get married, work together, cook together, maybe grow old together, or perhaps after some years we'll change our identities and live in other parts of the world? Maybe you'll actually become a pirate, and I'll follow along while feeling resentful.

How did things suddenly become so irreversible?

Wouldn't it have been better if you hadn't met me? You would still have met kind people, people who like you. You wouldn't have to torture yourself like this, and you wouldn't have to die here with me. I'm an awkward and stubborn person, my feelings are twisted, and I'm not straightforward at all. You have to guess all my thoughts yourself, and now I've caused you to suffer like this.

Why can't you be a little more ruthless? If you're ruthless enough, just leave me behind and go back to Chiba. You'll still have a wonderful life. They'll still like you, and you won't have to let them down.

Yukino Yukinoshita hugged her knees, looked at the snow in front of her, and thought about things from a long time ago.

They were all young then. One day after school in third grade, Natsume-sensei went with them to the river, fished for indoor shoes, and took them home to a barbecue restaurant for barbecue.

That night, it was snowing heavily. Natsume-sensei went into the barbecue restaurant first, while Natsume hesitated a bit.