All the people who like me are other people’s girlfriends! ?

Qingye clenched his hands tightly, and the warmth from his palms was extremely warm.

Ah, Yukinoshita Haruno suddenly had an inexplicable feeling. Maybe she came to the church not to curse, but to pray - praying that she could also meet her own prince charming.

She narrowed her eyes gently. "This world sounds so grand. Anyway, how about we go to a small town in the south, buy a yard, grow vegetables in the fields, and then have a daughter and raise her?"

"Isn't your goal very clear? And the plot is moving too fast!"

Qingye shook off her hand and stood up.

"Would you like to be with someone as troublesome as me?"

Yukinoshita Haruno looked up at Kiyono and said ambiguously, her pupils unconsciously filled with curiosity.

She found that she had not yet been overwhelmed.

She clearly hated such things, and clearly wanted to forget her past self and immerse herself in the tenderness of the night, but those thoughts came up instinctively. She would doubt, deny, judge the truth, and refuse to believe... She was afraid that the reason why Kiyono was so good to her was just because he owed a favor to the Yukinoshita family.

Even the relationship between her and Qingye at this moment, can't get rid of the external hypocrisy?

She was not only questioning Qingye, but also questioning her own heart.

Can't control it at all.

She pricked her palm with her nails in annoyance.

Qingye looked at her from top to bottom, as if he could see through her heart.

To be honest, Yukinoshita Haruno is indeed a troublesome woman. She has her own unique set of ideas, likes to restrain herself, likes to analyze...

But he just smiled: "Whether it's the troublesome Yukinoshita Haruno, the Yukinoshita Haruno who is always used to being rational and pretending, or the Yukinoshita Haruno who is jealous of her sister, no matter how troublesome or dirty they are, I will accept them from the bottom of my heart."

"Besides having children, whether it's eloping or traveling, I will be with you until the end."

Yukinoshita Haruno's expression was extremely soft for a moment, and then she lowered her head slightly to suppress her emotions. Then, when she looked up again, she smiled like a bouquet of flowers and gently extended her hand to him.

"Then... take me and elope."

"Ah."

Qingye held her hand tightly, his eyes gentle, like a big lake filled with sunshine.

—This must be a night that only comes once in a lifetime.

For the first time in her life, she quarreled with her family, revealing her ugly jealous side. Then she ran away from home, hid in the place closest to God, and ran away with the boy she liked as if eloping, embarking on a journey aimlessly.

She wanted to be serious, careful, and gentle, and remember this moment.

As the two stepped into the snow, Yukinoshita Haruno looked back for the last time. The Virgin Mary's eyes gleamed in the darkness, as if blessing this absurd elopement.

The moonlight illuminated the snow as if it were daytime, and their footprints meandered into the distance.

?

ps: Anemia.

113. Journey, Kiss [5K2]

The people you want to see are hidden in your heart, and the places you want to go are also hidden in your heart.

After all, the world is full of troubles, and the lonely city thousands of miles away is hard to forget and visit.

Yukinoshita Haruno has always been suppressing herself. Even if you asked her about her destination, she would just tentatively say that she wanted to see the snow. So they decided to go to Hokkaido, just like a runaway female knight who said she wanted to see the snow in the northern border, while the silent swordsman had already quietly packed his bags and led his horse.

As for why Hokkaido?

She wasn't sure in her heart, maybe it was because she could see beautiful and dreamy snow scenery there, maybe it was remote and far away enough that the shadow of her family could no longer reach it, maybe it was the filming location of "Love Letter"... She just went there when she thought of it. Anyway, there was a fool by her side who would accompany her, no matter why or when she would return.

They first took the tram to Tokyo, then bought a camera and embarked on a journey to Hokkaido. This northernmost region was extremely far away from them. Most people would choose the Shinkansen and airplanes, but Yukinoshita Haruno bought a ticket for an old train, which took a full twelve hours, because this slow train had rare beautiful scenery along the way.

There were many college students and young couples in the car, their faces pressed close to each other, or two of them covered with a large blanket.

Although Yukinoshita Haruno was determined not to hide it anymore, she was not as excited as imagined. She seemed very quiet most of the time, staring out the window in a daze. There was calmness and change flowing in her eyes, as if they would disappear at the touch of a finger. When Kiyono looked over, she would smile and take care of him like a sister.

The train leaves Tokyo.

Yukinoshita Haruno leaned her head on his shoulder, the scent of lavender made her feel itchy. Outside the window, the white snow covered the mountains and paddy fields, and then switched from the snowfield to the sea. Do they now look like a couple on a long journey?

With clang, clang, the train carried the two people away into the distance.

*

The first feeling of Hokkaido was the coldness. They rented a car and wandered around the surrounding area.

In fact, Qingye has never been to such a far place. In the past, his material conditions were not rich enough to support his travel. After he became rich, he was busy with various things. When he had time, he just wanted to play games.

Yukinoshita Haruno hasn't been to many places, and most of her life has been spent in Chiba.

After arriving in this snowy kingdom, Yukinoshita Haruno's mood seemed to be much higher. She got out of the car in front of the vast snowfield, then wrapped a scarf around the car window, tied on matching earmuffs, and her two plush balls swayed cutely.

Kiyono got out of the car. All he could see was white, and the sky was low. They stood on the boundless snowfield and exclaimed like country bumpkins, "So white!" There was no sign of human habitation nearby, only rows of birch trees covered in frost.

The wind blew the snowflakes and made a whistling sound. It was the most primitive ballad. Yukinoshita Haruno was in front of Kiyono, spinning around and smiling at him, like a dancing shrine maiden in a shrine.

She would also use her gloves to scoop up a bunch of snow and scatter it high up, or pull the branches to shake off the accumulated snow. Her fair face turned slightly red due to the cold, but her smile was extremely bright.

Stopping and walking along the way, she no longer touched up her makeup in front of the mirror, nor paid attention to her image. In Hokkaido, one can encounter many wild animals, such as deer, foxes, and squirrels. She heard that there are monkeys bathing in the hot springs. When she sees a deer, she will happily chase it, and when she sees a fox, she will carefully take pictures, and she will also tell him seriously to be careful of brown bears.

The water rushed down from the mountains, the color of the water was a deep sky blue. Yukinoshita Haruno said seriously on the bridge that if someone was thrown down from here, no one would be discovered. Kiyono said that this is not a suspense film set.

The air here is filled with a clean and natural scent, but nature also means backwardness. It gets dark before four in the afternoon. There are no pedestrians on the streets, scattered houses, few convenience stores and grocery stores, the heavy sound of passing trams, the cold and deserted atmosphere, and the falling snow adds to the loneliness.

They returned to the B&B. The cabin stood quietly in the forest, the fire crackled, and outside the window was the snow scene that engulfed the earth. Yukinoshita Haruno sat in front of the window, playing a song of love that had never been seen on the guitar, and looked at the boy through the reflection of the glass.

However, she felt that the song was not very good, so she started to compose her own original piece halfway through.

"How do you like the love I conveyed?"

"Good to hear."

"Stop reading all the time." She paused, her voice dissatisfied. "Look at me too."

This sentence reminded Qingye of an old friend, and he felt a little guilty.

The nights in Hokkaido are very long, and the words of the two are like fireworks blooming quietly in the night.

*

The next day, they went to Otaru, a well-known tourist town, but to be honest, they didn't feel much difference, because there was snow everywhere and Otaru was more ancient and quiet.

They took the bus aimlessly in the city, enjoying the scenery, and went to see the abandoned railway from 1880 to 1985. The vermilion torii gate of Tenguyama Shrine was covered with thick snow. Kiyono took off his scarf because he felt hot while climbing the mountain. The moment Yukinoshita Haruno rang the marriage bell, a strong mountain wind wrapped in snow particles brushed across her hair, blowing the scarf in his hand forward. The boy wanted to chase her, but Haruno just took off her scarf and gave him half.

The two people wearing the same scarf took the cable car to the highest point of the town.

Yukinoshita Haruno swung her feet, a smile on her lips, looking at the pale mountains in the distance, her eyes filled with longing and expectation.

"Next summer, should we go to Onomichi together? Many movies are based there. They say if you take a cable car to the top, you can see trains passing by the sea, the coal-burning roofs of the town lined up like lanterns, the red pagoda of Senkoji Temple, and red sailboats anchored on the other side of the emerald green strait."

It was also good now. Below her feet were small towns scattered along the winding coastline, covered in snow, but she unconsciously began to greedily yearn for the colors of summer.

"It seems that the treatment for the eldest lady's heartache is very effective. She has even thought about next year?" Qingye teased.

——To be precise, next year in another world?

Yukinoshita Haruno narrowed her eyes and smiled, but didn't tell him this.

The cable car ended, and as if guided by fate, the two walked on the snow and came to an open snowfield. Qingye stopped and pointed to the undulating outline of the mountains at the end of the snowfield.

"Does this place look familiar?"

"Um, the one with the love letter?"

Yukinoshita Haruno also remembered it. It was a scene at the end of the film. The heroine Watanabe Hiroko was shouting in the vast snowfield. The voice of loneliness, emotion and memories echoed in the mountains. The mountain she was facing was the "Akagamine" in front of them.

Qingye became interested and tilted his head to look at her: "Since we're already here, why don't you try shouting a few times?"

"What are you going to shout?"

"For example - I really want to become a human - or something like that?" Qingye said seriously.

Yukinoshita Haruno burst out laughing: "I didn't expect that Qingye still has a girlish heart? Or the kind with sparkling eyes? I think you are very suitable to be the eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family!"

"The correct line here should be—" She took a deep breath, "Kiyono is an idiot—!"

The sound blew the snow away into the distance.

It was late at night when they left this snowy country. Yukinoshita Haruno stretched out a finger and wrote "Goodbye Hokkaido" on the foggy window of the tram. Then she closed her eyes, praying that in the other world she could still laugh with the boy on the snowy field.

*

Then they returned to Tokyo.

Unlike the cold and quiet beauty of the countryside, in Tokyo, the night sky of Shinjuku is always illuminated by neon lights, Ginza is colorful, and Shibuya is bustling and gorgeous. Even if the long railway is covered with falling snow, the train will tear through the snow at lightning speed.

The city was filled with never-ending noise and brilliance, so Kiyono and Yukinoshita Haruno also blended in.

They would explore delicious shops hidden in the streets and alleys, and secretly went to the University of Tokyo. The two of them sat on a bench and imagined the future that would arrive in a few months. They always had an ambiguous distance. When Kiyono was in junior high school, she was in high school. When Kiyono was in high school, she was in college. They finally became college students, but she was in Chiba and could only come to Tokyo when she was free. They would cherish the short time they were together, sitting together like this, discussing which class to take.

Yukinoshita Haruno took him to a second-hand bookstore, looking for the traces left by the literary giant. When they walked out of the bookstore, they happened to meet an art student from the university who wanted to draw a picture for them. She happily agreed and hugged the boy's arm. Afterwards, she took the painting and praised it. Afterwards, when the art student disappeared, Kiyono hummed and said, "I can draw too, and I draw very well." Haruno smiled and touched his head, saying that this is different, and became his model that night.

The two of them would sleep in the hotel's double bed that night. Despite Kiyono's protests, he was ultimately defeated by the older sister. But since they were all adults, it should be... okay, right? Actually, they didn't do anything. After showering, Yukinoshita Haruno simply threw herself on the bed and clasped his hand, as if clutching at proof of her existence in this world.

Yukinoshita Haruno also began to try dressing herself in different styles. She would choose boyish clothes or softer girlish styles.

In the evening, Qingye took her to the beach on his bicycle. They sat side by side on the breakwater, with their legs dangling in the air, watching the huge sunset slowly fall on the sea level, the sparkling sea water slowly rippling, the sound of the tide, and the winter light always gave people a warm feeling.

This is truly a wonderful journey. I left everything else in the world behind and went to the farthest and coldest north with the people around me, and then returned to the bustling city. It was caught in the cracks between fairy tales and reality, like a trip and also like elopement.

Qingye tilted his head to look at Yukinoshita Haruno. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on her face, casting a layer of warm halo on it.

They had to be mature adults before, and perhaps they will have to be in the future too—

But in this small dreamland, he hopes that Yukinoshita Haruno can find her young and naive self.

*

At the end of the story, they went to the hot springs.

Fires were lit in the stone lanterns beside the hot spring pool, which swayed gently in the evening breeze, dyeing the pool of hot springs into flowing amber, and the moonlight gave the distant mountains a silver edge.

There is a brilliant starry sky above your head, and you face the dark green mountain scenery. The entire hot spring pool at your feet is surrounded by rocks, forming an irregular circle with an elegant shape.

Qingye sat alone in the middle of the hot spring, the water reaching his collarbone.

He thought of Yukinoshita Haruno. She was right next door, probably soaking in the pool like him. As a normal boy, he couldn't help but imagine the beauty of the young lady bathing. Her black hair would be wet and stick to her porcelain-white neck, and the steaming heat would make her milky skin slightly red...

I guess what happens next is that the two of them will confide in each other through a thin wall, right?

But he suddenly heard a rustling sound. Someone opened the paper door to the courtyard and then quietly closed it.

Wait...wait! Even if mixed bathing is allowed here, this woman probably wouldn't...

Before he could stop him, he heard the sound of a towel sliding down and the faint sound of water behind him. The man blatantly jumped into the pool, walked towards him, and finally stopped in front of him.

A warm feeling came from my back, which was ten or a hundred times better than warm water.

They were back to back in the middle of the pool.

Qingye felt the water temperature suddenly become boiling hot.

Yukinoshita Haruno's voice sounded happier than usual:

"Kiyono-kun, don't you think it's romantic to soak in a hot spring at the end of your journey?"

"Don't use this excuse to cover up your crime of trespassing into the men's bath."

But, in the end... using this excuse was really too cunning, and even he became sentimental.

Others grow up and become more mature during such a journey, but they are the only ones who have changed from adults into carefree children. After today, they will put their fairy tales into the closet and take out serious suits.

Yukinoshita Haruno looked at the stars in the sky, as if counting the memories of the past few days.

"Thank you, this trip was really enjoyable."

"That's good."

"But it's because you're here with me."

"I see."

"Qingye."

"I am here."

"I just wanted to call your name."

"No matter how many times you call me, I will answer you."