Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

I retrieved my last supply today and also started my recovery workout. It's been too long since I've been active, and I need to be in top shape for that day.

[Year 30, Day 15 Weather unknown]

Someone knocked on my door.

Beyond the Tale: Stars and Us: Chapter 826 New Roommate

Someone knocked on my door...

Xiangzi wrote this line in his diary and then slammed it shut.

"Phew! That's it for today."

She lay down on the bed, looked at the ceiling, and slowly closed her eyes.

"There are still... 350 days left."

“Yeah, there are still 350 days left.” Another voice chimed in, “By the way, why did you write such a nonsensical sentence at the end?”

"Didn't you knock on my door?" Xiangzi turned his head to look at the white fur ball that had given its opinion. "I didn't even ask you why you were here."

“I didn’t expect you not to ask. I spent a whole day thinking about how to explain.” Del lay on the ground, holding the novel that Xiangzi had written when he was bored. “Hey, how come Mu has multiple personalities? What did you write? Adapted from your own experience? Shouldn’t the one who’s sick be you?”

Xiangzi's expression suddenly turned as black as ink.

"If you don't want to read it, then don't." She rolled over in bed and snatched the notebook from Del's hand. "What I write is none of your business."

"If you ask me, you're not suited to writing stories."

"Then explain to me why you're here?" Xiangzi said irritably, hands on his hips. "You being on the other side means you've been here for twenty-nine years, just like me, right? If that's the case, why didn't you show up for the first twenty-nine years? And why show up now? What's your purpose in showing up now?"

She frowned as she looked at the fluffy white ball in front of her.

"You know I've never really trusted you."

"Uh... I take back what I just said, okay?" Del covered his head and huddled in the corner. "I didn't want to say it."

“There are only the two of us here now. If you don’t want to talk, I have a million ways to make you talk.” Xiangzi said, pulling a feather out of nowhere. “Like tying you to a chair and tickling your ticklish spot.”

"This is torture, okay?! I'll talk, I'll talk, okay?!" Del shouted. "I was put into hibernation for 29 years, and when I woke up I thought it would be easy to endure a year, but I couldn't take it after ten days and came to find you. Is it wrong for me to just talk to someone?!"

"How can it be in hibernation? What about all the twenty-nine years I've spent living in seclusion?"

"That...that's because I...used magic...modified myself to have the ability to hibernate...I only need to get up once a year to replenish some Grief Cubes."

"So that means I can't use it."

".......Um."

"Fine," Xiangzi said, hands on his hips. "I accept this explanation."

"Phew." Del breathed a sigh of relief.

"But then again, why do you also want to come to the other side?"

"Actually, you've always wanted to ask this question, haven't you?"

"Isn't that natural?"

"Well, can we not ask that for now?" Del scratched his head. "Anyway, I'm here to help you."

"No way," Xiangzi said firmly.

"Well."

“That’s how credit overdrafts work,” Xiangzi shrugged. “Even if you’ve made a lot of contributions, you haven’t gotten it back from me yet.”

“Okay…” Del lowered his head, “but I still don’t want to say.”

She pouted.

"I don't want anyone to know the reason."

"Even just to tickle?" Xiangzi shook the feather in his hand.

“Even if it’s just a tickle,” Del said firmly. “It’s my own business. If I hadn’t really been unable to stand the loneliness, you would never have known that I came back with you.”

She clasped her hands together and spoke in a pleading tone.

"Please, let me keep a little secret of my own. My stance is the same as yours, absolutely, absolutely—I would never harm you."

She had made up her mind. Xiangzi had things that only Xiangzi could do, and she had things that she could do on her own.

"......"

Xiangzi squinted, staring at Del's ruby-like eyes.

Del swallowed hard, holding his breath and straining to keep his eyes on the ground.

The two remained facing each other for a full minute, a full minute during which neither of them moved, not even breathing.

Finally, Xiangzi breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the wall.

"Do whatever you want, just don't bother me," Xiangzi said.

"Huff—!" Del flopped to the ground, gasping for air. "I'm about to suffocate!"

"Alright, then go back to wherever you want to have fun." Xiangzi waved his hand, preparing to shoo him away.

There's only one single bed here.

To everyone's surprise, Del rolled on the ground a few times before getting up and looking at Xiangzi with teary eyes.

"I don't want to leave."

"How can that be? Do you want to sleep in the same bed with me?"

“I can sleep on the floor.”

"......"

"It can also be used for cleaning."

"......"

"Leave all three meals a day to me."

"That's right."

And so, in his final year on the other side of the river, Xiangzi gained a new roommate.

===========================

[Year 30, Day 20: Sunny]

Delete settled in and made a ruckus like a child every day.

In my final year, I still have to spend time with such a childish guy.

Actually, it's pretty good.

I haven't heard anyone else's voice for a very long time, so even if it's her... I can accept it easily.

What exactly is she doing, and what is she thinking?

Should we trust her this once?

[Year 30, Day 100 Weather unknown]

I'm starting to find it a bit noisy.

But never mind, I'll just have to bear with it, it'll pass eventually.

[Year 30, Day 155, Weather: Rain]

The rain flowing against the current is always breathtaking, no matter how many times you see it.

The deadline is fast approaching; there are only a little over six months left. Delete has also started to feel anxious lately and often has trouble sleeping at night.

I saw that she looked very uncomfortable, so I told her not to sleep on the floor.

Although it's a single bed, we're both quite small, so fitting two people in isn't a big problem.

In addition, she is quite comfortable to hug, like a plush pillow.

[Year 30, Day 230 Weather unknown]

I'm getting more and more anxious.

Now even I can't sleep. The two of us often stare at each other all night until the next morning.

Will I succeed?

Can I... save Chu Hua?

When should I use the small round shield that Flame left me?

[Year 30 Day 365 Weather - Snow]

The blizzard that swept into the sky filled the entire field of vision.

We finally... went back to that day.

Chu Hua, the day she left me.

The Tale Beyond: Stars and Us - Chapter 827: Back to the Past

As he left the shelter, Xiangzi took one last look back at the cramped apartment where he had lived for thirty years.

Every day she spent there felt incredibly long, but when it was time to leave, she looked back and realized how much time had actually passed.

It really flew by.

Xiangzi closed the iron gate reluctantly and locked it with a lock.

From this side's perspective, at this very moment, someone walking backwards opened this forever-locked door; for her, it meant saying goodbye forever to the place where she had lived for thirty years.

"Let's go." Xiangzi patted Del on the shoulder.

Del nodded and turned to follow behind her.

Snowflakes flew from the ground into the sky. The blizzard, with temperatures of minus thirty or forty degrees Celsius, felt like a sauna to them. The snowflakes touching their skin even had a burning sensation, like touching boiling water.

This is a characteristic unique to the other side of the river, and Xiangzi has become accustomed to it.

But soon, in just a little while, she will be saying goodbye to this world that defies common sense.

The magically recreated vehicle carried her and Del into Helheim. Relying on her memory, Xiangzi drove towards the center of the barrier. The car made several awkward turns, avoiding areas with many magical beasts, and finally stopped in front of a hotel.

She still remembers the hotel.

She stopped here to rest when she heard an explosion upstairs. When she went upstairs, she found a revolving door that had been blown up.

"This is it." Xiangzi got out of the car and restored it to its magical state.

Leading Del up from the back to the third floor, they arrived at the ruins of the destroyed revolving door. Thirty years ago, the person they were looking for should have been in the lobby, so to avoid running into them, this was the only way.

"That's what we saw back then," Xiangzi said. "We'll go back through this revolving door later."

"Hmm." Del crossed his arms and shook his head. "No, you go ahead."

"Why?" Xiangzi turned his head to the side.

By then, she had already seen someone climbing in backwards through the window. They were bundled up, but it was quite obvious that it was her.

Indeed, there is no Del.

Did she not return to this shore?

As Xiangzi was pondering, the fragments on the ground began to tremble noticeably. Xiangzi quickly pulled Del to a safe place, watching helplessly as the fragments flew up and reassembled into a complete revolving door.

This machine was made by Del, so although it has the same double revolving door structure, its appearance is actually very different from the record player-like shape of the passage on the other side.

The self on this side took a lump of clay-like substance from the door and looked over here.

“Someone has to clean up this mess.” Del shook off Xiangzi’s hand. “Didn’t you ever think about why this thing ended up here in the first place?”

She stood with her hands on her hips and tilted her nose up.

“Of course, I put the machine bag here because I carry it with me.” She took out a small black cube and waved it in front of Xiangzi. “Compared to the one in the laboratory, this one is more advanced. It has a portion of super-causal power stored in it and can be placed in other places.”

She patted Xiangzi on the shoulder and gestured to the figure of him walking backwards into the revolving door.

"So you go first," she said. "I'll turn back a little later than you, but I'll arrive earlier than you, don't worry."