Green plums cannot become lovers.

The girl, who usually refuted his jokes, miraculously fell silent after hearing this, looking at him with her lips pursed and saying nothing.

For some reason, looking at the girl's slightly upturned lips, An and Asuka suddenly felt a sense of crisis.

But the sense of crisis quickly disappeared after he realized it, to the point that he thought he was just imagining things.

Wow, what a beautiful bracelet!

Just then, Hoshino Ai's surprised and happy voice came from the side, followed by Shizuka's voice echoing her.

“My necklace is also very pretty.”

Hearing the two girls boasting, Marina couldn't wait to open the gift box the boy had given her.

It is a beautiful hair tie.

Lately, she's been bothered by her plain hair and wants some jewelry to decorate it. This was originally just a small complaint she made to the boy, but unexpectedly, he took it to heart.

Is this the answer the boy gave himself?

"Tie it on!"

"I don't know how."

"Tie it however you like."

"Don't blame me if it looks ugly."

An and Asuka took the hair tie, lifted a strand of the girl's long hair, and tied it into a bow.

"Okay, let's see if you want to watch Zero Liu Six Seven?"

"nice."

"hey-hey."

Marina smiled contentedly, and An and Asuka smiled along with her. Then they looked at the other two girls.

After adorning them with beautiful jewelry and praising them, he returned to his own place.

As soon as he sat down, the girls stood in front of him, each holding a gift.

The gloves, scarf, and socks all looked like they were handmade.

"Bird, Merry Christmas!"

The three girls offered their congratulations in unison.

Volume 1: Chapter 127 A Gift for You

"Run, sled!"

"Like the wind."

"Easy and fast in the snow."

The clear and bright voices of young boys and girls rang out in the Christmas night, while a woman nearby recorded this beautiful moment with her mobile phone, and gifts given to her by the children were placed beside her.

After resting, it was still before eight o'clock, and An and Asuka had to set off again.

He bravely rode his bicycle into the darkness, carrying his guitar, and pedaled towards the hospital.

Next, he was going to deliver a gift to the last girl.

He had previously asked her on his phone what gift she wanted, and the girl replied that she didn't need anything. Later, he asked her again with the magical conch shell, and the answer he received was—she hoped to see him.

Yes, the girl's Christmas wish was so simple; she just wanted to see him.

Normally, he could easily fulfill this wish, but considering the special circumstances and the girl's feelings, it would be somewhat difficult to do so.

But fortunately, there is an opportunity now.

The hospital where the girl works will hold an event on Christmas Day to create a warm Christmas for its patients.

So they invited several folk bands to perform at the hospital, including one of the bands he was supporting.

When they arrived at the hospital, the event had just started, and An and Asuka quickly found their band and waited for them to go on stage.

To avoid disturbing other patients and the surrounding area, the performance was held in a specially designated activity room within the hospital.

If the patient wants to watch, they can simply tune the TV in the ward to a specific channel.

As the performance approached, An and Asuka continued to message the girl, because they were worried that she wouldn't watch TV and would miss his performance, so they kept hinting and suggesting.

An and Asuka: "The municipal hospital is holding an event, and my band was selected to participate."

Kaori Miyazono: "Huh? What event?"

An and Asuka: "It's a performance for the patients. We're in a private interactive room right now. I heard it's being broadcast live the whole time; you can watch it just by turning on the TV. I never imagined technology had advanced to this level."

"..."

Kaori Miyazono looked at the message on her phone, then looked up at the TV in front of her that she had never turned on before. After a brief silence, she immediately picked up the remote control next to her.

After continuous adjustments, she finally found the scene the boy had described.

At this point, the screen is empty except for a bunch of musical instruments, as if it hasn't started yet or has already ended.

The girl waited with a mix of trepidation and excitement, when a familiar figure appeared on the television screen the next second.

It's that boy!

Kaori Miyazono's eyes immediately lit up when she saw the boy standing on the stage with a guitar in his hand.

No, this is too much of a coincidence! She had been hoping to see him at Christmas, and now she actually saw him, and they were so close together.

She was quite familiar with the hospital, so she knew that the activity room where the boy was now was just two floors below her, and it would only take her two minutes to get there.

At that moment, Kaori Miyazono really wanted to get out of bed and run to the activity room to see the boy with her own eyes. She felt much better, and the doctors said she could do some simple exercises and walk around if she was bored.

So she really wants to go there right now.

But the thought of the boy finding out made her suppress her hopes. After all, if she were discovered, she wouldn't know how to explain herself.

They said they'd be at their hometown, but they ended up in the hospital. This is clearly a deception, especially at this time.

The boy came to her house on the first day, and she disappeared on the second day. This already made her feel guilty. If she were to lie again and be discovered, the boy would definitely misunderstand and think that she didn't want to talk to him anymore.

She didn't want that kind of misunderstanding.

Thinking of this, Kaori Miyazono had to suppress her excitement and stare intently at the television.

The boy's performance soon began, and this time, the multi-talented boy was playing guitar and singing! However, she was not surprised by this. During her hospitalization, the boy had told her a lot about what had happened recently.

This included his support for other bands everywhere he went.

But while she had heard about it, this was the first time she had seen it with her own eyes.

He sings so well, and he plays the guitar beautifully too... He's dazzling when he plays the piano, and he's equally dazzling when he plays the guitar.

But if she really had to compare, she still preferred him when he played the piano.

Because in her eyes, the piano and the violin are the closest of relationships, just like a married couple.

The boy was singing a famous folk song. His gentle voice and melodious music made the notes seem like a slowly flowing stream, nourishing her gradually withering life.

At that moment, Kaori Miyazono felt a vitality she had never experienced since being hospitalized, as if all her illnesses had been cured at that moment.

But she knew it was fake, just a hallucination born from her longing for the boy.

She had always hoped that she could continue walking with the boy.

But that was impossible. Although her parents tried their best to hide her illness and kept encouraging her, she actually knew a long time ago that her disease could not be completely cured with current technology.

Even if she recovers this time, it will relapse again and again until it takes her life.

This was her destiny.

She used to often find herself alone in her room late at night, complaining about the unfairness of fate. But now she feels somewhat at peace with it.

Since there's no escaping it, let's face it with equanimity. Death may take her life, but it cannot forcibly change her destiny.

Before death comes, she will enjoy every day to the fullest and will no longer complain or blame others.

Thinking of this, Kaori Miyazono took advantage of the intermission on TV to get out of bed, open the door and run towards the activity room.

She quickly arrived at the door of the interactive room, but did not choose to go in.

She used the small gap in the doorway to secretly observe the situation inside the activity room.

But after looking around twice, she still couldn't see the boy.

Is it over and they're going back? That's so fast!

The girl was somewhat disappointed, but the next second she suddenly heard a voice from behind her.

"Patient, are you looking for someone?"

The familiar voice made Kaori Miyazono stiffen, but she quickly realized what it meant and left the doorway without looking up.

Volume 1: Chapter 128 Discharge from the Hospital!

An and Asuka watched the girl leave without stopping her, only turning their gaze away after she disappeared around the corner.

The girl's reaction was within his expectations. Since she wanted to keep it a secret from him, he couldn't just expose her lie like that.

The girl didn't want her friends to worry, and there was nothing wrong with that.

An and Asuka entered the activity room, while the girl hiding around the corner breathed a sigh of relief.

That was close; we almost got caught.

She cautiously peeked out, looking at the empty doorway of the activity room, feeling a sense of inexplicable disappointment.

The moment she heard the boy's voice, she thought that it might be better if she were discovered, so that she wouldn't have to keep weaving new lies to deceive him.

But in the end, she made a calm decision in a split second.

She still didn't want the boy to discover her condition. She wanted to interact with him as an equal, rather than being cared for by him as a terminally ill patient.

Back in her hospital room, Kaori Miyazono lay back down and watched the television screen. The boy was still standing at the very front of the stage, singing a melodious folk song.

Finally, the event concluded with a blessing song, which brought tears to Kaori Miyazono's eyes as she listened.

Her Christmas wish came true in this way, and she was somewhat happy. But she was also a little disappointed that she couldn't actually meet the boy and could only watch his performance from here.

She wanted to go on stage with the boy.

With anticipation in her heart, Kaori Miyazono turned off the television and looked out the window.

It started snowing outside sometime earlier.

The next morning, An and Asuka received a message from the girl.

"Anhe, I'll be quite busy these next couple of days and may not be able to contact you again."

After sending that message, the girl didn't contact him for several days. However, he wasn't worried because he knew what she was going through.

He silently prayed that the girl's surgery would go smoothly, and at the same time worked even harder to complete his mission.

His performance locations are no longer limited to livehouses, but he will go to other places to perform with some bands, and sometimes he will even perform on the street when he feels like it.

Thanks to his efforts, the mission progressed significantly.

Before they knew it, it was January. Snow covered the world, and the match they had agreed upon with the girl was fast approaching.

More than ten days have passed since Christmas, and the girl still hasn't contacted him. When he went to the hospital, she was no longer in her original ward.

If it weren't for the system's guarantee that nothing unexpected would happen to the girl, he would have thought she had already left this world.

If that's the case, he would be in great pain.

An and Asuka sat in the kotatsu. There was no band that needed support today, and he didn't want to go outside and freeze in the cold, so he stayed home and gave himself a break.

He ate an orange while scrolling through his phone. The three girls were also huddled around the kotatsu, doing their own things and quietly enjoying the warmth.

None of the four spoke, but a subtle warmth permeated every corner of the room.

Just then, the phone notification sounded from the boy's side, and they saw him suddenly crawl out of the kotatsu, having been lazily playing with his phone.

An undisguised look of surprise appeared on his face, and then he went back into his room. When he came out again, he was carrying his guitar and walking towards the door.

"Asuka, are we going out again?" Marina asked.

"Okay." An and Asuka nodded and said to the girls, "I have some things to take care of, so I might be back a little late tonight. Don't wait for me for dinner."

"Ok."