Girl Band, Gravity Capture

Page 6

The crowds around me bustled by, the noise of people, the roar of vehicles, the farewells and greetings—a cacophony of sounds mingled in the narrow street.

As he walked out of the school gate, the warm and dazzling afternoon sunlight made the boy squint slightly.

"Yuan-kun—want to go sing karaoke together...?"

"I don't have time, sorry."

Without any hesitation, he politely but firmly rejected the classmate who tried to chat him up during the break. She bowed to him, said "Excuse me," and then turned and jogged back to her companion.

Seeing this scene and recognizing the main character of the incident, the onlookers who were initially curious all turned their attention away without any surprise.

"Someone else is trying to challenge Yuan Xudou... It's impossible for him to succeed no matter how you look at it."

"After all, she's first in the grade, so it's normal that her time is more precious than ours. If she really succeeds, the school board will probably come knocking on their door and forcibly break them up."

"What a pity... that girl was quite pretty."

"They're not even in the same league. I think Yuan Xudou is much prettier than her."

The group fell silent for a moment, then took a step back in unison, keeping their distance from the boy who had just made the outrageous remark.

"...By the way, I heard that people from other classes saw him taking the tram to school with girls from other schools these past few days."

After a moment of silence, someone dropped a new anecdote.

"Do you think the reason he doesn't have time is because he's off-campus...?"

"It's unimaginable."

"Not too possible."

"Is this reasonable?"

His intelligence was ruthlessly denied, and the person wanted to struggle a little longer.

"But, I heard that the person opposite is the young lady of Tsuki no Mori..."

Even in a place like Dongdu Middle School, where the academic atmosphere is strong, students who are in their adolescence and whose minds are filled with all sorts of fantasies still can't resist the temptation of gossip.

He entered junior high school as a transfer student and his grades steadily improved throughout the year. In the final exam of the third grade, he crushed the top spot in the grade with a deviation score of 76. He did not have any close friends at school, and no one even knew his address or his parents.

This mysterious and powerful Yuan Xu Dou naturally became a topic of discussion among the students.

In particular, his face, which was so striking that it was impossible for a junior high school student to have, and his aloofness that he rarely initiated conversations with others, deepened his mystery and propelled him to the top of the school's elite, making him widely regarded as the most difficult and steepest peak to climb.

Although there are sometimes strange rumors about him, such as that he used to work in a coffee shop, that he was not a good student, or that he has incredible abilities, these rumors, which are mostly conjectures, do not affect his status. On the contrary, because they cannot be verified, they keep emerging, making his image even more mysterious.

Moreover, any rumors about his romantic relationships are eventually proven false. Everyone has become accustomed to this fact, and the underlying logic in conversations is that "Won Seo-do probably doesn't have a concept of romance."

"Even if it were the young lady of the Moon Forest, Niu Ling Liu Temple, I don't think she could move his heart... That's Minamoto no Tou."

Someone summarized it as if he were some kind of advanced being beyond human comprehension, which garnered unanimous nods of approval from the audience.

Yuan Xudou, who was standing less than five meters away and had clearly heard their entire discussion, had no particular feelings about it.

He took out his phone to check the time, then looked up at the sky.

The sky is clear and bright, as pure and blue as a young girl's eyes. It's foreseeable that today will be a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky and gentle breezes. Such a beautiful clear sky is enough to bring a good mood for the whole day.

Three days have passed since my first meeting with Nagasaki Motoyo.

Just as he expected, Nagasaki Motoyo, with whom he had exchanged Line contacts, kept sending him all sorts of messages. At first, she was a little reserved, only sharing some things about school with him during lunch break.

After discovering that he replied quickly and didn't seem annoyed by it, the girl gradually opened up as if she had finally found someone to confide in. She would come to him almost every break between classes. If he was a few minutes slow in replying or didn't read her message immediately, she would ask him worriedly if she was being too clingy...

Yesterday afternoon, Nagasaki Motoyo sent him a video of herself practicing in the brass band. Judging from the angle, it seemed to have been secretly recorded with her phone, hiding it from everyone's sight and risking being discovered, to quietly share her life with him.

In response to this feeling that even he found somewhat heavy, Yuan Xudou did not notify her in advance via Line. After school, he casually strolled around the area, timed it perfectly, and went directly to the entrance of Tsuki no Mori to wait for her to go home together.

At that time, she was saying goodbye to her classmates as she walked out of the school gate.

She glanced up casually and saw the person she had been thinking about all day standing in the doorway, quietly searching for her with those serene, pure black eyes. Once she found her, she gave a slight wave in greeting.

It's hard to describe Nagasaki Motoyo's feelings at that moment. She only remembers that the evening breeze was exceptionally refreshing, and on her way home, every familiar sight seemed to shimmer with a dazzling light. Like lovers in the throes of passion, the happiness that welled up from being with each other bathed everything in sight in a bright hue.

Perhaps... Xu Doujun still only sees her as a friend, and what he does is just normal companionship between friends.

But for Nagasaki Motoyo, who lacked a sense of security and was trapped in an unventable loneliness before Genjiro appeared, this unconditional warmth and understanding was so important that she was unwilling to let go.

Even if it turns out to be just unrequited love in the end... she will never regret entrusting her feelings to him.

Besides——

Xu Doujun doesn't seem to have any close female friends besides her. Those shallow girls failed to see the greater beauty beneath his appearance... Although she felt somewhat despicable for being glad about this, there was no doubt that she was the most qualified and had the most opportunity to have Yuan Xu Doujun all to herself!

Nagasaki Motoyo had already made up her mind to invite Genjiro out for dinner the next day, which was today, so that the two of them could enjoy a sweet time together...

Yuan Xudou opened Line, and messages kept popping up in the top chat box.

Faced with long, numerous text messages that had accumulated to dozens, he seemed to see Nagasaki Motoyo standing in front of him, grasping his hand, her eyes filled with tears as she repeatedly apologized to him.

—Because the performance was about to begin, the brass band gave a last-minute notice that they would have to practice extra these few days, so they wouldn't be able to go home on time. She also couldn't ask Yuan Xudou to wait for her until then to have dinner.

There is nothing we can do about this.

"It's alright, let's talk about it another day."

Seeing the girl's chaotic and disjointed messages, which sounded like she was sobbing, Yuan Xudou sighed and sent a few words of comfort, waiting for her to calm down.

His planned itinerary was disrupted, but he wasn't unhappy about it; he was just wondering what to do next.

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.

In the end, I decided to do what I always do: find a place on the map that I've never been before and go check it out.

Since there was no direct tram service nearby and he wasn't in a hurry, he decided to take a long walk, something he hadn't done in a long time.

A gentle breeze caressed the boy's clothes, and the spring sunshine, not yet too intense, fell on his shoulders, gradually fading from bright to a dusky yellow with each step.

As time passed, the traffic on the street gradually thinned out, and Yuan Xudou was able to escape the throngs of people during rush hour. To avoid this unexpected congestion, he chose to take a slightly longer route, using the seemingly deserted overpass.

"……Um?"

Yuan Xudou, who had climbed onto the overpass, saw a familiar figure.

Wearing the uniform of Haneoka Girls' Academy, with short gray hair and a petite and cute figure, she exudes a delicate and fragile aura like a small animal, making people want to protect her. She is standing on tiptoe, peering out at something from the railing of the overpass.

"Is it her? What's she doing here?"

Yuan Xudou's expression became more serious.

"If you're too close to the edge, your center of gravity will shift and you'll fall."

Falling from an overpass is not the same as falling down stairs. The latter might only result in minor scrapes if you're lucky, while the former, even if you're lucky, only ensures that the deceased doesn't look too bad at the funeral.

Even a stranger should lend a helping hand in this situation, let alone someone he knows. Considering that shouting abruptly might startle her and cause her to lose her balance and fall over the railing, he chose to approach silently from behind. Once he was within five meters, Yuan Xudou was confident he could pull her out even if she did fall.

However, he was not the only one to discover this.

Just as Yuan Xudou was about to walk away quietly, he caught a glimpse of a girl in a Moon Forest school uniform staring intently in that direction from the other end of the overpass. Her legs were slightly bent, as if she would dash out at the slightest sign of trouble.

That didn't look like she was about to rescue someone... Could she have thought someone was trying to commit suicide?

This is troublesome.

Source: O3 Wife Scar - Four Wonders. ⑷ Dance Liu Yue. Yi Xu Dou frowned slightly and quickened his pace.

If she rushed over and shoved the person aside without saying a word, it could very likely cause completely unnecessary danger.

If someone were truly about to commit suicide, this potential danger wouldn't matter, but now that he's certain things aren't as the girl thinks, what she's about to do is quite delicate.

Yuan Xudou tried to wave to her, but her attention was completely focused on the girl she thought was about to commit suicide, and she didn't pay any attention to the actions of the passersby.

He could see that the muscles on the girl's smooth, white calves were taut, and her delicate, beautiful face, befitting the name of Miss Tsuki no Mori, was filled with focus.

A gentle breeze suddenly blew by. The girl leaning against the railing opened her eyes wide as she watched the snow-white petals being swept up and fluttering in the air. She leaned half her body out, loosening one hand that was gripping the railing, and instead stretched it straight up to the sky.

“Dame desuwa!”

Seeing this, the tense girl finally couldn't help but rush over.

Then, Yuan Xudou, who had already moved to a safe distance, grabbed her shoulder and forcibly stopped her in place.

She turned her head in disbelief and glared angrily at Yuan Xudou.

"What are you doing—"

"Don't do something bad with good intentions."

Yuan Xudou calmly released his grip, completely ignoring her questioning, and turned to the girl who had been drawn back inside the railing by their commotion, timidly lowering her head, not daring to look at the two of them.

"Takamatsu-san."

Yuan Xudou waved to her.

"Xu...Xu Dou?"

Upon hearing his voice, the girl looked up in surprise. After carefully confirming that she hadn't mistaken him for someone else, she jogged over to him.

Looking at the girl in front of him, who was looking up at him with eyes as moist and fragile as a fledgling bird, revealing a hazy sense of dependence, Yuan Xudou sighed again.

"...Do you want to go and pick those flowers?"

"Um……"

She opened her hand to show Yuan Xudou her recent achievement—a fairly intact white flower lying quietly in her palm.

Without questioning or blaming her for doing such a thing for fallen flowers, Yuan Xudou simply nodded.

"Quite good looking."

"But it's too dangerous. Don't do it again next time. At least find a safer place to launch your moonlit ripples."

"……Um!"

She nodded vigorously.

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Seeing the two chatting happily, the girl, who couldn't get a word in edgewise, felt a little anxious because she felt ignored.

"Did you two know each other before?"

Takamatsu blinked, looking at her blankly.

"This classmate from Moon Forest thought you were going to jump off the bridge and wanted to come and save you."

Yuan Xudou reminded her at the right moment, and Gao Songdeng suddenly realized what was happening. She apologized to her in a low voice with some guilt.

"Sorry……"

"It's okay... I should be the one apologizing, since I misunderstood."

The girl also placed her hands on her waist and bowed slightly politely like a true young lady, returning the greeting to Takamatsu.

"I wish you both good health, I'll take my leave now... um...!"

She was just about to turn and leave when she suddenly stumbled, let out a muffled groan, and fell to the side.

Yuan Xudou reacted quickly, grabbing her arm and preventing yet another incident from happening.

After helping the staggering girl to her feet, he let go of her, and his brows, which had relaxed, furrowed again.

You twisted your ankle.

It must have been caused by the sudden stop when I grabbed her...

"It's my fault. Takamatsu-kun, is there a pharmacy nearby?"

"Don't worry... It's just a minor injury. I just lost my balance. I can go back by myself."

Ignoring the girl's obviously defiant refusal, Yuan Xudou turned to look at Gao Songdeng.

"I...I have medicine at home...it's closer."

Gao Songdeng lowered his head and thought for a while, then raised his head, looked at him firmly, and raised his voice a few decibels.

"Moreover, it wasn't Xu Dou's fault... it was my fault, and I should be responsible for it."

"Wait, I already said it's no trouble..."

"Okay, then you help her up, and I'll clear the way for you."

Yuan Xudou nodded and walked up to the two of them.

Wait, wait a minute—! Why are these two so self-centered?!