CH 24.1

“Not fair?"

"Yes, it's not fair."

In front of me, Spica's face is bright red, her lips are slightly pouting, her eyes are moist with strong emotion, but she still won't let go of my fingers.

"You don't understand, Sun-kun. You gave me a place to stay, and you respect me, and..."

She takes her hand away from my fingers at once and squeezes my hand tightly with her small hand.

She looks straight into my eyes. and my face gets all hot without my conscience.

“You never asked me anything in return.”

...You tell me that it's okay to be the way I am, and you may not know how much that has helped me. And then you go on to tell me that I'm a good person and that I should be proud of myself, and that I shouldn't worry about it."

-A strong wind blew.

Spica's hair flutters beautifully in the moonlight. I stare blankly at the scene as if I’m under a spell.

"You... really ...a sly person."

She whispers in a small voice. When I heard it, my thoughts finally restarted. ...Um, uh, Ah… let's see. Crap, how should I respond? 

"No, that's..."

"Mmm."

.

.

.

"You're welcome…”

Saying that I place my left hand on top of Spica's hand that was placed on top of mine earlier.

Spica's face broke out into a smile

...We stare at each other for a few beats.

After a few moments, we both let go of each other's hands as if we were repelled and kept the distance between us. My face is bright red. I tried to fan my face with my hand, but it didn't seem to cool down at all.

I glance to the side. Then.

I see Spica looking at me with a smug smile on her face, as if to say, "You can't help it.

This is bad. This is very bad. I'm so embarrassed. I cover my face with my right hand and soak up the night air, which feels much colder than before.

In order to swallow the embarrassment that still dominates my body, I pour the liquor into a cup with awkward motion and drink it.