The internet is full of lengthy posts.
But for someone to stand in front of another person and start "reciting their essay"that's rare.
The nonsensical rambling from Yukima Azuma succeeded in stopping Kurokawa Akane's steps.
She turned back and reached out to grab Yukima Azuma's hand.
"Don't think like that."
Holding Yukima Azuma's hand, Kurokawa Akane, after a brief moment of thought, asked:
"Where's your house? I'll take you home."
This was the best solution she could come up with at the moment.
Yukima Azuma nodded, walking in a certain direction.
Kurokawa Akane, wearing only small white socks now stained with mud, slowly followed Yukima Azuma, stepping into puddles.
After they walked a short distance, Kurokawa Akane's grip loosened.
Perhaps she thought of the boundary between men and women, or maybe she simply didn't want to have physical contact with anyone in her current state.
But for whatever reason, it didn't matter.
Because Yukima Azuma knew exactly what his current plan was.
"The wind is strong today. One moment of dizziness, and I might just get blown into traffic."
Kurokawa Akane glanced at the road where a few cars sped by.
She tightened her grip on Yukima Azuma's hand, holding it firmly.
More than that, she pulled Yukima Azuma to the innermost side of the sidewalk.
She herself used her slim body to shield the outer side.
Yukima Azuma tilted his head to look at her and saw a blank expression on Kurokawa Akane's delicate face.
But through that expression, Yukima Azuma could see the girl's inner self:
Broken and fragile.
The heavy rain had long soaked her hair.
Strands of her black hair clung to her face, but it didn't make her look messy.
On the contrary, it gave her a fragile beauty, as though she might shatter at any moment.
It was breathtaking, and yet impossible to look away.
Under Yukima Azuma's guidance, the two of them arrived at a high-end rental house.
Yukima Azuma searched through his chat with the landlord, found the door code, entered it, and unlocked the house.
Stepping inside slowly, the rainwater on their bodies made the entryway wet, and the mud on their shoes dirtied the floor.
After bringing Yukima Azuma into what seemed like a safe house,
Kurokawa Akane turned to leave.
This time, Yukima Azuma didn't stop her.
He simply walked toward the kitchen.
So, before Kurokawa Akane could close the front door of the house,
She heard the sound of a knife being sharpened, the "scrape-scrape" echoing from inside.
Immediately after, Kurokawa Akane rushed in, snatched the kitchen knife from Yukima Azuma's hand,
And shoved him out of the kitchen.
Seeing Kurokawa Akane's actions,
Yukima Azuma wore a puzzled expression.
"Why did you take my stuff?"
"Because it's dangerous."
"There are plenty of dangerous things in this world, and what right do you have to do that?"
"I saved you, so I'm responsible for you. Those were your own words."
"Sounds like you're acting as my guardian."
"Exactly. From now on, I am your guardian, so you must listen to me."
Hearing this, Yukima Azuma was a little surprised.
He didn't expect the girl in front of him to go this far.
If that's the case, when the other person reaches out a hand, there's no reason not to take it.
"Just saying it doesn't count." Yukima Azuma pointed to his mouth. "I'm hungry. Oh, my guardian, please feed me."
Without hesitation, Kurokawa Akane turned and walked into the kitchen.
Watching the raindrops still dripping from her soaked figure,
Yukima Azuma casually remarked:
"Rainwater is really dirty, you know. I've heard that if you ingest it, you might get sick and die."
With that, Kurokawa Akane turned around and headed toward the bathroom.
Shortly after, the sound of rushing water filled the house.
Yukima Azuma went to the closet, took out a pre-prepared towel and an oversized white T-shirt.
He opened the bathroom door slightly and placed the items on the sink.
The bathroom had a divider; the sink and shower area were separated by a frosted glass wall.
Though it was frosted, the faint silhouette of the girl inside was still visible.
Such a setup could easily seem ambiguous, making one's heart race.
Yet inside the bathroom, there was no sign of panic.
The sound of running water continued uninterrupted.
After placing the clothes, Yukima Azuma left the bathroom.
Before long, Kurokawa Akane emerged wearing the oversized white T-shirt.
Her black hair appeared to have been thoroughly dried with the towel,
Perhaps to avoid water dripping into the food while cooking.
At this moment, Kurokawa Akane seemed to have shed three parts of her fragility, gaining a faint vitality.
She headed into the kitchen.
Shortly after, the sound of chopping vegetables came from within.
This allowed Yukima Azuma to head into the bathroom to take a shower.
At this point,
Even if Yukima Azuma left Kurokawa Akane alone in a kitchen full of sharp knives, he felt no concern.
...
When he finished showering and stepped out,
A warm meal was already set on the table.
It appeared to be fried pork cutlet with rice and miso soup.
Yukima Azuma sat down at the table.
Kurokawa Akane picked up a spoon, scooped a bite of the pork cutlet rice,
Gently blew on it to cool it down,
And then brought the spoon to Yukima Azuma's mouth.
Faced with this "being fed like this" situation,
Yukima Azuma didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Though they were now playing the roles of "guardian and troubled child,"
Wasn't her perception of his age a bit too low?
However fine.
Playing along wasn't a big deal.
Yukima Azuma opened his mouth and ate the food from the spoon.
Watching the girl focused on feeding him,
Yukima Azuma felt quite satisfied.
Such is human nature.
Since ancient times, humans have had two common tendencies:
Forcing good people to turn bad, or persuading bad people to turn good.
Corrupting virtuous girls or convincing prostitutes to reformboth bring a mix of joy and accomplishment.
And right now, what Yukima Azuma was doing was essentially the same
Tricking a suicidal girl into saving someone else.
Exploiting her compassion and enthusiasm, making her obediently do everything.
This method was undoubtedly effective.
At the very least, at this moment, Kurokawa Akane no longer had time to dwell on negative thoughts.
Her mind was entirely focused on the boy in front of her.
Thinking only about how to keep him away from death.
.....
The food on the tableYukima Azuma ate about half of it.
"I'm full. I'll leave the rest to you, my guardian."
Kurokawa Akane was momentarily stunned.
Then, she withdrew the spoon, thought for a moment, and put it in her own mouth.
The last time Kurokawa Akane ate was at noon yesterday.
When hunger passes a certain threshold, the body enters a self-protection state, suppressing the sensation to its minimum level.
This mechanism helps the human body maintain focus and improve hunting efficiency.
But in modern times, repeatedly triggering this mechanism can cause numerous problems.
For instance, stomach-related illnesses or psychological anorexia.
Fortunately, Kurokawa Akane hadn't reached that point yet.
She spooned the food into her mouth, bite by bite, though it was unclear if she could actually taste anything.
At the very least, however, the amount she consumed was enough to sustain her body's functions.
After a period of quiet eating,
Yukima Azuma made a call, requesting someone to deliver his laptop.
He sat at the desk, opened the laptop, and connected the keyboard.
Kurokawa Akane's gaze briefly brushed over the screen emitting a soft white glow.
Deep within her eyes, emotions such as fear, guilt, and anguish surfaced.
Luckily, Yukima Azuma didn't open any websites.
He simply pulled up a document.
For now, he had temporarily stabilized Kurokawa Akane's crumbling emotional state.
Next, he just needed to address the root cause of that breakdown.
Compared to consoling her, this task felt much simpler to Yukima Azuma.
Shifting online public opinion
For him, this was no different than having a meal.
The number of people who knew about Kurokawa Akane's scandal and left malicious comments was less than a tenth of those who stayed silent.
All Yukima Azuma needed to do was get the remaining ninety percent to speak up.
Or bring in a few hundred uninvolved individuals from elsewhere to join the discussion.
Once that happened, the original instigators of the malicious comments would immediately fall silent, delete their initial posts,
And might even reverse their stance and begin showing support.
'Hmm, what title should I use?
Given the current circumstances, there's no need for anything overly complicated.
Let's just keep it straightforward.'
"The Youth of A Lonely Boy Won't Dream of a Bunny Girl Senpai."
Yukima Azuma typed out this title and nodded with satisfaction.
Yep, that'll do.
However, he needed a way to ensure Kujou Megumi wouldn't appear.
After all, Megumi's aura as a main heroine was too strong, potentially distracting readers.
Ah, let's set it in the timeline before the first episode.
This way, he can even add a childhood friend backstory to enhance empathy.
After finalizing the initial setup,
Yukima Azuma turned to glance at Kurokawa Akane.
At that moment, the girl was sitting on a chair, knees drawn up, feet resting on the chair's edge, her whole body curled into a ball.
She seemed lost in thought, her expression blank and unreadable.
"Guardian," Yukima Azuma called.
Kurokawa Akane snapped out of her daze, her eyes meeting Yukima Azuma's.
He rotated his neck a few times, feigning discomfort as he said:
"My shoulders they feel so stiff."
Hearing this, the girl lowered her pale, bare feet from the chair onto the wooden floor.
She walked a few steps to stand behind Yukima Azuma.
Her slender hands rested on his neck and shoulders, starting to knead with just the right amount of pressure.
Even though Yukima Azuma's neck and shoulders didn't feel stiff at all, at that moment, he closed his eyes, pretending to enjoy the sensation greatly.
Keikaku intensifies!
Chapter 121: Yukima Azuma: Guardian, it's late, come sleep.
Fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard.
Typically, whether writing a light novel or a short or long novel,
after completing the initial setup,
the next step is to establish an outline of the plot.
Some authors, however, skip this outlining step and dive straight into writing the opening.
They joke that the outline exists in their minds,
writing intuitively and letting the story develop as they follow the flow.
However, Yukima Azuma's approach this time was exceptionally peculiar.
For this volume, Yukima Azuma started writing from the ending.
This light novel, was born with the purpose of changing someone's ending.
For this purpose, the ending of the light novel was predetermined.
It would undoubtedly conclude with the scene of a girl falling from an overpass.
In the story, the boy would do everything in his power to reach out and save her.
But whether or not he could save the girl, that was not for Yukima Azuma to decide.
After finishing the ending, Yukima Azuma stretched.
As he stretched, his arm brushed against the girl's hand.
Only then did Yukima Azuma remember
that someone was still beside him.
Turning his head,
he saw Kurokawa Akane quietly standing behind his chair.
Glancing at the bottom right corner of the screen where the time was displayed,
Yukima Azuma realized Kurokawa Akane had been standing there, behind him, for three hours straight.
The occasional light taps on his shoulder,
he had overlooked due to his intense focus.
But Kurokawa Akane hadn't moved a single step.
When Yukima Azuma stood up from his chair,
the girl's arm dropped weakly to her side,
clearly too fatigued to endure any longer.
For a moment, Yukima Azuma was at a loss for words.
Though he had done this to give Kurokawa Akane something to do,
to stop the chaotic thoughts threatening to break her down,
the scene before him left him with mixed emotions.
Looking at Kurokawa Akane's numb expression,
Yukima Azuma said nothing.
Some words are better left unsaid until the girl before him is in a better state.
Of course, that is if both he and she still remember this moment by then.
...
Yukima Azuma walked toward the bed in the room.
It was a large double bed,
with pristine white sheets, spotless and wrinkle-free.
Sitting down, Yukima Azuma caused a small depression in the mattress.
"Guardian, it's late, come sleep with me," he said.
Kurokawa Akane looked at the boy.
Faced with his almost teasing invitation,
she simply thought for a moment before responding:
"I'll stay here with you. I won't leave until you fall asleep."
She merely assumed Yukima Azuma was like a child who couldn't sleep alone without someone nearby.
Yukima Azuma didn't deny this assumption.
He simply tilted his head slightly.
"Just sitting by my side, huh? Guardian, could you give me a hug?"
"On every cold, sleepless night, I always long for a warm embrace."
"Humans, if they don't sleep, can apparently last up to eleven days..."
Before Yukima Azuma could finish his sentence,
before he could say words like "and then die,"
Kurokawa Akane had already moved closer.
She lifted her fatigued arms and wrapped them around Yukima Azuma's neck.
The two fell together onto the soft, white bed.
The bed, originally pure white like snow, now bore wrinkles spreading from their center to the edges.
The girl's soft body fell into his arms.
Yukima Azuma slightly moved his nose.
There was still a faint smell of blood that couldn't be dispelled.
But Yukima Azuma didn't want to turn off the strange "perception state" he had maintained.
He had grown used to holding onto this subtle feeling.
So, to avoid feeling disadvantaged,
Yukima Azuma placed his chin on the girl's neck.
Her smooth, black hair draped in front of him.
The gentle scent of shampoo wafted up.
The faint smell of blood was instantly replaced.
Without turning off the lights, the two prepared to drift into sleep like this.
