The two of them turned back toward the slope of the river bank.

Jingle bell bell—

"……Mother?"

Shiyu, who suddenly received a call, stopped, gave Yusuke an apologetic look, and started talking on the phone.

"Well, what's going on here at Gakushuin University now?"

So Kato Yusuke also stopped and waited quietly, his eyes involuntarily moving towards the girl's hands.

There are so many thoughts in my heart.

Tick-tick-tick, tick-tock-tock.

The crisp sound of time passing continues to echo in my mind.

His expression also became uncertain for a while, just like the sky shrouded in clouds during the rainy season, full of a secretive and depressing atmosphere.

He wanted to say something to the girl several times, but was repeatedly rejected by him.

It was like there was a pair of angels and demons whispering and arguing in my mind.

One side is saying that you are already an adult after two lifetimes, and you must abide by the basic morals of society; the other side is saying that this is just a task, and it will not hurt anyone, so be a pragmatic and self-interested person.

What's wrong with being an activist?

On the contrary, if you give up this opportunity, it will be equivalent to rejecting 100,000 points, which is equivalent to losing 9 million for no reason. Rounding it off, it is 100 million. Only a fool would do this.

Now that I have encountered such a nasty system, and it seems that it will follow me for a long time, why not just accept it and get used to it as soon as possible?

In the fierce battle between heaven and man, the scales gradually tilted towards a certain side.

Until the satchel Shiyu carried on her shoulder accidentally slipped off her left shoulder, causing the girl to struggle to hold the phone between her cheek and right shoulder, trying to reach out to lift the strap.

Seeing this scene, Kato Yusuke couldn't help but look slightly moved, then stepped forward and said, "I'll get it for you, senior."

"Huh? Well... thank you. No... I was talking to a friend just now, not your mother." Shiyu handed him the satchel while talking on the phone, giving him a look of thanks.

As a result, the person who took the bag was staring at her left hand with a hesitant expression, while the hand she stretched out still stayed in the air, looking extremely tangled.

Seeing such a reaction, Shiyu couldn't help but turn her head slightly in a strange way, and followed Kato Yusuke's gaze to the lower left.

And there was nothing unusual except for her hands.

Shiyu, who thought there was something on his body, raised his left arm and looked again, but still found nothing.

Only the pantyhose I had just changed out of and planned to throw away in the trash can was still in my hand.

Feeling puzzled, Shiyu raised her eyes to look at Yusuke again, only to see that the other party seemed not to be aware of her gaze, and her gaze still stayed on her... hand?

Because she was talking on the phone with her family, it was difficult to speak, so Shiyu waved her hand to attract the other person's attention.

Kato Yusuke slowly shifted his gaze from her hands to her face.

The confused look made her eyes light up slightly, and she secretly thought how cute she was.

"What's up?"

This meaning came from the young man's eyes.

Shiyu couldn't help but feel a little funny about this, but she didn't hate this behavior of being robbed of her lines, she just couldn't help but want to tease someone.

He glanced at Yusuke's hand, which was still looking at him.

With a bit of teasing, the girl deliberately and slowly raised her left hand in front of the other person, and then loosened her slender fingers as white as green one by one.

She pretended to put the piece of underwear in the palm of Kato Yusuke's hand.

Her speed is slow and light.

The long and slightly curled eyelashes jumped up and down playfully with the eyelids, like the green grass growing on the banks of two pools of clear water.

I thought that the other party would either withdraw his hand or push her arm away.

As a result, Kato Yusuke behaved like a lifeless machine, just maintaining his current posture and movements stiffly.

Until the pantyhose, which had absorbed a considerable amount of water, fell from one hand and fell into the other's hand due to the attraction of gravity.

The surrounding air suddenly stopped for a moment, as if a stop button had been pressed.

Shiyu's whole body movements couldn't help but stagnate, his breathing froze for a moment, and he was stunned on the spot.

There was a blank space in my thoughts for about three seconds.

Eh--?

She looked up at the other party in a daze, and even forgot about the call in her ear for a moment.

...didn't...dodge?

Isn’t it? I really accepted it——??

His eyes began to blink rapidly, and his long eyelashes also trembled, like the wings of a butterfly flapping.

"——Hey, Xiao Shi? Are you listening??"

"...Sorry, Mom, I will contact you later."

"Huh……"

beep--

The call is terminated.

A breeze passed between the two of them, carrying the twilight atmosphere of the devil's hour, blowing their hair.

The gurgling river flows briskly, breaking the silent tranquility and allowing time to resume its flow.

"call……"

Shiyu let out a breath and laughed: "If you like that, you can just keep it as a souvenir, Kato-san."

Although she was smiling, there was no smile at all in her eyes. She was just staring at someone for a moment, carefully studying their expression.

A pair of sultry eyes flickered, looking watery.

It is in sharp contrast to the dull-eyed Kato Yusuke.

The wet pantyhose were cold and warm, as if there was still a bit of the body temperature of its owner.

It feels delicate and smooth to the touch, with a somewhat soft friction feel.

Just like fingertips sliding through a girl's hair, it is slender, soft and fragrant.

There is a kind of hazy and charming reverie.

And through the wet touch on his hand, Kato Yusuke finally had some understanding of the girl's unbearable mood just now.

But the other party couldn't even notice it from his expressionless poker face.

Facing Shi Yu's thoughtful and probing expression, he nodded his head inconspicuously, twitching the corners of his mouth and said: "Should you send it to be washed or thrown away? I can help, senior sister..."

"Although that would be nice..."

Shiyu muttered "Hmm..." "But it's up to you to do whatever you want, Kato-san."

Then he added: "Even if you use it, I won't mind... After all, it's a souvenir for you~"

As she said this, she turned her head to the side, raised her hand to pick up her hair that was messed up by the breeze, and tucked it behind her ears modestly.

His expression seemed indifferent and playful, but in fact his heart was pounding like an engine running at full speed.

Keeping looking at the young man beside him with his peripheral vision, Shiyu suddenly felt that today's sunset was particularly pleasing to the eye.

The dusk on the horizon gradually sets, dyeing the slender, gauze-like clouds red. The orange color turns to mandarin color, the mandarin color turns to apricot color, and the apricot color turns to gentian or glass color, creating a painting-like beauty.

Gradient layers, reflected on the sparkling water.

As Osamu Dazai once wrote in the book "The Setting Sun":

——Happiness is like the faintly glowing gold sand deposited at the bottom of the river of sorrow.

At this moment, Shiyu raised the corners of his mouth, as if he had really seen the gold sand at the bottom of the river.

The girl's mood suddenly brightened, and her face gradually became colored with the color of dusk, making her look particularly beautiful.

Kato Yusuke, whose face was full of black lines, tremblingly accepted this special souvenir and uttered a sentence from his throat: "——It won't be used!"

The familiar electronic female voice sounded in my mind again.

"Completed mission: [Senior's Gift (1/1)]."

"Task description: Please accept as a gift a representative piece of senior sister's signature item, a piece of original black silk stockings within ten minutes."

"Task reward: 5,000 points, 10% off intelligence coupon*1."

"Countdown: 00:59."

【Remaining points: 20770.】

Before returning home, someone finally quietly disposed of this souvenir...

…
To be continued...