LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 61 - I got a birthday cake for you
And so.
For the first time since that incident, YouYu and WuYue walked home together.
“……”
But still, there was no conversation between them. Each of them remained silent, just like before.
It felt almost the same as the previous times.
Yet…
When YouYu glanced at WuYue, who was walking beside him, pushing her bicycle, he noticed something.
Her gaze, whenever it met his, seemed hesitant but far less evasive than before.
And… it looked like she had something she wanted to say.
But for now, she just couldn’t bring herself to speak.
“…Looks like I’m going to have to be the one to start the conversation after all.”
Realizing that letting the silence linger wouldn’t lead anywhere, YouYu decided to take the initiative and speak up:
“WuYue? Is there something you’d like to say to me? I can tell you have something on your mind, so don’t hold back. Just say what you want.”
“……”
“Actually… it’s nothing, really.”
Hearing YouYu’s words, WuYue was taken aback for a moment, then replied, a bit awkwardly:
“It’s just… I feel like the times we used to walk home together have become few and far between.”
“Not too long ago, we always went home together, but lately, because of everything going on with us, it’s been hard to find moments like this…”
“……”
After listening to WuYue, YouYu was silent for a while, then he replied:
“You’re right… Lately, we’ve all had our own things going on. It’s hard to go back to how things used to be…”
“But it’s not impossible.”
After saying this, YouYu turned to look at WuYue, speaking sincerely, with genuine regret in his voice:
“I’m sorry, WuYue. I’ve heard about what’s been happening with you… from Bai Yu.”
“…Mm.”
Hearing his words, WuYue’s heart skipped a beat, her expression flustered, but she quickly regained her composure.
Next, YouYu would surely launch into a long lecture, right? It was okay; she had mentally prepared herself for it.
However, what YouYu said next was completely unexpected——
“She told me that because I haven’t been accompanying you enough… you ended up the way you are now.”
“…Huh?”
YouYu continued speaking, seemingly oblivious to the shock on WuYue’s face:
“…I don’t fully understand it myself, but judging by what’s happened recently, it seems to be true.”
“After all, we’ve been so focused on our combat training lately, haven’t we? That leaves you and Bai Yu exhausted after each session.”
“And when we get home… there’s still schoolwork to deal with. It seems like there’s hardly any time left to do the things you want.”
“And I… was so busy with my own work that I failed to notice what you were going through.”
“So…”
After a brief pause, YouYu finally said:
“I’m sorry, WuYue. I haven’t been paying attention to you during this time.”
“If I had noticed sooner, maybe things wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
“There’s a lot I still want to tell you, but if I don’t say what matters most right now, I might miss my chance.”
“So… what I want to say is——”
After taking a deep breath, YouYu continued:
“Do you think… we could ever go back to how things used to be?”
“This current state… I really don’t like it.”
“…Huh?”
WuYue hadn’t expected YouYu to say such a thing.
It was completely outside of her expectations.
“……”
For the first time, YouYu had made a request of her.
And it was about something like this.
Now, WuYue’s heart was full of conflicting feelings.
She was happy that YouYu could reach out to her, but if it was because of this situation that he felt compelled to ask…
Would he really be happy himself?
With these thoughts swirling in her mind, WuYue met YouYu’s gaze.
Then… after thinking for a while…
“I think… it should be possible.”
“It’s just that, it might take some time.”
WuYue gave her answer.
In fact, when she thought about it, there wasn’t much to hesitate over. If she refused YouYu, would that make him happy? Of course not.
During this time, YouYu might have been suffering just as much from this tension as she had.
Even if not for herself, she had to agree for his sake.
“…It’ll take some time, huh.”
Hearing her response, YouYu fell silent momentarily before letting out a relieved sigh.
Then, with a grateful tone, he said to WuYue:
“Thank you, WuYue, for being willing to accept this. Honestly… I wasn’t very confident from the start.”
“…These past days, you’ve had a tough time.”
“…Especially since I wasn’t really talking to you before, right?”
“That’s right.”
Seeing YouYu nod, the heavy weight that had been pressing on WuYue’s heart seemed to lift, and she couldn’t help but smile as she replied:
“Yeah… From the time we argued until now, it’s only been a few days.”
“But… each day felt like a year, dragging on… it’s been so hard.”
“Even the red gem on my necklace has grown a bit dull…”
“…Dull?”
Picking up on that key detail, YouYu furrowed his brow and shifted the topic, asking:
“You mean the gem on your necklace… the one that lets you become a magical girl? How did it turn dull?”
Hearing his question, WuYue thought for a moment before responding:
“I’m not entirely sure. It happened the day after our argument. I woke up, went to wash up, and noticed the gem on my necklace had become dimmer.”
“Did it affect you in any way?”
“affect? Hmm… Let me think. Yes, I think it did. During our first training session this week, when I transformed into a magical girl, I felt like… my powers were weaker than before.”
“I see… That was probably around the time you were feeling down, right? And now? How does it feel now?”
“It’s not as dim as it was before. I can sense the difference.”
After answering YouYu’s question, WuYue paused for a moment, then continued:
“I think… the reason the gem dimmed back then was because of my emotions at the time.”
“After our argument, I kept doubting myself. I wondered if I was truly capable of protecting you, if I might hurt you instead, if… maybe staying away from you was the better choice.”
“Back then, those thoughts kept running through my mind.”
“But then, when I saw your expression, YouYu—when I saw how much pain you were in because of me.”
“I thought to myself, what good would it do to keep blaming myself like this?”
“Running away wouldn’t help; it would only make you suffer more.”
“So, I figured it would be better to accept myself as I am now and… put in all my effort to get through this, to make myself better, so that I wouldn’t have to see that pained expression on your face again.”
“At the very least… that would count as protecting you, wouldn’t it?”
“It was after I made that decision…”
“The gem started to shine again.”
“……”
“I see.”
After listening to WuYue’s explanation, YouYu fell silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh, saying:
“So… you’ve been that strong all along, huh…”
“What?”
“…”
“Nothing.”
Shaking his head, YouYu finally brought up the last thing he wanted to address. He turned to look at WuYue and said:
“You remember, tomorrow is your birthday, right? WuYue.”
“I got a birthday cake for you.”