novelraw Page 60
Page 60
Only Kato Megumi remained calm and composed, as if nothing had happened.
"Sawamura-senpai, are you alright?" Kato Megumi handed over a handkerchief.
"N-It's nothing..." Eriri took the tissue, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and forced herself to stand up straight. "Th-thank you, Kato."
"By the way, you don't need to call me senior, just call me Eriri.
"Ah."
"Hmph, it's not scary at all. Those props are too fake. The sound of the chainsaw is obviously a sound effect!"
Seeing her legs still trembling slightly, Yuto Itsuka decided to save her face and not expose her.
"Yes, yes, you're the bravest," he said dismissively. "But could you please let go of my hand first? You're about to rip my clothes off."
Eriri then realized that she was still holding onto Yuto's clothes with her right hand, and the hem of his clothes was deformed from being pulled.
"Who, who told you to walk so slowly!" Eriri let go of her hand as if she had been electrocuted, her cheeks flushing red, whether from embarrassment or fright was hard to tell.
"Alright, you're so scared. I'll go buy some ice cream to calm you down," said Yuto Itsuka, straightening his clothes.
"I'm not scared! But... I want strawberry ice cream!"
"Where's Kato-san?"
“I’m fine with anything, vanilla, please,” Kato Megumi replied with a smile.
Yuto Itsuka nodded and walked towards the ice cream shop located not far from the exit of the haunted house.
There were many tourists on the weekend. He was at the end of the line, and out of boredom, he took out his phone to check what messages were on Line.
Machida didn't send him any new messages, only Kasumigaoka Utaha sent him a few, including the latest volume of "Love Metronome" which hasn't been released yet, and some photos of Izu tourist spots.
He casually replied with an emoji.
This ice cream shop was doing very well; the staff were extremely busy, and the line was moving forward fairly quickly. Itsuka Yuto put away his phone.
Just then, he noticed a small commotion at the counter.
A girl was standing at the order counter. She looked to be about the same age as him, with short black hair, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a denim skirt. She had a pretty and cute appearance.
She seemed to be trying to communicate with the shop assistant, but the shop assistant looked confused and impatient.
"Excuse me, could you repeat that? I can't hear you very well." The shop assistant raised his voice.
The girl opened her mouth as if she wanted to speak, but the sound she made was very weak and indistinct.
She was getting a little anxious and started gesturing with her hands, pointing to the picture of ice cream on the lightbox-style menu above the order counter, and then pointing to herself.
"Oh, is this what you want? A strawberry sundae?" the clerk guessed.
The girl shook her head and pointed again.
The tourists behind her, already getting impatient from being exposed to the scorching sun, were quite restless.
"What's going on? Does it really take this long to buy an ice cream?"
"Hurry up, you! There's a line behind you!"
Seeing the commotion among the people queuing behind her, the girl became even more flustered. Her face turned bright red, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
She kept bowing to the shop assistants and the people behind her, her fingers gesturing helplessly in the air.
Upon seeing this scene, which felt strangely familiar, Yuto Itsuka frowned.
He realized that the girl probably had a hearing or speech impairment and was unable to communicate normally with others.
The shop assistant had clearly lost patience, and her tone became somewhat harsh: "Sir, if you can't clearly state what you want, please wait aside for a moment so as not to inconvenience the customers behind you."
The girl's eyes reddened, and she stood there awkwardly, as helpless as a frightened fawn.
Yuto Itsuka sighed, stepped out of the group, and walked straight to the girl.
Knowing she might not be able to hear, he gently tapped her shoulder with his fingertip.
The girl was startled and turned around, looking at him with wary and uneasy eyes.
Yuto Itsuka gave a gentle smile, then raised his hand and made a few gestures with fluid movements.
"Do you need help?"
The girl's eyes widened instantly. She looked at the handsome young man in front of her in surprise, never expecting that he would know sign language.
She hesitated for a moment, then responded in sign language: "Yes, I want to buy two ice creams, one chocolate and one matcha."
Yuto Itsuka nodded and turned to the shop assistant, saying, "She wants one chocolate flavor, one matcha flavor, oh right, two strawberry flavors, and one vanilla flavor."
The shop assistant paused for a moment, glanced at Itsuka Yuto, then at the girl, before realizing what had happened and quickly apologized, "Ah, I'm so sorry! I'll prepare it right away!"
The staff member worked quickly and soon handed over five ice creams in a bag.
After paying, Yuto Itsuka asked for a bag, then put the chocolate and matcha chocolates into the bag and gave it to the girl.
The girl looked at him gratefully and then bowed deeply.
She hung the bag on her wrist and then gestured in sign language, "Thank you so much! I will return the money to you!"
"You're welcome." Itsuka Yuto didn't mince words and accepted the money offered by the other party.
However, his skillful use of sign language not only surprised the girl, but also left the tourists and shop staff in line around him speechless.
After all, it's rare to see such fluent sign language from a boy who looks to be under twenty.
Many people even applauded when they saw this.
Yuto Itsuka smiled and waved to the clapping passersby.
He was actually a little surprised. He had never used this "sign language B" since he got it, but the effect was surprisingly good, like an instinct.
……
Volume 1: Chapter 78: Nishimiya Shoko had a very long dream (Bonus Chapter 5/5)
In front of the ice cream shop at the exit of Fuji-Q Highland and Jikyu General Hospital.
The short-haired girl under Itsuka Yuto handed him the money, and she bowed to him again in gratitude.
“You’re welcome, it was nothing.” He responded in sign language.
The short-haired girl, Mika Kimura, is a student at a school for the deaf. She looked at Yuto Itsuka gratefully and asked, "Your sign language is very fluent. Do you know any hearing-impaired people?"
Yuto Itsuka paused for a moment, and the image of Shoko Nishimiya from the simulated world flashed through his mind.
He smiled and gestured, "I guess so. I have a very important friend who can't hear."
Meijia suddenly realized, "I see. She must be very happy to have a friend like you."
Am I happy? I hope so.
"My friend is back. Thank you again." Meijia pointed to a girl walking towards them from a short distance away.
Yuto Itsuka followed the gaze and then froze on the spot.
It was a girl wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, her flaxen hair dancing in the wind, her features delicate and gentle, walking towards them with a faint smile.
He had seen this girl before.
This was his first reaction.
That face was exactly the same as the girl in the simulated world, standing under the fireworks at the end.
Nishinomiya Glass.
Unexpectedly, he would reunite with Nishimiya Shoko in real life under such circumstances and in such a way.
Shoko also noticed the boy next to Mika.
He was tall, handsome, and dressed plainly. He was looking at me with a somewhat complicated expression in his eyes.
So familiar!
Shoko stopped in her tracks, her heart pounding wildly.
She seemed to recognize the boy.
No, I've never seen it before, but why does it feel so familiar even though I've never seen it before?
His eyes, his smile, even the way he stood there, gradually overlapped with the blurry figure in her dream.
is it him?
No, that's impossible, it was just a dream.
……
……
Half a month ago, the umbrella incident occurred.
Nishimiya Shoko had a very, very long dream.
The specific details of the dream were shrouded in mist, and no matter how hard she tried to recall them, she could only capture some fragmented pieces.
She remembered the last part of the dream: fireworks, a gathering, and... a pair of hands.
He led her through the crowd in his dreams, and gently wiped away her tears.
When she woke up, Shoko lay on the bed in a daze, her fingertips touching her cheek, only to find that the pillow was soaked.
Why are you crying?
She sat up, feeling as if a piece of her heart had been hollowed out, empty and with a dull ache.
She seemed to have lost the most precious thing in her life, but she couldn't even remember what it was.
She remembered that there seemed to be a boy in her dream. He was always smiling, showing his white teeth, and his smile was bright and sunny.
He would communicate with her using a notebook.
What did he write?
Shoko rubbed her temples in pain, unable to remember.
"Shoko? Are you up yet? You're going to be late." Her mother, Yaeko Nishimiya, knocked on the door and asked her in sign language.
Shoko nodded, wiped away her tears, and changed into the school uniform of the deaf school.
The girl in the mirror had delicate features and long, smooth flaxen hair that draped over her shoulders, but her eyes seemed different from before.
……
In the following days, life returned to normal, but something else seemed to have changed.
Shoko finds herself seemingly influenced by that dream, and her personality and behavior undergo subtle changes.
I no longer keep "I'm sorry" on hand like I used to.
I also learned to say no.
On the weekend, as Shoko passed by a pet store, her eyes were drawn to the fish tank in the window, where several red and white goldfish were swimming happily.
Fireworks, summer festivals, goldfish scooping...
Fragments of the dream flashed again.
When she brought the fish tank and several goldfish home, her mother, Yaeko, looked surprised.
"Shoko, what made you suddenly decide to keep goldfish?"
Yaeko helped her daughter place the fish tank on the windowsill.
Shoko smiled and gestured in sign language, "I think it's very cute, I want to keep it."
Looking at her daughter's smiling face, Yaeko felt a slight stirring in her heart. She felt that Shoko seemed to have become much more cheerful recently, and was no longer the child who was always cautiously watching other people's expressions.
"Okay, then take good care of them."
Shoko nodded, watching the goldfish swimming in the water, and the emptiness in her heart seemed to be filled a little.
On Tuesday, Shoko went to the bridge to feed the carp as usual, a habit she had developed since starting high school.
Thinking about this, she suddenly felt a little dazed.
She vaguely remembered that the person she dreamed of was also like that, attending a school for the deaf and enjoying feeding carp.
So was that dream real? She couldn't tell.