"Sorry to keep you waiting."
After catching his breath, Chiba slowly pushed open the door. Before him was Yukina asleep with her cheek resting on one hand. He hurriedly spoke, full of apology.
But neither his words nor his hurried footsteps woke Yukina.
Her eyes remained closed. Her face was slightly turned amid her long hair, yet her back was ramrod straight. Though she had fallen asleep from exhaustion, she still radiated the dignified, elegant bearing of a Young Miss, captivating Chiba's gaze.
In the glow of the setting sun, Yukina's figure seemed to have been plated with a layer of golden light. With her cheek propped on her hand, she was as beautiful as a painting.
At that moment, Chiba slowly stopped, halting some distance away from Yukina.
Then a thought naturally arose in his heart. If a master painter skilled in oils were here to capture this scene on canvas, what kind of masterpiece would it become? "Mm..."
Just then, as that thought surfaced in Chiba's mind, the long lashes on that lovely face dyed gold by the sunset trembled a few times. With a soft murmur, those vacant, snow-white eyes slowly opened.
"Chiba... is that you?"
Then came words that sounded like the hazy muttering of someone still half-asleep.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Hearing that, Chiba's body stiffened slightly, as if he had come back to himself, and he immediately spoke.
Of course, his words were still filled with apology.
Yukina had waited until she fell asleep. Didn't that mean she had waited a long time? Though he had raced back at full speed, it had still taken quite a while. The sun had already sunk low in the west, and before long, it would be dark.
"You're back!"
Hearing that, Yukina stiffened, her shoulders nearly