The White Bird and the Snow (End of Volume)

The woman held a cookbook, a fine layer of sweat on her forehead. In front of her was a large pot, in which noodles were cooking. However, she seemed to be in a bit of a rush, as the noodles were overcooked and still hadn't been taken out.

"Mother?"

She was somewhat surprised, but seeing the boiling water in the pot almost overflowing, she didn't bother to say anything more and simply walked over to the woman in a few steps to put out the fire.

"The water is about to overflow; there's too much water in it."

As she spoke, she waited quietly for the boiling water to subside before turning her gaze back to the woman behind her.

Are you cooking noodles?

This is a question because Yuria has no memory of ever seeing her mother cook noodles.

Those were things that happened in the past, but now, she and her parents have reconciled for some reason.

"... Uh, yes."

The woman glanced at the cookbook, then looked at her daughter who had just prevented a culinary disaster, and couldn't help but give a wry smile.

"I was planning to make you breakfast."

Her husband's affairs went smoothly, and within a few days, she and her husband were freed from their busy work and started a much easier business—freelancing. Both of them were highly educated, and it was precisely because of their excellent academic backgrounds that they had achieved great success in business.

Although I'm currently a freelancer, I still earn a considerable income every day. Moreover, my business achievements have been converted into connections and capital, enough to support my daily life even if I didn't work. It would be easy for me to live like this for a hundred years.

There was a significant drop in their work performance, but neither of them seemed to mind. They had realized what was truly precious to them. So, they tried to find ways to make up for the familial love that they had long missed with Yuria.

"However... I'm sorry, I think I messed up."

"That's not true."

Yuria shook her head and comforted her mother. Hearing her mother's words, she felt a warmth in her heart, as if a warm current flowed from the woman's words into her soul.

"Mom, you've always been busy with work, so it's normal that you're a bit rusty when it comes to cooking. Here, let me help you out."

Looking at the overcooked noodles inside, although the flavor was ruined, compared to her friend Yurikawa Hana's "amazing" culinary talent, these overcooked noodles were actually easy to salvage.

"Do it this way... and then like this... and then the noodles are ready to be served."

Using the ingredients and utensils in the kitchen, she quickly reprocessed the noodles and brought them to the table.

"Eat up, there's plenty of time."

Yuria glanced at her phone. She always got up early because she had to make lunchboxes and breakfast, and today was no exception.

However... there were two more people today.

While she was preparing the noodles, her father finally woke up.

When the noodles were served, the three of them, quite unusually, gathered together.

"I'm starting to eat."

The three closed their eyes, exchanged the usual pre-meal greetings, and then began to enjoy their breakfast.

Yuria ate slowly. Although the noodles weren't very good after processing, they were made by her mother together.

Therefore, she wanted to enjoy it slowly.

Chapter 306 White Birds and Snow (End of Volume)

At the Yotsuya residence, Yotsuya Kyosuke hurriedly finished his breakfast and headed outside.

"I'm going to school!"

He shouted loudly and ran outside.

It was cold, but Yotsuya Kyosuke felt warm.

He glanced down at the amulet hanging around his neck. He didn't know where it came from, but he had always worn it around his neck, and it had a magical effect.

Kyosuke could feel the warmth emanating from the amulet spreading throughout his body.

However, his mother did not believe him, thinking he was mistaken.

"It's clearly this amulet that's generating heat..."

He muttered to himself, because of the amulet's miraculous effects, Kyosuke never thought of telling anyone other than his mother, since he had seen on TV that doing so would attract the attention of bad people.

"But where exactly did I get this amulet? I can't remember at all."

I don't remember the details of the ritual, so I didn't think much of it.

In any case, his consciousness told him that this amulet would not harm him, but would only protect him.

When I arrived at school, some students in the classroom were already showing signs of catching a cold because of yesterday's snow. Children are easily susceptible to catching a cold if they're not careful while sleeping at night. Several people were coughing in the classroom, and even one of Kyosuke's friends sneezed loudly.

|Yingqi/Liuyisanju "Ah Qiu--!"

The boy wiped his nose, took the tissue from Kyosuke's hand, and pinched his nose hard.

"I feel much better, thank you, Kyosuke."

"Okay, I'm glad I helped. By the way, how come you caught a cold too?"

Faced with his question, the boy simply scratched his head and gave a standard answer.

"I don't know, I just caught a cold."

"... I know, you must not have slept well last night."

Kyosuke shook his head.

"If you don't take care, you'll feel terrible for the next month."

"A month? That's terrifying!"

Hearing such an exaggerated statement, the boy couldn't help but shrink back, but after his initial fear, he turned around and asked Kyosuke his confusion.

"You seem perfectly fine, Kyosuke."

"Me?"

Yotsuya Kyosuke pursed his lips, knowing in his heart that this was inseparable from the protection of the amulet, but he gave a different explanation on the surface.

"Of course, it's because I'm in very good health, so illnesses can't find me."

"I see... Looks like I need to start exercising too!"

The boy put on an enthusiastic and motivated look, but Kyosuke, who knew his friend's personality well, knew that the guy's enthusiasm was just a passing fad, so he didn't intend to discourage him.

His gaze fell on another girl walking towards him. She was a purple-haired girl who, for some reason, always liked to come up to him and say strange things.

"Kyosuke- kun, you didn't receive any gifts again yesterday. By the way, I did get a really expensive lipstick from my sister yesterday. It's the kind of lipstick that makes girls really pretty. But my sister said I can only use it later, so I'm sorry I can't show it to you. Aren't you super disappointed?"

"Disappointed? What are you talking about now?"

Yotsuya Kyosuke found himself in a situation where he couldn't understand what she was saying again. He looked at this troublesome girl with a pained expression, but still told her about the Christmas presents he had received.

"For Christmas, it seems two older girls came to my house and gave me presents. One was a toy I'd always wanted, and the other brought me a book I had absolutely no interest in. Come to think of it, it seems my parents and my mom know each other, which is why they came. But they left after a short while because they're high school students, so they got to go out and play on Christmas Day. I'm so envious!"

"Ah, so this is what high school students are like? I also want to go out and play arcade games on Christmas Day. My mom hasn't taken me there in ages; she says it's because my grades aren't good enough."

The boy on one side envied the high school students' freedom to travel, while the girl on the other side focused on something else entirely.

"Kyosuke- kun... Did two older girls come to your house on Christmas? Did they do anything to you?!"

As if she had been stimulated by something, a look of panic appeared on her face, and she muttered under her breath, "That awful high school girl."

This left Yotsuya Kyosuke completely bewildered, but he still had no choice but to reply to her.

"They just gave me a gift and then left. I'm not very familiar with them; I've only met them a few times."

"That's good."

What's so good about it?

"Girls' thoughts are really hard to understand," Yotsuya Kyosuke thought to himself. He glanced at his friend who had suddenly sneezed again; it was only someone as normal as him who made him feel at ease.

"Um, would you like some tissues?"

"Thank you, Kyosuke."

Nanatsumisaki Academy High School

Hua spent the morning classes rather bored, and only at noon did she regain some energy and head out of the teaching building.

In that familiar spot, Yuria was already there, waiting for her arrival.

"It's a bit chilly today, how about we eat indoors next time?"

"I have no objection, either way is fine."

Yuria opened her lunchbox, picked up her chopsticks, and began eating her lunch.

She and Hua were good friends, having met in high school. At first, Hua's enthusiasm was a bit overwhelming for her, and she deeply envied his figure. However, after spending a considerable amount of time with Hua, she adjusted and they became true friends.

"Speaking of which, this semester is almost over. I really hope we can be in the same class next semester when we're divided into different classes."

"Yes, that would make things much easier for me and Yuria, and I hope that's the case too."

Hua nodded as she ate her bread.

Looking at the desolate scene before them, because it was too cold, all the students were inside the teaching building, and very few people were outside. The two of them were the odd ones out.

After the snowfall, everything seemed to fall silent, all sound ceased.

However, this silence had nothing to do with her, because she had nothing to lose and nothing to be sad about.

"It feels like the school festival just happened yesterday, but yesterday was already Christmas."

"Yeah, I remember we went on stage together to receive the award at the cultural festival. Speaking of which, the haunted house was a really rare idea; our class never thought of it."

"Didn't Yuria and your team still win first place? This can't even be called a competition anymore, it was completely one-sided! Using their status as superhumans, isn't that blatant cheating?"

"... Well, this wasn't something I initially wanted to do, was it? I honestly thought the title of Honorary Minister of Lost Dwelling wouldn't be very useful."

"Not very useful?"

Hua puffed out her cheeks, looking at Yuria who was smirking beside her, feeling somewhat indignant.

"You're telling me you're not a big shot in the relevant departments managed by a global super-organization? Isn't that a bit too much of a rip-off?"

"Ah... it seems a bit big, doesn't it?"

Yuria turned her face away and silently ate her bento.

Suddenly, her gaze turned to the sky, where she noticed a trace of ice crystals.

"It looks like it's snowing?"

"Is it snowing?"

Upon hearing this, Hua couldn't help but glance at the sky.

In the sky, fine snowflakes, small and light, drifted slowly down to the earth.

It drifted down and landed on the hem of the two girls' clothes.

A snowflake landed on Kyosuke's small hand as he came out to see the snow.

It drifted down and landed on the sleeve of Takeda Mie, who had returned to her hometown to farm.

It drifted down onto the hair of Natsukawa Yuki, who had just been picked up from the hospital by her father.

"Snow."

Tono Zen's gaze fell upon the fine snowflakes, then he quickly returned to his work.

"I hope Kyosuke doesn't catch a cold."

Looking out the window, Yotsuya Touko began to worry about her son, who was all she had left after her husband's death.

Still fishing?

"Fishing my ass."

Okita Qishen breath and glared at Oune Tatsu, who was fishing with him.

"Let's go home and have dinner!"

On the streets, popular songs still played amidst the light snowflakes.

A white bird soars through the sky, drifting away with the current, never to return.

The original plan was to write six volumes, but I really didn't expect the fourth volume to be so short, so the fifth and sixth volumes are hard to say. There are still a few foreshadowing elements that haven't been used yet, I'll work them out slowly.