Maybe I Came at a Bad Time / You Came at Just the Right Time

The girl sitting next to the boy turned to him and asked him this question.

"I've heard of it, Xue, why are you asking this?"

"Don't you think Liang and I are like Adam and Eve from the myth?"

The girl rested her chin on her hand thoughtfully, her head bobbing up and down slightly. The silver-white hair by her ears, as beautiful as her name, swayed gently with the movement, making the boy beside her look somewhat dazed.

"After all, it seems like there are only the two of us here, right?"

"From the time we were born until now, the only human beings we have ever seen are each other, just like the story in mythology."

"So what?"

Liang still didn't seem to understand what the other person meant and continued to ask curiously.

"But there aren't any forbidden fruits here for us to steal, are there?"

"The forbidden fruit is just a symbol in that story."

Taking Liang's hand as he packed his schoolbag, Xue led him towards their home. The place was unbelievably large, but there was only one room that could be lived in, which was like a high school student's fantasy.

I initially thought it would be just another casual chat like countless other after-school conversations, but it has now turned into a completely unexpected and wonderful development.

Liang stared blankly at Xue, who, upon returning to the room, had taken the initiative to sit on the bed in a duck-like position, her eyes bright as she beckoned him over.

However, since it was something he did every day in the past, even though he sensed that the atmosphere was a little strange today, Ryo still subconsciously walked over and stopped in front of Yuki, who was sitting down and was looking up at him with her small face.

"First, pat their head."

It was unclear whether it was Xue or him speaking, or perhaps they were both speaking at the same time, or perhaps neither of them was speaking and the sentence simply suddenly came to mind.

Liang reached out and gently stroked Xue's head. He loved the feeling of each of his five fingers being wrapped in her silky hair. Xue loved it too, just as she loved her own name.

"Phew—it feels the same as before."

"And then what?"

"Then came the hug."

"Mmm, hug me, come here--"

Liang saw that the girl in front of him was not shy at all, and opened her arms to him in a generous manner. Before he could make a move, she had already taken the initiative to hug him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her head tightly against his chest. Her heavy breathing seemed to be in harmony with her heartbeat, trying to achieve a synchronization.

"Should I act a little shy?"

He heard Xue mutter something like that.

"Why?"

"To create an atmosphere."

What's the atmosphere like?

"Coolness allows me to better appreciate my atmosphere."

The boy's breath hitched instinctively, and he suddenly felt that his hands, which should have been resting on the other person's shoulders, were now at a loss for what to do. It was a sign that some dangerous and unknown topic had been brought up.

Love is --

He wanted to ask, because he had absolutely no answer to the question in his mind.

"It's just that I feel cold right now."

So it's just a feeling?

"No, not either."

Liang saw Xue in his arms give him a big smile, and no matter how many times he saw it, he would still have the thought that such an expression still existed in this world.

"There are other aspects, for example..."

"For example?"

He seemed to have been completely drawn into the other person's rhythm, but Ryo didn't find it strange. After all, in his past life, whether in class or in conversations after class, it was always Yuki who taught him a lot of knowledge, telling him things like smiles, names, and the meaning of liking.

"Kiss."

"Kiss?"

"Cold."

"Um."

"Come closer, and then, um—stick out your tongue."

He was greeted by a touch even softer than the Cloth pillow he used to sleep on at night, and unlike that warmth which required him to warm it little by little with the body heat of himself and the snow, this warmth seemed to be an innate product.

"As expected, Ryo doesn't know how to eat that forbidden fruit... how to eat me instead."

"Come on, I'll say something, and Liang will say something in return."

"Hmm--"

He gave a clumsy response, completely bewildered.

He followed along with the other person's words, one by one.

I want to eat you right now.

I want to eat you right now.

"Okay, please enjoy your meal."

"Okay, please enjoy your meal."

"No one here can stop us."

"No one here can stop us."

"So--"

"So--"

Don't leave any leftovers.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Perhaps I Came at the Wrong Time

"Ugh... What a terrible delusion."

Faced with this scene, even Hotaru, who had been through countless battles alongside Kitagawa Ryo and had even seen more of these situations than him, couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine. She once again cosplayed the screaming emoji of a certain sugar-free white bread.

Even though she said it was a bit inappropriate for underage viewers and kittens, Hotaru still stared intently, not wanting to miss a single detail. After all, this was essentially one of the ways to peek into the deepest thoughts in Yuki's heart. And frankly, she didn't believe that other girls hadn't had similar fantasies, it's just that they didn't need to use this method.

You know what, after watching for a while, Hotaru herself began to unconsciously think that the plot was quite interesting. So she simply loosened her control over the dream more and more, handing over all the initiative to Yuki, letting her conceive, destroy and reconstruct scenes and plots in a mess, and incidentally making all sorts of brothers look like a mess as well.

It must be admitted that, probably because she has actually taken the final step with Kitagawa Ryo in reality, Yuki doesn't end up like many people who have only seen similar plots in books or short films, where they can only get stuck at the last step in their dreams because their brains don't have the relevant stored information and are forced to automatically shut down. Therefore, all the plot points are presented as smooth and natural.

As a good cat who knows how to avoid suspicion, Hotaru should theoretically avoid such situations. However, considering that Yuki's true feelings can only be expressed in such situations along with her desires, the little cat can only endure the humiliation and reluctantly open her eyes wide to remember everything.

She heard words that Xue herself had actually said in reality, but most of them were just words kept hidden in her heart.

"Liang, you have to promise me that I will always be a rose, a pure white moonlight as bright as snow, not a rice grain stuck to my skin... a cinnabar mole, not a mosquito bite."

"I'm afraid of the White Room, but I'm even more afraid of a future where, without the White Room, Ryo and I would probably never have crossed paths."

"... I definitely like Liang, so Liang, please don't hate me."

Hotaru looked at the snow in the picture, as if she wanted to pull her brother into her arms and keep talking without stopping for a moment, as if the other's ears were open holes in the tree trunk, eager to bury all the secrets in them, seemingly forgetting that there might be a dangerous creature living in that hole, or that the tree trunk itself was the most dangerous creature.

The kitten quietly approached, and the closer it got, the more it could feel the strange dryness and longing emanating from the other person, like a snowflake about to fall onto a crackling, burning oven. This made the kitten's mood sink, and it completely lost its initial interest in watching the spectacle.

As time went by, Yuki stopped meticulously constructing a world and specific plot settings as she had at the beginning. Instead, she simply repeated her almost instinctive behavior. But that wasn't enough. Just as Amasawa Ichika analyzed, she also had some kind of masochistic tendency. The other party also wanted to put a character setting that Kitagawa Ryo didn't like onto her, thus reversing their roles.

The fantasy was gradually stripped away, and the heroine's eye and hair colors slowly returned to normal. Like Cinderella who lost her magic over time, her gaze became anxious and alluring, as if only in the instant their bodies intertwined could their souls achieve a brief resonance, making her feel that at least for that moment, the other person truly loved her.

Even though she wasn't directly involved, Hotaru could sense a sense of coercion at that moment, because a kind of lust that looked almost terrifying due to its unreality was spreading across Yuki's face, like an Actor was trapped in some horrible role-playing and couldn't extricate himself, carrying a familiar bloody aura.

In this dreamscape so realistic that it blurred the lines between reality and illusion, Hotaru could clearly smell the mixture of bodily secretions, sweat, tears, and an increasingly sharp, stinging odor, which gradually filled the air and then swarmed towards her.

The pure white background remained, but the bed sheet beneath the two had somehow changed to a completely different appearance—a brand new, scarlet sheet, making the two lying there look as if they were lying in a pool of blood.

Ying blinked, because in the next instant, the two of them were clearly lying in a pool of blood, and the blood was indeed gushing out of their bodies.

From this point on, everything began to change rapidly, as if someone was constantly pressing the channel changer and fast-forward buttons on the television screen. Real and unreal Matoba began to alternate, but the two people did the same thing all the time.

As if tomorrow were the end of the world, Snow and Cool were doing the same thing every moment and in every place. They did it in the sea of flowers in spring, on the beach in summer, in the withered grass in late autumn, and in front of the warm fireplace in the dead of winter.

The lights of Tokyo Tower shone brightly, and a drone in the sky outlined another person's name. The two of them squeezed into the dense crowd below. She stared intently at the brilliantly lit night sky while slipping one hand into his pants. Finally, in the moment the image froze, she made him release into her hand, as if they were having a revelry and festival just for the two of them, where all the laws of the world did not exist.

At first, it was just a blurring of the concepts of time and space. Later, Hotaru suddenly felt as if both of them had lost their true forms, acting as nameless signposts in this layered dream.

Ying felt a lump in her throat and finally waved her hand to end this absurd and illusory dream.

Although I felt like my cerebral cortex had been thoroughly massaged by all sorts of inexplicable visions, I still managed to achieve my initial goal. Not only did I obtain almost all of Yuki's inner thoughts, but I also indirectly helped her release some of her inner pressure and told her the truth that even if the world line she had been thinking about really happened, it would eventually lead to a disastrous ending.

However, the only thing that made Hotaru a little uneasy was that Yuki, once she woke up from her dream, would probably go straight to her brother, who was currently on a date with Sakayanagi Arisu, and they seemed to have already gone to the Keyaki Mall.

But thinking about it carefully, it shouldn't be a big deal. After all, it was just a date. If Xue were to suddenly fall ill again because of something like this, she would have to come back several times in the month since she started school.

It wouldn't be good if they came knocking on the door and happened to run into my brother and Arisu engaging in human reproduction, although the latter did seem to be thinking of doing so today.

Ying glanced lazily out the sunlit window.

But please, it's not even noon yet.

Kitagawa Ryo, on the other hand, was unaware that he was being manipulated into eighty-one different forms in someone's dream, with his beloved younger sister watching closely the whole time. After all, he was currently preparing to tear down the final layer of pretense with Sakayanagi Arisu ready to be devoured from head to toe.

Because he had been specifically instructed by both Amasawa Ichika and Hotaru, Kitagawa Ryo unusually chose to take the initiative this time. As it turned out, in front of him, who was indeed a seasoned veteran, Sakayanagi Arisu was really just a beginner. Although her courage was commendable, she was like a little brat who was only good at talking, and he easily took control of the situation.

This was also the first time that Sakayanagi Arisu had experienced such intense physical stimulation. In just the first round of foreplay, she could feel her heart pounding faster and faster in her chest. A current of electricity, carrying a tingling sensation, surged up her spine and reached the nerves in her brain, making her mind become muddled.

Unlike the feeling of a sponge swelling with water when you're in love, this is a simpler, more instinctive feeling. You feel like every organ and part of your body doesn't belong to you anymore, and you instinctively react to external stimuli.

In a sense, this is probably a feeling and experience that Sakayanagi Arisu was still suffering from congenital heart disease, never had, because her fragile body was destined from the beginning to be unable to withstand such high-frequency stimulation.

But things are different now.

Kitagawa Ryo slowly placed one hand on the skin beneath the hem of her blouse, which had already been lifted. It revealed the girl's smooth, flat abdomen. Nearly a year of consistent exercise had left it neither too thin nor without an ounce of excess fat, but rather a healthy and beautifully defined waistline.

His other hand silently slipped under the girl's skirt, caressing the pure white stockings, and naturally moved further inside.

Before she could even ask a question like, "Why are you so skilled at this?", Kitagawa Ryo gently bit her earlobe with his lips, completely extinguishing any remaining strength in Sakayanagi Arisu to speak.

When the thing that had caught her eye during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam last July, that she had heard about from Karuizawa Kei on the cruise ship, and that had sparked widespread discussion among students of all three grades during this year's Mixed Training Camp Special Exam, actually appeared before her, Sakayanagi Arisu instinctively felt a wave of dizziness, but then a certain competitive spirit surged within her.

And so, unsurprisingly, she was defeated by Kitagawa Ryo once again.

Once again, Sakayanagi Arisu experienced the feeling that every organ in her body was out of her control. The watery mist quickly appeared clearly in her eyes. It proved that people don't only cry when they are sad or wronged, just as they don't only laugh when they are happy or joyful.

This was probably the toughest thing Kitagawa Ryo had ever done, but it wasn't tough for the sake of being tough. This kind of thing is a cooperative game where both parties need to work closely together to get the best experience. His behavior of almost ignoring Sakayanagi Arisu's needs was just to put her in this unprecedentedly awkward situation.

It was precisely because of this that, even in this situation, Kitagawa Ryo maintained his initial clarity of mind, and whispered in the Sakayanagi Arisu, who was at her most unguarded, vulnerable, and unable to habitually hide her true thoughts:

"I can understand that Arisu is stubbornly trying to maintain absolute control in our relationship because of past events, but that doesn't explain all of Arisu's actions and thoughts so far."

"Is it only when I am physically weak, impoverished, and surrounded by enemies with nowhere to go that Arisu will want to care more about my thoughts and be kind to me? Because if Arisu can't control the world, she Arisu that at least she can easily control me. Is it only in this way that you will have even a little bit of a sense of security?"

"There has never been a genius in this world who can be above everyone else and control the world according to his own ideas. I am not, and neither are you, Arisu. There is no such thing as a true genius and a false genius. Besides, the Arisu I know was never someone who cared about such things in the first place."

"Furthermore, I'll say it again: Arisu's illness is now completely cured, so those thoughts that were forced to arise in the past due to her physical illness no longer need to exist. They were distorted products to begin with, and should not exist in Arisu's mind now."

"Furthermore, Arisu, are you truly fully prepared for what we're doing now? I even suspect that this is just one of your tools and methods. You've never considered or cared about physical or psychological pleasure and satisfaction. From last year until now, all you've wanted is the meaning of me completing this step, so that you can conveniently proceed to the next step, isn't that right?"

As if not allowing Sakayanagi Arisu to escape his gaze and interrogation any longer, Kitagawa Ryo gripped her hands tightly, making her pupils always face his direction. The rings they wore on the middle fingers of their left hands clearly conveyed the texture of foreign objects between their interlocked fingers, like a fishbone stuck in their throats.

"If Arisu really feels that everything right now, including me, other people, and even the world, doesn't match your expectations and is completely unacceptable to you, then I'd rather you just run away completely and escape to another world that you're sure to be satisfied with."

"Then, let's treat our reality so far as another dream we've just woken up from, just like it was at the beginning."

Or perhaps--

Kitagawa Ryo once again leaned forward and took the initiative to kiss away the tear stains on Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes. He really wasn't suited to play this kind of role.

"We heal within each other's bodies, becoming each other's weaknesses."

Chapter Thirty-Seven: You've Arrived Just in Time

Inside the Student Council activity room at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

Although it was still within the May Day Golden Week holiday, the Student Council still arranged for two members to take turns on duty every day. After all, it is often during these times when everyone is relatively free that student disputes in ANHS tend to increase.

Today, the members on duty are second-year Amasawa Ichika and Horikita Suzune. The two are currently processing recent activity reports and funding applications submitted by various clubs while chatting casually.

"It seems the Drama Club's results are as good as ever. I felt like there would be several posts on the forum saying ' Amasawa Ichika's transfer won't affect us much,' but surprisingly no one is discussing it at all. I'm so disappointed."

"Is Ichika actually going to care about something like this?"