Chapter 399

She heard the sound of a child holding back tears.

"Mom, why didn't Xiaochun come out of that movie with Xiaoxin and the others?"

A mother and daughter were huddled in front of the old television.

Calling them mother and daughter is a bit of a stretch.

That female college student and the middle school-aged girl could hardly be considered mother and daughter.

The thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl's voice was choked with emotion as she watched the ending of the movie she had just watched.

Although the girl looked young, she appeared more mature and composed than her peers.

Her eyes were slightly red, but she kept her mouth tightly shut, seemingly not wanting to embarrass herself by crying in front of her mother.

"Because Xiaochun is a character in a movie, she can't leave the movie after it ends."

They were talking about the movie they had just watched.

It looks like Crayon Shin-chan movie.

"Why did it end like this? It's so sad. Will Shin-chan and the others never see Haru again?"

"... Yeah, right."

The woman didn't show much gentleness; she just answered woodenly.

After that, the rented room was quiet.

Occasionally, the sound of a girl sniffling and sobbing could be heard.

After a while, a very light and soft sigh could be heard from the woman. She then reached out and gently patted the girl's back.

"If you feel sad, it's okay to cry."

"Mom, don't you dislike children crying?"

"What can I do about this?"

Sakaki Chika actually doesn't know what the relationship between parents and children should be like.

I don't even know what's considered normal.

Perhaps most mothers and daughters wouldn't act like those two.

Or is this how it is generally between mothers and daughters?

But after that, that girl... Kazama Kiriori, with small tears welling in her eyes, asked the woman beside her:

"Can you hug me?"

"Come here."

In my memory, that woman didn't like things that were too cozy or cloying.

And of course, no one would like someone crying on their chest.

But she saw the woman helplessly embrace the girl, and then the girl cried her heart out in the woman's arms.

It wasn't anything really upsetting.

Sakaki Chika had a similar experience; she just wanted to cry because of the somewhat sad ending of the movie.

But this time, unlike before, Sakaki Chika stood there blankly for a while, then unconsciously turned around slowly until she turned her back to the world.

Her expression changed slightly again.

Her lips drooped slightly, and her gaze involuntarily lowered.

What was the child thinking about at that moment?

Tachibana didn't seem to like what was happening either.

She said nothing, asked nothing, but simply took Sakaki Chika's hand and hurriedly walked into the next part of the dream.

At the end of this dream, that figure slowly approached again.

This time, the girl who had been following behind Sakaki Chika and Tachibana looked at the mother and daughter in this scene with a slightly bewildered expression.

Tachibana and Sakaki Chika saw many scenes.

When she was little, her parents were almost never home at all. As a child, Sakaki Chika was always alone at home, quietly playing with the old, patched rabbit doll that her grandmother had made for her.

When she was in elementary school, little Sakaki Chika walked out of the school gate alone after school, while at the same time she saw other classmates leaving school, some happy and some sad, being picked up by their parents.

They were all confiding their day's frustrations or joys to their parents, or perhaps they didn't want to talk to their parents at all, busy playing and laughing with other children their own age.

Sakaki Chika always gazed at them from afar, puzzled and confused.

Whenever she was sad, she would go to her grandmother to confide in her.

Grandma was by my side, telling me the R'lyeh's Fairy Tale.

There were times when she fell and scraped her knee, crying loudly, and her grandmother gently bandaged her wound and then taught her to smile again.

There was also a night when she was at home...

She saw a woman—her own mother—packing her suitcase late at night, walking quietly and hurriedly toward the front door without telling anyone, without looking back.

Young Sakaki Chika, still innocent and bewildered, asked her mother where they were going.

She didn't get the answer she wanted.

I'll never have the chance to know again.

"..."

One after another...

The girl's expression gradually changed from a slight melancholy and loneliness at the beginning.

Her pupils went from calm to wavering.

She tried to maintain an optimistic smile, but it became increasingly difficult to keep it up, and she was barely holding back her tears.

Until the dream before her eyes brought back those incredibly vivid memories, Sakaki Chika froze, staring blankly at the scene before her.

That was in her old home.

She had just become a junior high school student.

Also, there was Grandma lying in bed, her gray hair looking very dull, quiet and her face full of fatigue.

Just as I remembered, the old man's expression remained gentle and peaceful even at this moment.

Although she looked tired and pale, she was incredibly calm, with a faint smile on her face.

However, a little girl was crying in front of her bed.

The little girl's expression at that moment was very similar to that of Sakaki Chika now.

The little girl couldn't help but cry, soaking the sheets.

She nestled beside the old man and wept bitterly.

They kept saying things like "Don't go" and "Don't leave me."

Sakaki Chika was completely stunned, unable to say a word.

Even at this moment, the old man still had the strength to say something to Chika one last time.

She was just... the same as always.

She extended a soft, warm hand and gently stroked Little Chika's face, gazing at her granddaughter with the most tender eyes, and spoke words of care to her:

"Chika, look, it's not pretty to cry like that... Do you remember what Grandma told you?"

"When you feel like crying, try to smile. Grandma wants you to always be happy and smiling... So, don't be so sad."

The old man spoke much slower than usual.

Even in her grandmother's final days, Little Chika still couldn't understand what her grandmother was saying.

She really didn't understand.

Why smile when you're so sad and in so much pain?

She looked at her grandmother anxiously... but her grandmother simply raised her finger and gently touched Little Chika's cheek, trying to make Little Chika smile.

And just then...

Beside her, Tachibana moved closer to Sakaki Chika, slowly raised her hand, and reached out towards Sakaki Chika's face.

She placed her hands on either side of Sakaki Chika's cheeks.

Then, smiling at her, he said---

"Laugh when you feel like crying."

That's what she said.

"So... why are you making that face?"

Tachibana raised her hand slightly upwards, but Sakaki Chika's expression remained unchanged.

Hot, moist tears slid down Tachibana's fingertips.

Finally, Tachibana's pupils reflected Sakaki Chika's current expression.

That girl's fake smile—it crumbled.

Chapter 162 Faded Star Flower

A smile.

That was indeed a very beautiful thing.

But in times of pain, a smile can never replace tears and sobbing.

Just like an empty dream, it cannot become true happiness.

However, even though Sakaki Chika had nothing, she could still face all the hardships she encountered by relying on the smiles given to her by her grandmother.

Whenever I feel pain and want to cry, I smile.

In the past, perhaps it would have been useful.

After all, Sakaki Chika is a strong child.

She can always endure everything, bear everything, and escape everything with the quietest demeanor, supporting herself with a mask of smiles, and even playing the role of a fake idol by relying on her status as Magic girl.

And so, it seemed that no pain could truly steal her smile.

Yes, no pain can achieve that.

But happiness will.

Even after escaping the nightmares of the past, Sakaki Chika couldn't make Sakaki Chika give up her resistance by Tachibana all the despair of the past.

But now, everything in front of Sakaki Chika making it increasingly difficult for her to persevere.

Why aren't you smiling?

Tachibana gently tugged at Sakaki Chika's cheek, and seeing the girl's stunned gaze, she smiled.

Then, Tachibana lowered her hand, wanting to see what the child would say.

Sakaki Chika opened her mouth.

Her eyes, which had been wavering, slowly focused. She raised her head, trying to suppress something.

As she did this, she also bit her lip tightly, causing the lines of her mouth to droop unsightly to the sides.

"..."

When the girl let out a sobbing breath, that moment was like a dam breaking, the tears beginning to spill from the cracks—

"I... I don't want to laugh at all."

Her voice was very low.

It was so much so that it hardly even counted as talking to himself.

When she opened her closed eyes, Tachibana saw a look in them she had never seen before.