Just when Shion gradually adapted to the fast and bumpy wind, he even opened his eyes and silently observed the trees passing by quickly.
"Wow..."
A slight sound that was completely different from the sound of the wind sounded.
Shion exhaled and felt his feet getting cold.
She subconsciously looked down and saw that the slipper on her left foot was spinning and falling towards the dense forest below, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"..." She stiffened for a moment.
At the same time, Ning Xue, which was traveling at high speed, suddenly paused and stopped firmly on a thick horizontal branch.
He lowered his head and looked at the empty foot on Shion's left foot.
After a moment of silence, the voice came through the mask, and no emotion could be heard.
"Did it fall?" Ning Xue asked seemingly doubtfully, but also with certainty.
Shion pursed his lips when he heard this, nodded his head almost imperceptibly, and whispered "Hmm" at the same time, his ears felt a little hot.
Ning Xue didn't say anything after hearing this, he just carried her on his back, made a few neat leaps, and turned back along the way he came from for some distance.
Under the mask, Byakugan was quietly turned on. At a tree trunk, he glanced back and forth a few times and accurately located the lonely slipper stuck in the bush.
Seeing this, Ning Xue jumped down from the tree trunk and placed Shion on a relatively flat rock aside.
He walked over and picked up the slippers, dusted the grass blades on them, then walked back and handed them to her.
Shion took it silently, and unconsciously squeezed the corner of the shoe with his fingers.
After putting it on again, she stood up slightly embarrassed.
The two were on the road again. Ning Xue carried her on his back and walked through the trees when he suddenly spoke, with a hint of doubt in his tone.
"Since you know you have to go out and walk a long way, why do you still wear these shoes?"
Shion lay on his back. Hearing this, he was startled for a moment. Then, the rebellious psychology of being concerned, coupled with the shame just now, came up.
She raised her chin slightly at an angle that Ning Xue couldn't see, and said with the pride unique to a miko.
"I want you to take care of it."
Three words, the tone is not high, but it carries the little willfulness unique to Her Highness the Miko. It seems to say that what I wear is my freedom and does not need outsiders to control it.
Ning Xue Hearing this, the brows under the mask raised slightly.
It's really willful. He thought in his heart, but didn't say it out loud.
Then, he readjusted his posture, made sure it was stable, and said lightly.
"Hold on, don't let it fall this time."
"You!" This voice was full of girlish embarrassment.
noon...
The light in the forest passes through the layers of branches and leaves, casting mottled and swaying light spots on the ground.
Ning Xue stopped beside a clear stream and gently put Shion down.
He took out the rice balls of various flavors carefully prepared by Ashitaba from his luggage.
These rice balls are wrapped in leaves, have labels, and have a little coolness from the leaves themselves.
He handed a rice ball labeled tuna to Shion.
But Shion seems to be still embarrassed about the slippers.
Seeing him hand over the rice ball, he folded his arms, turned his head, and snorted softly from his nose.
"Huh! I don't want to eat this." There was obvious anger in his tone.
Ning Xue Hearing this, he silently took back his hand and took out another rice ball labeled grilled salmon from the bag.
"What about this?"
"No!" She answered quickly and simply without looking.
Ning Xue Seeing this, I will no longer try to get the third one.
He placed a few seafood rice balls on the stone next to Shion, then walked to the stream and washed his hands.
Then, he found a relatively flat stone to sit down, took a few beef rice balls, turned his back silently, and started eating slowly.
His movements were natural, as if there wasn't a miko who was having an awkward moment around him.
But as time passed little by little, Shion initially remained sideways and ignored, but his peripheral vision drifted towards Ning Xue from time to time.
Seeing that he turned his back and was eating intently without any intention of comforting anyone, the anger in her heart quickly withered away like a popped balloon.
At this moment, her stomach made an unsatisfactory sound.
Shion's face was slightly warm, and he secretly glanced in the direction of Ning Xue. Seeing that his back was still facing her, and he didn't seem to notice, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
After another moment of stalemate, the hunger in my belly finally overcame the awkwardness.
She slowly moved to the stream, washed her hands like Ning Xue, then picked up the rice ball closest to her and ate it in small bites.
The taste is... surprisingly good.
After eating a few more rice balls, the hunger in my stomach subsided a little, and my thoughts began to become more active.
Her eyes drifted to the quiet back of Ning Xue again.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind. What does this powerful and taciturn Lord Fujiwara look like under the mask?
Scarface? Narrow eyes? Buck teeth? Extremely ugly?
The more she thought about it, the more curious she became and decided to take action.
She calmly moved little by little in the direction of Ning Xue.
Her eyes pretended to be on the gurgling stream, but the corner of her eye was fixed on the figure with his back to her.
But just when she was about to move to an angle where she could catch a glimpse of his face, Ning Xue seemed to be aware of her approach, and the hand holding the rice ball jerked.
Immediately, he turned his head and looked at Shion who was slowly moving towards him with some confusion.
"Is something wrong?"
Shion was startled by the sudden turn of head and question, and his eyes subconsciously looked at Ning Xue's face.
However, the look of expectation quickly collapsed the moment he saw it clearly, and was replaced by undisguised disappointment.
I saw that Ning Xue's face was still covered with a mask, but the originally one-piece mask was now divided into upper and lower parts.
The lower half of the mask was placed on a stone aside.
Only the clear lower jaw and lips chewing quietly are exposed.
Shion Seeing this half mask, he couldn't help but murmured in a low voice, and his tone was full of disappointment that his expectations had failed.
"What... it's really boring. You are wearing a mask just to have a meal, who are you..."
Although her voice was soft, it still reached Ning Xue's ears clearly.
He stopped chewing, tilted his head slightly, and looked straight at her behind the mask, as if saying.
So? What's the problem?