"Nee-nee!" Seeing Yukino Yukinoshita approach, Little Yukino happily waved her little hands, the red rings around her eyes and the tear tracks on her face remarkably obvious.
Yukino Yukinoshita skillfully picked up Dong Yunxi, letting the baby rest her head against her shoulder.
Carried like this, Little Yukino wouldn't be able to see Yukino Yukinoshita's frighteningly icy expression.
Gently stroking Dong Yunxi's back, Yukino Yukinoshita stared with slightly narrowed eyes: "Tell me, what is this all about?"
Dong Yunshan avoided her gaze: "It's nothing..."
Yukino Yukinoshita: "Hmm?"
"It's just..." Dong Yunshan let out a long sigh, "I missed you."
Yesterday, after Yukino Yukinoshita left, Dong Yunxi hadn't seen her for a long time and threw quite a fuss.
Dong Yunshan coaxed her for a while, and Dong Yunxi quieted down.
He originally thought everything was fine, but this morning, Dong Yunxi started pointing everywhere.
Dong Yunshan carried her around the house several times.
Then Dong Yunxi started crying.
Dong Yunshan realized that just now Dong Yunxi had been looking for Yukino Yukinoshita, only not to find her.
This time, she wasn't as easy to coax as yesterday.
Yet this matter couldn't be spoken of directly to Yukino Yukinoshita.
Yukino Yukinoshita had already helped out a great deal, and Dong Yunshan had seen all her fatigue over the past two days; he truly felt bad about troubling her any further.
He hadn't expected Yukino Yukinoshita to come straight over.
"Accepting separation is also a part of growing up." Dong Yunshan repeated what Yukino Yukinoshita had said before, "She was already mostly coaxed just now... Oh right, she can now skillfully express [No]."
Yukino Yukinoshita picked up a tissue and helped wipe away Little Yukino's tear tracks.
The little baby nestled in Yukino Yukinoshita's arms, her eyes rimmed with red, her watery, big eyes gazing fixedly at her.
Yukino Yukinoshita's eyelids lowered slightly: "I shouldn't have come."
Dong Yunshan had already coaxed Little Yukino into a good mood, but after she came, when the time came for her to leave, Little Yukino would still make a fuss.
Had Yukino Yukinoshita not come, perhaps in a couple of days, Dong Yunxi would have forgotten all about her.
Even if she never saw her again, she wouldn't make a fuss.
"It was my fault for not making things clear and making you worry." Dong Yunshan smiled, "Besides, I feel like you coming over to take a look is just right."
Yukino Yukinoshita lifted her gaze: "Hmm?"
"There always has to be a process, right." Dong Yunshan further explained, "I walked away for an entire afternoon before, and then came back. So the afternoon after you left, she only made a fuss for a little while. With a day in between, you've come back. Next time she'll be able to get used to a day and a half of separation, or even two days... Step by step like this, and eventually she won't make a fuss anymore."
"...That's true." Yukino Yukinoshita bit her cherry lips lightly, "Did she sleep this morning?"
"She slept for a little while." Dong Yunshan glanced at the time, "You haven't eaten lunch yet, have you?"
"Hold her for a moment." Yukino Yukinoshita shot him a sideways glance, "I'll go make lunch."
"I know you don't trust my culinary skills, so I've thought of a good idea." Dong Yunshan pointed his thumb at the door behind him, "Let's go out to eat at noon."
"That's fine too." Yukino Yukinoshita nodded slightly, "Take Xixi out to get some fresh air."
"I'll go tidy things up... Oh right." Dong Yunshan remembered an important matter, "Do we need a hat and a mask?"
"A hat and a mask?" Yukino Yukinoshita paused for a moment, then shook her head, "There's no need to hide. If anything, concealing one's appearance is even more suspicious. I don't care about the opinions of others, let alone their unrealistic misunderstandings."
"I overthought it." Dong Yunshan packed up his things, "Nobody would misunderstand, right?"
"I feel like you might be the one misunderstanding." Komachi Hikigaya looked at Yui Yuigahama beside her, "How could Yukino possibly hate you?"
"But I've asked her out several times, and she hasn't agreed once." Yui Yuigahama drooped despondently, "Isn't that hatred?"
"Maybe she really was busy?"
"But she was watching a movie this morning, you know."
"Uh..." Komachi Hikigaya tilted her head in confusion, "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Generally speaking, people don't specially run to the movie theater to watch a movie in the morning, right."
"That's true..." Komachi Hikigaya pressed further, "So?"
"So Little Yukino was watching the movie at home!" Yui Yuigahama puffed out her pink cheeks, "This means she's very free, yet when I asked her if she wanted to come out shopping, she refused."
"Being free in the morning doesn't mean she'll be free in the afternoon too," Komachi Hikigaya guessed, "Maybe she has something to do in the afternoon."
"That seems to make some sense..." Komachi Hikigaya's eyes shifted, "No, it's also possible she has no fixed plans."
"Eh?" Yui Yuigahama was a little dazed, "Isn't that the same thing?"
Komachi Hikigaya blinked: "Or rather, you could say she has unconfirmed plans."
"Unconfirmed plans meaning..."
"A date." A smile appeared on Komachi Hikigaya's face, "An invitation for a date."
"You mean... Dong Yun?!"
"If Dong Yun asks her out, then she has no time in the afternoon; if Dong Yun doesn't ask her out, then she has time in the afternoon." Komachi Hikigaya pictured the aloof Yukino Yukinoshita waiting for an invitation.
Her eyes watching the movie, but her heart thinking of matters outside the movie.
Originally meant to be relaxing movie-watching time, yet her gaze would always involuntarily drift toward her phone, waiting for an invitation email.
Hearing the notification chime, she would immediately pick up her phone.
The email notification would just pop up, reflecting in the young girl's eyes.
Only for it not to be the person the young girl was waiting for.
"Yukino must have given Dong Yun some kind of hint, but isn't sure whether he can understand it." The more Komachi Hikigaya thought about it, the more plausible it felt, "So she can only half-heartedly watch the movie while considering what to do on their date, waiting for an email that she doesn't even know will arrive..."
"I somehow feel like the Little Yukino you're talking about doesn't sound like the person I know at all..." Yui Yuigahama tried to put herself in those shoes, "Though if it really is like what you said, wouldn't my email have made Little Yukino's joy turn to disappointment?"
"Not necessarily, oh~" Komachi Hikigaya waved a finger, "The very moment hopes are dashed, the ensuing sense of loss and unwillingness are very likely to further stimulate her, making her change her mind about passively waiting and choose to take the initiative!"
"Taking the initiative meaning?"
"Directly emailing Dong Yun... calling him... No!" Komachi Hikigaya's ideas grew increasingly radical, "Rushing straight to Dong Yun's house to find him!"
"That progresses way too fast!" Yui Yuigahama felt Yukino Yukinoshita wouldn't do such a thing, but thinking about it was also quite fired up, though she didn't know what she was fired up about. "If what you guessed is true, then I'm afraid it won't be long before we see the two of them out shopping with a child... Komachi?"
Discovering that Komachi Hikigaya's gaze had grown vacant and her expression even more vacant from shock, Yui Yuigahama looked over along her line of sight.
She saw Yukino Yukinoshita and Dong Yunshan.
Yukino Yukinoshita was pushing a stroller.
Dong Yunshan was holding a child.
PS: Thanks to [Camusyy], [Methyl Orange], [Carmilla Solo Stans] for the tips!
Volume 3: Final Exams and Spring Break : Chapter 88: Stealth Pursuit
"They really came out shopping with a child..." Yui Yuigahama rubbed her eyes, finally confirming she hadn't seen wrong, "This is way too fast."
"Quick, hide!" Komachi Hikigaya tugged Yui Yuigahama to hide off to the side.
"Huh?" Yui Yuigahama was clueless, "Why are we hiding?"
"Well, duh."
"Go over and say hello."
"And then?"
"Together... Ah!" Yui Yuigahama realized belatedly, "If they see us, they'll end up doing things together with us, ruining their world for two... family of three."
"Clearly not their child," Komachi Hikigaya reminded her, "That child is probably five or six months old, where would Yukino find the time for that."
"Oh right." Yui Yuigahama stuck out her tongue, "I listened to all those things you said, and then suddenly saw them, so my mind just jumped to conclusions... So this must be a commission?"
"There's a very high probability that this is the catalyst for their date." Komachi Hikigaya's gaze grew sharp, "Helping someone else take care of a baby together!"
"Come to think of it... Is this the second command?" Yui Yuigahama dawned in realization, looking cautiously in the direction of the family of three, "Then we..."
Expectation lurked within Komachi Hikigaya's smile: "No contact, no interference, don't lose them!"
In a bustling commercial street, as long as they didn't proactively walk over to greet them, it would be hard to be discovered.
Yui Yuigahama nodded excitedly: "They're starting to move, keep up, keep up!"
Dong Yunxi blinked her big eyes, curiously surveying her surroundings.
"She really is fine now." Dong Yunshan looked at Yukino Yukinoshita beside him, "What's going on here?"
"I only just discovered it when I squatted down to coax her earlier." Yukino Yukinoshita tidied the blanket in the stroller, "To us, a bustling commercial street looks lively, but if you squat down to look at it, all you can see is people coming and going, which is why Xixi was scared. Only by picking her up can she see more interesting things all around."
"So that's how it is." Dong Yunshan realized, "No wonder you made me hold her. If you were the one holding her... Hsss—"
Little Yukino was in Dong Yunshan's arms; if Yukino Yukinoshita glared at Dong Yunshan, it would frighten Dong Yunxi.
Therefore, Yukino Yukinoshita skillfully pinched the soft flesh around Dong Yunshan's waist, wearing a smile that held no mirth: "What would happen if I were the one holding her?"
"Then I wouldn't get to enjoy this massage service." Dong Yunshan squeezed out a smile, "A little higher, you can reach—Hsss—"
"They're holding the hem of each other's clothes! So cute!" Yui Yuigahama saw it crystal clear, unable to help praising the correctness of Komachi Hikigaya's decision, "Sitting so far apart in the clubroom, and the moment they step outside they start holding on!"
"That movement is anything but unfamiliar..." Komachi Hikigaya noticed Dong Yunshan's expression, "Look at how much he's enjoying it, he's smiling so hard he's practically crying."
Yukino Yukinoshita hadn't even used much force, but seeing Dong Yunshan's exaggerated reaction, anger welled up from her heart, and she applied a bit more pressure with her hand.
Dong Yunshan's expression grew even more complicated.
Fearing that his laughing-crying appearance would frighten Dong Yunxi, Yukino Yukinoshita released her grip, rubbed the spot twice by the way, and motioned for Dong Yunshan to pull his expression back together.
"Touching abs right on the main street." Yui Yuigahama watched in dumbfounded amazement, "Is it really this thrilling?"
"Actually, it's nothing much." Komachi Hikigaya guessed, "To outsiders, it probably just looks like a young couple messing around, with the girl secretly pinching the guy."
The warmth of Yukino Yukinoshita's palm penetrated through his clothes, warming the soft flesh at Dong Yunshan's waist.
Clearly both were hands, why were Yukino Yukinoshita's hands so soft?
Before Dong Yunshan could come up with an answer, he saw Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze freeze in place.
"Hmm?" Dong Yunshan leaned in slightly, bringing his perspective close to Yukino Yukinoshita's, and following her gaze, he saw a family restaurant, "Want to go eat over there?"
"We can." Yukino Yukinoshita turned her head to reply, raising a hand to stroke the head of Little Yukino in Dong Yunshan's arms.
"They touched!" Yui Yuigahama pressed her hand against her chest, feeling as though her heart was about to leap out.
Dong Yunshan leaned close to Yukino Yukinoshita, blowing air against her ear.
Yukino Yukinoshita turned her head slightly, planting a light kiss on his cheek.
Then, as if to cover up her shyness, she patted the baby's head.
Such a beautiful scene unfolded right before her eyes.
"You must have seen it wrong, just like those camera angles they always use in TV dramas where they look like they're kissing." Komachi Hikigaya swayed left and right, adjusting her angle of observation, "They didn't actually touch, it just looked very close because of the angle."
"It's fine." Yui Yuigahama was very open-minded, "As long as I get to enjoy watching it."
Komachi Hikigaya: "...Fair enough."
As they spoke, Yukino Yukinoshita and Dong Yunshan had already led Dong Yunxi into the family restaurant.
After taking their seats under the guidance of a waiter, Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze remained fixed in one direction.
That was...
Dong Yunshan finally understood why Yukino Yukinoshita wanted to come to this restaurant: "Want to play the claw machine?"
Family restaurants frequently had adults bringing young children to dine, so the establishment placed claw machines inside to attract customers while also bringing in quite a bit of extra revenue.
The claw machine at this restaurant was even a Disney co-branded edition; the machine Yukino Yukinoshita was staring at was piled high with Panda Johnny plushies.
It was a panda biting on a blade of grass, with a fierce look in its eyes, distinct paws, and a bandana tied around its neck, possessing quite a bit of Western cowboy momentum.
"I don't want to." Saying such words, Yukino Yukinoshita nevertheless didn't move her gaze away from the claw machine, "I'm not interested in that kind of game."
"...There's no helping it." Yukino Yukinoshita stood up alongside Dong Yunshan and walked over, inserting a coin.
The machine emitted a quirky whirring sound.
Yukino Yukinoshita stared intently at the machine, not moving an inch.
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