For the first time since meeting Mashiro, Yuki finally found himself truly confused because all of sudden, she changed her mind and he heard her say that she found her answer with a happy smile on her beautiful face that left him amazed as he took some mental photos of this great scene, but he wasn't the only one guilty of this action as her cousin Chihiro was doing the same thing secretly…
And most importantly, the system too confirmed that she truly found her answer by updating his quest's details to 'completed' so there was no doubt in that matter…
'What in the hell is going on? How did she find out an answer this quick and all of a sudden?' Yuki thought in wonder, and as he couldn't hold back his curiosity for long and didn't find an answer anyways. he ended up asking her directly "What answer did you come up with, Mashiro?"
Chihiro too was curious by her cousin's sudden behavior so she listened intently to what she was going to say…
Mashiro with the same rare sunny smile on her beautiful face stared at Yuk's eyes and said "I care a lot about how people view my art…" this was her answer to his first question and she quickly continued "But I also want to be selfish and do something that I care about, that I really love, as for if people like it or not, I will find out when I do I"
Reaching this point, Mashiro paused a little as she lowered he hair and held her hands close to her chest and said "And I don't want to look back on my past and regret never trying doing what I really wanted when I could've done it and be haunted by it…"
'Please don't use the phrase haunted by it in front of me, It really hurts... Other than that, hmm, Well this is a rich girl with a good family so she can afford to follow her dreams, but I can't respond to her on the basis of knowing this so let's see…' Yuki thought a little about what to respond to her before he said
"I wouldn't say I agree with your decision because I don't know much about you. After all, not everybody has the luxury of taking the risk of failing on something especially when they have responsibilities or people to take care of. However, if your living situation is good and you can afford it, go for it, why not?"
Chihiro's eyes widened a little as she thought this guy will simply agree with Mashiro and tell her to follow her dreams blindly, and she was ready to interfere and give her wise opinion at that point but she never expected that he would actually give her such a realistic answer and risk making her dislike him... After all, not everyone can accept being told that they can't follow their dreams...
Mashiro hearing his response was surprised at first before she nodded happily, but Chihiro suddenly felt sad. After all, everyone has dreams and goals they want to achieve in their lives, but not anyone can achieve them, and she was one of the unlucky people as she ended up reaching her wit's end and became obsessed with finding a partner before she grows too old and at least builds a family... So, with a sad voice, she ended up saying "What about those who don't have the luxury to follow their dreams or aren't talented enough?"
Both Mashiro and Yuki stared at her in surprise on their faces as they could see the clear sadness and disappointment in her eyes which made Mashiro who was always called a genius feel guilty prompting her to suddenly hold her hand which brought a small smile to Chihiro's face… although a forced one.
Yuki on the other hand, his eyes turned cold when he heard this so he looked at Chihiro and said "Talented enough? Talent only makes following your dreams easier. It doesn't mean you won't achieve them without talent, and do you think that all talented people are successful? Obviously not! After all, as the saying goes 'A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read' and let's not about luck…"
Chihiro couldn't help but repeat this sentence while staring at him absentmindedly "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read…" And seeing her like this, Yuki simply nodded at her and said "That's right, dreams more often than not stab people in the back and disappoint them, but hard work rarely disappoint…"
Chihiro's sad and dim eyes started slowly lighting up when she heard what Yuki said and felt a new wave of vitality gushing from her heart as the future she always envisioned as dim and dark suddenly looked a tad bit brighter… and noticing this, Yuki couldn't help but smile lightly and think 'Hope really always find a way to shine no matter how dark it gets… how wonderful'
Meanwhile, as he was thinking this, Mashiro kept looking at him in admiration while Chihiro started looking at him in a different way as she suddenly found him a lot more pleasing to the eye and even started thinking that he would look good if he recovers from his current unhealthy state and take proper care of himself. So, with a seductive tone she said "Yuki-kun, do you have a girlfriend?"
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'What's this huge pervert thinking about?' For some reason the look in her eyes creeped even Yuki out… and believe me, he's starting to get used to his role as the creep in this world…
Mashiro on the other hand found herself extremely curious as her heart started pounding faster and a feeling of nervousness started growing slowly in her heart for some reason while she waited for his response…
"How about you take a closer look at how I look right now, you will understand how dumb your question is… right now I would be lucky if girls didn't start running away from me at first glance, not to mention getting a girlfriend… the only girlfriend I'm going to get is one that's going to haunt me, literally... or maybe…" In the end, Yuki shot a look at his left hand. The oblivious Mashiro didn't understand the meaning of this gesture as she was still innocent but the dirty mind Chihiro immediately understood what was going and her face turned red like a tomato but she didn't say anything as she knew she couldn't handle her cousin's questions…
Meanwhile, Mashiro's tight heart suddenly relaxed and she couldn't help but smile hearing what he said while she herself not understanding why she was feeling this way 'What's going on with me…?' she thought but unfortunately for her she was extremely lacking in social skills to understand her current emotions…
Chihiro's face on the other hand that was still red suddenly gained a dirty smile as she said "That's good to hear hehehe, what do you think about this big sister? I don't mind 'haunting' you..."
Yuki didn't know what to say to this woman that was getting more and more provocative with her worlds, but before he could respond, Chihiro noticed that Mashiro was staring at her with a weird look on her expressionless face which made her feel a chill for some reason as she thought 'Was Mashiro always this scary or am I just imagining things? Or maybe... is it possible that this girl is actually jealous?' So, she asked her trying to gain as much information as she could in this invisible battle… "What's wrong Mashiro?"
Mashiro didn't reply to her and simply let go of her hand and held Yuki's hand instead as she stared at Chihiro the whole time with the same weird look in her eyes and not even realizing what her actions could mean…
"M-m-Mashiro, It can't be… Are you in l-l-l-lo" Chihiro started stuttering and was about to say something irreversible so Yuki quickly interrupted her and said "Chihiro-san, you are too old for this!" Then he turned to this blonde that said screw it to all social boundaries and said "Mashiro, you shouldn't hold a guy's hand like this publicly"
Mashiro stared at him with a pure and clueless look and replied "Why?"
Yuki tried his best to hold himself back from smashing his head on a wall before he said "Because I'm neither your relative nor your boyfriend, so it might cause a misunderstanding if you hold my hand"
Mashiro didn't understand what the big deal is as she thought this dilemma was very easy to solve so she said "I see… Yuki become my boyfriend"
"WHAT!" Chihiro and Yuki yelled at the same time and they ended up looking at each other with the same helpless look after hearing the bomb that Mashiro just dropped on him so he signaled to her with his eyes 'Is this girl always so hard to handle?' and Chihiro telepathically replied to him 'Yes, that's why I let others deal with her as I find it a huge pain'
Letting out a long sigh he said "Mashiro, do you know what having a boyfriend means?" and Mashiro simply tilted her head and cutely said "I can hold your hand?"
'What the hell, do I really have to compete with my cousin...' thought Chihiro in dismay at what to do with her helpless cousin who seemed to be interested in the same guy as her...
Meanwhile, hearing Mashiro's response, Yuki's eyes widened for a second before he finally ended up letting out a chuckle as he said "How rare, for a person to be this innocent in this day and time, you really are a piece of art…" it felt really refreshing to see such a pure girl, it was surprising enough that she can talk to him without running away, but to actually want to hold his hands means she doesn't care at all about appearances...
So, he replied to her "Yes you can hold your boyfriend's hand and do other physical activities such as-" Yuki noticed Chihiro glaring at him at this point so he quickly changed the subject and said "But what's most important is for the couple to like each other. Otherwise, it will only become a relief of desire and not a relationship…"
"Tch, a ghost talking about love…" Chihiro started snickering at Yuki…
'This bitch…' Yuki thought while looking at Chihiro but suddenly they both found themselves stumped again by this girl who at first was happy when Yuki called her a piece of art, but then she got confused again with his next words and because she simply didn't know when to stop, she ended up asking him with sad puppy face
"Why? Yuki, you don't like me?"
'Fuck me… This girl is very cute and pure but her actions are that of spider' thought Yuki as he heard this question, while Chihiro watched this in amusement enjoying his predicament… And seeing how this great artist Mashiro was effortlessly painting him into a corner with her words, he couldn't help but remember a saying that he loved from his previous world
'Only the spider is safe in her web' And he realized that this one was a very strong and invisible web that he found himself trapped into, but he never thought he would experience it from a little girl who doesn't even understand what she's doing or feeling...