Fantasy Clock～Dream Ruler～

【SideB】Rhapsody's Rest (3)

"Are we the only ones left?"

After just a few minutes, the nearby clocks became unusually deserted. Only me, Xia Yinci and Su Huilin remained on our clock.

Xia Yinci's eyes turned to the upper right corner, and she looked sideways at me, as if waiting for me to give her a response.

"Hmm. Let's go back, shall we? Back to reality."

＊＊＊

Xiao Lulu's sudden temptation caught me off guard. I stroked the messy hair on my forehead, avoiding her scorching gaze.

"Ah, this...why are you still obsessed with this matter?"

"Never mind. Tell me, are you going back?"

For some reason, her eyes are particularly serious, and her frowning eyebrows make her look more mature than before, and I will fall into a strange hesitation for a while.

As long as she dispels her doubts and doesn't really need to go back, then he can only answer her like this.

"I already, went back."

Xiao Lulu's pupils quivered suspiciously, but her brows were still furrowed, and she refused to relax due to the remaining doubts.

"Really, if you don't believe me, you can ask the tea cat."

I raised my chin and pointed to the "tea cat" next to me, and at the same time, I secretly winked my eyes to hint at her.

"Oh? Ah...um."

After receiving my hint, "Tea Cat" cooperated with me with half-knowledge and poor acting skills. However, the doubts in Xiao Lulu's eyes just now disappeared without a trace, and instead became extremely firm.

"Don't lie to me. She's not a tea cat, is she?"

Her tone was very flat, as if she was angry because of my concealment. It's just that tone of voice made me uneasy.

Xiao Lulu stood where he was, but seemed to be very close to me, giving me an inexplicable sense of oppression. I avoided her gaze, and then I knew it was wrong, so I raised my eyes, but I didn't know where to put my gaze, so I glanced elsewhere.

"Ah. Yeah. I don't want to go back."

"Why?"

With a bit of confusion in her tone, she asked me.

"As you can see, she is not a tea cat. The real tea cat is no longer my dream maker, staying on the side of reality. Continuing to participate in the domination war means that I cannot return to reality, so I will not see you To the tea cat."

"I don't know if we can win this war of domination, or even if we will die because of a miss."

"Regardless of the others, the ruler of clock number one is very dangerous. Just like what happened just now. You saw it too."

"There is no mechanism of death and resurrection, and we will lose our lives at any time. If I return to reality, then I cannot be sure that I will have the courage to come back here. Even if I come back, what should I say to the tea cat before that? Let her Wait for me to come back? What if I don't come back?"

If you ask me what is wrong with William from his experience, then I will definitely answer that every time he comes back, he will tell Shirato Mei to wait for him, and he will come back one day. The wait was extended indefinitely, and he never kept his promise.

I don't want to repeat his mistakes. If it is not possible to come back, or even the possibility of not coming back is greater than the possibility of coming back, then it is better not to say goodbye or make promises, and cheat her of waiting.

"If I say goodbye to her, then she will definitely wait for me. Instead of letting her wait for an indefinite number of people, I'd better leave without saying goodbye. If I can go back, I am lucky. If unfortunately I fail, she will not wait and leave without saying goodbye." people."

"Maybe she will wait for me at first, but after a long time, she will give up one day."

Don't say goodbye to her, just let everything end naturally.

"For such a reason?"

Suddenly, Xiao Lulu's slightly sarcastic voice shattered my sadness abruptly. She glanced away contemptuously and sneered.

"Don't say such things so righteously. Now imagine the future after failure. In the end, you are just trying to save yourself a way out of failure! Don't you think it's cool to say goodbye without saying goodbye? No, it can only prove that you are a You idiot, you're just a coward!"

Xiao Lulu put down his hands encircling his arms, pointed at my face and continued:

"Don't deny it. You are planning the result of failure in your heart, which means that you are ready to fail. Then what do you think of other people? Yes, I don't deny that the number one clock is very powerful, I admit that I won this time They were lucky. But is it pure luck? Will pure luck make them choose to retreat? Then you underestimate us, don’t you? You still have the face to call yourself my brother? Stop.”

"No, I didn't underestimate you... I just want to face up to my level."

"I don't care what you think of yourself, it has nothing to do with me if you see yourself as scum! That's your freedom. But what do you mean by denying other people's efforts? You don't thank Sister Yingzi and Xi Yu, but put Victory is due to luck. How long do you want to be capricious?"

Her words were like a punch to the chest, I couldn't help but startled, and I didn't know where to start what I wanted to say.

"You've always been like this! It's okay to look down on yourself, why do you look down on others? You accuse lucid dreamers of escaping reality, so what about you? Besides, why do you think you left without saying goodbye? Tea Mao won't always waiting for you?!"

Xiao Lulu stared fiercely into my eyes, his frowning eyebrows still didn't seem to relax at all. She adjusted her breathing while keeping her eyes away from me, and stepped back a few steps while stroking her hair on the side with a wry smile.

"That's the end of the story. I may have said something extreme, and I apologize to you. But I just can't understand your contemptuous behavior."

Her gaze briefly lifted to me, tears of sorrow welling in her eyes. I was still in the aftermath of her words, but she turned around, her trembling right hand drew a circle in the air, and the wandering black mist condensed into a circular shape leading to the entrance.

"Sorry. Let me calm down."

She rushed to the other side without hesitation, and then closed the entrance of the passage. The chance that I was not allowed to catch up with her disappeared from my sight.

The tense shoulders couldn't stop relaxing, I rubbed my forehead irritably, brushed away the hair that was irritating my forehead and turned around, only to find that everyone was staring at me, and I hadn't recovered from the scene just now.

"You guys, did you hear the whole thing?"

The moment I asked, I couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Xiao Lulu's voice was not low when she criticized me angrily, there's no reason why they couldn't hear her.

However, Xue Xueer shook his head first. My eyes are always dodging and I dare not look directly.

"No, I didn't hear it. I blocked my ears from the beginning, so I didn't hear it."

Arquette seemed a little more straightforward in comparison, and he just put my shoulder lightly.

"Don't worry about it. Sometimes you can't see the whole picture when you're in the middle of a game. Think about what she said a little bit? It's not bad, is it?"

After saying this, Alket missed my shoulder. Footsteps sounded on the stairs and gradually spread upstairs.

Yin did not speak, but nodded politely to me, and went upstairs with Arquette.

And Yingzi followed them upstairs, but stopped halfway, turned around and said inexplicably:

"You, uh, come on."

She pulled her elbows down as a gesture of cheering, and then sped up her pace and disappeared.

I turned around and glanced at Xue Xueer. As for Tong Xiyu behind her leaning against the edge of the door, her eyes were tightly closed as if she hadn't heard anything.

Feeling confused for no reason. But his thoughts were swept away by Xiao Lulu's words.

"Have you... thought about how to decide?"

Xue Xueer's question made me smile helplessly. I breathed a sigh of relief, and met her fascinated and determined gaze.

"You still say you didn't hear?"

When I said this, Xue Xueer lowered her head in a hurry. She stretched out her index finger to curl her hair, and glanced at me quietly.

"How else can I decide? She's right. If I don't go back, I will really regret it? Maybe, not just regret it. Besides, I have to apologize to Lulu. These words...she It's been a long time too."

I lowered my head and let out another long breath. Xue Xueer raised her head when she heard what I said, and smiled slightly.

"What are you laughing at?" I was a little puzzled and asked her curiously.

"I know that if it was you, you would definitely make the decision. So hearing your answer, I feel a lot more at ease."

Xue Xueer looked at herself with a smile, and for some reason there was a bit of longing in her eyes.

＊＊＊

The sun was shining brightly before noon, and the cicadas could not stop singing to disturb the pedestrians on the street.

Unaware of the changes in seasons, I only realized that time has unknowingly advanced to summer when I opened the door and couldn't help squinting my eyes, raising my arms to cover the scorching sun.

It's summer. The circle on the calendar reminds me that tomorrow is back to school day, and after that it will be summer vacation.

When I woke up, I didn't see the tea cat, but breakfast was prepared on the dining table, and a note was pasted on the edge of the plate.

I froze for a moment, took off the sticky note and put it in front of my eyes, I couldn't help but smile. A stick figure of a cat's face is painted with a warm and lazy smile. Just a few strokes made me clearly think of her appearance.

If Xiao Lulu hadn't said those words to me angrily, if I hadn't come back, then I wouldn't have seen the breakfast she cooked for me.

Once upon a time, did William miss such a hearty breakfast?

I made a special trip to school. Although there is only tomorrow left in this semester, I think it is necessary to ask for a leave of absence.

"It's so fresh. It's common for Mr. Lin Yu not to come to school without saying a word. How could he think of asking for leave for the back-to-school day?"

"Hey, don't hurt me, right? Is it meaningless to say that?"

The old principal laughed a few times, patted me on the shoulder twice, and walked out of the school side by side with me.

"I thought it would be rare to have a drink with Mr. Kobayashi, but it's a pity that you suddenly told me something happened."

"You just asked me to hold you back?" I curled my lips helplessly, pointing out his real intention mercilessly.

"Ha, what's blocking the wine. That's not pleasant to say." The old man smiled awkwardly, and the hand that patted my shoulder couldn't help but pause.

However, although the old man often uses me as a shield at every turn, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have met the tea cat. Anyway, he is also the opportunity for us to meet, right? Thinking about it this way, I also eliminated the idea of returning his two sentences.

Tea cat said that she did some things on purpose, but only our meeting was a true coincidence.

"Don't talk about the past. Old man, next time. Next time I will have a drink with you."

"Okay, I'll wait for your words."

Not far from the school, the old man and I stopped going along the way. The old man waited for his son's car to pick him up. I waved to him to say goodbye, then turned around and left the street where Qingnan Middle School is located.

After passing the intersection, you come to a short tunnel that is slightly inclined to the ground. The trunk of another road was spanned above this tunnel, thus forming a curved bridge. Residents like to call it the "Winter Bridge".

There are stairs extending to the top of the road, and the road above is full of greenery on both sides. In summer, it is rare not to rely on the air conditioner to cool down, so it is a good experience to enjoy the coolness under the shade of the trees here for a while.

"Come up and sit for a while now and then."

I put it in my trouser pocket and shrugged my shoulders, and stepped up the moss-covered stairs. I didn't expect to collide with someone head-on. I stopped and instinctively raised my head. A pair of slightly confused eyes looked at me at the same time.

The one who met me was none other than the tea cat who had disappeared early in the morning.

It is no longer the thin white gauze dress as before. Now she is wearing a sailor cap, covering her long hair, which makes her look a little heroic.

"I said, how can there be a cosplayer who only wears a hat?!"

"Eh? Are you talking about this?"

The tea cat tilted its head and took off its hat in confusion. The hair wrapped in the hat naturally fell down and scattered behind her. I couldn't look away for a moment, just staring at her quietly.

"It's just for sunshade, not cosplay~"

After speaking, the tea cat put the hat back on, with a slight curvature at the corner of its mouth. The long hair scattered on the shoulders and the outfit of the sailor hat showed a different charm from before.

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"Why don't you talk and keep looking at me?"

She gently pushed back the long hair on her side cheeks, and stroked the hair behind her ears, revealing the well-decorated tear mole at the corner of her eye.

The farewell words or promises, as early as the moment I saw her, I forgot them all.

If you ask me what is on my mind right now, there is only one thing.

I took a step back and left the stairs, and immediately embraced the tea cat standing on the second step without hesitation. She didn't expect my actions, and her figure approached me unknowingly, but the confusion in her pupils gradually turned into tenderness.

Vision is obscured by eyelids.

"Sorry, I……"

The moment she got close to me, I felt a little softness in my chest.

A cool touch greeted my lips, blocking my words.

The cool breeze wrapped in a little heat wave blew through her long hair.

Her slightly trembling eyes were still throbbing.

I don't know if it's the scent of shampoo, or the scent of her body.

I hugged her tightly and took a few steps back, leaning my back against the wall.

Galloping traffic.

The tireless chirping of cicadas.

Cover up half of the sun.

There is a slightly sweet wind in the air.