The early spring sunlight, like sifted gold dust, generously spilled into every corner of the courtyard, and newly unfurled tender leaves timidly stretched on the branches, dyed with a thin, almost transparent, pale yellow hue.
Togawa Fuuki stood behind a heavy velvet curtain, half his face peeking out sinisterly, like a cold, venomous snake wary of the outside world.
At this moment, the sunlight happened to rest on his sharply defined jawline, then leaped to his temples, making his sharp golden hair dazzling.
And the few strands of white hair scattered abruptly across his forehead, like quenched silver threads, reflected a chilling sharpness.
Just beside him, another curtain was silently pulled open a crack.
Wakaba Mutsumi, like a silent mirror image, naturally nestled close to him, also peering out with half her face.
Her light green long hair was gently brushed by the breeze from outside the window, a few strands sweeping across the girl's calm, unruffled eyes, like water plants brushing a deep pool.
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze directed towards the cherry tree in the courtyard adorned with flower buds, her eyes clear, as if she could penetrate the petals to see the dormant, about-to-burst vitality within.
The girl's presence was light, yet it strangely formed an indescribable balance with Fuuki's gloomy gaze; the silhouettes they cast in the folds of the curtain were half immersed in the indoor gloom, and half dyed with the golden flow of the outside world.
Two days had passed since Fuuki's awakening, during which he declined the physical examination from the Togawa Family's physician, as well as Sakiko's offer to change his wound dressing.
Although the latter looked like she'd done it "so many times, I'm very skilled," Fuuki still half-coaxed, half-tricked her out of the room and began to examine his body in front of the mirror.
As he felt himself, the wounds on his body had healed unexpectedly quickly, and the few burn marks had also faded slightly.
The scar on his left wrist still throbbed faintly, and fine movements were still unstable, but daily life was no longer a problem.
What was noteworthy was the patch of whitened hair on his forehead; though not much, it was enough to draw attention.
Fuuki attributed it to excessive mental exhaustion and planned to dye it back to its familiar golden color when he had time.
As he gazed at his face in the mirror, he unexpectedly overlapped with a certain extremely "charming" man.
That was his close confidant from another world, the god-like man who led him down the path of martyrdom—Dio Brando.
Why was his own appearance so similar to this man's?
He even had three moles on his ears, which in physiognomy represent "strong luck."
Initially, Fuuki didn't pay much attention to this, explaining it as a coincidence.
Moreover, if he were to delve into it, the [himself] who only had a similar skin tone was the truly strange one.
Knock, knock, knock!
The bedroom door was gently tapped, then silently slid open a crack.
Togawa Sakiko appeared silently at the doorway, leaning against the doorframe.
Her characteristic blue twin tails remained motionless, blending with the somewhat stagnant air in the room.
The girl's calm gaze swept over the tall and short figures on the balcony, and she couldn't help but let out a helpless sigh.
Ever since witnessing the two become friends, Togawa Sakiko always inadvertently found them huddled together mysteriously.
The girl was naturally very concerned about this; it was a good thing for her childhood friend and brother to become friends, but if they developed some strange relationship behind her back, that would be unacceptable.
But after a full day of observation by Detective Sakiko yesterday, she found that although Fuuki and Mutsumi would randomly appear in various corners of the Togawa Residence, whenever they got together, they were only quietly exchanging whispers.
Even stranger, the atmosphere between them was very subtle; they barely looked at each other when talking, each gazing in a different direction, like they were filming a melancholic Japanese pop song MV.
'I say... why are Fuuki and Mutsumi in my room's... curtains so early in the morning?'
'Are you two balcony ghosts?!'
'And this synchronization is too terrifying! How many days have you known each other?!'
Sakiko suppressed her confusion about this strange situation and loudly complained in her mind.
She walked a few steps to the center of the room, hands on her hips, her gaze scanning back and forth between Fuuki's sinister profile and Wakaba Mutsumi's calm, unruffled profile, as if trying to find the invisible connection between them.
"Mutsumi, did Fuuki kidnap you here?"
Mutsumi was startled by the sudden inquiry, her shoulders stiffening subconsciously, and she shrank further into the shadow of the curtain, leaving only a few strands of light green hair exposed to the light.
"I'm just taking her out to sunbathe; it's good for her health."
Fuuki, however, reacted calmly.
He gently patted her shoulder to soothe the startled girl, then gently pulled back one side of the curtain, and sunlight instantly poured in.
"As for me..." His voice was steady, without a ripple.
"Isn't this exactly what you asked for, Sakiko?"
"For your safety, I'll always be by your side, so it's not strange for me to be here."
Hearing the boy's words, Sakiko's face flushed.
She abruptly turned her face away, her blue twin tails drawing a small arc in the air, trying to hide her momentary fluster.
"Who, who asked you to always be here!" She subconsciously raised her voice, with a hint of bravado after being seen through, her fingers unconsciously tightening on the hem of her clothes.
"And as for 'safety'... I just saw grandfather, and the situation should be stable now, no need to worry for the time being."
She walked to the bedside on her own, and with a sigh of relief, threw herself onto the soft bed, then remembered that two other people were watching, and immediately sat up awkwardly.
"Alright, alright, actually, I came to tell you both something." She cleared her throat, her announcing tone carrying an undeniable sense of finality.
"The serious and tense [Family Affairs Handling Period] is over.
Mutsumi and I have to go back to Tsukinomori for school tomorrow."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over Fuuki's figure, then added.
"Of course, Mutsumi will still be staying at the Togawa Residence for a while, you can rest assured."
She walked to her desk by the window, pulled open a drawer, and rummaged through it.
Sunlight streamed through the clean glass window, elongating her slender figure and casting it on the floor.
"But," Sakiko's voice suddenly took on a deliberately lighthearted tone, like tossing a shining pebble.
"Tomorrow for school, the timing isn't bad at all."
She finally pulled a card from the drawer, held it between two fingers, and with a flick of her wrist, the card traced a small arc in the air, making a crisp "snap" sound.
"Here, Tsukinomori Girls' Academy, tomorrow afternoon, Spring Music Festival." Sakiko shook the card, a smile on her lips mixed with triumph and teasing.
"As a daughter of the Togawa Family, I do have a tiny bit of privilege.
So—" She deliberately drew out the sound, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the boy.
"I also got you a pass.
How about it, Fuuki, would you deign to come and experience the 'heavenly music' of Tsukinomori Girls' School?"
'Music Festival?'
'It is said that music has a very significant effect on mental recovery and adjustment, and Tsukinomori is also a famous aristocratic school, so the standard won't be bad.'
'However, a girls' school...'
"Okay, I'll go."
Fuuki thought for a moment and readily agreed.
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