[Besides herself, in the small area illuminated by the desk lamp, there is also a colorful oil painting. This is the Mayu map you gave her. The girl rested her white elbows on the table, her slender fingers supporting her chin, looking at the painting.]
[The night was silent, with only the sound of wind and waves reaching her ears and entering the painting. The girl recalled the scene in the painting, the hot summer day in her memory, the moist wind blowing, and she felt comfortable.]
[She smiled, but the smile quickly faded from her lips.]
[She carefully wrapped the painting in a cloth and put it back in the cabinet. She closed the cabinet door, opened the drawer, and took out her diary.]
[The beige pages of the notebook are turned by the girl’s fair fingertips.]
The words on the paper appeared in front of Nan Youxi's eyes. The girl turned the pages very quickly, so Nan Youxi could not read the whole article and could only see fragments.
The notebook is very thick, and each diary is very short, with obvious variations in the font and ink color of the recorded text.
"… I have to take a boat to go to school, and the boat fare is very expensive. Fortunately, it is cheaper if I subscribe to a monthly package. The sea is beautiful, but just like my brother said, there is no variety, and I get tired of it after a while."
"… The cherry trees on the island are a little different from those in Misaki. They are smaller and the color of the cherry blossoms is lighter. Walking in such a cherry tree forest makes people feel a little fresh. Brother has never painted cherry blossom trees. Why is that?"
"… The sun was so strong that I went out without applying sunscreen, but when I woke up my face and neck were all red. I could have stayed in my brother's yard all afternoon without any problem."
"… I made a friend. Her name is Rinka. She's from the same island. She can't do housework or cook. She doesn't show much expression. She's a bit like Aunt Yuko, whom my brother likes. Huh."
"… I saw the lion my brother drew on the news. I heard from Rinka that there was a golden retriever at the grandmother's house near the school. I went to take a look and it didn't look like a lion at all."
"… There was a cat that meowed loudly at night. I asked my mother why, but she didn't tell me. So I asked Rinka, who knew a lot. She said that cats are lonely and want other cats to comfort them. Does my brother also need other cats to comfort him?"
"… When my mother asked me which high school I wanted to go to, I chose the one with sailor uniforms. In the photo album in my brother's room, Aunt Yuko and Aunt Reina were wearing sailor uniforms."
"... After being confessed to, I rejected him outright. He has never even seen my brother's paintings. I don't want to be friends with such a person."
"… I joined the art club. The art club at this school is so weak, and I'm the best at it. Maybe I should have chosen another school."
"… I overheard a conversation between mom and dad. My brother was injured in South America. Why did such a chaotic country appear in this world?"
"… I tried to borrow money from Rinka, and she agreed. However, she only had 2,000, which was not enough. The plane ticket to South America alone was very expensive, and I didn't know which hospital my brother was in."
"… I punched myself in the stomach on the boat, and closed my eyes when I stepped onto the concrete floor of the dock. I tried to understand how my injured brother felt when he got off the plane and returned to his homeland, but I didn't feel anything special."
"… Mom and Dad are so busy lately, did you eat well, brother?"
"… Suddenly I received a call from my mother, saying that a relative was coming back and would stay at my house. Mom, it's so troublesome. I don't want to take care of anyone other than my brother."
"… I asked my mother about the situation again, but she refused to tell me who the person was. She didn't even say if it was a man or a woman. However, it shouldn't be a man. When the person came, I showed her my brother's painting and praised it for less than three minutes before ignoring her."
The page of the diary turned to a blank space, and Mayu's hand stopped. She picked up the pen beside her, unscrewed the pen cap, and the tip of the pen shone golden under the light, and pressed it on the beige paper.
"August 27, Saturday, cloudy"
After writing the date on the first line of the notebook, Mayu moved her pen tip to the second line and paused.
"Damn it, mom, who came?"
She felt that such words could not represent her feelings, so she crossed out the line and wrote it again.
"I saw someone I didn't expect on the pier. I should have gone to greet him immediately, but it was so unexpected that I didn't know what to do. I could only pretend to be kicking stones. In fact, I..."
She paused and crossed out the line.
After writing and scribbling like this, half of the paper was filled with her scraps.
She paused for a long time, turned her head, and turned her ear toward the door to listen to the sound of wind, rain and waves outside the house. She wanted to hear the voice of the man who had been haunting her dreams from the gaps between the wind, rain and waves, but she couldn't hear it.
Turning back, she wrote a short line on the paper.
"My brother is here."
She smiled at this simple sentence. No other words were needed, just this one sentence was enough.
Closing the notebook and putting it back in the drawer, the girl turned off the desk lamp, walked to the bed in the dark, and got into the quilt.
Good night, brother.
She closed her eyes.
[In this diary, there are no direct sentences about missing you, but between the lines, you are indispensable. ]
[The girl is not cold. At first, she was too surprised and happy to react, so she pretended to be calm in front of you as she did to her parents. Later, she saw that you were not enthusiastic and was embarrassed to treat you warmly. In the meantime, there was also some resentment from her. ]
[The rain clouds dispersed in the second half of the night, and you fell asleep very late.]
[When you wake up, the sun has already illuminated the house. ]
[You sit up and drop your legs to the floor. When your eyes glance behind the door, you jump in surprise.]
[On the wooden chair behind the door, the girl Moyou sits upright, staring at you with a pair of eyes reflecting the bright sunlight, with no expression on her face.]
[The girl didn't mean to explain. She stood up, pushed open the paper sliding door, and told you that breakfast was ready.]
[You couldn't guess the girl's mood, so you followed her to the front hall.]
[Except for the bed in the bedroom and the necessary appliances, everything in this house is very classical. The dining table is a long, low table where you have to sit on cushions to eat.]
[The girl brought you toiletries first, and when you finished washing up in the yard, a hot breakfast was placed on the low table.]
[When you eat, she sits opposite you and stares at you.]
[Moyou's gaze confused you. You didn't know what was going on. This girl who used to be so gentle and close to you was so cold at the moment. She stared at you closely, revealing a bit of resentment.]
[After finishing breakfast under the girl's gaze, you have a guess. ]
A short dialogue scene appeared in Nan Youxi's mind.
"I'll move out once I find a place to rent." Nan Youxi put down her bowl and chopsticks and said to the girl in front of her.
"Don't move." The girl put her hands on the table with a stern face.
"But, Moxia doesn't welcome me, right?" Nan Youxi understood the girl's attitude.
When the girl heard the name "Moxia", her face froze, her eyes watered, and her cheeks puffed up.
She said angrily: "Please reflect on yourself!"
The girl's black hair, which had only reached his chest before, now reached his neck. He stretched out his hand and pressed it on the girl's head.
"Long time no see, Mayu."
As these words came out, the dissatisfaction and coldness on the girl's face quickly melted like thin ice exposed to the bright sun at noon. She suddenly pounced forward and hugged Nan Youxi's waist.
"Long time no see, Yuxi." The girl pressed her cheek against Minami Yuxi's chest, and smiled as she listened to the familiar heartbeat.
"It's not Yuxi, it's Yuxi brother, no, it's Yuxi uncle." Nan Yuxi corrected her address.
"Yuuki is no longer qualified to be a brother," the girl said coquettishly.
"Huh? What did I do? Why am I disqualified as a brother?"
"How can a brother get his sister's name wrong?"
"Because Mayu was so cold, I'll test your reaction first."
"That's because bro... Because Yuuki was so cold. When he saw me, he didn't touch my head, hug me, or even call my name. It was like he forgot about me."
"Well, it's my fault."
"Even if you admit your mistake, I won't change your name back!"
"Brother is the wrong name anyway, so calling you Yuuki is fine."
"How can it be okay?"
Moyou's last words were spoken softly, and Nan Youxi didn't hear them. He stroked the girl's hair. Although the girl in his arms had grown into a young girl and was very different from before, after holding Moyou in his arms, the feelings that had been buried in his heart once again surged out from his heart.
The intimate feelings of the past three years in Misaki crossed time and memory and were projected into reality, between the hair of the girl in Minami Yuki's arms, and in the heartbeat of the man in Mayu's arms.
Time is like glass, blocking people from each other. It seems that there is no change between the two of them, but in fact they have been strictly separated. This conversation and this hug shattered the glass wall between Minami Yuki and Mayu, and their relationship returned to the past.
"You've grown up." Nan Youxi rested his chin on the girl's head. If it was the previous Moyu, he wouldn't be able to rest his head so conveniently.
"Yuuki H."
"…?"
Nan Youxi was stunned for a moment, then felt the softness in front of her, and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I was talking about your height!"
"You should talk about your height when you meet. Youxi really can't talk."
"You are the one with the problem of thinking."
Nan Youxi stood up and tapped the girl on the head.
"It hurts. I was just joking!" Moyu covered her head and moved away from Nan Youxi's chest. She looked at Nan Youxi with dissatisfaction: "Obviously Youxi could deliberately call my name wrong!"
"Don't joke with adults."
"I'm an adult too!"
"Let's talk about it when you grow up to be as big as your sister Nao."
"Ah! When you say growing up, you don't mean height, right? You bad fellow! I didn't wrong you at all!"
"Like you said, you're already a grown girl." Minami Yuxi placed her hand on Mayu's hand that was covering her head, "You have to be careful about the distance you keep from adult men."
"Yuuki, who needs my care, has no right to educate me!"
Slapping Nan Youxi's hand away, Moyou pulled down her eyelids with her hands, stuck out her tongue, and made a face at him.
[Think about it, if Mayu is not alienated from you, then it could only be that the girl is being upset. ]
[You thought from a girl's perspective and realized your mistake. You tried it out and the facts turned out to be just as you guessed.]
[You laugh at yourself. After so many years of being single, you actually forgot what you are best at.]
[After your help, the girl turned back into a girl. She hugged your waist, got close to you, and complained to you.]
[The only thing that bothers you is that the girl started calling you by your name. You are clearly of the same generation as Saki, and you were his elder brother a few years ago, but now you are on the same level as Mayu.]
[You think, maybe this is not a bad idea, you can abandon the identity of a brother who needs to be taken care of by Mayu and become a reliable Yuuki. ]
[This confidence lasted for half a day. At noon, you went into the kitchen to help the girl prepare lunch. You learned to track prey and set traps on the African savannah, and you learned ice fishing and polar cooking in Antarctica... But all of this is useless in this modern kitchen. You can't even peel a potato properly. ]
[Moyou chased you out of the kitchen. You sat under the eaves, looking at the yard in the sun, lamenting that heroes have no place to use their talents.]
[In the afternoon, Mayu asked you about your itinerary on Uta Island. Uta Island is very small, with only a hundred households. There are no beautiful beaches, steep cliffs, or special ecology. It is an extremely ordinary island.]
[You tell her that you come here to appreciate nature, relax your body and mind, and improve your artistic realm.]
[She understands that you have nothing to do.]
[Faced with her doubts, you can't refute them. ]
[She thought for a while and invited you to take a walk around this small island. You agreed.]
[You have no interest in this island. You have been to many islands and are tired of seeing them all. You only agreed to it in order not to reject the girl's kindness.]
[At first, the island gave you the same feeling as you imagined, but after more than ten minutes, when you shifted your attention from the scenery to the girl next to you, you had a new feeling.]
[The originally ordinary scenery, with the embellishment of the girl, has a different feeling.]
[Moyou did not take you to the scenic spots that the islanders had worked hard to find, but took you to places she often visited and showed you interesting places that she discovered herself. ]
[Her cheerful voice and her bright eyes became part of the scenery.]
[You think of the rumors about the broken-arm Vilas, and you think that these ordinary views are just right. If the views are too beautiful, they will suppress the beauty of the girl.]
[On your way back, you met an old lady who had just returned from sea fishing. The old lady gave Moyou a fish, looked at you carefully, and asked who you were. ]
[You are somewhat troubled by Moyu's answer. ]
(End of this chapter)