Urashima slightly reminisced, and a very cheerful girl ca to mind.
Every ti she appeared, she would laugh heartily.
Occasionally, she would pat his shoulder and then hand him her water bottle.
Compared to Ashi, Kiko often ca by.
They were quite familiar with each other.
They even had dinner together twice.
"Of course, I rember."
"Didn’t we make plans for pancakes before?"
"She personally made pancakes for ."
Urashima answered like this.
"Hmm."
"At that ti, she was laughing very happily."
"The pancakes were delicious too."
Yukiko smiled and nodded, seemingly reminiscing about that mont.
"What about her?"
Urashima continued to ask.
"She’s doing well."
Yukiko responded.
This made Urashima a bit embarrassed.
While running, he scratched his head.
"I thought sothing had happened to Kiko."
Urashima beca even more embarrassed.
With the recent incident involving Ashi, he thought sothing had happened to Kiko too.
Turns out, he was overthinking.
It’s true, what are the odds of such coincidences continuously happening around Yukiko?
"Urashima, you really think, how could such coincidences keep happening around !"
"I just wanted to say that Kiko wants to invite us out for pancakes again."
Yukiko, running beside Urashima, gently tapped his arm.
This affectionate gesture made Urashima blush instantly.
"Urashima, do you rember ’Mayi’?"
Yukiko continued.
"Mayi?"
"Yes, yes, I rember."
"A delicate girl in a white dress with her hair up in a bun."
"We even invited her to run with us before."
"But she couldn’t run more than a few hundred ters."
"I rember she bought a new dress last week, right?"
Urashima said.
"Yes!"
"I accompanied her when she bought it."
"However, Urashima, how did you know?"
Yukiko asked curiously.
"We exchanged numbers, and she told herself—she even ntioned that she’s been learning to bake cakes and will invite us to try them once she’s good at it."
Urashima replied naturally.
This naturalness wasn’t feigned; it was indeed very natural.
To him, there was nothing to hide about such matters.
Especially from Yukiko, Urashima felt he shouldn’t hide anything.
But Urashima, who was running ahead, didn’t notice Yukiko’s sowhat gloomy expression.
Urashima ran a few steps ahead before realizing Yukiko hadn’t caught up.
Instinctively, the young police officer turned back.
"Yukiko, what’s wrong?"
Urashima, seeing Yukiko’s unusual expression, couldn’t help but ask.
"Urashima, you’re a police officer, right?"
Yukiko asked.
"Yes, a rookie officer."
"Although I’m still a newbie, I’ll strive to beco an excellent officer like Officer Ryosuke and... like Lord Jason, to beco a real man."
Urashima was a bit embarrassed.
Becoming a police officer had been his childhood dream.
And for that, Urashima went through a lot of hardships.
However, Urashima never expected being a police officer would be harder than he imagined.
Nevertheless, these trials were all ones he was prepared to face.
Because he had goals to chase!
Ryosuke!
And...
Jason!
"Lord Jason?"
Yukiko knew about Ryosuke,
But Jason was a foreign na to her.
Imdiately, it piqued Yukiko’s interest.
"Lord Jason is soone I t just a couple of days ago."
"He’s a very charismatic person."
"Not only is he strong and tall, but also very warm-hearted."
When talking about strength, there was a gleam in Urashima’s eyes.
The muscular physique was sothing Urashima cared deeply about.
If not for wanting to be stronger, he wouldn’t be training every day, focusing primarily on anaerobic and complenting with aerobic exercises, always coupled with a muscle-building diet.
But for so reason, the results were always not as evident as expected.
And the gyms he frequented seed to always close down.
Either due to accidents or the owners running off with the money.
It just didn’t allow him to focus on his training.
But lately, he heard about a new ’Silver Gym’ opening up.
Perhaps, it was a good choice.
Urashima thought.
"Urashima, you want to go to a new gym again?"
Yukiko asked.
"Yes."
"The recent gym is really too much."
"They keep closing down unexpectedly."
"I just want to exercise in peace."
Urashima sighed in frustration.
"Exercise in peace?"
"All those won mbers are always crowding around."
"Urashima, how can you exercise in peace?"
Yukiko asked.
"Eh, Yukiko, how do you know?"
Urashima curiously looked at Yukiko.
He didn’t rember talking to Yukiko about these matters.
"Of course, I guessed it."
"Urashima, you’re so gentle, surely a bunch of people would cling to you."
"Under such circumstances, it’s natural that they aren’t focusing on exercising. Issues may arise, like, fracturing the spine during squats, getting throat smashed by a barbell during bench press, or even getting a dumbbell exploding on soone’s head."
"These are all pretty normal."
Yukiko said with a smile, her expression gentle, as if she was rely stating facts.
Urashima felt it was a bit strange, but thought Yukiko made so sense, and with the oxygen and energy depletion during running, he didn’t think much more about it and pushed the issue to the back of his mind.
"Huff, huff."
"Running 5 kiloters continuously really isn’t easy."
Urashima gasped for breath after finishing the run.
"Yes."
"But the 5 kiloters are bearable when I’m with you, Urashima."
"Shall we try for 10 kiloters next ti?"
Yukiko asked.
"10 kiloters?"
"That’s not easy."
"You have school, and I have work. After running 10 kiloters, it won’t be easy to handle the rest of the day, so… shall we start with 6 kiloters?"
Urashima asked after catching his breath.
He loved to exercise, but he also had to consider his day job.
Especially when chasing criminals, it would be misunderstood if his legs were too weak.
"Alright then."
"6 kiloters is also a good start."
Yukiko showed a gentle smile.
"So, shall we et tomorrow?"
Urashima asked, his breathing now steady.
"Sure."
Yukiko nodded.
Afterwards, Urashima returned ho as usual.
The running route for both was circular; after reaching the endpoint, they would head back to their respective hos.
It was a tacit agreent ford over a long period.
But today was a little different.
As Urashima was walking back, Yukiko silently followed behind him.
It was only after walking a dozen ters that Urashima noticed Yukiko was behind him.
"What’s up, Yukiko?"
Urashima asked curiously.
"Have you never wondered, Urashima?"
"When you first started running, there were about a dozen people doing morning exercises here."
"Why is it just the two of us now?"
Yukiko asked with a smile.
"Maybe everyone is busy?"
Urashima frowned slightly, answering uncertainly.
"What about Ashi, Kiko, and Mayi?"
"Those three were my forr roommates."
Yukiko continued to ask with a smile.
"Ashi?"
"I just couldn’t keep up with her pace."
"Kiko preferred deep outdoor activities."
"Mayi?"
"She was in poor health."
Urashima answered, feeling nothing was amiss.
Yukiko blinked.
Just looking at Urashima.
Then—
Chuckle.
Yukiko laughed.
"Urashima, do you know?"
"I love this naive side of you, anyone else would have noticed sothing was wrong by now, but you still chose to believe ."
"Ashi, I wanted to use her to advance our relationship further, but I don’t need to hold back anymore, I can’t hold back anymore—I want to rge with you."
"We shall be inseparable!"
Yukiko continued to laugh.
But that smile, in Urashima’s eyes, beca unfamiliar, unspeakably bizarre.
Even the surrounding morning sun beca cold.
There was a subdued feeling.
"You..."
"I turned Kiko into pancakes."
"I made Mayi into cake."
"Those people around you, I got rid of them too."
"You belong only to ."
Yukiko took a deep breath, almost like making a declaration, and said—
"I love you!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)