"Is this just my feeling? It seems like you're showing an expression of wanting to escape when you see me."
After Yuu walked up to his front door with a Tragic and Serious Expression, like a general about to fight in a battle to the death, Haruno immediately greeted him with a sentence like that.
Her face showed a friendly and amiable smile, but deep in her eyes, it felt cold—that was the Fake Smile she mastered the most.
"Why would I need to escape if I'm fine? Rather, you suddenly came looking for me—what's the matter?"
Yuu spoke as if nothing had happened, while gesturing for her to move away from the door, because he wanted to take out his key to open the front door.
Haruno obediently stepped back, leaning against the wall beside it. Her eyes, Full of Hidden Meaning, observed his expression.
"Yes, I also want to know what I've done to make you want to escape... Tenkuji-kun."
Yuu's hand, turning the key, paused slightly.
Of course, from the first sentence of their meeting, the two were already Testing Each Other.
He thought it would take a few more sentences before Haruno started Probing for Weaknesses from the greeting. For that, he deliberately spoke ambiguously, trying to control the rhythm... He didn't expect Haruno to be so impatient, immediately throwing out bait.
(This isn't her usual habit.)
(Is it because her last memories are still preserved, so she's impatient to take the initiative?)
(Or has she returned to the period before her memories recovered, and is once again relying on intuition and the strangeness in her memories to pretend to be Extremely Relaxed and Confident in order to get clues?)
Yuu slightly tilted his head, observing the meaningful smile on the college student's face.
Neither his perfect-level acting ability nor Lie Detection could help him guess what was on Haruno's mind right now.
Yes, only she gave him this feeling—despite knowing each other so well, they could still maintain mystery in front of their opponent, Stubbornly Speaking in Riddles until the end.
Thinking of this, Yuu couldn't help but turn his head away, laughing silently with his back to her.
...That feeling had returned, that familiar feeling had also returned, far more enjoyable than the meeting he had imagined.
As for why they didn't directly talk about the things they cared about, but used this awkward and troublesome way to Test Each Other's information, like a Secret Agent Meeting...
How to put it, a habit?
Every couple has different ways of interacting. The way he and Haruno were like this. Situations of mutual honesty were far rarer—after all, they could understand the true meaning behind the opponent's words. Just like some clothes that look better when worn than taken off, there was no need to force the removal of all disguises.
So now, Yuu also used the tone of speech from the past. He stopped his laughter, pretended to be profound, and said:
"Well... It's hard to say. Rather than saying you did something that scares me, it's better to say I did many things I don't dare to face... So, when I meet you without mental preparation, I unconsciously want to escape."
Haruno said with slight surprise: "Oh? What did you do that you don't dare to face? Why don't I remember?"
"Don't remember? That's good. It's enough for me to remember those things."
Yuu opened his house door, while saying to himself: "You might feel strange, even think I'm raving... But I've decided. Even if this can't even be called redemption, I want to get back the you from before, get back our past, and stop escaping from the beauty we once experienced."
"What are you talking about? Are you hallucinating? Why don't I understand a single word?"
"Yeah, think of it that way..." Lifting his foot to enter the entrance, Yuu took a light breath and exhaled it with a bit of heaviness.
He knew Haruno was still staring at him from behind, and he could imagine her complex expression right now.
Just like when he first met Haruno who had recovered her memories, not only surprised by the current situation, but also confused about what to do and say to face this sudden situation.
Yuu also had no intention of revealing everything now. He wanted to find the right time—the right time when he could sit and Have a Long Discussion with Haruno, resolving all the clear and unclear things at once.
Winter vacation was still long, life was still long. Not just for these two Yukinoshita sisters, he would get back all the feelings and memories, and from now on, he wouldn't disappoint anyone again.
"So, Haruno—"
Yuu half-turned, his voice just coming out.
A soft collision suddenly touched his back, which he received steadily.
Followed by white arms wrapping around his chest, as if wanting to crush him in her embrace, Haruno used all her strength until she trembled slightly.
A familiar scent pierced his nose from behind. His jacket, cold from the wind, in an instant began to warm.
After being stunned for a moment, Yuu slowly stopped all his movements.
He stood in place, letting Haruno continue to apply strength with her hands on his stomach, as if venting all her emotions, trying to merge their hair and even their bones, so they could never be separated.
After an unknown amount of time, Haruno finally spoke softly in a hoarse, choked, and tired voice:
"Right... you're back."
Yuu gently patted Haruno's hand wrapped around his stomach, without much surprise, just lowering his head and laughing: "Yeah, I'm back."
"When? The Cultural Festival?"
"More or less. I always dreamed of things that happened during summer vacation. When I realized it, I found there was one more person in my heart... Did you secretly cast a spell on me?"
"What nonsense, if I could do magic like that, you would have already been whining and crawling to me calling me Lady Haruno. Why would I have to come find you myself?"
Haruno sneered in a mocking tone, then spoiled her voice like a child, correcting with great dissatisfaction: "Besides, it's not one more person in the heart, but she was already there, you just made her disappear!"
"Sorry, I misspoke."
Afraid of being questioned on this, Yuu quickly changed the topic: "What's with your memories? Did they not change because of the world reset, or did you use some method to preserve them?"
Haruno didn't answer immediately, but murmured in a suddenly calm tone:
"The world was reset...? That means Yukino-chan successfully completed the Ideal Boyfriend task yesterday? That's really impressive... But, the Yukino-chan now..."
Being so close, Yuu could of course hear her murmur, so he explained:
"The her now is the same as you two before. In a state where her memories have been modified, everything related to dating me is completely forgotten, and her cognition is very different from us who have memories."
Haruno nodded. Her head gently rubbed against his back. There wasn't much surprise in her tone: "Although there are still many things I want to ask you, but in broad strokes, I understand. The wheel turns. What I felt before is what Yukino-chan feels now."
"Er... There's still a slight difference..."
"Hmm~ A difference, huh~"
Although Yuu had tried to tilt his head back, he wasn't an owl, so of course he couldn't see Haruno's expression behind him.
But for some reason, he felt Haruno as if slowly drawing a Wicked Fake Smile full of malice, like a great villain planning an evil scheme, which made him shiver for some reason, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.
However, before he could say anything, his waist was suddenly poked twice by her neatly manicured nails. Haruno's warm voice, slightly laughing, crawled over his neck, whispering softly in his ear:
"Well, in any case, the two of us have returned to the past. All the remaining touching feelings, things I want to say, and complaints I want to voice, let's save them for another time when we're alone and the bedroom door is closed, then we'll talk about it slowly~"
"It's surprising, you can hold back..." Yuu unconsciously sighed.
As soon as those words came out, there was a sound of stifled laughter from her.
"Pffft... It's not me who can hold back, but I know how to empathize with my boyfriend, you know."
The two elastic and warm things pressed against his back vibrated twice as Haruno held back her laughter. Then, the soft white hand wrapped around his chest suddenly moved up, cupping his cheek.
"Come on, Yuu-chan, look over there, yup~"
"What?"
Asking with a confused face, following the strength of her hand, Yuu looked toward the stairs.
"..."
There, stood a girl with a Ghostly Face, white hair fluttering and a terrifying expression.
She opened wide her emotionless eyes. Her slender arm lifted mechanically like a String Puppet, then she placed her thumb across her graceful Swan-like neck, and slowly drew a horizontal line toward her older brother.
Anyone who saw it would understand, it clearly meant, "You're done for."
"Sora... Um, hear my explanation..."
The words Yuu uttered reflexively made the atmosphere even more tense and terrifying.
In front of the entrance in this Tense Situation, only one person couldn't hold back the trembling at the corner of her lips, and then released explosive laughter from overflowing joy.
"Puh ha ha ha ha, sorry, sorry~ I really didn't expect it to turn out like this before hugging you. I really didn't mean to harm you, Yuu-chan~"
Behind the frozen Yuu, Haruno couldn't help but slap his back hard, laughing uproariously without caring about her image, Delighted at Others' Misfortune.
Her laughter was crisp and cheerful, as if wanting to spread to the neighbors' ears on the street, as if wanting to pierce the snow-buried ground, as if wanting to reach the high sky after the fresh snow melted.
She laughed heedlessly of others, as if wanting to laugh out all the air in her lungs.
Because she was facing away from Yuu, no one could see Haruno's expression.
She smiled brightly, looking at the bright scenery above with slowly drifting white clouds, and couldn't hold back the feeling—it had been so long since she laughed this joyfully. The corners of her lips and cheeks felt a little sore.
Rubbing her cheek, Haruno wiped away the tears at the corner of her eye. She pursed her slightly dry lips, and slowly relaxed her body.
And placed all the accumulated burdens from the past until now, onto his back.
(I know, my tragedy won't continue.)
Yuu thought while sighing in relief. Haruno slowly closed her eyes, sinking into the back-to-back warmth, heart-to-heart.
(Although it feels like I didn't do anything, her feelings somehow returned mysteriously... But, whatever. As long as it's to my advantage, that's enough. The rest, I'll figure out later.)
(By the way, how long has it been since I felt this Sense of Security that Changed from Fake to Real?)
(It seems like just a few months, but it feels like years.)
(Truly...)
(From summer to winter, I still love him!)
"Hmph hmph~"
The corners of her lips couldn't help but lift again. Haruno took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh and beautiful air into her lungs, and smiled silently at the sunlit street after the snow melted:
"To endure until now, truly amazing!"
"Welcome back, Yuu-chan."