Chapter Thirteen: Hunger

  She winked at him and then closed her eyes, really falling asleep.

  It wasn't like her previous fake sleep, although she had been very good at it. And this was probably the first time that day she fell asleep rather than passed out.

  See, sleeping is actually not that hard.

  He let out a yawn, and Yukimura was also sleepy. After all, he was just a 12-year-old kid, and today had been tiring enough for him. He climbed onto the bed, using a blanket to separate himself from the two of them, and soon fell asleep as well.

  But those two hands clasped together, even when they were asleep, had never been separated.

  ——

  The next day, Yukimura was surprised to find that the girl was still sleeping soundly after he woke up. She was really asleep, and the expression on her face wasn't the relaxed look people have when they're pretending to sleep, but a truly at peace feeling.

  He stretched out his idle hand and touched her forehead, fortunately finding that her fever had really subsided. In that case, the wound would heal faster too.

  He put his mind at ease and lifted his head to check the time. Ah, it was 10 o'clock. It seemed that he had been really exhausted yesterday, and he didn't wake up until now.

  Gently, he stretched out his hand, wanting to pull his right hand out of the girl's. But she was holding on too tightly. Although there was no feeling of being hurt, it was also very hard to struggle free. After a long time, when his hand finally came loose, he raised his head and met the girl's focused gaze.

  She didn't know when she woke up, it seemed that after waking up, she just stared at him blankly, without any movement.

  "Eh, you're awake? Was it me who woke you up?" He gently moved his hand that had been grasped all night, which felt a bit stiff. Mukura thought to himself, "His hand was able to move freely, I wonder if it's because she let go after waking up."

  I thought it would be like yesterday, the girl wouldn't give him any reaction. Unexpectedly, she shook her head at him, indicating that he wasn't the one who woke her up.

  This was a surprise for Yukimura.

  Doesn't this mean she's no longer as wary of him?

  His mood lifted slightly, his lips curled up uncontrollably, "Are you hungry? I'll go cook something, we can eat soon."

  He thought that if it weren't for people who had similar experiences with him, they would probably be unable to understand his feelings at this moment.

  The girl blinked and nodded at him again. The corners of her lips were stiffly raised, as if she wanted to smile at him, but it was too stiff, looking like a cold smile.

  "You're doing great." He stretched out his hand and gently stroked her hair on the forehead, as a form of encouragement. He knew that she rarely smiled, because her face always had only one expression.

  Then he saw that the depth in the girl's eyes gradually faded away, and she blinked at him again, "... hungry."

  "Ah, I'll go cook rice right away." With a gentle smile at her, Yukimura cheerfully brushed his teeth, washed his face, and started cooking.

  This morning is really beautiful, isn't it?

  As long as you go and do it, there will always be gains.

  After breakfast, Yukimura went to Kawashima's house and gathered a pile of medicine.

  There's no way, the girl insisted on not going to the hospital, and just when her condition had finally improved a bit, Xingcun really didn't dare force her, fearing that in the end she would regress again and return to the state where she couldn't even sleep... That would be terrible.