Tsuki Tsuki - Volume 9 - Chapter Prologue

Prologue

“I mean, you‘re the one I—“
Her usual dignified expression vanished and her eyes flickered with worry. Then flushing her smooth, white cheeks, Gogyou Hijiri softly grabbed the sleeve of my clothes.
A faint fragrance of flowers came from her glamorous, long hair and waiting for her to continue, I felt my own heart beating fast.
Afternoon of a certain holiday. I had gone to the Dojo of the Gogyou Mansion and conducted the exorcist training, which had become a routine lately, while Hijiri watched over me.
Amidst that, Hijiri had started talking with “I have something important to tell you” and while turning bright red, she chose her words with utmost care, slowly bringing her graceful features closer. Following, she firmly looked into my eyes and hesitated for a moment. Then she opened her well-formed lips.

“You’re the one I… love.”

Increasing the strength of her squeeze on my sleeve a bit,
“I want to be with you more often. I want to be closer to you. I want to be near you. I don’t want the engagement to be only a formality anymore…”
she confessed so with emotional words. With her eyes still filled with worry, Hijiri asked timidly.
“What about you, Shinobu-kun? How do you feel about me?”
“I…”
My confusion was so great that I was at a loss for words.

While I couldn’t think straight, my heart beat annoyingly loud and contrary to the welling up joy… the silhouette of a single girl floated in my head.
The smiling face of the girl I had promised to protect.
…I already might have partly known what to do.
But to me, Hijiri was the charming and precious girl I looked up to, so… the words I should be saying somehow didn’t come out of my mouth.
Just looking down and clenching my fists, I kept my mouth shut, whereupon Hijiri started talking calmly after a short silence.
“…You don’t have to answer me now.”
When I suddenly raised my head, Hijiri looked at me with her usual dignity in her eyes and showed a soft smile.
“I’ll wait until you find your answer, Shinobu-kun. It was rather sudden anyway, so take your time. And I’ll continue to work hard, so that you’ll be mindful of me.”
Saying so, Hijiri broadened her smile, as to hide her worry.
Her smile was really pretty and a bit dazzling.
…Would she still smile at me like that when I had found my answer?
The moment I voiced out my feelings, I felt that a single word would destroy our relationship so far. The feeling I embraced at that time was…