Why does the Ruined King still fall in love?

Then I got a text message on my phone.

From Isshiki.

"Senior! Don't forget that my birthday is coming up!" I scratched my head, wondering when her birthday was.

Is her birthday so early?

But I was already a little unable to think, and the turbulent sleepiness hit me.

With nothing else to do, I lay on the sofa and covered myself with a blanket.

My eyes hurt.

My nose is itchy.

I sneezed.

I feel my chest rattling.

I coughed.

In the end, I just sighed, cleared my throat, and fell asleep.

Chapter 120 Short Story·So What Is Me Under the Snow

Lucid dreaming is a linear state between waking and sleeping.

At this stage, you have complete control over your dreams, and despite knowing that you are dreaming, you can control every aspect of it.

None of this is true.

Like in The Matrix, that juicy, tender steak you put in your mouth is a fake.

Your stomach is still empty, and when you wake up, you can eat nothing but porridge.

A major theme of The Matrix movies is the line between reality and perception—do your feelings feel real? Are you breathing air?

That's how I feel right now.

So no matter what happens in the dream, the real world is still there.

So, even though I've been having these dreams lately, they're not going to bring me any closer to my ideal.

Still, the one I saw, she was... like that.

beautiful.

is it beautiful

what is that?

beauty......

What do people want to be?

People do want to be beautiful, otherwise plastic surgeons would go out of business.

Is beauty created or cultivated? Painting and music can be beautiful, and some ancient Greek even fell in love with a statue he created.Falling in love with one's own creation is like falling in love with one's own ideal architecture.Also pretty creepy.Also a little passion.

Is beauty eternal or fleeting like the wind? Flowers bloom and fall.Fireworks explode in a dizzying display.Buddha has been around longer than Jesus has walked the earth...so what is beauty?

There are good things in the world, even my rotten eyes can see that.

But is it real?

A light sensation brushes over my skin like a paintbrush.

A string of soft bristles fell from above.The sweet sakura scent fills my nose.

Yukinoshita stood by my side.Or is it her?

The taste of sulfur filled my mouth.

When I stood up, I also felt a little pain in my back.

It was the sight of the apartment under the snow that brought me back to the real world.

The curtains have been drawn and the windows are open.

Cloudy skies, gray skies, seemed to herald the throes of winter before its final death.

They were all blackened, as if about to fall with the last rain of winter.

Against the backdrop of dim cumulonimbus clouds, Yukinoshita looks down on the sky like a goddess.

"Good morning," she said.

I shrugged, but my body felt heavier than I thought.

When I began to think of the possibility that, because of the solitary lifestyle I had chosen, my powers had degenerated into those of a kitten, I felt a wave of panic.

As the saying goes, what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger, but that's wrong!

My heart has hardened, but my muscles have atrophied.

After briefly contemplating my bewildered life, I noticed that I had two blankets on me: one that I remembered being covered in when I fell asleep, and a thicker one.

Was it...by chance...or Yukinoshita...?

I sneezed.

The shock wave of the sneeze shook my entire chest.

Mucus builds up in my throat and lungs.

My breathing passages hurt, like I have an itchy bug in my windpipe that I can't catch.

My mouth is a bit dry and my nose is a bit stuffy.

I want something to drink, hot or cold coffee MAX.

"Good morning." I rubbed my nose and muttered.My eyes and chest hurt.

Yukinoshita approached me and held out his hand.

I swept it away.

She drew her hand back, looking annoyed.

"I'm sorry," I said.

I was gasping for breath, my sinuses were congested, and my throat wasn't much better.

My head still feels like a dream.

"You look red and sweating."

"I just woke up," I thought. "I'm fine...just need to wash my face...and..."

I stumbled up from the sofa and walked to the coffee table.

"Hikigu-kun." Yukinoshita put his hands on me and helped me stand up. "You should sit down."

"I don't need help."

"You need help," Yukinoshita said.

"I do not."

"Everybody needs help...sometimes..." she said softly as she put me back on the couch.

She turned her back on me and hurried to the kitchen.

"I want to make some black tea. Please be patient."

I rubbed my sleepy eyes and looked at the clock.

Almost......

"Ah! We're going to be late!" I stood up.

While I'm not one to stick to strict time and attendance, the school does have a pretty extreme lateness policy.

If you're not at school when the doors close, the PE teacher will let you in after 20 laps, which is a good deterrent to anyone who isn't late.

While I may be skeptical of the youthful romantic lifestyle, I'm also an energy conservationist at heart.

I put my hands on my knees and feel my legs shaking.

Hell, my whole body was shaking.

Oh... looking at the morning sky, I cringe.Even a ray of sunlight in a dull gray sky can burn my eyes.

Could this be a migraine? My vision is getting blurry.

"Come, drink." Yukinoshita said, putting the tray on the table.

I could see, on a small saucer beside the cup and saucer, various pills.

It seems that Yukinoshita thinks I'm more like a lab animal than a human.

Wait, guinea pigs are pretty expensive.If anything, I'm definitely a groundhog.

Anyway, mine is worth far more than the 18 yen replica.

"Am I about to undergo an experiment?"

"These are various cold medicines—"

"No need." I said hoarsely.Cold? I don't have a cold. "Let's go. We're going to be late."

Yukinoshita put two firm hands on my shoulders and made me sit down.

She looked at me with almost zero distance between our noses.

The expression in her eyes was sharp, but not as cold as I thought it would be.

They have soft edges and are full of things I don't quite understand.

Is this concerned?

"responsibility."

Yukinoshita said something I didn't want to hear.

"sorry?"

Yukinoshita looked at me again.

Then, standing up with her arms crossed, looking at me, she sighed and said, "Don't make me repeat that again."

"I'm talking about...responsibility."

Who are you? Spiderman?

"W-what?" I said, feeling a chill run up my spine.

A sigh. "You are sick, Hikigu-kun." Yukinoshita said frankly. "In case you don't even realize that."

I am sick?!I am obviously the epitome of perfect health!

"I'm very good--"

I couldn't finish that sentence because I sneezed.

Again, my entire rib cage rattles like a xylophone, like someone is playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on it.

I grab my ribs, which I admit is painful.

Maybe I never wanted to be a stay-at-home husband, maybe I was doomed to die at the height of my unremarkable high school life.

"You're sick. I'll take care of you."

She said it as if it were already some kind of fact.

But why?

Why does she say "she'll take care of me"? Is this just another display of her twisted aristocratic persona?

Is it because I am an employee under her jurisdiction, like a mafia boss, taking care of her subordinates?

Maybe she pity me because no one else can take care of me now.

Komachi was at school while my parents were busy with their slave-like jobs... Maybe Yukinoshita thought it was a good act of charity.

I bet Yukinoshita is just sorry for the pathetic situation I'm in.