Girl Band, Gravity Capture

Page 7

"correct,"

Gen Xudou turned around and glanced at the girl whose arm was being supported by Takamatsu Akira.

Two gold and black ribbons were tied around her long, smooth, sky-blue hair. Although her bright, round face still showed surprise, it was not hard to see her innate nobility and elegance.

Her pale golden eyes reflected a mixture of confusion and embarrassment. Her fair hand, which wasn't being supported, clenched slightly and shook, as if silently protesting against the boy who had arbitrarily decided where he was going.

Her cuteness and beauty blend perfectly, making her look like some kind of meticulously designed high-end doll. Especially when she was being supported by Takamatsu, her bewildered and slightly stiff movements only accentuated her charm.

Moreover, although he had been opposing it, he had never made any serious struggles... he was just a little embarrassed, but he didn't actually resist the two people's goodwill. It was with this judgment that Yuan Xudou chose to insist on doing so.

"I'm Yuan Xudou, a third-year student at Dongdu Middle School. May I ask your name?"

"...I am Takamatsu Akari, a third-year student at Haneoka."

Takamatsu, who was supporting her, also turned her head and introduced herself softly in a gentle voice.

“…Really.”

After a moment of silence under their gazes, the girl seemed to have finally accepted the truth and given up, muttering something under her breath.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm her somewhat chaotic emotions.

Then, she took a breath, opened her eyes, and revealed a bright and elegant smile again.

"I am Toyokawa Shoko, a third-year student at Tsukimori Girls' Academy Junior High School."

Chapter Six: With You, the One Who Matters to Me

Yuan Xudou met Gao Songdeng when he was in the second year of junior high school.

Back then, his way of speaking was modeled after that of an ordinary student, lacking the detachment he later developed as an "excellent student." Time was also far less free than it is now—to be precise, it wasn't as free as it was before he met Nagasaki Motoyo.

Therefore, he could only conduct his observations of life not far from his home. At that time, he lived in an ordinary apartment next to Haneoka Girls' Academy, and every day after school, he could see groups of vibrant young girls walking by downstairs, chatting and laughing.

Then he noticed that among them, the loneliest was Gao Songdeng, who was always squatting alone by the grass, groping around, or standing in the shade of a tree, lost in thought.

If it were a normal junior high school student, they would probably think this person is a bit of a weirdo with some mental abnormality, and then keep their distance—in fact, that's probably what the students passing by did.

However, Gen Xudou is not a normal person in the conventional sense. He became interested in why Gao Songdeng did this and began to "observe" this unusual phenomenon.

He soon realized that it was indeed quite difficult to understand what she was doing simply by observing her and relying on his accumulated logical thinking as a normal person.

He then abandoned common sense and stopped observing from afar. Instead, he walked directly to the girl's side and stood behind her, observing her every move.

The first time she did this, when Yuan Xudou got within three or four meters of Gao Songdeng and stood there motionless, she seemed to notice his sudden approach. The girl's shoulders trembled, and her already small body, which was squatting by the roadside, shrank even more. She didn't even dare to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

It's just like some kind of small animal being targeted by a predator...

He thought the girl would run away. After all, it's quite terrifying to think about a stranger suddenly running over without saying a word and staring blankly at what you're doing.

Xu Dou was aware that what he was doing could easily be perceived as having ulterior motives.

However, Gao Songdeng only trembled in fear for a while at first. Seeing that Yuan Xudou did not make any further moves, she slowly relaxed, stopped trembling her petite body, and reached her hand back into the grass as if nothing had happened, continuing to do her own thing with complete absorption.

This time, Yuan Xudou, who was close enough, finally saw clearly what she was doing.

She stretched out her small, fair hand, completely ignoring the dust and mud on the ground, and turned over the small stones half-buried in the soil one by one, gently pressing the tiny insects hidden beneath them with her fingertips.

Occasionally, she would pick up a stone that caught her eye, examine it closely for a while, and then put it in her pocket.

Gao Songdeng continued this process, seemingly ignoring Yuan Xudou beside him, happily picking up stones and touching insects.

...and he just stood behind her and watched her do it.

Of course, Yuan Xudou was actually trying to understand her logic, so he was observing her closely.

As the sun began to set, based on his past experience observing from a distance, he sensed that the girl was about to leave, and without hesitation, he turned and left first.

—I didn't understand. I'll come back tomorrow.

However, even though he said he would come back tomorrow, he couldn't be sure if the girl would continue doing this after what had happened.

Even if it's just to avoid this strange stranger, shouldn't we go somewhere else?

Yuan Xudou was already prepared for the possibility that he might scare the girl away and never come to this area again. In that case, he would have to find her first, and then consider how to observe her without disturbing her.

However, it turned out that Gen Xudou underestimated the extent to which Takamatsu Tō defied common sense.

At the same time the next day, she appeared in the same spot, only now in a different patch of grass.

When he approached again and stood behind her, Takamatsu Akari no longer trembled like she had the first time. It was as if she hadn't noticed him at all, and she continued to do the same thing quietly as yesterday.

Although his inner confusion deepened, he could achieve his goal without risking being seen as a stalker, which was a good thing for him, so Yuan Xudou didn't mind.

Thus, a strange scene appeared on Yuqiu's way home from school.

A thin girl squatted by the roadside, intently exploring the grass, and a handsome young man stood behind her, tall and straight, gazing intently at her.

It randomly refreshes around the school every day after school and disappears automatically after a while, like an Easter egg in a game.

During this time, Gen Xudou also encountered other students from Haneoka who claimed to be the girl's friends. They came and pulled him away, questioning him about what he was doing.

...To be honest, he was quite surprised that Gao Songdeng had friends.

He explained to the other person that he meant no harm, was just curious, and showed them his student ID.

Perhaps it was because his face and voice were so convincing, and he didn't seem like the kind of person who would do anything bad, that they eventually accepted Yuan Xudou's explanation and let him go.

But... since she has friends, why does she do this alone?

From them, Yuan Xudou not only learned the girl's name "Takamatsu Akari," but also felt the genuine care these girls had for her.

In other words, Gao Songdeng did these things that others couldn't understand on her own after school not because she had no one to talk to.

The observation has progressed to this point, and continuing further will not yield any more information.

He had planned to find an opportunity to try and talk to Takamatsu Akari, so as to get to know this strange girl better.

However, before he could even take any action, Gao Songdeng took the first step in their communication.

On a typical afternoon, Yuan Xudou, having completed his daily observation task, turned around and prepared to go home without any hesitation, just like an office worker clocking out on time.

Then, he felt a slight tugging sensation in his arm.

Yuan Xudou raised an eyebrow, a hint of unexpectedness appearing in his calm, dark eyes.

He turned around and looked at Takamatsu Tō, who was holding his sleeve with one hand and looking up at him with his head slightly tilted back.

"...This is for you..."

The girl's moist amber eyes cast a soft and timid gaze, her cherry-colored lips trembled slightly, and she hesitantly uttered a soft, dull sound.

She carefully extended her other hand towards him, and a smooth, lustrous pebble lay in her fair palm.

"This is……"

Yuan Xudou recognized the stone.

A few days ago, he saw Gao Songdeng pick it up from the ground, put it in his pocket, and take it home.

It appears to have been carefully washed and wiped clean, as the originally gray stone has become quite lustrous, with a crystalline sheen visible on its smooth surface.

“…For me?”

"Um……"

She nodded slowly but firmly, raising her hand slightly.

"……Thanks."

Yuan Xudou's calm expression softened slightly. He took the pebble and, imitating her, carefully placed it in his pocket.

"you know me?"

Seeing Yuan Xudou take the stone, Gao Songdeng released his grip on his sleeve, shook his head hesitantly, and then slowly nodded.

The two had never communicated before, and Yuan Xudou only learned the name "Gao Songdeng" from her friend. She probably didn't even know that the boy knew her name.

However, in her mind, Won Heo-doo, who had been accompanying her in doing these things, was already a very good friend to her.

Seeing her bewildered and confused expression, like a newborn animal, unsure how to express her thoughts, Yuan Xudou sighed softly, took a step back, and bowed slightly, allowing Gao Songdeng, who was a head shorter than him, to communicate with him more naturally.

"You like collecting these stones?"

"Because...it's very beautiful..."

She answered softly, her delicate eyelashes trembling slightly. Her eyes and brows seemed lowered, but she was actually secretly observing Yuan Xudou's expression.

This little trick could not escape Yuan Xudou's honed insight.

...She seemed a little afraid of herself. But not of him as a person, but rather...afraid of what he might say?

"Wouldn't that be strange...?"

Takamatsu looked down at his toes with some unease, his voice as faint and fleeting as tiny bubbles rising from the deep sea.

“No.” Yuan Xudou shook his head. “What’s so strange about liking to collect things?”

Takamatsu blinked and looked up at him.

"But...nobody else likes it..."

She whispered her long-standing worries.

"Everyone thinks I'm weird...and I also think it's not good..."

"But I can't be like everyone else..."

……I see.

Yuan Xudou noticed it.

The girl in front of me is an "outcast in human society".

Even if they receive the same education, have the same family, and make the same friends as others, the final product they present is vastly different from others.

She possesses a unique, innate mind that is completely different from that of ordinary people, to the point that her every word and action is out of step with others.

Liking stones is not strange, but squatting by the roadside on the way home from school, ignoring other people's stares, to collect stones from the grass because of your liking for stones... that's what seems strange to normal people.

Because of certain events, Takamatsu realized that she was actually out of touch with others, but in the end she was unable to change herself and integrate into the crowd, so she gradually became the lonely and sensitive person she is now.

but--

"It's not that strange, is it?"

Yuan Xudou straightened up, and his gentle voice finally stopped trying to sound indifferent.

"I did all these things with you, and you gave me your favorite stone as a gift. Isn't that normal?"

"Very...normal...?"

Takamatsu blinked his amber eyes in disbelief, hesitantly pondering the unfamiliar word.

"Ah."

He nodded slightly.

A slightly melancholic evening breeze brushed against their cheeks, blurring the view in Gao Songdeng's eyes, where half of the boy's profile was obscured by golden light.

"Because I've observed you for a long time, I can understand. In my opinion, that feeling is actually no different."

"It's just that other people don't know you well enough."

"That's how it is between people; they need certain mediums to understand each other. Ordinary people can understand each other simply by relying on words, actions, or even eye contact. Although you are a little special, it's not that you don't have that ability."

Perhaps, to some extent, he saw in Takamatsu Takayuki a reflection of himself who hoped to understand others.

Yuan Xudou rarely spoke so much.

"There's nothing strange about your inner feelings as long as you can express them correctly."

"Inner feelings..."

The girl stood frozen in place, as if she had been shocked.

"But... how can I express it..."

"You'll have to find it yourself."

Yuan Xudou shook his head, letting the sudden feeling in his heart dissipate, and returned to his calm demeanor.