Chapter 19: Leaving
Alisa had grown noticeably closer to Akashi over the past few days. The more she talked with him, the more she seemed to like him. There was a gentleness in her tone when she spoke to him now, and her eyes lingered a bit longer whenever he smiled.
We ate dinner slowly, sitting beside each other. I fed her piece by piece, and it felt oddly familiar—almost like how Lucy used to feed me.
"So this is how Lucy felt..." I thought, glancing at Alisa. Honestly, she was adorable. I couldn't help myself—I began to gently play with her cheeks.
She didn't resist, smiling faintly. Her expression remained unreadable, but she clearly didn't dislike the attention. In fact, she leaned into it slightly, as if enjoying the moment. But after a while, as my fingers continued squishing her cheeks, her face turned bright red, and she suddenly slapped my hands away.
"Ow," I said, blinking in surprise. Then I saw her flushed cheeks and burst out laughing.
That only made it worse. She pouted, then leaned forward and bit my arm—not hard, but enough to make me flinch.
"That tickled," I said with a grin, laughing even more.
Though her expression remained mostly blank, there was a subtle, smug glint in her eyes before she turned away, satisfied with her revenge.
Night crept in slowly, and with it came the realization that I'd have to leave the next morning. Lucy was scheduled to pick me up at sunrise. I tried to ignore the looming farewell, but Irish—who'd been unusually clingy all day—clung to me even tighter as bedtime came around.
I smiled and gently whispered to her, "Don't worry. I'll come back next month."
She didn't reply. She just closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. But I saw it—the faintest smile curling at the corner of her lips. It made me feel strangely relieved.