Chapter 64: I'm Not Good at Goodbyes (4k)

Sirin had already forgotten how she spent that day. She felt dazed and disoriented, a surreal feeling pulling and enveloping her like a drowning person struggling in water. She desperately fought to grab onto something, but everything eluded her. The icy water filled her lungs, and her body felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead, sinking mercilessly into the deep sea.

At the dining table, her mother's excited voice suddenly sounded like a malfunctioning phonograph, and the words spoken seemed like phantom sounds from a dream, indistinct... Sirin felt suffocated, heavy pressure and tension shrouding her heart, making it difficult for her to breathe. Right now, she felt like a fish drowning in water.

"Sirin, can you hear me?" Her mother in her field of vision seemed to notice Sirin's strangeness and asked with concern.

Even though her mother was sitting right beside her, Sirin felt like there was a great distance between them, so far that the voice began to distort, and she couldn't see her mother's face clearly.

"Sirin!" Sirin felt herself being shaken and woke up with a somewhat blank expression, looking at her mother beside her.

"Sirin, are you feeling unwell? Do you want to see a doctor?" Concern and worry were unmistakable on her mother's face as she looked at Sirin and inquired.

Sirin shook her head, trembling, and said, "Brother left this morning."

"Ah?" Her mother made a puzzled sound.

Sirin's mind was now in chaos, and she didn't have the energy to answer her mother's confusion. Her mind was filled with one question:

What will happen when he comes back, and she's gone?

.........

Sirin finally found a way. She hurriedly ran out and, after some time, hurriedly returned to her room.

She placed the letter paper on the table, devoutly looking at it as if grasping the last straw. Then she sat on the chair in front of the table, flattened the paper, took up the pen prepared long ago, and began to write.

Sirin was not good at composition or letter writing. Until now, what she had encountered the most was writing descriptions based on pictures, and the essays she wrote did not reach the level of praise from the whole class.

Sirin believed so strongly that as long as she worked hard, she could write this letter well.

Holding the pen, Sirin frowned slightly, lightly biting her lower lip. Her expression was solemn, as if contemplating a significant issue of the universe.

But Sirin had overestimated herself. Perhaps she was really a fool.

When the minute hand on the wall clock rotated halfway, the shadows of the trees on the street tilted, birds hopped from one tree to another, and the fisherman by the Sprague River returned disappointed once again, Sirin still maintained her initial posture, unmoving.

She glanced at the wall clock and felt somewhat discouraged. Half an hour had passed, and she hadn't written a single word.

Sirin sighed, unconsciously propping her head up with her small hand on the table, looking at the increasingly dark sky outside and sighing.

Writing a letter is so difficult...

Sirin eventually completed the letter before it got completely dark. She happily read the letter repeatedly, carefully checking for any mistakes several times before satisfyingly sealing the letter.

Taking advantage of the fact that the night had not completely shrouded the city, she ran out of the house, slipped the envelope through the crack in the door, and couldn't help but take a few more glances at the room before leaving.

.................

November 11th, clear sky, gentle breeze.

Today is Sirin's 14th birthday, a day that should have been the most anticipated and joyful for the girl, but she couldn't find any happiness today—she is about to move to North America with her mother.

Holding a small bag in her hand, Sirin walked with difficulty, each step a huge challenge, boarding the flight with her mother. She walked slowly, and every step was a monumental struggle.

Since moving from Belarus to Berlin when she was a child, she had already become familiar with everything in this city.

She is about to leave Berlin and head to the continent she has only seen in books.

November in Berlin is often shrouded in vast white snow, everything adorned in silver, the sky always grayish, and the river surface always frozen, leaving disappointed fishermen returning empty-handed. There's also the small yet cozy home, and the young boy next door who loves making desserts and smiles, everything makes Sirin nostalgic.

She doesn't want to leave, but she's just a child and can't change the adults' decision. Like a rootless floating duckweed, she can only go along with the flow, unable to change the direction of the current.

However, there is some regret; she didn't say a proper goodbye to her brother.

When her brother returns home from his visit and finds Sirin gone, will he be sad? Will he see her letter?

Anxious, uneasy, afraid, reluctant...

Her heart seems like a potpourri, various emotions thrown into the already boiling pot, constantly fluctuating, eventually turning into a mix of conflicting feelings.

Thinking about this, Sirin's nose feels a bit sour. She has now sat in her airplane seat, looking at the city through the small window. Finally, unable to hold back, a warmth streaks down her cheeks.

The taste of parting is salty and bitter.

............

Outside the infirmary at the Heavenly Mandate.

Chase, using crutches, walks somewhat laboriously in the courtyard, occasionally sitting down to rest, looking somewhat weary.

Today's weather is quite good; the sunlight is radiant on the floating island. Chase didn't want to lie in the hospital bed, so he insisted on getting a cane from the doctor, refused the well-intentioned help from others, and limped towards the courtyard.

Admittedly, the medical facilities at the Heavenly Mandate are quite comprehensive. There are not only various sophisticated medical instruments and top-notch physicians but also well-equipped rehabilitation facilities.

Chase sits on a bench in the courtyard, smiling as he watches Kiana playing in front and Siegfried following closely behind. The winter wind blows on his face, and Chase doesn't feel the chill; instead, he finds it refreshing.

"How do you feel today?" Cecilia, sitting beside him, looks at the playing father and daughter with gentle eyes and asks Chase.

"Not good; I have to use crutches now." Chase sighs with a smile. "I'm starting to feel like a poet from the Shenzhou area."

"What?" Cecilia asks. She doesn't know much about the history of the Shenzhou area and can't connect the words "crutches" and "poet."

"Haha," Chase laughs, asking, "Is it okay for you all to accompany me like this?"

"We were already on vacation; it's still a vacation even here, right?" Cecilia answers matter-of-factly. "Besides, with us here, your mother will feel more at ease."

Chase smiles, "That makes sense."

In his heart, he can't help but sigh. How should he ask Anti-Entropy about Sirin's situation when his family is watching him like this?

Chase looks at his watch and says, "I'm tired; I want to go back to rest for a while."

Cecilia nods and calls Siegfried over. Siegfried nods and smiles, pulling out a wheelchair from somewhere. He even playfully performs a gentleman's gesture, extending an open right hand towards the wheelchair, making a "please get on" posture. Cecilia, next to him, covers her mouth and chuckles.

Chase twitches his mouth, waves his hand, "I'm just sick, not disabled."

Saying that, he stands up again, leaning on his crutches, and slowly walks back to the ward. Siegfried and Cecilia exchange a glance, somewhat helpless smiles, watching the figure of the boy in the blue and white hospital gown in front, carrying a sense of indescribable emotion.

"Hey, Dad!" Suddenly hearing the voice of his precious daughter, Siegfried suddenly freezes, realizing that Kiana has rushed out in the electric wheelchair prepared for Chase.

As for the direction of the charge...

"Huh?" Chase turns around at the sound behind him, and his expression changes from confusion to curiosity to horror.

"Kiana, stop quickly!" Siegfried panics; if she crashes into Chase, given Chase's current physical condition, he doesn't dare to think about it.

"Where's the brake?!!!" Kiana is also panicking; she just climbed onto the wheelchair and found a button on her right side. She didn't control her curiosity for a while.

What's this? Click.

Then there was a sudden and unexpected sense of pushing back, and the wheelchair rushed out with an unconventional acceleration.

Seeing that it was about to hit Chase, Kiana hurriedly tried to stop the wheelchair, clicking around on the wheelchair, and then the wheelchair went faster...

Chase: "???"

The wheelchair in the field of vision gradually enlarged, and what also appeared in the field of vision was the panicked expression of little Kiana. Chase suddenly woke up, trying to move aside, but it was too late.

The muffled sound of the collision echoed in the courtyard. Siegfried and Cecilia couldn't help but close their eyes, not daring to look at the scene.

In the moment before the impact, Chase seemed to see Kiana sitting not on a wheelchair but on a fierce and galloping wild horse...

Here, initiating!

When Chase opened his eyes again, he was back in his hospital bed. It seems that Kiana's collision came with a return-to-the-city service, quite considerate.

Inside the ward, the voice of the mother is heard again. Chase slightly turns his head, seeing his mother's face with a hint of anger, criticizing Siegfried and the others.

"Really, I told you to take good care of him, but you used a wheelchair to crash him into the hospital, didn't you?"

Siegfried scratched his head, apologizing uncontrollably. Cecilia also lowered her head somewhat awkwardly, while Kiana kept staring at Chase's side, unable to conceal her guilt. Suddenly realizing that Chase had awakened and was looking at her, she quickly said, "Onii-chan is awake!"

The woman with wrinkles on her face looked at Chase, walked to his side, and asked with concern, "How do you feel now? Still painful?"

"It's okay~" Chase replied.

"The doctors said there's nothing serious; Mom, you can rest assured." Siegfried said on the side, but his response was met with his mother's cold eyes, making him shrink his neck and not speak anymore.

"Onii-chan, I'm sorry." Kiana ran to his side, grabbing his right hand with both small hands, feeling guilty and embarrassed, twisting and saying.

"Brother is not hurt, oh. The doctor said so. Kiana, don't worry, brother didn't blame you. Everything is your father's fault!" Chase comforted Kiana with a smile, while throwing a blaming look at Siegfried.

Not as bad as Theresa's punch, luckily luckily... he silently added in his heart.

But to be knocked unconscious by a wheelchair is quite outrageous.

Why would Siegfried prepare such a wheelchair for him?! What is his intention? Is he afraid that Chase is not dying fast enough?

Chase no longer looks at Siegfried, recalling old accounts of Siegfried bullying him in his childhood...

[At 1 year old, Siegfried hid you in a school bag and showed you to friends, almost suffocating you.]

[At 3 years old, Siegfried broke your mother's vase, shifted the blame to you, and successfully avoided punishment.]

[At 3 years old, Siegfried broke his own toy, shifted the blame to you, and successfully bought a new one.]

[At 4 years old...]

Alright, blood pressure is high.

It's all Siegfried's fault! Ugh ugh ugh.

Patients often need rest, and the people don't disturb Chase too much. After a while, they temporarily leave. Chase looks at the quiet ward, sighs slightly, leans on the crutches, and starts a text communication with Anti-Entropy.

[How is Sirin doing?]

................

Sirin has finally arrived at her new home in North America. After settling in the new house, Sirin quickly runs into her room, carefully taking out a delicate gift box.

This is the birthday present Chase gave her.

Upon receiving this gift, Sirin really wanted to open it and see what was inside, but Chase reminded her that she must open it on her birthday for the sake of ceremony. Sirin is a good child, so she listens to her brother.

She carefully resisted her curiosity and finally waited until today.

Sirin cautiously opens the box, not fully opening it yet. A note falls out from it, saying:

"Sirin, Happy Birthday! ＼(＾▽＾)／"

Upon seeing this, Sirin's lips unconsciously lift, her face blushing a bit.

"Brother remembers that Sirin always says she wants to be a magical girl, so this is a special happiness magic that brother prepared for Sirin!"

Sirin is stunned for a moment, then quickly opens the box, indeed finding a book titled "Sirin's Happiness Magic." Before picking it up, she can't help but chuckle.

This is indeed called happiness magic.

Sirin doesn't rush to read the book, continuing to look at the note left by Chase.

"Next time we meet, brother wants to see the magical Sirin!

＼(＾▽＾)／"

Sirin smiles. She also wants to show, but when she looks for the follow-up, she finds there isn't any. Feeling a bit disappointed, she pouts but quickly relaxes, picking up the book with the cover "Sirin's Happiness Magic."

In her heart, she thinks, although she really wants to be a magical girl... can this book really make her a magical girl?

Sirin's gaze becomes determined. But brother wants to see magical Sirin!

Then Sirin has to work hard! o(*≧▽≦)ツ