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Xiao Xiao cried.
Lin Yuzu repeated this matter heavily in her heart.
“Why. . .” She hurriedly stood up, somewhat dumbfounded.
“I’m sorry.”
Xiao Xiao’s ice-blue eyes were wet which was emphasized because of the light reflected on the water. As her tears slipped from the corner of her eyes, they made little traces on the ground. She looked at the black blood marks on Lin Yuzu’s wrist, which was proof of being infected by the zombie virus.
She would also become such an irrational monster.
“I’m sorry. . . I will. . . I will save you. . .”
Xiao Xiao recalled the young man who transformed into a zombie in front of her, making her words a little slurred.
“I won’t, give up.”
“. . .”
Xiao Xiao tried to show a positive expression to calm her down but failed. She sadly lowered her eyes and teardrops rolled down from her eyelashes – which also seemed to fall from Lin Yuzu’s heart.
Lin Yuzu tightened her hand then slowly let go as she smiled.
Xiao Xiao looked up at her blankly, seemingly not understanding how could she still laugh,
“. . . It’s okay.”
Lin Yuzu smiled and wanted to touch her head. She raised her hand but changed its direction and gently wiped away the tears on Xiao Xiao’s face, “It’s really okay. I haven’t told you my supernatural ability, right?”
“My ability is ‘self-healing’. Aside from slightly enhancing my physical ability, it can make injuries I’ve suffered heal a little faster. There’s also one more thing. . .” Lin Yuzu paused. At this time, she’s been thinking about it a lot and since a long time ago, “It can also metabolize the zombie virus in my body.”
Xiao Xiao looked at her in a daze, as if she had not been able to understand the meaning of her words for a moment.
“So, it’s just a small injury. It will heal soon,” Lin Yuzu wiped off the blood, revealing the wound on her wrist. Although she wasn’t sure how it looked like earlier, it was only a shallow gash now.
She tried to show an easygoing smile, “See? Don’t worry so much.”
“. . .”
Lin Yuzu wasn’t sure what her expression was like at the moment, but after Xiao Xiao glanced at her with watery eyes, she opened her mouth before pressing her lips again. She said nothing as she went inside.
Xiao Xiao was angry.
Lin Yuzu didn’t realize this at first.
Xiao Xiao went into the house and soon brought out bandages to treat Lin Yuzu’s wounds. Although Lin Yuzu repeatedly said that her injury will soon heal itself, she still wrapped her wrist.
After that, Xiao Xiao did not let Lin Yuzu use her injured hand to change her clothes, wash her hair, and take care of her lunch. Xiao Xiao took care of her almost without fail.
Because of these even more meticulous actions than usual, Lin Yuzu only took her lack of interest as her exhaustion after her mood swings.
It wasn’t until the afternoon, when Xiao Xiao was reading a book in the house, that Lin Yuzu came to ask her if she wanted to go for a walk.
Xiao Xiao raised her head from the pages of her book and glanced at Lin Yuzu lightly. Her eyes were usually soft, but they showed a rare coldness this time that was consistent with the color of her pupils.
And more rarely, Xiao Xiao refused her and silently lowered her head to continue reading her book.
Only then did Lin Yuzu realize, as an afterthought, that Xiao Xiao’s unusual silence was her sulking.
And, because of her carelessness, it seemed that her mood had further deteriorated.
Lin Yuzu sighed.
She sat under the gable porch, stuffing the yellow azalea branches in her hand into the bottles lazily and trying to pose them in a better way. This is what she saw on the side of the road when she went out alone and brought them back.
Zhao Cai moved his head curiously. Lin Yuzu wanted to push him away, yet she didn’t in the end. But when he smelled it, he disgustedly turned his head away and found a comfortable place next to Lin Yuzu to lay down.
The big cat’s fluffy head was so close to her that Lin Yuzu was able to touch him easily. Zhao Cai, being petted by Lin Yuzu, let out a pure while arching his head into her palm as she rolled to the side to expose his soft belly.
It’s really a cat.
Lin Yuzu doesn’t know how many times she’s sighed. She always felt that there was a faint gaze on her body, but when she looked inside, she could only see Xiao Xiao at the table, seriously staring at her book. Her posture is still the same before she went out, nothing has changed.
Although, she didn’t stay out too long.
If it’s just to forage for food, it’s not really necessary to go out frequently every day.
Lin Yuzu is not a character who is keen to wander around. For her, there is nothing particularly interesting outside, She just grew up looking young, not a child. Rather than going out to play, she prefers spending time at home while trying to solve the Rubik’s cube.
It’s just that no matter how common things are when they are shared with someone, they become different. In the same way, once that person is gone, these things would no longer appear special.
So why is she angry?
Lin Yuzu thought about Xiao Xiao’s affairs while petting the cat from his head, ears, and finally his neck. He then pinched his fat cheeks and turned to scratch its chin.
“Hiss. . .”
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She touched something prickly, stabbing her hand, and when she looked back, there was something stuck in Zhao Cai’s chin.
Zhao Cai often goes out to play, so it’s inevitable that something would get stuck on it. But this reminded Lin Yuzu of one thing. When she threw out what was stuck on his chin, Lin Yuzu wore a serious expression, “Zhao Cai, shouldn’t you take a bath?”
When Zhao Cai heard the dreadful words, his ears twitched as he immediately stopped purring and quickly stood up and slipped out of the gate.
Lin Yuzu, “. . .”
The intelligence of mutant creatures has increased to one or two levels.
Lin Yuzu glanced at Xiao Hong who was bathing in the sun and then back to the room. Xiao Xiao didn’t know that she had already partially closed her book, and when their gazes met, she simply opened the book casually as if nothing happened.
She was like a little kid having a temper tantrum and Lin Yuzu couldn’t help but slightly smile.
She took out the best flower in the bouquet and walked to Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao’s hand that was holding the book tightened slightly while pretending not to feel her approach, but the blooming yellow azalea branch was gently placed on the pages of the book.
“I plucked it from the roadside. It looked beautiful.”
“. . .”
Xiao Xiao raised her head, responding to Lin Yuzu’s lighthearted smile with silence.
“Have you ever eaten azaleas? I would pick and eat them when I was a child. I still slightly miss the taste. . .” Lin Yuzu tore off a flower petal and tried sending them to Xiao Xiao’s mouth, which she rejected by turning away.
Lin Yuzu showed an aggrieved expression, “No?” She wanted to casually send it to her mouth, but Xiao Xiao grabbed her wrist.
Xiao Xiao stared at her sternly, “Not any kind, all can be eaten.”
“That’s it.” Lin Yuzu put down the petals on her hand obediently and added, “But don’t worry, even if it’s poisoned, it will be fine with my abilities.”
Xiao Xiao pursed her lips while looking at her, but didn’t speak.
Lin Yuzu surveyed her expression and asked tentatively, “Sure enough, you’re angry? Is it because I didn’t pay any attention?”
Xiao Xiao was silent but didn’t refute either.
Lin Yuzu knew that although what she’s talking about made sense, it wasn’t entirely right.
Thinking about it, Xiao Xiao is a frank person, she would express her opinion directly if she had any. And the way she looks right now is more like her being upset rather than angry.
“Then is it because. . .”
Lin Yuzu thought carefully and said what she thought was the biggest possibility, “Because my previous reaction was too frivolous that it made you think that you were being teased?”
Ah, right guess.
Lin Yuzu looked at Xiao Xiao’s expression. On one hand, she could understand her delicate mood – it would make people angry when they’re seriously sad and the other person wouldn’t take it seriously – but on the other hand, she really delt that Xiao Xiao, who was sulking because of such things, was a little cute.
She knew it was bad to laugh at this time, but the corner of her lips curled a little.
Xiao Xiao snapped the book shut and stood up to leave.
“Wait, wait a minute. . .”
Lin Yuzu hurriedly grabbed her and pressed her back to the stool. Xiao Xiao turned her head away and turned her back.
At this time, perhaps body language is more useful. Lin Yuzu hesitated for a moment and wrapped Xiao Xiao’s shoulders from behind. It was a bit like an intimate hugging gesture. Lin Yuzu felt Xiao Xiao’s body suddenly stiffen for a moment before slowly relaxing, and the both of them became quiet.
Unlike the previous silence, the irritable air gradually eased when they felt each other’s body temperature overlapping.
The words Lin Yuzu originally wanted to say got stuck.
Thinking about it, although she and Xiao Xiao eat and live together, they rarely have such intimate actions. Or rather, Lin Yuzu hadn’t hugged anyone properly for a long time, so long that she forgot when the last time was.
She thought of the theory she had read before, saying that regular physical contact is good to increase mood and physical health. She suddenly felt that there was some truth to it.
“I’m sorry.”
Lin Yuzu suddenly said earnestly, while Xiao Xiao showed a questioning look.
“Of course, I didn’t mean to make fun of you. ” Lin Yuzu explained, “The apology is because I should have told you. . . When you said that you would save me, I was really happy, too happy, but I couldn’t express it properly.”
“Because I always seem to be abandoned– “
Xiao Xiao’s hand rested lightly on Lin Yuzu’s arm.
Her fingers were long and soft, but her skin was light blue and her dark purple nails contained toxins. When these hands landed on Lin Yuzu’s white and delicate arms, the contrast between the two strongly showed their differences.
Lin Yuzu remembered a long time ago when she was scratched by a zombie. She didn’t know about her abilities at the time, so naturally, her companions didn’t either.
They weren’t cold-hearted people and couldn’t attack someone who was still fighting by their side at the last moment, but they also didn’t dare to leave a person who was about to become a zombie, so they had chosen to abandon her.
In fact, it’s been too long. Many people’s faces and names were already blurred in Lin Yuzu’s mind, but she can still remember the silence of the suffocating air. No one would look at her, and when she looked back to the past, they all turned away.
What frightened her the most at that moment was not the future of becoming a monster, but the loneliness of being left behind.
The desperation she felt at that moment when she was shivering in the ruins and the helplessness she felt as she broke down to the point where she could only cry, she never thought that she would one day see it from someone else’s face in such a situation.
Lin Yuzu covered Xiao Xiao’s hand with her bandaged hand, “Thank you.”
“. . .”
Xiao Xiao held her hand back.
Because of her movement, something with thorns crossed Lin Yuzu’s hand. The familiar touch made her look down and find a small, green celosia inside Xiao Xiao’s sleeve.
Lin Yuzu was stunned for a moment then realized something as she smiled, “This, didn’t you get stuck on Zhao Cai?”
Xiao Xiao, “. . . Hmm.”
The author has something to say:
Before Zhao Cai mutated, it was a happy little house cat who’s extremely sensitive to the word ‘bath’.