Chapter 191.2 I Want to Run, But I Can’t Escape
“As for now, are you interested in escaping with me to the starry night?”
Lin Qi smiled as he extended the invitation to the short-haired girl.
Yukinoshita Yono was taken aback; though she didn’t know his exact meaning, the romantic notion of escaping to the starry night caught her interest.
A fleeting desire appeared on her face, but reason ultimately prevailed.
Gently shaking her head, Yukinoshita Yono’s face revealed a hint of regret, “It’s not possible. If I leave the banquet right now, Mother would quickly call and worry if she couldn’t find me.”
“You’re still considering this?”
While stroking his chin, Lin Qi noticed that the short-haired girl mimicked his gesture. She felt no resentment over it.
On the contrary, she found it rather fresh and intriguing, despite having her own body controlled by two people.
“Then what else?” the short-haired girl sighed helplessly, adding self-mockingly, “I am the successor of the Yukinoshita family. How could I possibly run away and play at such an important event?”
“No, you haven’t understood my intent.” Lin Qi’s tone became serious, “Yukino, from the moment I unexpectedly awakened in your body, your destiny has changed.”
“Why do you call me by name directly? We just met… Plus, I never told you my name, yet you blurted it out. Do you truly know me?” Yukinoshita Yono raised her brows.
Lin Qi: “…”.
“Futhermore, you said awakening in you is an accident. Then who would you appear in, if not accidentally?”
“Snow乃.”
“?”
Upon hearing her sister’s name, Yukinoshita Yono’s eyes instantly sharpened. Gazing sternly at the reflection in the mirror, she stated, “Your target is Snow乃? What do you plan to do to her?”
“I see your affection for your sister hasn’t changed at all. That makes sense.” Lin Qi shrugged helplessly, “As I said, not only do I know you, but also your sister, albeit not in this world… or more precisely, not in this time line.”
“And my relationship with your sister is quite good,” he added after some thought, “Perhaps better than yours and Snow乃’s.”
“That can’t be!”
With those words, the cute, barely grown-up face of Yukinoshita Yono turned red instantly. Currently, the relationship between her and Yukinoshita Yukino remained very close, unlike in her future timeline where things were different.
Although she’d teased Snow乃 before, given Snow乃 studying abroad and the beauty of distance, coupled with the passage of time smoothing out the rough edges of a past event, they maintained contact every day over their phones.
“Believe it or not, but when I recognized you, you were already twenty years old.” Lin Qi said with a shrug.
“Even so, you can’t surpass the closeness between me and Snow乃! We’re sisters!” Yukinoshita Yono spoke up, her voice rising involuntarily, “On the other hand, you say—what exactly are you to Snow乃?”
“Friend, teacher,” he answered honestly.
“Just that?” the short-haired girl showed disdain.
“Yet our souls are intimately close, sharing the same body,” as if to deliberately upset her, Lin Qi grinned, “Just as we are now.”
“Ew!”
Seemingly provoked by the topic, Yukinoshita Yono did not even try to hide her revulsion. Her expression of disgust conveyed clearly her distaste for Lin Qi on her face, “If possible, I hope you won’t appear in my body, nor in Snow乃’s.”
Back when she was twenty, Yono would have kept calm and continued the conversation politely, probing Lin Qi with her words.
“Cough, veering off-topic.” Lin Qi made a dry cough, readdressing the main point, “I’m saying, because of me, you’ll become different from others.”
“I was already different,” Yukinoshita Yono’s gaze towards the mirror seemed to be asking, “Are you talking nonsense?”
“This difference is not about being different, but rather in a higher life dimension,” Lin Qi explained, “Whether or not you want it, Curse Energy has already appeared within you, and you will inevitably become a Juujutsu Sōkushi.”
The later decision of pursuing or abandoning Juujutsu, or even becoming a Jutsushi, remains another matter.
“Curse Energy? Juujutsu Sōkushi?”
Seeing Yono’s puzzled expression, Lin Qi explained from start to finish about the Juujutsu world, including his crossing from another time line.
During which, a dignified lady entered the restroom. Thanks to Lin Qi’s earlier alert, Yukinoshita Yono managed to hide her involvement and passed off the interaction as a mere touch-up session after nodding politely.
Indeed, Yukinoshita Yono remained the adept at deception as ever, although she had yet to mature to her future adult form. Despite needing improvement, deceiving someone without suspicions proved to be effortless, especially since her cute appearance naturally made her seem harmless.
Once uninvolved individuals left, the short-haired girl’s smile vanished instantly; she looked deeply thoughtful, “I get it.”
“Good to hear.”
Wishing to prompt Yukinoshita Yono to sip champagne outside, Lin Qi felt parched from explanations.
“Aren’t you the one who put Snow乃 in that situation?” Yukinoshita Yono’s words struck her heart.
“… Your statement indeed reflects my fault.” Lin Qi admitted, “But the current priority isn’t focused on Yukino in the other world line but on you, Yuno.”
The short-haired girl chuckled indifferently with a carefree tone, “Even if you say my destiny has changed, it hasn’t changed the fact that I am the eldest daughter of Yukinoshita, the heir of this family.”
“Could I just abandon this identity and become some Juujutsu shi? If I left, what would happen to Snow乃?”
Because she didn’t want her sister to bear everything, Yuno followed the path laid out by her mother.
For that reason, she worked hard to study and earned the position of the heir from her mother’s hands.
Known for creating competitors and then surpassing them, the Yukinoshita method of education was designed to temper one’s character.
In this case, Yuno’s competitor was Yukino.
…
