71: Chapter 62 Lover? IF Route

When Kaiwen walked out of the bedroom, Kiana was already sitting on the sofa.

One of her legs was crossed, the other was swinging, and she was holding a mobile phone in her hand looking at something.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Kiana turned her head.

Then she smiled.

An extremely open and carefree smile.

"Morning, Wenwen."

Kaiwen froze.

"...What did you call me?"

"Wenwen." Kiana called out again, her tone very natural.

"My name is Kaiwen."

"I know. Wenwen."

Looking at Kiana's face, Kaiwen always felt that she seemed to have changed a little bit.

She walked into the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast.

The sound of slippers stepping on the floor came from behind.

Kiana followed her in and stood beside Kaiwen.

Her arm brushed against Kaiwen's arm.

"Do you need me to do anything?"

"Wash those scallions."

Kaiwen handed the scallions over.

When Kiana took them, her fingers gently brushed against Kaiwen's fingers for a moment before taking them away.

The action was extremely natural.

Kaiwen lowered her head and continued cutting vegetables.

Kiana was a bit unusual today.

She didn't look like the same person at all compared to the Kiana from the past few days who would lean in and hug her under various pretexts.

In the gaps of cutting vegetables, Kaiwen secretly glanced at Kiana.

Kiana was washing the scallions, her movements still clumsy, but the corners of her mouth remained curved, humming a tune she didn't know where she learned.

Her whole person exuded a sense of relaxation that Kaiwen had never seen before.

Kaiwen didn't know what decision Kiana had made.

But the thorn in her heart named "I am not her family" was driven deeper.

The more openly Kiana approached her, the more clearly she realized that she was not qualified to accept this love.

During the meal, Kiana held her bowl and sat opposite Kaiwen, starting to eat.

Her eating speed was still very fast.

But today, after taking two bites, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Kaiwen.

"Wenwen."

"...Hmm?"

"The porridge you made is delicious."

Kaiwen was slightly stunned.

"...Thank you."

Kiana lowered her head and continued eating, the curve of her mouth growing a little larger.

[Kaiwen.]

Kallen's voice drifted over from her mind.

[She has changed.]

"I know," Kaiwen said in her heart.

[Do you know why she changed?]

[She is no longer afraid. Or rather, she has chosen not to be afraid anymore.]

Kallen paused for a moment.

[But you are still afraid.]

Kaiwen ignored her, lowered her head, and simply took another sip of the porridge.

She was indeed still afraid.

After the meal, Kiana cleared the bowls and chopsticks into the sink.

Then she walked up to Kaiwen, putting her hands on her hips.

"Wenwen, let's go to the rooftop."

"What for?"

"To teach you combat."

Kaiwen looked at her. "Why suddenly teach me combat?"

"You don't know how to fight. What would happen if I'm not by your side one day and you get bullied?" Kiana's tone was righteous and confident.

Kaiwen wanted to say that she wasn't completely clueless about fighting, but Kiana had already turned around and walked out the door.

The rooftop was an open concrete platform with low railings all around.

The sky in the suburbs of Sky Dome City was very clean, and the wind blowing from afar made Kiana's white hair flutter everywhere.

"Come on, let me teach you the basic stance first."

Kiana stood in front of Kaiwen and earnestly demonstrated a combat opening stance.

"Feet apart, shoulder-width apart. Lower your center of gravity. Raise your hands to protect your face."

Kaiwen did as she was told.

"That's not right." Kiana walked over, "Your center of gravity is too high."

Then she pressed up against her from behind.

Her hands rested on Kaiwen's waist from both sides, her palms clasping Kaiwen's hip bones, pressing downwards.

"The center of gravity is right here. Do you feel it?"

Kiana's voice was right beside Kaiwen's ear.

Her warm breath brushed across Kaiwen's auricle.

Kaiwen felt it.

But what she felt wasn't the center of gravity.

It was the body temperature of Kiana pressed against her back.

"...I feel it."

"Do it again. When throwing a punch, the force comes from the waist."

Kiana's hands were still clasped around Kaiwen's waist, with no intention of letting go at all.

Kaiwen tried throwing a punch.

"Wrong, the power is scattered." Kiana grabbed Kaiwen's fist with one hand and pressed against Kaiwen's waist with the other, adjusting her entire posture all over again.

From start to finish, Kiana's hands never left Kaiwen's body.

Waist, shoulders, arms, wrists.

Every single "correction of posture" was accompanied by extremely close proximity and prolonged contact.

Kaiwen turned her head and glanced at Kiana.

Kiana's expression was righteous and bold.

Her face was plastered with "I am earnestly teaching you combat".

"...Are you really teaching me combat?" Kaiwen asked.

"Of course." Kiana didn't change her expression, "What else?"

Kaiwen didn't say anything more.

She knew what Kiana was doing.

Kiana also knew what she was doing.

Kallen knew too.

[She calls this teaching combat? I feel so embarrassed for her!]

Kaiwen sighed in her heart.

But she didn't push Kiana's hands away.

...

In the afternoon, Kaiwen sat by the window reading a book.

Sunlight spilled in through the window, landing on the opened pages of her book.

She faintly heard a very soft "click".

Kaiwen raised her head.

Kiana was sitting on the sofa, holding that newly bought mobile phone in her hand, with the camera pointing directly at Kaiwen.

The two of them locked eyes for a moment.

Kiana did not put down her phone; she looked at the image captured on the screen and nodded with satisfaction.

"Shot looks good."

"...Were you taking pictures of me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Kiana tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then said, "Because you look good."

Looking at that matter-of-fact expression of hers, Kaiwen didn't know what to say for a moment.

Truth be told, she was a bit unable to handle the current Kiana right now.

Kiana had already lowered her head and started flipping through her phone's photo album; Kaiwen glanced over and saw that it was entirely filled with photos of her.

Her back view while cooking, her profile while reading, her silhouette daydreaming by the window.

Even various angles of her being "taught combat" on the rooftop just now.

It was all her.

There wasn't a single other photo.

A very complicated feeling suddenly surged into Kaiwen's heart.

That thorn in her heart was aching faintly once more.

The more Kiana acted like this, the more she felt she was deceiving her.

Using the identity of "family" to accept emotions that shouldn't be accepted by family.

She wanted to say it out loud.

She wanted to tell Kiana: "I am not your family, I am not a clone coming out of Otto's laboratory, there is no blood relation whatsoever between you and me."

But she couldn't open her mouth to say it.

Because she was afraid.

Afraid that after saying it, those photos in Kiana's phone would all be deleted.

In the evening, Kiana put on her jacket and prepared to go out.

"I'm heading out for a bit, walking around nearby."

"Stay safe."

"Rest assured." Kiana walked to the door, turned back to look at Kaiwen, smiled and shook her phone, "Wait for me to come back and show you the street views I took."

The door closed.

The apartment quieted down.

Kaiwen stood by the window, watching Kiana's figure disappear from the mouth of the alley downstairs.

Then she returned to the sofa and sat down, picking up the book she had never finished reading.

She flipped two pages, but couldn't read a single word into her mind.

Her mind was filled entirely with Kiana's smile when she called her "Wenwen" today.

About twenty minutes passed.

The door was knocked on.

Three times.

Kaiwen put down the book, walked over, and pulled the door open.

"Why are you back so qui—"

Her voice stopped.

The person standing outside the door wasn't Kiana.

It was a girl with long purple hair.

Raiden Mei.

She wore a thin grey trench coat, the hem had a few traces of being stained with dirt, her hair was brushed but still showed the fatigue of the journey, and her cheeks were a circle thinner than in Kaiwen's memory.

But none of these were the reasons why Kaiwen's heart sank.

Mei's eyes, those purple eyes seemed to contain something inside them.

Mei looked at the person she had been yearning for day and night right before her eyes.

Her lips moved slightly.

"I've finally found you."

"My Kaiwen."