Moreover, Hikari knew that Miyuri's actions this time were largely a way for her to vent the pent-up emotions she had been holding in recently.
After mumbling on for a while, Miyuri suddenly turned her head and looked at Hikari, who was standing off to the side looking bored.
Her cherry lips parted slightly as she said, "Hikari-kun, Auntie knows you're bored, but there's a reason I called you here."
Hikari was a little curious. "What reason?"
A flush suddenly appeared on Miyuri's beautiful, alluring face, "I… I want to welcome a new life, and from now on forget everything in the past, including Kazuto, Akito, all of it!"
"Oh, I see," Hikari had already heard these words when Miyuri was muttering earlier and did not take them too seriously.
Seeing his reaction, Miyuri suddenly grew anxious. She said hurriedly, "N-no… not just that. The reason I brought you here is because I want to prove it to you!"
"I really like you, Hikari-kun. Hikari-kun is really reliable, really!"
"So even in front of Kazuto and Akito, Auntie wants to prove it to you. From now on, in Auntie's life, there will only ever be one man, and that's you, Hikari-kun!" [T/N: I knew it.]
Hearing Miyuri's solemn, vow-like words, Hikari could not help but feel curious, "Auntie, how do you plan to prove it?"
In response to his question, Miyuri suddenly fell silent. Her lips pressed together, saying nothing.
She stood up from the ground and reached out, pulling Hikari straight over to the front of the grave mounds of the Natsuki brothers, Akito and Kazuto.
Standing slightly ahead, Miyuri suddenly turned around, bracing both hands against the tombstone, her back facing Hikari.
A slender waist sash fluttered in the wind as the black mourning clothes slowly slipped down.
"Come on, Hikari-kun… Auntie is ready. I'm going to prove it to you right now!"
Inside the quiet cemetery, there was no one around, not a sound to be heard.
A lonely breeze swept through, dust rising, as if a storm were about to come.
In front of the graves of Natsuki Kazuto and Natsuki Akito, the funeral candles burned out. Two wisps of white smoke slowly rose, twisting together, merging into one, drifting and drifting, as if floating up to paradise itself.
Miyuri, who had been paying respects to her fiance, was clearly exhausted. Her delicate body trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing her calves shaking as she clung to the tombstone, on the verge of being unable to stand, Hikari hurried forward and supported her slender waist.
"Hikari-kun!"
Feeling Hikari's burning warmth and sincerity, Miyuri was so moved that tears streamed down her face.
Soon after, Hikari finally understood what Miyuri meant by "proof".
Why she had deliberately brought him here, to the graves of Natsuki Kazuto and Natsuki Akito.
———
At midday in the height of summer, the temperature was scorching. Heat shimmered off the asphalt, there were hardly any people on the road, and even the noisy cicadas had fallen silent from the heat.
Yet even in such weather, Hikari still accompanied the devoted Miyuri as she paid respects to her deceased fiance, Natsuki Kazuto.
And perhaps to express her gratitude, Miyuri also said she wanted to give Hikari a proof of thanks.
But perhaps because of the intense heat, and not paying attention to replenishing fluids, after losing a large amount of moisture, Miyuri began to show signs of heat exhaustion and fever.
Hikari saw that after Miyuri bowed to her former fiance's grave, she clutched the tombstone, trembling all over, her legs shaking.
In the end, her body slid uncontrollably onto the grave mound. Her eyes rolled back, and strands of clear saliva flowed from the corners of her lips, dampening the tombstone and the grave mound.
Seeing that Miyuri was clearly not in a good state, Hikari hurried to help her up.
"Aunt Miyuri… Aunt Miyuri?"
After calling her several times with no response, her eyes still rolled back, Hikari could only help her pull her clothes closed.
He fastened his own belt, then bent down and scooped Miyuri up in his arms.
Carrying this unconscious, beautiful aunt back to her home.
———
After returning to the cool house, Hikari carefully took care of Miyuri.
First, he helped her change out of the filthy kimono soaked with sweat and grime, then placed cool towels on her forehead and other overheated areas.
Under Hikari's care, and after resting for quite a while, Miyuri's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she slowly woke up.
"Hik… Hikari-kun…"
Seeing the handsome youth by her side, Miyuri softly called out.
"Aunt Miyuri, you're finally awake. Do you feel okay?", Seeing her wake up, Hikari held her hand and asked with concern.
Seeing the worry on his face, Miyuri blushed and said apologetically, "S-sorry… Auntie is so useless."
"I clearly said I'd prove it to you, but before I could finish proving it, Auntie passed out."
"Hikari-kun… I'm really sorry."
Thinking about the things she had done to prove herself to Hikari in front of her fiance Natsuki Kazuto and the secretly-in-love Natsuki Akito's graves, Miyuri felt so ashamed she wanted to disappear, covering her face with both hands.
"It's fine. Aunt Miyuri, I already understand your feelings. There's no need to prove anything more," Hikari removed the towel from her forehead and lowered his head to give her a gentle kiss.
"Mmm! Hikari-kun is the best! Auntie really, really likes you! I'll forever and ever only like you alone," Miyuri hugged Hikari tightly and kissed his face several times.
Feeling the dampness on his cheeks and looking at the passionate Miyuri, Hikari smiled slightly.
It seemed Yoshizawa Eigen's death had been extremely important to her.
After Yoshizawa Eigen's death, and after that proof at the graves of the Natsuki brothers, Miyuri's emotions had completely opened up and recovered.
Wiping the sweet saliva from the corner of his mouth, Hikari asked, "Aunt Miyuri, you're feeling much better now, right?"
Miyuri nodded, "Mm, I'm basically completely fine now!"
"It's just that my thighs still hurt a bit, and my waist feels sore," Miyuri shot Hikari a reproachful glance, then smiled and lightly punched his chest a few times.
Seeing her smiling and acting coquettish, Hikari smiled and asked a few more concerned questions.
Then he asked, "Aunt Miyuri, now that Yoshizawa Eigen is dead, and your fiance is gone as well, how do you plan to live your life from now on?"
Miyuri looked at him strangely, "Just live it properly. Auntie has already given herself to you completely, you know. Hikari-kun isn't going to abandon Auntie, is he?"
Hikari smiled and gently pinched her round, fragrant shoulder, "Of course not. I'm just worried that with Uncle Kazuto and the others gone, when I go back to Tokyo for school, you'll feel lonely staying in the village by yourself."
The vacation was almost over. Hikari could not stay in Ino Village or Ino Town forever.
Miss Mira was still waiting for him in Tokyo, so he would definitely have to go back there to attend school.
Of course, whenever he had time on weekends or holidays, he would certainly return to the village to see Arisa, the beautiful aunties, the Asakawa sisters, and the Jinno mother and daughter.
But he really could not stay in Ino Town all the time.
Hearing his words, Miyuri naturally understood what he meant.
She smiled and asked, "Hikari-kun, if Auntie said she wanted to go to Tokyo with you, would you agree?"
Hikari nodded without hesitation, "Of course."
"You have a place for Auntie to stay?", Miyuri asked curiously.
"Yes. I manage an apartment building myself. And I have a few friends who also have plenty of vacant places. As long as you want, you can live in most areas of Tokyo," Hikari said with a smile.
"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Hikari-kun really isn't an ordinary high school student. You're amazing," Miyuri clicked her tongue in wonder and nestled into his arms.
"It's nothing. I'm just an ordinary, innocent boy," Hikari said shyly, scratching his head.
"Pfft!", Miyuri burst out laughing, then pounded her fists against his chest.
"Innocent boy, my ass! What kind of innocent boy forces an engaged widow to prove herself in front of her fiance's grave? There's no such innocent boy in the world!", Miyuri laughed and scolded.
"That was because you said you wanted to prove it yourself, Aunt Miyuri," Hikari looked innocent.
"I don't care, it's all your fault!", Miyuri suddenly knelt on the ground and looked up at Hikari.
"Tch! Fine, fine, it's all my fault," Hikari looked down at Miyuri and did not argue further.
"So Aunt Miyuri, what do you really think? Are you going to stay in the village, or come to Tokyo with me?", Hikari asked, gently patting Miyuri's head as she secretly snacked.
"Mm," Miyuri thought for a moment, spat out the snack in her mouth, wiped her lips, then shook her head, "Forget it. I'm not that interested in living in Tokyo. I still prefer life in the town."
"As long as Hikari-kun has time and comes back from Tokyo to see Auntie and keep her company, that's enough," Miyuri said, looking at him with tender affection.
"I see," Hikari nodded, showing understanding.
Then he smiled and said, "I understand how you feel, Aunt Miyuri, but since I can't be with you every day, I'm still a bit worried you'll feel lonely staying in the village by yourself."
"You don't have many friends left in the village, right? How about, making up with Aunt Sayako? You two, in a way, should be pretty familiar with each other." Hikari suggested.
"Huh?", Miyuri was taken aback.
But after thinking about it carefully, she realized that what Hikari said did make sense.
Although she had not gotten along with Sayako for a long time, they really had known each other for quite a while.
After the deaths of the Natsuki brothers, aside from Hikari, Sayako was indeed the person she was most familiar with in all of Ino Village.
Thinking that way, Miyuri immediately nodded, "Mm, you're right. As long as Sayako is willing, I can make up with her."
But after agreeing, Miyuri suddenly changed her tone and stared straight at Hikari, "Hikari-kun, Auntie has a question for you."
"You and that Sayako… did something cross the line too? Like, did you have some deep exchanges as well."
Faced with her question, Hikari honestly nodded, "Yes."
"Aunt Sayako is a good person. She's been widowed for so many years. I really couldn't let her remain a living widow any longer."
Hearing that, Miyuri laughed in exasperation.
"Hikari-kun, you really…", She was about to complain, but then remembered that when Natsuki Kazuto died, he had still been her fiance.
In a sense, she herself was a widow now too.
Miyuri fell silent for a moment.
But compared to the older Sayako, who could tolerate everything about Hikari, the younger Miyuri felt more jealousy.
She said sourly, "Hikari-kun, when you say making peace and cooperating with Sayako, do you mean doing it in bed?"
"This… I just want to be a mediator between you two. Aunt Miyuri, don't overthink it," Hikari said.
"A mediator where I lie on the left, Sayako lies on the right, and you lie in the middle?", Miyuri asked with a smile.
"Mm… that wouldn't be impossible," Hikari nodded.
"Go die!", Miyuri immediately punched his chest several times, her face red with embarrassment.
"All right, all right… Auntie, listen to me slowly," Hikari grabbed the jealous Miyuri and patiently reasoned with her.
Under Hikari's extensive and eloquent persuasion, Miyuri soon became convinced again and accepted his reasoning and suggestions.
After some effort, Hikari finally succeeded in persuading Aunt Miyuri to get along amicably with Sayako in the future.
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