"You don't want to die, don't die." The soft call echoed in his ears like a bell, and he tried hard to open his heavy eyes, but the darkness in front of him was like an endless wave crashing him to the bottom of the sea, mercilessly swallowing him into the deepest part of the abyss. But the strange thing is that there is no matching cold and loneliness around, as if there is always someone by her side to accompany me, and she has been silently warming herself with her temperature.

This is...... Where? Jiqi asked quietly in his heart, but no one answered his question, only a small hand as soft as a marshmallow kept grasping her, like a lighthouse on the sea, pulling him through the endless night.

"Don't die, it's coming." The girl's voice sounded in his ears again, with an anxiety and softness he had never heard before, as beautiful as a spring breeze blowing through a withered flower.

He barely smiled in the darkness, opened his mouth and said in a barely audible voice, "I won't die, because you're still here, because you haven't given up on me." ”

The salty liquid slowly flowed out of it along with his voice, like something with life peeling off from his body little by little, gradually making Jiqi more weak. He grabbed the soft hand with his backhand, and tapped his slender index finger in the palm of the other's hand, telling her that he was alive, not dead, and would hold on until he fulfilled his promise to her. The girl who couldn't see also grabbed Jiqi's weak hand and responded to him vigorously. She poked her head over, and her long hair fell like cherry blossom petals, slowly falling on Jiqi's face, and the faint fragrance made him feel at ease that he had never felt before, making him feel a kind of drowsy tiredness. Jiqi shook his head lightly, as if silently speaking, and in the daze he leaned on a ball of warm softness, and the comfortable touch slowly made him fall into a deep sleep.

In a dark dream, Jiqi couldn't see anything, but he felt the scorching temperature and soft **, like sleeping on a bed covered with cherry blossoms, warm and satisfied.

"Thank you," he whispered in his heart, "thank you for not giving up on me." ”

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Awakened by the warm heat, Jiqi opened his eyes to find himself lying naked in the pale blue hot springs with bandages on his chest, his face soaked by the steaming water in the wide pool.

Surrounded by thick stone walls, a black kimono is neatly arranged on a wooden tray by the pool. The golden sunlight on the bluestone slab shone in through the only small window, spilling on his face and illuminating the room.

Suddenly, the closed wooden door in front of him was pushed open, and a girl in a white kimono on a black background walked in with clogs, looking at Jiqi soaking in the hot spring with cold eyes, and there was no expression on her delicate face.

"Awake? Put on your clothes when you wake up. The girl said coldly, not feeling the slightest shyness at the sight of Jiqi's naked body.

"That...... Can you go out first? Jiqi turned around with a red face and covered his lower body with his hands.

The girl stared at the naked teenager in front of her for a few seconds, and then sighed slightly, as if she had made a compromise. "Ten minutes, I'll wait for you at the door for ten minutes, and if you don't come out again, I'll throw you into the deep sea to feed the sharks."

"I see, ten minutes is enough." Jiqi, who had his back to the girl, nodded like pounding garlic.

"I'll be waiting for you at the door." The girl coldly dropped her words, turned to leave the room, and closed the wooden door.

Hearing the crisp sound of the door closing, Jiqi breathed a sigh of relief. The only thing he was sure of now was that this was the place of the deep sea, because the girl who opened the door was the one who almost killed him with a knife, and he had no idea that he would survive such a serious injury and appear in this strange environment. Could it be that after losing consciousness, it was this murderous girl of the deep sea who saved herself? But what did she save herself for? Obviously, she is the Admiral, the existence that stands on the opposite side of her, and the kind of existence that can't wait for the other party to disappear, so why does she still do that? Jiqi lay on the edge of the pool, breathing weakly. He looked at the bandages on his body that were tied like mummies and the kimono neatly placed on a wooden plate, smiled stunnedly, picked up the pure black clothes, endured the pain in his chest, and slowly put them on. The sun outside the window was in full bloom, shining on his plain white face, flushing slightly.

Lexington, Wales, I have fulfilled my promise to you, and I will return alive. Jiqi clenched the fist in his hand, hard and ruthless.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

The girl's gentle fingers tapped slowly and regularly on the stone wall beside the wooden door, silently calculating the time that had passed in her mind. In fact, she didn't know why she brought back this admiral who was supposed to die at the bottom of the sea, why she didn't make up for him who was dying, so that he completely lost the possibility of life. Perhaps it was because he used the last strength of his life to say to himself, "It's so beautiful, as gorgeous as a withered cherry blossom." ”

Obviously they are all dying people, but they say such poetic words. It was clear that he was going to send him into the abyss where there was no hope, but he looked at himself and said words of admiration. When he was about to fall to understand all this, he changed his original mind because of his weak reach, at that time he was like a pitiful child, no one can be cruel to that pitiful child, even if he can easily kill countless admirals, he can't do it.

It's the first time I've met this admiral who doesn't hate me. Yamato whispered in his heart, and the faint blush crept up her cheeks, melting the cold face in the golden sunlight a little, a little more soft and gentle.

Suddenly, Yamato's beating fingers stopped, because it was already the appointed time, she exhaled slightly and reached out to push the door, her face was cold.

Behind the door was a young man clumsily tied in his belt, his plain and soft face grinning as if it had been caused by the wound on his chest that had not yet healed, and the expression of pain was written on his young face.

"Haven't you done it yet?" Yamato leaned against the door, raising his eyebrows and looking at the clumsy Jiqi.

"It's almost good, it's just that this belt is hard to fasten." Jiqi trembled and knotted the intertwined belt little by little. He originally wanted to tie it according to the normal method, but as soon as he made his hands, he found that he couldn't do it at all, and a slight bend down and lower his head could pull the broken bones in his chest, and his chest seemed to be stabbed fiercely, and his breath was extremely difficult. So he was going to skip the last few steps and deal with it haphazardly. Unexpectedly, at the last step, his trembling hands began to twitch, and he couldn't complete this very difficult task for Jiqi no matter what.

"Stop, stand." Yamato said coldly, Sakuragi's clogs made a crisp sound on the bluestone floor, and she stepped on the clogs to get closer and closer.

"That ......" Ji Qi looked at the other party's cold eyes, and his heart was a little furious. Big sister, you don't really want to throw me into the deep sea to feed the sharks, do you? I just lost some time with a shaky hand, you don't have to be so strict. He looked at the approaching girl of the deep sea with a desperate expression, thinking that he was really killed by you, not being hacked to death by you in the deep sea, but also being thrown into the sea by you to feed the sharks, no matter what, he would die in your hands, right? He closed his eyes with a sad face, listened quietly to the sound of her footsteps, and was ready to wait for death to come.

A faint scent of cherry blossoms penetrated Jiqi's nostrils, and his long, soft hair brushed the tip of his nose like catkins. He quietly opened his eyes slightly, and found that the cold girl was standing in front of him, and her hands were beating flexibly on the belt that had been messed up by himself, like a plain white butterfly flying over, and the belt was straightened little by little. The face that was like an iceberg also softened slightly at this time, revealing soft lines.

Now Jiqi even has an illusion that the other party is not the king of the deep sea with explosive force at all, but just a gentle and quiet sister next door, carefully tying the belt of his clumsy younger brother. He had to admit that the other party's appearance at the moment was deeply seared into his heart, like a beautiful landscape painting, light and elegant.

He grinned silently, looking at her plain face, the heart hidden in the wounded chest still beating under some circumstances, like an ancient clock that had been reverberating in the silence of the moment.

Jiqi, she is the deep sea, your mortal enemy, how can you be tempted by her? Are you worthy of that white admiral's uniform on your body? Is it worthy of many ship girls? He sighed silently, raised his head slightly, and looked up at the golden sunlight shining through the small window, silent. He didn't know what to say at this moment, as if no matter what he said or did, he would break this rare moment, he smiled slightly, and his tense body relaxed like falling into the clouds.

And the picture seems to be frozen in time that has quietly stood still at this moment. The shy boy looked at the warm sun, and the girl with long black hair bent down slightly to tie his belt for him, like a wife who took care of her husband's clothes before leaving. Wisps of redness crept up on her plain face, and imperceptible happiness was reflected in her inky black pupils, and her slender and soft fingers gently tied the last knot, and the belts that fell evenly on both sides seemed to form a satisfied smile, praising the ingenious girl.

Jiqi, who noticed that the other party had stopped moving, slowly lowered his head, looked at the other party's flickering pupils, and quietly turned his head and did not dare to look at him. He opened his mouth slightly, and whispered, "Thank you." ”

Yamato didn't answer, just stepped on the clogs and walked out of the bathroom. Her back looked so lonely and helpless in the dusty sunlight outside the door, like a child in need of company.

Jiqi looked at her departing back, stepped forward and quietly followed, stepping on her long shadow, without speaking.