Story Reader / Affection / Selena: Tempest / Story
Selena: Tempest VI
From that day on, everything about Iris has completely vanished.
If the letters are not piled up in the cabinet, you might even think that this person is but a figment of your imagination.
Time flies.
Everything to do with that girl has been buried in a corner of your mind.
Until one day...
A letter equally strange and familiar arrives in your mailbox.
It comes across as strange because the envelope and paper used are too coarse, and there is even dirt on them.
At the same time, the handwriting is familiar, for it has been etched into your memory.
The content of the letter is exceedingly simple.
It bears only location coordinates and a dried iris.
However, the letter unlocks a dam of long-forgotten memories, and the words of past letters written gush forth, filling your mind.
It all feels like it happened yesterday.
You carry out a private investigation into the coordinates and find that they are close to a recovered city.
There are no Corrupted, nor are there high levels of the Punishing Virus.
You prepare yourself to head out to the coordinates on your own.
This is probably an abandoned opera house.
Even though it's already been reduced to ruins, the place still has a certain charm to it.
It's completely silent. The only light is from the moon, shining down through the hole in the roof.
(Could she be here...?)
You step into the opera house. She has her back to you, standing under the moonlight.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, the girl slowly turns around.
A pair of iris-colored eyes gaze at me.
Iris was right.
Even though the two of you have never met, you both immediately know that she is the one who has been waiting for you, and you, her.
The girl doesn't speak, but holds out her hand.
There is no need for questions nor words. When she reaches out to you, you know what it means.
You put your hand in hers and cannot help shivering from its coldness.
But she does not let go. She starts gently humming a song, leading me into a slow dance.
The tune is languid and gentle, like a whisper between lovers.
There is a bit of stumbling around at the beginning, but she takes your clumsiness in stride, firmly but gently guiding you through the steps.
And so you slowly get the hang of her rhythm.
Just as she has said in her letter, she is an amazing lead.
Or perhaps you should say that she has become an amazing lead.
Suddenly, there's a change in pitch and the rhythm becomes tenser and more passionate.
She has also changed roles, moving from lead to follow, leaving herself in your hands.
And so you have to change your role too, mimicking her steps from before as the lead.
The funny thing is that it is not at all exhausting. It seems that you will always know what the next step is when you dance with her.
It is just like those years when you comforted her, encouraged her, watched over her, and guided her.
You tilt your head, looking straight at her.
Those clear, bright eyes gaze right back at you.
Her eyes no longer hold the innocence she once had, but the romance still alive.
She's changed, yet remained the same.
The only thing you can be sure of is...
That one step away, that distance between us, has now been traversed.
