Chapter 3 – Unfamiliar Feelings
Novel Title: 跨越千万星辰 (Across Thousands of Stars)
Author：御小凡 (Yu Xiaofan)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 泽田纲吉 (Sawada Tsunayoshi -MC), 六道骸 (Rokudo Mukuro -ML)
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“You can take a shower first. I’ll cook something for you.” Tsuna led Mukuro to the bathroom. He then started to take out the things from the inside of his bag. The few items inside are all Mukuro’s old clothes. Even though they’re old, they’re still clean.
Tsuna thought to himself that tomorrow he would spend his time looking for new clothes for Mukuro.
He wore an apron and looked for ingredients in the refrigerator. There was a box of chicken, some carrots and a couple of potatoes. It was still possible to cook a pot of chicken curry.
Because of the character of his parents, Sawada’s family did not hire any Filipino maids or live in any particularly luxurious villa. They are basically the same as other ordinary white-collar workers and they will never let others do things that could be done by themselves. His mother, Sawada Nana, passed away when Tsuna was in junior high school. On the other hand, Iemitsu is always away all year round so he was quite unreliable to rely on. Thus from then on, Tsuna was forced to hone his own cooking skills and various housework. He wasn’t as excellent as a master chef or anything like that but he has no problem being responsible for preparing three meals a day.
After preparing the ingredients properly, Tsuna waited until the soup started to boil and lowered the temperature of the stove. He covered the pot and glanced at the time. Only then did he realise that Mukuro hadn’t come out yet. He walked to the door of the bathroom, feeling a little worried. He tried listening in for a while through the door but there was no sound of water at all coming from the inside.
What’s going on? He wondered.
“Muku?” Tsuna raised his voice and tried to ask but there was no response. He couldn’t help feeling more worried. He knocked on the door, “Muku, I’m coming in, okay?”
While saying that, Tsuna already pushed the bathroom door open and found Mukuro standing naked in front of the shower. His skin looked as white as paper under the fluorescent light and he looked like he almost blended with the white tiles in the bathroom. He was under the shower, but there were no water stains on his body.
“You’ve been standing like that this whole time?” Tsuna asked in surprise. He hurriedly took off his apron and walked over. He could catch a cold by standing naked in this weather, “Don’t you know how the shower works?”
Mukuro looked at him and shook his head.
“Then, let’s turn on the warm water first?” Tsuna took the shower’s nozzle. He turned the nozzle to one side and turned on the switch. He then twisted on the handle to adjust the water temperature as he held the shower in one hand and pressed Mukuro’s shoulder with the other to signal him to sit down on the small stool.
Mukuro looked up at Tsuna behind him and said calmly, “I don’t know how to shower.”
What do you mean you don’t know how to shower? Tsuna questioned him in his mind.
“Is the water temperature okay?” He asked as he carefully let the water fall on Mukuro. Tsuna saw the top of his head move a bit. He then stretched out his hand to turn on the faucet of the bathtub and asked, “How did you shower before?”
“We were put together in one room. Then, someone will come and spray disinfectant on us and then the holes on the top of our head will spray water.”
Tsuna felt shocked. Wait a minute! Disinfectant?!
“Then how did you shower at Ryo-nii’s house?”
“I did not shower.” Mukuro simply informed him.
Ryo-nii! How careless and busy you are! These two kids haven’t had a bath in a week! Don’t you smell anything bad in your house? Tsuna complained in his mind angrily.
Feeling turbulent in his heart, Tsuna carefully washed Mukuro’s hair with warm water. As he looked from behind him, he found that the boy was very thin with very prominent butterfly bones. It should be possible that this boy has not seen the sun all year round so his skin is unhealthy pale.
Tsuna kept washing him until Mukuro’s skin was slightly red and Tsuna stopped. Just as the bathtub was full of water, he turned off the faucet. He then took down the shampoo from the bathroom shelf and showed it to Mukuro, “Use this to wash your hair. If you use this on your hair, it will be washed cleanly.”
After finishing speaking, he squeezed the shampoo into the palm of his hand. He slowly rubbed it on the top of Mukuro’s head with appropriate strength, “Close your eyes. It will sting if it gets into your eyes.”
Bit by bit, the bubbles increased. Tsuna held the slightly long dark purple hair together and washed it vigorously, “Lower your head.”
Mukuro bowed his head obediently and Tsuna washed the foam away.
“Okay, now you can open your eyes. This is shower gel, which is used to wash the body. I really like this brand. The mint smell is very nice. We can go to the supermarket next time to see what kind of smell Muku will like.” Tsuna smiled and demonstrated how to pour the shower gel on the bath ball, “Use mine first. I will buy one for Muku tomorrow. Hey, we have so many things to buy tomorrow.”
The mesh of the bath ball felt a little rough when it was rubbed against the skin, but it was not uncomfortable. Besides, the strength of Tsuna’s hands was very gentle. Mukuro indulged in Tsuna washing him from head to toe. The water was poured down his head, leaving what Tsuna called the ‘mint smell’ lingering on his body.
It’s cool and smells good.
“Go into the bathtub so that you will not catch a cold.” Tsuna placed Mukuro in the bathtub and instructed, “Get up and eat after you’ve soaked enough. This is the bath towel. When you get up, you need to dry off the water from your body. I put the clothes for you to change there.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the wooden basket on the shelf.
Mukuro’s face was half-submerged in the water, leaving only a pair of eyes visible. He nodded to Tsuna. Only then did Tsuna walk out of the bathroom in peace. He calculated in his head that the curry should be done by this time.
Watching him close the door, Mukuro retracted his gaze and stared at the water in front of him. He stared blankly for a while. He then leaned back against the bathtub wall, scooped up a handful of clear water with both of his hands and lowered his eyes to watch them all disappear as they slipped through his fingers after a while.
It turned out that taking a bath is such a comfortable thing… He thought to himself.
The potatoes have been fully cooked and have melted slightly. The starch has been incorporated into the soup, which makes the whole curry look sticky and rich. The chicken and carrots are softly floating in it. Once the lid is lifted, the rich scent dissipates instantly.
Tsuna took a spoonful and poured it in a small dish to taste the curry. After confirming that there was no need to add more seasonings, he turned off the stove. He thought to himself that it would be better to let Mukuro soak for a while more. He could reheat it when he came out later. He then dragged his slippers and walked to the living room to watch the news on the TV.
Half an hour later, Mukuro came out of the bathroom wearing old plain long-sleeved casual clothes and jeans. Tsuna just glanced at him and frowned, “Your hair is still wet, why didn’t you dry it off?”
After finishing speaking, Tsuna regretted it. According to their previous conversation, he should be aware to some extent that Mukuro probably does not have such common sense in life. It was not his fault so he should not have spoken to him in such a reproachful tone.
Although the person in front of him was only 12 years old, he might have to treat him as a child younger than his age.
“It’s uncomfortable if your hair is wet.” Tsuna walked over and led him to sit on the sofa. He then went to the kitchen to turn the stove back on. Next, he went to the bathroom to get a dry towel and a hair dryer, “After taking a shower, you have to dry your hair before you come out.”
Mukuro only nodded expressionlessly to show his understanding.
Tsuna asked Mukuro to sit cross-legged on the sofa with his back to himself. He then covered his head with a towel to wipe off the excessive moisture from it. He then connected the hair dryer to the power supply of the computer by the side of the sofa in the living room so that he could blow Mukuro’s hair.
“Your hair is so soft.” Tsuna commented unconsciously as he rubbed the roots of Mukuro’s hair.
“…Is it weird?” Because of the noisy sound of the hair dryer, Mukuro’s voice was a little muffled. But Tsuna heard what he said anyway. He was a little surprised, but also a little happy since it meant that the child was a little willing to express his own thoughts. This was good progress.
“It’s not.” Tsuna shuffled Mukuro’s hair to make it dry faster. Tsuna’s voice carried a sense of warmth and it can be guessed from the tone that he was smiling, “It’s very nice to touch.”
It was only after a long time that Mukuro let out a soft ‘oh’ from his mouth.
They had curry chicken rice for dinner. The white rice cooked tonight was clear and aromatic. It was served with the strong herb smell of curry chicken soup. It was very appetising just looking at the meal.
“How is it? Is it to your liking?” Seeing Mukuro on the opposite side scooping up a spoonful of food into his mouth, Tsuna asked excitedly. He didn’t have high expectations on his cooking, but he just wanted to chat with the boy. That was all there is to it. After all, they will live together from now on, so unimpeded communication is very necessary.
Mukuro only chewed twice before swallowing it. He then nodded slightly when he heard Tsuna’s question.
Well, Tsuna thought to himself that he must no longer ask such a question that can only be answered with perfunctory nodding and shaking his head. Tsuna took a spoonful of the food himself, “What kind of food does Muku like to eat? I can try to make it for you next time.”
Blinking his eyes slowly, Mukuro only stared at the golden curry rice, “Nothing in particular.”
It’s really… this kind of thing… Tsuna really doesn’t know how to continue the conversation.
Tsuna placed his palm on his forehead. He suddenly lost his appetite for the curry rice that he thought was delicious. Like what his father said, since he already made this choice, he had to be responsible for it.
After thinking for a while, he put down his spoon and put on a serious expression, “Muku, I want to tell you something.”
Mukuro looked at him and put the spoon in his hand down beside the plate.
“You should know this beforehand. My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. I am 22 years old. I studied in Italy before. I just returned to Japan this year. My birthday is on October 12th. My height is 1.76 metres. Ah, I hope I was able to grow taller. I heard from my dad that it was because I didn’t like to drink milk when I was a child. As a young boy, if you are not tall enough, it will be very troublesome for you. So, you must not hate drinking milk. From tomorrow onwards, you will have a glass of milk every day. My childhood dream was to be a giant robot. I usually don’t like listening to music very much. But if I had to choose, I would probably choose pop music, electronic music, or some nursery rhymes and such. I used to be very addicted to playing games. If we have a chance, we can play games together. It would be really fun.”
After speaking about a lot of things in one breath, Tsuna inhaled deeply, “That’s all for now. You should be able to understand me better as you get along with me in the future.”
“I should have told you about all this when we got home just now. But I was so preoccupied with stuff that I forgot.” He rested his chin on one of his hands. He then turned his head slightly. With his eyes slightly bent, he gave a warm and bright smile to Mukuro, “I will be your family from now on. Please know this.”
Mukuro was dazed for a moment as he looked at that smile. He suddenly turned his face to the side. From Tsuna’s view, he could see that Muku’s jaw had a beautiful curve, his nose bridge was high, and his eyebrows were thin. He looked like he was stubbornly enduring something.
“What about you, Muku? I don’t know anything about you except your name and age.” Tsuna lowered his voice, “Would you like to tell me something about yourself?”
There was warm heating in the house, a rich aroma of meal filling the air, someone asking him a question in a gentle voice, the noisy sound of the TV in the living room was playing something boring from a distance… Everything was extremely warm at this moment.
These are all the things that Mukuro had never imagined he would experience before.
Mukuro opened and closed his mouth several times. He didn’t know what to say. He finally could only whisper, “I don’t know what to tell you.”
I don’t know anything about myself, Mukuro thought silently. No, I don’t even have a sense of ‘self’.
“I forgot the person who casually chose a name for me. I don’t know when my birthday is. I have never drank milk or played games. I don’t understand anything about music. The most common melody I have heard is the tune before a broadcast in the laboratory,” Muku narrated these without any emotions. He looked indifferent and he still didn’t look at Tsuna directly.
“It doesn’t matter.”
He heard Tsuna speak.
“You are only 12 years old and you will have a lot of time in the future to discover whether the milk is good to drink, what games are fun to play with, and what kind of music you like to listen to. One step at a time. You can take your time.”
The feeling of something unfamiliar seemed to have fallen on Muku’s heart, igniting a slightly hot flame.
“As for your birthday, let me decide this for you. It can’t be today since I would want to celebrate Muku’s birthday properly. How about we set it to June 9th?”
Muku could still hear the sound of Tsuna’s gentle voice talking in the background and he suddenly felt the urge to grab him in his hand. So, he withdrew his hand from on top of the table and balled up his fists tightly under the table. His expression remained calm, but the unfamiliar feeling deep inside was still there. There was an uncontrollable tremor in his heart.
“Hmm,” he responded.
What is the name of this unfamiliar feeling?
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*Translator’s Note: I think by this point, Muku fell in love. 😝 -K
Next update: 2023.04.25
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