Chapter 18 – Conflicts
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)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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Discussing their high school memories with Kyoko was a very pleasant thing. This kind of thing makes Tsuna smile happily.
Mukuro likes to see Tsuna’s smile. From the first time he saw him, he liked it so much. But he doesn’t like the fact that Tsuna smiles so happily right now because of other people.
And that other person is a woman.
“What did you talk about with Dokuro?” On the way home, Tsuna still maintained that happy smile on his face. On the contrary, Mukuro just looked at him with a suppressed expression on his face. He then smiled faintly, “I don’t want to tell you.”
Tsuna choked up upon hearing the answer.
“I just talked with her about the past. Just like you and that auntie.” Biting the word ‘auntie’ whole-heartedly, Mukuro let out a ‘haaa’ before Tsuna frowned and said, “We both remember the things that happened back then very clearly. We were very emotional when we talked about it. The way Uncle Ryo and your way of taking care of people are really different.”
Tsuna also thought of the doubts he had back then about whether Ryo-nii could take care of the child. He laughed so hard that he almost coughed, “Fortunately, there is Kyoko who can help take care of Dokuro. Or else, I am really worried about how that girl will be raised.”
Since the topic was turned around to Kyoko again, Mukuro’s eyes dimmed. But his voice was uncharacteristically raised, “Tsuna, you take good care of others. Even when we are out on the streets, you are afraid that I will get lost so you will hold my hand.”
As soon as he said that, he took Tsuna’s hand and clasped his fingers tightly. He then held it up in front of the two people’s eyes, “Look. You held my hand like this.”
At that time, even if we were holding hands, we didn’t interlock our fingers… But now, you are as tall as me. It would be strange for two men to walk holding hands on the streets; Tsuna thought silently to himself.
These words that Tsuna thought of were all swallowed back when he saw Mukuro’s smile. Whether this person smiles sincerely depends not on the corner of his mouth, but on his eyes. Right now, the young man in front of him seems to display gorgeous stars shining in an endless sky. He looks so beautiful that Tsuna was caught off guard.
Well… hmm, it’s no big deal. Just let him hold it.
Despite him thinking that way, Tsuna still walked unnaturally all the way. Mukuro held his hand, talked and laughed as if it was a natural thing to do. He even rubbed his thumbs against his fingers from time to time. He also didn’t let him go while they got on the bus.
Compared to Tsuna’s obvious discomfort, Mukuro acted very naturally. What happened last night at least proves to him that Tsuna can also reach an orgasm in the hands of a man. Even if that happened in a state of unconsciousness. But Mukuro can take things slowly. As long as he adapts to his skin contact little by little, he can accept him eventually albeit slowly.
However, the appearance of that woman was really a big hit for him. Just now, he learned from the chat between Tsuna and that woman that she is still single. What a strange woman. She is already 27 years old and she doesn’t have a boyfriend yet.
Mukuro didn’t mind speculating on her with the greatest malice. But her appearance gave him a painful reminder.
And that is; one day, Tsuna will find himself a girlfriend.
Since meeting Kyoko in the hospital, Tsuna and Kyoko have resumed contact. They exchanged cell phone numbers and MSN email addresses. They sent text messages to each other from time to time. They also shared interesting things that happened around them when they talked on MSN.
Tsuna found it very easy to communicate with her. She was smart and understanding. And she didn’t have the habits of other women that would embarrass him. They talked about Dokuro entering high school soon. Surprisingly, the child had made her own decision. The high school she wanted to go to was Kokuyo High School. She would enrol after the spring break.
It was really unexpected. No matter how you look at it, Kokuyo is not really a good choice. Delinquent boys are about to become a special product of the school while the colour of the school uniform always reminds Tsuna of discounted vegetables at the supermarket.
He told Mukuro of the news only to receive a look of ‘I knew it since a long time ago’ from the other party, “Have you kept in touch with Dokuro all this time?”
“What’s so strange about this? Haven’t you also kept in touch with that auntie all this time?” Mukuro was quite depressed that the woman didn’t become a simple passerby in their life.
“Mu-…” Although it is true that people should call elders as ‘auntie’, Tsuna somehow felt that the emotion from the moment Mukuro called Kyoko that way was off. His tone was light and it was laced with a bit of contempt and disgust.
“Do you hate Kyoko?”
Lying on the sofa, Mukuro didn’t answer. He just covered his face with the book he was reading. He was obviously giving Tsuna the look of ‘I don’t want to talk’.
“It’s not good to read while lying down. Won’t your eyes be uncomfortable?” Tsuna sat down a little and pulled the book off of his face. Tsuna flipped through it casually. The hard-covered book looked like it was a high level reading. Tsuna couldn’t understand the financial terms in it at all. In a blink of an eye, he saw Mukuro staring at him with his hands folded, “What exactly are you trying to ask?”
For Mukuro, it’s really irritating to talk about that woman with Tsuna.
Tsuna thought about his words before saying, “It’s your attitude towards Kyoko. I mean, doesn’t it seem like you hate her a little bit?”
“So what if I hate her? And what if I don’t hate her?” Mukuro took back the book in Tsuna’s hand. He then turned to the page he was reading just now and turned sideways to start reading again, “Is this important?”
“It’s not-…” But this is really strange, right? Tsuna has always taken the initiative to share everything about himself with Mukuro. Mukuro has always responded well with it. Even if he doesn’t show too strong emotions, Tsuna can be sure that he always agrees with him no matter what he told him about before.
However, at the moment, Mukuro clearly does not accept this part of his life. Tsuna has to admit that he feels as lonely as when he knew Mukuro would not introduce his friends to him.
Tsuna cheered up suddenly and jokingly said, “Don’t be like that. I see that you have a very good relationship with Dokuro. Moreover, Dokuro is her niece~”
As soon as this kind of obvious hint was uttered, all movements of Mukuro stopped. Then, he slammed the book shut and sat up, “What do you mean by that?”
This is the first time that Mukuro spoke to Tsuna in a low and oppressive tone. Tsuna was startled and moved back a bit as if frightened. But his shoulders were immediately held by Mukuro’s hand, making him unable to move, “What do you mean by that?”
He repeated his question in a slow tone, with a sense of cohesion between the words. The implication of coercion was obvious. It caused Tsuna to become baffled.
What did I say that made this child react so exaggeratingly?
“Muku, are you-… Are you embarrassed?” Tsuna blinked his eyes. He carefully looked at the details shown on Mukuro’s face. He wondered if it is possible that Mukuro really had some feelings about Dokuro and became angry because of this?
“I’m not embarrassed.” His shoulders slumped suddenly as he looked at the sky exaggeratedly. Mukuro fell back with his hands behind his head. The sofa shook with the impact. He then spoke again in the same tone as before, “Can we talk about other things?”
Tsuna’s question about whether he hates Kyoko or not was left unanswered. Adolescent boys will always have this kind of awkwardness during this time. It’s better to just ignore it. Tsuna, who thought so, didn’t realise that this problem would explode so badly later on.
The reason for this is because of an invitation.
Kyoko shared a recipe on the MSN blog. Tsuna commented that the dish looked delicious. The next day was the weekend so Kyoko invited Tsuna and Mukuro over to her home as guests. She said that she would also invite Dokuro.
After exchanging messages on MSN to confirm the address and time, Tsuna, who was a little excited, sent a text message to Mukuro to tell him the decision as usual. But until the end of the day and it was time for him to leave work, Tsuna did not receive any reply from him.
When he got home, there was food on the table. Mukuro was sitting on a chair poking the rice grains in the bowl. When he saw Tsuna who opened the door and came in, he pointed to the opposite side with his chopsticks, where there was already prepared food for him, “I guess you’d be back by now. Wash your hands.”
His tone was a notch colder than usual.
Tsuna changed his shoes and took off his coat. He then washed his hands and went to the dining table. He chatted about Kyoko as usual, “Did you see my text message?”
“Hmm.” After responding with only a single syllable, Mukuro calmly picked up some dishes into his bowl, “I won’t go.”
“Then we’ll… go there tomorrow?” Since Mukuro sounded too natural, Tsuna had already spoken half of what he had said before realising that Mukuro rejected his idea.
“Why is that?” Tsuna was so surprised that even his chopsticks that were holding some dishes stopped in the air. He had no idea that Mukuro would reject this invitation.
Is it because he’s antisocial? Muku usually doesn’t go out except for going to and getting back from school. And also shopping. But…
Before he could continue with his assumptions, Mukuro replied to him bluntly, “I don’t want to go. Didn’t you ask me if I hate that auntie?”
He put the dishes into his own bowl and then put down his chopsticks. He said clearly, “Yes, I hate her. Very much. So I won’t go to her house to eat that damned mushroom or salmon or cake.”
“Why do you hate her?” Apart from asking this question again, Tsuna didn’t know what else to say. He couldn’t digest the bad attitude Mukuro displayed when he said this.
“Why do I hate her?” Mukuro leaned back on his seat. His slightly raised chin formed an arrogant curve while his tight lips exhibited a bit of stubbornness. This reminded Tsuna of the time when they first met. When Mukuro was 12 years old, he often showed such an expression inadvertently. It was unknown as to whom he was trying to be stubborn with but that face instead, exposed the fragility and awkwardness of a child. He always succeeded in making him soft-hearted.
“Because she intervened in our life.” Even though Mukuro endured it over and over again, the tone of his voice was raised so high that even he himself was surprised. Let alone Tsuna who was sitting on the opposite side of him.
“Muku, we are just going to have a meal…-“
“-Will that be all?” Mukuro let out a strange laugh after he asked this. Then, he stood up abruptly, making a screeching sound as the chair legs rubbed against the floor, “She is just an outsider. But she appears in our conversation every day. Isn’t this called intervening in our daily life?”
Tsuna was wondering what kind of logic this was, “Even before Kyoko, I’ve told you about so many people, right? That was not a problem, was it?”
“This is different from that.” Mukuro took a deep breath and looked down at Tsuna.
“What’s the difference?”
“You like her.”
As soon as Mukuro said these words, he got out of control. The sound of his voice was so loud that it hurt their ears. After being dazed for a moment, Mukuro turned his head and left the dining room in anger. He left Tsuna to sit alone and wonder to himself what was wrong.
The next day, Tsuna still went to Kyoko’s house all by himself.
After that, the first cold war in history between him and Mukuro began.
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*Author’s Note: So, Ah Li, you really owe it to me…-YXF
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*Translator’s Note: Think I’ve written it before but I’ll just reiterate. Chinese use ‘auntie’ and ‘uncle’ to also regard people who are not blood related as a sign of respect. Most Asian cultures are like these. As far as I know, people in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan are also like that. But I’m not sure about the rest since I’m not that familiar with them. -K
☝🏻Kokuyo high school uniform (which Tsuna said looks like the colour of discounted veggies hahaha). Mukuro is in the middle. Next to him on the right is Dokuro. The guy wearing a white beanie on the right is Chikusa. The one with the blond hair on the left is Ken. The rest of the gang wasn’t in the story (yet?).
☝🏻Fanart of MukuroXTsuna
Next update: 2023.08.07
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