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hestzhyen · 2 months ago

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Chapter 69 NICE Posting

HECK YEAH LET'S GO, DEAR VOID. Also ha ha funny number.

Rough TL of the Editor's Notes: First Page: 殺戮を切り抜けて... [satsuriku wo kiri mekete...] "Cutting through the carnage" or "Survive the slaughter". 切り[kiri, "cut"], one of the editor's favourite words to do wordplay with, makes another appearance alongside 抜く[meku] and it's many possible meanings this time. Trivia: 殺戮 [satsuriku] is the same kanji in "Kyoto Bloodshed Hotel" and generally means "slaughter" or "massacre". Last Page: 封印が綻び少女は目覚める... [fuuin ga hokorobi shoujo wa mezameru...] "The seal breaks and the girl awakens..."

Anti-spoiler panels since Tumblr takes the first image to rep the post.

Didn't see much of this fight but that's alright because...

YEAH YEAH YEAH LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I'm going full FUCK YEAH mode from the start because holy hell, Iori!

If you hear screaming off in the distance, that's me and Ikura being Iori's hype guys.

OK! I don't care what the explanation for her being able to do this was beyond the seal breaking, I'm just 100% excited to see it happen. This kind of development was exactly what I was hoping to see but didn't want to hope for too much lest I get disappointed. IORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Iori chose to keep her memories as expected but in the coolest way possible: she's gonna protect the fuck out of her everyday life. Chihiro lost his forever* so he had no choice but to continue on the path he chose, but Iori's going to do what she can to save what she's come to cherish so much. She really is Chihiro but with 100% less Hishasku-induced trauma. Not to say she doesn't have any of her own- those memories of her house being trashed are definitely painful for her- but she refused the NPC life to become a certified badass. Good for her!

We'll probably get a full explanation next chapter as usual, but for now, I'll assume that the pain of her old life combined with the comfort of her ordinary one is what motivated her after hearing Ikuto's words. She wouldn't want others to experience that after the big deal she made about turning everyone else's lives upside down the past few chapters just by existing. As brave as Ikuto is he's not going to make the cut to survive the kind of life Chihiro leads. But Iori can as the daughter of one of the Enchanted Blade wielders, who already knows great hardship and a thing or two about swinging a sword.

Like father, like daughter.

Why would Samura teach his kid how to fight, though? He's against killing right? Maybe it happened before the guilt overwhelmed him, maybe it was for self-defence when they were being targeted with hate, we don't know yet. Either way I am so stoked to see Iori be such a badass and get to choose how to manage things on her own terms. What a contrast to Chihiro who was thrust into that world against his will after letting rage and grief consume him...

Some things are so precious that they must be protected at all costs. Chihiro knows that and wanted Iori to do what she felt was best, but I don't know if he predicted she'd take up the sword. Or if he even wanted her to in the first place, honestly- he never pushed her to fight and said he'd protect her no matter what instead. I can't wait for them to meet up again to see how he reacts.

It might be a bit though since even though Samura will now remember Iori exists, he probably won't know where to find her. Redirecting the barrier's power into the seal might have been enough to grab his attention but doesn't seem like that will happen now. Waiting impatiently for them to meet face-to-face once again after three years...

I wonder if the pinky ring contract with John will come back into play. Wouldn't it be thematically appropriate if Samura breaks the contract to protect Iori, and that's what does him in? Just a thought since Chihiro's unlikely to be able to duel him even if he practices without resting for the next three days. Maybe especially because of that, given how he's been pushing himself. We'll see!

Ikura the Everyman

So there was more to him than being Discount Chihiro after all.

His name doesn't have a significant meaning: 井 [i] for "well" and 倉 [kura] for "warehouse" or "storehouse" (yes it's the same kanji used to name the storehouse sorcery passed down in the Sazanami clan, yes it's probably just a coincidence). So 井倉 for "well warehouse". Poor guy. He's a certified badass too though.

I liked his narration about how he cares for Iori because she didn't look down on him when she was clearly expected to like everyone else did. It's cliche but it's a good one, you know? A loser being treated normally by a pretty girl with no ulterior motives feels good for all all of us. For all his faults Samura definitely passed on some good values to her (remember how he refused to treat the Masumi as tools). It also suits Ikura's "ordinary person" status perfectly.

A little more than he bargained for.

I do have some praise for this arc showing us normal people being out of their depth: these are good contrasts to Chihiro. Iori will have a more detailed write-up later but she's essentially what Chihiro would have been without the Hishaku mucking things up. Ikura, though... he's really just an average guy with some real mettle under the chuuni exterior.

He blundered his way into the life of ultra violence that Chihiro tried to warn him away from and refused to back down despite being terrified. Wanting to save Iori overrode the fear that consumed him after his bravado faltered during Hiruhiko's massacre. It looked silly for him to copy Chihiro's scar the first time with marker, yeah. He was just 100% delusional kid trying to look cool then. The second time, though, he knew what he was in for and did it as a sign of his resolve. That's also something to be said for Chihiro's image- he's still not the one-dimensional murderer he sees himself as. More on that in a bit.

I appreciate him interrupting the Chihiro vs Hiruhiko fight to scream his motivations, even if it was a little too convenient for him to overhear about the key and go for it too. I'll allow it since it led to Iori finally coming into her own and defending him. He's crazy brave out of admiration and devotion to Iori... it's so sweet. They didn't need to get the literal key to the roof but the metaphorical one- Ikura.

You don't have to be able to fight and kill to be just as brave.

No idea how these fights are going to play out! The Masumi aren't completely safe yet but I'll breathe a sigh of relief for now. Please let them avoid becoming an elite squad statistic. Will be watching to see if Iori becomes a killer as well- she's only parried so far. Chihiro won't be happy if he sees another person take that bloody road. And how will it affect Iori if she snuffs out someone else's life?

TL note though.

Not exactly what he said...

Ikura says 俺はあなたがいないと困ります��！[ore wa anata ga inai to komarimasu!!], or "I'd be lost without you!"/"I'd be troubled without you!". Yeah, Ikura pulled out anata, the "you" for the exceptionally close people in your life. But nothing about this mentioned school at all! I guess the translator wanted to make it clear that Ikura's words reminded Iori of her every day life and that's what broke the seal? Genuinely curious why they downplayed this.

*Ordinary Life and Loss

"Let the murderers deal with the murderers."

Chihiro thinks he's lost his ordinary life for good. But little does he know that he's been rebuilding it around himself one chance encounter at a time. He's already got Shiba as an uncle figure and has added Char as a little sister. Then there's Hakuri, whose relationship to him is ambiguous at the moment, but he's probably going to be a "twin brother from another mother" or something similar to what Naruto and Sasuke were by the end of Naruto. They're quite close already at any rate; Hakuri says they're friends, and even though Chihiro hasn't applied a label to their relationship, he trusts and cares about Hakuri a hell of a lot. At any rate, everyone Chihiro meets comes to see him positively even if they have a horrible first impression. Except Mutton Chops but he's irrelevant right now so fuck him.

Char: her saviour -> just "Chihiro" Hakuri: a samurai and his saviour -> a friend Hiyuki: selfish jerk -> a good guy Tafuku: a good guy -> still a good guy Uruha: a faker -> amazing just like his father Samura: Rokuhira's brat -> a good kid Iori: a murderer -> a good guy who's suffered a lot Ikura: vessel for his chuuni delusions -> a role model

Come on Chihiro, one day you'll realise you're worthy of the love people give you.

Now as to what Iori will be, it's impossible to say until we see the rest of this arc play out. But I could see her being another friend for Chihiro- a much-needed "normal" perspective to anchor this group of traumatized misfits. She'd be a great balance for Chihiro and Hakuri especially since they both have zero clue what an ordinary life for most kids their age looks like. We only have to hope that she doesn't get stuck in the naggy rational woman role no matter what her intended relationship to Chihiro is, though. Have no reason to doubt Hokazono so far though so I won't worry about it.

Hakuri Thoughts

Did you seriously think I'd go an entry without mentioning him?

I know, I know. I need to get over the fact that he's not going to show up for a while. I just want to yap a little.

So... first up, anyone who thinks Hakuri was sidelined because he's "too OP" or "would make writing the story this arc hard", please line up to be whacked with a baseball bat. He's out of the narrative right now for two reasons and neither of those are it.

Hakuri's absence is supposed to weigh on us like it does for Chihiro. Already wrote a post about it, won't recount it here, but there you have it. Hakuri's current state is a self-imposed fuckup for Chihiro that he wants to make right. He's working on becoming the samurai Hakuri said he needed so that he can bring some reassurance that everything's fine by the time Hakuri's feeling better. This is because....

Hakuri is also Chihiro's biggest source of comfort as of sharing the comfort/connection metaphor on the train in chapter 47. Of course he can't be there to stop Chihiro's self-destructive spiral right now- we need to see Chihiro crash and burn under the weight of his guilt after all this set up to make him do it.

Hakuri won't be out of the whole arc, at least I don't think so. Not after the parallels we got to set him up as the Uruha to Chihiro's Samura. It's frustrating that we haven't cut over to his circumstances like we did earlier in the arc, yeah... that's what point #1 is for. He was even left out the most recent merch lineup despite Azami and Hiyuki making it in (collab cafe has different circumstances dictating what characters appear). It's reminiscent about how the early marketing of him framed him first as an NPC then was deliberate about hiding his right eye shortly after the reveal. As a veteran KH fan, I feel like this kind of thing is done to tie in with the current events of the story. Much like how Kairi suspiciously disappears from Sora's side in some of the products that use the game's launch screen art- in stuff that Nomura purposely did himself, like the clear file folder.

The next chance to switch to his PoV will be after this hotel business is wrapped up- I'm hoping it will against my better judgement. Anyway, here's your copium if you need it. Hakuri's out for now but not forever (and hopefully not for much longer).

Okay! Praying for not too much Hiruhiko next week and moving on after that. Give yourself a treat this week, kind void, and I'll see you next time.

#kagurabachi #Iori is so cool man #She inherited Samura's swagger for real #Just hope she didn't inherit the propensity for crippling guilt too #kb ch69

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mxnhoo · 10 months ago

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like doing nothing, with you (s. jy)

synopsis : jake who was originally your best friend, had recently became your boyfriend, and you were overwhelmed at the change. genre : fluff, word vomit, not proofread warnings : reader is insecure(?), ALMOST smut, LMK IF I MISSED OUT ON ANYTHING ELSE pairing : sim jaeyun x reader w/c : 3.1k a/n : the 'almost smut' scene was inspired by 'my love story with yamada-kun at lvl999' ch69 hehe. and thank you guys for the amount of love shown on my previous posts! hope this doesnt disappoint!

playlist : "sjy, ilysm."

any interaction w this post is greatly appreciated!

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"Hi!" a loud voice spoke out, causing you to shoot your head up over the counter.

A customer.

"Hi! So sorry for not noticing you, what would you like to get?" You quickly fixed your attire, straightening your posture as you focus your attention on the customer.

By now, it was already 10:46p.m, and you were having your first night shift. You had to take over your colleague because she had last-minute issues to attend to, and it didn't necessarily bother you.

What bothered you was Jake.

In your head was only Jake.

Recalling his voice, the way his mouth moved when he talked, the way his eyes lights up when he sees you, and how he runs his hand through his hair.

One specific thing that couldn't stop replaying in your head was when he asked you to be his girlfriend a few days ago.

He had been your best friend for years.. and years.. and you secretly had a crush on him for the longest time. You were practically going through the 5 stages of grief.. except it was for your shocked feeling when he asked you out.

The first stage : Denial.

You were in that stage. Considering that it had only been a few days since you two got together, it's normal. But it was affecting you like crazy.

Everytime you went to the toilet? You thought of Jake.

Everytime you went to your part-time job? You thought of Jake.

Eat, sleep, study and Jake.

"Hello?????" the same voice spoke out again, breaking your train of thought.

Fuck, you were seriously getting distracted, and it was Jake's fault. He was driving you insane.

"Oh my god, I'm really sorry. Could you repeat your order again?" You blinked continuously to keep yourself focused at the customer in front of you, taking a deep breath in.

"Latte. Could I get a Latte for takeout?" the customer answered, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

You quickly nodded, pressing the customer's order into the cash register.

"That would be $5.80. Cash or ca—" "Card."

You nodded, feeling slightly displeased at the way the customer just interrupted you, but you just wanted to get this over with. Both of you were impatient.

You pressed a few buttons onto the card machine, and nodded at him indicating that he could tap his card. He did so, and as the receipt came out, you voiced out again.

"Name for the drink?"

"James."

Your heart jumped up again. James, Jake. Oh man, you were even thinking about Jake when serving customers.

You nodded at the customer and walked to the espresso machine, starting to make the drink.

Brewing, pouring, steaming, and pouring.

After 5 minutes, you were ready to serve James with his order. Carefully placing the plastic lid on the cup, you placed the cup into a small bag and walked up to the counter.

"Latte for James?"

In the corner of your eye, you saw the same guy approaching you. He took the drink, and muttered out a small thank-you before turning his back and making his way to the exit

You nodded your head and turned your back, leaning against the counter. You closed your eyes and threw your head back, the sounds of the door opening and closing filled the cafe.

At this point, the cafe only consisted of you.

Or so you thought. You heard footsteps approaching you and you thought it was the customer, James, wanting to ask for something, so you took a deep breath and turned around.

"Yes, what do you need?" You said loudly, clearly wanting to go home. However, the person who stood behind the counter was in fact not James, but Jake, the person who was driving you insane.

"Hey." He looked at you, giving you his smile. He was wearing his grey zip-up with a white shirt inside. His hair fell so perfectly on his forehead, and he was wearing his thick-rimmed glasses.

Your heart skipped a beat, and you were unknowingly staring at him, unable to process the fact that the boy driving you insane was right in front of you. Your boyfriend was right in front of you.

"Do I look so good that you're staring?" he chuckled, interrupting your thoughts. You regained consciousness and you blink constantly, looking at every single thing except him.

"S-sorry.." you muttered, feeling embarassed.

"No need to apologise, I feel like the luckiest person in the world when you look at me like that." Your eyes flew to him, a shy smile creeping up his lips. The cafe was quite dim, considering that it was night time and the lighting wasn't very bright, but you could see the hint of pink filling his cheeks.

"W-well!" you felt flustered at his comment, and you wanted to change the topic. Why was he here? Was he not supposed to be in bed by now? "W-why are you here?"

"To see my girlfriend, of course, which is you."

Oh my god, his way with words literally have you folding.

"You didn't have to.. it's late" "Why not? And it's also your first night shift right? I wanna take you home."

His voice sounded so genuine, and you could not process that the boy you wanted so bad was treating you like this, so well, just like a gentleman. The warmth that filled your heart was limitless, and at this point of time you just wanted to climb over the counter between the two of you and bring him into your embrace.

"I'll quickly close-up the cafe then, give me about 30 minutes okay?" you said, turning around so he couldn't see how red your face was. Gosh, you were practically a tomato.

"Sure thing, need help with anything?" "No, it's okay. Want a drink before I start to close up?" "It's okay, maybe another day, you seem tired."

The way he was looking after you so much was driving you insane. You weren't someone who was never in a relationship before, but the way Jake treated you, made you feel, was all so different. You were convinced that he was someone who stepped out of a book, a movie, he was too perfect.

You smiled to yourself before grabbing all the used equipment and bringing it to the sink, starting to wash-up.

"You feeling okay? You seem kinda.. spaced out" he said, still at the counter.

You. It was because of you I feel so spaced out.

"I'm okay, just tired.. And the shift timing is different than usual." you replied, back facing him as you continued to wash the equipment.

"Was that guy bothering you?" he said, his tone starting to sound serious.

"Huh? What guy?" "The one you served a while ago. I was entering the cafe while he was leaving."

Oh. James.

"Ah, not at all." "You sure?" "Mhm.." you placed the wet equipment on the drying rack, washing your hands. "Okay.. but you know if you wanna talk about something, I'm always here right?"

God, he's so sweet. Gift from God.

"Thanks, Jake.." you turned your head over your neck, making eye contact and flashing him a quick smile.

"There's the smile I love so much. Keep smiling like that okay? You look so gorgeous."

You couldn't help but to smile more. You faced back to the equipment to the drying rack, taking a towel before individually drying them. You weren't looking at Jake, but you just know he was staring at you.

"I guess you're the one staring now." You teased, feeling less tensed up after how he was so sweet to you.

"Ah, shit, you caught me" — he chuckled — "How can I not when you're so beautiful?"

"Enough with the compliments." You enjoyed all the compliments, but from the amount he was giving you at once, it was quite overwhelming for your heart.

He chuckled, and he made his way to one of the tables, sitting down with his eyes still locked onto you. After cleaning, sorting the equipment, you started to wipe down the counters and sweep the floor.

After sweeping the inside of the counter, you made your way to the seating area of the cafe, cleaning up any crumbs of food. You were hard at work when you suddenly felt a pair of arms embrace you, feeling the warmth against your body. His head was resting on your shoulder, his warm breath hitting your ear. A shy smile creeped up your face as you stopped sweeping to cherish the warmth further.

"Hey, I have to get this done you know?" "Just a few more minutes. I missed you so much." "You have a way with words, y'know?" "Do I?" "Yeah. I feel like my heart is going to explode everytime you say something."

He snickered.

"I could say the same for you." He adjusted his head to the crook of your neck, placing soft kisses on your neck before you shivered and unintentionally pushed him away.

His eyes widened and head tilted, poor boy was confused.

"I'm sorry, did I make you uncomfor—" "No no! I'm.."

You were both having such a good moment and you had to ruin it, all because you were scared and not used to this.

"... sorry.." "Hey, it's not your fault." his voice was soft, reassuring you. "I'll finish up and we'll go, okay?" you looked at him, feeling guilty that you had just pushed him away. "Okay!" his voice was still cheerful. You didn't get it, how and why was he treating you so well even after you just pushed him away?

You got back to work, and after sweeping up majority of the cafe, you went back into the staff room where Jake couldn't see you, and you looked at yourself.

"How does he find me gorgeous when I look like this?" you mumbled to yourself. You sigh to yourself before removing your cap, hair net and apron, putting it nicely to one of the corners in the room.

You punched your card out, and you gathered your belongings. Turning off the light of the staff room, you went back out and was met with Jake's gaze.

His mood instantly lifted when he knew it was time for you to go home. His eyebrows were lifted and a big smile plastered onto his face. He kinda reminded you of Layla, his dog.

You finished closing up and turned off all the lights, making your way to Jake.

"Let's go, I'll take you home" he extended his hand to you, and you hesitated a bit before taking his hand. He instantly interlocked his hands with yours, both of you walking out of the cafe.

He was going to walk you home since your apartment was only nearby, but you were feeling worried since his place was quite far away.

You and Jake had been best friends, reguarly coming over to each other's apartments to hang out, whether it was to play games, gossip, or something else. You were okay with the fact that he was coming over, but this was the first time he was coming over, as your boyfriend.

The reason why you had been so "cold" to your boyfriend was not because you didn't like him. Fuck, you were heads over heels for him. It was just that you and him were always best friends, and you were just not used to him being your significant other. During the friendship, you and him were always close, but now that you and him were actually official, it inevitably made you awkward. You wanted to do so many things with him — beach date, restaurant date, netflix date, arcade date, too many things for you to even list, but you were scared that you'd be "overbearing" for him, so you held yourself back.

The walk back home was silent. Both of you hand-in-hand, swinging your interlocked hands together. The silence was so tense it was making you feel uncomfortable, until his voice broke it.

"Do you feel uncomfortable with me?"

His question was so sudden. The answer was obviously a 'no', but the way you acted with him contradicted it.

"Not at all." you sounded stern. You didn't want to make him wait for a response, so you answered with whatever appeared in your head first.

"You can tell me if anything I'm doing makes you uncomfortable, okay?"

Usually, after he says this, all you can respond with is "okay" or "sure", but you didn't want that. You wanted to open up to him, tell him that whatever he was doing was completely fine, and that you were just not used to it. You wanted to reassure him the same way he did for you.

"Jake." you suddenly called out. "Yes?" his head quickly turned to you, attentive to whatever you're going to say next. "I'm sorry." "For wh—" "The reason why I'm this way is just that.. I'm not used to it."

He was still looking at you, but he didn't say anything.

"To be honest, I've had a crush on you for the longest time"

When you said that, his eyes widened.

"I hope you know this, but I was really happy when you asked me out. But considering that you were a man who had everything, I was, and still am, questioning how the person you chose to be with is me. All those pretty girls after you, and you still chose me. That's one thing I'm confused about."

He was about to speak, but you continued.

"You've always made me feel so special, so happy, that I was convinced that I was out of your league. Not only that, I was your best friend. I was so convinced that I would be stuck in the friendzone for my entire life, considering how much I liked you. The fact that you're treating me so gently, it just makes me go insane. Don't get me wrong, during our friendship, you treated me well too, but the fact that I get to call you 'mine' overwhelms me a lot."

By the time you finished confessing how you felt, you both had already reached the front of your apartment complex. You finally confessed how you felt about him, and it was almost as if all the weight on your shoulder was removed.

You were preparing to say your goodbye's, but he suddenly spoke out.

"Can I stay over?"

Him staying over was nothing new, but your heart started to beat so fast. He tucked the hair on your face behind your ear and looked at you with such loving eyes.

"Of course you can."

Not breaking your interlocked hands, you both enterred the building and stepped into the elavator. As the lift was going up, he suddenly spoke out.

"Did anyone ever tell you how crazy I was over you?"

His words surprised you.

"What?" your eyes shot to him, tilting your head in confusion. "I was going crazy over you. I don't know how you didn't know. I think Sunghoon and Jay got sick of me talking about you so much."

Sunghoon and Jay were the other guys in your friend group. Jake, Sunghoon and Jay were the closest amongst the friend group, and you never questioned it.

The elevator door opened and you both walked out, walking towards your apartment door.

"Those 'pretty girls' you mentioned? I turned all of them down, and I told them that I was courting you."

Your heart felt like it was going to explode at the information he was confessing to you. You nervously took out the keys and unlocked your door, feeling his intense gaze on you.

"I don't want anyone else. I want you and only you, Y/N. The things you make me feel are unexplainable, and it was driving me crazy. I thought that I won the lottery when you accepted me."

You opened your door, stepping in and he follows you. You felt so happy, so elated, contented, fortunate, lucky, and all the other synonyms of 'happiness' at what he was saying.

"I want to make you happy, just the same way you make me feel happy. I want you to hurt me, ruin me."

You locked your front door and turned on the light, then faced him properly. You took both of his hands into yours.

"Jake."

You saying his name made shivers run down his spine. You looked down at his lips.

"I wanna kiss you so bad."

Without wasting anymore time, he leaned in, placing his soft lips on yours. His rhythm matched yours, and he was soft with you. His hands creeped up to your neck, pulling you closer. He tilted his head to get more access. The way he kissed you was so soft and sweet, you felt like you were in heaven.

You were sitting on your bed with no clothes, the blanket covering you. Jake was now shirtless, but still had his jeans on. He was walking back to you after you had requested to turn off the lights.

"W-wait.. I'm not ready yet.." you nervously muttered as he climbed over you. You were caged between his arms.

Despite having dated other people, you never reached this stage of intimacy. Jake was going to be your first, and you felt scared. You felt vulnerable, exposed. At the same time, it felt special especially since he was someone who had always been there for you.

"It's okay, you can take your time, I'm always waiting for you." he comforted you. The room was completely dark, but the smile on his face was visible.

"C-can you see anything?" you nervously asked, feeling completely exposed to him. "Yeah I can. My eyes already adjusted to the dark" he let out a low laugh. "Oh my god.." you groaned. You felt self-conscious about how you looked, afraid that he would suddenly view you differently if he were to see every part of you. "It's okay. No matter what, you're still the most beautiful person in my eyes, okay? I'll tell you that as many times as you want." He tucked a hair behind your ear, looking at you with such an intense gaze.

You looked back at him, maintaining eye contact.

"You can tell me when you're ready, or if you wanna stop now before we take it too fa—" "I'm ready." you cut him off. "Really? Are you sure? You don't have to, I don't think i can hold back once I start.." "I'm sure, Jakey." your hands that were gripping the blanket slowly wrapped around his neck.

He had his arms wrapped around your bare waist, his face resting at the back of your head as he breathes slowly, warm air hitting your neck.

"Y/N" "Yes?" "I love you." "I love you too."

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