My youth romance is always confusing

The old man next to him didn't say anything, as if he was lamenting the past. Perhaps after seeing the death of his former employee, he also had some thoughts.

The people around were gathered in twos and threes, and it seemed that they knew each other.

But their whispers did not disturb Miyue. She stood there blankly like a wooden figure.

Looking at her father's face with his eyes closed, it was as if she wanted to engrave this face in her heart forever.

Although I don’t know what it feels like to lose a loved one, I have experienced the feeling of losing something I love.

At some point, you suddenly remember the time that thing spent with you, or you saw something that triggered your thoughts.

Whenever that time comes, a wave of nostalgia will well up in my heart.

If the objects were replaced with people, the feeling of nostalgia would be multiplied.

Looking at Miyue's back, I couldn't bear to disturb her.

I can only stand there honestly and play the role of a guest.

After waiting for a long time, there was suddenly a commotion behind me.

I turned around and found that it was my mother who walked in with a man in work clothes.

The two of them seemed to be confirming the follow-up of the funeral.

"Roughly how long will it take?"

The strange atmosphere in the hall did not interrupt Hikigaya Ryoko's words.

Her most important task now was to arrange the funeral.

The man in work uniform took out a notebook, drew on it again and again, and then looked up.

He straightened his hat and said, "At the earliest, it will be this afternoon."

Although the weather outside the window is still gloomy, it does not affect their work speed.

"Afternoon?"

Lingzi calculated the time in her mind and looked at the people around her who were talking.

"Okay then, we'll come over in the afternoon to take over."

After the two confirmed the handover of the ashes, the staff left in a hurry without disturbing anyone present.

However, although Hikigaya Ryoko is now the nominal host, she doesn't really know anyone in the venue, so she can't chat with them or anything like that.

So after informing everyone that the funeral would continue in the afternoon, she didn't say anything more.

"Hachiman."

My mother beckoned me at the door.

I glanced at Miyue, and the child was still standing there in a daze.

After calming myself down a bit, I walked past a few gray-haired old men and headed towards the door.

After not seeing her for a few days, although she was not as haggard as Hikigaya Yunzo, Lingzi's face had become much more haggard. It seemed that she had helped a lot with the funeral arrangements here.

"Mom."

Seeing my mother like this, I didn’t know what to say. After all, it happened too suddenly and no one was prepared.

"Ah."

Hikigaya Ryoko nodded slightly, then glanced back and forth between Mitsuki and Hachiman.

The worry on her face had not yet faded, but she could only force herself to cheer up in front of everyone.

Although she communicates less with her son, it is still much more than with Mitsuki, so now she directly tells Hachiman to pass on information and then asks him to tell Mitsuki.

"Mr. Chonggong's body will be cremated soon. We all came early and haven't had breakfast yet. Let's go have a meal. The staff said it will be ready by the afternoon."

Man is iron and food is steel, this is an eternal truth.

So I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

I've heard of some really extreme cases where people attend funerals just to find an excuse to have a party, and they don't necessarily have much respect for the deceased.

People like that are the cancer at funerals and the scum of society.

It would have been fine if he had no respect, but he also talked a lot about it at the rally after the funeral, showing no sadness at all.

Why don't people like this die out of society as soon as possible? Even when I was in elementary school, I would be marginalized if I came to class late. It's really a miracle that people like this can still survive in this world.

Is it that society is too gentle? Then please give me a little more gentleness.

"Yeah, I'll tell Mitsuki."

After my mother's notification, most people in the hall had left. The old man who had spoken to me before just nodded to me and walked out of the hall.

Now there are only Mitsuki and I here.

But the child was still standing there alone as before.

"Ugh."

I walked to her side and looked at Mr. Takamiya lying in the coffin together.

I just talked a few days ago...

"I heard that they will prepare the body for cremation at noon."

Mitsuki's body shuddered at Hachiman's words.

But she still gritted her teeth, said nothing, and just lowered her head and looked silently at her father lying in the coffin.

"They are all going to eat now. Do you want to go have lunch together?"

no respond.

I pulled Mitsuki's sleeves, but found that she didn't move at all.

This was probably the first time she rejected me since she came to our house.

Although it is in this form of silent resistance.

However, it is understandable. After all, the body will be cremated soon, and every possible moment of seeing it is precious.

I was prepared for this situation.

Unbuttoning her cuffs, I walked over to the bench where the backpack had been.

Now there is only my backpack lying on it.

Opening my backpack, I took out the fried noodles bread that I had prepared earlier.

In the silent hall, the sound of my movements was so obvious.

"Give."

A piece of bread wrapped in plastic was pressed against Mitsuki's hand.

The somewhat hard touch of the plastic interrupted Mitsuki's thoughts.

She raised her head, wiped the tears from her eyes with her hand, and looked at Hachiman.

A few moments.

Miyue took the bread anyway, tore open the package, and chewed it without any taste.

Although she was not in the mood to eat, she knew that this was what she had to do in order to see her father a little longer.

The girl swallowed the bread in her mouth. It was the lunch that Hachiman usually enjoyed at noon, but now it tasted like chewing wax in her mouth.

After mechanically swallowing the last piece of bread, the girl's throat became strangely swollen, as if she was choking.

Her expression also became painful.

Noticing this, I quickly unscrewed the cap of the bottle of mineral water at hand and handed it over.

Mitsuki hurriedly took the water.

The gurgling water slid down his throat, and the bread that was originally blocked in his throat also flowed down with the water.

After wiping the water stains from the corners of her mouth, Miyuki gasped for breath as if she had escaped death.

"Thank you."

This time even the name was omitted.

"Oh."

It was like communicating in Morse code, with two very short sentences that seemed to contain some hidden code being passed between each other.

I put the twist cap on the bottle, looked at the water stains still all over her face, and handed her a stack of tissues.

"Wipe it well."

The situation was actually very rude in front of others, but Mitsuki didn't care about it now.

She obediently took the tissue, wiped every part of her face quickly, and continued to look at her father in the coffin.

I also stood with her until the staff took away the body.

Miyue looked at the staff's actions and couldn't help but show a hint of panic in her eyes.

She really wanted to do something, but she knew she could do nothing and didn't know what she should do.

After raising and lowering her arms countless times, she finally gave up.

I could only stand there and watch blankly as my father's body moved away from me.

At that moment, she was like an abandoned child.

No shouting, no expression.

In the end, I had to drag the dazed Mitsuki out of the hall.

Now that everyone is gone, it feels a little strange to stand there. At least the air outside is fresher.

I looked up at the cloudy sky.

probably.

I found a bench and pulled Miyue to sit down with me.

She seemed to have lost her soul and did not respond no matter how I touched her.

This is very dangerous.

It may be a bit rude, but if Mr. Takamiya was replaced by Mr. Komachi, my reaction would probably not be much better.

The weeds in the yard swayed back and forth under my feet in the wind, and the summer breeze blowing towards me became damp and cold.

The deserted surroundings made me feel a little scared.

After a long while, Mitsuki finally spoke.

Her somewhat hoarse voice rang in my ears again.

"Hachiman, where do you think people go after they die?"

Such a profound philosophical question right at the beginning.

I pressed my temple, thinking about how to answer her.

"do not know."

"Eh?"

"I've never died, how could I know?"

Maybe she felt that she was fooled by Hachiman, Mitsuki did not seem very happy.

"But I know exactly where people are when they are alive."

I touched her little head with long flowing hair.

"Whether it's Mr. Chonggong or you."

“We who are still alive are right here.”