the patient next door

Located in a dessert shop in Kanagawa, Akimoto sat by the window, flipping through the menu given by the waiter, and browsing carefully.The high-definition pictures project exquisitely crafted desserts, with clearly marked prices, making people salivate.

Fingers across a page, Akimoto pointed to one of them, turned the page and chose another.The waiter wrote down the order and repeated it again. Qiu Ben nodded, and after confirming that it was correct, he left.

Resting his head in boredom, he looked out of the store through the glass, the diagonal traffic lights flickered alternately, and pedestrians walked from one end to the other, and then from the other end to this end.There are not a few people who come and go in a hurry.

"Welcome." The store door was pushed open, and several people walked in.Akimoto turned his head curiously, glanced at it, and the familiar color system passed by his eyes.

"That, senior, that latest model."

"Oh... By the way, why did I invite you?!" The red-haired boy came back to his senses and uttered a sentence, and yelled at the kelp-headed boy who was staring at him.

"Senior, Marui-senpai..." Putting his hands together, the marine creature was begging, trying to impress the red-haired boy with Bambi's eyes.

"Hmph, don't do it!" Turning his head, the red-haired boy was full of displeasure, "I'm not taking advantage of you. Why did you come to me for comfort when you were ruined in Yukimura?! If you want to eat, go to the minister and beg for mercy!"

"..." The kelp-headed boy unexpectedly did not refute, and lowered his head, his eyes covered by his forehead hair were faintly red.

"Let's go, Chiya." Compared to the expensive desserts retailed in the store, the red-haired boy would rather choose to buy ingredients to cook by himself.Pulled the kelp head boy, trying to pull him away from where he was.

Unexpectedly, the marine creature broke away from him, raised its head, stared fiercely with bloodshot red eyes, rattled its molars, and looked a little angrily, "Look, one day I will defeat those three monsters and become an instant monster. Sea NO.1!"

'Slap', a slap, the red-haired boy was very speechless at the convulsed junior.Pulling his neckline, he dragged him out, "What nerves! Yukimura, Sanada, and Liu are not here, you are jealous!"

Rudely rummaged through my junior's tennis bag, pulled out a small plastic bottle from a pile of trash, and threw it in his hand, "Hurry up and drop a couple of drops, you'll scare the flowers and plants on the side of the road with your ugly appearance!"

Two handsome teenagers tugged and walked out of the shop, the noise became smaller and smaller until it disappeared.With a shaking hand, Akimoto poked a hole in the cake, pretended to be calm, dug a piece with a plastic spoon and put it in his mouth, and took another sip of the cappuccino that the waiter had just delivered, before he could suppress his frightened heart, Let out a sigh of relief.

At this time, the claw machine bell rang untimely.The passionate music seemed particularly abrupt in the quiet atmosphere, Qiu Ben quickly pressed the answer button, "Moses, Moses?"

【Ah, Chun-jun, I'm sorry, we have something to do and we can't come, today's date can be rescheduled for another day......】

"okay."

[Well, what you asked, I sent it to your mobile phone, you can read the text message for details. 】

Taking down the claw machine, Akimoto saw an unread text message.Mouth back 'Okay, please. 'Hook key pressed.

While scooping the cake, he clicked on the message, but was disappointed after reading it. There was no information about the time and place of the Lihai Tennis Club match in the message.

"Sorry, Jun-kun, I don't know the time of the tennis club's match... It's said that I won't know until after the lottery is drawn. 』

Pressing the power button, turning off the display, and gulping down the cappuccino in the cup, Qiuben got up and walked to the cashier, paid for the dessert, and then left the store.

On the way home, Akimoto sat on the bus and watched the scenery outside the window.After looking at the asphalt road that keeps going backwards for a long time, I feel a little visually tired. Rubbing his eyes, Akimoto couldn't help laughing at his stupidity.

He is obviously an insignificant person, but he actually spends so much time and energy because of him, and he is so hot that he does something stupid, but at the same time, he doesn't get any benefit.

Telling himself that he should calm down and return to normal, Akimoto shook his head and forgot about it.Repeatedly living every day, this day, it is the day to go to the hospital for an examination.

The season at this time has entered the scorching summer, and the sky in August is stuffy and hot, and the wind has stopped blowing, and even if you don't move, you will get sweaty all over your body.

During the day, Akimoto lay on the mat with a fan blowing on it, enjoying the coolness.Out of consideration for his health, Akimoto gave up using an air conditioner to escape the heat. Fortunately, his home's geographical location is preferred. As long as he is calm, he won't feel too hot.

The appointment time is around [-] o'clock in the evening. This time is the result of consultation between Akimoto and the attending doctor after considering that going out during the day will be cooked by the sun.

In hot summer, the days are long and the nights are short, so it is not too dark to go out at this time. Akimoto tidied himself up, took his medical card, wallet, and keys, and went out.

I took the Shinkansen to Kanai General Hospital. It was past the rush hour at this time, and there were not many people in the car, and there were some empty seats.Akimoto sat on a seat and played with the claw machine for a while.One earphone cable is inserted in the ear, and the other one is resting on the collar of the collar, hanging down casually, so as to be able to hear the station announcement in the car clearly while listening to music to relieve boredom.

Compared with the bus, the advantage of the Shinkansen is that it is not bound by traffic lights, and there is no embarrassing situation of traffic jams.A vehicle traveling at a constant speed can arrive at a stop every 2 minutes on average, and even if it takes more than a dozen stops to reach a place, it only takes 10 to [-] minutes.

After getting out of the car, it is only a short walk to the hospital.

Walked to the registration office familiarly, and went through the formalities. Because it was an appointment in advance, Akimoto quickly went through the procedures and went upstairs.

After greeting the nurses at the nurse station, Akimoto went directly to the attending doctor's office.After politely knocking three times, the person inside said 'please come in' before twisting the doorknob.

As soon as he entered the door, Qiu Ben stopped, not for anything else, but because someone had already found the attending doctor before him.

"It's Akimoto-kun."

"Well, excuse me." Nodding his head, Akimoto said hello and was about to turn around and go out.

Everything has a first come, first come, based on the fact that he is the one who arrives later, Akimoto exited the door wisely.

"Wait a minute..." Yukimura said goodbye to the attending doctor as he shouted to the person who was about to leave.Bypassing Akimoto, he left the office.

It was almost a shoulder-to-shoulder distance, but Akimoto thought it was ten feet away.

After checking with the attending doctor in a daze, he faltered about his recent situation, and took the prescription, and Akimoto left the office.

The western pharmacy is on the ground floor. Qiuben went to the payment office to pay the money and took the voucher before picking up the medicine.The dosage of the medicine is neither too much nor too little, enough for him to come to the hospital for a review next time.

Walking out of the door, Akimoto looked at the time, estimated the timetable of the Shinkansen in his mind, and walked to the platform.

"Qiuben-kun." The shoulder was lightly patted, and Akimoto turned his head in shock.

"Yukimura...kun?" Almost not sure that the person in front of him was a patient, Akimoto called his last name hesitantly, "Is there something wrong?"

He didn't think the patients would deliberately wait for him at the hospital gate.

"Well, Akimoto-kun, how are you doing these days?"

"Very good, where is Yukimura-kun?" Seeing the patient, Akimoto couldn't help but think of that period of rehabilitation. Although he suffered a lot, the result was good.

You can't experience the warmth of spring without experiencing the severe winter, and the patients in front of you are completely reborn.The sassy figure is like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, becoming more and more angry and beautiful.

"I'm fine too." Yukimura replied with a gentle smile.Opening his bag, Yukimura took out a roll of things.

Carefully tied it with a rope to prevent it from loosening, Yukimura handed it to Akimoto, "Here."

"This is?" Asked suspiciously, Akimoto untied the rope and opened it.

It was a piece of 8K paper with a picture drawn on it, without coloring, and the black line draft was a sketch.

Yukimura seldom draws people, but he drew Akimoto by accident.

"...a return gift for you." Yukimura pointed to the pendant on the bag, and continued, "It's been a long time since I drew a little rusty, I hope you like it."

The background of the painting is the ward where they were hospitalized. Akimoto was wearing a loose hospital gown, with his head down, concentrating on playing with the claw machine.On one side of the hospital bed were randomly scattered data cables and garbage.

At that time, because he didn't like watching TV, Akimoto always held the claw machine in his hand and lowered his head to fiddle with it.Having lived together for so long, Yukimura has memorized his image, which is why he has this picture.

"Thank you." Touching his almost identical face (on paper), Akimoto gathered the painting along the traces and tied the rope, "I like it very much."

"You're welcome." There was a trace of gentleness in the clear eyes, Yukimura nodded and invited, "Let's go together."

"……it is good."

Obediently accepting the patient's invitation, Akimoto followed Yukimura's footsteps, and the two walked to the platform one after the other.We took a Shinkansen together, we traveled in the same direction, and sat in the same row of seats.One is on the left and the other is on the right, as if they were back in the same ward.

In the quiet carriage, the two did not talk, and Akimoto still plugged in a headphone cable and listened to the song.And the other one is different from the collar when it came, and it hangs down casually.

"This is Brahms' Fourth Symphony..."

"Ah."

"I think Akimoto-kun should like pop music more." Affirming Akimoto's preference, Yukimura thought of the claw machine ringing he heard when he was hospitalized.

"Tired." Glancing at the patient, Akimoto explained, "It's good to have a change of taste once in a while."

"Ha ha……"

"What are you laughing at?" Yukimura-kun next door covered his mouth and bent over, Akimoto asked angrily.

"Sense, feeling doesn't match you..."

"Oh, Yukimura-kun, what do you think would go well with me, eh?!"