[bright] time

(bright side)

Knock...knock...knock...knock...knock...knock...knock...knock...

In his sleep, he vaguely heard irregular knocking on the door.

I opened my eyes and glanced at the sky outside the window. It was a little dark, and it didn't feel like it was completely dawn.

"...noisy...dead...let me sleep..."

Shinto, who was sleeping on the mattress next to him, stuffed his head under the pillow, talking in his sleep rather displeased.

Before he woke up, I got up and asked outside the door,

"Which one?"

After a while, still no one responded, and then the knock on the door rang again.

I straightened my pajamas, smoothed my messy hair with the palm of my hand, opened the door, and saw that there was no one standing outside the door... I wondered if I heard it from the ground because of hallucinations. babbling.

The little baby huddled up and sitting on the ground was waving the alarm clock in his hand and smiling at me. ...It turns out that the knocking on the door came from the alarm clock...

Seeing the door opened, the little baby seemed very happy, and shook the alarm clock in his hand even more vigorously, knocking on the door panel, and this made Shinto, who was buried under the pillow mountain, even more painful, and covered his head with the quilt,

"Ugh... ah... so sleepy... let me go..."

Knowing that he was really exhausted yesterday and urgently needed to catch up on sleep, he quickly closed the door.

squat on the ground,

"Shh... don't quarrel with Uncle Er."

He put his index finger on his mouth, signaling to her to be quiet, but she really didn't know what was so funny about this action, so she giggled more happily than before.It's okay to laugh...but please keep it quiet.

"Xiaosha! Didn't mom tell you to play in the living room? Why did you come here?"

The little green lady wearing an apron walked quickly from the corridor connecting the main building to the departure hall,

"Oh! Taya-kun woke up? I'm so sorry. Xiaosa, look at you! You woke up everyone!"

"Please don't say that." I waved my hand quickly.

"I'll take Xiaosha out right now, it's only past six o'clock. Can you sleep a little longer?"

After saying that, she picked up Xiaosha and walked back to the main house.

"Xiaosha, didn't mom say that you are busy cooking and tell you to play obediently in the living room? You always like to run around! You even use the alarm clock to disturb others. Mom will be angry!"

"Yeah..." Xiaosha's voice sounded innocent.

"By the way, where did this alarm clock come from?"

"Yeah... yah yah... yah."

"What!? From the uncle's room? How can this work? Uncle is going to be on duty at school today, how can he wake up if the alarm clock doesn't go off? Xiaosha! You have assigned another job to mom!"

"Yeah..."

"Don't pretend to be innocent!"

Listening to the conversation between Miss Xiaolu and Xiaosha when they left...Although I can't understand baby language at all...I couldn't help but volunteered...

"Let me help?"

***

I was sitting in the ten-tie living room, while arranging the chess pieces on the foldable chessboard that Miss Xiaolu gave me, while paying attention to Xiaosha who was sitting next to her playing with the little bear puppet.

If the voluntary help I mentioned just now refers to the preparation of cooking... Will Miss Xiaolu be willing to make me go back on my word....

To be honest, I really don't know how to take care of small children.

The child told me that he was an unknown creature. Not only could he not understand the language, but he couldn't read what was going on in his head.If you are too far away, you are afraid that he will be in danger; if you are too close, you are afraid that they will be affected by their unpredictable actions, and the sudden punches and kicks look painful.

And the most troublesome thing is the unpredictability of howling and crying if you don't know the truth.It was as if he was telling the whole world that the one who bullied him was the one standing beside him.

So, to avoid putting myself in such a predicament, I always stand as far away as possible from the sight of the baby.

"Yeah..."

Glancing at it, Xiaosha is very focused on playing flying games with the little bear puppet. Maybe she is really good-behaved differently from ordinary children, so she doesn't need special surveillance, right?Thinking of this in my heart, I felt relieved.

So I shifted my attention a little bit to the chessboard, and lined up the chess game that I followed up with Fujishita yesterday.

Who knows, it turns out that everything just now was a trap...

I don't know how long it took, but when I raised my eyes habitually, I found that the baby who was supposed to be sitting in front of me had disappeared.

"!?...Xiaosha?"

I looked around and found that the paper door facing the yard had been opened.

It turns out that besides being able to sit, crawl, and bark, can an eight-month-old baby open the door?I was so naive to think that she couldn't escape as long as the door was closed...

Walking out of the living room, I saw Xiaosha crawling along the veranda to the kitchen, I ran to block her way,

"No! Mom is busy, you can't disturb her. Turn back." Pointing to the direction of the living room, she asked her to turn back by herself.

…Of course, I'm not sure if such a small baby can understand such instructions, but I really can't make up my mind to pick up that limp, boneless body.

"Yeah?" Sitting on the ground, she tilted her round head and looked at my hands in confusion.

It's cute...but, she doesn't seem to understand my language at all.

Ugh…

Do you really have to hug her...,

"Hey... don't be afraid, Xiaosha. I'll take you back to the living room, okay?" I've seen many cases of crying when a stranger touched me, and now I only pray that such a tragedy will not happen to me.

"Yeah."

Yeah again..., is this good or not...?

Tremblingly, he put his hand under the baby's armpit. The body surrounded by two palms was quite small. After watching her reaction,... fortunately, there was no sign of crying.So, I carefully picked her up from the ground like lifting a high-priced antique...it was a little heavier than I imagined, and a small life has its due weight.

Up to here, she didn't cry, and let me move with her two short legs.

I quickened my pace and carried her... or should I say "carried" her back to the living room, and slowly put her back on the ground.

With a sigh of relief, looking at that innocent face,

"You can't run out anymore?"

He looked at me with dark eyes, said "Yeah" twice, and nodded.

"Do you understand? Know what I mean?"

"Yeah." This time she smiled all over her face, as if answering me.

Suddenly, I felt that I was a bit powerful, and I was able to communicate with babies... unknown creatures that I have always regarded as my enemy..., which is really a breakthrough.

Just as I was praising myself, the little baby waved her hand, pointed to the chessboard, and looked at me with a smile, "Yeah."

"...Do you... want to learn how to play chess?"

"Yeah! Yah!"

"Really?" I asked happily.

"Yeah! Yah!"

Yes..., great, I finally chose a game that I know how to play with her!

Holding Xiaosha in front of the chessboard, she sat on the opposite side of the chessboard, put away the chess pieces on the chessboard, took a black chess piece,

"Pieces are held like this. Then they are placed at the intersection of lines like this. Do you understand?"

"Yeah!" Xiaosha's eyes shone with the light of being exposed to new things, looking at the chess pieces on the chessboard, she patted the chessboard excitedly.

"Would you like to try it?" She took a white chess piece and shook it in front of Xiaosha's eyes.

"Yeah!" She nodded happily.

After all, the little baby's hand was too small to grasp the chess fingers with his fingers like mine, so he spread his small palm and placed the chess piece on the palm as small as a hundred yuan coin.

Closing her fingers, holding the chess piece tightly in her hand, Xiaosha looked at the chess piece intently for a while, then raised her head and smiled at me,

"Yeah!" Following these two words, the saliva dripped onto the pink bib.

"Yes! Take it. Then put the pieces on—"

Maybe I was too surprised, everything in front of me was like slow motion,

Xiaosha just opened her mouth like this, and stuffed the chess piece into the small mouth of the cherry,

"Ahhmm──"

"no!!"

I immediately put my fingers into her mouth and dug out the chess piece,

Holding the saliva-stained chess piece in his hand, his heart was beating with unbelievable speed and strength, and there was only one question in his heart...

Why would you eat it! ?Why would you eat it! ?Why would you eat it! ?

Why would you eat it! ?Why would you eat it! ?Why would you eat it! ?

Why would you eat it! ?Why would you eat it! ?Why would you eat it! ?

This is obviously a pawn, and this is obviously not edible, why would you eat it! ?

"Puff ha..."

burst of laughter,

Just when my head was panicking, it entered my eardrums.Looking up, Shinto was standing in the corridor on the other side, holding back a smile and peeking at Xiaosha and me.

"Hehehehe... look at your unbelievable expression? Hahaha..."

"Since when did you start watching?" He suppressed his anger and asked him.

"When you 'carried' the little princess back to the living room."

"It's been so long... You know I've always been ruthless towards children, but you just hide and watch!"

"It's so interesting. I thought you were very happy that the little princess wanted to learn how to play chess? Hehe! God knows that the only thing she thinks about is that the candy is delicious!"

"..." This idiot is really hateful...

At this time, Xiao Sha also found out that Jin Teng had arrived.

Frowning, red eye sockets, puckering lips, and twitching nose, after completing all the preparatory actions,

The wailing that had been terrifying me all the time just came...

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"

As if I was following up Fuji to complain about my crimes, I crawled towards Shinto with tears and snot all over my face.Shinto squatted down and patted her head,

"The first reaction of all babies when they see Go is to put it in their mouths like candy."

He hugged Xiaosha in his arms and patted her on the back, comforting her softly: "Be good, don't cry, little princess. Taya is just worried, not angry. Be good, don't cry."

He lifted up Xiaosha's bib and wiped her face.

Finally, the crying gradually became smaller until the sound of sobbing remained.

"So you know how special you were when you were a baby? See how surprised you are. Little princess, that's not candy, you can't eat it. If you want to eat it, I'll give you baby senbei?"

"Yeah!" Xiaosha even burst into laughter at this moment.It was less than 3 minutes since Shinto appeared….

"..., you are very good at coaxing children."

"Is that so? A little princess is easier to deal with, right?"

Take out the senbei specially for babies from the drawer, unpack it, take out a piece and shake it in Xiaosha,

Xiaosha just stared at the senbei in Shinto's hand, sat on the ground and danced up and down with the senbei.

"Like a fish! Hehe... Do you want to eat? Huh?"

"Yeah!" Xiaosha said expectantly.

"not for you."

"Yeah!!" An angry Xiaosha.

"Hahahaha! Alright, look at your saliva all over the floor. Here..." The senbei that was brought to Xiaosha made an emergency turn and was sent into his own mouth, "──Myself! Hahaha!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

This idiot...

"Shinto!! Don't play tricks on her!"

Biting half of a senbei, he lazily replied,

"Okay~ I'm not teasing you, why are you so angry? After all, this baby food is delicious. You can eat it too."

"I don't—" I couldn't deny it, and the remaining half of the senbei was stuffed into my mouth like this,

"Enter──!?...Hmm..."

"how?"

"...unexpectedly...delicious." It's not as salty as ordinary senbei, and has a slight milky aroma. Although it is crispy at the first bite, it will melt in your mouth immediately after a few seconds, not at all. Teeth are needed, umm... but it's a given that it's meant for babies.

While I was concentrating on savoring the half piece of senbei stuffed by Ito, Xiaosha's frowning, red eye circles, puckered lips, and sniffling nose... This series of preparations was repeated in front of my eyes again....

Oh no.

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"

into the rattan! !It's your fault! !

Staring at the idiot next to me who dragged me into the water and framed me as an accomplice.

"Okay, okay, got it." He took out another senbei, opened Xiaosha's tightly clenched palm and let her hold it,

"I'm sorry! Isn't this for you? Eat it quickly."

And the moment the senbei was put into Xiaosha's hands, the crying stopped.

While sobbing, she ate the senbei in her hand.

"Little princess, you are really not an ordinary food lover."

Saying that, Shinto took out a piece of tissue, wiped Xiaosha's red face covered with tears, and pinched it.

Concentrating on eating the piece of senbei in her hand, she let Shinto hold it,

"tasty?"

"Yeah!"

"Then you don't want to thank me? Give me a kiss!" He lowered his head and compared his cheeks.

"Yeah!"

Xiaosha just didn't want to think about it, she smiled happily and kissed Shinto's face with a "chirp" sound...

Is this person a devil! ?Do you want someone to thank him after teasing him?

Suddenly, the paper door of the edge corridor opened, and a young girl with luggage walked in.

"I'm back.…"

She seemed a little surprised to see me, and stared at me for a while.

"Xiaoyuki! Are you back? Take the night bus?" Shinto smiled and greeted the girl named Koyuki. I remember Aunt Fumiko's daughter, and Shinto's cousin was called Yukino. It seemed that this was the girl.

"..." The girl turned her eyes, glanced at Shinto who was sitting on the ground and the chessboard beside her,

"It's Go again. Why don't you just go back and forget about it?"

After throwing such an indignant sentence at Shindo, he hugged Xiaosha,

"Xiaosha, my aunt will play with you. Playing with this kind of person will infect you with cold blood. Xiaolu! Why did you let this guy accompany Xiaosha!?" He said, walking to the kitchen.

Scratching his head, Shinto smiled wryly at me,

"Hey...my cousin hates me."

Why..., because of Go?

"Shall I explain it to you? I'm playing the chess."

"No, it won't change anything."

I took a white chess piece from the chess jar and pressed it on the board with a snap,

"If you make a mistake, let's have an early lesson, Taya."

Everyone was here for breakfast, except for Miss Yukino.

I don't know what misunderstanding there is between them.

***

After breakfast, Shindo asked me if I would like to go to Takayama Town, known as the Little Kyoto, with the Lord and the others.

"Aren't you going?" I asked.

"Well, it's a rare time to come back and go to the greenhouse to help out as a volunteer. I heard that a garden of grapes has been planted recently. Besides, if I continue to be flashed by those two guys, I will definitely go blind."

Sitting on the elevated corridor, wearing rain boots for work, stepping on the floor and wearing tight shoes,

"What about you? Stay with me or go play with the club?"

He is not the only one who feels unbalanced, but he actually wants me to go alone.

"Give me another pair of shoes."

"ㄟ? You want to be a farmer with me too? A farmer catches bugs."

"It's okay." Catching bugs is better than being a light bulb.

"...Then you have to be extra careful."

Saying that, Shinto brought me a pair of rain boots, gloves, a towel, a hat with a turban and a mask, and an apron with two long sleeves sewn into it for some unknown purpose.

Seeing that I was all put on, Shinto burst out laughing suddenly, and asked me in a trembling voice,

"...Hehehe...Can I take a commemorative photo, Taya?...Hehehehe..."

Do I look so weird?

After breakfast, Wu Zhijun came to the entrance,

"I'm full, I'm full!...Oh? It's just like the customs, Taya. But you don't need to dress like this just to go to a greenhouse. Just dress like light! It's stuffy inside. Let me go first!" "

Putting on the rain boots, Wu Zhijun rode his bicycle out of the yard.

"...." Glancing at Shinto who was still giggling, a pair of rain boots, a pair of gloves and a towel were gone.

How dare you let me dress like this, and openly laugh at me?It is obvious that they are trying to make me happy...

He was so angry that he took off his bamboo hat and knocked him several times.

Shinto explained while dodging my attack,

"No! Are you allergic to bugs? If you don't dress like this, your skin will be red and itchy for a long time? I'm not teasing you!"

cast him a look of distrust.

Recently, I don't know if it's because the relationship is closer than before, Shinto will often use my trust in him to do some tricks on me.

It's like trying to find out how deep my trust and tolerance for him will go....

In fact, I also want to know.

Because...so trusting in his self, so defenseless, often scares me.

"really!"

He must know better than anyone else that any of my eyes or words that don’t believe him are just caused by dishonesty genes, but he still kindly plays a scene with me to appease my anger...

Putting on the bamboo hat, turning his head aside, he walked down the stairs to the greenhouse about [-] meters away.

Shindo rode his bicycle along the cement driveway, called my name, and chased after me.

"Taya──!"

He knows I'm mad, he knows I'm mad at myself,

Angry at myself for not being able to really be angry with him. ...so step me down?

We've been doing that a lot lately.

Near noon, Shindo said that if he continued to stay in the greenhouse, he would definitely suffer from heat stroke, so I followed up with Fuji and went home first.

Sitting on the corridor with a view of the flower garden, I entered the vine to wipe off my sweat,

"Taya! Get me a soda!"

"..." How dare he order me.

Seeing my murderous expression, he changed his tone, clasped his hands together and begged me,

"Uh...please. Please! Let me watch the flowers and blow the wind? You see, I'm sweating like I went to the swimming pool."

Sighing helplessly, I took off the exaggerated equipment, told him to take it and let me go to the kitchen.

"I don't want to hear such impolite words again! Got it? Yukino!"

"Little green... you actually reported me..."

"It's such a pitiful light."

"Yukino! Do you have to blame others for what you did wrong? When did Mom teach you this!?"

The moment I stepped into the kitchen, I heard angry voices from the people inside,

"It's that guy who's wrong! When grandma was sick, he never came back to see her. He played chess and chess every day! So ruthless...why do everyone help him!!"

Standing at the entrance of the kitchen, he nodded to Miss Xiaolu, feeling a bit in a dilemma.

Aunt Wenzi didn't seem to notice me, and continued to persuade Miss Yukino,

"Just being a chess player, playing chess is his job. How does Yukino, who only treats chess as a game, understand the struggle of light?"

"Don't use work as an excuse for him! It's just a matter of intention or innocence! Ask Mr. Taya if you don't believe me!"

Miss Xue Nai changed the topic and turned to me, which surprised me.

"Mr. Taya once gave up the chess game with that guy because of his father's emergency hospitalization?"

"..." Thinking back,...it is true.

That was the first official game I followed Vine.I have been looking forward to the game before, wanting to see with my own eyes where Shinto's chess strength is.

But my father's sudden heart attack made my mind go blank, and I completely forgot about that chess game.

"Look? That guy has no heart at all. If there is no chess game on the day of the public festival, you can see if he will show up!...Grandma's life is actually not as good as his Go. Grandma who always sits in the yard and looks at the sunflowers really Poor... so you still want to speak for him!?"

Aunt Wenzi sighed, looking a little disappointed in her eyes, and said slowly,

"During the month from grandma's illness to her death, was there only pity in Yukino's eyes?

...Mom doesn't know why Guang didn't come back. I don't know if it's just like what you said. It's nothing at all to ask for leave and give up a game or two.

But I know that when looking at the flowers in the flower garden, what grandma is thinking in her heart is definitely not what Xue Nai said.

Xue Nai couldn't even tell what was planted in the garden, could she? "

"I--"

"Just looking at the surface and easily asserting that Yukino is not mature enough proves.

Whether it's Yosuke, Hikaru, or Takeshi, Mom dares to say, grandma will laugh and talk about them in the sky.But Xue Nai, you are the farthest from grandma's expectations, and you are the most disappointing. "

Aunt Wenzi's words made Miss Yukino's complexion more and more ugly,

"What kind of flower! It doesn't matter at all! Mom hates it the most!!"

Miss Yukino who ran away from the kitchen left only the sound of ping-ping-ping-ping footsteps echoing in the open space.

"There's really nothing you can do about this kid. He's still in the rebellious stage at this age."

"Auntie, Taya-kun is here! At least give Yukino some face."

"Oh, I was so angry with that child that I forgot. Excuse me, did I show you a joke?"

"Sorry, I came at the wrong time."

***

I took the soda and came to the place where Jinteng was sitting. From here, I could see many flowers planted on the hill in front of the yard. The most conspicuous one was the sunflower that had withered as autumn approached. .

But the autumn flower, Askule, is healthy and free to swing in the wind, and it embellishes the vitality of this flower garden.

"Soda."

"Oh, thank you." Opening the bottle cap made the sound of carbonic acid spewing out, Shinto raised his head and took a big gulp.

"──Delicious. Do you want it?"

"Thank you." After taking the soda, I also took a sip.

"The sunflower seeds I gave you earlier were taken from here.

My grandma said that I look like a sunflower, should it refer to the head from before?He also said that if you see sunflowers running up from the bottom of the mountain, it means that I am back.Hey... my grandma is funny talking, isn't she? "

I nodded.

"I really want to try her red bean rice cake soup again." Shinto looked at the sky, full of sighs.

"...There is no way now. Tonight." I said.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked me.

"Hand for you."

Shinto thought for a while, then smiled lightly after realizing it,

"Hey, who is it that says I won't let me touch a single hair? I'm actually not as sad as you think.

My grandma is very happy, because I am not the only one who will miss her like this, Takeshi and the others should be the same.At this time, you will feel that it is good to have a bunch of brothers and sisters, although it is just a show. "

"...Did you really not come back?...When your grandmother was sick."

Looking at the flower garden, Shinto lowered his head, the corner of his mouth curled up, his bangs covered half of his face: "No."

"There just happened to be an important match at that time?"

"...Heh..., you trust me so much? Make excuses for me right now."

"No way. Who and when will die, no one can say for sure, no matter how powerful the doctor is, it is impossible to know. You just just can't come back."

"..." Looking at me, at the flowers swaying on the hill,

"It happened to be the time of the Honinbo preliminaries before I left Japan, and I even forgot who my opponent was.

In those few chess matches, it took less than all-out determination to win the White Star.

It is not impossible to go back and forth to Gero, Tokyo in a day.This situation can't be called an excuse, can it?

...just drop by, it's not hard to meet up.But as long as I'm stuck in the chessboard, I seem to be very ruthless. "

Shinto's insistence on Go and Honinbo Shusaku is often difficult to understand.

What kind of influence made him so infatuated with this man who had passed away more than 200 years ago?

This person... is more important to Shindo than his relatives?

then i...

"Speaking like this again, if Xiaoxue hears it, will she be insulted again? Is she hating you or are you messing with her? Hikari." Mr. Yosuke, Shinto's cousin, walked out of the corridor from the living room.

"You're back, school?"

"Come back for Chinese food."

"Welcome back." I nodded.

"Oh."

"Xiaoxue is locked in the room. Arguing with her again?"

"How come. I didn't say anything."

"It's because you didn't say anything that she always quarrels with you. Really,

Just tell her that when grandma is sick, can you just talk to her on the phone?

It's because she doesn't want you to come back, it's because she insists that she eats and sleeps well every day, the doctor's one month must be an exaggeration, isn't it? "

Shindo glanced at Mr. Yosuke, as if asking him why he knew.

"Walls have ears."

Mr. Yosuke turned to me and said,

"Taya, my grandma is that kind of person.

She was not afraid of being told by the doctor that she would only have one month to live without surgery, saying that since it was a disease that could not be cured in Grandpa's era, it would be fine to die.

I often hear people say how kind and kind his grandma is, but we don't say that.We would say that my grandma is very strong, even when she is old, she can still hold bamboo and rattan, and chase back our children who sneaked out to play during nap time one by one.It's scary enough. "

"Humph──...I remember this incident, hehe... Super fierce."

Listening to Mr. Yosuke's words, Shindo thought of the past and laughed.

"Still laughing! Thanks to you, Xiaoxue was scolded by Aunt Wenzi. You also know that Aunt Wenzi is just like grandma, and she is merciless in scolding people. If you don't explain it clearly, just see if Xiaoxue is willing to do it next time you come back." refused to come back."

"..., I really didn't come back to see it once. I knew that my grandmother's illness was a ticking time bomb. I knew... Maybe she didn't want me to worry.

...No matter how much you say, it's an excuse. I don't want her to hate me more. "

"That guy... has always called us by our first names since we were young. He has no manners at all. You are Brother Guang. How can you be so easy to hate? Brother, I will stop here for my good words. The whole family is noisy after watching it. bother."

"You settle your feud with Takeshi's brother first before we talk about it."

"It can't be helped, it's a manifestation of our brotherly love! Let's go to eat first, I don't have time to preach to you, let me go. I will see Xiaoxue has walked out of the room when I come back."

After Mr. Yosuke left, Shindo still sat motionless, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Aren't you going?" I asked.

"Have you ever heard of 'selfishness'...is it actually the instinct of human survival?

When we get into trouble, we will naturally find excuses for ourselves and stand on our side.It's not exactly a sin, because constantly blaming yourself doesn't make a person live well.

Now I feel... everything is caused by misfortune, because grandma is too optimistic... maybe that instinct is at work?

The dead have no way to argue for themselves, only the living can speak.But is what the living say must be the truth?

With an excuse like this, can I really use it to convince Xiaoxue..."

I think... the death of Grandma Shinto must have hit him hard.Otherwise, Shindo would not think so much about this person, unless he attaches great importance to that person.

It is the best proof that he will not give himself a way out.

"I don't think... making excuses is such a bad thing.

There may be lies and one-sided words in the content itself, but if he wants to tell the other party, doesn't it mean that he cares about the other party's thoughts and hopes to get the other party's understanding?

I think, for Ms. Xue Nai, the truth doesn't matter. Maybe she just wants to hear your excuses, to see how you explain, and to know that you still care about her.

"Silence"...sometimes it hurts more than anything else. "

Shinto raised his eyes and looked at me suddenly,

"Did I... hurt you too?"

"Heh, idiot. What are you talking about? Are we talking about Ms. Yukino? Well, go find her and stop sitting here."

Ignore his inquiry and push him into the house.

During dinner at night, Ms. Yukino also appeared. Although there was no more imminent atmosphere, she still didn't follow up with Teng and say a word.Maybe everything has to come slowly.

***

The next morning, Xiaosha knocked on the door again.

This time, Shinto got up early to be her playmate, and took her to Takeshi's vineyard for an apprenticeship.

I sat by the window sill in my room and finished the remaining few pages of the book.Recently, I always have to read a book for two or three months, maybe because I have less time for myself.

After reading the last page, he closed the book, and found Miss Xue Nai squatting in front of the flowerbed with a book in her hand from a distance.

"Good morning."

"!?" Yukino-san was startled when she heard my voice, and slowly turned her head to look at me, "Morning...good morning."

For some reason, she seemed a little nervous.

"Are you looking for flowers?" I knelt down next to her and saw a plant encyclopedia in her hand.

"...Well, I suddenly want to check. But there are a bunch of unopened..., it's hard to compare." Sighed lightly, looking very troubled.

"My mother is very interested in flower gardening, and I know a little about it. If I can help..."

"Really?" Miss Yukino's eyes lit up.

"Um."

I found that in addition to sunflowers and askules, this flower bed also has two kinds of flowers: triangular grass and alyssum.Blooms in turn as the seasons change.

"Strigalus in spring, sunflowers in summer, askule in autumn, and alyssum in winter. The people who planted it seem to want to make this flower garden have different scenery throughout the year." I said with emotion.

"...Maybe...it's not just that.

Grandma's four grandchildren were born in different seasons.For Yosuke, who was born in spring, his grandmother expected him to be steady; for Guangge, who was born in summer, what his grandmother expected him to be courageous in pursuing his dreams; for Takeshi, who was born in autumn, his grandmother hoped that he would always be healthy and guard the family; I I was born in winter, and my grandma gave me... demure and beautiful... fragrant snowballs....Just like Mom said, I'm the furthest away. "

"... If I'm right, Yukino-san doesn't really hate Shindo that much, does she?"

"I dislike him."

"However, if you really hate him, you won't come back, and you won't change your name to "Brother Guang" after listening to Shinto's explanation, and you won't play Go, which is the favorite of the most hated people, right? Little Green Miss yesterday I heard that the chessboard you borrowed belonged to Ms. Yukino, didn't you?"

"I learned to play chess because I hate him. I want to beat him with Go, although the more I learn, the more I feel that it is impossible for me to beat him.... He used to come back every year, and this routine disappeared after he started playing chess. To him For us, Go should be more important than us, right?

Grandma... Mom... everyone likes to see him chasing the sun and pursuing his ideals without hesitation.but I do not like it.Why be so selfish?Why are you so capricious?Just chasing after his longing. "

"...Go is very important to Shinto, like his life.

When he can only choose between an important person and Go, he will desperately find a way to take care of both, but in the end if he can only choose one, he should choose Go and blame himself for the rest of his life.I think the reason why he has not told anyone about the phone call is that he hopes that someone will blame him and forgive him.Forever reminded of his mistakes. "

"...Why are you so stupid?" Miss Yukino asked me, frowning.

"Well, it's really stupid."

"I don't know how painful it is to hate my own relatives."

"Hehe." If you feel pain, it means that you still like it in your heart.

"Taya-san, you seem to know Mitsu-san very well... Are you really friends?"

"Um?"

"... It's really hard to imagine from the chess records of your match. I can't believe that you will play in the hometown of the number one opponent. I was also surprised when I saw Mr. She."

"Winning or losing on the chessboard is the same thing. There are not many chess players who have good friends in private."

"Is that so. Then those flashes before the match were all hyped up by newspapers and magazines?"

"Hmm... Partly, right? I don't know too well."

After that, Ms. Yukino asked me a lot of things that she called "the inside story of the chess academy". Her questions were really strange.I don't know yet, it turns out that the Go world is right