Zongman: Hong Kong's black ceiling but autistic, what should I do?

In the end, Yamaguchi Yota and Tachihara Masaaki were given a warning for causing chaos in the camp and openly beating their comrades.

"Hmph, next time I see them, I will scold them to death even if I don't beat them!" Yamaguchi Yota said indignantly.

"Yota, haven't you learned your lesson yet? Other people's mouths are on their own bodies, we can't control them."

Tachihara Masaaki leaned against the wall, as if he was talking to Yamaguchi Yota, or as if he was talking to himself.

"Then are you just going to watch them scold Xiaoxue?!" Yamaguchi Yota looked at Tachihara Masaaki with disbelief.

"...It's all my fault."

Tachihara Masaaki was silent for a while and then let out a long sigh.

"I've long noticed that the other members of the camp have a very subtle attitude towards Xiaoxue, and I'm also aware that some bad rumors are spreading in the camp, but... I thought that as long as I don't care about this kind of thing, it will disappear soon - if I had noticed the influence of the rumor earlier and refuted it for Xiaoxue earlier, wouldn't it be possible..."

"Zhengqiu, this isn't your fault. If you put it that way, I also know these things. Didn't I also feel that this rumor that was completely different from the facts would soon be self-defeating? At that time, I also told Xiaoxue not to fall into the 'self-proving trap'!"

When Yamaguchi Yota heard Tachihara Masaaki's self-blame, he remembered his own indifference at the beginning and said with regret.

"..."

Since that day, Tachihara Masaaki has been in a depressed mood.

While teaching Mori Yuki to speak, Yamaguchi Yota, who had been thinking about how to motivate Masaaki Tachihara, walked up to Masaaki Tachihara and suddenly hugged him under the gaze of Yosano Akiko and Mori Yuki.

!!!

"Yamaguchi! What are you doing! There are children here!"

Yosano Akiko quickly covered Mori Yuki's eyes, but she herself looked at the two people hugging each other without blinking.

"Yota, let me go quickly, you're holding me too tight... um..." came Tachihara Masaaki's weak voice.

"Hu-hu-"

Finally released by Yamaguchi Yota, Tachihara Masaaki gasped, "Yota, why did you hug me suddenly?"

"Well--"

Yamaguchi Yota touched the big bump on his head. It was caused by Yosano Akiko hitting Yamaguchi on the head in a desperate attempt to save Tachihara Masaaki who was about to be strangled to death by Yamaguchi Yota.

"It's because you've been feeling down lately, Zhengqiu. I thought about this for a long time before I came up with this idea. After all, didn't you hug me when I was in a bad mood before? So I thought of using a hug to convey my concern and comfort to you. Maybe you will..."

Obviously, this method did not work, and the farce ended with Tachihara Masaaki forcibly changing the topic to Mori Yuki's studies.

After that, no matter how much Yamaguchi Yota tried to comfort Tachihara Masaaki, even if he deliberately made a fool of himself and told jokes that would make Tachihara Masaaki laugh every time he heard them, Tachihara Masaaki never smiled.

Yamaguchi Yota sat in front of Tachihara Masaaki in a frustrated manner, looking at Mori Yuki who was looking at him curiously, and said pitifully:

"Xiaoxue~ What should I do? Your teacher Ritsuhara is broken--"

Mori Xue tilted her head and said slowly: "Jing...Jingzi"

"Ah, it's not that broken. Yosano can't help. Alas—"

Looking at the confused Mori Xue, Yamaguchi Yota sighed, turned to look at Tachihara Masaaki and said:

"Hey, Zhengqiu, smile, don't have a stern face anymore. People need to look forward and can't stay in the same place forever!"

Tachihara Masaaki put down the poetry collection in his hand and said calmly: "Yota, I have said many times that I am fine."

"What's so good about you! The Zhengqiu before was :), and now you are : (

Your face is so long, even Xiaoxue can tell that you are not good! "

Tachihara Masaaki helplessly looked at Yamaguchi Yōta who was looking at him expectantly and Mori Yuki who was nodding beside him, and said: "Yōta, Koyuki—"

Yamaguchi Yota stared at Tachihara Masaaki's face, which was covered by his hair, and waited for a long time, but all he heard was Tachihara Masaaki saying -

"We still have training tomorrow morning, so go to bed early."

After saying that, Tachihara Masaaki turned over and faced away from Yamaguchi Yota and Mori Yuki.

"Eh? Xiaoxue and I have been waiting for so long, and you're just saying this? Where's your smile? Teacher Yamaguchi will be angry~" Yamaguchi Yota said dissatisfiedly.

"...Go to sleep"

...

Now, Tachihara Masaaki thinks back to what happened last night and regrets very much that he did not smile at Yamaguchi Yota last night, even if it was just a fake smile.

Tachihara Masaaki knelt on the battlefield, staring blankly at Yamaguchi Yota who had fallen in front of him.

Tachihara Masaaki has confirmed this countless times, and Yamaguchi Yota's gradually cooling body tells him again and again:

[Yamaguchi Yota, confirmed dead]

Everything is so similar to before, the only difference is that Mori Xue is now following the commander's orders and fighting alone in the battlefield behind enemy lines.

However, even if Mori Xue could arrive, Yamaguchi Yota would not be as lucky as before -

Because Yamaguchi Yota was standing too far forward, Tachihara Masaaki saw with his own eyes four or five enemies' swords slashing at Yamaguchi Yota's body. The last thing Tachihara Masaaki remembered was Yamaguchi Yota's fallen back and the blood spurting out from the wounds caused by the enemies.

"Yota!" Tachihara Masaaki slashed at the enemy like mad.

When Masaaki Tachihara regained consciousness, he saw the enemy's bodies on the ground were full of sword fragments, and he had no strength left in his body. Masaaki Tachihara looked at Yamaguchi Yota in the distance, and crawled to Yamaguchi Yota's side with difficulty, repeatedly confirming Yamaguchi Yota's life signs...

Masaaki Tachihara woke up again in the medical room, with Akiko Yosano and Yuki Mori looking at him worriedly.

Tachihara Masaaki covered his face with his hands, wanting to cry out loud but no tears came out.

It turns out that when people are extremely sad, they can’t even cry.

Masaaki Tachihara no longer remembered how he returned to the rest area, how he trained, fought, and rested like he did when Yamaguchi Yōta was around, nor did he remember how he responded to Yosano Akiko's repeated expressions of concern and worry. The only thing he remembered was that every time he closed his eyes, he could always think of Yamaguchi Yōta's final fall.

[Yota, did you see that? It’s snowing again...]

Tachihara Masaaki sat by the fire, staring blankly at the snowflakes falling from the sky.

Suddenly, Tachihara Masaaki's vision was blocked by someone. Tachihara Masaaki tilted his head and tried to bypass the person who was blocking him, but the person seemed to do it on purpose and continued to adjust his position to block Tachihara Masaaki.

Tachihara Masaaki frowned and turned his head to look at the person who had been disturbing him.

"What is it, Xiaoxue, are you here to see the snow too?"

Tachihara Masaaki looked at Mori Xue who was standing in front of him, relaxed his frown, and spoke in a relaxed manner.

Mori Xue stood in front of Tachihara Masaaki, as if brewing something, and did not respond to Tachihara Masaaki's words.

"Xiaoxue?" Tachihara Masaaki had no idea what Mori Xue was doing.

"Zheng...Zhengqiu, smile...smile..." Sen Xue suddenly spoke, stammering.

Tachihara Masaaki suddenly opened his eyes wide, and what Yamaguchi Yota said before seemed to reappear in his ears -

"Hey, Zhengqiu, smile, don't have a stern face anymore. People need to look forward and can't stay in the same place forever!"