Love Comes After Learning

"Even if the current self doesn't know, the future self will probably know, so leave everything to the future."

The boy opened his eyes slightly, and subconsciously wanted to refute: "This is just an escape..."

"Don't worry about it, we're just nine and ten year olds, right? If we can't escape now, what are we going to do when we grow up?"

She blocked the boy's defense with one sentence, and gave him a contemptuous look by the way.

It's obviously very unreasonable, but I don't know why it can't be refuted.

Then, the girl narrowed her eyes and her tone became serious.

"I'm different from Sister Yangcai, I've never been able to make friends, I don't know what to do...

Then today, I suddenly knew. "

"you are my friend."

"Friends I made while reading books."

"Before I met you, I didn't know what to do. After I met you, I did it."

Speaking of this, the girl showed a distressed look, and lowered her head to think for a long time.

"Hmm~ It's a bit unclear...Forget it, anyway, that's how it is."

"Things that you don't understand, you will understand one day! Let the troubles pass like this!"

She raised her head suddenly, her expression was as calm as usual, but her voice came to a conclusion with a bit of high spirits, and then she pointed at the boy.

"So, have your troubles been resolved?

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

"..."

The boy stared blankly at the girl, and for a long while seemed to be in a daze, froze in place.

Every word she said was hovering in her heart, and the immature words were obviously not very profound, and they were not even qualified to be written into a book.

But for some reason, those voices were like sunlight penetrating into the water, making him stop breathing in astonishment, leaving only a warm corner in his heart.

"...That's right."

The boy made a sound in a daze, not understanding where the warmth in his heart came from, and he couldn't understand it no matter how he thought.

The girl didn't pay attention to his expression, but nodded in satisfaction after hearing what he said, showing the smile he saw for the first time.

"Okay, then next time I come, it's you who have to solve my troubles... I think the me in the future will definitely have a lot of troubles to think about."

"At that time, the future me will be entrusted to you."

Downstairs came the call of the girl's mother.

The girl took a last look at the book "Jieyou Grocery Store" on the bed, then looked at the boy with a dazed expression, frowned slightly, thought for a while, and asked with a tilted head.

"After reading your book for so long, I still don't know your name. I only know that you are my cousin."

"... Shinichi Asada." The boy replied softly, as if sleepwalking.

"My name is Shinichi Asada, ten years old..."

It's yours, friend.

"Well, I will remember." The inexplicably happy mood made the girl slightly curl her lips.

She opened the door, waved to him a little, and said with a smile. .

"Then, I'm going back."

"..."

"Goodbye, Shinichi-san."

That soft address fell on the quiet ground with the sound of closing the door, and there was no echo.

There was a commotion downstairs, and after a while, the steps going upstairs gradually approached.

"Shinichi, don't you have a good relationship with Rui? She's going home, why don't you come down and see her off..."

Asada Kazumi walked into the room, looked at the little boy lying on the desk, who was sleeping soundly, and raised his eyebrows in doubt.

"Sleeping at this time? Did you stay up late reading... No, weren't they chatting just now? How sleepy..."

Feeling strange in her heart, she shook her head helplessly. She still picked up the thin blanket, covered the boy gently, and left the room quietly.

The door closed again.

In the room full of warm sunshine, time seemed to slow down.

The pages of the book lay quietly on the light carpet, cuddling with the sound of steady breathing.

It was like having a good dream, with his arm pillowed, the boy gradually curled his mouth, the original solitary and gloomy was warmed by the sun, leaving only the gentleness like melting ice and snow.

Until the light outside the window began to slant, revealing a faint reddish yellow.

The boy woke up, rubbed his eyes, and looked around suspiciously.

"Why... fell asleep?"

He subconsciously stood up, looked around, and stopped his gaze on the messy bed.

For some reason, two words came out of his mouth.

That's a name.

"Rui..."

There was a sudden stabbing pain in his head, as if a needle had been pierced into his brain from his ear, his legs and feet softened, and he sat back on the chair with his head supported.

Staring blankly at the sunset that was about to disappear outside the window, he searched for the remaining fragments in his blank memory.

Shinichi Asada, ten years old.

I found that there seemed to be many, many things that were fading from my mind little by little.

The mood is unbelievably stable. Compared with the past, there is simply a gap between the Great Rift Valley in East Africa and the Kanto Plain.

But where does this sense of loss and emptiness come from?

He suddenly left the room and went downstairs.

"Are you awake son? Seriously, I didn't say goodbye to the rare friends I made, Rui doesn't look very happy..."

The boy repeated in a daze: "Rui..."

There was another stabbing pain in his head, but this time he didn't care, but walked to the front of the porch with force.

Stretching out his hand, after a year, he opened the door by himself.

crunch--

The boy slowly opened his eyes.

What greeted him outside the door was only the dusky sky that had already darkened.

Dusk is over, and a new day is approaching.

△

"...So after that, I gradually forgot all about you coming to our house.

My parents reminded me of your existence before, but it didn't take long for me to feel that I don't care about it, and I naturally forgot about them all, and never doubted it.

Sorry, not only did I forget the first friend I made, but I also forgot the agreement between us..."

On the last page of the book, he wrote so.

Tachibana Ruyi looked at each word, as if she was not affected by the slight vibration of the carriageway, her fingers were always pinching the pages of the book steadily.

"After you said you wanted to be my fake girlfriend, I suddenly remembered that not only now, but I have also been helped by you in the past. When I was confused, you pushed me hard from behind.

Really, thank you very much.

I'm also very sorry, but the original troubles continued in another form and were not resolved smoothly.

But it's really strange that the memory disappeared without solving it. I will continue to investigate, so please don't worry. "

"You guy, you are really the protagonist of the novel, what kind of amnesia plot..." Rui couldn't help complaining. Although Hina beside her was a little curious, she didn't dare to peek at Asada after being stared at by her. I wrote the message in the book for Rui to read.

"It's a bit too much to say, and the blank space on the last page is almost too much to write, and this message is almost over.

Rui, you said that on the Ferris wheel, right?If we don't have any regrets for what we have done to each other, your worries are in vain.

I would say it was not in vain.

Your every move means a lot to me.

It was you who rescued me from the abyss of loneliness and fear when I was a child, and made me believe in the possibility of the future,

It is you who pushed me out of confusion and hesitation, and gave me the courage to change.

I owe you a lot, and I haven't solved your troubles until now. As compensation, I will give you this book, and I will take you out to play when I have time.

Wait, no, you did solve one of my worries.

You let me know that I am Shinichi Asada, not someone else.

Tachibana Rui, thank you very much.

Even if I can't love you as a lover, but as an elder brother, I will accompany you to the end for the rest of your life.

This is a new agreement, I wrote it down in my notebook, I will never forget it!

From now on, please continue to keep smiling, please live happily in this beautiful world like me, and enjoy a rare life (my God, it's a bit shameful to say this).

Finally, have a good trip, Ruyi sister. "

Seeing the last sentence, Rui pursed her lips and remained silent for a long time.

Then, a smile slowly appeared.

"I just wanted to say that you obviously solved one of my worries..."

this fool.

She took out the four-leaf clover bookmark Asada gave her at the temple fair, put it on the last sentence, and closed the book.

Putting her palm on the cover, Rui let out a soft sigh.