fictional spring

In my dream, there was a scene of fireworks blooming - such a short but gorgeous scene, just like a thin figure flashing in my mind inadvertently.

Perhaps it was because I was looking forward to the coming of the mountain god festival that I had such a dream.I originally thought so.

But the scene in the dream made me doubt my own judgment.

Because what appeared in the dream was not only fireworks.

There was also a man whose face could not be clearly seen, wearing a black bathrobe, holding my hand and walking among the lively crowd. I was half a step behind him, and all I could see were his thin shoulders and hazy profile.

Even in a dream, as long as I look at that figure, everything around me seems to have nothing to do with me.

But in the reality in my memory, such a thing has never happened, and I am sure that it is not the back view of my father or Mr. Hasegawa. Moreover, judging from the height of my eyes in the dream, it is not the perspective that I could see when I was young. .

This also led to the fact that when I woke up, I still seemed to be able to feel the tension and joy. Because of this, when I came back to my senses, I felt as if something was missing in my heart.

——"Is it true that something that you are unwilling to let go of no matter what really doesn't exist for you?"

Qing Zhi's stubborn question seemed to ring in my mind, I lowered my head and stared at my palm—something I would never let go of...

Maybe for me, it does exist.

Because I also know very well that it is obviously just a dream, but I can't help but care about it.

After all, that figure that often appears in dreams...has become more and more clear recently.

From the hazy figure when I was young, to the past that I can't remember what I dreamed after waking up, it gradually became what I am now. Except for the face that is still unclear, the rest is as real as a reality that I have experienced personally.

While such changes made me pay more and more attention, some things that I ignored gradually sprouted sprouts.

Because the figure in the dream seemed to come out of the dream one day and stood in front of me very clearly.

He overlapped with Qingzhi's back.

On that day, Qingzhi and I went to the riverside where the mountain god sacrifice was held.

When we went out, my father told us many times, telling me to follow closely when going out. It is indeed very dangerous to get lost in crowded places—not to mention that many places now have " "Ghost" rumors, it's not a bad thing to be cautious.

The so-called "ghost" is a dangerous and terrifying existence in the rumors that have spread more and more ferociously recently.

They have the appearance of humans, but treat humans as food. They are extremely cruel and vicious creatures.

"Qingzhi thinks, do ghosts really exist?"

Standing next to me, Qingzhi was already half a head taller than me at some point, and the face that should have been immature in my memory seemed to have grown a lot, and the handsome and handsome young man was gradually revealed. Under the light and shadow of the lantern, he turned his face slightly to talk to me, with a slight smile in his slender eyes.

"Do you think it exists?"

he ask me.

The maids at home also mentioned this kind of strange creature that should only exist in legends in their chats—just like the current popular Baimonugatari, they are just ghosts and monsters deliberately created by word of mouth , live in human discourse, but only so.

But I had a different view from them at that time——I think that such a thing really exists.

Whether it's Hundred Monogatari, or a man-eating ghost, in my opinion, those are real things.

So I also nodded in front of Qingzhi, "I think it exists."

Not only that, "an existence that fears the sun, hunts humans, and only appears at night..." While talking, I looked at Qingzhi: "Speaking of which, Qingzhi only comes out at night."

The first time I saw him, this child had never appeared in the sun. Even if it was explained by the reason of suffering from a strange disease, some people would have doubts about it.

At least the servants at home had discussed it secretly, but after this matter reached the ears of his father, he severely punished those servants who said such things.

I just mentioned it casually, but the innocent face seemed to change when I said this, that look was fleeting - but it was enough to make people think for a long time.

Perhaps it was because he had also heard the words of the servants who were slanderous—slandered and speculated for no reason, how much it hurt the children who lost their loved ones, just think about it a little bit.

However, when I said those words, my straightforward demeanor didn't look like I was stabbed by the words—it was a kind of... panic.

Just when I thought he was going to say something to me, a child running from nowhere bumped into my body, the crowd was already crowded, I staggered a few steps, and the distance between me and Qing Zhi was shortened a bit point.

The moving crowd can block us almost instantly, and the child who hit me also ran away in the next second.

When Qingzhi took the initiative to hold my hand, I sighed and moved closer to him: "Sure enough, just like what my father said, if you are not careful, you may get separated..."

"I won't get separated." He turned his face to the side, tightened his clasped fingers, and said to me in an affirmative tone, "This way we won't get separated."

In fact, as long as you hold me, you won't get separated, but when Qingzhi pulled me back to his side, he let go of his hand on purpose, inserted/inserted his fingers into my fingers, and held my palm tightly.

The fine strands of hair were scattered on his forehead, and the young man who lowered his head slightly was gentle and serious.

My eyes fell on our intertwined hands, and I laughed: "Yeah, it's a good thing Qingzhi is there."

He led me to walk among the crowd, surrounded by the sound of hawking, vendors pushing wooden carts selling goods shipped from the other side of the sea, the liveliness of tonight was far better than any other day on weekdays.

But strangely, I couldn't focus on the lively crowd.The boy who was half a step ahead of me, I looked at his shoulders and profile, from this angle, I found one thing - the scene at this time was very similar to that ethereal dream.

There are also lively crowds, figures coming and going, and the red lanterns on the street reflect the lights, and when they fall on the body, they seem to bring gentle warmth.

I stopped suddenly and called his name softly: "Qingzhi."

The young man turned his head to look at me, those red eyes seemed to have dispelled even the haze of the dream at this moment.

He lowered his head, his face was very close to mine, "What's wrong?"

Looking at this face, I was stunned for a while, and tightened the palm of another person in my hand——it was not in a dream.

But the feeling of palpitations, and the too similar scene in front of me, even made me a little confused about what I was doing now.

"Muzuki?"

I raised my face and stared blankly at the boy who called out my name, and saw my own reflection in his eyes.

"No," I blinked and lowered my head, "it's nothing."

I don't know what I was thinking at that time, I don't even know when the fireworks started to be set off, I just know that when I really came back to my senses, the colorful flames had completely illuminated the figure of the boy beside me .

It seems that at some point, someone watched the fireworks with me.

I stared at the fireworks in mid-air, and suddenly thought——

There is no moon tonight.

There is no moon because the clouds are too thick, so when we are about to go home, it is normal for a hazy drizzle to suddenly fall.

In order to avoid the possible heavy rain at night, and also considering that my body might not be able to bear the coolness of the rain, Qingzhi dragged me to hide in a shop on the street.

"Candy apples..."

For some reason, this word came out of my mouth.

Qingzhi who was standing beside me looked at me with some doubts, "What is apple candy...?"

At this time, even I was stunned, because I didn't know what apple candy was.

But literally—

"Is it candy made from apples?"

The boy asked me in a slightly hesitant voice, "Muzuki wants it?"

I opened my mouth, and before I could say anything, Qingzhi said to me: "Then I'll buy it for you."

Just like when I saw Brother Chenzang give me brown sugar - he really did.

On the way back from the gymnasium, even if he deliberately went there, he would bring me back brown sugar. He didn't stop until there was a huge pile in my room and he had to distribute it to the servants.

I also forgot what I wanted to say, but I only knew that I nodded and replied softly, "Okay."

Perhaps for me, it was at that time that I was really sure that I really had something that I couldn't let go of.

After all, on the second day, when Qing Zhi went to the gymnasium to practice, he deliberately asked many people to ask, but the answer he got was that he didn't know what it was.

But he didn't give up because of this, and he didn't tell me that the thing I mentioned casually didn't exist. Instead, he went to Kiriya to buy brown sugar, washed the apples he bought together, chopped them and boiled them Apple flavored sugar.

When he came to meet me with something like that, the look in his eyes was more beautiful than when he was lit by fireworks.

He asked me, "Is this the candy apple you asked for?"

I tasted the crushed black candies, and nodded in the expectant eyes of the boy: "Yes."

It doesn't matter anymore, what I care about is not apple candy, but other things that I can't tell or explain.

It was his inadvertently showing the tenderness and joy that would only be shown in front of me.

That black-haired, red-eyed boy really couldn't let me treat him like a child anymore.