After retirement I became a guardian of troubled youth

When he woke up the next morning, his eyes were swollen.

Hikaru Ueno picked up the book he had bought before and flipped through it, and found him a piece of ice to apply to his eyes.

While humming reluctantly, the kid obediently held the ice wrapped in cloth, and squinted at him through a small gap.

"Where did you learn that?"

Ueno Hikaru was preparing clothes and books for him, when he heard this, he paused and said, "On the books."

Mr. Tsushima suggested him to buy the book a few days ago, because he lacks common sense in life.

Although Ranpo made such complaints before, and Hikari Ueno himself admitted it, Mr. Tsushima has never believed that as an adult, Hikari Ueno "lacks common sense in life" to such an extent.

He always thought that this person was just not very talkative, not very good at expressing, but he didn't expect...

He really doesn't understand almost anything.

When I was cooking, I asked him to buy eggs, and he directly caught other people's chickens in a cage and returned.

After school, I gave him the address and asked him to pick up two children. In the end, the two children brought him back from the police station.

He was asked to pick up an arms dealer who wanted to negotiate business, and he directly "brought" back his arms.

Mr. Tsushima was heartbroken, squeezed the space between his eyebrows, gave him a handful of money, and asked him to go to the bookstore to buy some useful reference books for daily life.

Hikaru Ueno is very serious about everything he does. When Mr. Tsushima asked him to buy books, he really spent a whole day visiting all the bookstores in the area and reading every reference book. I went through it again, and then carefully selected the ones I could use from it.

Ranpo listened to Ueno Hikaru's narration, and curiously leaned over to check what books he had bought.

"Cat Breeding Manual", as the name suggests, is to teach people how to raise cats.

Ranbu: "Do you want to raise a cat?"

Ueno shook his head.

"Then what are you buying this for?"

Hikaru Ueno stared at the cover of the book and thought for a while, then pointed to the little green-eyed kitten licking its paws. The kitten's tail was raised, and a cute arc was bent at the end.

Hikaru Ueno: "Like you."

Luanbu: "? What's the use of that!"

Hikaru Ueno blinked, opened the book to a certain page, pointed to the words on it, and repeated: "Like you."

The line he pointed to said—

When cats stick to you, it means...

Ranbu didn't finish reading the following sentences, and closed the book angrily with a "snap".

He also threw the piece of ice aside, leaving traces of wetness on the ground little by little.

"You treat me like a cat!"

"No, it's just something to refer to." Ueno Hikaru looked at him, stretched out his hand to smooth his hair, "I raised you as my younger brother."

Luanbu hummed twice, as if he was satisfied, and went to flip through other books.

"This Way We Live" is a couple's life diary.

"Give you a home" is an interior decoration design.

"So Lovely Him" ​​is youth pain literature.

"100 Little Tips for Finding Love" is to teach people to chase after the object.

"Follow Me" is a beginner's guide to teaching tennis.

……

All in all, it's all kinds of strange things.

Ranbu: "..."

"Brother." He laughed.

Hikaru Ueno's eyes widened a little, as if there was a faint light: "Huh?"

Ranpo: "You are awesome."

The corners of his mouth hidden under his collar slightly curved, and he said in a steady voice, "Thank you."

It seems very reserved and not proud.

The book says that if you want the other person to like you, you should do this.

Oh, that's what it says in the book about finding a partner.

However, the same is true for children.

Hikaru Ueno thought for a second and strengthened himself.

Ranbu: "..."

There was the sound of a flute downstairs, and Ueno Hikaru led people downstairs with a small schoolbag that was walking around.

Xiu Zhi leaned against the car window, sticking his head out and waving his hands in this direction.

It was agreed that I would send Luanbu to school together in the morning, so in the morning car, there would always be four people sitting in the back seat.

Fortunately, this car is spacious enough, and they are two small children and two thin adults, more than enough to sit down.

Shuji moved inside and stuck to Mr. Tsushima, leaving room for Ranpo and Hikaru Ueno.

The book spread out on his lap has changed from a colorful picture book to a military chess instruction book.

Xiuzhi has a wide range of interests and hobbies, and is particularly popular for 3 minutes.

The books on the lap are changed every day, and they are absolutely not the same.

As soon as Luanbu climbed into the car, he leaned over and flipped through the book with him.

Before halfway through the journey, the book had already turned to the last page.

Mr. Tsushima presciently took out a box of unopened military chess and handed it to the two children.

The man looked gentle, with a smile on his brows and eyes, and he did not show the sharpness of a superior at all.

This was the side of Mr. Tsushima that he only showed to them.

When getting off the car, Luanbu gave Ueno Hikaru a hug slowly, and then ran away without looking back.

This unexpected little surprise put Ueno in a good mood all day.

Mr. Tsushima is also in a very good mood today, not because Xiu Zhi also gave him a hug.

All the affairs of the day went unexpectedly smoothly. The last meeting ended several hours earlier than expected, and even left time for the two of them to pick up the children from school.

Mr. Tsushima had booked a seafood restaurant, and before school was over, he caught Shuji, who had come out of the side fence, and happily took people to eat.

I don't care at all why my child came out of such a strange place so early.

Hikari Ueno picked up Ranpo on the hill behind the school.

It had been a long time since school was over, and the children curled up under the biggest tree on the top of the mountain, looking up at the sun sinking a little bit.

solitary.

Hikaru Ueno took a step forward, stepped on a tree root, and made a "creak".

Luanbu turned his head around, glanced at him, then turned his head back without any surprise.

Hikari Ueno walked over and said softly, "Go home."

Luanbu grabbed a piece of grass on the ground and muttered: "I don't want to go back."

"Then...go to eat?"

"I don't want to eat."

The grass broke in his hand.

"I don't want to go back to unfamiliar places, and I don't want to eat outside."

Ueno looked down at him, silent.

Luanbu stared down at the grass, silent.

"I do."

Luanbu froze for a moment, then looked up at him in astonishment.

"Do you know?"

"It's in the book."

"I'll try to cook what you want, so."

Hikaru Ueno paused, squatted down, looked at him, and asked, "Can I go home with you?"

Luanbu looked at him, without nodding or shaking his head, and asked abruptly, "Will you always be my brother?"

Ueno Hikaru held out his hand to him, without hesitation: "Yes."

Luanbu took his hand and stood up with him.

"Is there any place you want to go this weekend?"

"……aquarium!"

"it is good."

"amusement park!"

"can."

"Go to the sea!"

"Ah."

"But it's too much to finish in one day."

"Then go out every day!"

"it is good."

"You have to go to all these places with me!"

"Ah."

Hikaru Ueno led him down the hill and all the way home.

Of course, not really walking back.

Mr. Death always had some privileges.

Not long after leaving the school, he found a remote alley and "teleported" home with Luanbu in his arms.

In fact, when human beings go through the process of teleportation, they will feel more or less uncomfortable, but some people are more serious, and some people are slightly less, which is similar to motion sickness.

Ranpo happens to be the "slight" category. He hardly feels any discomfort during the teleportation process. On the contrary, he is full of novelty about it. If there is nothing to do, he clamors for Hikaru Ueno to take him to teleport to various places. .

It's like wanting to see him "close the knife".

Hikaru Ueno was a little confused, but he cooperated every time.

He can be regarded as very fond of Luanbu.

Hikari Ueno will do his best to fulfill the requests he put forward, and Hikari Ueno will not "correct" his "strange operations in the eyes of others" from time to time like others, and even in most cases, he holds a kind of support Attitude, even sometimes he himself does not understand why Ranpo did this.

It's like, treating him as an equal as the same person.

This made Ranbu feel very comfortable.

Also very pleasant.

He sometimes hates being treated as a "child" by others, because it means that you have to face the "suggestions" of those adults.

But Ranpo feels that most of their suggestions are meaningless.

Ridiculous even.

This is a rare point where he can find resonance with Xiu Zhi.

They always get along better in such matters.

However, Luanbu felt that Xiuzhi wanted to rob him of his elder brother recently.

He always behaved extraordinarily well-behaved and lovable in front of Hikari Ueno.

"Scheming."

Luanbu scratched randomly on the homework paper twice, muttering softly.

He grabbed the pen, stared at the blank homework paper for a while, and wrote a correct "brother" on it.

Then it stopped for a while, and then wrote "Ueno Hikaru" under "Brother".

The word "Death" was at the end, and the first second after it was written, it was crossed out forcefully.

When Ueno Hikaru came back from buying ingredients outside, Ranpo was repeatedly scratching the two words that had been completely blocked.

He approached, patted Luanbu's head lightly twice, rubbed it again, and asked, "Do I need to get you a new notebook?"

Luanbu was stunned for a moment, lay down, covered the words on the notebook, and shook his head.

"Need not."

It seems that everyone else gets scolded when they scribble and draw on their homework paper.

But Hikaru Ueno only asked if he needed a new book.

Luanbu smiled happily, and secretly wrote another "brother" half-hidden.

In fact——he has always wanted an older brother since many, many years ago.

Today's Chinese homework is to write a short composition.

Luanbu, who never did homework, thought generously, I will give him a chance.

He opened the composition text and wrote——

I have a great brother.

……

During dinner, Ranbu wanted to tear up the composition he had just written.

Tonight's dinner was made by his awesome brother.

super bad.

The tomato scrambled egg was mushy, the rice became rice porridge, and even the cucumber mixed with a bite of salt.

Luanbu put down his chopsticks with a "snap" and sat still.

Brother is not super good, he is a little wronged.

Hikaru Ueno sat across from him, took a sip of rice porridge expressionlessly, frowned when he saw his reaction, and asked, "Isn't it delicious?"

"Of course!" Luanbu pointed at the dishes, pointed out the questions one by one, then raised his head and stared at him and asked, "Can't you taste it yourself?"

Ueno Hikaru hesitated, avoided his gaze, and nodded.

Luanbu was slightly startled, and asked, "Can't you taste it?"

Hikaru Ueno: "Reaper has no taste."

"Oh." The kid picked at the buttons on his cuffs, responded sullenly, and grabbed the chopsticks again.

After a while, he said sullenly again, "...I'm sorry."

"No need." Ueno Hikaru said, pulling the chopsticks from his hand, "I won't eat."

Luanbu froze, looking at him in a daze.

"Go out for a few more days." Hikaru Ueno led him out, "I will find a way to solve it."

During the weekend, Hikaru Ueno played with Ranpo for two full days. Thanks to the teleportation, they actually went to the aquarium, the amusement park and the seaside.

The children had a great time playing. They curled up in Ueno Hikaru's arms and fell asleep before returning home for two nights.

He hugged Ranbu in his arms, then carefully placed him on the tatami, and covered him with a thin quilt lightly.

Ueno Hikaru no longer sat by the window all night.

He'll stay by Ranpo's side all night.

Occasionally lie down and experience the feeling of being human.

Ranpo is the first soul in his life who has been together for such a long time.

He presented Hikari Ueno with a completely different and colorful world than before.

He brought Hikari Ueno many experiences that he had never had before.

Ueno Hikaru suddenly felt that his life was really boring.

If it weren't for Edogawa Ranpo, this boring life would continue forever.

He took off his gloves, bent his index finger, and carefully touched Ranbu's forehead.

Luanbu seemed to sense something, he hummed "brother", and the corners of his mouth curled up.

Ueno Hikaru bent his eyes, then raised his head suddenly, his expression turned cold instantly.

A number "7" made of condensed yellow sand appeared on the window.

That's the countdown to the mission time limit.

Ranpo turned over, facing Hikaru Ueno, shrunk into his arms.

Hikaru Ueno lowered his head and sat quietly in the moonlight, looking at the child in his arms.

He moved his fingertips, and the number 7 formed by the yellow sand dissipated in the air.

What is the punishment for mission failure?