After retirement I became a guardian of troubled youth

On Monday, Mr. Tsushima was invited to a Hongmen banquet in a neighboring city.

Only one entourage is allowed at that banquet.

After sending off the two children, Ueno Hikaru took the car with him to go there as a matter of course.

Before going to the banquet, Mr. Tsushima took Ye Guang around the city and bought a bunch of messy souvenirs for Xiu Zhi.

Mr. Tsushima doesn't have many hobbies, one of which is to test his children's preferences.

One of the great joys of Mr. Tsushima’s life—buying all kinds of gadgets for Xiu Zhi, and recording the other party’s reactions throughout the process.

One day before, when he was relatively free at noon, Mr. Tsushima mysteriously called Ueno Hikaru into the lounge and showed him a thick photo album.

It's full of little Shuji.

All kinds of little Xiuzhi, from just born to a few days ago.

Little Xiuzhi with big eyes and sucking hands, little Xiuzhi who is holding a bunny paper and giggling, little Xiuzhi who fell down the stairs QAQ, little Xiuzhi wearing a small foreign dress, sitting cross-legged on the beach and raising a piece of sand to half cover the camera, Little Xiuzhi with a rebellious face...

Mr. Tsushima looked at it, and suddenly sighed.

"Unfortunately, his anti-reconnaissance technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past two years, and I rarely have the opportunity to take pictures."

Mr. Tsushima took out the last photo of Shuji and Ranpo bickering with puffed cheeks, shook it slightly, turned his head away, and handed it to Hikaru Ueno with a look of regret.

Hikaru Ueno: "?"

Mr. Tsushima was reluctant, heartbroken: "You take this. I still have a backup here."

Hikaru Ueno hesitated for a moment, nodded, and pulled out the photo from his hand.

There was also some resistance.

Mr. Tsushima turned around sharply and accused him: "You are so cruel, you actually took it away like this! Didn't you see that I was just being polite?"

Mr. Tsushima: Oh~

After getting acquainted with each other, the mature and stable Mr. Tsushima often showed such a childish side, especially when things related to Xiu Zhi.

Hikaru Ueno looked down at the photo, didn't say anything about it, just nodded and said: "Be careful next time." Then he carefully put away the photo.

Mr. Reaper has a private space exclusively for himself. It is said to be a space, but it is actually more like a storage box, which contains things that are very precious to him.

Like this photo.

Another example is the small composition that praised him that was torn up after writing.

Mr. Tsushima: QAQ

"Guang, you are so cruel."

Ueno Hikaru thought for a while: "Thank you for the compliment."

Mr. Tsushima: "..."

Mr. Tsushima was very angry and decided not to let Hikaru Ueno see the photos again.

But Hikaru Ueno already had one in his hand.

Still a lovely photo.

Hey.

Let's talk about this Hongmen Banquet.

At twelve noon, the Hongmen Banquet officially began.

Mr. Tsushima stood among the crowd, coping with the other guests who kept coming together.

Hikari Ueno and his entourage were taken to another room.

This room is the complete opposite of the main banquet hall.

Small and dark, a group of people standing here is particularly crowded.

As soon as Ueno Hikaru entered, he walked to the corner and stood against the wall.

The others slowly started chatting in twos and threes, and he was the only one who stood there alone, ignoring everyone, and even those who came to talk to him specially, all returned in vain.

Then these people began to spread that Mr. Tsushima brought a dumb guard.

The god of fear of death was so happy to be dumb that he lowered his head and let them talk nonsense.

Obviously there are only 30 people in this room, but in the end, he also became a blind, deaf and speechless waste vase.

And because of her long hair, she became the stepmother that Mr. Tsushima found for his precious son.

"Male mother" Hikari Ueno: ...

That's really better than my brother.

It didn't take long for the people who were crowded in the room to be called out one by one. The number of people in the room became smaller and smaller, and no one was chatting and amusing anymore. Everyone was caught in a tense atmosphere.

Except Hikari Ueno.

Soon, "Mr. Tsushima" was called outside.

Hikaru Ueno straightened up and glanced at the most powerful person who had just sent the message. The person saw his gaze and took a big step back, his expression became more nervous, and he didn't dare to show his breath.

Hikaru Ueno retracted his gaze, pushed the door indifferently and walked out.

Follow the old servant through several intricate corridors, and finally stop in front of a black door.

The servant stepped aside and made a "please" gesture.

Hikaru Ueno pushed the door open and entered, and was silent for a while.

This scene was exactly the same as the first time he met Mr. Tsushima.

He looked at the man sitting on the boss chair and asked sincerely, "Do you like this very much?"

The man froze for a moment, covered his mouth with one hand and smiled, looking quite happy.

"Of course, I've always liked taking other people's henchmen for myself."

Hikaru Ueno gave him a puzzled look: "No, I mean... pay a lot of people to get beaten."

The man froze for a moment, his smile froze.

His voice suddenly cooled down: "What did you say?"

"Isn't it?"

Hikaru Ueno looked around at the strong men standing beside him.

"Hmm." He pondered for a moment, "You seem to call it 'test'."

"Test?" The man repeated, leaning forward, looking at him with interest, "Then...do you want to be tested?"

Ueno Hikaru was uncomfortable being stared at by him, frowned and lowered his eyes.

"Hurry up, I'm in a hurry."

"Really?" The man focused his eyes on him, and laughed twice, "But I'm not in a hurry."

"I'm very interested in you." He hooked his hands back, and someone immediately handed him an empty wine glass.

The bright red wine filled the glass, the man shook the glass and handed it to Hikari Ueno: "Please."

In the next second, Ueno Hikaru's figure disappeared in place.

With a crisp sound of "pop", the wine glass shattered and the wine splashed everywhere.

The man froze and looked down at his clothes.

The noble white suit, embroidered with gold veins, is now ruined by a glass of bad wine.

Anger appeared on his face, and he moved his hands, just about to ask these people to give this little ignorant follower a little trouble, when he was shocked to find that the circle of guards around him had all fallen to the ground.

He stood up in a panic, leaned on the back of the chair, and looked behind him vigilantly.

The young man whose collar covered most of his face stood not far behind him, holding a huge silver sickle.The deep black eyes were like a bottomless abyss, as if they would swallow him up in the next second.

The man had no time to think about how this man brought the weapon here. He was frightened and softened by Ueno Hikaru's indifferent gaze, and he sat tremblingly on the chair, his facial features tightened and twisted.

"You, what do you—"

He looked at those eyes that seemed to be looking at the dead, his voice trembled, and he couldn't even finish his sentence for a while.

Hikaru Ueno was also a little surprised.

He didn't expect such a coincidence.

In the real world, the god of death is indeed not allowed to harm ordinary humans, but if this person has been included in the "death list" of the eye of the underworld, it is another matter.

At a certain moment just now, those people were included in the death list at the same time.

So Hikaru Ueno directly knocked the group of people unconscious with the back of the sickle.

This last one was the only one left in the room.

The man's spirit collapsed in an instant. He would not die here this time, and Ueno Hikaru did not intend to forcibly change this man's fate.

He looked at the man who was shaking into chaff, put away the knife expressionlessly, and prepared to leave.

Probably because he performed too much for Ranpo, when Hikaru Ueno put away his knife, he subconsciously pulled a flower.

Debris of shining stars fluttered.

The door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, followed by a familiar voice, coquettishly complaining: "Ah! You actually performed for others!"

Hikaru Ueno blinked, and looked towards the door in surprise.

Ranbu and Xiuzhi stood by the door on one left and one on the right.

Behind them, the glass windows at the end of the corridor reflected the firelight outside.

Xiu Zhi smiled and waved his hands, and smiled sweetly: "We are here to take you home."

He stepped aside, and Mr. Tsushima sat against the opposite wall with a wry smile on his lips.

Hikaru Ueno stepped forward and rubbed Ranpo's head.

"Thank you." He paused, "You guys are great."

The book says that children like to be praised.

Luanbu snorted, the corners of his mouth raised uncontrollably, he tilted his head with a little pride, and rubbed against his palm.

Edogawa Ranpo and Tsushima Shuji are two outrageous children with a surprisingly high IQ and strong mobility.

Neither Mr. Tsushima nor Hikaru Ueno knew how they learned about this banquet, how they anticipated this crisis, and how this "accident" was caused, and how they came here in time.

They didn't bother to ask.

This is the secret of the two children themselves.

The fire, which was uncontained and could not be stopped, quickly burned through the entire villa.

Mr. Tsushima's car was parked some distance away, Ueno Hikari followed them leisurely, and gradually opened up a few meters away.

He stopped, turned and looked behind him.

A man who was [-]% similar to the man in the room stood in front of him.

The man seemed unaffected by the fire, with a decent smile on his face, reaching out to him.

"Thinking about coming to my place?"

Hikaru Ueno was slightly stunned, and raised his eyes to look at the sea of ​​flames not far away.

The fire was so intense that even here, one could feel the heat rushing toward one's face.

The man didn't look back, smiled twice, and said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not with him, it just happens to be a little blood related."

"I will give you everything you want, wealth, status, power... or anything else you want. I can give you what Tsushima can give you. I can't give you what Tsushima can't give you. I can give it to you."

His voice is like the sound of a piano, full of temptation in his voice.

Ueno Hikaru looked away from the sea of ​​fire, stared at him for two seconds, and asked, "Can you cook?"

The man froze for a moment: "What?"

Ueno Hikaru repeated without emotion: "Can you cook?"

"I won't, but—"

Before the man finished speaking, Ueno Hikaru had already said "I won't go", then turned and left.

He just left himself stunned in place.

On the way here this morning, Mr. Tsushima just promised that he would ask him to cook in person.

Hikari Ueno doesn't care about those messy "treatments".

He cares more about whether Luanbu can be in...

Before he leaves, eat the meal he cooked with his own hands.

This is what a "brother" should do.

Next, Mr. Tsushima taught him for five days in his spare time.

Then give up.

Mr. Tsushima couldn't understand why this person couldn't even cook the simplest stir-fried dish despite his strong learning ability.

For five days and 21 attempts, Hikaru Ueno couldn't even make scrambled eggs.

Mr. Tsushima thought for a long time, scratched his hair in pain, and took him to a culinary training institution, intending to let him learn and make progress together with other young people.

Ueno Hikaru readily accepted.

Aiming at the difficult problem of "Death has no taste", he now has an idea to solve the problem, and he is just one step away from trying. The training institution is a model, a place with a bunch of uneven imitations, which is suitable for him to make this attempt.

The eyes of the god of death can judge the soul state of all living things, not only humans and animals, but also plants.

Therefore, just remember the "soul state" when everything is delicious, even if there is no sense of taste, it will not affect him to make an absolutely delicious dish.

It's just that this matter requires a lot of observation and practice, which is very laborious.

He still has four days left, and there are not many dishes he can finish.

But if all goes well, Luanbu will be able to eat the meal he cooked with his own hands tonight.

Today is Sunday, and Mr. Tsushima took two children to see an art exhibition.

The exhibition hall is nearby, and he and Ranpo can go home together after Ueno Hikaru finishes class.

——If it wasn't for this, it would be impossible for Luanbu kid to agree to come here.

Hikaru Ueno was thinking while standing by the stove like everyone else.

He is number 48, the last of the class.

Immediately afterwards, the teacher at the front shouted impatiently: "Number 48! What clothes are you wearing? Go and change."

Hikaru Ueno froze for a moment, looked down at himself, and pulled up his collar, almost covering his eyes.

"Sorry, I can't change my clothes."

"Can't change??? Everyone can, why can't you?" The teacher patted the table, stared, and ordered him to change clothes again.

Hikaru Ueno frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded, went to the back dressing room to cast a trick, and came back again.

The teacher looked him up and down twice, showed a reluctantly satisfied expression, raised his chin, and signaled him to take his place.

A skirmish at the beginning often indicates that the whole process will not be too smooth.

Ueno Hikari had seen the term "school violence" in the books he bought before, but this was the first time he had really experienced it.

This training lasted from [-]:[-] am to [-]:[-] pm. During the nine hours, Hikaru Ueno experienced the confusing behavior of human beings over and over again.

The person next to him failed to cook, and blame Ueno Hikaru for glancing at his dishes just now.

All the rubbish from the people around him was piled up on him, and it became a colorful hill in half a day.

When the teacher came down to turn around, he was serious about helping other people to adjust, and when he came to him, he turned on the fire without saying a word, and messed up the pot of porridge.

In their free time, the others were chatting about him and looking at him with strange eyes.

Unfortunately, Mr. Reaper has good hearing and is also very sensitive to sight.

But Ueno Hikaru didn't particularly care about these things, he just kept his head down and did what he wanted to do.

Compared with these people, random steps are of course much more important.

Hikaru Ueno tugged on the collar that was used as a mask by others, carefully adjusting the state of his soul.

But he doesn't care, someone does.

Luanbu, who was supposed to be browsing the exhibition, suddenly appeared in the classroom. Like a gourmet connoisseur, he tasted all the dishes arrogantly, and then commented on them one by one. All belittled to nothing.

The teacher's dish is especially "valued" by him.

Ueno Hikaru looked at the child's behavior of "protecting him", lowered his eyes, and subconsciously raised the corners of his hidden mouth.

The boy standing at the front seemed to sense something, turned his head to look over, and glared at him angrily.

Ueno looked back with an innocent expression.

He thought for a while, reached out his hand to the children, and said, "I won't play with them anymore."

He paused, and said under the gaze of others: "Go home with my brother."

Luanbu stood on the table with his hips on his hips and looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded reluctantly, and came over to hold his hand.

One big and one small just walked out like no one else was there.

While being led by him, Luan Bu kicked away the stones on the side of the road, and asked sullenly, "Hey, are you going to let them bully you like this?"

Hikaru Ueno: "I don't really care about these."

"That's not okay either!" The child looked at him with wide eyes and a serious expression, "My brother can't be bullied!"

"You are the god of death! How could you be bullied by them!"

Hikaru Ueno nodded obediently, pulled him into his arms, and avoided the passing vehicles.

"Not next time."

"And next time?"

"……there is none left."

The two walked along the side of the road for a while, and Ueno Hikaru suddenly said again: "But, I can do it."

"what?"

"I'll cook for you." Hikari Ueno stopped and looked at him seriously, "It's fine tonight."

Mr. Reaper kept his word, and went halfway to bring Luanbu to buy some ingredients, and when he got home, he went into the kitchen with his things.

Luanbu leaned against the door and stared at him for a long time, as if he was finally relieved, and walked back to the next room.

He flipped through the small schoolbag, took out a piece of letter paper, held it under the lamp, and squinted his eyes for a long time.

Then he slowly pulled out the pen and wrote something on it.

When eating at night, Luanbu no longer had the idea of ​​tearing up the previous small composition.

Hikaru Ueno has made great progress. The last time he made it, he was completely inedible. This time, the food is almost comparable to that of a famous chef.

It's not because the teacher is at the level of a "famous chef", it's just that Hikaru Ueno saw the state of the soul for a day, and figured out some rules from it.

He was trying this pattern for the last dish when Luanbu came.

Now it seems that the rules he figured out are quite reliable.

Hikaru Ueno looked at the child who was squinting his eyes comfortably, and felt that his heart was full.

He stretched out his hand and pinched the swollen cheeks of Luanbu.

The kid shook his head and hummed twice.

"That's right." Luanbu put down his chopsticks and murmured, "Do you know the letter?"

Hikaru Ueno was startled, and nodded.

"Oh—" Luanbu swallowed what was in his mouth, his eyes sparkled, "Then, have you ever received a letter before?"

Hikaru Ueno pondered.

Strictly speaking, the thing that conveyed the task to them should not be regarded as a letter.

So, he shook his head and asked, "What's wrong?"

Strolling forward, I squatted down, and then asked: "Then——if I send you a letter, will you receive it?"

There is a place in the world of Huangquan, which is specially used to receive letters from the world.

However, it has been deserted for a long time. Ueno Hikaru once visited it once, and all kinds of messy letters were piled up in that place, like an abandoned garbage dump.

But such a place still exists, so he nodded matter-of-factly.

The random boy became excited: "Then I will write you a letter after you go back. You must remember to read it! You must read every letter! Remember to reply to me!"

Ueno Hikaru fell silent suddenly and looked at him deeply.

Luanbu was stunned, and immediately became a little uneasy, and sat back obediently, twisting his hands together.

He asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"

Hikaru Ueno: "I'm going to take you away."

"...Well, yes."

"But, that, that doesn't stop me from writing to you."

"When you cross the bridge of Naihe, you will forget all of this."

"Then I don't pass the bridge!"

"You can't cross the bridge."

"..."

After a long silence, Luanbu asked again: "Am I your brother?"

Hikaru Ueno: "Yes."

"That's not it!" Luanbu stood up suddenly, with his arms overturning the food on the table, the dishes fell to the ground with a clatter, smashing into pieces.

"You only regard me as the object of your mission!"

Hikaru Ueno looked at him, his expression moved, but he didn't speak.

"Just admit it! Anyway, today is the last day!" Luanbu stared at him, "I know about the two times before!"

Hikaru Ueno frowned, opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the other party before he could make a sound.

"You don't have to wait until the end, or it will affect your performance a lot." Luan Bu took a step to the side and stood in front of him, with a tear in his voice.

He bit his lip and said, "You might as well take me away today!"

"Anyway, it's not a few hours away anyway." Before he could finish speaking, he had already cried aggrievedly.

Hikaru Ueno looked at Ranbu who had been wiping away tears, fell silent for a while, lowered his eyes, and said softly, "I won't take you away."

There was a sudden gust of wind outside the window, and the window was rattled, as if someone was eagerly smashing the window.

Luanbu froze, choked, looked at him blankly, and asked, "What?"

Hikaru Ueno lowered his head, picked up the pieces of dishes on the table and on the ground little by little, and repeated: "I won't take you away."

The shards seemed to become sharp suddenly, easily cutting Ueno Hikaru's fingertips.

He ignored the wound, packed up everything in silence, walked in front of Ranbu, and raised his hand to cover his eyes.

"I won't take you away."

He said it a third time.

……

"So, write to me."