【Niji】Afternoon

Gene had just returned from a business trip and slept for an extra hour because he was on vacation, but he was soon awakened by the aroma of toasted raita.

It smells so good, it smells like MUGIMAKI toast.He believes that even passers-by who pass by the store inadvertently will be captivated by the rich aroma of butter and bread.

He wore a thin blanket and came to the kitchen following the fragrance.A pot of brewed coffee has been placed on the island in the kitchen, the wooden table is covered by the red checkered placemat with a white background that Lota had previously laid out, and the dinner plates, knives and forks for two have also been placed properly.

Lota looked back at Gene with sleepy eyes, smiled and raised the egg in her hand and asked, "I'm baking tomato toast and pumpkin toast, do you want two fried eggs or one, brother?"

"Well, how many do you want..." Gene asked himself dully, although he was awake but still awake.

"Usually eat one, or change to two and make scrambled eggs? Scrambled eggs are delicious with bread! I will fry bacon again."

"Then make scrambled eggs."

The toaster dinged, and two pieces of toast jumped out, the red and orange toast covered with a faint burnt yellow.

Gene offered to help put the toast on the plate, turned around and put it on the island table, and then put tomato toast and pumpkin toast into the toaster.

"Ah, take this vinaigrette too, brother help me mix the salad on the table."

"salad……"

Shredded carrots, corn kernels, chopped nuts, raisins, and torn lettuce fill a large glass basin.Gene stared at the orange-red shredded carrots in trouble. He didn't like the taste of raw carrots. If the carrots were cooked, they wouldn't have the fishy smell of carrots. For example, he liked carrot goulash very much.

Lota noticed that Gene was in a daze, and waved the spatula and warned: "Eat more vegetables!"

"well."

Gene pushed the shredded carrots aside before adding the vinaigrette and started tossing the whole bowl of salad. After every piece of lettuce was covered with the vinaigrette, Gene hid the shredded carrots in the bottom of the bowl.

That's it.

Accompanied by the aroma of scrambled eggs and the smell of grease from fried bacon, Gene poured a cup of coffee and drank the hot black coffee. Gene finally woke up.

The sky outside the window is blue, with only a few white clouds, and the cool wind blows from the open window. The weather is really nice today.

idle.Let's go to the rooftop to pump out the root silt later.

Gene tried to get the silt box out of his pocket, but the pocket of his pajamas was empty, and he didn't even have a lighter with him.

Before going home last night, the silt box and lighter were still on me. If I took it out before taking a shower, would it be placed on the bedside table... um... I'll get it later.

Lotta took the two empty plates on the dining table, put the scrambled eggs and fried bacon into them separately, finally ground some peppercorns on the scrambled eggs and sprinkled a pinch of salt, "It's done!"

"Do you have strawberry jam?"

"Huh? This kind of toast with a special taste, you can really enjoy the delicious toast with olive oil—" Lotta said while giving Jin the jam in the refrigerator, "Here, strawberry jam."

"Thanks." Gene scooped up strawberry jam with a jam spatula and spread it on tomato toast.

Well, the flavors of strawberries and tomatoes are mixed together, delicious.

The bread machine beeped again, Lotta took out the toast, sat down at the table, then put some salad, scrambled eggs and bacon on the pumpkin toast, folded it in half and took a bite, the sweet and salty scrambled eggs of pumpkin , Bacon is a wonderful match, and it tastes more refreshing with salad.

Next time I can make a sandwich with pumpkin toast and take it out for my brother.

"Brother, why hasn't Nino invited us to have afternoon tea recently?" Lota asked.

The breakfast time at Otas's house is a time for brothers and sisters Lota and Jean to exchange feelings.

"Huh? Is Nino busy?"

"But Nino clearly said that he will stay in the Barton area for the next three months..." Luota felt strange, and continued to ask: "Didn't my brother meet Nino for a drink last Monday? Why did you go home so early that day?"

"how do you know?"

Last Monday night, Luota also asked friends out for dinner, how did she know that he didn't go to the bar and went home early?

"Mr. Hawkes asked me to give you this box of incense. He said that the taste was too sweet and he was not used to it. My brother smoked with him last Monday night. Seeing that my brother liked it very much, I decided to give it to you. .” Lota opened the drawer, took out the beautiful silt box with black background and silver stamping, and handed it to Gene.

It is a black devil incense silt, a specialty of Korolai District.

"Say thank you for me."

"I already thanked Mr. Hawks for you." Lota continued to ask, "So brother didn't meet Nino last Monday?"

"no."

The last time I chatted with Nino, I happened to talk about the black demon Xiangyu.Speaking of which, last Monday, Nino only sent a text message to say that there was something urgent, and he didn't even make a phone call. He didn't know what he was busy with.

Is it the job of a freelance reporter, or the job of the Internal Affairs Investigation Section?

Nino said that he is still working in the Internal Affairs Investigation Section, but due to the high-profile rescue of Jean before, he is no longer suitable for the anonymous department, and he will continue to work in the Internal Affairs Investigation Section under Nino's name in the future.

So now, according to Gene's authority in the Supervision Section, he can read Nino's work schedule from the system.

But it seems that there is no need to go to the Supervision Division to check on Nino's whereabouts. I really want to know. If I call Nino, he will confess.

Since it was something Nino wanted to hide, let him continue to keep it a secret.

After breakfast, after washing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen together with Lota, Gene put the black devil incense into the pocket of his pajamas and went back to the room to find a lighter. The lighter was not on the bedside table. Gene searched around, I can't find it anyway.

"Strange... lighter, lighter..."

"Here, here you are." Lota was about to do the laundry, she poured out the detergent and softener, found Gene who was looking for something, and threw the lighter to him, "Brother, really, I forget every time. Didn't it mean Do you take out your pockets before throwing your clothes in the laundry basket?"

"Well, I'm going out to smoke root silt." Gene nodded perfunctorily, and twirled the lighter in his hand.

"To the rooftop?" Lotta asked.

"Do you want to buy something? I'll go for a walk." Gene paused, then turned and went back to the room to change clothes.

"Great, the toast is gone, brother remember to go to MUGIMAKI."

"I see."

"In addition to plain fresh milk and tomato, my brother also chose two kinds of toast that can be used as dessert."

"it is good."

Gene lit the cigar and took a sip, and leisurely crossed the streets and roads. Nicotine caused the brain to secrete more dopamine. He enjoyed the leisurely weather and the soothing effect of the cigar.Jin, who held incense between his index finger and middle finger, was very eye-catching, and he heard people passing by talking about him in a low voice from time to time.

—That's bruised Gene, the first time I saw him.

——No ACCA uniform today, is it a day off?It's so relaxing.

But Gene didn't care about being surrounded by people, because he had the habit of bruising, he had long been used to being stared at by many people.Gene didn't seem to notice that a familiar guy was following behind him.

Nino was wearing an unremarkable black T-shirt and jeans, with a camera hanging on his chest, and followed Gene far away. There were many pedestrians on the road, but Nino was not afraid of losing Gene.He knew where to go in a certain direction, where the destination would be, and which way Gene was used to going to a certain destination.If Gene changed his mind temporarily and wanted to take a long detour, Nino could guess Gene's choice.

"After all, I've been watching him for 30 years, and this level of familiarity is normal." Nino said to himself.

Nino no longer needs to keep an eye on Gene and keep him and Lota safe all the time, but recently Nino couldn’t bear to do the same thing as in the past. He followed Gene alone and took the same flight with him on a business trip. Dinner in different corners of the same restaurant.

Nino wanted to look at Jin, there was no reason such as orders from others, but he wanted to see Jin.

Gene's posture of pumping bruises, the elegance of cutting steak with a knife and fork, and the way he and his subordinates inspected the branch have always carried a calm and unhurried temperament.

Back in the Barton area, Nino washed out the photos of Gene, picked out the best one and put it in his wallet. In the photo, Gene was drinking at the bar, with his long legs resting on the bar stool, shaking his wine glass with a lonely expression, In the glass is light blue mixed wine like sea water.Looking at the photo, Nino seemed to be able to hear the crisp sound of the ice cubes colliding with the glass.

What was Gene thinking when he did this?Failed unrequited love for Minister Morph?Still thinking nothing?

Nino remembered that he almost wanted to go over to say hello to Genn and ask him what he thought, but he held back.

He didn't want Gene to know that he was still following him, although Nino had plenty of excuses that Gene believed could be used.For example, the Internal Affairs Investigation Division asked him to go on a business trip to complete part-time reporter work, and he happened to come to play during the holidays...

Nino believed that he would be able to hide his desire to be close to Jin.

But he didn't want to lie to himself, to Gene, he wanted Gene to know, but not now.

He wanted to temporarily keep a distance from Gene, but also wanted to see Gene. Two different thoughts converged, and his heart was full of contradictions and struggles.

Sure enough, as Nino guessed, Gene put off the bruises on his hands and walked into MUGIMAKI.

Nino was standing on the opposite side of the street. He had just returned to the Barton area with Gene, who was on a business trip. There was no food in the refrigerator at home.Would he like to buy two slices of chocolate toast after Gene left?

When Nino hesitated, his cell phone rang Gene's exclusive ringtone.

"I see you, Nino."

Through the phone, Gene's voice was slightly distorted.

But it was Genn's voice, and Nino hadn't heard it for days, and he was really happy to be able to talk to Genn.

"you caught me."

"You look too hard, Nino."

"Haha, really? That was such a failure." Nino smiled wryly.

"Come here quickly."

Gene hung up the phone.

He didn't know the reason for Nino's abnormality, but he didn't care about the reason, anyway Nino would say what he wanted to say, Gene thought so.

Gene bent down and chose the toast he wanted from the display window. When Nino opened the door and came in, Gene had already stood up straight and said to the store manager: "Fresh milk and four slices of tomato two centimeters each, strawberry soufflé , two pieces of chocolate, and two pieces of matcha red beans [-]cm each.”

"OK, just a second."

"Are you okay today? Do you want to come to my house later?" Gene didn't wait for Nino to answer, "I bought your snacks just now, two pieces of chocolate toast measuring [-] centimeters."

Nino was taken aback and smiled happily.

"Then interrupt."

Gene didn't ask anything except "Where is your motorcycle parked?", Nino enjoyed Gene's trust in him on the one hand, but on the other hand hoped that Gene would ask him.

If Genn wanted to know, Nino would tell him how he felt regardless of whether the timing was right or not.

like, love.

The kind of love with sexual desire, the fire that spread from the heart made Nino's blood burn hot.

Nino suggested going to Bee Bear to buy pudding as a gift for Lota, and Gene agreed after thinking about it.

When we arrived at Bee Bear, their signature puffs were just out of the oven, and the aroma of the puffs was different from that of toast.After observing Gene's expression, Nino decided to buy three more puffs to take away.

Nino spent a happy day at Otas's house, and Lota was like his sister. Nino was very pleased to see the princess doing well.

While Lota was busy with the work of the building manager, Gene went to the rooftop to smoke a second cigarette. Nino picked up the camera and followed him, aiming at Gene in a frenzied manner.

"You're taking pictures of me again." Gene glanced at him lightly and asked without any emotion, "Do you want to hand in the pictures?"

"No, no, I want to take a picture of you. The wind was very good at that moment, and the smoke from the incense silt drifted out very well. I took a very amazing photo."

"Eh... that's right."

Genn probably felt that this reason was a bit boring, he exhaled a smoke ring, and waved it to disperse it.

"That's right, after the photo is developed, I'll bring it for you to see?"

"OK."

Nino felt a little regretful after he finished speaking, he was too impulsive, if Gene could see his emotions at the moment the photo was taken...

But Gene agreed without hesitation, and Nino was very happy again.

Nino wants Gene to pay attention to him.

"The last time I had a drink, we talked about what type you like."

"Ah, the topic of motorcycles?"

"It's about liking girls! You haven't said what type you like, so you can't use a motorcycle to pass this time."

"I didn't get in on it on purpose. In other words, the blond hair is nice and the color is beautiful, and the eyes are the same color as yours—"

Gene interrupted, "You can't shoot Lotta."

"I won't, Lota is my sister."

"Oh."

After a moment of silence, Nino said again, "It's a little shorter than me, about this tall."

Nino made a virtual comparison of the position, which was about the height of Gene.

"Huh? Is a girl as tall as me too tall?"

Not a girl, Gene.Nino said in his heart.

"Will it? I think it's just right."

Nino liked Gene's height, the height difference between them was just right for Gene to lean comfortably on his shoulder.

"Hey, I see. You like tall blondes. What about their personality?" Gene asked.

"You can chat with me, you can get along like a good friend." Nino didn't hesitate.

"It's really important to get along well."

"Right?" Nino smiled smugly.

"Then are there any women like this around you?"

"no."

"But you are very popular, I don't think you can limit the color of the other person's hair or eyes, Nino."

"Hair color is important."

"The hair color can be dyed, and the eye color can be changed with color-changing sheets..."

"That's different."

Nobody else is you, Gene.

"I found that you like to be stubborn in strange places, no wonder you haven't had a girlfriend."

"Persisting on the type of object you like has nothing to do with being stubborn or not."

I have you oh, Gene.

In the past, Nino had no intention of falling in love, and he had to worry about too many things.

Now Nino finds that he likes Jean, and his past experience has become an arrangement of fate. Everything he encounters is to meet Jean and his beloved prince.

Don't be impatient.

Nino repeatedly warned himself, don't rush, take your time, there is still a lot of time.

I will spend my life loving you, Gene.

TBC