[Noragami] I was not there

She didn't know where she was, and she didn't know who the woman in front of her was, and she didn't even know who she was. The only thing she remembered was that someone asked her to come back to look for something and see something clearly.

But what is that?

——She couldn't remember at all, she just felt that her head was empty and her heart was empty.

The long-haired woman smiled and called her Axi, which might be her name.She also asked her to go home with her, which might be her home too.But she was still hesitant, but the smile in front of her was so pretty, it was the type that warmed people from the bottom of their hearts, and made them helpless. When she recovered, she found that she had already followed that People go together.

The long-haired woman was very quiet along the way, and she followed obediently. They didn't talk too much with each other. Although she was full of questions, she didn't know where to start asking, or whether she should ask.

She didn't stop until she could see the village in the distance, and looked at the long-haired woman in front of her from a distance.

She also felt the footsteps of the people behind her, and she turned around and said, "If you don't hurry up, Grandma will curse again."

She was silent for a few seconds before asking, "Who are you?"

There is no embellishment or cover-up, just asking questions that you want to know the answer to.

The long-haired woman was slightly stunned, and soon showed a distressed expression: "Ah Xi always doesn't remember my name well."

"always?"

"Xiaqi." The long-haired woman suddenly bent down while speaking, and her smiling face was magnified several times in front of her, "My name, this time I must remember it carefully."

"Xiaqi." She silently said her name, as if she had done the same thing many times before, and she said it again, "...Xiaqi."

"Yeah." Xia Qi nodded in satisfaction, and reached out to her, "Hurry up and go home."

She looked at the hand stretched out in front of her, not knowing whether she should respond, but looking up at her gentle smiling face, she still handed her hand to hers, and then was held tightly.

Xia Qi's hands and smile are very warm.

Xiaqi's home is not very far away. It takes about 10 minutes to walk along the river from Xiaolinzi, and they will arrive when the road is wide.It was a seemingly ordinary village, most of which consisted of large tracts of fields, and the few houses that could be seen had smoke rising from their kitchens. In the fields, there were many people working and resting beside the fields, but they wore Even if she had no memory of the same rough linen clothes as Xiaqi, she could subconsciously feel that all of this seemed to be very far away from the era in her memory.

The strange feeling in her heart made her stop, it was a kind of loneliness where she didn't know where home was and had nowhere to go.

As if aware of something wrong with her, Xia Qi turned his head to look at her, and asked with some unease: "Axi, why have you been acting weird today?"

She looked at Xia Qi for a while, but she could only shake her head to show that it was okay, and then followed her into the village.

"You're back, Xiaqi."

"It's a little late today, and I'm going to be nagged by your mother again when I get home."

"By the way, Xiaqi, our chickens laid some extra eggs today, and I will send them to your family later."

Those were the villagers they met on the road. When they saw Xiaqi, they would stop what they were doing and greet her with a smile, and Xiaqi would also respond with a smile. It is a small village, and the villagers know each other, watch and help each other, and live in harmony. .

She just followed Xia Qi silently. She was a little nervous when she saw so many strangers, thinking about how she would respond if they greeted her. Unlike Xia Qi, she seemed not good at smiling.

But soon, she realized that she was worrying too much, no one greeted her, she didn't even meet her eyes, if it was just a few people, she wouldn't think too much, but people along the way treated her like this, she Suddenly understood, it wasn't that they didn't know each other or were rude, they just simply couldn't see her.

She understood that she was just a dead spirit, and the only one who could see her was Xia Qi, and it was Xia Qi who picked her up when she was lost in the world.

This didn't seem to surprise her too much. After this realization was confirmed, she was stunned for a few seconds, and she just nodded and said "Oh", as if it was a matter of course.

Xiaqi’s house is not big, and it’s closer to the back of the village. As soon as he entered the door, Xiaqi’s mother came to him to scold her for coming home so late, while Xiaqi’s father was just around the corner trying to smooth things over. .And this blame turned into a helpless sigh in the end, Xia Qi's mother looked at the father and daughter and had to turn around and continue to make dinner.

Like the villagers, Xiaqi's parents couldn't see her. She watched the family's conversation quietly from the sidelines. Although she was just an outsider, she still couldn't help laughing.

Hearing her laughter, Xia Qi turned around in embarrassment, and said softly: "Grandma's temper is really getting worse and worse, next time I really can't come back later."

Her smile is even bigger: "Yeah."

On the first night at Xiaqi's house, she was dragged to sleep in a shop by Xiaqi, and she didn't know if she really needed sleep, but she would feel that there was someone who could see her sleeping next to her. He was very down-to-earth and reassuring, so he didn't refuse.

But after all, it was the first time, and she was still not used to it. She carried Xia Qi on her back when she fell asleep, and Xia Qi's mother didn't fall asleep at the moment. Of course it was her marriage. It was said that a family came to propose marriage this morning, and the person was nice, so I just waited for Xia Qi to nod.

Those Xiaqis from before all smiled and said yes, and didn’t raise any opinions that differed from their mother’s, but only on this issue, she seemed to be very firm and made it clear that she didn’t want to, so Xiaqi’s mother had to continue thinking that she was not young, It wasn't until Xia Qi's father urged her on the other side of the house that she rubbed her hands and left, and continued to say that Xia Qi was ignorant.

The lights went out, and the moonlight streamed down quietly.

She knew that the people around her had fallen asleep, and she said that it felt good to have family members, even being read was enviable. Xia Qi turned around, and the heat from her breath hit her neck, and she was about to fall asleep. but the words were still so clear, she said—

"Stupid Axi, you are also my family."

"……thanks."

It doesn't matter if she doesn't have any memory, and it doesn't matter if she doesn't have family members. Even if she's just a ghost, as long as there are people who can see her and give her warmth, she will feel very satisfied.

She fell asleep, and this sleep lasted for a long time, and when she woke up, the sky was full of sunset, and Xia Qi was gone. Xia Qi's mother prepared meals, looked out from time to time, and said in her mouth that the child really changed. no more.

She went out, she knew where Xia Qi would be.

Walking on the familiar road, as expected, she quickly found Xiaqi along the river. She was still sitting on the big rock, looking at the forest quietly, as if she could see the end.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Xia Qi turned around, still the same as yesterday, showing a familiar smile, and asked if Grandma came to remind her again, but she still saw the loss and sadness that was too late to hide for a moment.

Xia Qi was waiting for someone, but that person was definitely not her.

She knew it, but didn't ask too much, she thought that one day Xia Qi would take the initiative to tell herself.

Every day in Xiaqi is like the same day. She always gets up early to help her parents with farm work, and after noon, she will come to the entrance of the village alone and sit on the big rock quietly. Stay quietly for half a day, and only go when the sun is about to set.

No matter it was windy or raining, Xia Qi would go, and she would go with him. As time passed, even she began to look forward to who would appear on the other side of the forest.

But who would that be?

After that long wait, will she have an answer?

One day, two days...

January, February...

One year, two years...

"Xiaqi, it's almost time for you to listen to our words. You will be thirty next year. Do you know that there are already mothers of several children in the village who are the same age as you?!" Xiaqi's mother repeated. As for Xia Qi's marriage, all she had to say was about this matter.

This is not surprising, in this era, Xia Qi's age has long passed the age of getting married.

But only on this issue, no matter how many years, Xia Qi's attitude is still so firm, she will always say: "Wait, wait a little longer."

"Wait, wait! What are you waiting for?!"

Xia Qi looked at the mother who was a little bit hesitant. She knew that there had been some bad things in the village recently. It was not good to have a daughter who refused to get married. For the first time, her eyes were confused. Muttered outside the window: "Yeah... what am I waiting for..."

So it was the same place, the same time, the same silence, the only difference was that at sunset, Xia Qi spoke for the first time to tell her what she was waiting for—

"Does Axi believe in the existence of gods?"

She froze for a moment, then nodded again. Of course she believed that even she herself was a dead spirit, so how could she deny the existence of gods.

"I believe it too." Xia Qi smiled, and for some reason, her tone was full of happiness, "I also believe that Lord Shenming will definitely come back, definitely... definitely will come back."

"return?"

"Well, so I'm going to wait...just wait."

She waited with Xia Qi for five full years, but she told her that she was waiting for a god. This sounds ridiculous, but Xia Qi's expression of laughing to the point of crying seems so real.

She said it doesn't matter Xiaqi, no matter what you are waiting for is a human being or a god, as long as she is willing, she will always wait with her.Xia Qi laughed again, and she said that luckily Axi was by her side, otherwise she really didn't know how to support her.

In fact, the story of Xiaqi is really simple——

Many years ago, Xiaqi, a 14-year-old girl, rescued a seriously injured young god by the river. Under her careful care, the god's injury was healed. But the god had to leave because of unavoidable reasons, and when he parted, he made a promise that he would come back to find her.

And for ten years after that, Xia Qi has been waiting at the place where we left, waiting for the god who doesn't know when he will come back.

"Axi, why didn't he come back?"

"Maybe... maybe I can't find my way back."

"Is that so?"

"……Um."

"Then build a shrine, that is the home of the god, so that he will surely find his way back."

It's just that she didn't know how to comfort Xia Qi, so she casually found a completely unbelievable reason, but Xia Qi really listened to it, and found a lot of stones and wood the next day, as she said, Start making temples by yourself.

This move of course shocked the villagers. When they learned that Xia Qi was going to make a shrine to a god they had never heard of, they already asserted that Xia Qi, who did not want to marry, was bewitched by evil spirits and went crazy. She didn't know where she went, and looked at her whole family with contempt and fear in her eyes.

But Xia Qi turned a deaf ear to these ugly words, just polished stones and cut wood silently, as if there was nothing more important in the world than this.

Xia Qi... Is it the Xia Qi she knew back then?

She was still by Xiaqi's side, but for the first time, she had doubts when she saw the woman in front of her who was completely immersed in her own world.

The wind through the woods grew louder, and even the sky began to look ugly.

She looked up to the corner of the sky, and vaguely saw some strange creatures flashing past among the clouds, but it was really just a flash, as fast as her own hallucination.

—It seems that something is coming.

Xiaqi's shrine was done very quickly. It only took seven or eight days from the start of preparation to the completion of the project. The small house stood on the edge of the forest. It only needed a name on it and it could be done. It's a pity that she didn't prepare it that day. Xia Qi didn't choose to go back to get the pen and ink, she couldn't wait.

Xiaqi cut his finger with a knife, and wrote the name of the god on it with a branch as a pen and blood as ink.

This is also the first time she knew the name of Xia Qi who was waiting for him, and with one stroke, his name soon appeared on the shrine——

"Ye... Dou?"

"No." Xia Qi shook his head, pointed to those two words and corrected, "It's Yebu."

As soon as Xia Qi's voice fell, a gust of wind blew past, causing the leaves in the forest to rustle. A clog broke a branch that fell on the ground and made a soft sound, followed by the girl's light and joyful smile. Voice--

"It's really been a long time."