[Comprehensive] Manna's Summer

12#You who are dead

It was a sunny day when Nura Rikuo visited Kuroko Mana's house. Nadeshiko flowers swayed in the wind, and the delicate petals looked so lovely in the sun.He walked on the street and passed the blue-haired boy.The boy was wearing a pure black suit, even his tie was pure black.Lu Sheng turned his head, looked at his back and frowned slightly.

"Would you like... to pay homage to someone?"

Lu Sheng knocked on the door of Heizi's house, and it was a middle-aged woman who opened the door. Her face was somewhat similar to Mana's. She raised her hand to brush her gray temple hair, and looked at him in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm Mana's friend." Lu Sheng bowed, "I'm sorry to bother you by visiting."

I don't know whether it was Lu Sheng's good-looking baby wearing glasses or his Seirin school uniform that made the woman put down her guard. She untied the anti-theft chain and opened the door.

"Please come in." She said sadly, "It's been a long time since that child's friend came to visit."

When Lu Sheng entered the door, he didn't see Mana, he sat on the sofa with some restraint, looking at the big family portrait hanging above the TV, the girl with her long blue hair loose, leaning against her mother's arms and smiling very tenderly , that appearance is a little more immature than her present.The woman brought out two cups of tea, noticed his gaze, and was taken aback.

"...that's a picture of Mana when she was 13 years old. She has been very busy since she debuted, and she didn't even have time to take a family portrait together." She put down her teacup with a sad expression on her face, "If I knew something like that would happen Things, no matter what, I shouldn't have let her go at that time."

"That's not your fault." Lu Sheng whispered, "After all, no one would have thought of such a thing."

"...Let's not talk about these things anymore." The woman shook her head with a wry smile, and stood up, "Do you want to see Mana's photo?"

"If you can."

The woman quickly took out the photo albums and placed them in front of him, opening them one by one.

"Look, this is when she was just born. How is it? She is very cute, right? She was very obedient at that time. She didn't cry or make trouble. She always opened a pair of big eyes. She was not afraid of people at all. Laugh, relatives like her very much, her father hugs her everywhere, and everyone who sees her likes her."

"Hey, this is when she was three years old. That little bicycle was given to her by her father's friend. I still have this dress. It's unbelievable to look at it now. In the blink of an eye, such a small baby is so beautiful." It's grown so big."

"This was when she was seven years old and just started elementary school. Unexpectedly, she also cried and said she didn't want to go to school... At that time, she thought I didn't want her anymore, so she squatted at the school gate and cried, Mom, don't go... Tetsuya was the one who coaxed her well. At that time, Tetsuya told me, patted his chest, that mom, you can rest assured that I will protect my sister. In the end, it was Mana who protected him... Who would be willing to bully Mana, who would be willing to treat her badly? "

……

"Ah, and this one, when she and those two children went to the talent show, I took a picture of her father and I in the audience. Although it is blurry, she is very beautiful, right? My daughter is the most beautiful Well, who wouldn't like her? Too bad she's been so busy since then, even we hardly see her a few times a month. Look at these pictures, they're all from TV shows. Want to see For my daughter, I can only watch her on TV. She is very busy at work and it is not easy to call her. I worry every day, whether she is eating well, whether she is sleeping well, and whether she has lost weight recently. Is it because she is too tired from work? Why do those hosts always ask such tricky questions, why do those reporters always write scribbles and talk nonsense...Every day, we are always so worried about her, we can't even sleep well when we see her hurt."

Amidst the tea smoke, the woman's eyes were so lonely, she smiled wryly, and took a sip from her teacup.

"Sometimes, I really feel... a little lonely. Mana has been sensible since she was a child, and she always said 'I'm fine', 'Everything is fine', 'It's okay'... But in the places we can't see I don't know how much suffering and tiredness I have suffered... How can the arts and energy world be so messy? But our useless parents can't help at all..."

Putting down the teacup, she sighed deeply.

"Actually, I always feel that she is still the little girl who only reaches my knees, soft and small, who hugs me and calls her mother, always pesters me to tell her stories, and pats her on the back to coax her." Ken went to sleep... I dreamed of her several times, a small ball nestled in my arms, clutching my clothes, sleeping like a kitten, and snoring..."

The woman's expression was a little dazed, and she made a gesture of holding something, her empty arms swayed slightly, as if she was coaxing a baby.The sunlight came in through the window and shone on the silver hair on her temples. The whiteness hurt Lu Sheng's eyes.He turned his gaze, but was startled by the old man who suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

The gray-haired old lady stood hunched over the door of the bedroom, looking around frantically, constantly muttering "Where is Mana? Where is my Mana?", as if she couldn't find the person she was looking for. Staggered over.

Then, Lu Sheng saw Mana.The long blue hair was not braided into a three-strand braid, but was let down like this, because it was always braided into a three-strand braid, and when it was loosened, it became curly, showing a rich luster in the sun.Mana chased after the old lady with a helpless face, not daring to reach out to pull her, so she had to follow step by step.Call her grandma in a low voice from time to time, repeating "I am here" over and over again, tirelessly.

"My mother-in-law has always had Alzheimer's disease." The woman looked over there, her eyes becoming more bitter, "Since the child had an accident... her condition has worsened. Now, she no longer recognizes anyone."

I don't know if I couldn't find my granddaughter, or finally realized that my granddaughter was by my side. The old lady finally stopped after going around the house three times.She staggered to the terrace and sat down, took the snakeskin three strings that were placed there, and plucked them again and again, the desolate tune sounded, and the old lady sang ancient folk songs in an ancient accent.Mana sat down beside her, put her hands on her knees, and looked at the old face of grandma, because the light was against the light, so Lu Sheng couldn't see what kind of expression was on her face.

He just heard her say, Grandma, I'm here.I'm here.Always here.

***

It was unexpected that Vulcan would meet Hei Zizhe.

After all, you came out with two basketballs from the sports equipment store, and when you turned around, you saw your partner coming out of the flower shop next door, holding a bouquet of white lilies... It's a small probability event, right?

"Yo, sunspot."

"Good afternoon, Vulcan-san."

Vulcan looked at Heizi's black suit and the bouquet of white lilies he was holding, scratched his head and thought hard for a while, and probably guessed what Heizi was going to do.He thought that it would be difficult for him to participate in this kind of thing, so he simply chatted with Heizi and continued on his way.

10 minute later.

"...Why are you still following me?"

Hei Zizhe also replied blankly: "Because I also go this way."

Vulcan's eyebrows twitched involuntarily, and he pointed at Heizi's clothes with a face full of complaints.

"I'm going to the basketball court, you're not going to play basketball in this outfit, are you?"

Heizi just glanced at him calmly, and said, "The place I'm going to is near there."

"……………………"

The two walked to the entrance of the alley in silence. If they want to go to the basketball court that Vulcan wants to go to, this alley is the only way to go.Hei Zizhe also held the lily in his arms, and walked into the alley ahead of Vulcan, as if thinking of something, he turned his head and fixedly stared at Vulcan Taime.

"If Vulcan-san is in a hurry, please go there first. I'm going to stay here for a while."

I was stunned by Vulcan, he looked back at Heizi, he didn't know what he could see from the expressionless face of the blue-haired boy, he frowned, and threw the basketball over his shoulder.

"I'll wait for you here."

"is it?"

Hei Zizhe also turned back blankly and continued walking.Vulcan leaned against the entrance of the alley, his eyebrows furrowed deeply, making his appearance even more vicious.

"...Your complexion is really bad. Heizi." He scratched his head, "I always feel uneasy."

After struggling for a long time, Vulcan lowered his head to look at his phone. It had been more than half an hour since Heizi entered.He couldn't help becoming worried, and walked around with his hands in his trouser pockets for a long time, but he still slapped his head and went in.

As if startled by the sound of striding footsteps, Hei Zizhe also turned his head. He squatted in front of the telephone pole, facing a photo.He threw all the flowers and fruits that were filled there before into the trash can in the alley, and there was only a bunch of solitary white lilies on the blackened ground.Because of this, I saw the picture at a glance, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Hey, Heizi, you're a liar..."

***

Although Mana's mother tried her best to persuade Lu Sheng to stay for lunch, Lu Sheng still firmly refused.When Xuanguan said goodbye to Mana's mother, the middle-aged woman's eyes suddenly burst into tears.

"Thank you." She hurriedly wiped away her tears, "There are not many people who are willing to talk to me about that child..."

Lu Sheng hesitated for a moment, but reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

He can understand, but...

"Please don't be too sad." He whispered, "After all, when you are sad, your daughter will be sad too."

Mana's mother had already wiped away her tears and barely managed a smile.

"That's right. I can't make that child worry about me anymore. The next time I go to see her, I have to go with a smile." Despite saying this, tears welled up in her eyes again, "That child Since I was a child, I couldn't see other people's sadness. If I want to see me like this, I don't know how sad it will be. She has always... always been softer than anyone else. She can't be uneasy. "

Lu Sheng could only remain silent, and patted her on the shoulder vigorously again.When he turned to go out, he suddenly heard a girl's voice.

"I'll see you off, Lu Shengjun."

And he just nodded.

The two walked out of Heizi's house together.The afternoon wind was slightly cool, shaking the lilac flower branches on the roadside, and also brushing Mana's long hair. She raised her hand to press it, and the pure white lilac flowers scattered and fell on her hair, but Mana didn't notice it.Lu Sheng reached out his hand to take out the clove, and his fingertips were entwined with the scent of flowers, or the fragrance of the girl's hair.He stared at Mana quietly, the wind shook off the white lilac flowers, among the scattered flowers, he finally opened his mouth.

"Have you not noticed yet?"

Lu Sheng's voice was so low, as if he couldn't bear to wake up a pale dream.The wind blew away the white flowers that had bloomed to the extreme, but could not disperse his voice.

"……You are already dead."

The girl slightly opened her eyes.

***

I looked at the photo in a daze.

The girl in the photo has a face so similar to Kuroko Tetsuya.Wearing a white western-style school uniform, she smiled gently at the camera with bright eyes.Vulcan inexplicably thought of a white flower he had seen when he was still in the United States, so clear and beautiful, brighter than the moonlight.

"She's... Heizi, yours..."

"my sister."

Hei Zizhe also said softly, his eyes were so quiet that Vulcan could hardly read his thoughts.Heizi stretched out his hand and gently wiped the dust off the photo.

"In September last year, she had a car accident here. The driver who caused the accident fled. Because of excessive blood loss, the rescue was ineffective. When I rushed to the hospital...she had already left."

***

calm.For a moment, the place was quiet, only the faint sound of falling flowers and the ground.

Mana slowly put down her hands, raised her head, and smiled at Lu Sheng with the same gentle smile as always.

"I know."

she said softly.

"The fact that I'm dead... I still know."