"Well--"
Nagaoka slowly opened his eyes from the sofa and stretched.
The psychiatrist's office was very quiet, but Miss Saotome was still sitting opposite him.
"You're awake."
"Hmm...how long have I been asleep, Ms. Saotome?"
"Don't worry, there will be no charge for the excess time this time."
"Thanks."
After Nagaoka talked about the experiences that left a psychological shadow on him in high school, he fell asleep on the sofa without realizing it.
Maybe it's because the sofa here is so soft.
Maybe it was because I felt really relaxed during the conversation with Ms. Saotome.
Nagaoka, who has been completely consumed by anxiety and uneasiness these days, rarely sleeps well.
Saotome put away her notebook and stood up from her seat: "Mr. Nagaoka, go home and have a good sleep. You seem to need a rest. I hope today's conversation will be helpful to you."
"I will."
Nagaoka also stood up.
Psychological consultation is charged by the hour, and now that it has exceeded the time limit, he can no longer stay any longer.
As for the matter of "Jiangchuan and Qingliu".
Nagaoka just needs to tell others about those things.
After I said it, I did seem to feel a lot better.
When Nagaoka Kazuhiko left, Saotome Ai was left alone.
She sat down on the sofa again and flipped through the notebook that actually contained no content related to psychotherapy. After a while, she suddenly spoke to the empty office without any warning:
"Taki, did you hear what I just said? Is what that man said what you have been looking for?"
No one answered.
But something slowly crawled out from under the sofa opposite her.
It was a little man woven from dry straw, about the size of two palms.
The little scarecrow climbed up along the sofa with great effort, until he climbed onto the soft cushion, and sat down straight like a lady.
Its face is inlaid with two buttons of different sizes to serve as eyes, and its mouth is sewn with several thin lines.
The scarecrow man looked up, and his button eyes, one big and one small, seemed to be looking at Saotome.
But it still didn't reply.
The scarecrow couldn't speak in the first place.
However, the mouth of the villain, which is sewn with thin threads, slowly "opens" the gap.
From the dry straw below, a pitch-black spike was slowly pushed out...
The black nail fell on the sofa and rolled down to the ground.
After a crisp sound, it fell into several pieces like a fragile object.
Saotome glanced at the broken nails on the ground. She was silent at first, and then sighed heavily with a frown: "Then what should we do, Taki? You said that when you encounter a demon, you want to die..."
…
the next day.
After receiving psychological treatment and having a good night's sleep, Nagaoka went back to work in the club early in the morning.
He walked into the office and sat down at his desk.
Before he went on vacation to see a psychiatrist yesterday afternoon, he had a few documents piled up on his desk. He originally planned to come back today and finish some work items at hand.
"Eh?"
But as soon as he sat down, Nagaoka felt confused.
All the documents on the table were gone. They had been sorted and placed on the corner of the table yesterday.
Coincidentally, at this time, the section chief of the department walked past Nagaoka's position. Nagaoka, who was a little confused, asked: "Chief Masui, the report you gave me the day before yesterday..."
"That's it." Section Chief Masui stopped and said, "It's done."
"Done? So the contract..."
"The parts that need to be modified in the contract have also been modified." Section Chief Masui further explained, "Didn't you take a vacation yesterday afternoon? Then other colleagues helped you with your work."
"other colleagues?"
Nagaoka still couldn't understand.
Colleagues in the department are all extremely busy, who has the spare time to finish what he is doing?
Moreover, let’s not talk about filling out reports. That contract has always been handled by Nagaoka.
"Oh, I forgot to mention it. I'm a new colleague. I just came here yesterday to report. Nagaoka, why don't you say hello to me too." Section Chief Masui waved to Nagaoka behind him, "Hey, Aoyagi-san.
.This is Nagaoka, you didn’t meet yesterday afternoon..."
Nagaoka stared at the opening and closing lips of Section Chief Masui in astonishment. After hearing the surname "Aoyagi", he was completely stunned. As for what the Section Chief said next, he couldn't hear clearly at all.
.
He only felt dizzy and accompanied by intense tinnitus.
no no.
It's just a coincidence that they have the same last name, right?
Even though the surname "Qingliu" is not very common, there are always people with this surname.
Don't scare yourself, Qingliu is already dead long ago.
With such thoughts in mind, Nagaoka turned his head sharply.
Behind him, a figure stood at some point, only two or three meters away from him.
"you you……"
The moment he saw the man's appearance clearly, Nagaoka's pupils dilated and his chest heaved violently.
Fear mixed with dizziness, and a strong feeling of vomiting welling up in my throat.
That face...
Although compared to high school, it is slightly different and more mature.
But that gentle, harmless and polite smiling face.
Nagaoka is very familiar with this and will never forget it in this life.
He is Qingliu for sure!
"What's wrong, Nagaoka-kun?"
Aoyagi looked at Nagaoka with a smile, his expression was natural, and both his tone and demeanor were exactly the same as the deceased in his memory.
"Don't, don't come over!"
Nagaoka backed away in panic, and his lower back hit his desk hard.
The file box, stapler, and a pair of scissors for opening envelopes all fell to the ground with a clatter.
The scissors trembled on the cold floor, and the blades reflected the cold light of the incandescent lamp falling from the ceiling.
"monster!"
Nagaoka screamed.
…
Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Countermeasures Office Building.
Kamiyakawa walked into Yucheng Zhenyou's office in a familiar way. He didn't think of himself as an outsider. He just casually sat down on a chair and said, "What happened? You called me here in such a hurry."
To be continued...