When Zonggu got off the bus, it was dark all around and it was already night. There was no one at the station, and a dim crescent moon hung in the sky, not very bright.
I returned to Kirino's old house in the dark night, but Akane Kirino was not here.
She didn't know the truth, so she didn't know until when he would be back from "working" today, so she went home first after waking up in the afternoon.
Asagiri Suzu was sitting alone in the living room.
Soya walked over and asked, "Has Kirino gone back?"
"Um."
He sat down in front of the electric fan, pulled down the collar of his T-shirt, and blew the wind for a while.
After resting for a while, feeling hungry, he got up and walked to the kitchen again.
"You haven't had dinner either, right?"
"Um."
"I'll go get ready."
Asagiri Suzu looked at his back and said, "Yoshikawa came here in the afternoon."
"..."
Zong Gu paused and turned around, "Really?"
"Is she coming to see Kirino, or is she coming to me?"
"I don't know." She shook her head, "Yoshikawa didn't say anything."
Zongya didn't know why. After thinking for a while, he decided to prepare dinner first. After finishing his work, he would contact Yoshikawa and arrange a time to meet tomorrow.
"How long has she been here?"
"It didn't take long, I went back soon."
Chaowu Ling paused and looked at him, "She has been upstairs."
"..."
Soya immediately understood what she meant, "My room?"
"Um."
He pursed his lower lip and said, "I'll go up and take a look."
Returning to the room upstairs, Zonggu turned on the light and stood at the door.
It was empty inside, no different from when he left in the morning. He didn't see any trace of Yoshikawa's visit.
"If you come to me, why don't you send a message..."
Just as he was about to turn off the lights and go downstairs, Zonggu turned his head and glanced again, his eyes falling on the desk by the window.
The notebook is open on the table.
He walked over and saw a small object placed in the middle of the blank page.
"..."
Pulling out the chair, Zonggu sat down in front of the desk, then picked up the sky blue hairpin with a small flower embedded in it, held it on his fingertips and looked at it for a while.
"Have you come back yet?"
This was a gift he gave her after visiting Kyoto on Golden Monday. It was also the only decoration she kept in her short hair from then on.
Now, the hairpin is back in his hand.
Putting down the hairpin, Zonggu leaned back and took a deep breath.
"That's fine...just slowly return to the previous state."
After saying what he said insincerely, he sat still for a while, took out his cell phone and sent a message to Yoshikawa.
Soya: I'm back. Do you have time to meet tomorrow?
The message quickly showed up as read, but she didn't reply immediately.
After sitting staring at the phone for a while, Zonggu finally remembered that he had to prepare dinner, got up and left the room.
When he went downstairs, the phone in his pocket vibrated twice in succession.
Yoshikawa: No need to meet.
Yoshikawa: I've always been sorry, and I won't bother Soya anymore.
"..."
After standing on the stairs for a long time, the screen went off and on again, and Zonggu didn't reply anything.
Putting away his phone, he realized that Chaogiri Ling was looking at him from below.
"Sorry for the long wait. What would you like to eat tonight, Ling?"
She just looked at him and took his arm as he came down.
"Everything is fine."
After preparing dinner absentmindedly, Soya went to the innermost room on the second floor and called Tsukuyomi, who was addicted to games, to come downstairs for dinner.
"Okay...it's almost over, I'll be down right away."
He glanced at the game time in the upper left corner. The game had only been loaded for a minute, and it hadn't even started yet. Then he walked over to the console and put his finger on the switch.
"..."
Tsukuyomi honestly took off his headphones and followed Soya downstairs.
Dinner was already set on the dining table, and the dishes were simpler than usual, so he didn't pay much attention.
After taking two mouthfuls of rice, he felt something was wrong. He lowered his head and sighed twice, only to find that there was uncooked rice in the rice.
"The rice is a bit raw..."
"Yeah."
Zonggu on the opposite side just responded without raising his head.
"..."
Tsukuyomi was stunned, then looked at Asagiri Suzu next to him, and then noticed that she had been drinking soup and only took a small bite of the rice.
The two looked at each other, she had no expression on her face, and he looked away first.
What's happening here……
Tsukuyomi just felt confused.
He wanted to make do with a meal and quickly went back to his room to continue playing games, but the half-cooked rice was too hard to swallow. After taking another small bite, he spat out a few hard grains of uncooked rice again.
"I said...the rice is a bit raw."
"Really?" Sogu finally looked up at him this time, and then looked at Asagiri Suzu's rice bowl next to him, "Maybe the rice cooker is broken."
"That's it..."
Tsukuyomi accepted this reason, but failed to wait for more follow-up. Soya lowered his head and continued to drink the soup.
"The rice is a bit raw..."
Zonggu put down the bowl and looked up at him again.
"Then let's eat vegetables and drink soup."
Time flows, and the moon hanging in the sky slowly climbs into the sky.
After finishing dinner at home, Kirino Akane was very restless and took advantage of the moonlight to come to her old house.
As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the courtyard, they saw Tsukuyomi walking out.
"Good evening, Yuezi."
"Ah...you're here."
"Where are Yuezi going?"
In his hand, he held the thousand yen note that Zhang had just received, with a dazed look on his face.
"Find a place to eat...a ramen shop nearby."
"Eh?" Kirino Akane looked inside, and the light reflected in the living room illuminated the courtyard, "Is Soya not back yet?"
"came back."
"Then why go to a ramen shop?"
Tsukuyomi opened his mouth.
"Because...the rice is a bit raw."
...
The next day, Sunday.
Yoshikawa didn't come over in the morning or the whole day.
The third day, Monday.
On the morning of school, Yoshikawa still didn't come.
"Hongzi said that she won't come over during this period of time..."
Akane Kirino walked into the kitchen, "I said I wanted to have breakfast at my own home."
"Really?" Zonggu turned his back to her and nodded, "I understand."
"It's so sudden."
"maybe."
She walked up to him and looked at the frying pan in front of her, "Ah, I had muffins this morning."
"Um."
"It's a pity that Hongzi didn't come over."
Soya shook his head, "It's just an ordinary waffle. It can't be compared with the breakfast prepared by Mrs. Yoshikawa."
"It's mainly because I don't eat much." Kirino Akane looked at the batter in the pan, "There are so many bubbles, it seems like it can be turned over."
"Um."
Zonggu took a shovel, turned the pancake over, and continued to fry it for another ten seconds, and then took it out of the pan.
"Try it first, Kirino."
"Uh-huh!"
Akane Kirino looked forward to it and took the plate with waffles. Sogu turned back and pointed at the dining table, "The cream and honey are already there, you can add more according to the situation."
She turned her head and glanced, then smiled mysteriously, "There are other things I can add."
"What?"
"You'll find out later. Just wait!"
Putting down the plate, Kirino Akane turned and left the kitchen.
After staring at the kitchen door for a while, and not seeing her come back for a long time, Zonggu turned around and continued frying waffles.
He was the only one left in the kitchen.
"You really can't come over..."
The waffles made with flour and eggs are not too thick, and one person can eat at least two or three pieces.
The noodles have been mixed, and it would be a waste not to use them. Zonggu fried more than ten waffles in one go and filled the plate with them.
Even if the three of them can't finish the food, there is still a god who is useless but can eat, and he will solve everything.
"about there."
After plating the waffles and placing them on the dining table, Sogu went upstairs to wake up Asagiri Suzu.
Akane Kirino, who disappeared for a long time while combing her hair in the bathroom, finally returned to her old house.
"Sogu, guess what this is~"
She stood at the door of the bathroom, holding a glass jar in her hand, which contained red jam, which was darker in color.
Both of them looked back for a while, and Soya guessed: "Umeko-chan?"
"Guessed it right!"
"...Did you go back home specially?"
"yes."
Kirino Akane opened the glass jar, dipped her finger into some plum jam, and took a small sip.
"It's sour and sweet... Mom also said that the jar of plum jam is kept here. If it's not enough, Sogu can go over and get it."
He didn't say anything and continued to comb his hair.
"Tirino, let's go eat first. Suzu and I will be right over."
"Okay~"
Akane Kirino hugged Umeko and turned to leave. Soya whispered: "Miss Keiko is a good person, but I have to live up to her expectations."
"..."
Chaogiri Ling looked at him in the mirror and said nothing.
When they came to the kitchen, the three of them finished their breakfast with butter, honey or plum jam. As expected, there were a lot of waffles left, all of which were left for Tsukuyomi.
After going out and arriving at the station, Zonggu saw an unexpected face on the platform.
Unable to avoid it, Yoshikawa finally looked at him after greeting Kirino Akane and Asagiri Suzu.