Chapter 22: The Long Ramp

“…… What a bubbly bunch of kids. Sitting under a cherry blossom tree not far from Mitsusaka High School, Zhao Mian sighed.

The time is gradually approaching the end of April, and it may be nearly two weeks before the breath of May will gradually invade the land. It's also a blessing to go out this way- Although on the weekend a week ago, Zhao Mian also participated in the flower viewing activities organized by the clerks, and the scene of cherry blossoms in full bloom at that time was indeed memorable, but taking advantage of the moment when the cherry blossom forest in late spring was still falling a little late cherry blossoms, on the slope of the mountain with a little breeze, there was a cherry blossom tree with cherry blossom petals constantly drifting, and the slightly moist trunk let the last coolness of spring into your heart through your coat, and those petals that fell on your side, even those petals that fell on your head, did not also bring you some cherry blossom last breath？

But unlike Zhao Mian, who was enjoying the scenery of the evening cherry blossoms around him while waiting for Zhao Mian, the students who had already finished school did not care about these beautiful scenery that had become commonplace for them, and in the breeze that blew off the cherry blossom petals, this group of students talked and laughed with each other and walked down the ramp, and the laughter between their words was like a wind chime, with a unique youthful flavor enveloping the place.

But among the many students, there was a figure that suddenly jumped into Zhao Mian's field of vision, and such a unique soul attracted his attention the moment it appeared—it was a blue-haired teenager. In terms of appearance, this blue-haired boy may not be as chic as the young man with dyed blonde hair next to him, and if he really wants to mention it, it can probably only be regarded as an upper-average level, and in this world with a thousand strange hair colors, blue hair is not so precious. Zhao Mian frowned, and extended his gaze and power to a more hollow place, hoping to gain insight into the truth of the matter - however, he found nothing.

It's not that I can't see the fog beyond the truth because of unexpected resistance, but the facts in front of me are too plain, and even unsurprising. Through the light, the essence of the soul appeared in Zhao Mian's eyes, and in the center of the dark blue soul, a little milky white light was gathering together, breathing with the pulse of the earth - this proved that this man at least had the power beyond common sense, but whether it was from the soul or the body, there was still no change.

But at least that person did have an unusual perception, and before the other party turned his head, Zhao Mian withdrew his gaze. Maybe you should go to the local library and look up the local legends, after all, there are many myths and legends that are not groundless, and the truth is often hidden between the lines.

“…… So, the music was really, really good! It sounded like it was coming from the depths of his soul - hey, Okazaki, are you listening to me?" the blonde boy was walking and talking about a topic he was interested in, but suddenly he found that his listener had stopped at some point and looked at the cherry blossom forest on the side. He took a few steps closer to the other with a slight disappointment, and then followed the other's line of sight, where a not-so-annoying looking male sat under a cherry blossom tree. But he shouldn't be looking at the man, the blonde boy pouted and thought for a moment, then poked the other party's waist with his elbow, "Hey, Okazaki, what do you look at so fascinating?"

"Nothing. A voice that didn't put much emotion into the mouth of the man known as Okazaki came out, and the cold voice did match his current cold expression. Okazaki, who turned around, didn't care about his companion's situation at all, and walked down the hill with his own feet.

"Qi, don't pretend, if it's really nothing, then you won't have this kind of expression now. The blonde boy hurriedly followed his companion's footsteps, and his mouth kept muttering about the conclusions he had reached, "Don't think I can't see a poker face, there must be a ghost in your heart, let's say, did you see some beautiful schoolgirl just now?"

Okazaki didn't reply, but as the blonde boy's words deviated more and more from the normal direction of talking on the street, his pace continued to increase, and finally he could even catch up with the normal run, and at this speed, he quickly reached the bottom of the ramp. He stopped, turned around, and looked again in Zhao Mian's direction—ignoring the blonde boy who was trotting all the way and panting from running as he spoke.

In Okazaki's sight, the man stood up and patted his trouser leg lightly, a little weed falling from his jeans to the ground, and some cherry blossom petals falling to the ground from the folds of his sleeves. He smiled and waved his hand in the direction of the school gate, and his face, which looked slightly serious from the nearby street, suddenly became a lot more gentle.

"Whew...... Call...... Call~. The blonde boy propped his legs, took a few deep breaths to adjust his breath, then straightened up and twisted his waist, "Ah, I don't feel like this in a long time, it's been a long time, Okazaki." Anyway, you really should listen to that singer's song, really, I don't feel worse than Onion Ji at all. ”

"If you ask me, maybe I'll go. Okazaki withdrew his gaze, and at the end of his line of sight, the man was smiling and talking to the girl standing in front of him, and the silver-haired girl in front of him, although she had always had a straight face, but little by little she removed the petals and grass roots from the folds of his clothes.

"Eh, why am I asking you to listen to the song?" the blonde boy was stunned for a moment and asked rhetorically.

"Because you recommended it, you have to be responsible for your words and actions. Okazaki paused, as if to think for a moment, or simply waited for the blonde boy to take steps, "If you want someone to do something, you have to have an attitude of asking people to do things, and if you want people to do things, then you can't do it with this kind of attitude - so, what about attitude?"

"Ah, in that case. The blonde boy quickly took two quick steps and walked to the front of Okazaki, then turned around and bowed deeply, although he stopped halfway through, "Please, why do I ask you to listen to songs?

While he was bowing, Okazaki had already passed by him and walked quickly into the distance.

"So, it's okay, it's okay. Even if you don't believe me, you have to believe Miss Yamabuki, it's not a big problem to have two people in the café for a while, not to mention that it's time to get out of school now, and the students who are working are all about to go, so the gap between the two of us helping out there is really not that big. Zhao Mian silently withdrew the corner of his eye, although he didn't make any big moves, but he was also paying attention to the blue-haired boy's movements-it seemed to cause unnecessary doubts--he thought so--but it wasn't a big problem, and it looked like this kind of power was very stable, and it didn't look like a very harmful type of power, just investigate it secretly, it is estimated that even a face-to-face situation is unlikely to occur. He put his attention back to the present, smiled and reached over to pluck a petal that had fallen on the top of Chiyo's head, and then took advantage of the momentum to ruffle Chiyo's hair, "And our mission is not very light now, we may have to run a lot of places during this time." ”

slapped his hand away angrily, and looked at the guy in front of him who was still his 'guardian' for a long time, Zhidai sighed helplessly, and the look on his face began to ease. "The affairs of me and my brother are really worrying you, these things should be my ......"

"I'm your guardian now, not to mention that even if it's just a friend, I'll do these things, so don't say more. Zhao Mian interrupted Zhidai's words stiffly, and then snatched the schoolbag from Zhidai's hand with some tough hands, turned around and walked down the hillside, "Let's go, although I can't take the place of my parents, but at least these things, I will definitely let you not disappoint - your brother has recently fallen in love with electronic products, we can go to Akihabara first." ”

Zhidai silently withdrew the hand he instinctively handed over, looking at the 'guardian' who was striding forward, but only lengthening the distance between him and himself little by little, the girl shook her head helplessly, and then followed Zhao Mian's footsteps - but few people saw it, perhaps even the girl herself did not notice, at the corner of her mouth, there was a very personal warm smile.