(a)

Tonight, the lights of Suzuna-an have not been extinguished for a long time.

"Hmm...... Hmph—"

Honju closed the book in his hand and stretched a long lazy waist. As usual, she sat behind the desk at the back of the room, almost buried in books, large and small.

"Ahh

The last time I looked at my watch, it was still bright.

Suzu stood up, moved her body, which had become a little stiff from sitting for a long time, and then walked through the rows of bookshelves to the door.

"Almost, it's time to close. ”

That being said, if she hadn't been so absorbed in books and lost track of time, she would have closed her doors a few hours ago.

Suzu stood in front of the store, sniffing the evening breeze – the smell of skewers and fried chicken tickled her stomach up and down.

"Before going to bed, let's have a little more snacks! Just a small bite, you shouldn't get fat......"

Thinking so, she slowly closed the door.

"Wait a minute!"

Before the door closed completely, a bandaged hand suddenly reached through the door, jammed the wooden door that was about to close, and then forced it open.

The force exerted by the outsider on the door was quite large, and Suzu was completely unable to fight against it, so she had to let go of her hands. When the door of the store was completely open, Suzu saw that standing at the door was an old acquaintance of hers.

"What, it's Kazuhiko......" she breathed a sigh of relief.

When the hand appeared in front of her without warning, she was still a little scared, worried that it was a thief who had broken into the house. Now it seems that she is too careful.

"It's all at this point, why are you still coming to my house?" Xiao Ling stuck in her waist and said angrily.

"yes, it's all at this point, why don't you get off work yet?"

Kazuhiko Fujii, who was standing in front of her, smiled and gave her a reply, and then took out two books from the small satchel on his waist, handed them to Xiao Suzu, and said:

"Here you go, this is the book I borrowed a few days ago, and I returned it today. ”

"It's good to have credit, but there's no need to come over at night to return the book, right?"

Suzu said and took Kazuhiko's book. At this time, she noticed the left hand that had been stretched out as he was still reading—that hand, from the forearm to the fingertips, was covered with white bandages, and there was not even an inch of bare skin.

That hand was not broken, and it could be seen from Kazuhiko using it to prop up the door and return the book, that it was intact. In this way, the way this bandage is wrapped is a little strange. Xiao Ling stared at it for two seconds, and then asked:

"Speaking of which, Kazuhiko, what's wrong with your hand?"

"Huh?" Kazuhiko was stunned for a moment, then raised his left hand, glanced at it, and said with a smile:

"You mean this hand, right?"

"Otherwise, you're weird today!"

"Hey, hey......"

Kazuhiko covered his mouth with his hands and smiled shyly. This kind of such feminine behavior, Xiao Suzu remembers, has never appeared on him before.

"You might laugh at me if you say it," he said, "and you know I love going to the Enchanted Forest to collect medicinal herbs. The other day, I went to grab some herbs as usual and went back to my mother to use, but one accidentally grabbed a poisonous mushroom. ”

"The mushrooms in the Enchanted Forest, you know, right? That thing happened to be the type that exploded when you touched it, and it sprayed my hand at the time, and it was slimy and painful like it was burning. ”

"I immediately went to the Eternal Pavilion, and after I came out, that's it. He lifted his bandaged arm, shook it in front of Xiao Ling's eyes, and said:

"The doctor said that it would not be better for ten days and a half months, and that he had to apply medicine every day during the period, and he could not touch the water. ”

"Yes...... "Suzu nodded, "Then you're pretty miserable too." ”

"Not really!"

"Then, if it's okay, I'm going to close!" said Suzu, "Don't pestle here, go home and sleep!"

"Eh, don't be in such a hurry!" Kazuhiko looked a little panicked, "Do you have anything to eat, I'm suddenly hungry, and I don't have any money with me." We're so acquainted, it's not too much for a supper, right?"

Xiao Ling looked at his earnest appearance, and really couldn't turn him away, so he had to sigh softly.

"Come in, I just want to eat the whole thing, and it's not impossible to share a bite with you. Oh, and I don't want to entertain any more of you......"

(b)

The door of Suzuna-an is closed, and the oil lamp in the house is dim.

Suzu cleared a small empty space on the desk full of books, and there was a lamp on it—the only oil lamp in the shop that was still glowing after the lights went out.

The two sat facing each other around the light, each holding a bowl of clear noodle soup, and ate it "sucking and sucking".

"Your noodles are also weak," Kazuhiko complained as soon as he took two bites, "Look at it, there is not even a little oil star in this noodle soup!"

As soon as she heard this, Xiao Ling was immediately unhappy, and choked back:

"Love to eat, don't eat! There are so many requirements for coming to other people's houses to eat!"

"Okay, okay, don't say it, don't say it, hey......"

Kazuhiko shook his head and continued to eat his noodles.

Is it the problem with the lights? Xiao Ling raised his eyes and looked at him twice, and suddenly felt that this young man's face was very bloodless, as if he had collapsed, so he asked:

"Your face isn't very good, Kazuhiko, is your body okay?"

"Normally...... Kazuhiko took a sip of noodles and said without raising his head, "The toxins of that mushroom may still remain in the body." ”

"You're so weak, Marisa can eat poisonous mushrooms as food!"

"It's Marisa, I'm Kazuhiko Fujii, my body structure is different, okay!" Kazuhiko said loudly, "Why don't you say that Reimu still kills people with his bare hands, and his eyes are demonic?"

"Reimu is like this!"

Xiao Ling smiled and asked again:

"Speaking of which, Kazuhiko, how is your mother doing lately?

"My mom ...... her" Kazuhiko paused for a moment, then squeezed out a deep smile, "She's so much better than before." ”

"Yes, then you're almost out of the blue!" Xiao Ling put down her chopsticks, leaned back, and leaned back on the back of the chair, "As the saying goes, 'There is no filial son in front of the bed for a long time', what does your family look like...... If your mother's illness is not good, I am afraid it will be difficult to maintain it. ”

"You won't have to worry about that, Suzu. After my father left, I was the pillar of the family, do you think that such a thing as a beam of the house will fall down?"

"yes, hehe......"

Xiao Ling laughed a few times, and suddenly asked:

"Kazuhiko, which path do you plan to take when you grow up?"

"I'm going to inherit the family business and continue to open my bookstore. She added, "But you...... I always feel like you're going to do something earth-shattering......"

After all, he's the "monster scholar (self-styled)" Kazuhiko!

"Hehe, I'm afraid I'll scare you to death if I say it......," Kazuhiko smiled mysteriously and said, "In the future, I want to be Gensokyo's leading monster hunter." ”

"Like Bai Ling, or Reimu like that?"

"Better than the two of them combined!"

"Hehe......" Xiao Ling raised her eyebrows and smiled coldly, "You just blow it!"

Chief Youkai Hunter, Marisa would have become a great magician long before he got to this point!

"Goo", drank a big mouthful of noodle soup, Kazuhiko put down the bowl, wiped his mouth, and said to Xiaoling again:

"By the way, little Suzu, I almost forgot to tell you that I have something to ask for here. ”

"What's the matter?"

"That's right, my mother is in great need of a medicinal herb recently, but that medicinal herb is too rare, and it is not easy to get it by myself. ”

"If you need anything, just say it, and I'll see if I can help you. ”

Since it was his mother's business, Suzu felt that she needed to help him. They are orphans and widows, and it is not easy to make ends meet, and when they can help, Xiaoling will definitely not be stingy.

"Thank you so much," Kazuhiko said, "I want you to help find the potion." I can't get it, but you should be able to. ”

"What is the name of the herb, I'll try to help you find it out. ”

"Well, its name is ......"

Kazuhiko's smile froze, and it looked a little weird in the dim light. Before he could finish speaking, Suzu heard it......

"Shhhh

Such a small sound.

Then, somehow, the oil lamp went out all at once, and it was so dark that Suzuna-an couldn't see her fingers. In this regard, Xiaoling is also quite distressed. She picked up the oil lamp in the dark, shook it to her ear a few times, then sighed, and said:

"There's no gas, you sit there and wait, Kazuhiko. I'll go to the back room and get some kerosene, and I'll be back right away......"

"Kazuhiko?"

No one answered.

Originally, there was supposed to be a teenager sitting across from her. But now, in the midst of this darkness, Suzu can't feel anyone's breath.

She really shouldn't have eaten such a late-night snack.