(a)

Yakumo Zi is, after all, he escaped the first day of junior high school, but he couldn't escape the fifteenth.

The result of sneaking yesterday was that the amount of exercise was doubled today, and by the time the training was over, she couldn't even straighten her waist.

"Ah...... To die or to die...... If you want to die, you can't live!"

At dusk, Yakumo walked home with her back hunched, hammering her waist with her fists as she went. She flickered one step at a time, sighed in three steps, and complained bitterly in five steps, and she was a harlequin who came out of the sketch. Nalan Twilight, who was next to him, looked funny, and quipped:

"Look at you tired, why don't I give you a princess hug and take you home like this?"

"Okay!"

As soon as Yakumo Zi heard him say this, her waist was not sore, her legs were not painful, her eyes were shining with golden light, and she agreed with an expectant face. Her attitude is honest, Nalan Yu really didn't expect it.

"I'm just saying, you're serious. Nalan snorted and smiled, and said jokingly, "I want to hug, but I have to hug you, Sister Yakumo!"

When Yakumo Zi heard this, his face changed, and he shouted:

"I knew you little bunny didn't have a good heart, look at the feet!"

After that, she raised her leg and kicked Nalan Twilight's ass, but before she could kick someone, her old leg twisted with a "rattle". She lay down on the ground, holding her legs, tears shining in her eyes.

"Leave me alone...... That Yakumo Purple you know is dead, so let me die here......"

Zi sobbed, looking at Nalan Twilight pitifully with the eyes of a stray puppy, muttering Mary Sue-style lines in her mouth. Nalan looked at her pathetic virtue, sighed helplessly, and then bent down and picked her up.

This is, without a trace of flaw, the standard princess hugs.

"You, you, you......"

Zi snuggled in his arms, covering her cheeks that were already red with both hands, pretending to be a girl, and said shyly:

"You guy...... Why are you so skilled? How many girls have you hugged like this?"

"Let's not be poor first, purple ......" Nalan Yu said with a serious face, "You are so ...... Shen"

"Kill you~"

(b)

Gradually, the night drowned out the sunset, and the galaxy replaced the sunset. Nalan Twilight hugged Yakumo Zi and walked on the darker and darker path for a while, and then saw a glimmer of fire not far ahead.

This vampire has good eyesight, and from a hundred meters away, he can see at a glance that it is a barbecue stall, and the fire is the lantern hanging in front of the shop. Nalan took a deep breath and smelled the aroma that filled the air—the smell of cooked eel and barbecue sauce.

"Are you hungry, Purple?" he asked, looking down.

"A little ......"

Purple said, touching her belly, and then frowned. Even though her belly was empty, her belly wasn't deflated at all, and she knew what that meant.

"Then let's go find something to eat. ”

As she said this, Nalan Twilight quickened her pace and walked up.

It was a mobile barbecue stall with seats, which together was a small wooden cart, and when it was released, it was a small shop. In front of the shop, there are two red lanterns printed with the word "eel", and the hanging curtain has four large characters written on it, which is considered the name of the shop. The curtain separates the diners from the outside world, creating a small separate space, and the bar behind the curtain separates the guests from the owner, who cooks the food behind the stage and the guests drink and chat. The distance between people is unconsciously shortened in this cramped space.

The pink-haired proprietress with wings on her back was standing behind the bar, holding a few bamboo sticks in her hand, humming a song and happily roasting the eight-eyed eel. Obviously, she is a youkai, of course, only a youkai who will set up a stall in this place far from the crowds, and her main customers, of course, are also youkai.

There were only six high benches of inconsistent style in front of the small table, two of which had been occupied by the first comer. Nalan Yu strode over, lifted the curtain, put Yakumo Zi on the stool next to him, and said:

"Boss, have a pot of your strongest liquor here, and bake a few fragrant ones at will! In addition, give this woman a bowl of cold soba noodles, a vinegar mixed with seaweed, and a salt-roasted eel, no oil, less salt, thank you!"

"Okay!"

That night, the proprietress of the Sparrow monster smiled in response, flipped over the grilled eel in front of her, and turned to prepare food for the new guests. Nalan Yu pulled out of the bench, and as soon as he sat down, he saw Yakumo Zi beside him complaining with a dissatisfied face:

"What you ordered me to feed the chickens?"

"With your current virtue, you still want to eat barbecue? I can't feed the chickens and feed you!"

After that, Nalan Yu heard a rather familiar laughter, and he turned his head to look, only to find that the two guests who arrived first were none other than Youyuzi, who was eating with a shiny face, and Youmeng, who had a sad face.

"Yo, that's a coincidence!"

He glanced at the large stack of empty plates that had already been eaten in front of Yuyuko, and the bamboo sticks that were too many to count, and smiled:

"Dare to ask how this eldest lady is eating?"

"Eight points full!"

Yuyuko said, patting her round belly proudly, making a sound like a watermelon.

"I can still eat one more trout!" she added.

"Eight points full, I think it's eight months!"

Nalan Hao thought so in his heart, but on the surface, he smiled and said nothing.

"Lord Zi, and, Lord Nalan, good evening......"

These words were said by the soul demon dream, and in his tone, there was a sadness that could not be concealed. To be honest, if there is such a foodie in Nalan Yu's family who is not worry-free, he may find a piece of frozen tofu and slap it on his head, and it will be a hundred.

"It's really hard for you, Youmeng......" He looked at Youmeng with sympathetic eyes and whispered. When Youmeng heard this, she looked at him with a resolute look like a dead soldier and nodded heavily.

Come on, soul demon dream, satisfy your master's appetite, it is also a kind of cultivation!

"Speaking of which, Purple," Yuyuko said, "why did you get along with this guy again?"

"!"

These words were said by Yakumo Zi and Nalan Twilight together.

Then the two men pointed at each other, and denied in unison:

"Who got along with him?"

"Who got along with her?"

"Hehe......"

Yuyuko picked up the folding fan hanging on her waist, opened it wide with a "whew", covered her mouth with a fan, and said with a clever smile:

"That's nice...... Although I am not young, I ...... It's so good, it's so envious......"

"No, no, no, don't have any misunderstanding, the reason why I'm staying with this guy now is because ...... Because ......"

When Yakumo Zi said this, she was stuck, and she couldn't go on, so it had to be Nalan Yu who helped her say the second half of the sentence:

"Because I'm helping her lose weight, it's as simple as that. ”

"Eh, weight loss?"

Yuyuko looked at Yakumo's figure in surprise, looked down at her stomach again, then narrowed her eyes and said with a smile:

"Isn't there no need for you to lose weight at all?"

"It's just to avoid being like you, so I made a heart to say that I want to lose weight in everything!" Ziyi slapped the table and said loudly, "You guy, I haven't seen you all winter, why did you develop like this?"

"It's too much, little Zizi......" Yuyuko rubbed her eyes and pretended to cry, "People just eat a little more at each meal......"

"Youmeng, tell me, how much more does she eat per meal?"

"Report to Purple-sama, Yuyuko-sama eats one more head per meal. ”

"What?"

"A cow ......"

"Yuyuko, ......"

"Hey!"

Yuyuko playfully sticks out her tongue, and under her smile, there is a double chin that can't be hidden. Yakumo Zi took one last look at her body, which was full of appetite and various other desires, sighed, and then looked up and exclaimed:

"Boss, don't salt roast eel, I'll just eat seaweed and somen noodles!"

"Okay!"

(c)

After drinking and eating, Nalan Yu paid for the meal for the demon dream who didn't bring enough money, and picked up Yakumo Zi, who had a sprained knee. There was a small part of the way home that the four of them had in common, and they walked together talking and laughing.

While we were talking about it, a light snow suddenly fell in the sky. Nalan Yu raised his head, looked at the hazy starry sky, stretched out his hand to pick up the cold snowflakes, and said:

"When do you think this snow is going to fall?"

"Who knows?"

Yuyuko raised the fan, and with the breeze from the fan, blew a snowflake that should have fallen, and let it float in front of her all the time, and her technique was as subtle as if by magic.

If she hadn't stood up with this big belly that had just eaten a full meal, then this scene would have been as beautiful as poetry.

"Maybe ......"

After fanning the wind for a while, Yuyuko closed the folding fan and let the snowflakes fall scattered. She turned her head and said to Nalan Yu with a light smile:

"When the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, the snow and ice melt naturally. ”

That's how it goes. Nalan said, "I'm afraid that those squeamish cherry trees won't survive the day when the ice and snow melt." ”

"No......" Yuyuko muttered as she looked at the snow in the sky, "The cherry blossoms will always bloom and spring will come, but it will all take time to ......"

"When the cherry blossoms are in full bloom," she said, "let's come to the underworld again!"

"I'll accept your invitation first. ”

Nalan Yu said, took a big step forward, and turned back and said:

"The road to the underworld is in the west, I'm going to the south now, let's stop here!"

"Have a safe journey. ”

Behind them, Yuyuko and Youmeng nodded at the two of them, saying goodbye, and then drifted away on another road, and finally disappeared. It was only then that Nalan said to the purple in his arms:

"What's the matter? What do you think, so focused, and you won't say goodbye to your old friend?"

"No, it's not ......."

It's not that Zi is asleep, it's just that since it started snowing on this day, she has been stunned until now.

"I just thought about the past," she said, "and there was a spring snow like this a thousand years ago......

"At that time, I was still a mage of Yakumo, you were still a nameless knight in the desert, Youmeng had not yet been born, Youji was still a little boy, and Yuyuko was ......"

Zi paused, raised his head, looked into Nalan Twilight's eyes, and asked:

"Do you know the story of the daughter of Fujimi?"

"No," Nalan shook his head, "but I'd like to hear about it." ”

"If you know her story, you'll understand why the snow started. Zi said, "The 'seed' of 'today' was planted a thousand years ago. Remember when you and I met?"

"Hah!" Nalan smiled angrily, "I won't forget it when I die." ”

"Really?"

Looking at his expression, Yakumo Zi also showed a wry smile.

"Since you still remember, let's start with the time you and I met!"