"In other words, the fact that she is not our enemy is obvious."

Ah Ye is friend or foe, and Yasuno must have always cared about it.

Hopefully, what happened today will give her peace of mind.

Just when Xia Jing's heart was floating with this thought, and he was about to persuade Anye not to get too into the horns of the bull-

The door to the classroom was suddenly opened.

Anno was drawn to the sound of clicking, looking back behind him.

Xia Jing looked over her shoulder at the figure entering the classroom from the hallway.

The figure standing under the sunset is Ah Ye who is at the center of the topic.

Anno asked again, "What did you say, something is obvious?" ”

Xia Jing couldn't speak.

Not only was she taken aback by her sudden visit, but she was also worried about whether all the conversation she had just had been heard.

I was really careless, and Xia Jing regretted it deeply. Thinking about it now, that kind of situation only happened at noon, and it should be expected that she would try to take the initiative to contact Xia Jing and the others. If you know that you don't procrastinate after school, and call when you get home, you won't run into trouble.

It's just that sooner or later, the two sides will have to meet to talk, and if you think about it from this level, her appearance will save trouble. Xia Jing got up from his seat, clenched his palms that were so tense that he was faintly sweating, and said, "Hello, senior sister." Offended at noon. ”

On the surface, it seems to be submissive, but in fact it has a bit of a teasing meaning.

But Ah Ye didn't care. He continued to walk towards this place without changing his face.

Xia Jing originally wanted to use sarcasm to make the other party mess up, so that he could take the lead, but the reality was not as smooth as he imagined. At this time—

"Anno."

Ah Ye's eyes drooped, and while looking at Anye, who was so stiff that he couldn't move, he said in a flat tone, "You leave the table first." ”

“…… Hey? ”

"I won't harm him."

"But, Ah Ye, I ......"

Probably didn't expect Ah Ye to say this.

Anye's face was embarrassed, and his gaze wandered between Ah Ye and Natsu Jing.

"Excuse me, can you please do what she says? Anno. ”

If her purpose is to talk to me one-on-one, then it doesn't matter if you cooperate with her request. No matter what, she shouldn't be killed.

What's more, each of them has things that are difficult to talk about in front of Anno.

"If you can't rest assured, then stay in the window and look good...... Is that okay? ”

After Xia Jing looked at Ah Ye as if asking for advice, she agreed.

“…… I know. ”

An indecisive Yasuno paused for a moment before nodding in agreement, and on the way out of the classroom through the door that Ah Ye had walked into, she repeatedly turned her head to look back at the two of them. After confirming that her figure disappeared from the classroom with the sound of the door closing, Ah Ye spoke, "What are you planning?" ”

She must have meant noon.

"What do I have to think about? Just like Wang Chuan said, it was just a chance meeting."

"Don't try to prevaricate me."

Xia Jing tried to pretend to be crazy and stupid, but in vain it only made Ah Ye's gaze more dangerous.

"I'm not interested in making boring jokes with you."

"Really...... It's like two people at noon."

After deliberately talking sarcastically to himself, the other party looked away from Xia Jing slightly. Xia Jing, who intuitively felt that this was a sign that she had been stepped on unexpectedly, couldn't help but attack her with her usual bad problems, and launched a pursuit of her.

「…… Ogawa."

I tried whispering the name.

「……！」

Attack hits.

Ah Ye's cold expression was sadly disintegrated in an instant, and his face turned red in an instant.

"You ......"

"Senpai, when did you start calling him 'Ogawa'?"

"This—this question has nothing to do with you......

Ah Ye is now as embarrassed as when he saw Ye Ya transform the sword into a chainsaw. But her face was still flushed, and if you looked at it from a different angle, she felt even more confused than before.

"Then again, where is that Wang Chuan? It's just ...... like him."

"You don't understand Ogawa's ......!"

Ah Ye, who was subconsciously excited, immediately sealed his mouth after looking at Xia Jing's face. It seems that she has noticed that this is a trap. Is it too obvious? Xia Jing smacked his tongue in his heart. ﹒

- Forget it, it's better to stop like this.

After all, over-agitation may cause her to be furious, which is definitely not Xia Jing's intention.

"Okay, Wang Chuan's topic will be put aside first. Let's get down to business."

Xia Jing shrugged his shoulders and put away his smile.

Ah Ye pursed her lips and lowered her neck with a red face, but when she raised her face again, her eyes changed back to sharp.

I can't help but admire her quick change of mood.

Therefore, Xia Jing also looked back at her eyes frankly, opened the door and said, "Actually...... I would love to have you as our partner."

"Are you serious?"

Ah Ye frowned slightly. He seemed to be stunned.

"Ya also said something similar to me, it's useless."

"I don't think it's going to be useless. You're not particularly misogynistic, are you? Just look at your attitude."

Silent. Is it because someone told you that you have a secret, or because you are more stunned?

The indifferent eyes under the lenses are very different from the so-called "just now" in Xia Jing's mouth, which makes people unable to read their minds at all. A person with a rectum is relatively easy to deal with, but in fact, Ah Ye is the type of Xia Jing's headache.

However, this must not be deterred.

"And...... You can't be unaware of the consequences of letting the Prosperity faction go unchecked. The number of victims will continue to increase. Maybe one day the scourge will also befall Wang Chuan."

"I won't let them endanger him. That's why I'm joining them."

……

She sighed softly, and after a few seconds, she opened her mouth slightly and said, "He's in a conflict. ”

“…… Contradiction? ”

“…… Why the contradictions? ”

Ah Ye accentuated the tone of his reply.

"Verbally for Ya's fiancé,

Ah Ye strengthened his tone to answer Jujube's question.

"Lip professed to be the fiancé of Withered Leaves, the reason he fought was for the sake of humanity. It was all our responsibility for the death of my sister and friend, and we could not forgive the existence of our species—that seemed to me to mean that."

"That's the prosperity faction that ...... humanity."

"The Prosperity faction is the same as the Honjia. An inescapable reality...... Is the object of his hatred the murderous and unblinking prosperous? Or is it an act of murder?"

Hearing this, Yasuno looked at Ah Ye in astonishment.

"I don't think he resents Ya and you. However, because of this, it seems contradictory. Perhaps, he thought that the deer and humans could coexist peacefully...... But that's just fantasy."

"That's ......, though."

"You and I should be able to understand."

Two non-humans who live and grow up like humans in the human world.

In the eyes of two people in the same situation, each contains contrasting emotions.

「…… Our mother did cruel things too."

Ah Ye's words contain a view.

"I...... ...... talents."

Anno contains despair.

That's the difference between the two.

The people who grew up in the village are monsters compared to humans. If you meet humans as other creatures, maybe the two sides can still claim to be a different kind of marriage.

So, what would a monster that was raised as a human being look like in the eyes of humans?

How do humans react when they learn that what they thought was a human is actually a monster?

Would a man be willing to love a monster?

「…… Li Qi."

She confessed that she was a monster, but she ended up being rejected by humans and committing repeated crimes.

No matter what kind of values you have, as long as you are one day of that kind of demon, you will never be able to escape from the shackles called rituals. On the other hand, human beings cannot turn a blind eye to the other level.

Ah Ye silently turned around from the stunned Anno.

On the face of her friend, who had turned away from her sister, there was a faint hint of sadness.

When Xia Jing was about to leave for home, the sun had sunk over the other side of the mountain.

It was after five o'clock in the afternoon. Even though spring is approaching, sunset is still early. Xia Jing put his hand in his pocket and walked briskly on the way home as if he wanted to drive away the cold.

The road facing the residential street is sparsely trafficked and looks particularly lonely and deserted.

But is it just the temperature and the street view that teach yourself to freeze your heart? Such questions sprung up in Xia Jing's heart.

Later, Natsujing and Anno went home separately without any conversation.

Xia Jing didn't know what Yasuno had talked about with Ah Ye. But judging from the expression, the content of the conversation should be similar to my own.

After all, it was difficult to ask questions in that atmosphere, and she didn't want to ask Xia Jing. It's just that when Xia Jing apologized to her and said, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault", Anno only said, "It's not your responsibility", and there was a sad smile on his face.

Whose responsibility is it otherwise? Xia Jing thought to himself.

Is it Ah Ye who carries out his own way with a poignant consciousness?

Was it rejected by Ah Ye, who was originally deeply friendly, and finally powerless to stop her Anye?

Is it the ugly summer scene that has a passion to save people, but is it a shameful summer scene that lacks self-knowledge?

Or is it the unbridgeable gap between the deer and the humans?

Probably all of them.

Ah Ye cut too thoroughly, Anno worried too much, and he was too naïve in his judgment. What Ah Ye said was so to the point that he couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

If the people of the prosperity faction extend a poisonous hand to Xia Jing or the relatives and friends around him, who can Xia Jing protect? There is only one answer, that is, no one can protect it. There are so many people who want to protect that they can't protect anyone.

Even Ah Ye of the Deer Clan decided to give up everything except Wang Chuan. However, the powerless Xia Jing couldn't abandon anyone.

Ye Ya, who inherited Fang Yuan's legacy. Anye and Lin Yu. And parents, friends. His hands were too short to hold everyone into his arms.

Still, even if you know it.

Xia Jing is still skeptical of Ah Ye's approach.

During the lunch break, her face was flushed in front of Wang Chuan, she was speechless, and she couldn't tolerate anything else in her eyes, she was purely a girl in love. A person as innocent as her is rare nowadays.

Wang Chuan said that she "used to be like this." In other words, Ah Ye has been in love with Wang Chuan for most of his life. But—she plans to sacrifice her love affair for the sake of the object of her desire.

Is there no other way? Xia Jing couldn't help but think about this question.

And also thought of Fang Yuan's death without confessing to himself. If Anno had a boy he liked in the future, his heart would be inexplicably heavy when he thought of what kind of choice she had to face.

Xia Jing was not unable to bear the heavy words that Ah Ye said to herself. It's because I can bear it, but I contradict my inner feelings and reason, and I feel confused about what I should do.

"Damn it."

Xia Jingyu said to herself with self-deprecation.

If things had gone well, I would have been immersed in the joy of success by now, revealing a high-spirited appearance. Not only did he bring Aya to his family, but he also eliminated Anno's troubles - such hopes were also in vain because of his own stupidity and ill-thought-care. Xia Jing felt disgusted with his superficiality and wanted to vomit.

「…… Really."

What the hell am I supposed to do?

Suddenly, a sentence floated into the ears of Xia Jing, who was about to sigh.

A soft voice like a girl.

INTERVIEWER What should I do?

「…… Huh?"

Xia Jing stopped in surprise.

Why do the ears receive the words of their hearts?

Even though he suspected that it might be an auditory hallucination, Xia Jing still looked around nervously. This is not an auditory hallucination.

Looking up, on a barbed wire fence in a park facing the residential street—

There was a young girl sitting on it with her feet swinging.

Wear thin clothes and just properly trimmed tacky hairstyles.

There was no expression on his face.

His eyes weren't looking at Xia Jing, as if he was wandering in the void.

Looking at her peculiar and inhuman appearance, Xia Jing thought to herself, "Could it be that my mind has been seen through?"

However, from the words that came out of her mouth that followed, it was clear that this was not the case.

……

「…… Huh?"

At first glance, a series of words that sounded inexplicable, and the initial murmur of "how to be good" were strung together in Xia Jing's mind.

It is also natural to be able to connect them.

There is an impression of the summer scene.

A feeling came over me suddenly.

It's been a long time since I've heard someone sing, and Xia Jing himself doesn't remember it very clearly.

But Xia Jing remembered it again.

No, it was never forgotten.

It may be interpreted as ominous or creepy, but it is a strong series of words.

The one who doesn't match the mild-tempered one at all is-

That's --

- To hug your four arms.

"Sister...... Sister?"

Xia Jing's sister's favorite - ballads.

Like after turning off the TV, or when you're sorting out the trash. Sister, she often sings out casually. Xia Jing has been exposed to it since he was a child, and he doesn't even remember asking "what is that".

Because for Xia Jing, the meaning of that string of words is "the ballad that my sister often hangs on her lips", so I don't think it's strange.

The girl on the barbed wire didn't look at Xia Jing and continued to hum.

Therefore, Xia Jing couldn't help but read out the recalled sentences.

「…… It's just that no matter how hard I try, I can't get there."

I guess I heard Xia Jing's voice.

The girl finally looked away.

"Who."

It's not so much a question as a feeling of mumbling.

No matter from the voice or expression, there was no similar emotional component, and Xia Jing was a little confused.

"Ugh...... First-grader? Ah, I mean the grade level of the school."

"No, second year."

It turned out to be a senior sister. Xia Jing hurriedly changed his words.