I opened the door, took off my shoes, and turned around to see Kudo standing in the corridor looking around, and I beckoned to him, "Look at you, come in." ”

Kudo looked at me and walked over with a smile, he took off his shoes and walked into the house and looked around the room curiously, his face was full of novelty, but his eyes were still so sharp, like an eagle, "Kawaga, yes, there are decent ones at home." ”

"You take a break in the living room first, and I'll cook some food." When it comes to the living room, it is actually a coffee table and cushions.

"Oh? Cooking yourself? It's an honor. ”

"It's still that dish, chicken hot pot, your favorite food."

"Wow, that's nostalgic, but you still remember." Kudo looked at me with his eyes open.

I twisted my head and said, "Of course I remember, you eat spicy food as well as you don't need money, I used to eat chicken hot pot with you once, and my lips were swollen for several days." ”

"Hahaha, but I haven't eaten chicken hot pot for a long time." His words sank.

"Why?" I looked at him suspiciously.

"Because I don't have that good friend who eats hot pot with me anymore." Kudo looked at me, his gaze deepening.

"Don't be too happy too early, I won't put so many peppers this time." I bowed my head.

"What a disappointment." Kudo walked straight out the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm idle anyway, I'm going to walk around the scene next door, I haven't been in to see it yet, and Ito's house has a look." He didn't look back.

"Where did you get the key?"

"Watanabe-kun gave it to me."

"I guess that's what you're here for, right? You didn't just want to come and have a drink with me in the first place? ”

"Why, of course I want to come and drink with you, it's just by the way." Kudo's words grew farther and farther away, more and more empty.

I put the sliced chicken in the pot and turned to prepare shochu, and as I went to the storage room, I looked at the open door, and the light of Chiyoko's house next door was lit in the hallway, and Kudo's shadow was not reflected in the yellow light.

"Bang" Kudo and I raised our hands and touched our glasses, and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and the hot pot on the table was bright red, and the heat slowly rose, filling the entire roof.

"It's been a long time since we've been drinking together like this." Kudo sighed.

"I haven't had it since the day I graduated." I say.

"Yes, except for the day of graduation we drank together and then there was no more, but that time I was really impressed, it seemed like it happened yesterday, and it was actually a farewell to say that we were drinking." Kudo sighed.

I lowered my head, looked at the boiling soup in the hot pot, and fell silent, I remember that goodbye, because it was not a pleasant dinner, and the next day Kudo and I had to go our separate ways, and that night we tacitly appeared at a tavern we frequented.

During this time, Kudo expressed regret that he could not compete with me, because for a long time, the two of us regarded each other not only as confidants, but also as fierce rivals, and that defeating each other was regarded as the most important honor in our lives.

However, we have been tied a few times, and the puzzles he can solve, I can do the same, and vice versa.

Kudo said that there may not be a chance to meet again in the future, but we will never have a chance to compete again, so it is better to leave the victory or defeat to the outside world to judge, and divide the winners and losers based on the results of our future work.

I agreed to his offer, but we broke up that night because Kudo ended up saying something like that.

"Historically, the contest has always needed chips.,It's always been a thing to win that side takes the loss.,Miyamoto Musashi, who was known as a sword hero in history.,In the duel with Sasaki Kojiro, who is also known as a peerless genius today, he also set up a bargaining chip.,Although later generations have a lot to say about the relationship between the two of them.,But I think no matter how defensive they were against each other at the time.,But they regarded each other as very important confidants in their hearts.,In that era of war and killing, Being able to maintain such a deep and unique understanding of swordsmanship in the same heart, the two of them must regard each other as confidants in their hearts, so they will use their most precious thing as a bargaining chip in the duel, which is their own lives. ”

"And so should we." At the end of his speech, I looked up in shock, I still can't forget the determination in Kudo's eyes, I could tell that he had drunk a lot, but I knew that when he said this, he meant it.

I left the table angrily, because I was angry that he took the lives of both sides so lightly, but after I thought about it, maybe I was wrong, he just took the other party too seriously, so he wanted to give his life in the duel, but what people didn't expect was that in the ten years after we separated, we have not been able to distinguish between winning and losing, we are all struggling in our respective fields, and we have been given double swords by the outside world, although some people think that Kudo's achievements are higher than mine, but this conclusion is not clear, we are still comparable, And this time Kudo came, I vaguely felt that he was here to end that ten-year showdown.

And this time I couldn't escape, let alone refuse.

"Congratulations, I'm glad you have such a comfortable home now, and I'm really surprised to be able to tidy up the house, only I'm still the same as before, I don't have a fixed place, and my living room is also messy, but now I have a sister-in-law." Kudo smiled, and only now he had an expression on his face that belonged to a student.

As soon as I said this, my expression instantly sank, and I picked up the spoon in the pot in the hope of hiding my reaction.

"Congratulations, if I'm not mistaken, you actually like her."

"Who?" My hand shook violently, and the spoon fell off the soup base.

"It's your neighbor, the deceased of this murder, Miss Chiyoko Suzuki."

"What?" I raised my head in shock and looked at him with wide eyes, and after a long time I gradually regained my composure, "Why do you think that?" ”。

"You don't have to be so surprised, it's not that hard." He smiled, "It's just that on the night I learned about your case, I was afraid that other people's orphans and widows were afraid when there was a power outage, and I went to care, I wondered, if it wasn't for my liking, how could I go to someone's house because I was worried about the power outage?" Not to mention that the person is still your iron-blooded machine, Kawaki congratulates, and I see that your house is so clean, this is really not your style, I guess you must have a sweetheart, and I confirmed this idea through your reaction just now. ”

I didn't answer, but looked at the boiling soup in the pot, and my face became even darker.

"When something like this happens, and you're still around, you must be very painful and tormented, and I heard that when you went to her house, the murderer was probably already in the house." Kudo sighed.

I still didn't speak, just silently drank the wine in my glass.