'Squeak squeak. ’

It was a sunny summer, and the old sound of frogs and cicadas was still in my ears.

'Be careful, Chihiro. ’

The gentle words came from behind her, and the girl turned her back to him, and the clear water flowed past her feet, dispelling the heat and bringing a hint of coolness, making her smile involuntarily.

When the girl was tired of playing, the kind figure carried her on her back and walked on the verdant riverside.

This scene is both warm and nostalgic.

"Who is it?"

Chihiro looked at the two figures, one large and one small, she felt that he was very familiar, but she couldn't remember the identity of the other party.

As if something very important to someone.

And then all of a sudden, it was gone.

One day, he disappeared from her world and left her forever.

"Whoa!"

Suddenly, the picture turned, and Chihiro only felt that she had fallen into the icy water, and the feeling of suffocation was like darkness, engulfing her little by little.

She didn't know where it was.

Is it a dream?

Extremely real dreams, like things that had happened before, reappeared in her.

'It's painful. ’

'Who can come and save me...'

The heart kept shouting, but the girl's consciousness became more and more blurred.

And at this moment, a hand reached into the water and grabbed the girl.

'Chihiro! ’

It was the gentle figure again, he hugged himself, and struggled with all his strength in the rushing river.

And when she regained consciousness, all that remained in her ears was the chatter of the people and the heart-rending cries of the woman.

'Chihiro? ’

"Chihiro!!"

The same voice as the crying woman came, waking up the sleeping girl, and she opened her eyes in a panic: "Mom? ”

"Are you awake, it's time to eat?"

When Yuko Ogino saw Chihiro wake up, she subconsciously looked away and didn't look at her daughter.

"Mom."

Chihiro thought of the dream she had before, the gentle, kind, familiar figure that made her feel so familiar, but then vanished.

Was it a playmate when you were a kid?

Or, the children of relatives?

But why didn't she remember it at all?

It's such an important thing, but because of the child's forgetfulness, he lost invaluable memories.

Mother, though, should know.

If it was someone she met when she was a child and she had so much fun with her, then she would definitely not forget it.

"I just had a dream about playing by the river..."

Chihiro tells her mother about her dreams, and the latter becomes absent-minded from the moment she mentions 'riverside'.

It wasn't until Chihiro finished all the dreams that seemed like real memories that her mother stood up as if she had just woken up from a dream, then trembled and covered her mouth.

With tears in her eyes, she didn't say anything, just calmly turned away.

"Mom?"

Chihiro was at a loss, she didn't know what she was saying wrong.

The relationship between the Ogino family is very good, and the parents love Chihiro very much.

Because Chihiro met Taniyun when she was a child, and with the secret help of the latter and the Iijima family, Akio Ogino's career is thriving, and now he is a senior executive of a medium-sized company.

The Ogino family took this opportunity to enter high society, and Yuko Ogino was also very busy, dealing with rich wives all day long, providing assistance to her husband.

Although Chihiro is not smart enough, she reads very hard.

Chihiro's dream is to become a teacher, just like Sanae-sensei, and mingle with the students and create precious childhood memories for them.

After graduating from the famous Sakuramanba Elementary School, the girl was successfully admitted to a private girls' school that integrates junior high and high school.

The school has a high rate of college admissions, and the deviation value of the high school is among the best among many private schools.

Of course, the school's tuition fees are also expensive.

However, with the current economic situation of the Ogino family, this tuition fee is nothing at all.

"Mom!"

Chihiro got out of bed and quickly got dressed.

Downstairs, Yuko Ogino was snuggling in her husband's arms, and she couldn't stop sobbing because Chihiro's words reminded her of a painful memory she didn't want to remember.

"Really?"

Akio Ogino is tall, and because he socializes with people all year round, he has a good figure.

But at this moment, in the face of his wife's pain, Akio Ogino held her in his arms hard: "It's okay, it's all in the past, the child's business." ”

"But, it's Chihiro she..."

Yuko Ogino didn't blame Chihiro for suddenly talking about that person, she was unintentional, it was an unintentional mistake.

But even so, Yuko Ogino has been unable to face Chihiro for so many years.

Although Yuko loves her daughter deeply, she is very concerned about her growth.

It's just that whenever Chihiro looks at herself, Yuko Ogino will subconsciously look away, not daring to look into her daughter's eyes.

Because she was afraid that she would reveal any feelings, and she was also worried that she would see another person in Chihiro's eyes.

"Chihiro has grown up."

"But..."

Yuko refused, she felt that Chihiro was still too young and was afraid that she would not be able to bear it.

"Iijima-sensei once said that when Chihiro took the initiative to ask him, we had to tell her the truth."

Ogino and his wife encountered a supernatural event when they were in high school, and just like the Totori family, they were lucky enough to meet a snail from Iijima who was out to collect wind and find inspiration.

With the help of a snail, the couple got through the storm.

Many years later, because of an accident, the Ogino couple lost an important person.

In the midst of self-blame and pain, the two find the snail and ask him for help.

'I've seen that kid, I've seen it. ’

I remember what the snail said to them: 'In our country, people who give their lives for others can become gods.' ’

'So...'

Don't weep for him, the last thing the gods want is human tears. ’

As for Chihiro's question, Snail added, "When this kid asks about that person one day, tell her." ’

'This child,' the snail stroked the sleeping girl's head, 'is stronger than you think. ’

"Daddy, Mommy?"

Chihiro came down from the staircase and saw her mother, who seemed to have just cried, and her father, who still had a solemn face: "Did something happen?" ”

"Chihiro."

Akio Ogino thought about it again and again, and finally chose to follow the snail's instructions.

The old man had saved the couple's lives, he was the person that Ogino and his wife admired the most, and the couple firmly believed in his words.

"You've grown up, and there's something that it's time to tell you."

“？？？”

Chihiro was puzzled, she just had a strange dream, and when she woke up, she said a few words to her mother.

In the eyes of the girl, this is a very normal thing.

Which child hasn't told his parents about his nightmares and sweet dreams, Chihiro doesn't quite understand why his parents are so serious, as if the sky is about to fall and his parents want to flee with him.

However, the truth is...

"O, Ni-chan..."

Brother, Chihiro never knew that she wasn't alone.

Her parents also have a child, and she also has a real brother.

"He..."

"Thousand."

Chihiro's older brother is called Chino Chi.

That's right, it was after being taken away by Granny Tang that Chihiro's new name - Chihiro.

In Japanese pronunciation, Chihiro Ogino should be pronounced as ogino chihiro, while Chihiro Ogino is ogino senn.

"So, where is he?!"

Chihiro thought of the possibility that in a dream, she had struggled in the water.

It was he who rescued himself from the water.

The voice of the woman crying in the dream coincides with her own mother, then the answer is self-evident.

He's dead.

My brother died, and in order to save her...

"He's, brother"

The previous dreams kept coming to mind at this moment, gentle embraces, affectionate calls.

"Click, click."

Tears couldn't stop falling from Chihiro's face, she couldn't accept it, especially the cause of her brother's death, the other party lost his life to save herself.

Self-blame, insecurity, pain and regret, all kinds of feelings welled up in my heart.

"Chihiro?"

"Chihiro!"

The girl ran upstairs and locked herself in her room, not knowing how to face this fact.

Childhood memories have blurred, but as parents re-mention it, the figure of a teenager becomes clearer.

The other party is the same age as himself now, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy.

He is very gentle and very pampered with himself.

But suddenly one day, the other person disappeared from her world.

Perhaps because it was too painful, Chihiro subconsciously forgot everything about the other party.

"Chihiro, come out."

The mother knocked softly on the door: "It's all gone." ”

Chihiro didn't lock the door, but Yuko Ogino didn't dare to push the door in, for fear of overstimulating her daughter.

"I killed my brother!"

Chihiro's shouts came from behind the door, and she remembered, remembered them all.

It had just rained that day, and the sky was clear, so she had to go to the river to play, so she accidentally fell into the turbulent river.

In order to save her, her brother jumped into the water desperately and tried his best to lift her out of the water.

In the end, the two were rescued by the villagers who rushed to the scene.

Chihiro survived, but her brother lost his life forever after the rescue failed.

"It's all my fault, it's all me..."

Listening to her daughter's self-blame, the last entanglement in Yuko Ogino's heart disappeared completely.

She knew, she knew it early on.

This has nothing to do with Chihiro, she didn't mean to kill her brother.

But after all these years, Yuko Ogino still can't face Chihiro, and she is always afraid that she will associate her son's death with Chihiro.

However, at this moment, feeling her daughter's pain, Yuko Ogino blamed herself more and more: "What the hell am I thinking? Obviously Chihiro is the most painful. ’

The reason why the couple didn't dare to tell Chihiro the truth was that she was afraid that she would blame herself for her brother's death and blame herself for the rest of her life.

"Whew~~"

Yuko Ogino took a deep breath, she pushed open the door and saw her daughter curled up in the corner of the bed.

For a while, distressed and self-blame, Yuko Ogino didn't wait for Chihiro to open her mouth and hugged her.

"I'm sorry."

"Chihiro, I'm sorry."

Yuko Ogino couldn't stop apologizing, which overwhelmed Chihiro.

It was she who was clearly wrong, so why did the mother apologize?

"Chihiro!"

Suddenly, Yuko Ogino raised her head, and for the first time in more than a decade, she looked directly into her daughter's eyes.

What simple, beautiful eyes they are.

I haven't faced her for ten years.

"Let's go meet your brother."

"Go back to the countryside," Yuko Ogino's words, like a ray of light, opened Chihiro's aching heart: "Say goodbye to him!" ”

(End of chapter)