Chapter 130: Raising a Child from Scratch (Part II)

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"Haven't you slept yet?"

Kenji Hagiwara pushed open the bedroom door. His sleepy eyes were sleepy, and when he saw the man sitting on the edge of the window, his eyes regained some clarity.

"Nope." After thinking about it and feeling that her answer was too concise, Ikekawa added, "I'm looking outside." ”

"Outside?"

Hearing this, he walked towards the window, propped his arms on the edge of the wide window, and followed the other's line of sight to look out.

Before the street lights go out, the plants and trees in the green belt are illuminated by warm yellow lights, reflecting the falling snow.

"It turned out to be snowing." It's winter, and there is a lot of snow in Japan, and it often falls in a thick layer at night. Looking at the scenery outside, Kenji Hagiwara suddenly straightened up again, "By the way, you wait for me for a while." ”

Under the puzzled gaze of the other party, he hurried out of the bedroom, and when he returned, he had an extra glass of hot milk and blanket in his hand.

"Give." Sitting at the other end of the edge, he handed over the things in his hand and motioned for the other party to cover it, "The edge of the window will be colder than the room, and the pajamas on your body are just thin to wear in the heating room, and it should be cold to sit here." ”

"Thank you...... Doesn't Mr. Hagiwara go to sleep? After taking the hot milk, Ikekawa Na held the cup in her hand with a puzzled expression, "It's almost two o'clock, and you have to go to work tomorrow." ”

"Well, it doesn't matter. I'm going to take a day off tomorrow morning and I'm going to work in the afternoon. The half-long-haired man smiled, "Xiao Zhenping is miserable, he still has an early shift tomorrow, and he has to get up before dawn to clean up." ”

"Hmm." I'm not used to this way of chatting, and the teenager's reply is always just a simple modal word.

"Originally, I just got up and poured a glass of water to drink, and when I heard something going on here, I came to see it." Kenji Hagiwara didn't hide his intentions, "So I thought, now should be a good opportunity to chat with you, right?" ”

"Talk to me?" Turning his gaze back to the outside of the apartment building, he opened his mouth and finally whispered, "I don't know if I can...... What to talk about. ”

"After all, most of the time we seem to be asking and answering. Let's find a topic...... What does Nai think of the two of us? Something like a strange kidnapper? ”

Starting the conversation from a strange angle, Kenji Hagiwara looked at him with his head propped up.

“…… Well. Ikekawa Na lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then said, "It is indeed a very strange person. If ordinary people encounter such troublesome things, they should not care...... At least it won't bring home a troublesome person like me. ”

The half-haired man awaited his next.

"People act in their own interests, but I can't think of any benefit to you from such actions." He thought for a moment, "The only thing I have on me that has some value has been used to exchange for a ticket, and you brought me back, not only increasing the cost, but also bringing danger to yourself in vain." ”

"If I'm found, in order to reduce the punishment I have to bear, maybe I'll tell my husband that you two have to take me away. Isn't that more than you gain? ”

"Act in your own interests." Repeating the opening sentence, Kenji Hagiwara did not look away from the other party.

"Because the gentleman paid enough money, someone would come and take care of me. Because I provide enough value, my husband will raise me until now. What about you? ”

Because of what......

Kenji Hagiwara put down his hand and thought about it, "That's really a ...... question Didn't think much of it. I just wanted to bring you back first. ”

"After all, let you be ...... by that pervert," he reluctantly swallowed the word 'perverted', he continued, "It's too much for that guy to bring back." ”

The boy blinked, still not understanding, and he drank most of the milk in his hand, and fell silent again.

"Are you looking at the snow?"

"No, I'm looking at the lights." Clenching the milk cup in his hand, his voice was low, "I've seen a lot of snow." Snow is the same everywhere, and as soon as it falls on the ground, it covers everything. But it's different. ”

When he spoke, the man next to him just looked at the street lamp outside, did not ask a question, but made the other party pause and then continued.

"There won't be any lights around the villa and the snow is grey at night. Looking out of the window, it's just a dark wood, not like here......" Unable to find any suitable adjective, Ikakawa pointed outside and turned her head to look at each other, "There will be lights at night, and the trees and snow will be illuminated, just like in the book, it's beautiful." ”

“…… Is it? Kenji Hagiwara exhaled, he looked at the ordinary street lamps outside, and suddenly asked, "What do you do every day?" ”

"Get up and eat, then read a book." After thinking about it, the person who was asked continued to answer, "Eat lunch, read a book, and finally eat dinner, read a book, and go to bed." Sometimes I go to the garden swing and sit. ”

"It's full of trees, and the seasons don't make a difference." He drank the milk in his hand, and his eyes were as silent as the snow outside the window, "...... Cycle. ”

"Fifteen years?"

"Only fifteen years. But it felt like a much longer, endless amount of time. Putting down the glass, Ikekawa Na pressed her side face to the glass and felt the coolness coming from the window, "No matter what you eat or drink, someone takes care of it, it's just ......"

Just lonely.

He closed his eyes, his long eyelashes blocked the look in his eyes, and in the next second, the young man only felt light.

Kenji Hagiwara picked him up directly from the windowsill and put one hand on his shoulder, "I suddenly thought about why I lost sleep." ”

"Staying in the same place all day long, or just looking down and reading, will definitely lose sleep after experiencing so little consumption." He walked all the way to the living room, put the person down, and took the down jackets of himself and Matsuda Jinpei from the coat rack in the entrance, and asked the other party to put on the one in the back, "Let's go, let's go out for a walk." ”

"Wait." Chikawa Nai was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly took two steps back, "I can't go out, if I am seen, you will ......"

"Then go to the rooftop, there won't be anyone there." Kenji Hagiwara smiled and pushed open the door, "Let's go, there is a twenty-four-hour convenience store downstairs, and it's best to eat oden outside in this kind of weather." ”

"Huh?"

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“…… Hagi, are you some kind of kid who hasn't grown up? Matsuda Jinpei came out of the bedroom, his face full of speechlessness under his black messy hair, "You actually took him out to play in the snow in the middle of the night." ”

"I also ate oden-" As if he didn't hear the speechlessness in the tone of the young tamer, Kenji Hagiwara raised the plastic cup in his hand and said loudly, "I brought you one too!" It's not spicy, so put it on the table first. ”

The boy standing behind him took off the hood of the down jacket he was wearing on his head, and many snowflakes fell from the circle of white hair on the outside of the hood, which fell to the carpet in the entrance and disappeared.

Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were red from the cold, which made Ikekawa look much healthier than when she was pale before.

His eyes, which had been dead during the day, were now strikingly bright, and the boy's face finally showed a childishness that matched his age, and his chin and side face were sunk in a circle of white hair at the collar of his hat, which rounded his otherwise thin face a little.

"Tsk." Swallowing the rest of what he wanted to say, Matsuda Jinpei walked over and picked up the oden, "Thanks, I just happened to be a snack on the morning shift." ”

He turned around and was about to go to the bathroom to wash up, when he heard Kenji Hagiwara's voice behind him: "By the way, Xiao Nai and I have brought other things, come and see!" ”

"What?" The curly-haired man yawned and walked over to the two, "You'd better bring something important." ”

"Absolutely important—"

The moment Matsuda Jinpei walked in front of the two, Kenji Hagiwara quickly shouted 'Kona', who followed the sound and raised his hand and slid down his sleeve, revealing his hand with thick gloves.

and the snowball in his hand.

"Look at the move!" The tall, half-haired man immediately took the snowball from the other man's hand and threw it at his friend.

Unable to dodge, he was hit by a snowball solidly, Matsuda Jinping slowly clenched his fists, and his voice was particularly dangerous: "You, this, family, guy!" ”

"Didn't I want to help you sober up...... Wow! Wait a minute, I'm wrong, can't I, wait a minute! ”

Before he could escape to the living room, he was subdued, and seeing his friend raise his fist, Kenji Hagiwara hurriedly shouted towards the door, "Xiao Nai - save me——! ”

Ikekawa Na stood next to the two, at a loss for a moment, he looked at Matsuda Jinpei, and then at the man who asked for help from him: "...... me?" ”

He really didn't know whether the other party really asked for help, or shouted casually, and only walked forward hesitantly after half a ring.

"Hmm...... I'm sorry, can you let Mr. Hagiwara go, isn't he ...... "According to common sense, the next thing to say is 'he didn't mean it', but looking at Kenji Hagiwara's behavior just now, and the behavior of letting him bring back a snowball on the roof, Ikekawa Na choked for a long time, and finally covered his forehead.

"Okay...... He did it on purpose. ”

There's no reason to plead for mercy at all, it's better to secretly take the snowball back and smash people, just to give your friends a head-on blow.

Isn't it natural to be swung a fist by the other party!

“…… Burst! Matsuda Jinpei, who was about to greet Kenji Hagiwara, couldn't help but laugh, "You guy asked Ikekawa to help bring the snowball back, why are you embarrassed to let him intercede?" ”

"You're going to be late if you don't wash up." Dodging the opponent's fist, Kenji Hagiwara smiled and reached out to rub Ikekawana's hair vigorously, "At this time, you have to say with me that this snowball is for Xiao Jinpei's soberness." ”

"Don't teach anyone what you're messing with."

With that, Matsuda Jinhei glanced at the time and walked to the bathroom to wash up.

"Actually playing outside at this time, Xiao Jinping is going to work." The half-haired man yawned and said to the man next to him, "Let's go, let's go to sleep." ”

The man who had been playing outside all night couldn't even open his eyes, and when he heard this, he immediately got up and walked in the direction of the bedroom.

It was not yet dawn, and the bedroom couldn't even see the silhouette of a person after the curtains were closed.

"Would you like to leave you a night light?"

“…… No, thank you. And I'm seventeen. Ikekawa Na, curled up in the quilt, couldn't help but say, "I don't think anywhere, seventeen years old should not be the age to be put to sleep." ”

Kenji Hagiwara smiled: "It's really not needed. It's just that I always have a feeling that you're not very old, and you're only five years younger than us. ”

"So you don't need to treat me like a child." After a pause, he wrapped the quilt a little tighter, hiding his somewhat embarrassed expression.

After thinking for a moment, he raised his head slightly, "Again, Mr. Hagiwara has something to tell me." ”

The young man in front of him was indeed very sharp, Hagiwara Kenji simply sat down on the floor next to the bed, put his arm on the bed, and smiled in his eyes, "Because you have been saying, I don't know what to exchange for, I just thought of what to use." ”

Ikekawa Nai hurriedly sat up from the bed, "What? ”

"In this way, it is good to exchange it for promises. As long as you say yes, you can be honest with us about everything after that. "From this time I went out to play, Kenji Hagiwara found out that the other party didn't like to talk about his own things, and sometimes he didn't answer no matter how many questions he asked.

It would be nice if we could use the 'equivalent exchange' that the other party has been struggling with to win the point of 'opening up'. It can also make the other party more comfortable to live here.

“…… Just this? The boy hesitated, "My promise doesn't have much value. ”

"Of course, value varies from person to person, and for me, it's totally worth the exchange. If you want, ......," he held out his hand and waved his little thumb, "let's pull the hook." ”

In the dimly lit room, Ikekawa Na reached out and hooked his little finger as the other party did.

“…… Okay, I promise you. ”

(End of chapter)