I am the emotional sustenance of your deceased

“Okay…Okay.”

……

ten minutes later.

coax--

The piano made its final explosive sound, and Chitose withdrew his fingers from the keys, with fine beads of sweat covering his forehead.

Her hair also got loose during the performance but she didn't care at all.

Gasping for breath, the silver-haired performer turned her head to look at her adorable little audience.

"How exciting... So Xiao Sui was talking about rock music."

Hahahaha, what's going on? It made her nervous for a long time.

Li Xi glanced at the goose bumps on her arms, and only now did she remember that she didn't need to hold her breath at all.

But there is no way.

"How is it? Lixi..."

[It sounds great. This is the most avant-garde music I have ever heard. What is it called?]

"Bohemian Rhapsody... is the Queen's..."

When Chitose mentioned "Rhapsody", he seemed to have forgotten the pronunciation. He tilted his head and thought for a while before continuing.

[Wow… Xiaosui knows so much.]

Lixi, who was not used to sign language, felt like her hands were about to cramp, but she was happy!

She just likes this cramping feeling! What's wrong? She is happy with it.

"That's also... the burning part I like... No, I really am still talking too weirdly."

As wild as she was playing just now, Chitose Noshiro is just as quiet now that she has calmed down.

She just sat there pinching her fingers, like a fragile flower about to wither.

[Not surprising at all, it's just as beautiful as Xiao Sui's song, and just as cute as... the cry of a crow.]

"Really?"

[Really? I'll practice more with Xiao Sui from now on. Can we slowly regain the feeling of speaking like we did before?]

"Eh?"

Qiansui said to himself that the plan was successful without leaving any trace, and couldn't help but snuggle into Lixi's arms.

"Thank you Lixi... I love you the most."

"!!!"

Don't say things like this casually.

What if Xiao Sui tells someone else? I have to let Xiao Sui know that this kind of thing can’t be said casually!

Chitose jumped into her arms again, feeling warm, with sweat from the performance still mixed in her hair.

But Li Xi didn't dislike it at all.

But when the soft jade was in his arms, a crow suddenly appeared in Li Xi's sight.

She stood alone on the windowsill, her feathers smooth and neat.

This crow is so different... its pupils are not the usual black or dark blue, but a pure gold.

Lixi swore that he had seen this color somewhere before.

Where is it…?

Li Xi stroked Qiansui's long hair with both hands and remembered a classmate who had talked to her about some strange topics.

Haizuka-san.

No wonder that touch of gold is so familiar.

But when Lixi turned his gaze to the windowsill again, the crow had disappeared, as if it had never appeared.

What did Haizuka-san say at that time? Haizuka-san said at that time...

[No one can predict this kind of thing. Today, I saw a girl in the bathroom about to cut her wrist with a razor blade. She was a pretty girl with white hair.]

"!!!"

Li Xi grabbed Qiansui's wrist without leaving any trace, and while the other party was still acting like a kitten in his arms, Li Xi looked at the mouth of the other party's bowl.

Although Chitose's coquettishness is very tempting, the wounds on Chitose's body...

Li Xi's joy sank, and he disappeared along with the crow.

She held Chitose's shoulders, her eyes flickering as she wondered if she should ask these questions.

But in the end she made some kind of resolution.

【Xiao Sui, your hand?】

In order to hide the fact that he had already noticed this situation, Li Xi deliberately acted a little surprised.

"Eh? Hand?"

Qiansui seemed to have thought of something, his eyes darkened and he didn't dare to look at Lixi again.

She tilted her head, and the joyful atmosphere surrounding her was paused.

But this silence that made Li Xi uneasy did not last long.

Finally, with Chitose sighing, the girl turned her gaze to Shiina Riki again.

They remained in this deadlocked position, one sitting on the other and hugging each other.

"I...actually, I felt very sad the day I met Li Xi...These were all stupid things I did when I was depressed...but Li Xi made me very happy, because I no longer have such plans."

Li Xi swore he rarely lied, and his earlier compliment to Chitose, saying her voice was as beautiful as her music, was no lie. The girl's mere act of speaking was like playing a beautiful piece of music that would never be repeated.

【real? 】

"Yeah! It was Lixi who saved me. Lixi is the best... I love Lixi so much..."

The girl quickly changed the subject, and before Li Xi could react, she was hugged again.

This time, Qiansui used the side of her face to repeatedly scratch the side of Lixi's face, making it impossible for Lixi to breathe or think for a while.

Qiansui's words made Lixi understand a lot of things.

[It turns out this cheerful and cheerful girl who loves to laugh is actually just as fragile as a normal girl... She needs someone to help her, she needs a friend, she needs... me.]

"The scar on my wrist will never get any deeper. No... Actually, it's my fault that Chitose is like this."

Biting her lips tightly, Shiina Riki didn't dare to tell Chitose about the accident in elementary school.

She discovered that when Chitose saved her that time, it wasn't just Chitose who paid the price.

Shiina Riki also paid a price.

She knew that she would never be alone now, because she needed to shoulder the fate of one more person.

She needs to take on the fate of Chitose Noshiro.

That's the way it is.

Ch204. Miracle Pork Cutlet and the Mercenary Band

What to eat for dinner.

How about Okonomiyaki? Do you like it?

Riki didn't know the sign language for Okonomiyaki, so he wrote this sentence on a piece of paper for Chitose to see.

She couldn't help but sigh that the way she and Chitose communicated was complicated to a certain extent.

Text messages, handwriting, sign language, and conversation, often the two people will randomly choose two of these four methods to start a very complex communication.

Sometimes they even use eye contact, and at that time the purple pupils will meet the burgundy circle eyes.

It's like they have telepathy. Even with such a complicated way of communication, they can always fully understand what the other person wants to convey.

"Okonomiyaki?"

Chewing these three words gently, Qiansui tilted his head and jumped off Lixi.

The pink toes touched the ground, quickly leaving a small trail of marks.

"I... can do anything."

"But today is a rare day for Lixi to come to my house... Can we not go out to eat?"

While speaking, Qiansui looked at her with a pitiful look that Li Xi couldn't refuse, which made Li Xi's heart melt.

[Okay! Let's eat at home. What would Xiao Sui like to eat?]

[I want to eat... something simple. It's getting late.]

The two stopped talking and communicated quietly using sign language.

Chitose blinked and put on her hearing aid.

"Lixi...Have you seen "The Solitary Gourmet"? "

"I have seen it. Can you hear me clearly now?"

"I can hear it clearly... but some syllables are a bit blurry," Chitose shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about this kind of thing."

"But, Lixi...are you reading a paper book or a TV series?"

"Huh? So there are still paper books?"

"Yes, yes!" Qiansui skipped and dragged Lixi to the study on the second floor, and pulled out the small book with a straw paper cover from a pile of books with badly worn covers.

"Murakami made... ugh, made... a dragon! Hmm! Where are Murakami's works by Ryu!"

Chitose corrected her pronunciation several times to make sure she hadn't read it wrong. She opened the first page of the book and pointed at the portrait of the slightly fat man.

"It's Murakami Lane, known as the second Murakami along with Haruki Murakami..."

"It's Murakami Ryu."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I…already told you I have a problem with my pronunciation!"

Faced with Li Xi's correction, Qiansui blinked her eyes embarrassedly, but she quickly changed the subject.

"Let's not talk about paper books... Well! In the TV show, there's a miracle fried pork cutlet! Riki, remember?"

"Huh? I have some impression of it."

Now, Shiina Riki only wishes that Chitose Noshiro can take off her hearing aids as soon as possible.

She was afraid that what Chitose said about "worsening hearing loss" would actually happen.

Then she will regret it for the rest of her life.

"I... really like this dish, so let's eat it tonight? Will little Lixi like it?"

The joyful emotion in Qiansui's voice moved Li Xi. How could she say no to her silver-haired girl?

[Okay, coincidentally, this is my favorite dish.]

It doesn't matter if she tells a lie. Anyway, Li Xi swears that from today on, her favorite food will be the miracle fried pork cutlet made by Chitose.

"hey-hey."

The ingredients are all ready.

In the kitchen, Chitose pounded the pork tenderloin until it was tender, marinated it with cooking wine, salt and black pepper for more than ten minutes, then coated it with breadcrumbs and fried it until golden brown.

Only twenty minutes passed from discussing the TV series to cooking, but Qiansui's execution ability was indeed terrifyingly high.

"OK."

Noshiro Chitose's voice was drowned out by the sound of the range hood, but Riki could understand what Chitose was saying.

"Finally... pairing it with shredded cabbage and Japanese pork cutlet sauce really embodies the flavors from the show... Li Xi, try it!"

"Mmm."