I am the emotional sustenance of your deceased

As expected, Lenai had a fever.

But it got better soon, but those few days were really torturous.

From that day on, Lenai couldn't find Chitose again.

Every day she would wander around Chitose's house and SPACE, hoping to see Sister Chitose again.

She hoped to see Chitose Noshiro hug her warmly, and hoped to witness Chitose's brilliance and grace on the stage again.

But, just like the matcha parfait is time-limited, Chitose Noshiro is also time-limited.

"I don't understand why the matcha parfait tastes different lately."

The waitress prepared a free matcha parfait for Kana as usual, but Kana only took a small sip and didn't touch the spoon again.

These desserts seem to be getting a bit boring.

Boredom is the worst thing.

Even if it tastes terrible, you can't be bored. Once you get bored... no matter how delicious it is, you just don't want to eat another bite.

"Are you missing a companion to eat with you?"

"Yeah, right."

It’s a pity that Sister Qiansui is missing.

"Two cups of matcha parfait, please, and a glass of lemonade to help with the greasiness. The lemonade should be room temperature."

A gust of wind blew from behind, followed by a voice that Lenai was familiar with to the bone.

"Hmm... hm? Chitose-nee!"

The waitress left tactfully, and Lenai looked at Noshiro Chitose beside her with surprise.

She was still wearing her yukata, and her face was still ugly... so much so that the yukata looked like a burial garment on her.

"It's me. I've been feeling much better lately, so I came to see you... Kitty, are you feeling well lately?"

"Great! I missed you so much!"

She immediately jumped into Noshiro Chitose's arms and started to act like a spoiled brat as usual.

She missed this embrace so much, this place was like her little home.

But this time, her tender cheek was scratched by something very thick.

"Hmm? Guitar! Did Chitose-nee bring a guitar?"

Lena was too small and she was too excited to see what Chitose was carrying.

"Haha, yes, I wanted to send it in for maintenance today... but then I remembered I had something else to do. Could Lenai, please keep my guitar for me for a while?"

When the matcha parfait was finished by Lenai, she heard Chitose Noshiro say this.

"Okay! Leave it to me!"

The matcha parfait is incredibly delicious at this moment. It is indeed best to eat it with someone you like and admire.

"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll be leaving now."

Chitose came and went, just like a gust of wind blowing and passing away, leaving Kaname with only a strange feeling.

"Goodbye! Sister Chitose, when will you come to pick up the zither?"

"Ah...goodbye."

Chitose Noshiro just said goodbye ambiguously.

Her back was desolate, even more desolate than the falling flowers in spring.

She asked Le Na to hold Chitose's piano bag. She put her hand into it and could still touch the bloodstains that Chitose left on it that day.

【Would you like to wipe it off? 】

【Erase it off, hoping it won't leave a lasting mark.】

But what Lenai didn't know was that after this separation, she would never see Chitose Noshiro again.

Ch362. Noshiro Chitose's First Death

"What is Chitose-nee doing?"

That day, Chitose Noshiro left her guitar to Rakuna Kaname.

That’s Chitose Noshiro’s guitar!

Maintenance, cleaning, changing the strings and then putting the old strings away... Lenai has to spend all his pocket money on this.

It can be said that she loves this guitar more than anything else...well, everything except Chitose.

No, there is also grandma. Grandma is a good person, so I love grandma.

My parents...my parents are bad guys. They ran away. I won't love them today! I'll love them tomorrow.

"Lenai, let's draw together!"

Lenai thinks art class is for daydreaming, but there are always some idiots who actually draw.

Looking straight ahead, Kaname tilted her head as she looked at the girls who invited her to paint with them and got gouache paint all over their bodies.

"No, it's boring."

"We know your favorite is Chitose Noshiro from Crychic, so we're drawing her. Are we really not going to join us?"

Upon hearing this, Lenai put away the guitar bag, which she had been carrying with her these days.

She jumped over directly and then said:

"I want to paint, I like painting."

"I think you like Chitose."

"Ah."

Lenai also joined the group of people who got themselves dirty. Their paintings were not very good, after all, children's painting skills were obvious.

But Lenai still enjoys it.

"Interesting...Interesting...I've finished the eyes, now what..."

"Eh? What are you drawing?"

The voice of a girl from another group came from behind, but Le Nai didn't have time to pay attention to her at the moment.

Judging from the voice... it seemed to be that girl with white hair and golden eyes. Le Na couldn't remember her name for a moment.

Seeing that Lenai ignored him, the people behind him did not feel disappointed.

Instead, she came closer with great interest, and finally disturbed Lenai's mind with a scream of "Wow".

She twisted her waist unhappily and was about to say something when she saw the other person pointing at the canvas with a sad face:

"Is this Chitose Noshiro from Crychic I? The one who passed away this morning?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Yao Lenai was stunned for a moment and didn't react. The red and gold gouache paint on the tip of her nose was still shining.

That is the color of Noshiro Chitose's eyes.

……

"Sister Chitose... she passed away?"

Died?

Chitose is dead?

At the cemetery, Kaname Rakuna is held in Tsuzuki Shifune's arms.

Due to the special instructions of Chitose Noshiro in her will, Kaname Rakuna had to attend the funeral accompanied by her parents.

In other words, Kaname Rakuna inherited all of Noshiro Chitose's wealth.

But the girl didn't react at all, she just stared blankly into the distance.

There, people were holding a ceremony to bury the coffin.

Teammates from Crychic I, Chitose Noshiro’s university and high school classmates, the staff at the orphanage where she grew up... many people, familiar and unfamiliar, came.

But Lenai didn't go.

【It happened so suddenly, it felt like a dream.】

Lenai can swat mosquitoes and flies, eat fish and other meat dishes... She even kills countless monsters on the small screen of video games.

But Chitose Noshiro is neither a bug nor food...nor a monster.

Why did it die?

Can I revive by using items...such as the Pokémon Center's healing services and resurrection coins?

Or... use magic?

Of course, Kaname didn't take these ideas seriously. She wasn't that naive, but she still hoped that these things would come true.

"Chitose-sister died...why?"

The wind in the cemetery was howling. Was that the god of death coming to take away Qiansui's soul?

Lenai just felt dazed, her eyes were red but she couldn't cry.

Dead? Dead...

"Don't ask these questions, kid, be good."

As always, Grandma Tsuzuki Shifune wants to protect Kaname Rakuna's fragile heart.

This is understandable, because all honest and kind adults want to protect the hearts of minors.

But this is not the answer Lenai needs.

"Grandma... tell me the truth. I want to know how Sister Chitose... died."

After saying these words in a halting manner, Lenai was about to collapse.

She was like a kite with a broken string, with her body weight completely resting on her grandmother behind her.

The latter was silent for a long time before he stammering and revealing something:

"Because of her depression, Chitose was a strong child, but she couldn't hold on any longer when she was almost recovering."

That's it.

Depression.

Depression? Hmm…

Although she said that Lena had to ask it herself, she really wanted to say:

What's the point of saying all this now? Isn't it? What do you want me to do when you suddenly tell me all this? How do you expect me to feel?

"The ceremony there is almost over. Do you want to go and see her off for the last time?"

"Never mind... I want a matcha parfait."

Looking at the cemetery surrounded by green trees, Lenai didn't know for a moment which one was Qiansui's grave after the crowd dispersed.

She blurted out unconsciously. Noshiro Chitose's affairs were far more important than the matcha parfait, and Rakuna knew that perfectly well.

"Is that so? Then let's go next time."

Lenai thought her grandmother would be angry and furious, and would lecture her by saying something like, "Now is not the time to pay attention to the matcha parfait."

Unexpectedly, grandma looked at her with worry.

That look made Lenai feel distressed.

"No need to eat, let's go now."

After saying this, Lenai broke away from her grandmother's arms.

The weather is really nice today, but I just can’t be happy.

I walked towards the place where the crowd was the most concentrated, and when I looked up again, I couldn't see the petals on the cherry tree.