I am the emotional sustenance of your deceased

Le Na vaguely remembered that night when Chitose Noshiro held her hand and whispered:

"Ah, Lena, the cherry blossoms... have fallen?"

That day Lenai lied, she said:

"No. They're still blooming. The cherry blossoms haven't all fallen yet."

Now that I think about it...it's pretty good.

At least, Sister Chitose thought she left before the flowers fell... right?

Chitose's final funeral attire was a pure white yukata.

The cuffs are embroidered with a hand-painted crooked kitten pattern, and the cat is silver and white.

【So cute. 】

After the funeral, Lenai was asked to go home and tear off all the newly replaced strings.

A guitar with broken strings is like a cat with broken whiskers.

"..."

Chitose Noshiro used her own death to teach Kaname Rakuna, who was still a child, the meaning of life.

The difference between life and death is the difference in body temperature.

I went home, but it seemed like I could never go home again.

Chitose Noshiro's legendary black guitar became one of the relics left to Rakuna Kaname.

"Chitose-sister... I swear... I will definitely continue playing."

After returning home, she finally burst into tears, and her tears fell on the piano that was splattered with Qiansui's blood that day.

They overlap, but not in the true sense.

That's the way it is.

Ch363. Eighth Year After Noshiro Chitose's Death

In previous years, this season hides a special day.

If Lenai wants to know when that day will come, she just needs to count the petals.

When the cherry blossoms fall and the weather starts to get hot, she will remember to go and see the sister who was the most important person in her childhood... no, the most important person in her life.

"Go home and review your lessons. The graduation exam is coming up soon. Why aren't you in a hurry at all?"

"Okay, goodbye, teacher."

She runs around the campus as nimbly as a cat, and when spring comes, Lenai becomes sad for no reason.

But it can't be said that there is no reason -

And when the light and shadow of spring fade away, her mood will turn bad again.

The whole spring is cursed, but spring is also happy.

Because that one is buried in the spring.

The fourteen-year-old Kaname Rakuna has grown into a graceful young lady. Her figure has become slender and is gradually developing towards the shape of Chitose.

She carried a guitar bag, which contained the guitar that the man had left her.

That day, Noda Chitose said he would leave and come back, but he never came back.

That's the way it is.

"How many matcha parfaits would you like today?"

"Two servings."

"Okay...eh? You don't have to pay. After all, this shop technically belongs to you..."

"No, it's my responsibility to pay. I'm not a child anymore."

After placing one of the royalties earned from being a part-time band mercenary on the table, Lenai picked up the matcha parfait wrapped in a thermos bag and left SPACE.

SPACE is going to close soon, and grandma said she has delayed the closing as much as possible.

But she is really old and really needs to rest.

"Don't think about that anymore."

Lenai shook her head; she wasn't used to thinking about worries that were too far away.

This is also what Chitose Noshiro taught her.

Including the payment just now... Chitose pays every time she eats, and because of this, Lenai also learned to pay.

She's really trying to be herself.

She longed to be her day and night, and she hoped that she would become her as soon as she opened her eyes every day.

Chase her, become her, surpass her... No, it should be to shine on her behalf.

To fulfill those unattainable dreams for her.

SPACE, traffic lights, street corners, a coffee shop whose name I forgot, Noshiro House.

I passed by here to go in and get some incense for Chitose Noshiro.

Since Chitose's death, the Noshiro residence was also left to Kaname Rakuna.

Looking at the rusty "Noshiro" label on the stone wall at the door, Kaname Rakuna's trance-like feeling came back.

She was recalling those vague memories, recalling everything about [Chitose Noshiro].

"Sis, I came back to see you...After you left, I realized that you loved me more than I thought."

Bow when you enter the door, then put the matcha parfait in the refrigerator to freeze.

Lena comes to Noshiro's house every week. This is her and Noshiro Chitose's secret base.

Now that Chitose is gone, Lenai feels she needs to protect everything Chitose left behind.

lifetime!

After getting the special incense she needed for worship, she left, carrying two cups of matcha parfait and a black guitar on her back.

"You're fourteen this year, and I haven't seen you in eight years."

The heterochromatic eyes swayed with the slight sway of Lenai's body. She didn't need to look up to know that no cherry blossom petals would fall on her head this year.

The cherry blossoms have fallen, Chitose is gone, and life is over.

"Are you here again? Come in."

"Thank you, Auntie."

The guard at the cemetery gate is an aunt in her forties or fifties. She is impressed by girls like Lenai who come every year.

She can be said to have watched Lenai grow up.

"Huh, go forward... then, turn."

The cemetery is huge, and there are many places that Lenai has not yet explored.

This was actually a somewhat interesting activity, wasn't it? After all, some people just liked to observe things in places like this, but Lenai was clearly not one of them.

When stepping into this sad place, Yao Lenai felt that everything was no longer interesting.

“This year, it seems like no one came.”

After finding Qiansui's tombstone, the quiet environment is refreshing... The ornamental trees and flowers are full of vitality. It seems that the cemetery has great respect for the deceased.

Lena sat cross-legged and placed two cups of matcha parfaits one in front of the other.

One cup was hers, and the other was for Chitose.

Although, she was the only one eating it during these eight years.

Saying strange things while eating matcha parfait in front of a tombstone, Lenae always feels like a strange person.

“Why hasn’t anyone come this year?”

A year after Chitose Noshiro's death, dozens of people still come to visit on this day.

In the third year, there were only a dozen or so.

By the fourth year, there were only single digits left, and only those band members would come.

In the fifth year, there were only three or four people scattered around.

Three in the sixth year and two in the seventh year.

This year, only Lenai is still holding on.

"call."

If you don’t want to come, then don’t come.

I didn't count on them.

When the first bite of matcha parfait was put into her mouth by the small iron spoon, Yao Lena trembled.

"I haven't eaten it in a long time. It only tastes good when I'm with you."

Pushing the cup left for Chitose forward:

"Eat quickly, sister. We're out of lemonade. I can't order you a glass to help you get rid of the greasy feeling."

Kaname kept on talking to the tombstone, knowing that she would not get any response, so she had to move the matcha parfait in front of her back.

"Still not eating? Okay, put it away...you can eat it after I leave."

When I saw the four characters "Noshiro Chitose" on the tombstone, I felt like crying for some unknown reason.

Her eyes became red just by sitting here.

Qiansui left behind a song before he left. The melody was mostly written, but the lyrics were only a few lines.

Lenai has been thinking about perfecting it over the years, but he always feels that his strength is not enough and he is afraid of desecrating Qiansui's relics.

By the time he finished the matcha parfait in his cup, Chitose's cup was almost melted.

Just like a thermos bag can’t keep the matcha parfait, Lenna can’t keep Chitose Noshiro.

Taking the guitar out of the bag, Lenai is now the person in the world who is most reluctant to wake up.

His fingers slid across the stage, just as Chitose Noshiro had done when she played the instrument:

"Carry the heavy weight on your back and pass,"

(Even if it’s the heavy past that I carried alone,)

"Drinking み込んだ思いすらも,"

(Even if it's the restrained longing,)

"仱暝楯à縼り日 えた二人で,"

We both overcame it together.

"锖びついたこの心も,"

(My heart has long been rusty.)

The singing stopped abruptly, and Lenai continued to play but without making any sound.

These are the only lyrics that Chitose Noshiro left for her.

It’s so… sad.

"Wow! Why don't you eat it? It will melt if you don't eat it!"

When Lenai was still struggling in the quagmire of memories, a white-haired girl suddenly jumped out from his side.

She grabbed the spoon and took a sip of the parfait that Lenai had given to Chitose.

“Delicious! Super satisfying!”

Ch364. I am cute, please feed me more