I won't be a loser.

Because of her age, Eriri will not appear in front of the stall in person, and the person responsible for selling these doujinshi is Eriri's mother Sayuri alone. However, she cannot take care of the stall all day by herself, so it is necessary for Kento to appear.

"Then hurry up and take care of things. I was supposed to go to private school today, so I just asked for leave."

"Going to private school?"

As she walked into the house, after hearing Kento's words, Eriri looked at the boy next to her with a strange look, her eyes filled with surprise and unexpectedness.

"Is it really that surprising? Since I've already decided not to get involved with you... then the rest of the matter is up to me. There's nothing wrong with just writing some content and works in peace in the future. All I want is a peaceful life."

"I don't see that you want to live a peaceful life. There are more than one girl in school with whom you have complicated relationships. Are you sure you can handle the relationships with them?"

"Why deal with it?"

In response to this, Xianren answered nonchalantly. He knew quite a lot about those girls, but the only ones who had entanglements with them were Futaba Rio and Feng Xiaochun.

Neither of them is that strong-willed when it comes to relationships, and it won't cause any waves. Nakano Ichika hasn't been in touch with each other for a long time, and they haven't even met or talked to each other since the summer vacation.

Anyone else?

It seems there is another Yoshida Saki?

We haven't been in contact for a long time, and she has been living a fairly peaceful life. When I was in school, I saw her being very close to her classmates, and they seemed to have a good relationship.

"I wonder what those girls would think after hearing such an irresponsible answer."

"Yes, I wonder what that feeling is. But no matter what it is, it has nothing to do with you."

The ruthless answer made Eriri sigh, and she walked into the house. Xianren looked at the familiar environment in front of him, followed Eriri into the house, and saw the familiar figure sitting on the sofa.

"Miyamizu-kun, long time no see. I'd like to trouble you for your help this time."

Sayuri Sawamura, who was sitting in the living room, felt a little confused when she saw the boy entering the house. The faint throbbing in her heart made her a little confused. Looking at the boy in front of her, it was as if she had returned to her youthful student days.

The strange feeling made her think in her heart, was it because she hadn't exercised much recently and her spirit had deteriorated?

"Easy to do."

Facing Sayuri Sawamura, his calm heart was slightly rippled, but the wise man restrained himself and did not show any extraordinary behavior. He nodded to Sayuri Sawamura as a greeting, and then continued to follow Eriri towards the study.

Normally, Eriri stays in her own room to draw, but printing doujinshi is done in a special room in the Sawamura family mansion.

Pushing the door open and entering the house, Xianren looked at the complete set of equipment and the completed doujinshi piled on the ground. The number of them stacked high made him sigh.

"This is not a simple amount that can be easily carried by one person."

"There are only about 300 books in total. That's not a lot, right?"

Looking at the doujinshi on the ground, Eriri didn't think they were that troublesome.

"Move it yourself."

"Let a girl move by herself?"

"Can you help me get two copies?"

"you--"

Eriri stared at Kento gloomily. After watching for a while, she quietly lowered her head and started moving the doujinshi by herself. She originally wanted to move most of them away directly, but she overestimated herself. When she moved about forty volumes, her whole body began to shake.

wow——

The collapsed doujinshi slid to the ground, and Eriri, who almost fell to the ground, was prevented from falling to the ground by Kento holding up her arms.

He held up his arms, feeling the girl's light weight, and when Eriri stabilized her center of gravity, he released his hands.

Eriri stood firmly, pursed her lips, and without saying anything, squatted down and picked up the doujinshi on the ground, holding them one by one in her arms. Xianren looked at her, picked up about thirty volumes at random, and walked out the door.

The girl looked down at the doujinshi, hesitated for a moment, took about twenty copies, and followed the wise man out of the room.

It took them nearly ten trips back and forth to finally move all three hundred or so doujinshi to the car parked in front of the mansion. They would then have to move them back to the venue...

"There's a trailer at the venue. When the time comes, just borrow it and carry it to the venue. The only things left are the posters. Have you got them all?"

"Already, I've got it and put it in the car."

"You didn't forget anything, did you?"

"No."

After confirming that there were no other problems, he closed the car door.

"I'll go call Mom."

"Ah."

Standing beside the car and watching Eriri enter the house, Xianren slowly raised his head, looked at the familiar mansion environment, and looked around.

Standing in the same place at different times, you will have different feelings.

It's different from that time.

He knew it very well in his heart, but when standing here, Xianren couldn't help but recall the scenes of those times.

Xianren doesn't have much interest in comic conventions, especially when he attends them as part of the staff, he finds it even more boring.

“It seems like there are a lot more people attending the exhibition this year than last year, and I feel like tomorrow will be much busier than ever.”

When she got out of the car, Eriri was wearing a mask and sunglasses, but her bright blonde hair was not concealed at all. Kento stood outside the venue, listening to her sighs, then looked at Sayuri Sawamura who got out of the car and turned his head away.

"Eri, what are you going to do?"

"Hmm? I'll go in with you."

She took out the stall badge and handed it to Kento and her mother. Eriri also put one on herself and prepared to follow the two of them in to set up the stall.

"Then let's go together."

The doujinshi didn't need to be moved in for the time being, so the three of them entered the exhibition with their posters and began to simply set up their booth. The work was not very complicated, but it was not easy either. It took some time to find their booth in the venue.

After arriving at his stall, it took quite a while to put up some posters and other decorations. By the time he finished, Xianren was sweating all over in the stuffy venue.

"Huh, that's all for now. Is this all right?"

He looked at the two people beside him and asked Eriri. The girl didn't have any objections. Sayuri Sawamura looked around and didn't think there was any big problem, so she picked up some garbage and the three of them left the venue together.

"You can rest for the night, the key is tomorrow."

"Let's go to the restaurant together?"

In response to Eriri's invitation, Xianren shook his head slightly.

"Someone's waiting for me, so I won't go. I had some things to do yesterday, so I have to go back today."

"yesterday?"

"Nothing, then, goodbye."

Without explaining anything to Eriri, Kento said goodbye to Sayuri and walked towards the subway station. Looking at his back, Sayuri Sawamura also looked at her daughter.

Xianren walked straight all the way to the subway station, got on the subway, and stayed quietly in the subway, looking at the people around him and lowered his head quietly.

I returned to my apartment, opened the door, walked into the house, and went straight into the bathroom.

The sound of dripping water gradually calmed Xianren down. He walked to the balcony, looked at Qingpu's house opposite, and then looked at his empty room. He casually lowered the gauze curtains, leaving a small gap, turned on the air conditioner, and walked to the desk and sat down to look at his computer.

"There's been absolutely no progress."

I have been writing it for a while now, and the content is almost 100,000 words, which is enough as a short story, but Xianren’s original goal was not to write a short story, it had to be at least 200,000 words.

But now, I don’t know how to write any further.

Recalling the dream he had earlier, he sighed and closed the computer in front of him. He slowly looked up at the ceiling in his room. He felt a little confused in his heart. He sat quietly in the chair, thinking over and over again about some questions that he didn't usually think about.

In recent times, I suddenly felt tired.

"It's just a private school, it shouldn't be that tiring."

Whispering softly, he looked down at the notebook in front of him, then slowly stood up and lay down on his bed.

When I woke up, warm wind blew into the house.

He slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and saw a dark room.

"blacken?"

It was already night, and the virtuous man himself had no idea what time it was. He slowly sat up and looked towards the balcony. Warm wind blew into the house. His dizzy head made him stagger when he stood up.

I walked slowly to the balcony and took a look at the Qingpu family across the street.

The lights are bright, but there is no rest yet.

But I didn't want to disturb the other person, and I didn't want to move at this moment. I slowly leaned against the threshold of the balcony and sat down little by little. I looked at the night view of the city and the chirping of insects, and couldn't help closing my eyes.

"what--"

He didn't know if it was because of his meeting with Sayuri or for some other reason, but he felt so tired, so tired of everything. He didn't want to think about anything, and didn't want to do anything.

"breathe......."

Even breathing became difficult for a moment.

There are times when I think about this, and I always feel that there are too many tangled things in this world. Just thinking about those things makes me feel painful.

What is the purpose of life?

Love, hate, and vengeance?

Carrying the expectations and hopes of others, walking on the path that others expect, just moving forward according to the wishes of others, as numb as a puppet on a string, once there is no one urging, it will not move on its own.

——Keep moving forward, keep moving forward, don’t stop. If you stop, you will fall into the abyss, and if you stop, you will be shattered to pieces.

He placed his palm against his forehead, his expression turning into one of pain.

Falling in love with Sayuri might be a rebellion against one's own life, a protest against one's own docile existence, but the result of the rebellion...

Just live.

Don't struggle too much, just live calmly and steadily.

Sitting weakly on the balcony, he slowly opened his eyes, looked at the bright moon hanging high in the sky, and stood up with a long sigh.

He just took his wallet, left his apartment, and walked out on the streets at night. Under the light of the street lights, the wise man walked forward step by step. He didn't know his destination. He just continued to stay at home at night and had nothing to do.

Neon red and green lights flickered at the end of the sight. The figure who was always straight now seemed a little hunched. With his hands in his pockets, he lowered his head and looked at the road in front of him, moving forward.

Society has many restrictions on minors. Even if some people occasionally disobey those rules for profit, at least the vast majority will not do anything that will bring trouble to themselves.

There are also many patrol police on the streets at night, so you don’t need to worry too much about safety. Of course, the premise is that you don’t go to those dark corners and alleys.

"Do you mean you want to stay at my house for free?"

"Uh-huh."

I heard a sound in front of me, and when I looked over, I saw a girl squatting under the light, and a drunk young man who looked like a office worker.

- - - -

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When the summer cicadas chirp: 245. Open the door, I know you are home

The sudden sound of footsteps made the two people who were just communicating look towards the wise man under the light.

Seeing that it was a boy of about her age, the girl withdrew her gaze, while the young man who was obviously a social animal stared at Xianren for a long time with his mouth open, then pointed at the girl in front of him and then at himself.

"Um, you—I—"

After staring at the girl in front of him and the man standing in front of her for a while, the wise man withdrew his gaze. In this society, such a situation is not common, but it is not a rare thing either.

As long as it is not forced, and it is a matter of mutual consent, he will not be bored and meddle in other people's affairs. He withdrew his gaze and continued to walk forward.

The man stared with wide eyes as he watched the sage pass by him and gradually walk away. When the sage's figure disappeared into the darkness, the man was still somewhat numb. He was silent for a long time, staring at the direction where the sage disappeared, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief...

Ignoring things that had nothing to do with him, Xianren walked on the street in the middle of the night, moving forward all the way without thinking about his destination. Before he knew it, he had come from Bunkyo Ward to the vicinity of Koishikawa Korakuen.

Because it was late at night, the park was closed.

The wise man standing at the door looked at the scenery in the garden, then turned and walked in another direction. Not knowing what to do at night, he wandered around outside and chose an izakaya and walked in.

Compared to his own cold apartment, there are many people sitting in the izakaya at night. Even late at night, there are still many people who have just got off work.

Perhaps some of them do not want to go back to their homes and face the annoying trivialities at home. Many company members also gather in izakayas, holding their wine glasses and losing their daytime politeness, shouting and roaring wantonly, venting their dissatisfaction with life and work.

Sitting down in a corner, watching those people shouting and roaring, Xianren just listened quietly to their unwillingness and anger, drinking cup after cup of barley tea.