I won't be a loser.

After signing the document in the morning, in the afternoon, Xianren put on his clothes and walked out of the hospital with Miyamizu Futaba carrying some luggage.

"Finally discharged from the hospital, let's go."

"Be careful, I'll take the luggage."

"No problem, this weight shouldn't be a problem. Let's take a taxi back first."

Miyamizu Futaba and I came to the side of the road together. When we saw a car, we waved slightly and got on a taxi. It took more than half an hour to get back to our apartment.

It was originally a very ordinary staircase. When Xianren walked up it with his luggage and arrived at the door of his apartment, he couldn't help but gasp for breath. He had not exercised for too long, and his physical fitness had declined sharply.

"You should get some rest first. I'll tidy up the apartment."

The key was with Miyamizu Futaba. She opened the door and went into the house. She asked Xianren to go and rest first, and she prepared to help tidy up the apartment.

Although I had already taken into consideration that Xianren would be discharged from the hospital this month and cleaned up the entire apartment in advance a week ago, after a week, the house was covered with dust again and needed to be wiped again.

"Xianren, are you going to Setsuna's house first?"

"Today is Monday, school time, and no one's home, right? I'm just going to go for a walk. I've been in the hospital for so long, my body feels rusty. I'll be back soon."

"Going out shopping?"

After hearing what the wise man said, Miyamizu Futaba couldn't help but look worried and hesitated to speak.

"Just a quick stroll, don't worry, I'll be back soon, don't worry."

Looking at his son, Miyamizu Futaba was silent for a long time, but finally nodded and agreed to the wise man's request.

"If you have any questions, remember to call me directly."

"Ah."

After some explanation, Xian was able to leave his apartment. The moment he walked out of the apartment, he raised his head and looked at the blue sky above his head, and he slowly exhaled.

"It's winter."

My impression is still stuck at the end of that summer, but I haven’t fully felt the autumn sunlight yet. When I basked in the sun again, I didn’t expect that winter had already arrived.

Given his current condition, it is not very convenient for him to go to school, and it will be winter vacation in about a week.

"Is there a link between summer vacation and winter vacation?"

Walking on the road, Xianren, wearing an invisible hearing aid in his left ear, looked at the scenery on the street. The bright sunlight and the different bright pictures in the hospital made his heart gradually active, no longer as quiet as when he was in the hospital.

"Xianren, long time no see. It's been a long time since I last saw you. Did something happen?"

"I was sick and rested at home for a while."

When they stepped into the familiar commercial street, when someone saw Xianren, they enthusiastically communicated with him and asked him why he had not been seen for a while.

"Sick? You're sick at such a young age? This won't do. You look so bad. Let's buy some fish and make some soup to nourish our body. I'll give you a discount. How about that?"

The change in sales tactics did not really surprise the wise man.

"Is it fresh fish?"

"It must be fresh. They are all newly arrived fish this morning!"

"Then let's have two saury."

Looking at the enthusiastic uncle in the fish shop, Xianren looked at the fish carefully, picked two fresh saury, and continued to walk forward. Along the way, many people greeted him and there were also many people selling things to him. Xianren looked carefully and bought some meat, vegetables, and eggs.

When he felt that the goods he was carrying were getting more and more and heavier, he stopped shopping, walked for a while, and saw the conspicuous advertisement on the side of the road.

"Year-end lottery?"

Yes, it’s already December, and the Chinese New Year is at the end of this month.

After staying in the hospital for such a long time, Xianren almost forgot about this matter. For him, time seemed to have paused for a short time. Looking at the lottery shop next to him, he was silent for a long time, sighed slowly, and walked over.

“A random number will do.”

Following the random numbers, Xianren left the lottery shop and returned to the apartment carrying the food, which had become much heavier for him.

After about two hours, Miyamizu Futaba had cleaned the apartment. When Xianren returned home, he saw Miyamizu Futaba hanging clothes to dry.

"All the summer clothes can be put away, and I don't even have two winter clothes. Let's go buy some clothes tomorrow."

"Ah."

After putting the ingredients in the refrigerator and freezing them separately, he washed his hands and then made himself a cup of tea and gave one to Miyamizu Futaba. The mother and son then sat down in the house and did nothing.

"Are you going to school tomorrow?"

"We have only two weeks left. Winter break is coming soon, so I should show up at school."

This week and next week, two weeks later, it will be winter vacation. He has not appeared in school for such a long time. On the way back, he thought carefully and decided to show up in school.

"Two weeks? Then, during winter break, will we go back to Itomori?"

"Go back, or else Threeleaf and Fourleaf will come here."

"Ah."

The apartment is too small, and it would be crowded if Sanye and Yotsuba came over. Besides, Xianren is still weak now. If the two sisters are asked to come over, I don’t know whether they should take care of the sisters or Xianren.

Miyamizu Futaba also decided to stay in Tokyo for the time being, and return to Itomori with Kento during the winter vacation.

In the evening, Miyamizu Futaba prepared dinner, while Kento sat quietly at his desk. He hadn't used his computer for a long time, and when he used it again, he felt an inexplicable sense of strangeness. It took him a while to get used to it before he could resume typing smoothly as before.

He had been lying in the hospital for such a long time, almost all of which was spent reading books. He had a lot of ideas in his mind. He sat down in front of his computer again and turned those ideas into words, recording them one by one.

He is not in a hurry about the new book for the time being. He does not think that he can write any good work now. He decides to incubate it for a while and consider the creation when he has the right subject matter and ideas.

"Do you need to invite anyone else over tonight? I've already told Wu that you've been discharged from the hospital."

"The apartment isn't very big, so it's not a big deal if there are only four of us."

"Then invite Mai and Setsuna."

"Ah."

It was almost time for Qingpu Mai to get off work, so Xianren picked up his mobile phone, looked at Qingpu Mai's contact information, called her, and told her what Miyamizu Futaba was thinking.

"Celebrating at Xianren's apartment? Why not come to my house? We can invite some other people and it will be more lively."

"No, I don't plan to invite too many people. Four people are enough."

"I see."

After hearing what Xianren said, Qingpu Mai didn't have too many thoughts and agreed with Xianren's choice.

"Do you have to go to the hospital to take care of your boyfriend today? Come to think of it, it seems like he'll be discharged this month?"

Kuroda Hikaru came close to Kiyoura Setsuna and asked about topics related to the wise man. For some reason, she was very interested in this kind of thing and would ask Kiyoura Setsuna about things related to the wise man almost every day.

If she hadn't heard the other person talking about the story of 'a boyfriend who was in love with her was hospitalized due to an accident, and the girlfriend who never left him and took care of him all the time, isn't it very romantic', this love-filled sentence, Qingura Setsuna would have suspected that the other party had some kind of private connection with Kento.

"Well, I'll be discharged this month."

Kiyoura Setsuna, who was full of worries, did not feel happy at all. Instead, she looked a little worried. Saionji Sekai, who was standing next to her, also didn't quite understand Setsuna's mood and didn't know why she reacted and looked like that.

"However, it's almost time for the holidays this month. After this week, there will only be one week left. The holidays will be coming soon, and the New Year will be here soon."

"New Year."

After hearing what Kuroda Hikaru said, Nanami Kanroji also showed a thoughtful expression.

"When Setsuna's boyfriend is released from the hospital, let's get together and help celebrate, right?"

— — — —

Thanks to Trees and Leaves, Xianling, World Prosperity, and Night Moon Playful Laughter for their monthly passes and blades! Thanks to everyone for their recommendations!

When the summer cicadas chirp: 274. Do you understand the true meaning of 'family'?

Since we have decided to celebrate, we should at least prepare some drinks. Kento is under age and cannot drink alcohol, and neither can Kiyoura Setsuna. The two adults, Miyamizu Futaba and Kiyoura Mai, have no interest in drinking, so we only need to buy some juice.

"I'll go buy it. I'll just treat it as rehabilitation training."

The drinks in the refrigerator at home have been there for three months. Those that are about to expire have already expired, and the ones that are still drinkable are not enough for four people.

So, the wise man took on the burden of buying drinks again, rested at home for a while, and went out to the nearby convenience store again.

"Ah, it's you again."

The clerk at the convenience store looked up and saw Xianren coming in from the store door. The expression on her face was a little subtle. She didn't expect that she would meet Xianren just after arriving at the convenience store from school.

Xianren, who had not noticed the other party at first, raised his head after hearing the disgusted sound, as if he had seen something dirty. He noticed the shop assistant next to him, and seeing the other party's somewhat disgusted expression, Xianren raised his hand and pointed at himself.

"I shouldn't be that annoying, right?"

"Of course, I'm so sorry!"

Looking at the shop assistant who apologized decisively, Xianren didn't know how to describe his feelings at the moment. It always felt a little subtle.

There are many people who like him, and there are also quite a few who hate him, but it is rare to see someone like this who does not hide his inner thoughts and shows his dislike in front of him.

However, Xianren at this moment was not in the mood to debate with the girl in front of him. Thinking that Qingpu Setsuna had already finished school and should be home soon, he walked silently to the shelf, looked at the different drinks carefully, chose a common fruit juice, took eight cans, and walked towards the cashier.

Seeing Xianren approaching, the shop assistant no longer showed any disgust.

She kept her head down and face buried the whole time, so that Xianren could not see the expression on her face, and she swept the juice one by one.

"2000 yen."

Since it was an integer, payment was relatively simple. Xianren took out two thousand yen bills from his wallet and handed them to the other party. He watched the other party take them with both hands and then handed the shopping bag to him. Xianren picked up the shopping bag and left the convenience store.

Looking at Xianren's back as he left, the shop assistant slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

She was not questioned by the other party, nor did she complain to the store manager, but her opinion of Xianren changed slightly.

I walked all the way back to the apartment from the convenience store and entered the house. I saw Miyamizu Futaba who was busy preparing dinner, and Kiyoura Mai who had returned home while I was away.

"Setsuna, aren't you home yet?"

"I just contacted her. It seems she's with her friends at Yuko's shop. She's on her way back now."

"That's it."

Seeing the two busy people, Xianren also wanted to help a little, but because the room itself was not big and he had just been discharged from the hospital, he was just asked to sit aside and rest. With nothing to do, Xianren could only walk to the desk, turn on the computer and watch videos.

Because he had just been discharged from the hospital, this should be a happy moment, and he didn't want to sit there alone reading a book, so he casually clicked on some videos related to shogi and started playing them.

"This is the third match between Go Master Hanyu and Go Master Watanabe."

Kiyoura Mai, who was preparing dinner, heard a familiar name and couldn't help but look at Miyamizu Futaba beside her.

"Is Kento also interested in shogi?"

"I was very interested in it when I was little, probably because there wasn't much entertainment in the countryside. When I was there, I often watched shogi-related programs and entertained myself with shogi. Mitsuha and the others didn't have much interest in shogi."

"Didn't you go to become a disciple?"

"In a place like Itomori, there aren't many famous shogi players, and not many people enjoy shogi either. So, if I want to learn from a master, I'll have to go to nearby Nagoya. And since I have to take care of Mitsuha and Yotsuha, I don't have the time or energy for that."

It’s not that Miyamizu Futaba hasn’t thought about letting Kento learn shogi, but the only time she asked Kento if he had any thoughts in this regard, she got a response from Kento that he was not interested.

"'The world of chess players is too cruel, it's all about winning and losing. That kind of life isn't for me.' I think he was only ten years old when he said this."

"That doesn't sound like a child's answer."

After hearing what Miyamizu Futaba said, Kiyoura Mai was also a little surprised. She didn't expect that Xianren would give such an answer at that time.

"Yeah, he doesn't act like a child at all. He's always been very mature. When he's at home, he never needs anyone to worry about him... I didn't expect that..."

Miyamizu Futaba is still brooding over the fact that the wise man saved people. It is hard for her to understand why her child would do such a thing. She has always been a very rational person, a child who does not need anyone to worry about, but when something happens to her, it is such a headache for people.

In the past, she always taught her children not to be selfish and indifferent, but when her children actually did something indifferent and got hurt because of it, Miyamizu Futaba felt extremely painful in her heart.

During the time when Xianren was in a coma, he blamed almost all the mistakes on himself.

Looking at Miyamizu Futaba, whose expression suddenly became gloomy and dull, Qingura Mai felt a little guilty for bringing up this topic.

"I wonder what the new book of Xianren will be like. When I passed by the bookstore just now, I took a special look and it seems that it has not been officially released yet."

"A new book?"

Miyamizu Futaba couldn't help but be surprised. She stood in front of the kitchen counter and stir-fried the food gently. She felt a little curious about the wise man's affairs.

She doesn't know yet what the new book will be about, or what kind of story it will be.

"This time, can it also be considered a celebration of the new book?"

"Ah."