My youth story cannot be a knight war

[Looking at this other photo, he was completely stunned.]

In the photo, two men in police uniforms stand behind a plaque inscribed with the Chinese characters "Metropolitan Police Department." The older man, with a square face, has a solemn expression, his uniform stretched like a tights by his muscular frame. He reaches out and pats the shoulder of the officer in front, his eyes scrutinizing and approving.

The officer in the front still had a youthful look on his face. He saluted the camera, his black buzz cut, not yet balding like it is today, standing upright, his expression proudly displaying his youth and vitality.

[Kousaka Kyosuke stared intently at the familiar face in the photo, his eyes trembling. He turned the photo over, and a line of handwriting written in oil-based marker appeared before his eyes.]

Sugita Morimichi & Kosaka Daisuke, Chiba City Police Station, Chiba Prefecture, August 2003.08.09, .

【“…click!”】

A sound like teeth cracking echoed in his mouth, and a rusty taste filled his mouth. Kousaka Kyousuke pressed the photo to his chest, his shoulders shaking.

The memory that I had deliberately forgotten once surfaced clearly in my mind at this moment, like a fish caught in the water, so vivid.

Kousaka Kyosuke remembered that day, the day his father died in the line of duty. Besides his mother, he was the second person to rush to the hospital. His distraught and frightened face emerged clearly before his eyes.

[When I went to deal with my father's funeral alone, he was the one who helped me take care of my family. After everything was done, he offered me a cigarette.]

"Minors under the age of twenty are not allowed to smoke, but... I guess this law no longer means anything to you, right?"

"You've grown up, and it's time for you to grow up."

“So learn how to smoke. Smoking is one of the best ways for adults to relieve stress… Just don’t let anyone see you.”

【That was Kousaka Kyosuke's first cigarette in his life.】

[The man's face was also shrouded in smoke, his eyes flushed red, his tears had dried before he arrived, and his own tears had also dried after he finished smoking this cigarette, and he would never cry again from then on.]

[Because adults don't cry, they only smoke and drink.]

[That was their first meeting. The man told Kousaka Kyosuke that he could call him Uncle Takeo because he looked very similar to the actor Takeo Saeki who starred in the movie "The Grudge." So many people teased him that way, and over time he even happily adopted this nickname as his own.]

He reached into his open suit and pulled out a pack of torn cigarettes and a lighter. Kousaka Kyosuke pulled out the only cigarette, half stained with blood, and placed it between his lips, lighting the unstained end with the lighter.

The smell of nicotine filled his mouth and lungs, and the smoke obscured the upper half of Kousaka Kyosuke's face and eyes.

But his fingers were tightly gripping the photo, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

"I'm a policeman...Kousaka Kyosuke kept telling himself this in his mind. 】

Being a police officer is a profession like that. When you become friends or family with another police officer, you must be prepared that they might leave you one day.

[And in this war between humans and Gurongi, this realization has become a reality countless times. Kousaka Kyosuke is no exception. He has long been prepared for this realization and feels that he can pay any price to uphold justice for humanity.]

But he was wrong. He suddenly realized that there were some prices he simply couldn't and wasn't willing to pay.

[After his father, today, Kousaka Kyosuke lost another elder who cared about him. ]

The intense pain in his heart caused his upper body to hunch over, and he gently moved in a corner alone, hidden from the grieving colleagues around him.

Before he finished smoking the cigarette, he had become the boy who had lost his father.

“…But this is the life of a police officer.”

"a."

Kousaka Daisuke silently looked at the "Kousaka Kyosuke" who was in great pain in the light curtain. His eyes were extremely deep, and the barely noticeable wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to have deepened.

Time is a cycle. Some things in this world are always repeated over and over again. Whether it is the former Daisuke Kosaka or the future Kyosuke Kosaka, they are all in this cycle.

"You did a great job and didn't bring shame to me as your master and senior... Sugita."

"Hubby, Kyousuke..."

"I know, Jianao...but he has to get through this hurdle on his own and figure it out on his own, just like me."

Kousaka Yoshino pulled his sleeve, wanting to say something but hesitant, while Kousaka Daisuke shook his head and hugged his wife tightly and said.

"He'll get used to it eventually. If he wants to continue on this path, he'll have to get used to it."

He glanced at his phone on the table and sighed.

"At least, he knows now what he must face when he embarks on this journey—"

"Kyo-Kyosuke!?"

Before he could finish his words, his wife's frightened voice made Kousaka Daisuke turn his gaze back to the light screen in front of him.

"—!"

The scene he saw made this usually silent and dignified man change his expression.

[Sasha——]

The photo of his father and the elders fluttered onto the atrium's floor tiles, tiny grains of glittering sand landing on the face of Kousaka Daisuke.

The unburned cigarette fell from his mouth, and Kousaka Kyosuke stared blankly at his open palm.

The five fingers of this hand are clearly defined, with distinct knuckles. The skin is rough, and calluses remain on the palm from years of martial arts practice and gun handling. It's obvious that this is a hand that has been weathered, its skin as tough as rock.

[But at a certain moment, it seemed as if crystal-like snow particles were falling from the surface of this finger, like sand flowing through the palm of the hand.]

[Kousaka Kyosuke immediately closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the sand that had been falling from his palms had disappeared, like an absurd illusion.]

Only a small amount of sand covering the surface of the photo proves that it is not an illusion.

When a person chooses to embark on a path, fate has already unknowingly woven the ending for him, waiting only for him to reach the end or collapse midway.

[But no matter what the process is, the ending is already determined. ]

[People in this country generally call this phenomenon "呙薄!"

[Unconsciously, the cigarette that fell to the ground had gone out, before it burned to the end.]

21. Darkness Follows You 5K

Chiba Prefecture, Sakura Gakuen Junior High School.

"What is that... bro!?"

Kousaka Kirino stared in disbelief at the fine sand slipping from the fingers of "Kousaka Kyosuke" in the light curtain, and shouted out loudly, unable to suppress the emotions in her heart.

Although she didn't know what this phenomenon meant, when she saw the sand appear, Kousaka Kirino felt as if her heart suddenly stopped beating for a moment.

Watching the fine sand slipping from her hands, she seemed to see Kousaka Kyosuke gradually disintegrating from top to bottom into sand, being blown away by the wind, and finally disappearing completely into the darkness...

A huge fear exploded in her heart. She took out her mobile phone in panic, clicked the phone page without opening the address book, and clicked the buttons on the screen one after another.

For some reasons, the two siblings had a very long cold war period, and this cold war reached its peak in history last year. For a whole year, Kousaka Kirino did not say a word to her brother, like two strangers living in the same house.

Although their relationship seemed to have started to improve a little due to some things in the past week or so, the progress was just that. She even greeted Kousaka Kyousuke with words like "Hey!", "Come here!", and rarely even called Kousaka Kyousuke by his name, let alone the term "brother".

Of course, she also had Kyosuke Kousaka's number in her address book, but she had never called it even once since the day she entered it, and she hadn't even sent a message. It could be said that apart from not blocking it, her attitude towards it was no different from those telecom marketing numbers.

But in such a panic that she even forgot to open her address book, Kousaka Kirino relied on her physical memory to dial in the number without pressing a single wrong key, just like the order she had tried on every troubled night.

“Hurry up and answer it…Hurry up and answer it…!”

The moment she pressed the call button, Kousaka Kirino held the phone tightly to her ear and muttered nervously.

beep - beep - beep -

Every beep of the dial seemed to ring at the bottom of the heart, increasing the frequency of the beating. Kousaka Kirino listened to the beating of her own heart, and her white fingers unconsciously pinched the phone.

puff.

I don't know how long it took in my main consciousness before I heard the phone being connected. Kousaka Kirino impatiently called out the nickname of the person on the other end.

"——Brother! How are you doing over there!?"

"..."

"Hello, hello! Are you talking?"

There was no response from the other end of the phone. The silence was so loud that it made her feel uneasy. She swallowed nervously and spoke.

"Do not worry."

The once familiar voice in my memory came from the other side of the phone now, without any change or fading, still so gentle and doting.

"What can I do now? Did you get the time confused? Idiot~~"

Her heart was suddenly relieved. While she was breathing a sigh of relief, Kousaka Kirino recalled her panicked behavior and words. Her fair face flushed and she spoke stubbornly.

"Hmph! It's all because of you, my idiot brother. You're always causing me so much worry. You're obviously my brother, but you always make me, your sister, worry about you. You don't act like a brother at all! You'd better go home and get some police education from dad. Don't tell anyone you're my brother when you go out. I can't afford to lose you."

“…It’s been a long time.”

"Huh? What are you talking about, idiot brother? Are you even listening to what I'm saying?"

"Of course I have, it's just been a long time."

Kyosuke Kousaka, who was on the other end of the phone, leaned against the head of the bed. He looked up at the ceiling of the health room above his head, a nostalgic smile on his lips.

"It's been a long time... since I heard you call me 'brother', Kirino."

"—"

As soon as these words were spoken, the girl who had been chattering on the other end of the phone fell silent instantly, without a trace of response, as if someone had pressed the mute button.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Kirino?"

beep-

A rapid beeping sound came from the other side of the phone. Kousaka Kyosuke took the phone in silence and saw that the screen showed that the call was over.

Obviously, the good sister, who was overwhelmed with shame, had directly chosen to hang up physically and didn't want to say anything anymore.

"This is exactly the same as when I was a child. It hasn't changed at all."

The smile on his lips gradually disappeared after he finished speaking. Kousaka Kyosuke looked up at the light curtain in front of him, his pupils reflecting the familiar yet unfamiliar figure.

Golden-gray reflections danced in his eyes, and Kousaka Kyosuke looked at his future self in the light screen expressionlessly, as if he was looking at his own reflection in a mirror.

Unconsciously, his demeanor had become somewhat similar to the "Kousaka Kyosuke" in the light curtain. The lines of his profile were like a statue carved out of steel, hard but not cold.

"You knew this outcome a long time ago, didn't you?"

"My future self."

The night sea breeze, carrying a strong fishy smell, blew over Fukushima Prefecture. The red warning light on the hospital roof flickered in the pitch-black night, like a dim red star.

A young man with short white hair sat on the edge of the rooftop, his legs dangling from the edge. He sat there quietly for a long time. His white hair reflected the dim light under the warning lights, giving him an indescribable paleness.

Everything he should and could do for today had already been done, so Zaimokuza, who had no missions to perform, borrowed a key from the hospital attendant and went alone to the rooftop of this hospital, a place where no one usually went.

The rest of the things no longer had anything to do with him. Kousaka Kyousuke had his own sorrows to face, and Zaimokuza also needed a place where no one could disturb him to calm down.

【“…”】

Zaimokuza lowered his head, gazing at the towering buildings before him. His hands resting on his knees, he clutched a photograph, silently examining it.

In the slightly faded photo, four boys and girls in black school uniforms huddled together. The pink-haired girl tightly embraced the arm of the long-black-haired girl, smiling towards the camera. A white-haired boy in a windbreaker was holding a black-haired boy in a scarf. The white-haired boy's bright smile contrasted sharply with the black-haired boy's helpless expression.

[His fingers traced the helpless expression on the black-haired boy's face in the photo. Zaimokuza's mouth seemed to curl upwards at that moment, and his eyes were filled with nostalgia.]

[“It’s strange. I don’t know why, but I suddenly missed you so much today…”]

【"eight--"】

【"Mr. Zaimokuza?"】

The girl's hesitant and timid voice echoed behind him, interrupting the name Zaimokuza was about to say. He froze for a moment, then turned around to look.

[“…Mio?”]

Wearing a coat over her hospital gown, Akiyama Mio opened the door to the rooftop and stood behind it. A cold wind blew in through the open door, causing her to shiver and pull her coat tighter around her, clearly feeling a bit cold.

Her face was still pale, and she looked a little drained. Zaimokuza quickly turned from the edge of the rooftop and ran towards her.

【"I……"】

"It's cold here. Let's go downstairs and talk."

Just as Akiyama Mio took a few steps forward and was about to speak, Zaimokuza grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. He glanced at the girl's feet and spoke.

Akiyama Mio's hospital gown pants just stopped just above her ankles, revealing her delicate, rounded ankles. Her feet were clad in open-toed slippers, and since it was already autumn, her exposed feet were red from the cold.

After closing and locking the rooftop door, Zaimokuza and Akiyama Mio walked downstairs, one after the other. Zaimokuza turned back and asked as they walked.

"Why are you here on the rooftop? And the doctor gave you some medicine. You and Xiao Wei and the others should still be asleep right now."