I’m Really Unnerved In Tokyo

"Why hasn't Longma come here yet? Is the traffic jam so serious?"

Seeing that dusk was about to pass, Araki Sousuke took the lantern from Kotori Yumami and took out the lighter.

"Leave him alone, don't miss the time..."

Although he is not superstitious about the "rules" of these sacrifices, only respect for customs can reflect respect for the dead.

"Crack."

The faint spark on the lighter turned into a dim yellow flame, which moved up along the wick and swayed gently inside the lantern.

Xiaoniaoyou Mayumi at the side also lit the lantern in his hand devoutly for the ancestors of the Xiaoniaoyou clan.

Then, the two hung the "Welcome Soul Fire" on both sides of the elf shed, one on the left and one on the right.

Under the illumination of the lights, the cute "elf horse", "elf cow" and wild "elf centipede" in the elf shed come alive, as if endowed with a different spirituality.

That's right, Sousuke Araki didn't want to eat that expensive 40-centimeter-long cucumber in the end, so he personally made a very impressive "centipede human centipede"...

He also boasted that this is the Ferrari of the "elf" world, and Xingping and Lizi must be very cool when they come back from this car.

"By the way, Xiaoniao Youshi, there should be more lanterns, right?"

Looking at the things in the fairy shed, Araki Sousuke's eyes froze slightly.

"Yes, there are... But, the number of lanterns should be enough."

Hearing his request, Kotori Yumasumi tilted her head in doubt.

"Please help me get another one, I want to order it for Uncle Qingren alone."

The Meng Lan Pen Festival happens to be the anniversary of Uncle Qingren's death, and it is also...

Sousuke Araki's birthday.

...

Four years ago, Yokohama City University Hospital.

"Uh..."

In the ward, a boy with a golden airplane head was forcibly inserting a handful of exaggeratedly large and messy flowers into a small glass on the window sill.

"Zongjie, I've said it several times, as long as someone arrives to visit me, don't randomly pick the flowers downstairs in the hospital. If the nurse sees it, she will think it's me..."

On the hospital bed, a middle-aged man with glasses and a skinny face watched the boy's rough movements with some distress.

"But, Uncle Qingren, the wards are all white and monotonous. If you wait for a long time, you will be bored. How can you not add some color! Anyway, these flowers bloom in the flower garden downstairs and the upstairs are the same for the patients. watch……"

"You bastard, you are always so self-willed... Forget it, anyway, I won't be able to control you in the future, so let me do whatever you want."

The middle-aged man who seemed to want to say something, smiled helplessly, and changed the subject: "Life in college, is it going well?"

"Ordinary, the food in the Kendo club is not bad, there are also gunners for the exam, and there are many part-time benefits at the convenience store..."

"Whether it's good to go to college, to be a pole, or to be a policeman, in short, you children can live an ordinary life."

Lying back on the bed, the middle-aged man put his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and smiled.

After placing the flowers, the boy sat beside the hospital bed and looked at him with some concern.

"I always think about us, but you, Uncle Qingren, really don't plan to try chemotherapy. The doctor said there is still hope. If it's about money..."

"No, this is not a problem that doctors can solve."

Seeing the determined expression of the middle-aged man, the boy frowned.

Don't look at Uncle Qingren's gentle appearance, he is actually quite stubborn. Once he makes a decision, he won't accept anyone's persuasion at all.

"...Zongjie, by the way, today is the Menglan Pen Festival, and it's also your birthday. It's been twenty years before you know it."

On the hospital bed, the middle-aged man looked at the ceiling, his eyes gradually became deep.

"So, is that why you specially called me here? I don't even know if Uncle Qingren said so. I don't have the habit of remembering my own birthday. Anyway, everyone's birthday is Uncle Qingren. You can send it to the orphanage on whatever day you want." registered..."

The boy touched the back of his head indifferently.

"Birthday" is more like an unaffordable luxury for them.

"Ahem, who said that I registered casually...Twenty years old, but I can drink alcohol and control my life. When I was your age, I had already published my first book..."

On the hospital bed, the middle-aged man was still muttering to himself, as if recalling the time when he was twenty years old.

"Sorry, for adult wine, I had already drank it with Xinghei last month."

Because the legal drinking age in Japan is 20 years old, on their 20th birthday, many young people will choose to go to an izakaya with their friends to get drunk and experience the excitement of alcohol "legally".

However, for some people, this "statute" is obviously just words written on waste paper.

"Sousuke, unlike Ryoma and Xinghei, you are very strong, stronger than you imagined..."

The middle-aged man turned his head sideways and looked at the boy in front of him seriously.

"Well, in terms of fighting, physical strength, and size, it is indeed stronger than them."

The boy accepted his "praise" shamelessly with a thick face.

"So, you have to help others, within your ability, go all out to do it."

"Huh? In terms of social class, am I the one who needs public relief the most?"

"It's okay if no one understands, it doesn't matter if you don't get gratitude, it doesn't matter if you are confused..."

Ignoring the young man's complaints, the middle-aged man turned over, turned his back to the other party, and continued as if he was talking to himself and as if Chun Chun was telling him.

"...promise me that you will try your best to help more people and bring encouragement to others."

"Even if you are going to hell, you have to break through the door as a hero under the eyes of everyone."

"Don't be like me, leaving your family and friends behind, and dying alone in the end."

Hearing the gradually heavy words, the young man turned his face awkwardly: "Hey, hey, what are you talking about, obviously for the orphanage, Uncle Qing is everyone's hero! As long as we are here, you won't be alone..."

Twenty years ago, it was this man who suddenly appeared and saved the Little Daisy Orphanage that was about to close down, allowing more and more orphans to receive good care and grow up.

"What kind of hero, I'm just a deceased person who has borrowed from hell for twenty years and wandered around the world... However, the current situation can be regarded as an explanation to 'that one'."

The middle-aged man murmured softly, his voice became smaller and smaller, and then he stopped talking as if he fell asleep.

"Hey, Uncle Qingren, what the hell are you talking about?!"

Looking at the middle-aged man whose back was turned to him and stopped talking, the boy stood up angrily, and quickly walked around to the other side of the hospital bed.

His intuition told him that something bad had happened.

Glancing at the middle-aged man lying on the bed, the sharp eyes of the young man instantly faded away.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the ceiling above his head, as if there was something interesting there.

"...Understood, I promise you."

Even so, tears still filled his eyes, sliding down his face unstoppably.

It's a pity that the middle-aged man who was lying on his side on the bed, as if he was just asleep, could never hear his promise.