Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"I've already said that it's okay to go shopping by yourself. Why do you have to follow me?"

Walking in the hot spring town with his bag on his back, Kuroba Rise could still smell the fragrance coming from the man behind him, which had a citrus aroma.

"Leaving a child alone at this time requires no common sense."

Yuji looked at the light blue sky and felt that there was no need to find something interesting and exciting. He just walked quietly in the town, blowing the wind with the smell of sulfur, which was indescribably comfortable.

"I haven't taken a bath yet, but I feel a lot cleaner."

Hearing these abrupt words, Kuroba Rise glanced at him and continued walking ahead. He saw a funny mask being sold in a shop and paid for one to hang on his head.

"I don't like bathing."

She stuffed the change she found into a small red purse, and her eyes were drawn to the small town locals wearing wooden clogs.

"I usually just rinse it off at home, and grandma never forces me to take a bath."

"Really?" Yuji was sure that this child lived with his grandmother: "In that case, he must hate rainy days, right?"

"rain?"

The girl's doubts puzzled Yuji. It sounded like she had never seen rain before, but this was unrealistic and incomprehensible. However, the boy relaxed still. After all, it was not certain whether there would be a chance to meet in the future.

The two of them have reached the end of the hot spring town, which is a lush hill. A road has been built around the mountain. There are two white plastic boards standing on both sides near the intersection. The words on them are faintly unclear. But you can still vaguely identify the line running between Kyoto and the small town.

After finding a bench and sitting down, Kuroba Rise and Kudo Yuji looked up at the mountain together. Normally, they should be looking at the town, but they didn't, so they inevitably attracted the attention of passersby.

"It feels so strange here."

Kuroba Rise didn't know why he felt this way. He covered his chest and looked at Kudo Yuji: "I feel depressed. There are obviously many people in the town, but I always see an empty town."

"Because they don't stay here forever."

The young man held his chin and glanced back at the town: "This place is not close to the city. After the peak tourist season is over, young people will probably choose to go out to work and leave their children and the elderly here."

Over the past few decades of development in Japan, the population in big cities has become so concentrated that it is so scary that even Kyoto or the towns next to Tokyo may look like a deserted land at night.

Kuroba Rise always felt that her eyes were sore, but she couldn't explain why. Even though the people in the town were smiling happily, she felt pity for them inexplicably.

"I feel stupid." The girl noticed that the man beside her frowned because of her words, and hurriedly explained and pointed at herself: "I mean me."

"That's it." In fact, Yuji was not angry: "The pity in the eyes of others may be a great happiness to them."

Realizing that the girl didn't understand, Yuji hesitated and thought of a suitable explanation: "For example, the children who came with you were very unhappy when the doctor took them to eat conveyor belt sushi for the first time, because they I usually eat high-end sushi priced at 1,000 yen.”

[Have I ever told him who his classmates are? 】

While Kuroba Rise was still thinking about this issue, he heard Yuji continue: "But for villages and towns outside Japan's urban areas, if there is an eight-hour convenience store in a small town, it is already a well-known center. There. As a child, the conveyor belt sushi served by migrant workers on TV is unimaginable.”

Sympathy for backward areas due to material wealth is also a kind of arrogance to a certain extent, thinking that their lives must be full of hardships and sufferings, and are not even a human life.

"But for children like you, it might be good to have sympathy. At least one day in the future, someone will remember that they are more than simple population numbers."

Yuji rubbed the girl's head, and unexpectedly discovered that... her head was quite round.

"Would you do the same thing?" Kuroba Riyo did not object.

"I'm sorry to say that when my mother took me to the countryside for the first time, I brought a large bag of clothes that I couldn't wear, and wanted to give them to the children in the countryside." Yuji thought of when he was eight years old: " As a result, guess what, those kids particularly disliked my pair of 8,000 yen sneakers, saying they were inconvenient for farming and running and were of no use at all.”

"what about now?"

"Now? Of course I don't feel any sympathy at all." Yuji put his hands behind his head and took a deep breath: "Why are you so depressed? I have to live a good life, otherwise I will be too sorry for taking me to the countryside. 's mother."

After he came back that time, he understood that the couple had definitely peeked at his composition and were worried about his mental problems, so they arranged such an event.

"By the way, how did you guess which classmates I was in the same group with?" Kuroba Roshi jumped down from the bench.

"Most parents in the first grade of Didan Primary School will not bring their children here. After all, it is too far from the city, and there is no point in coming here without staying for one night. Parents who do not know how to use hotels can get permission from the teacher. , probably only Dr. Ali.”

Yuji proudly raised his index finger, shook it back and forth in front of the little girl, and said her familiar words: "This is just a preliminary judgment."

In fact, because he met Miss Kinoshita, he was sure that it was probably Dr. Agasa's.

"Is Mr. Kudo married?"

After meeting Kudo Yuji, the girl asked a question that was her second concern.

"We are already planning to get married."

"Eh...what kind of person is he?"

There were many things she didn't know, such as her mother's true identity, but before entering school, she vaguely heard her grandmother's words the night she was lulled to sleep by Chris singing nursery rhymes.

(Your parents must love you because they love each other.)
Her thoughts were pulled back by Kudo Yuji's hesitation. The girl stared at the boy doubtfully, seeming to be thinking about what he was thinking.

"They... are gentle, but naughty, well, there are many of them." A troubled smile appeared on the boy's lips unconsciously: "But the most important thing is that only when I face them can I feel the responsibility of love."

"Love and responsibility?"

She knew the meaning of responsibility, something that had to be done.

"Wait? You seemed to have mentioned them just now, right?"

Ignoring the stunned girl, he felt that there was nothing good to do sitting here. In addition, for small town life, it was almost time for dinner. The boy stood up holding the back of the bench and decided to go back.

"Hey, don't ignore me!"

The girl touched the mask on her head, her eyes fell on Kudo Yuji's hand, and she noticed that he looked over and turned his head awkwardly.

"Want to hold hands?"

It is indeed difficult to handle a child of this age, but she cannot be left here alone.

"Don't treat me like a kid who needs to be taken care of."

"So it's not necessary?"

The girl glanced at Kudo Yuji again and stretched out her hand unnaturally.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not that I want to lead you, it's just that it's too pitiful for you to go back alone."

"Hi hi." (End of chapter)