Love Comes After Learning

"Now there are some more contents in it, so you can watch it again." Asada shrugged and said casually, "Although I don't know how many times you peeked at it when I was not around."

"Who made your door unlocked..." Ruyi avoided his gaze with some guilt, took the book, and was about to say something to him.

boom!

Asada closed the door directly, and only said: "Call me when you have time, be careful on the road." Just like that, she was blocked from the door, and even locked the door with a clang.

Like those ruthless scumbags.

"cut!"

Rui wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction, walked towards the taxi with her books and luggage, and sat in the back seat after dealing with the inquiries from her mother and sister, with a little nostalgia on her face, fingertips rubbing the rough book cover .

"He actually gave me this book, did he recall something..."

Mumbling without confidence, she lowered her eyes and turned to the first page.

Re-reading the story of meeting him six years ago—

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

six years ago.

Because of work and wanting to get away from the pain of divorcing her father, my mother decided to travel for a while.

But in this way, no one in the family can take care of sixteen-year-old sister Yangcai, and nine-year-old me.

Probably out of trouble, my mother didn't send them to their grandmother's house in the countryside, but asked a relative in Tokyo to take care of them for a month.

Tachibana Rui has no objection to this. She is only nine years old and has a quiet and shy personality. Although she is full of uneasiness and fear in her heart, she really wants to leave with her mother, but she still cannot express her request.

On the other hand, Sister Yangcai, who is already a high school student, expressed maturely that she would take good care of herself and her younger sister. While asking her mother to be careful on the road, she also hinted that she wanted to eat local liqueur chocolates, so that her mother would remember to buy local products when she came back.

Really great.

Unlike her, after her mother left, she secretly cried several times in the toilet.

So at that time, Tachibana Rui realized that she was far from her sister.

Regardless of personality, appearance, and interpersonal relationships, the nine-year-old she is no match for the sixteen-year-old Yangcai, and it seems to be a matter of course in the eyes of herself and everyone else.

After staying in Asada's house, she realized this once again.

In just a few days, Sister Yangcai was able to establish a good relationship with the nearby residents. Every time she went for a walk in the park, regardless of her age, someone would always greet her.

She always responds with vigor, feeling like a native resident of this city, without the strangeness of being a newcomer at all.

On the contrary, even if Rui wants to make friends, because of her direct words and cold expression, no child wants to get along with her who is not human and interesting.

Gradually, she saw more and more friends around her sister, but she could only read a book silently on the bench in the park, listening to the laughter.

'Sure enough, I'm not suitable for making friends. 'I think so.

Like a shadow that slanted and disappeared under the sun, she stopped going out and went to Uncle Asada's study to borrow books all day long.

Whether you can read it or not, if you immerse yourself in the world of paper, you can always forget the depression and depression in reality.

One day, she happened to bump into a boy she had never seen before, walking down from the second floor to go to the bathroom.

Obviously Rui was standing in the corridor looking at him in surprise, but he acted like he was the only one in the whole room, went downstairs while reading a book, went to the bathroom with the book, and returned to the room while reading the book.

The whole set of actions was silent, and she didn't even glance at her, so that she couldn't help but wonder if she had encountered a studious ghost who wanted to study even after she died.

However, is the Asada family the kind of Onmyoji family written in novels?To be able to raise such a thin ghost, it doesn't have much attack power at first glance...

Thinking so, she didn't dare to catch up to see it, and went directly to ask Aunt Asada about the boy's ghost.

When Aunt Asada heard this, her expression became a little more complicated, and after she hesitated to speak, she whispered to her.

"Rui-chan, that's not a ghost, but your cousin...

The reason why I haven't introduced him to you for so long is because he had a serious illness before, and now he doesn't like to meet others..."

Listening to the other party's explanation, Rui suddenly remembered that every time it was meal time, Aunt Asada would indeed bring up an additional dish, and bring down the empty rice bowl after eating.

Although the sisters were puzzled by this, they were family affairs after all, so they didn't dare to ask more questions. Only now did they realize that it was for the "cousin" upstairs to eat.

After telling her this, Aunt Asada also asked her, if possible, try to make friends with him, maybe it will cheer him up and stop being a ghost.

Rui said decisively at the time: "Can I not? What if I get infected?"

The corners of Aunt Asada's mouth twitched: "...No, he is in good health, but his heart is sick. This is not contagious."

"Sick inside?" Ruyi, who was only nine years old, seemed to understand, and was a little curious about what kind of disease was going on in her heart, so that she became like a ghost in a horror movie, with pale skin and an ugly face.

But she didn't go directly to that cousin, but waited for Sister Yangcai to come back from playing and told her about it.

It wasn't because she was afraid of being infected that she found a wayfinding scapegoat, but in her heart, the word making friends had nothing to do with her, and Aunt Asada should ask her sister for help.

"By the way, why didn't you tell us about this when we first moved in?"

Rui blinked her big clear eyes, and looked at Aunt Asada with pure and clean eyes.

She gave a wry smile and replied a little depressed.

"If Shinichi knows that I instigated you to get close to him, he will definitely be even more ignorant..."

The way it is now is actually pretty good... she muttered.

It seems that the couple have also been troubled and uncomfortable for a long time because of that cousin.

After Sister Yangcai found out about this, she immediately patted her chest and promised to get along well with her cousin, and then rushed directly into the door that seemed to have never been opened.

Not long after, she walked out of the room with a dejected look on her face.

"It's so dark, so dull...the type I'm not good at dealing with..."

A sixteen-year-old girl is helpless in front of a ten-year-old boy, but she is still that sister Yangcai who is good at making friends?

Xiao Rui was very surprised. Is there anyone in this world whose older sister can't be a friend?

Recalling that person's appearance, it is indeed a bit gloomy...

No, it should be said that the whole person seems to be rejected by the world, with a sense of loneliness and separation that goes deep to the soul.

... Recently, she has read too many strange novels, which made her use this way to describe the other party involuntarily.

However, this also made Xiao Ruyi more curious.

Out of curiosity, even if she had no intention of becoming friends with him, she quietly opened the door of his room in a quiet afternoon.

The first thing that catches the eye is that the curtains are neatly drawn, and only the fluorescent lamps quietly illuminate the four corners of the room, as if a neat room that no one has ever lived in.

Xiao Ruyi turned her gaze quietly, and saw the thin boy sitting at the desk, looking down at a book.

Short black hair, ordinary appearance, only the feeling of being completely out of tune with the surrounding atmosphere, which makes people feel a little strange.

All the volume in the air seemed to be turned to the minimum, and he even deliberately lowered the sound of turning pages, as if he was tensing his nerves all the time.

The eyes that looked at the side were deep and dim, and they clung to the pages of the book tightly as if in a daze, so serious that it was terrifying.

Ruyi observed the door for a long time, and then looked at the shadow under his feet, and after confirming that he was really not a good imitation ghost, he walked over without flinching.

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

"I say……"

Suddenly, his whole body trembled, his fingers subconsciously pinched the pages of the book tightly, and his shoulders shrank slightly.

Tachibana Ruyi stopped in her tracks, pursed her lips tightly, and couldn't help but let out a low laugh.

Is he scared... so funny.

He should have heard laughter, and then slowly turned around.

There is no expression, even the two black eyes are like a bottomless pool, and there is no sign of wavering.

"..."

The two stared at each other in silence for a while.

He didn't ask anything, turned back and continued to read his book.

Just like when we met downstairs just now, he treats everyone as pebbles on the side of the road; since they are pebbles, you don’t have to care what the other party is doing when they come in, don’t even have to glance over, just keep doing your own thing .

Presumably he had the same attitude when Sister Yangcai came in, right?

You can tell at a glance that this cousin is the type who will never pay attention to others when he doesn't want to talk.

...Because, I am the same.

I don't know what kind of emotion is driven by it, maybe it is the expectation of finding the same kind?Xiao Ruyi closed the door softly, walked to him silently, glanced at the books on his entire bookshelf, and asked suddenly.

"Do you like to read books?"

"..." He didn't answer, and Rui was not surprised, her round red eyes rolled around, and said again.

"If you only read books, you won't be able to make friends. Just like me."

His fingers that turned the pages seemed to pause, but the magnitude was so slight that one wondered if he was dazzled.

However, Xiao Rui did not miss it.

It was like a signal, and she couldn't help but get excited. She looked at him expectantly and asked tentatively.

"Do you... like being alone?"

Being alone isn't such a bad thing, is it?

It doesn't matter if you can't make friends, as long as you can like the feeling of being alone, friends and so on are hindrances, and it's best not to have them, right?

If you think so too, then I...

"do not like."

He finally spoke, even if it wasn't the answer he wanted.

The immature voice was weak and hoarse, as if she hadn't spoken for a long time.

"Eh……"

Ruyi stared blankly for a long time, he didn't care about his own reaction, but continued to look at the book in front of him.

"...So, you can talk."

She gradually moved her eyes away, looked at the floor, and whispered without emotion.