The faded person who shuttles between the everyday and the extraordinary

"Is this my problem?"

"??"

"What's going on with this incredible expression? Do you know how much pressure I was under when you disappeared for more than a month!"

The girl who became more and more angry as she thought about it turned around aggressively and stared up at him with what she thought was a ferocious look. He unconsciously reached out and touched her head, causing her expression to freeze: "... ..What are you doing?"

"It feels so cute, if I don't pay attention..."

"Go to hell——!" She raised her leg and stepped on An Yan's foot, but he quickly ducked back and stepped directly into a small puddle.

The sudden avoidance prevented her from reacting. As a witch, the girl's body was no different from that of ordinary people. She was about to fall to the ground. At this moment, An Yan quickly grabbed her collar and pulled her away. It was brought up again.

The two of them just looked at each other wordlessly. Maintaining this position could not be called romantic. Instead, they remained in a stalemate for a long time like a prelude to a fight.

"What does this gesture mean? Aren't you going to let go?" Looking at his hand holding her collar, even Irena didn't know what to say.

"Why do you say this without thanking me?"

"Thank you...then? Why are you hiding! If you don't hide, will I fall?!"

"....What should I do? I suddenly regretted saving you. Why did you step on me?"

"What were you doing while I was talking seriously?!"

"...Today's children are really more troublesome than the last." He wanted to push her down again, but after thinking about it, he decided not to let go, but also helped her straighten her clothes. Clothes, smiled and changed the subject: "It's been so long, why not say something happy?"

"....I'm hungry."

"By the way, how about you treat me to dinner?"

"Don't even think about it. The hem of my clothes is wet because of you. I always feel so disgusting..."

"What happened to you is not surprising at all."

"Are you sincere in your apology?" The girl immediately changed her expression, narrowed her eyes in displeasure, took out her wand and poked him in the face: "Do you know how much pressure you have caused me to accumulate?? When Hongxia and the others were worried about you In addition to comforting me, I told you that you must be fine! I ate some pudding by the way, and they suspected that I was heartless!? What do you think of my position??"

"....Is this my fault?"

"Of course! How are you going to make it up to me?"

"But you can't be called..."

"——You'd better think carefully before you speak, otherwise... I will reveal all the dirty information about you!" An overly bright smile appeared on Irena's face, but there was danger in her eyes. of light.

But An Yan spread his hands indifferently: "Look at what you said, what else can I have to say?"

"Not too much, okay? Have you forgotten what you wrote in the last email you sent me more than a month ago?"

"....What's going on?"

What did you do before you set off? ——An Yan was thinking hard, but suddenly thought that he seemed to have sent a text message to Irena, which seemed to be... "When this incident is over, I will go back to my hometown to get married? Is there any problem with this? Ah, is it true? .....”

"Yes! That's it! You proposed to me? What should I do? Do I want to tell your sister? I was harassed by your brother?"

Seeing his wavering, Irena did not miss the moment of weakness, and a treacherous smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"How despicable! We are obviously close friends! You actually threatened me with those things?"

"What are you talking about~ It's because we are close friends that I didn't ask you for mental damages."

"...Yeah, I really should thank you."

"What? You look unconvinced?"

"No, no...I'm very convinced."

"So how are you going to make it up to me?"

"Put this aside for now."

"Don't imitate me! Don't you want to give me money?"

"Of course, do you need to say it?"

"So confident?!"

.........

In the light rain, the two of them held the same umbrella, but they were noisy as usual and headed in the direction of STARRY.

.........................

.........................

Although there was no preparation, An Yan arrived at the familiar STARRY and followed Irena to the upper entrance of the house.

Seeing Irena taking out the key and opening the door, he couldn't help but deliberately act a little nervous because he was suddenly too free: "It's my first time to go to a girl's house, I'm a little nervous... .Irena, what should I do?”

"..." After hearing this, Irena suddenly stopped her movements, looked at him expressionlessly, and said in a rare serious tone:

"Please, don't pretend to be a pure little boy here. To be honest, it's quite disgusting, and - it's so fake!"

"Is that so?" He suddenly returned to normal in boredom, swung the umbrella in his hand, and said in confusion: "But it's the first time you go to a girl's house, and it's considered basic etiquette to pretend that it's the first time you go to the opposite sex's house, right? ?”

"What kind of etiquette is that for the scumbag Sea King?? Ah, but it looks a lot like you?"

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding." Irena waved her hands casually without apology, then pushed the door open and walked in. She even shouted directly inside: "I'm back! By the way, I also picked up something. Oh! Hongxia, won’t you come and take a look?”

"I'm not a thing!"

"Ah, yes...it is true that you are not a thing."

With a rather perfunctory nod, Irena walked over on her own, leaving him to lock the door.

But after passing through the first floor where debris was piled, he hadn't even entered the hall on the second floor. Irena, who didn't feel like bringing a guest home, went back upstairs and went to her room on the third floor to find clothes. Just plan to take a shower.

Before entering the changing room, he also noticed An Yan coming over. He glared at him fiercely, silently warned him not to peek, and then locked the door of the changing room.

"Hmm~~ Even if you don't look, it's good to listen to the sounds outside? I always feel like I can imagine what's going on inside~ But, wouldn't this make me a pervert? But...I'm not a serious person to begin with. Human?"

Standing in the deserted aisle, An Yan was caught in an inner dispute. However...if he listened carefully, he found that he could not hear any sound at all.

The bathroom is inside the dressing room. Can you hear noise through two doors?

"...Is it really too boring as soon as I come back? It's really a sin for me to do such a thing if I am so pure - I want to hear sounds even though I have all the power of sight? It's just a waste of money!"

But... even though he was talking to himself, he didn't actually take action.

After all, the other party was his friend, and he was not unruly to that extent. He was just really bored and had a little desire for revenge against Irena's previous attitude, so he thought about some strange things.

Just like that, I shook my head hard to get these things out of my mind, then walked downstairs and sat on the sofa in the living room on the second floor. I was ready to sort out my mood and think about how to explain the wound on my shoulder when I got home... . Just say that the wound was repaired by cosmetic surgery?

Just thought of this...

"-Huh?!" Before he could think deeply about whether medical cosmetic surgery could cover up gunshot wounds, a surprised voice came from the kitchen.

Looking subconsciously, he saw a blond girl wearing a white shirt, a dark blue knee-length skirt, and a pink apron, dressed as a cook, staring at him with her mouth wide open as if stunned.

But he raised his hand very naturally and shook it slightly, then smiled and said: "Long time no see, Hongxia, I'm here to play. Please cook me an extra meal later! I want to taste my mother's food after a long absence." The taste~!”

"Oh, oh, okay, I'll give you some extra food - no, that's not right! Who is the mother!? No, no, no... it's still not right."

His words made Yi Di Zhihongxia feel confused. There were so many things he wanted to complain about, and he didn't even know what to say for a while.

This made him stand up quickly, picked up a water glass and handed it over: "Anyway, let's drink some water to calm down first?"

"Uh...thank you." Hongxia didn't think much, took a sip, then took a deep breath along her chest to calm down, then looked up at him again and said solemnly:

"You...why are you here?"

"To be honest, I was brought back by Irena. From another perspective, it can be understood that I was abducted home by Irena."

"So it's like this, it's understandable - how can I understand it!" Hong Xia nodded with a clear look, but she came back to her senses halfway through her words, and then covered her head and just returned to normal but then became normal again. My head was in confusion, and I even felt like my skull was hurting: "....What on earth did you do?"

"I was joking just now, but I can put this aside for now. First of all... what are we going to eat tonight? By the way, I want to ask, your father won't be home tonight, right?"

"Why do you suddenly ask about dad's whereabouts?!"

"Because my daughter suddenly brought a man home to stay overnight, as a father, she would definitely make things difficult for me, right? I'm not ready to meet my parents yet, and I'm quite afraid of birth."

"You suddenly decided to stay overnight? Are you going to meet your parents? No, why are you afraid of giving birth??"

There were so many flaws in his words that Hong Xia felt like she couldn't even spit them out.

Coupled with the previous additional questions, her head was almost overloaded for a moment. It took a while for her to hold her head in her hands before she reached out and pointed her palms at him to signal him to shut up.

Then she cleared her mind, stared at him with half-closed eyes, and asked the question that mattered most to her: "...Tell me, where have you been for more than a month?"

"That's a long time to talk about."

"It's okay, I have time."

"Actually, when I was very young, my family..."

"——Wait a minute! I'm just asking you about your recent situation. Do you have to talk about it from so long ago??"

As soon as he opened his mouth, Hongxia interrupted him dumbfounded.

"Okay, let's start with..."

"No, let's wait a moment. You're all wet. You'd better take a shower first."

"....I didn't bring a change of clothes."

"It's okay. I can lend you Dad's clothes. Anyway, he won't come back twice a year. Anyway, let's take a shower first! I'll listen to what you say later."

Hongxia put her hands on his shoulders, helped him turn around, and pushed him to the public restroom on the second floor.

But before she even took two steps, she noticed that she was staring down at his butt, and asked in confusion: "Why is your butt wet... Are those footprints?"

"Yes, Irena kicked me. She is too much. You have to talk to her later. She asked me for money as soon as we met."

"Ah...yes, I understand."

Hong Xia, who almost understood the relationship between the two of them, nodded perfunctorily and pushed him directly into the dressing room. Even when closing the door for him, she didn't forget to remind him: "The bathroom here is full of dad and guests." Use it, so it doesn’t matter if you use it casually.”

"...The excitement I had just now disappeared in an instant."

"What are you expecting?" Hong Xia's eyes suddenly became sharp.

"Nothing." He turned around expressionlessly and said solemnly: "I was just worried that you would spy on me or listen to the sound of my bathing outside."

“Can someone be that boring???”

"....I'm taking a shower, please give me clothes quickly."

"No...why are you suddenly unhappy??"

Hongxia stared at him speechlessly for a while, then shook her head in confusion and entered her parents' room, taking out the clothes her father had worn when he was young but had never been thrown away.

He didn't say anything, just took the clothes silently, and simply entered the bathroom.

However, Hong Xia unexpectedly did not leave. Instead, she pressed her forehead against the door of the locker room and whispered: "Well... An Yan."

"What? You haven't left yet?....You don't really want to take a peek, do you?" An Yan, who had just taken off her clothes, reflexively covered her vitals in the room.

"——Of course not! What are you thinking about?"

"That's a pity."

"What's the regret?"

"Just kidding, please don't pay attention."

"Really... just listen to me for a moment and don't interrupt me all the time."

The girl, who had just been in a good mood, was immediately confused and kicked the door lightly in frustration.

It wasn't until An Yan inside promised not to interrupt, that she whispered: "Um... you're obviously not that bad, and you're also handsome, but at that time I doubted you. I'm really, really sorry. ...!"

"Oh, oh...it's okay, I don't care at all."

The sudden apology made An Yan in the locker room look confused. It was not so much that he didn't care but that he didn't remember it at all.

After all, it had been too long, and he really couldn't remember some small things... At least things of that level could only be considered trivial to him.

Only Hongxia had always doubted herself, whether he would borrow money from Kita Ikuyo, especially... An Yan suddenly encountered an accident at that time, which made her even more worried. Worried that I missed my last chance to apologize.

"That's what I've always wanted to say...Well~ now that I'm done, I feel really refreshed~! What do you want to eat? Can I help you prepare it?"

"Let's have a full banquet."

"——How could such a thing exist!" The girl who had just breathed a sigh of relief complained to him reflexively, and then angrily returned to the kitchen, without even looking back: " You can eat whatever I do!"

"Obviously this is fine from the beginning..."