Tokyo: After years of stagnation, the heiress of the yakuza arrives.

"Xiaoqing, have you been feeling lonely lately?"

No.

In the lobby on the first floor, Shimotsuki Takari and Miyazaki Kiyoshi were playing a game of ace versus ace, while Kuroba Shido was beautifully invisible, running to the side and becoming a transparent person.

Holy crap, is this what a battle between the strong is like? It's terrifying! Just the residual force was enough to make this trash almost lose his footing!

As for why things turned out this way, that's a long story...

In the beginning of time...

Well, okay, actually we can keep it short.

In short, the minister directly overturned the fixed plot and clichés in the novel, getting rid of the long and tedious setup and filler scenes.

Pretend you don't know what it is, then feign ignorance, pretend to test the waters, lure the enemy in, and see what they're really up to...

Or perhaps it was all a misunderstanding, and through mind reading, she accidentally learned about her parents' good intentions, was moved by their kindness, and ended up making dumplings together... wait, no, this isn't China, it should be everyone making sushi together?

None of the above are available.

All that remained was the Minister's resolute gaze, and even faster than that gaze came the Minister's righteous iron fist!

What are you mumbling about?

Take this!

As a result, the minister showed no mercy and went straight for the kill, thwarting the long-planned scheme of Miyazaki Ritsuko and Shimotsuki Takari.

The minister has figured out everything about the bitter tea seeds!

And then it turned into what it is now.

Shuangyue Gaoli had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it. They had already said so much, so she had to do it even if she couldn't. At this point, there was no use backing down.

Lying only fuels anger and completely destroys the other person's trust...

Okay, just kidding. I'm never provoked, and I've never been trusted.

Miyazaki Kiyoshi always believed in himself, always managed his emotions well, and was not influenced by the people or things around him... What, you're asking how Kuroba Shido did it?

Do you think Shido Kuroba counts as human?

Alien, okay? From the distant M78 Nebula, Ultraman's human form, a skilled user of the Noah Spark, the terminator of the rice ball head, and the rider of the Forgotten Ghost...

"No?" Shimotsuki Takagi frowned, wondering what was being recorded in the essence of what she held in her hand.

Miyazaki waited on the side, watching the "investigator" sitting in front of him without moving, showing no emotion or fluctuation, just repeatedly completing the same mechanical tasks.

Just finish this quickly, and then... club activities!

"Alright, Xiaoqing, have you been having trouble sleeping lately?" After noting down the previous question and analysis, Shuangyue Gaoli moved on to the next question.

"no."

Having trouble falling asleep?

"no."

"Woke up in the middle of the night?"

"no."

"Woke up early?"

"no."

Shuangyue Gaoli paused for a moment while holding the pen.

It's not because the answer is hard to understand.

Rather, it was Miyazaki Kiyoshi who answered too quickly.

The moment she uttered her question, Miyazaki Kiyoshi returned with the answer, as if she didn't need to think or search at all, or rather, she already knew what she was going to ask before Shimotsuki Takari even asked the question.

"And your appetite?"

"normal."

Have you been experiencing any significant mood swings lately?

"no."

"Are there any things you used to enjoy that you're no longer interested in?"

"no."

"In terms of social interactions, have you recently been thinking about proactively engaging with others?"

"no need."

Shimotsuki Takari paused for a moment as she took notes.

Miyazaki Kiyoshi looked at her calmly: "This question is too similar to the previous one. If you just want to confirm your social withdrawal, you can directly ask me if I avoid others."

Shuangyue Gaoli: "..."

Ritsuko Miyazaki: "..."

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

Very competitive.

too strong.

Is this the legendary case where patients complain about the low efficiency of doctors' consultations and directly help doctors optimize their question banks?

Kuroba Shido sat to the side, holding a cup of tea, trying his best to curl up like a sofa cushion to avoid being swept away by the shockwave of this high-level match.

He understands it very well now.

This is not a place for him. He should just find a place to lie down properly... He'll be killed the moment he shows his face!

Shuangyue Gaoli slowly exhaled and readjusted her rhythm.

"Xiaoqing, let me ask you another way: have you been deliberately avoiding contact with others?"

"It wasn't intentional."

"So, there was unintentional avoidance?"

"I just won't engage in unnecessary communication."

What kind of communication is considered unnecessary?

"Without new information, there can be no progress in things, nor can there be any communication that brings about practical results."

Kuroba Shido's heart skipped a beat.

It’s over.

He suddenly felt that Miyazaki Kiyoshi's words were an insult to 99 percent of humanity.

Especially Yamamoto.

According to the Minister's standards, a creature like Yamamoto, whose mouth is full of nonsense about "corner wood," "Noah's Spark," and "evil rice ball," should be considered a source of negative information pollution.

Of course, he, Kuroba Shido, is different.

Although he often talks nonsense, his nonsense contains survival wisdom, abstract philosophy, and a profound critique of the oppression of capital by the lower classes.

Rounding down, he was a thinker.

Miyazaki Kiyoshi suddenly glanced in his direction.

Kuroba Shido immediately lowered his head and drank his tea.

Italian pasta should be mixed with No. 42 concrete, because if Yamamoto's rice balls were to join a club, it would inevitably turn cat investigation reports into Ultraman monster encyclopedias, and Amemiya-sensei's cooking could be directly used for the Tokyo rat extermination project...

Kiyoshi Miyazaki: "..."

She looked away.

Shuangyue Gaoli noticed the brief, silent interaction between the two, and her pen moved a little faster.

This is not a normal interaction.

But it wasn't a sweet interaction in the romantic sense either.

It's more like some kind of strange signal interference and counter-interference.

Kuroba instinctively avoids reading Xiaoqing's text.

Xiao Qing would also instinctively look at him.

Then it gets contaminated.

Take it back.

Very stable.

It's ridiculously stable.

Shimotsuki Takari continued, "And what about Kuroba-kun?"

The Black Feather Warrior said, "???"

Is there anything else about him?

Miyazaki Kiyoshi glanced at Shimotsuki Takari.

"He is a member of the club."

"Just a club member?"

"That's the current situation."

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

What is the current situation?

Your Excellency, isn't your wording a bit risky?

Shimotsuki Kori wrote even faster.

"Then what makes him different from the others?"

Miyazaki Seiji said calmly, "He's rather noisy."

The Black Feather Warrior said, "???"

What kind of evaluation is this?

"But you didn't avoid him."

"Because he has information increments."

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

Grass.

Suddenly, I felt affirmed.

It turns out he wasn't just an ordinary source of nonsense.

He is a high-level source of nonsense pollution.

Ritsuko Miyazaki, who was sitting next to him, was initially quite nervous, but upon hearing this, her eyes flickered slightly.

She is not a professional.

Unlike Shimotsuki Takari, she couldn't analyze any structural issues from one problem after another.

But as a mother, she could hear something different.

When answering questions about Kuroba, Xiaoqing neither refused, cut off, nor pushed him away with words like "it's unnecessary."

She even gave a reason.

It's quite noisy.

There is an increase in information.

This is already quite remarkable.

At least that's how it is for Xiaoqing.

Shimotsuki Takagi also realized this.

She lowered her head to take notes, the pen tip gliding across the paper, the sound growing louder and louder.

rustling.

Shashashasha.

Kuroba Shido sat beside her, looking at the notebook in her hand, and felt that it was no longer a record.

That's a high-speed printer.

Teacher Shimotsuki's wrist was so fast it almost left afterimages.

If they added a voice actor, it would be—

Da da da da da!

High-end medical machine guns are firing.

Shido Kuroba quietly moved a little closer to Ritsuko Miyazaki.

Ritsuko Miyazaki also glanced at him discreetly.

The two people looked at each other.

silent.

silence.

Then, at the same time, they very tacitly looked away.

In the center of the hall, Shuangyue Gaoli was still asking questions.

"Xiaoqing, do you ever feel like you're different from other people?"

"Objective facts."

"Does this difference cause you pain?"

"Won't."

"Will it bother you?"

"Occasionally."

"When?"

"When others categorize things that you cannot understand as problems that need to be corrected."

Shuangyue Gaoli stopped writing.

Ritsuko Miyazaki's breathing also became a little lighter.

Kuroba Shido's eyes widened slightly.

This is no small matter.

It's not like those mechanical question-and-answer sessions.

This sentence is Miyazaki Kiyoma talking about himself.

She did not use a harsh tone, nor did she show any grievance, nor did she blush or accuse.

It's just a straightforward narrative.

It's like they're talking about lunch today. Yesterday it rained outside, and the cat's activity area was between flower bed number three and the vending machine.

But the more she said this, the more upset she became when it reached Ritsuko Miyazaki's ears.

Shuangyue Gaoli remained silent for a few seconds.

Then she said softly, "I understand."

Miyazaki Kiyoshi looked at her.

"you do not know."

Shuangyue Gaoli: "..."

Miyazaki Kiyoshi continued, "But you're trying to know, so you can continue."

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

Strong.

too strong.

Your Excellency, this is not a medical consultation.

This is an interview.

Teacher Shuangyue almost lost points, but she got the chance to continue answering questions because of her attitude.

Both Shido Kuroba and Ritsuko Miyazaki were stunned.

The two looked at each other again.

This time, Ritsuko Miyazaki made the first move.

She coughed lightly and lowered her voice: "Kuroba-kun."

Kuroba Shido also lowered his voice: "Aunt Ritsuko."

"Would you like to... go out with Auntie to water the flowers?"

The Black Feather Warrior said, "???"

Watering the flowers?

What kind of code is this?

Ritsuko Miyazaki glanced at the ongoing consultation battle in the center of the hall, her eyes carrying a hint of pleading.

Kuroba Shido understood.

Human language.

They moved to a different spot and secretly started cricket fighting.

"OK."

Kuroba Shido got up very quietly, like a black rat stealing rice balls in the middle of the night, aiming to be completely unnoticed.

Ritsuko Miyazaki picked up the kettle and stood up very naturally.

The two people walked around the edge of the living room.

If anyone asks, it's simply about watering flowers.

It would be even better if no one asked.

Unfortunately, Kiyoshi Miyazaki saw it.

She did not stop it.

I only glanced at it.

Kuroba Shido felt a chill run down his spine and immediately muttered to himself.

Watering the flowers.

Watering the flowers.

We're just watering the flowers.

It wasn't a secret escape, nor was it whispering behind the back of my most respected and kind minister...

Miyazaki Kiyoshi withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.

Shuangyue Gaoli looked at her and suddenly felt like remembering this reaction.

But before she could put down her pen, Miyazaki Kiyoshi had already spoken.

"Next question."

Shuangyue Gaoli: "..."

Okay, continue.

……

The Miyazaki family's garden is very quiet.

Sunlight fell on the neatly trimmed flowers and trees, and the edges of the flower beds were so clean that they didn't look like those of an ordinary household, but rather as if a special team had measured them with a ruler every day.

Ritsuko Miyazaki was holding a water bottle, while Shido Kuroba stood beside her.

The two of them walked to the edge of the flower bed in a very professional manner.

Ritsuko Miyazaki looked down at the flowers and didn't speak immediately.

Kuroba Shido did not urge him.

Ritsuko Miyazaki gently tilted the kettle slightly.

Water flowed into the flower bed.

"This is a hydrangea."

Kuroba Shido glanced at it.

Clusters of flowers bloom among the branches and leaves, their colors pale, not as aggressive as roses, nor as aloof as lilies, they truly evoke a sense of quiet togetherness.

"It looks expensive."

Ritsuko Miyazaki: "..."

Her somewhat heavy mood was abruptly interrupted by this sentence.

"Is this Kuroba-kun's first reaction?"

"Aunt Ritsuko, to be honest, my criteria for judging plants are rather simple."

"How can it be simple?"

"Edible, inedible, expensive, not expensive, can it be sold?"

Ritsuko Miyazaki was silent for two seconds, then suddenly smiled.

This child is indeed very strange.

But strangely enough, it's hard to stay tense all the time.

"Hydrangeas have many meanings, and different colors have different meanings. Some say they represent hope, some say they represent reunion, some say they represent calmness, and some say they represent change."

"oh."

Kuroba Shido nodded: "In other words, the language of flowers, like fortune telling, has a lot of room for interpretation."

Ritsuko Miyazaki: "..."

This kid really knows how to ruin the mood.

But it's not the kind of destruction that's annoying.

She looked down at the flower, her voice softening: "I like it because Xiaoqing said when she was little that it's not a single flower, but many small flowers clustered together, pretending to be one flower."

Kuroba Shido quieted down.

Ritsuko Miyazaki continued, "She was very young then, and she would squat here and watch for a long time. If I watered the flowers too much, she would remind me and say that if I watered them any more, the flowers would die."

Kuroba Shido glanced at the kettle.

Ritsuko Miyazaki froze for a moment, then silently lifted the kettle.

"cough."

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

It seems that some predecessors have already sacrificed themselves in the flower bed.

Ritsuko Miyazaki did not dwell on the matter further.

She looked at the clusters of hydrangeas, her eyes softening little by little, then darkening again.

"Xiao Qing wasn't like this before."

Shido Kuroba did not interrupt.

"When she was little, she would actually laugh, ask a lot of questions, and hold my hand to come to the garden to look at the flowers. She was just a little smarter and quieter than other children."

Ritsuko Miyazaki's voice was calm, but you could tell that she had kept these words in her heart for a long time.

"Later, she began to know what other people were thinking."

Kuroba Shido's eyes flickered slightly.

Ritsuko Miyazaki didn't look at him; she just continued looking at the flowerbed.

"At first, everyone thought the child was smart and had strong observation skills, until she started to accurately point out other people's hidden thoughts, such as someone stealing things, someone falsifying accounts, and someone smiling and praising her as cute on the surface but being afraid of her in their heart."

The wind blew through the garden.

The water in the kettle sloshed slightly.

Ritsuko Miyazaki whispered, "In less than half a month, many people in the family are afraid to approach her."

Kuroba Shido recalled Miyazaki Kiyoshi's words: "Others categorize things they cannot understand as problems that need to be corrected."

It turned out to be the case.

It wasn't a friend who betrayed her in a TV series, nor was it some bad kid who pushed her.

Rather, she saw the true nature of people too early.

I saw the fear beneath the smile.

I saw the wariness behind the concern.

Behind the sweet words "I like you," "You're cute," and "It's okay," there's actually another voice hidden.

That stuff is definitely too advanced for a small child.

Kuroba Shido remained silent.

He suddenly remembered the time when he was a child and was woken up by the wind and snow at the gate of the orphanage.

Other protagonists get incredibly lucky, but for him, everything falls apart, even though it's a tragic situation.

But at least he wasn't forced to listen to everyone's random thoughts. There used to be a highly intelligent telephone pole who liked to listen to his ramblings, but he didn't know where he was now...

Kiyoshi Miyazaki is a wealthy young lady.

But in some places, it may not be as far off as you might imagine.

They're all so young, yet they already know that the world doesn't offer many opportunities for survival.

He just got ahead because he was poor.

One of them figured it out because he was too smart.

Ritsuko Miyazaki said softly, "Even her father and I had to mentally prepare ourselves before getting close to her for a period of time."

As she said this, her fingers tightened slightly.

"That's a cruel statement, isn't it?"

Shido Kuroba did not answer immediately.

He thought for a moment and said seriously, "Cruel, but normal."

Ritsuko Miyazaki looked at him.

Shido Kuroba scratched his head: "Aunt Ritsuko, I'm not trying to excuse you. Humans are like this. When they are seen through, they are afraid. When they are afraid, they back down. When they back down, they feel guilty. In the end, they are torn between guilt and fear."

Ritsuko Miyazaki was stunned.

Kuroba Shido continued, "This is neither noble nor malicious; it's just that the factory settings of ordinary humans are a bit garbage."

Ritsuko Miyazaki: "..."

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly.

"Kuroba-kun is talking strangely."

"Many people say that."

"But Xiaoqing can listen to what I say."

Kuroba said, "That's not necessarily true. Minister Kuroba is mainly interested in scientific research on aliens."

Ritsuko Miyazaki's smile became even more pronounced.

But soon, that smile slowly turned into seriousness.

She looked at Kuroba Shido.

"Kuroba-kun."

"Um?"

"Can I ask you for a favor?"

Kuroba Shido became alert.

coming.

A classic starting position for adults.

Once elders start saying "Can I ask you for a favor?" in this serious tone, it usually means they'll ask you to help them move, entrust them with their life's work, or at the very least, ask you to work overtime for free on the weekend.

Kuroba Shido quickly began calculating escape routes in his mind.

A kettle, a flower bed, a side gate, and a lawn.

No.

The Miyazaki family is too big.

They might be caught by the bodyguards before they can escape.

Ritsuko Miyazaki noticed his nervousness and softened her tone.

"It's nothing serious."

Kuroba said, "Aunt Ritsuko, things that are said like this are usually very serious."

Ritsuko Miyazaki: "..."

She took a deep breath and continued, "I don't need you to treat her, nor do I need you to change her. I just hope that, if possible, you can interact with her normally, like you are now."

Kuroba Shido was taken aback.

Ritsuko Miyazaki looked at him and said, "Don't treat her as a problem that needs fixing, and don't stay too far away from her just because she can see the mess in your mind."

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

"Of course, you can refuse if she bothers you too much."

Ritsuko Miyazaki whispered, "I'm just selfishly asking you this as a mother."

Kuroba Shido opened his mouth.

Before he could even speak, a calm voice came from behind him.

"Alien classmate."

Kuroba Shido's body stiffened.

Miyazaki Kiyoshi was already standing at the door at some point.

She glanced at Ritsuko Miyazaki, then at Shido Kuroba, her expression remaining largely unchanged.

"Pack up and let's continue with club activities."

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

have to.

No need to answer.

The minister himself came to recommend someone.

He immediately turned around and walked towards the door, leaning on his cane.

"Coming, coming, Minister. Club activities come first, I'm on my way."

Miyazaki Kiyoshi looked at him.

"You were just thinking of running away."

Kuroba said, "No, Minister, that's slander. I was just rationally planning survival routes for humans who get lost in large residential areas."

Kiyoshi Miyazaki: "..."

She turned and walked out.

Kuroba Shido quickly followed.

Ritsuko Miyazaki stood by the flower bed, watching the two figures leave one after the other.

Miyazaki Kiyoshi walked very steadily.

Kuroba Shido limped along, muttering to himself, spouting some twisted logic.

The two of them didn't look like a normal couple at all.

But there's also a strange sense of harmony about it.

It was too quiet.

One is too noisy.

One is too dead.

One is too lively.

As Miyazaki Ritsuko watched, she suddenly realized that her earlier request seemed somewhat unnecessary.

The appearance of Kuroba-kun had already begun to change Kiyoshi.

It's not about becoming someone else.

It's not about becoming so-called normal.

Rather, it means that she is no longer just sitting alone within her own rules.

Ritsuko Miyazaki looked down at the watering can in her hand, then at the flower bed.

She quietly moved the kettle a little further away.

I've said enough for today.

Let's stop offering flowers as sacrifices.

However... if she gets past her mother-in-law's approval, then at least after she leaves, her daughter, Qing, won't be alone in the world.

There are still people in this world who understand Xiaoqing!

and so……

Kuroba-kun, good luck in winning over Kiyoshi!