Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

The two held hands, neither of them wearing gloves, but there was no chill. A woman's hands are not as soft and delicate as ordinary women's. Her palms are rough, covered with calluses and tiny scratches.

The boy's hands are much cleaner. Lyudmila squeezed his hand that had not been tempered by any weather.

When the two arrived at the hospital, Artemis' pace quickened, and he became very anxious. They didn't register and took the elevator directly upstairs.

As they walked out of the elevator, Lyudmila asked him, "Artemis, what do you want for Christmas?"

"I want him to get better soon." Artemis answered directly without thinking.

Lyudmila's smile stagnated slightly, and then she said helplessly: "Change it to something I can do."

She thought for a moment and then offered: "Would you like to learn an instrument? You have always liked this...how about the piano? We can go to a nearby piano store on the way back."

Artemis's eyes lit up instantly.

He really likes music and loves to watch live broadcasts of concerts, and the art teacher at school said he has a very good ear. He has not received any training and can still accurately identify various pitches without any reference notes.

He was very happy and was about to agree when his eyes suddenly glanced at his mother's old clothes. He was stunned for a moment, and all the excitement in his heart disappeared.

"...No, the piano is so big that it can't be placed at home."

Artemis was itchy but firmly refused.

Seeing his mother's expression, he quickly added: "Actually, I want to learn guitar more. It's easy to learn, you can play and sing at the same time, and it's easy to take with you. If I can't survive in the future, I can still be a street singer on the street." "

"I remember you said before that you wanted to be a chef in the future." Lyudmila said.

"That was last time..."

While talking, the two stopped at the door of a ward. Artemis, who always respected others, opened the door and barged in without knocking.

This is a single ward, with a boy in his early ten years lying on the bed. He was injecting an IV in his right hand and holding a book in his left hand. When he heard the noise, he raised his head and coughed a few times.

Those green eyes reflected the figures of the two comers, and his face was exactly the same as Artemis's.

——This is a pair of twin brothers.

"Anatole, how are you today?"

Artemis, a boy who has no father but only a mother, wants to be a chef or a street singer in the future, and has no lofty ambitions, quickly runs towards his frail twin brother.

----

The protagonist's real name is Artemis (it can also be translated as Artemis, the name of the Greek moon goddess, symbolizing the waning moon and hunting). Because he is so special, he even dares to go online under his real name.

He is of Russian descent + has a twin brother. These two points are quite obvious.

Chapter 165 How snakes grow venomous fangs (Part )

Artemis threw herself on the hospital bed, Anatole put down the book, raised his dominant left hand and touched his brother's hair, and the two boys hugged each other as if they were looking in a mirror.

They look exactly the same.

Except for the color of her eyes - Artemis has the same light brown eyes as her mother, Anatole's eyes are green, like a poisonous snake.

The brothers had speculated that they inherited the color from their father, but their mother never mentioned the man and they didn't ask.

In addition, physically, the two are completely different.

They were only seven months old when they were born, and they were premature babies. Anatole was born in the middle of the night on May 5, and Artemis was born in the early morning of the next day on May 30.

At that time, Lyudmila was short of money, and the country had not yet recovered from the major event at the end of last year. The region was in chaos, and the hospital was overcrowded. The two children were discharged after only one month in the incubator.

Anatoly suffered from the sequelae of this. He would fall ill every time the weather got cold, and he would cough constantly when he smelled the smell of smoke.

Artemis is much luckier. He has a healthy body, even better than most people. The number of visits to the hospital since he was a child is less than a fraction of his brother's.

Lyudmila stood aside and looked at her two children quietly.

Artemis talked about his experience in school during this period and gave the gift, his eyes sparkling; Anatole listened carefully, took it with a smile, and then talked about some things that happened in the hospital. Give the book next to it to your younger brother and tell him that he should also read more.

While they were talking, the two kept holding hands and looking at each other, as if their eyes could not tolerate the existence of a third person.

Lyudmila felt mixed emotions when she saw this scene.

Many people, including her biological mother, thought that the brothers would have conflicts. The older brother would be jealous of the younger brother's health, while the younger brother would dislike the older brother's poor health and need to be taken care of...

But none of this happened.

They have a close relationship, as if they are one body. The elder brother is glad that his younger brother is not as frail as him. The younger brother is willing to accompany such an older brother, voluntarily confining himself to a small bedroom or ward, and giving up the outside world.

There are no better brothers.

Mother looked at their clasped hands.

- No one can separate them except God or the devil.

……

It’s still cold in Moscow at the end of March.

After leaving the hospital that day, Lyudmila sent Artemis to a music classroom and began learning guitar.

There was only Artemis, no Anatole.

But Anatoly didn't have nothing to do. Sofia's Christmas gift was a set of Go. He often played chess and played against himself when no one was playing against him. Lyudmila also bought him a lot of new books.

As if God compensated for his frailty, Anatole had an excellent memory and could remember every chess game and even every move clearly. Artemis couldn't do it.

Lyudmila had a very complicated expression when she noticed this talent.

"Ugh……"

After the guitar lesson ended for the day, Artemis was packing her things in the classroom. He looked out the window and couldn't help but sigh.

It was supposed that when the weather got warmer, the family of three would go to a nearby park to play. His mother bought iron skewers for barbecue, and he used his pocket money to buy two identical backpacks... but Anatoly got sick again.

This is not the first time that their family's travel plans have often been interrupted like this.

Artemis had no dissatisfaction or complaint, knowing that Anatole himself was the saddest. He just felt a little regretful, and at the same time couldn't help but think that it would be great if he could give half of his health to his brother.

He was thinking whimsically, and his cleaning movements were much slower than others, waiting for everyone around him to finish leaving.

He stuffed the sheet of music into his bag and zipped it all the way down, when a voice with a slightly strange accent suddenly came from behind him.

"Why are you still here?"

Artemis turned around and saw a young black-haired man standing at the door.

The face was hidden in the shadow of the door and was a little blurry. It could only be distinguished that it was an Asian face that was very rare here.

Artemis knew him as the substitute teacher in the piano class next door. The original piano teacher suddenly had a car accident. He just arrived a week ago. It is said that he is Japanese.

Many students don't like this teacher. They discriminate against such skin color and race, and some parents even drop out of class. Artemis didn't hate it. He slipped on the stairs a few days ago, and it was this teacher who took him to the infirmary for treatment.

"I'm sorry, I'll leave right away."

Artemis thought that the other party was going to clean up the room here to prepare for lessons, so she pulled her guitar bag on her back and hurried out.

He had just crossed the door when he suddenly shuddered without warning.

"!!"

There was a gaze piercing his back, and the cold feeling was like a knife cutting across his skin, or like a hunter staring at the prey in a net bag. Artemis suddenly turned around and looked there.

The classroom was empty.

The tables and chairs were arranged neatly, the windows were tightly closed, and a soft afterglow fell in front of the windows.

--The sun is setting outside, the daylight is disappearing, and the long, cold night is coming.

Artemis looked carefully inside the classroom and found that the strange feeling was gone.

……illusion?

He was a little confused, so he withdrew his gaze and left quickly, passing by the Asian teacher standing by the door.

That strange feeling came back, only it disappeared faster this time.

……

At school, some people teased Artemis for having an Oedipus complex because he liked to tell his mother everything.

In fact, this evaluation is wrong. He will only tell his mother things related to himself, and will not tell all the trivial things that happened in school or other places.

For example, after returning home this time, he told her about the abnormality.

"...You said you felt someone was watching you?"

"It seemed like, maybe it was my imagination, because there was no one else in the classroom when I turned around."

It was completely dark, and the strong wind was blowing against the windows. Artemis indoors was gently playing with the sunflowers in her hands.

The branches of the carefully cared for plant are green and slender, supporting a flower bud that has not yet bloomed. It is tightly closed, and the gathered flower buds are like pinched fingers.

Lyudmila loved sunflowers, and Artemis often grew them at home. Due to the cold weather in recent months, the sun has not appeared much. No matter how carefully he took care of it, it just didn't die and couldn't bloom.

It would be great if it could bloom when my brother is discharged from the hospital next time...

Artemis didn't take the music classroom thing to heart and just mentioned it casually. He wanted to ask if he could help, but when he turned around, he saw his mother frowning.

"Mom, what's wrong with you?" he shouted.

"That teacher you mentioned, that Japanese guy, what's his name?"

Lyudmila stopped what she was doing.

Artemis began to recall that because he was not his teacher, and the pronunciation of the Japanese surname was different from the Russian one, which was a bit weird, he had not paid attention to his real name.

"I don't know what his Japanese name is, but I've heard people call him..."

That's what Artemis accidentally heard.

He left something in the music room that afternoon and came back to get it. While passing by the office, he unexpectedly heard the Asian teacher seeming to be talking to someone. The person called him—

"Wheat."

Lyudmila's eyes widened instantly and her face turned pale.

Artemis was stunned. This was the first time he had seen her look like this since he could remember.

But he didn't know what he said wrong.