Comics, daily stories

"Kazehaya, pervert."

"Hui must not have seen me at my most perverted. I'll show you when I get the chance."

Kato Megumi blushed and pinched him, saying, "Hurry up and buy groceries."

Nomiyama picked out the ingredients as she wished, but he glanced at the seafood section and asked curiously, "Why isn't Uncle Kato here today?"

Kato Megumi also glanced in that direction, and after recalling for a moment, said, "Dad took Mom on a trip to Osaka, and they'll be back in a couple of days."

Nomiyama was slightly envious: "Traveling for two, that's wonderful."

Kato Megumi tightened her grip on his hand: "Kazehaya is fine too."

"That might take some time."

Nomiyama pulled Megumi along as they walked towards the meat section.

......

Preparing ingredients is not a troublesome task; in fact, it's a skill that comes with practice.

With the kitchen knife wielded, slicing, chopping, and butchering, no ingredient can escape its fate of being dismembered.

Unless, of course, the ingredients can run away.

Nomiyama gripped the stone, aimed at the chicken trying to escape the yard, and gently applied force. The stone, as if piercing through the air, landed on the chicken's foot, instantly shattering one of its claws.

Scratching his head, Nomiyama walked over to the lame chicken, lifted it by its wings, and slashed its neck with his knife.

Fresh blood began to drip down in a stream.

Nomiyama was carrying a chicken and squatting by a small bowl, bleeding it.

Yukino Yukinoshita stood in the courtyard, watching his actions, and covered her face with her hands: "Do you really have to do this?"

Nomiyama wiped away a drop of blood that had splattered on his face during the struggle and expressed his disdain for her statement: "Chicken feet are already the least of the losses. If a stone falls on it, it will break a hole, making it inconvenient to bleed it."

Yukino Yukinoshita disagreed with his statement because...

"You don't know to let me do it? It's just catching a chicken, can't I do that?"

Nomiyama blinked, then lowered his head and continued bleeding.

He forgot...

With a sigh, Yukino Yukinoshita turned and walked into the house: "I'll go cut the meat."

"Oh."

Nomiyama responded, then looked at Megumi who had brought out a pot of boiled water: "Megumi, at the beginning of the year, I should send a chicken to your house as a gift or something."

Kato Megumi squatted down beside him and said softly, "Yes, but it still looks a bit... lacking, just a chicken."

Nomiyama pressed the whole chicken into the boiling water with one hand, seemingly lost in thought: "What do Uncle Kato, Auntie, and my sister like? I'll prepare them all."

Kato Megumi looked at the motionless rooster in the boiling water, then rested her chin on her hand: "Let me think..."

Yukino Yukinoshita listened to their conversation, stepped into the room, took a few steps, glanced at Eriri who was curled up on the sofa, then ignored her and went straight to the kitchen.

Meeting the parents... According to my sister, my mother is still searching for him all over the world, and it seems she's currently in Europe.

Moreover, I don't know how to bring this up with my mother, because I don't know how she will react.

Simply put, she wasn't really willing. Yes, from what her sister said, she really didn't want to gamble.

Taking a deep breath, Yukino Yukinoshita cleared her mind of all thoughts, took off her apron and put it on, then pulled out a kitchen knife and began slicing the beef and mutton.

Eriri Sawamura rolled around on the sofa, listening to the sounds of the two people outside and the chopping sounds from the kitchen, then hugged the sofa cushions tightly, too lazy to move.

Anyway, I've been studying cooking for a long time but still haven't really mastered it, so giving up isn't unreasonable.

There are always parts of people that we can't understand. Take cooking, for example. If you can eat it, why do you have to know how to cook it?

......

Nomiyama stood by the roadside in front of his house, breathing out puffs of white steam from his open mouth.

Yukino Yukinoshita's lips were slightly red. She glanced at him and shook her head.

"What, um, what do you mean?" Nomiyama's eyes began to well up with emotion.

"It's nothing." Yukino Yukinoshita waved her hand, still looking disgusted.

At this moment, Eriri Sawamura and Megumi Kato had already left by car, leaving only the two of them on the roadside.

Snow is waiting for the bus, and Nomiyama is waiting for the spiciness in her mouth to dissipate.

Nomiyama opened his mouth: "Isn't this still your problem? I was only going to put in one piece of seasoning, but you insisted on putting in two big pieces. That stuff came from the hot pot province next door, and there's plenty of it."

Yukino Yukinoshita pouted her rosy lips and turned her head away: "I don't know, I just kept eating hot pot as someone wished, and when I felt the taste wasn't right, I added some more flavor."

"You need to consider everyone's ability to cope!"

"Oh, didn't someone say they can handle spicy food? I saw that Kato-kun didn't even flinch, so I assumed that person was the same."

Nomiyama began to adjust his breathing and expression: "This was just an accident."

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at his face, which was noticeably red after he stopped breathing, smiled, and then said, "Heh."

Nomiyama's eyelids twitched, and he looked at her: "I already told you..."

He looked up: "Oh, it's snowing."

Snow?

Yukino Yukinoshita looked up at the sky.

It is indeed snowing, and quite heavily, with snowflakes the size of feathers falling.

Yukino Yukinoshita watched the falling snowflakes intently until a gust of wind shook them.

She smiled, and then was embraced.

"Well..."

She opened her eyes wide, stared at the person opposite her who was looking at her, blinked, then closed them again, responding to him.

After a while, Nomiyama relaxed and then rested his head on her shoulder: "This will help relieve the burning sensation."

Yukino Yukinoshita pinched his waist helplessly: "Nonsense."

“But look, I’m really not spicy anymore.” Nomiyama said smugly, his voice no longer hissing.

"Alright, you're right." Yukino Yukinoshita leaned her cheek against his chest.

After a while, Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the car driving towards the street corner in the distance, looked up at his head full of white snow, and smiled faintly: "I'm going back now, see you next year."

Nomiyama looked at her snow-white hair, squeezed her hand, and promised, "See you next year."

The boy and girl parted ways; one went home, and the other also went home.

Nomiyama hummed as he walked home until the car disappeared around the corner.

He pushed open the door and went inside.

With a head full of white snow.

Outside, the wind and snow suddenly stopped.

The 254th Palace Rain, Waiting for You to Come Home

The snow in Chiba stopped that very night; after a few short minutes of drifting, it never returned.

The wind was still there, sharp as a knife, cutting painfully.

Nomiyama doesn't like this kind of cold wind; it always feels too chilly when she breathes it.

Of course, most importantly, he likes snow. He likes the fluffy snowflakes drifting around him, so he can also see the traces and paths of the wind.

Overwhelmed with joy at seeing the wind and snow, he could forgive the coldness of the wind.

But right now it's just windy and not snowing.

"Unqualified."

"Huh? What did you say?"

The person on Nomiyama's back, with their chin buried in a white scarf with black cat patterns, said in a muffled voice, "I'm saying this winter is substandard."

"Not good enough?" Hiratsuka Shizuka lazily rested her chin on his shoulder. "I remember you said you liked snow, is it because it hasn't snowed yet?"

"It rained, but only for a very short time, and then it didn't come back."

"It's raining? I didn't even notice."

"That night after school, I bet you were acting crazy at some izakaya." Nomiyama stood at the street corner, thought about the map, and turned the corner.

"Don't underestimate me. I was handling some business at school that day and didn't leave until late at night." Hiratsuka Shizuka snorted twice.

"He must have plunged headfirst into an izakaya after leaving school," Nomiyama said with certainty.

Hiratsuka Shizuka fell silent, pretending not to hear.

Nomiyama sighed, kicked aside a small stone, and asked in a helpless tone, "When are you finally going to quit drinking?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka exhaled hot white breath: "I'm in great shape, so there won't be any problems."

Nomiyama tilted his head, met the gaze of the person on his shoulder, and said with disdain, "But you've wasted my time. I was planning to stay in the kotatsu and watch a movie tonight."

Hiratsuka Shizuka turned her head away from him: "You don't have to come."

"Is it a deal?"

Nomiyama loosened his body, preparing to put her down.

Hiratsuka Shizuka quickly hugged his neck tighter: "No, no, no, I was just kidding, I was just kidding."

She muttered, "I'll quit drinking once I find a boyfriend."

Nomiyama gasped, "That's it, we're doomed."

"What do you mean 'it's all over'!"

"You won't find a boyfriend."

"I have a great figure! My family is rich! I'm highly educated and beautiful! How come I can't find someone like me!"

Nomiyama felt her swaying back and forth on his back, bounced her twice, and said in a perfunctory voice: "Yeah, yeah, I heard that someone once slammed their blind date's head onto the table during a blind date. Apparently, there was a bottle of expensive red wine worth 10 yen that was still intact on the table. Then, this person walked out with a Seven Stars cigarette that costs 25 yen a stick in their mouth."

"Yes, she took that bottle of red wine."

Hiratsuka Shizuka opened her mouth, then mumbled, "It's not my fault."

"Yes, I know. Although Hiratsuka Shizuka doesn't seem like a proper working person, she wouldn't beat up her blind date on the spot for no reason."

Nomiyama walked a few steps and felt a little thirsty, so he headed towards the convenience store: "I was thinking that next time something like this happens, tell me and Haruno, and we'll join in the fun."

Hiratsuka Shizuka got off him and leaned against the wall outside the convenience store: "No, you guys are too extreme, especially Haruno. She might actually set up a scheme to send someone to jail on a whim."

Nomiyama glanced at her and said, "You're not so bad if you resort to violence without warning."

Hiratsuka Shizuka began by saying, "He said he actually had someone he was already in a relationship with, and asked me if I could be his mistress or something."

"I see." Nomiyama walked into the convenience store.

He walked into the store, casually taking out his phone and starting to use it. Last time, Yang Nai only told him where Hiratsuka Shizuka had hit someone and that she had watched the surveillance video, but she didn't say the specific reason, so he probably didn't know either.

Hmm, let her investigate this rich scumbag to see if there's anything to hide. If she finds anything, send him to Tokyo Bay to be used as a pile driver to boost the construction industry. If she doesn't find anything, get some information and send him to prison to provide labor for the sewing machine market.

In short, I want to make a contribution.

Putting away his phone, Nomiyama glanced at what was in front of him, raised his hand, and took off a sky-blue scarf.

After pulling, tugging, kneading, and squeezing the material to make sure it was decent and thick enough, he turned and headed towards the checkout, grabbing a bottle of mineral water along the way.

As I walked out of the convenience store, I threw away the empty water bottle and handed her the scarf.

Hiratsuka Shizuka didn't react for a moment, so she could only blink and look at him.

"New Year's gift".

The voice still carried a hint of disdain.

"Oh, okay." Hiratsuka Shizuka took it and carefully wrapped the scarf around her neck.

“Let’s go.” Nomiyama squatted down naturally.