Comics, daily stories

Yukino Yukinoshita said calmly, "Before you recover, I will cultivate to a certain level and erase those boring memories of yours."

She smiled and turned to look at him: "If it's really too late, then be prepared, I will pull that version of you back to the human world."

Nomiyama nodded: "Okay."

Then he muttered, "Your family is so scary. I was living a good life on the mountain, but after I met her, everything was ruined."

"Hmm." Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly became curious, so she asked him, "What did it feel like before? I mean, before you met your senior, what did it feel like to be alive?"

Nomiyama crossed his legs, released her hand, propped his chin on his hand, and looked at the night sky in thought: "It's hard to describe, since I have no memory of it, but in terms of feeling, it should be, nothing?"

"none?"

"Yes, back then, I didn't have the feeling of loneliness, nor did I experience joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness. I was the embodiment of pure logic. I could see everything and understand everything, but I had no feelings. An existence without feelings is nothingness."

"It doesn't sound like someone who's alive."

"Pretty much. Living requires a sense of reality. I don't have a sense of reality; I just exist and then correct certain non-compliant things."

"That sounds a bit pitiful."

Nomiyama turned his head and looked at her with a wistful expression: "At least you don't have any worries."

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded: "But she no longer likes me."

Nomiyama was displeased with her shameless smugness and self-confidence, but he hadn't had a chance to speak yet.

The girl's voice was more confident: "But it's okay, I'll make you fall in love with me again."

Nomiyama turned his head away.

Yukino Yukinoshita leaned to one side, resting her head on his shoulder: "Nomiyama-kun, do you remember the dandelion pie and sunflower pie we talked about before?"

Nomiyama's eyes flickered.

Dandelion seeds drift with the wind, flying all over the world, but they are not necessarily free, because their landing point is determined by the wind.

Sunflowers are like spectators; they just stare blankly at the sun and follow its direction, but they never actually take a step to follow it.

He nodded: "I remember, what's wrong?"

Yukino Yukinoshita said softly, "We've become flying sunflowers now."

"Cough cough!" Nomiyama choked, lowered his head, and suppressed his laughter.

Yukino Yukinoshita stared at him with wide eyes and reached out to pinch the flesh on his waist.

Nomiyama couldn't hold back any longer. He leaned back onto the deck and rolled from side to side, yelling, "Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Yukino Yukinoshita sighed, and finally a soft smile appeared on her lips: "Is it really that funny?"

Nomiyama rubbed his eyes, sat up with a grin, and said, "But it's a flying sunflower, don't you think that's weird?"

"What's strange about you guys? Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night? What's wrong with you guys acting crazy on the deck?"

Eriri Sawamura walked up to him with one hand on her hip and kicked him.

Nomiyama turned around, looking at her little white dress, somewhat surprised: "Why haven't I seen you wear this dress before?"

Eriri Sawamura said proudly, "Grandma Sasha gave it to me, but I never told you. What do you think? Isn't it pretty?"

Nomiyama appeared deep in thought and did not answer.

Eriri Sawamura leaned closer to him, threateningly saying, "You'd better say it looks good."

"It's not a matter of whether it looks good or not. I was just thinking, we're about to go to sleep, why are you wearing this? You'll have to take it off anyway, won't you?"

Eriri Sawamura looked up: "Let me show you something."

"Oh, I like it very much." Nomiyama laughed at her arrogant appearance.

“That’s more like it.” Eriri Sawamura sat down.

She leaned back on the deck, her voice slightly dazed: "Are we going home now?"

Nomiyama also leaned back and fell down: "Haven't you had enough fun yet?"

Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Eriri and said, "We have plenty of time, it'll be alright."

Eriri Sawamura looked at her best friend: "But it's going to be hard for the three of us to have this kind of time again, isn't it?"

Nomiyama's eyes twitched.

Eriri Sawamura continued, "It's almost like it's the last night."

Nomiyama moved his hand.

"I feel like tonight will be..."

Yukino Yukinoshita sensed something was wrong and braced herself to get up.

Her legs were held down, and her waist was wrapped around her.

Nomiyama gripped his legs and said earnestly, "Under the snow, we should go to sleep."

Eriri Sawamura smiled, putting her arm around Yukino's waist. "Let's go, Yukino, let's go inside to sleep."

"You two absurd and shameless bastards."

Yukino Yukinoshita covered her flushed face with both hands.

......

"Another bowl, please!" ×2

They placed the bowls on the table with both hands and shouted in unison.

Nomiyama and Eriri puffed out their cheeks, exchanged a glance, and, unwilling to admit defeat, took the next bowl of noodles.

Yukino Yukinoshita sat between the two of them, her movements still unhurried and unhurried.

"Yukino, where did you guys go? It's been a long time." Ichiraku asked the only person who could still speak, cheerfully as he prepared the next bowl of noodles.

"I went abroad to take care of some things, and now I've finished." Yukino Yukinoshita quietly placed the char siu on their plates and smiled. "I'm sorry, I should have said goodbye to my uncle properly before I left."

"Ah, no, that's not true. It would be too troublesome to say goodbye every time we part. The real joy of a reunion is when we suddenly disappear and then suddenly meet again. That's what makes it so surprising." Ichiraku smiled and squinted his eyes.

"Huh? As expected of Ichiraku-san, he said something remarkable so easily." Nomiyama put down his empty bowl and raised his hand. "I want more."

"Hehe, okay." Yi Le put the last bit of char siu on the two bowls of char siu noodles and placed them in front of them.

"It tastes much better than before I left," said Eriri Sawamura, slurping down her new bowl.

"I think so too, Uncle's cooking skills have improved again." Nomiyama stirred a large circle of noodles on his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

"It's because you two haven't eaten here in too long. I'm already this old, how can I improve my skills? It's already amazing if I can maintain the original flavor." Yi Le denied that statement, and just smiled as she cooked a bowl of noodles for them.

"It's already a rare and wonderful thing that things can remain the same." Yukino Yukinoshita wiped her mouth and put down her chopsticks.

“Well, before I came here, I went to an old oden shop.” Nomiyama frowned. “The owner passed the shop on to his daughter, and then, for some reason, he threw away all the old broth that had been used for many years and replaced it with a new broth. The taste suddenly became strange.”

"Huh? Isn't fresh good?" Eriri Sawamura asked, somewhat surprised.

"It's not that it's bad, it's just that sometimes what you crave is that unchanging, old flavor. And the broth that's been used for a long time does indeed become more flavorful, similar to braising liquid. If you keep the broth and add some fresh broth as it evaporates, the flavor will only become more and more intense the longer it's cooked."

Nomiyama tapped his chopsticks: "If you dump all the broth, it's basically a new restaurant, not a heritage restaurant."

Eriri Sawamura took a few sips of soup and placed the empty bowl on the table: "There are so many rules."

Nomiyama placed an empty bowl on the table and began to mock, "Sometimes what you eat isn't food, it's the past, Eriri. You still have a lot to learn."

"Don't fight, don't fight," Yi Le advised, then brought up something, "Yang Nai and Xiao Jing were here yesterday, asking me if you were back yet. Didn't you tell them?"

“No,” Yukino Yukinoshita replied with a smile. “Uncle, don’t worry, they’ll know we’re back soon.”

"Really? Then I'll leave it at that." Ichiraku kneaded the dough and asked, "Do you need more dough?"

"No need, that's enough." Nomiyama patted his pocket. "But this time it's paid in US dollars, and we haven't had time to exchange money yet."

"No need, no need, it's too much trouble..." Yi Le quickly waved his hand.

"Uncle, please accept them. Those two gluttons have eaten too much." Yukino Yukinoshita looked helplessly at the dozen or so empty bowls each.

After leaving the ramen shop, the three of them walked towards a certain street.

"I always feel that the sea breeze in Chiba smells better." Nomiyama sniffed.

"Do you mean the smell of industrial waste and car exhaust?" Yukino Yukinoshita calmly stated the truth.

"Maybe?" Nomiyama thought for a moment and did not refute.

"Whatever, I definitely feel much more energetic since I got back." Eriri Sawamura bounced up, ready to jump onto him.

Nomiyama turned away and tapped him, saying, "You should be more ladylike in the dress you're wearing today."

Eriri Sawamura covered her head: "I forgot..."

"Alright, stop fooling around." Yukino Yukinoshita pulled Eriri up from the ground.

Nomiyama ignored the two women and walked into the shop: "Uncle Kitashirakawa, do you still have any candy? I'd like to buy some."

Kitashirakawa stared blankly at the person who had suddenly disappeared one day and then suddenly reappeared.

A little while later, the three of them continued walking down the street, each unwrapping a candy.

Nomiyama tasted the candy and asked them curiously, "What does it taste like?"

Yukino Yukinoshita frowned, somewhat surprised: "Sugar."

Eriri Sawamura frowned as well: "It's cane sugar too."

"Didn't you make any chocolates?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked, looking at him. "What flavor do you have there?"

Nomiyama's expression was strange: "Chocolate..."

So the three of them stopped.

Eriri Sawamura looked at the candy wrapper in her hand, her eyebrows twitching.

Yukino Yukinoshita chuckled softly: "So the final result is pure sweetness."

Nomiyama looked at the two of them, his expression becoming even stranger.

"Alright, Nomiyama-kun, looks like you're a step behind me again." Yukino Yukinoshita pulled Eriri forward.

"Now that you mention it, it seems I've always been inferior to you in this area," Nomiyama recalled. "Ever since we were kids, you've always been the one who thinks more about this."

“Hmm, that doesn’t seem right either.” Nomiyama suddenly turned his head and looked at Eriri. “Eriri, if I were thirteen years old and wanted to marry Yukinoshita, then you would…”

Eriri Sawamura pretended not to hear.

Yukino Yukinoshita also shifted her gaze, seemingly lost in thought.

Nomiyama looked at her without answering and rubbed his chin: "In terms of the budding of emotions, you were earlier than both of us. Yukinoshita was nine years old and I was thirteen. So, what about you?"

His eyes gradually changed: "You didn't start thinking about marriage when you were eight years old, did you?"

Eriri Sawamura remained silent, then raised her foot and kicked him.

Nomiyama dodged, retreating: "In the end, you were the most terrifying one. We were only eight years old back then. What were you thinking about me when I was eight?"

Eriri Sawamura blushed, raised her hand, drew her sword, and leaped into the air.

......

Looking at the newly built house in the distance, Yukino Yukinoshita spoke first: "I'll go back and take care of the Yukinoshita family first."

Eriri Sawamura looked expectant: "I'll go home for dinner first."

Nomiyama looked at the new house quietly without saying a word.

Yukino Yukinoshita looked at him and reached out to shake his hand.

Nomiyama understood what she was thinking, so he shook his head: "It's okay, don't worry about those letters and objects. We will have more of the past to leave behind. I'm not nostalgic about those."

He exclaimed, "I was just thinking, 'Wow, your family is so rich! They rebuilt the house to more than twice its original size...'"

Yukino Yukinoshita chuckled: "In the end, it's all your benefit anyway."

She let go of his hand: "Alright, Nomiyama-kun, wait for me to come back."

Eriri Sawamura patted him on the shoulder: "I'm going back first too."

Nomiyama nodded: "Yes."

After the two of them disappeared, he turned his head and looked at Hui beside him.

He turned and walked toward another street.