I am your deceased love sustenance 1

It would be nice if Chitose and Tomo were twins in the traditional sense.

Qiansui smiled and covered Deng's eyes, then maliciously wiped the water from his hands on the other's little face.

The corners of her mouth trembled again and again where the light couldn't see, and that was what happened.

Ch5. Our Lifelong Promise

The night is deep.

Chitose and Deng hid under the quilt hand in hand, their linked hands forming a bridge between their heartbeats.

With a creak, the mother closed the door. The lamp's eyelids trembled again and again, and it did not open its eyes until the light from outside the door no longer sneaked into their little world.

"Eh…"

A cry like a small animal came from Deng's throat. She was now a little unsure whether her sister was still awake.

"Xiao Sui, Mommy has finished the examination. Are you still awake?"

"Of course, idiot! I've been tickling your palms to signal you...be quiet! Maybe Mother hasn't gone far yet."

Chitose changed her position and rested her head near Deng's soft belly.

Looking at the chandelier with a residual halo on the ceiling, the uneasiness in my heart began to dissipate.

She is now working on deepening the beautiful memories between the two of them, with the aim that one day this beauty can pierce the softness deep in Deng's heart like a thorn, and provide her, the indecisive and bad sister, with real... life.

Chitose climbed out of bed and let go of Deng's hand.

Feeling the residual warmth of the lamp in her hand, Qiansui dug out the camera that was her birthday gift. The light blue camera was dyed dark blue by midnight.

"Xiao Deng! Hurry up and get up. Let's record the night sky together!"

"Yekong!"

The night sky.

Deng tiptoed up to Qiansui. She and Qiansui each pulled open the wrinkled translucent gauze curtains. As her little hands slowly exerted force, the moonlight officially shone into the room.

The starry sky, Qiansui has been taking her to see the starry sky since a long time ago.

Whether on the prickly meadows of her country home or on the balcony of a seaside holiday hotel when traveling, there are always people immersed in the night sky with her at midnight.

Because Chitose was there with her, she was able to see some flowers. Deng thought that looking at the starry sky alone and letting her thoughts wander was the most boring thing, second only to eating sugar-free cereal and drinking sugar-free cola.

Deng timidly grabbed Qiansui's sleeve and did not make any other moves.

You need someone to accompany you to see the brightest sky lanterns.

"Yes, it's the night sky, Xiao Deng. I want to take pictures of tonight. Ten, twenty, thirty years from now, when Xiao Deng becomes an old lady, she can still look through them and reminisce about this moment."

"It's been a long time..."

It doesn't feel real.

"Little Lantern! We'll have to watch this for the rest of our lives!"

"lifetime?"

This concept is really grand. Takamatsu Deng has not yet considered what he can do for the rest of his life.

"What about Chitose? Will Chitose stay with me...for the rest of my life?"

"..."

"Of course, I am Deng's most obedient sister. I will definitely stay with Deng for the rest of my life!"

The lamp did not answer, but continued to utter some insignificant interjections.

In her sight, there were countless stars entwined with each other, and many stars were shining on their own. There was not even a cloud around the loneliest stars, and the nearest stars to them were also halfway across the sky.

For a lifetime?

Takamatsu Deng, who was only six years old, was already terrified of this kind of thing in his life.

I long for a lifetime, but I always feel that a lifetime is unreliable. Is this premature maturity caused by being with Chitose for too long?

Right, after all, although Chitose is his sister, Deng always feels that she is the ghost of an adult, imprisoned in a young body.

Gao Songdeng felt uncomfortable with his own thoughts.

She is not a child who likes to think too much about others.

"Xiao Sui, I have a very bad thought about you. I'm sorry."

"Huh? What is that?"

"It's...it's..." When Deng stuttered, Qiansui covered his mouth all of a sudden.

"Woo?"

"Hush, there are footsteps outside!"

Deng actually didn't hear anything, but she still cooperated with Qiansui and didn't say anything.

The bedroom was quiet. Looking through the gap in the bottom of the door, Qiansui watched the yellow-orange light outside the house suddenly go out. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"I was so scared. I thought I was going to be spanked again."

"Chitose... Last time you went out to watch TV secretly, you wouldn't have been caught, but it seems like you turned up the volume too loud and woke up your mother who had just returned home..."

"Ahem," Deng Rou's soft voice caused such real damage. Qiansui's dark history was once again exposed by this little bastard. "That was! An accident!"

"puff."

"What are you laughing at? The light is broken!"

"Laugh...because Chitose sometimes acts like a clumsy adult?"

"Huh? But I'm only a six-year-old girl."

"It's not good to be a little girl. I want to grow up quickly so we can move out together. Then, can we stay up late and watch TV together?"

"Xiao Deng! Staying up late is not good. We've already stayed up very late! The temperature outside is still dropping... Let's go to bed."

"But, Star..."

"Stars? Just let them shine for a while. They can't run away. We can watch them every day from now on, okay?"

"Hmm... this, is it also a lifetime?"

"Of course. The shelf life is always a lifetime."

Haha, a lifetime.

Takamatsu…Chitose Noshiro blinked and pressed the pause button on the camera.

She recorded the entire conversation, including the night sky and Deng's cute profile.

Although it's unethical, I really hope... well, sorry... I really hope that this camera can help her earn some meager life in the future.

"Xiao Sui has been really into videotaping lately. Is that because it's a hobby for adults as well?"

"No, I already told you, it's so that Xiao Deng can see me anytime he wants in the future."

"Xiao Sui has always been an adult. Will she ever leave her sister who is just a child..."

"No, I'm a child too, Zayu Deng. We should be asleep now. It's too late."

Is it too late?

Deng's bed is closest to the outside. She actually likes the inside, but things you like should be shared with people you like, so she will share her bed with Chitose.

Just like during the day, she shared the biggest beetle she had caught so far.

"Tomorrow during the day, let's go to the small park together and catch the biggest beetle..."

"Okay, Deng, let's go catch it together."

"Ok!"

After this "hmm", the two stopped talking.

Sometimes you can sleep peacefully without saying good night to each other. Every time you turn around, you are facing the person you miss. This is wonderful and beautiful.

When everything calmed down, Qiansui's breathing was so gentle that it made the listeners feel at ease.

Eyelashes fluttered, and the lamp opened its eyes again.

She just quietly admired Qiansui's sleeping face.

Deng knew that, probably, no matter who saw him, he was an absolute weird kid.

Only here in Chitose do I feel a sense of belonging...

A lifetime, it is really something I look forward to.

I really want to live a simple life with my sister.

Ch6. How close are we to death?

Early in the morning, Gao Songdeng woke up very early.

This was the lightest sleep she had ever had in her life, but when she thought about her mother having to get up early every day to go to work and her mother's sleep probably wouldn't be very deep, she felt confused.

Will I become a mother like Chitose in the future?

If that were the case, wouldn't my mother have to be so tired?

Night shift… How can someone survive the night? They’re so strong.

"Hmm, Kyomoto-chan, you have to get up so early?"

"Little Kyomoto?"

Who is that? Which girl's name is that?

I often hear Xiaosui mention it, but Qiansui always only gives a few vague explanations.

Forget it, I won’t explain it then.

"I'm here, Xiaosui." Deng shook his head to straighten his sleepy hair a little.

"Um... Eh? It's Xiao Deng. Is it dawn yet?"

Rubbing her eyes until they turned red, Chitose seemed to have returned to the days when she and her sister Kyomoto Haizuka were crowded on a small bed in a small rental house.

Alas, little Kyomoto.

The morning sleepiness was driven away by strong thoughts, and Chitose tried to distract herself with some actions.

She pulled the light back under the covers and tickled the other's flank with her deft fingers.

"Pfft, don't..."

"That's it! Xiao Deng, this winter vacation is over and we're going to go to elementary school."

"Hmm, elementary school? Elementary school...would it be different from kindergarten?"

"I think so," Chitose said. She wasn't sure what the elementary school lantern festival was like. After all, she probably wouldn't be able to catch her breath by then. "You'll make a lot of friends at the lantern festival, huh?"

"Y-Really? A lot of friends!"

"Yeah, but Xiao Deng is not allowed to give others weird things, like watermelon worms."

"Oh…"

"You can give them all to me, and not to anyone else," Qiansui saw that Deng was a little frustrated, and had no choice but to pretend to be jealous.

"Those special gifts are enough for me alone!"

After saying this, Qiansui jumped off the bed on his own.

She had a premonition that the opportunity to say goodbye might be right around the corner.

If an opportunity to perfectly end this long simulation arises, Chitose Noshiro will definitely not let it go.

……

"Xiao Deng, are you sure there are beetles here?"

Deng led Qiansui to the corner of the small park where they usually played. The park was overgrown with weeds, and many open spaces that once bloomed with wild flowers were now bare, like cemeteries.

Can you catch beetles in such a place?