I am the emotional sustenance of your deceased

"Lixi...I want to go home...I..."

"Go home, I'll take you home."

He picked up Noshiro Chitose and the girl buried her head in her arms.

As Shiina Riki was walking through the sewer, he suddenly saw something flashing.

She bent down and dug out the mud-covered hearing aid with her bare hands.

That's the way it is.

……

"Snapped…"

"Snapped…"

"Snapped…"

All the way, Qiansui kept patting Li Xi's back with his little hands.

Her movements were so gentle, like a mother caressing her baby.

What is this for?

When they arrived at the gate of Noshiro's house, Shiina Riki put Noshiro Chitose down.

"Clap your hands... My heart is so tired... I'm clapping my hands to the rhythm of 'Time Heals a Broken Heart'... I..."

【If you are tired, please stop talking.】

Li Xi helped Qiansui wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes with heartache.

Only now could Shiina Riki quietly gaze at Noshiro Chitose's pretty face.

It was so pale. Where did the shiny, rosy and healthy cheeks in Lixi's memory go?

What on earth had turned Chitose Noshiro into this?

"Lixi, do you think I'm super stupid? You clearly told me... from the beginning that I should prioritize my own health and distinguish right from wrong... but I still trusted Xiangzi so much..."

Chitose Noshiro looked like a child who had made a mistake, but the next moment Li Xi heard words that made her heart skip a beat.

Biting her lips with her pearly teeth, Noshiro Chitose's voice was full of sadness and self-blame.

"Lixi, tell me... is it because I didn't do well enough... I love this band so much... I've put so much into it... why am I still not good enough... why did Xiaoxiang say that..."

"Say I didn't..." Chitose paused, "I tried hard..."

It's not your fault, it's not...

Li Xi tried to communicate with Chitose in a panic, but found that he often made mistakes due to excessive anxiety.

"So...it's probably my fault...Xiangzi told me before..."

"what?"

In the corner that Shiina Riki couldn't see, Noshiro Chitose's eyes became very dark.

"She said she understood what I was pursuing, that she recognized me... but today she ran away... and even complained about my hearing problems... I'm so sad. She's one of the rare people who can relate to me and understand my persistence, but... but..."

Qiansui's hand tightly grasped Lixi's arm, the pain was spreading but Lixi did not stop it.

"But I, I really had high hopes for Xiangzi... How could she do this to me..."

"I...I'm here. I'm here."

Li Xi repeated this sentence numbly. Her mind was now full of Toyokawa Shoko's face.

That guy actually dared to let down the year-old! Ha!

But the next moment, Shiina Riki suddenly realized that it was the band he had invited Chitose to join.

This included tacitly approving the other person's guitarist career, tacitly approving the other person's friendship with Xiangzi, and tacitly approving the other person's reckless abuse of his body, staying up late, and working hard...

[Actually, this is all my fault, Shiina Riki… It’s me…]

【I failed in my duty.】

Lixi's anger was instantly extinguished, and she was now supported by Qiansui and walked back into the room.

The rain and fog were ultimately isolated in the rainy night.

Ch215. As defective products, we should lean on each other

The hearing aid was contaminated and Lixi didn't know how to clean it.

She rinsed it under water, but no matter how she washed it, the hearing aid still felt extremely dirty.

She scrubbed with wet wipes, she wrapped herself in a bath towel, she soaked herself in hot water, and she rinsed herself with cold water.

But the hearing aid is still dirty.

The hearing aid may not be dirty at all...but Shiina Riki just wants to wash it.

She found that her actions were actually futile, because no matter how she washed it, it was impossible to put it into Noshiro Chitose's ear again.

There will be germs.

she thinks.

There will be impurities.

she thinks.

meeting…

"I really... How could I be like this? I clearly promised to protect the young man, but now I can't even help him... Instead, I have become..."

【Shoko Toyokawa's accomplice. 】

Shiina Riki beat his chest and stamped his feet, holding the sink with both hands. Seeing that the hearing aid in his hand had been messed up by himself, he felt even more confused.

Did I mess it up again?

I messed up again...

From childhood to adulthood, I have messed up everything, whether it is interpersonal relationships or family relationships, whether it is personal achievements or group achievements, whether it is...

"Lixi?"

Chitose Noshiro, who was wearing a spare hearing aid, was wiping her wet long hair with a bath towel. The elegant silver-white hair emitted a gentle glow under the bathroom light.

"I...Xiao Sui, don't look at me looking so embarrassed now, I..."

"Hug... I'm sorry Lixi, I've caused you trouble... Am I a burden?"

Shiina Riki knew that Chitose Noshiro was a girl who couldn't hide her thoughts.

Whenever something happens, she will always look for her own problems first... She will take all the blame and pressure on herself.

Chitose Noshiro clearly portrayed frustration and confusion on that great face.

"No, Xiaosui, you've done your best. It's that girl's fault. She ruined the band. She..."

"But...I..."

"Hug you, you didn't do anything wrong, but it happened. Promise me that you won't blame yourself at times like this, okay?"

Li Xi was going to wash up. The faucet in the bathroom was constantly releasing hot water, and the fragrant steam surrounded the girls.

Shiina Riki is holding her girl. Although Chitose is still the same Chitose, Riki feels that she is no longer the same Riki as before.

Xiangzi is right.

It was not until Toyokawa Shoko blurted out her relationship with Chitose that Shiina Riki truly realized how strange her relationship with Chitose was.

They were friends, best friends, but it was a strange relationship.

Qiansui is dependent on me, and I greedily enjoy Qiansui's dependence.

Their relationship is more like two vampires sucking each other's blood than close friends.

"Xiao Lixi... I won't blame myself anymore... But aren't you blaming yourself too? Compared to me... I'm more worried about you."

A soft, gurgling sound spread through the mist. Li Xi tried to respond to Qiansui, but found that his throat was so hoarse that it was difficult to speak.

"Years old? You…"

Chitose Noshiro took over what Tatsuki Shiina said. She pushed Tatsuki towards the bathtub, step by step, until she forced Tatsuki Shiina completely into the water.

"Xiao Sui, what are you doing..."

"Lixi, I think... we are indeed two defective products... I... I need you, I can't live without you... What about you? Can you please not leave me? The lifetime you talk about and the lifetime that Toyokawa Shoko talks about... are they the same?"

Shiina Riki's heart was beating wildly, and half of her body was forced to submerge in the hot water.

Although the bath water was scalding, Chitose Noshiro's body temperature was even hotter.

"Absolutely not! I'm talking about a lifetime, I swear! You can ask me to prove myself in any way you want! I will give you my whole life, I will always give it to you..."

Lifelong friendship is no joke.

Being pressed and coerced, only Shiina Riki's head was not submerged by the bath water in the bathtub.

She seemed to have returned to the lake where she drowned in her childhood.

The lake that completely entangled the fates of Chitose Noshiro and Riki Shiina.

"really?"

Chitose's hands seemed to be trying to take off Riki's clothes that were wet with rain, tears, and bath water, but she failed.

If I fail...I'll just not bother with it anymore.

So the two of them huddled together in the bathtub, wearing their school uniforms and wrapped in bath towels.

The collision and compression of human hearts formed the beautiful arc of fate, but Shiina Riki had no time to appreciate this beauty.

Gold, red, those gorgeous colors kept colliding and impacting her purple eyes. The mist was still spreading, but it couldn't stop Li Xi and Qiansui's faces from getting closer.

"Chitose."

Shiina Riki knew that she should say something to swear her sincerity at this time, but she didn't do it.

"Your eyes are so beautiful. Can you look at me forever?"

With dirt still on his nails, Li Xi's fingers went around Qiansui's hair and finally stopped on the other's hearing aid.

"Okay, Lixi, can you love me forever? Be my best friend forever."

In the end, Tatsuki Shiina chose to adjust Chitose Noshiro's hearing aid to silent mode.

"Okay, Xiaosui, okay."

"I will love you forever, be with you forever, comfort you forever, and fulfill my promise to you forever."

It's not because of duty.

It's just because I like you.

Faced with such a defective product like Shiina Tatsuki who lacks confidence, friendship and other emotions, and Chitose Noshiro who also lacks confidence, companions and hearing... you didn't choose to run away but instead stuck to me and became one.

"Lixi..."

Chitose Noshiro pulled off her hearing aid and threw it aside, then went directly into the water with Riki.

The bathtub was not big, just enough space for the two girls to snuggle up to each other. In Shiina Riki's eyes, Chitose Noshiro was getting closer and closer to her.

It was not until the end that Shiina Riki understood what Chitose Noshiro was going to do.

The hot water wrapped around the two of them, and Qiansui gently kissed Lixi's forehead. The kiss was shorter than a dragonfly touching the water, but it shook Lixi's soul for a long time.

"I…"

"call…"

The girls raised their heads above the water, and Lixi felt suddenly full of energy.

【years old, you just...】

"Don't talk, Lixi, don't talk."

Qiansui's little face was so red that water seemed to be dripping, and her shy look made Lixi straighten his back.

"Ask... steady..." Due to nervousness, Chitose Noushiro made a mistake in pronunciation for a while, but he still managed to blurt out the last two words successfully.