Primary School
"When that happens, please come back to see me more often, okay? It must be lonely lying there alone..."
The weather was clear and the sun was shining brightly. Geto Suguru walked over from where the cicadas were chirping, stroked his bangs which were wet with sweat with his hand, and looked at the parasols passing by with a little envy.
"It's so hot! I want to eat ice cream~" The white-haired boy next to him expressed Geto Suguru's thoughts and staggered towards the soda vending machine on the roadside.
The glass of the vending machine reflected his blurry figure, and his blue eyes hidden behind the dark lenses slightly revealed their brilliance and splendor.
"Do you want to drink, Jie? You can only make do with this for now." Gojo Satoru asked, but just pressed his hand, without any intention of bringing a bottle for his companion.
Geto Suguru had long been accustomed to Gojo Satoru's way of doing things. He waved his hand and said no, then took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat off his face.
"Hey, Jie, you actually brought a handkerchief?" Gojo Satoru's tone was slightly surprised.
Although Geto Suguru appears to be gentle and considerate to others, he is actually a very casual person. He can swallow a cursed spirit as disgusting as a smelly rag without trying to find a way to change his taste.
Xia Yujie paused as he wiped his hands. "My mom stuffed it in my hand when I was leaving... Sigh, I had a good vacation but ended up having to go on a mission with you."
"Same here~"
The empty can drew a graceful arc in the air and hit the trash can on the street.
"Yeah! Three points~"
Xia Youjie didn't have the eyes to look at his childish classmates. He looked around and said, "Then I'll leave first."
"Don't you want to ride the Rainbow Dragon?"
Ever since Geto Suguru subdued this cursed spirit, he has basically relied on it for travel. It can be said to be Suguru's favorite means of transportation.
"Are you crazy? There are so many people here. Also, I have a bad feeling..."
"so?"
Ten minutes later——
Gojo Satoru put his hands in his pockets and slowly followed Geto Suguru onto the train.
Xia Yujie frowned tiredly, "Why did you follow me?"
He really didn't want to go down the same path with Gojo Satoru anymore. It was because Gojo Satoru had suggested that he take leave to go home during the Hungry Ghost Festival that his father had completely labeled him a Buddhist. The next day, the couple went straight back to their hometown to worship their ancestors, without giving him a chance to explain.
Thinking back to the time when he went against everyone's opinion and insisted on studying in the unknown Jujutsu High School, he had already caused strong dissatisfaction among his parents. Now he was being misunderstood as having made this choice because of his religious beliefs. Could he really blame his Buddhist grandmother who raised him when he was a child?
No, this must be Gojo Satoru's fault!
Ullambana is a famous traditional Buddhist festival, and the Jujutsu College also advertises itself as a religious school. Wu must have ulterior motives for suggesting that I go home at this time!
God knows how much he wants to fight with this white-haired guy today.
"Jie, you're so weird today~"
Gojo Satoru didn't grab the handrail, but put his arm on Geto beside him, putting half of his body weight on him.
So annoying.
Thinking this, Geto Xiayou simply raised his hand and pushed Gojo Satoru's arm away. "It's very hot, Satoru, you don't have to come with me."
Gojo Satoru ignored the rejection in Geto's tone and began to review his friend's abnormal behavior today.
"You came to the mission location in broad daylight on a cursed spirit, not worried about being seen by ordinary people like before. You have never been so enthusiastic about doing missions."
"When I was on a mission, he didn't shirk his responsibility to write a report. He was so absent-minded that he exorcised the cursed spirit he was supposed to subdue."
"I was in a hurry to get here, and on my way back I didn't take the Honglong train, so I took the tram instead. I even studied the station map thoughtfully for a long time."
"To sum up," Gojo Satoru pointed his index finger at Geto Suguru, "you're being extremely abnormal today!"
Geto Xia Yu quietly watched Gojo Satoru's performance and couldn't help but complain: "Are you Detective Conan? Don't make such a big move on the train."
"Oh, you're frightened by my reasoning. I'm definitely going to follow you today!"
Gojo Satoru pushed up his sunglasses, turned around and found a girl taking a photo of him, and started to chat with him.
Geto Xia Yu didn't pay much attention to this frivolous man. He looked out the car window at the scenery that was constantly receding outside the window, but his eyes were unfocused.
Well, he was a little off today.
It seems like... you are a little worried about the child?
In fact, before returning to their hometown, the Getu couple left some living expenses and a child.
She was an adopted daughter picked up by his grandmother in the countryside, or she could be called an adopted granddaughter. Anyway, she is now his, Geto Xia Yu's sister.
He went to his grandmother's house after a long absence, but he was going to attend a funeral.
Long car rides can be unpleasant enough even just sitting in the back seat.
After getting off the car, cold snow flakes fell on his body. A gust of wind blew over his face, and the coldness took away the remaining warmth on his body, and seemed to freeze his heart.
That was when he and his parents were at their worst argument over the school choice issue. Before they could find a chance to ease the tension, they were interrupted by even more devastating news.
He hardly ever spent time with his grandmother. The only vague memory he had was from the summer when he was seven years old. The village was lush and green. The old lady simply spread a mat under a tree to enjoy the cool air, while he was wearing a vest and catching cicadas in front of a nearby tree. As a result, he walked further and further away and got lost in the village.
Afterwards, Xiao Xiayou was scolded by her mother, and her grandmother was also scolded several times by her mother, but she just gently fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan and let everything go in one ear and out the other.
Later, perhaps because the journey was too far or because there was no suitable time, he never visited his grandmother again. Only Xia Yu's mother went back a few times.
Geto Xiayou followed his parents into the house. The kind neighbors had already asked the village chief and others to arrange the funeral arrangements with the Xiayou couple.
Geto Suguru is a relative, but he feels like an outsider and can't fit in.
With his eyes wandering, he spotted a child sitting at the table, concentrating on folding paper cranes.
The girl was tightly wrapped in several layers of thick clothes, her carefully combed black hair hung softly behind her. Her lowered brows stared intently at the piece of paper in her hand, her soft little hands half hidden in her sleeves, folding it deftly.
If Geto Suguru is like a superfluous person, then this child is like a person in another space.
The thousands of paper cranes on the table have piled up into a small hill, colorful, as if waiting to be cast with magic, rushing out of the window and leaving the depressing room, embellishing the white world with a touch of brilliance.
Who brought their child here? It's not appropriate, right?
Perhaps noticing Geto Suguru's gaze, the girl looked up.
The bright golden eyes broke through the invisible barrier between the two of them and went straight into Geto Suguru's eyes.
“…Ah, that…” Geto Suguru felt like he should say something, but he didn’t know where to start.
"Can you fold a thousand paper cranes?"
"ah?"
"Can you fold a thousand paper cranes?"
Xia Yujie responded, "I know a little bit... Do you need help?"
"Yes." The girl answered very straightforwardly.
She pushed the mountain of paper cranes on the table to the corner again, making room.
"Would it be convenient for you to come sit over here? I'm still 46 seats short and it's a bit late. Please help me."
"Oh, okay." Xia Yujie sat down next to the girl a little confused, but he became more and more involved, as if he had finally found his place.
After stacking enough numbers, Geto Xia Yu held the crude paper crane in his hand and was a little tempted to destroy it. What made his almost-adult hands so clumsy? Not even as clumsy as a five or six-year-old child.
"It's already good... Yeah."
The girl also knew that her consolation, as she had no emotional ups and downs, would not comfort Geto Suguru at all, so she quickly snatched the thousand paper cranes away.
Geto Suguru started helping the girl string the paper cranes.
"There's more."
The girl led Geto Suguru into a room with ease and opened several drawers, which were full of things.
"So many, maybe 1,000? Are they for blessings?"
He had just learned this from a conversation with a female classmate. Thousands of paper cranes represent love, friendship, hope, and longevity.
"Well, it's for grandma. She likes this."
A five or six-year-old child actually folded nearly a thousand paper cranes just because his family liked it?!
Geto Suguru was shocked. Such filial piety was worthy of being published in the local newspaper.
"Wait a minute, who is your grandma?"
The girl paused, her thick eyelashes hiding the emotions in her eyes.
She turned her head and looked somewhere.
"...Grandma, she's lying in that room."
Following the direction of the girl's gaze, Geto Xia Yu looked towards the room where the sound of sobbing could be heard from time to time...
After that, the girl was adopted by the Geto family, and Geto also learned the child's name - Aoi, just like her golden eyes, which can make people feel the sunshine at a glance.
Just this morning, Geto Goh personally sent Aoi to her preschool classmate's house to play. Since then, Geto Goh's right eyelid has been twitching. He had a bad feeling that something bad was about to happen.
In short, it was intuition that made Kagome Kaku choose this tram, because it goes to an "incredible" place.
Arriving at the station, Geto released his grip and followed the crowd down the train. Gojo Satoru, who had been scrolling through his phone nearby, noticed immediately and followed closely behind him.
"Where are we going next? ...What are you doing?"
Gojo Satoru watched his best friend get off the train and start looking around. He paused for a moment, then took two quick steps, went to the boarding gate, and grabbed a... yellow backpack?
The next second, Geto Suguru squeezed into the car through the gap of the door that was about to close, leaving Gojo Satoru standing there in confusion.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" The sunglasses slipped slightly from his nose and were about to fall to the ground. Gojo Satoru simply took off his sunglasses and looked at the empty track with his arms folded.
What is certain is that Geto Suguru's phone will not let him sleep well tonight.
The one who was even more miserable than Gojo Satoru who was left behind was Xia Yukui who was holding on to the handrail on the tram.
She looked up at the boy in front of her whose face was as dark as ink, pursed her lips, and said, "If you have enough money, I can help you buy the ticket."
Just now, Xia Yukui was grabbed by Xia Yujie's schoolbag, and she subconsciously used a trick to escape, but unexpectedly she led Xia Yujie onto the tram.
"Shouldn't you explain this to me first? Aoi."
Geto Suguru, without a smile on his face, is even more frightening than the dean.
For the first time, Xia Youkui felt what it meant to be in a difficult situation. She had not made any plans to deal with this situation in advance, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.
But she didn't need to say it, because Geto Suguru chose this train because he thought his sister would do something surprising.
"Do you know how long it takes to get back there by tram? Almost two days! Who gave you the courage to do that?!"
Xia Youkui was enveloped by the tall figure, and the strong feeling of oppression made her bend slightly and curl up into a ball, which also attracted curious and puzzled glances from passers-by in the carriage.
Xia Youjie also realized that this was not a suitable occasion to educate the child. When they arrived at the next stop, he carried Xia Youkui on his shoulders and got off the bus without saying anything.
He noticed that the girl's eyes flickered for a moment as she was carried up, looking in a certain direction as if for help. A second before getting off the bus, he glanced in that direction and saw a piece of blue sportswear flash by and disappear in the gap between the crowd.
——
"...I'm going to Mika's house."
After being carried for an unknown amount of time, Xia Yukui reminded Xia Yujie that she had made an appointment with Mika to visit her home. Even if it was just an excuse for her to go back to the countryside, now that the plan had failed, it should become a valid agreement.
More importantly, she didn't want to face the angry Geto Suguru. This matter could not be settled with just a few words. She needed time to think about how to admit her mistake so as not to let Geto Suguru tell her parents about it.
"......Heh." Geto Suguru didn't stop and just laughed out of anger.
In fact, due to academic issues, Xia Youjie had not spent much time with his sister since the funeral. But he was very confident that his parents, who lived with him day and night, definitely did not understand Xia Youkui better than he did.
They describe Aoi as cute, smart, and sensible, but these are just superficial descriptions.
Summer Aoi looks very much like someone from the Summer Ayu family. Her straight, black hair gives her a natural tinge of Summer Ayu genes. But her pupils, gleaming brighter than gold, are the complete opposite of Summer Ayu family brilliance. This gives her a friendly beauty even when expressionless, giving the illusion that she must be a lively child.
If the same expression were put on Geto Suguru's face, it would become gloomy.
This advantage makes people unconsciously biased towards positive evaluation of Xia Youkui. It's not that she can do anything wrong without being discovered, but that no matter what she does beyond her age, she will be described as sensible and smart, and no one will feel offended.
Xia Youjie first vaguely discovered this problem when he accidentally heard from his grandmother's neighbor that Xia Youkui wore her own clothes and styled her own hair when she folded the paper cranes.
The woman praised Kui with heartache, saying that Kui knew how to take care of herself at such a young age, and when she found that the old man could not be woken up, she knew to ask the neighbors for help.
A six-year-old child who can achieve this level can be said to be very independent.
It's not surprising that the grandmother who didn't panic at all when the child was lost could raise such a child.
He actually discovered the problem when he saw Xia Yukui pretending to know nothing and asking Xia Yu's mother to help her put on clothes and comb her hair.
Isn’t that scary?
Such a young child was actually acting in front of someone close to her. She wasn't acting like a spoiled child, but rather calmly complying with Gou's mother's wish to dress her up, purposefully trying to please her.
Can a normal child achieve this?
So compared to being independent, Geto Suguru felt that his sister was too precocious.
He once wanted to ask his mother to take Xia Youkui to see a psychologist, and exposed Xia Youkui's interpretation in front of his mother, but was defeated by her light-hearted words, "I like my mother to worry about me."
Xia Yu's mother is a traditional housewife who likes to be relied upon, and Xia Yukui has long grasped this point.
Geto Xia Yu was speechless for a moment, and was scolded by his mother, so he stopped interfering in the matter.
A few months later, Xia Youjie returned home for the first time since he started high school. Talking to his parents felt so strange, as if he were in a different world, let alone Xia Youkui.
The current situation is really a "big gift" for him, making him suddenly recall the feeling of powerlessness he had when facing Xia Youkui before.
"I need an explanation now."
"I'm hungry."
......
Good brother Geto Suguru started to work hard in the restaurant again.
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