Even at the beginning, with the worst intentions,

However,

the truth is always after the warm embrace,

reveal the real fangs.

The veneer of self-protection can hold up for how long?

I smile at life,

life swung a knife at me,

it's so easy to fit in,

at the beginning, you should be alert.

It's easy to reach out for help.

Reaching out is difficult.

Once you reach out, do you have to be accountable.

Acts of kindness are not as easy as one might think.

What you think you know,

will not be sneered at behind your back.

However, even the appearance is not always easy to see through.

What if, in the middle of the night, you, alone, were walking along the road and saw a very poor, distressed, seemingly unconscious person lying on the floor?

Actually, Ziongzong was on his way to the convenience store when Yukino-san asked him to buy some cling film to take back.

Then, Ziongzong saw, in front of him, a cloaked man lying under a street lamp.

His face was facing downward, and his loose hair covered his face. Because his body was not completely enveloped in the light of the street lamp, making Ziongzong unable to determine his age and other physical characteristics.

It was just bound to be a nuisance, something that was plain to see.

What to do about it, what to do and what not to do.

For this world, there may already be an answer.

Doing nothing is what should not be done, and doing nothing is what should be done.

The distance between Ziongzong and him was about fifty meters.

No one was around.

Pretending not to see anything, going the other way, or, walking past him as if nothing happened, are the easiest things one can do.

And no one would blame.

Although ruthless, but this is also people in daily life, gradually learned, self-protection methods.

Just live your own life and don't get involved with things that may bring you trouble.

Just.

Despite all the self-suggestions being laid down by the world, Ziongzong walked straight towards the figure that had fallen to the ground.

He didn't know what he could do, but it was better than turning a blind eye.

No matter what the rules of the world are, this is the world in his eyes, and he is the god of this world.

Gods do not turn their backs on their world.

Only after approaching Ziongzong realized that the person lying on the ground was smaller than he thought, or rather, it was simply a small child. Moreover, scattered on the ground, used to tie the hair band, not long ago, Ziongzong had seen.

A red hairband with a white four-leaf clover pattern in the middle.

--No, it wasn't.

"Hey! Are you okay? "

Although the hair was scattered, Ziongzong remembered the face clearly.

The one who fell to the ground unconscious was Koga Mizuno.

"Wake up!"

Ziongzong took Mizuno in his arms and shook her slightly, but she was still unconscious, which made Ziongzong more and more anxious.

-- What the hell happened.

Ziongzong ruffled the hair on her face, and there were a few red scratches on her cheek, as well as a not-so-serious bruise.

--not a very serious injury, and should not be enough to pass out.

Ziongzong then carefully examined her exposed arms and legs, and apart from a few scrapes, there was nothing of note. Her breathing was steady, and Ziongzong took her pulse by the wrist, and her heartbeat was normal.

--There was no way out.

Ziongzong pulled open her blouse and prepared to examine her further.

"......H"

twin ponytails breathed as if swimming, with a mischievous tone, and said softly.

The words were so weak that they didn't have a trace of weight.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? "

Although it was said "H" for unknown reasons, it was not the time to care at all.

Ziongzong knew she was trying to be brave.

"..... nothing. "

It was clearly a strong argument, and Mizuno couldn't even open her eyes completely right now.

--Didn't want to say it to me.

For other people's privacy, Ziongzong does not like to ask questions, but, he can not leave Mizuno here unattended.

The original white hands, now covered with small scars, even so, she still pressed her hand against the hem of her dress, although not at all hard, but Ziongzong originally wanted to pull up her dress hand, let go.

This was her expression of refusal that had nothing to do with strength, this slenderness was all her will now.

'I'll take you to the hospital.'

"No ...... don't."

"I don't know what you're minding, but it's too bad that you're hurt like this. It is nesscary to be sent to the hospital. "

Ziongzong picked up the two ponytails and ran in the direction of the nearby hospital.

"...... no."

"You don't have to worry about money or anything, just leave it to me. "

Although this sentence is a bit hurtful, but Ziongzong can only think of, this is the only sentence.

The two ponytails gently squeezed Ziongzong with their fingers, and he lost consciousness again.

--Mizuno, what the hell is going on.

To this enigmatic little girl, although he had been cheated and screwed by her, Ziongzong did not hate her at all. Knowing that her behavior is wrong, but Ziongzong does not feel at all, the malice in her behavior.

Instead of trying to harm people, she is doing her best to protect herself.

-- Just ...... why ......

now is not the time to think so much, Ziongzong with his fastest footsteps, ran to the nearby hospital.

By this time, there was no one left in the hospital, and the nurse, who was on duty, approached Ziongzong with a flustered face.

"Hello, please ......"

"Where is the emergency room? "

Politeness and all that was thrown aside, Ziongzong didn't even bother to look at her face and just looked around at the emergency room sign.

"This way.''

Ziongzong ran once again, but fortunately, there were no other patients in the emergency room.

After handing Koga Mizuno to the doctor, Ziongzong filled out some forms with the nurse's guidance.

"This will be fine, don't worry too much, I think she's fine. "

"...... Well, thanks."

"Then please wait here for a while, the results should be available soon, please see me at the counter if you need them."

"...... I know."

The nurse who had just guided her was actually wearing the head nurse's armband, and her appearance was actually a little scary.

Despite that, Ziongzong was still grateful to her.

"I'm sorry, I was too rough just now."

Hearing Ziongzong's words, the head nurse just raised her hand, signaling that she had heard it in a rather dashing manner.

Then, all that was left was to wait.

Ziongzong sat on the bench, fingers intertwined, chin resting, eyes downcast on the floor, occasionally scanning the state of the emergency room, his mood unsettled.

"......"

It's going to be okay.

He reassured himself.

What had happened forced and threatened his mind, and the sorrows buried at the bottom of his heart overflowed privately through the soil of the ground.

The lit-up signs in the operating room, the panicked crowd, the shouts, the cries.

The broken vehicles, the smoking hot brake marks.

The doctor's face, the scalpel with its cold glint.

The grunting, grunting, tiresome sound of hospital beds moving across the corridor.

And ......

-- no.

Ziongzong took the hot tea in his hand and poured it over the back of his hand, the burning pain, clearing his head for a moment.

It was just a dream from the past.

--just.

The door to the emergency room opened and the doctor took off his mask while walking towards Ziongzong.

"Are you the patient's ......?"

"Friend."

"...... Okay."

The doctor looked at Ziongzong with a puzzled look for a moment.

Indeed, it was suspicious for a junior high school student to bring an injured, unconscious elementary school student to the hospital at night, no matter how it is still questionable.

"How is she? "

"It's okay, don't worry about that, it's just a few superficial injuries. "

"She's just too tired, and she's mildly malnourished, she hasn't eaten for a day or two, take her to eat something."

--Why hadn't she eaten for a day or two?

Remembering all the things about Mizuno Koga, Ziongzong had a general answer, and this answer made him feel more sympathy for Mizuno.

"Okay, thank you."

"No, no, it's just ......"

The doctor looked at Ziongzong, then back at Mizuno Koga, who was lying on the hospital bed.

There was silence for several minutes, and finally, the doctor turned to Ziongzong again.

"...... Since you are a friend, be good and do your duty as a friend."

"...... yes."

The doctor's hesitant attitude made Ziongzong concerned.

But the subtext of this hesitation is that it is not convenient to say explicitly, that is, more content, Ziongzong needs to ask himself, or wait for Mizuno to take the initiative to say it.

Ziongzong took the doctor's prescribed medicine list and walked to Mizuno's side.

The last time I saw her, she was still so cheerful and lively, like a doll, innocent to the point of being loved, but now, she is lying on the hospital bed with bruises all over her body.

The beautiful face, maliciously destroyed, white and red, exuding sunshine, only a frightening pallor remained.

"I'm always in trouble with you. "

Ziongzong took her tiny hand and wrapped it in his own, hoping to impart some warmth to her and bring some life back to her face.

"......you pervert.''

The face of the two ponytails, a light smile emerged, but this, but Ziongzong feel even worse.

Obviously just a child, at such a time, but not cry, but also show a smile to him.

"Idiot, do you think I'll think you're okay because of this? "

"Haha ...... Yeah."

She slowly opened her eyes, as if she couldn't focus, somewhat hazily, and looked at Ziongzong.

"Where do you live at home? "

"Don't ...... I don't want to go home."

"......"

don't want to, or can't? This is another question that cannot be asked.

"This is not the time to be capricious."

"......"

Ziongzong regretted just saying that.

"Sorry."

-I was a little too careless.

"So, do you want to spend the night in the hospital?"

"...... It's not a bad idea to try."

Koga Mizuno's voice was gradually becoming more coherent, and she seemed to have recovered a lot.

"It's very lonely to be alone, do you want me to stay with you? "

Influenced by her forced smile, Ziongzong also changed his tone to a half-joking one to match her.

"If you are so nice to me, I will be more and more capricious. "

She mischievously slid her fingers around Ziongzong's palm.

"Nah, take me back to your house, I don't like hospitals."

"Yeah, I don't like hospitals either."

The haggard eyes, trying hard, trying to show some relief to Ziongzong's glow.

--so cunning.

--I couldn't say no to such a show of weakness.

"Let's go, Mizuno."

Ziongzong picked her up carefully, as if she was holding a glass doll that would break if she wasn't careful.

"You ...... still remember my ...... name ...... it."

I don't know why, until just now, she who had been pretending to be strong and forcing a smile, her voice, at this time, became a little choked up.

"Yes, I remember."

Ziongzong stroked her hair and set off on the road back to the Uesugi family.

-- Alas ...... what to do.

Ziongzong looked at the lights of the Uesugi house and sighed helplessly.

The two ponytails, at some point, had fallen asleep in Ziongzong's arms, their petite bodies curled up, making the heart grow fonder.

It's just that something like taking her back to the Uesugi family ......

- is really ill-considered.

For many reasons, Ziongzong did not want this matter to bother others, that is, he wanted to fight stealthily.

The Uesugi family live in a traditional two-story house, everyone's room is on the second floor, while Ziongzong's room is on the second floor, which is really helpful at times like this.

Ziongzong put the cling film he bought outside the fence first, and then sneaked into the courtyard behind the house, holding the twin ponytails.

If he was alone, it would not be difficult to climb up with his bare hands, but ......

Ziongzong looked around to make sure he was not spotted, and then, after surveying the birch tree in the courtyard.

The thick, long branches, stretching recklessly into the air, he felt should be able to bear the weight of a slightly stronger adult, the sum of Ziongzong's and Mizuno's weight.

--This thin physique can be useful in this kind of situation......

After a self-deprecating sentence, Ziongzong held Mizuno's body with one hand and began the most difficult tree climbing he had ever done.

The climbing process was more strenuous than Ziongzong expected, and his arms were scraped by the protruding branches with several red dark marks, but it went well.

Ziongzong carefully stepped on the eaves of the house. He opened the window gently and tumbled into his room, inadvertently glancing at the fluorescent clock, it had been more than two hours since he left Uesugi's house to go to the convenience store.

The ticking clock hand, like an inspector holding a whip, urged him with every sound that he had been out far longer than "going to the convenience store to buy something".

After carefully hiding the sleeping Mizuno in the closet, Ziongzong quickly returned to the front door of the first floor.

After covering his injured arm with his sleeve and tidying up his clothes, Ziongzong pressed the doorbell as if nothing had happened.

"Zzzzzzzzz ......"

snapped.

Hardly waiting, the door opened.

It was Yuuki who came to open the door for Ziongzong, and Yukino-san followed behind her.

Yuuki was keen to open the door for her family, but if it was an outsider, she wouldn't get this treatment.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back."

Yukino-san welcomed Ziongzong into the door as usual, while Yuuki, she smiled shyly at Ziongzong and ran back, behaving much better than she did at first.

"You're a little late, Ziongzong."

Although the word on her mouth was 'a little late', the expression on Yukino-san's face was 'Where did you go?

"I'm sorry, Yukino-san. "

Ziongzong himself had a feeling that there might be more problems in the future.

After changing his shoes, Ziongzong handed the bag with the plastic wrap to Yukino-san, while making up excuses in his mind to get away with it.

"Don't do that next time."

To Ziongzong's surprise, Yukino-san didn't ask him why he was late, but just patted his head with her slender hand and let him in.

--First, he passed the first level.

Ziongzong also had no time to celebrate, after all, the"thing"that would bring him calamity was now asleep in his room.

Yes, it is the 'thing' that brings calamity, not the 'trouble' that brings calamity, if that was the thought, from the beginning, Ziongzong would not have chosen to take her to the hospital, and even to take her home.

He became the god of his own world, not just for a day or two.

After Ziongzong greeted Uesugi Tano in the living room, he restrained his pace, which kept wanting to get faster, and tried to act as usual, and returned to his room.

The room was pitch black inside.

It was as if a drowning man had been rescued from the shore, and Ziongzong's heart, which had been beating hard, finally slowed down its rhythm.

Calm down the mood, so that he, even, is not in a hurry to open the closet.

In fact, Ziongzong had considered going home in the open and discussing with Mr. and Mrs. Uesugi how to handle this matter.

However, the small hands of the twin ponytails that were still squeezing his shirt tightly in their sleep prevented Ziongzong from doing so.

--what was it ......

An uncanny feeling that always haunted Ziongzong.

Turning on the room's lighting, Ziongzong pulled open the closet as quietly as possible.

The Mizuno curled up with a petite body, lying on the futon sleeping, from time to time let out a slight snoring sound.

Black and long eyelashes, soft and white face, so that she looks, as if she is sleeping little angel general.

However, this little angel, has been all over the body scars.

After turning around and locking the door, Ziongzong put her on the tatami with the bedding.

--Let her sleep like this until tomorrow.

Thinking about tomorrow's events, Ziongzong's mind turned into a muddle again.

How to get her out of the house was another difficult problem.

The problem at hand could be solved with a little thought, but Ziongzong was looking at the possibilities that had brought things to this stage.

Considering that there is school tomorrow and it is already late ......Ziongzong decided that it is better to sleep first.

After helping the two ponytails and himself to lay out the bedding separately, Ziongzong went to the bathroom to clean his body. When he changed into his pajamas, Ziongzong saw the scars on his arms from the cat's scratches and remembered what happened that day at noon with Katagiri Mai.

--Do you think it will be grateful if you casually throw it in the corner?

--If you didn't have the sense to take care of it, why did you save it in the first place?

He spat out his tongue at his somewhat sad-faced self in the mirror and propped up a smile with his fingers.

--It's just a different situation between having to have me and being able to do without me.

The matter of being forcibly dragged into the 'New' Kyudo club by Tomono Ito, who was both the schoolgirl and class president, could not be as simple as it seemed.

The inferiority of such things is born destined, can not get rid of, no matter who, just some people hide very well, and some people can not hide, so in addition to the distinction between people and the relationship between the superior and inferior.

Ziongzong broke out three fingers, this is probably the current situation of his life, just over these three hills, after what will be, Ziongzong has some self-deprecating thought that it will not be a plain.

He had only been in the Kyoto for a month, and he was already beset by all kinds of difficult problems.

--Tomorrow, let's use the time after class to do some research, and there's still the part-time job to do.

Ziongzong lowered his head to confirm the condition of the twin ponytails, only to find that at some point, she had already woken up.

Mizuno was scratching her hair with confused eyes, her little head turned around and looked at Ziongzong's room, finally, she saw Ziongzong, her eyes stopped cruising, and her eyes came and went with Ziongzong's for no more than three seconds before she came to a conclusion.

"You abducted me? "

"......"

Koga Mizuno said in a dazed manner.

"That's not what happened, you asked for it yourself! "

This stimulation came too suddenly, so Ziongzong spat out rather nonchalantly, probably too late for the uncle heart to react.

"So ...... didn't think you were such a casual person. "

"It's not a matter of casual or not, right? "

"Never mind ...... anyway, I am powerless to resist whatever you want to do, do as you like, lolicon."

She said, while posing as if she was "at your disposal", without resistance.

--This guy and the one in the hospital just now are really the same person?

This spitting came too late.

The brain cells in Ziongzong's head, like a high-speed train moving at 300 kilometers per hour, hit a ten-ton truck with a bang, and all of them turned into a paste-like liquid called "brain matter".

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding. "

The twin ponytails, who had shifted from the "dirty girl" mode, showed a mischievous smile and put her arms around Ziongzong's waist, leaning on Ziongzong's feet like a bird.

"Thank you, Ziongzong. "

What is this "Ziongzong" ......

and what is this angelic happy smile?

Ziongzong parted her thighs and sat down in front of her.

"Wow, Ziongzong, don't look so serious ......"

Although her expression was reluctant, Mizuno also sat down with Ziongzong.

"What are you playing now?"

Ziongzong felt that if he didn't clarify his position and so on, he would be completely played by this twin ponytail.

This is really not in line with his principles as a human being.

Although this principle did not necessarily exist.

"Don't be so serious."

Although Ziongzong put on what he thought was his most serious and frightening expression, Twin Ponytail didn't care, and swooshed into Ziongzong's arms, poking his stiff face with her pink fingers.

"I just woke up and saw how ugly your face looked, so I wanted you to relax. "

Mizuno showed a mischievous expression with a mischievous smile and rolled around in Ziongzong's arms.

This, is this the coquetry?

Ziongzong was at a loss for words as he watched her happily frolicking.

The first time I encountered such a situation, even Ziongzong, who is already experienced in dealing with children, was unable to help his right hand with his left hand and was at a loss for words.

And, what the hell is going on here, this sudden display of affection for Ziongzong?

Ziongzong carefully tried to separate from her, but she wrapped her arms around her.

The unique soft feeling of a small girl's body, as well as the slightly fragrant smell, he could clearly feel.

When Ziongzong was distracted by this sudden attack, Mizuno further invaded his territory and buried her face deep into Ziongzong's chest, rubbing around comfortably.

What exactly does this fickle twin ponytail want to do ......

Ziongzong's brain has become as miserable white as X-liquid.

And Mizuno, perfectly, gave Ziongzong the final blow.

She happily lay on Ziongzong's lap, slightly shy, but full of enthusiasm ......

"I Like Brother Ziongzong the best~^___________^~"