[Black Basket] Winter Cherry Blossoms

Under the leadership of Kotaro, everyone came to a rather old-looking residential area, which is different from the modern buildings in the urban area, as if traveling back in time and space to the end of the Edo period. The old Japanese-style mansion is the main body here. , with the passage of time, many old mansions have either become hotels or kiosks, but there are still quite a few houses inhabited, and the famous Hashimoto family is one of them.

"Little... Kotaro, are you sure we've come to the right place?" Looking at the facade of the mansion in front of her, Miyuki, who was dripping with cold sweat, felt that her hands were trembling a little, and she almost dropped the pot of platycodon flowers in her hand to the ground.

"It's not wrong. This place is exactly the same as what I saw when I was a child. Except for the doorbell installed at the door, everything else is the same." Compared with Miyuki's surprised expression, Kotaro is much calmer, and it may be from when he was a child. The number of times is relatively high, and he still feels no pressure to revisit the old place after he grows up.

"Since you are right, I will leave the task of ringing the doorbell to you, come on! Kotaro!" Ling Yang encouraged Kotaro from behind.

However, there is no pressure to stand at the door, but it is another matter once you meet Saya’s grandmother. After hesitating for a moment, Kotaro took a deep breath and raised his hand to press the doorbell. Unfortunately, the doorbell hadn’t had time to ring. The wooden door has been opened, and a middle-aged man in his 40s walked out from inside.

"Huh? How many of you are Luoshan students? Congratulations, this year your Luoshan High School is going to be lively." The middle-aged man smiled and patted Kotaro on the shoulder, and then shouted into the mansion: "Mrs. Chiyo, you There are guests outside the door."

"Oh, Mr. Sugimoto, I'm really sorry for your trouble." Hearing the middle-aged man's shout, a lady in kimono came from the mansion, "Isn't this Kotaro? I haven't seen you for a few years and you look so old." High, they are..."

"It's our first meeting. I'm Seijuro Akashi. I'm here today with my second-year seniors to visit Miss Oikawa who is sick. Please give me your advice." Akashi politely explained the purpose of this trip to Mrs. Chiyo. When the master met, as a junior, Mrs. Chiyo gave him the impression that Masao Nakamura completely fit his description. Under her kind and friendly appearance, she had a sharper gaze than ordinary people. I am afraid that she already knew his identity from the moment she saw him appear. .

"I'm really rude. I actually let the guests stand outside the door for so long. Come in and take a rest. It just so happens that someone from the festival committee brought delicious snacks. You mustn't be polite."

Following Mrs. Chiyo into the mansion, the first thing that catches the eye is a large Japanese garden, and the main house is surrounded by curved pools. It is necessary to walk across a small wooden bridge to reach the main house’s reception hall. It can be said that , the overall architectural design is entirely in the ancient Japanese style. If it weren't for some modern electrical appliances after entering the hall, Kotaro and the others really thought they had gone back to the Edo period.

"I'm really sorry to bother you to make a trip. My stupid granddaughter is really useless and has caused you trouble."

"No, it's because we came too suddenly. We should have called again with a warning." Akashi put the yokan he brought on the table in the hall. "This is a little thought for the first time. Please accept it."

"It's the water yokan from the old store in the business district, thank you, my old man likes it the most."

Seeing Mrs. Chiyo happily accepting the meeting gift they brought, Kotaro finally heaved a sigh of relief, but there was still a question lingering in his mind, so he asked softly: "Mrs. Chiyo, the person who came just now is..."

"You mean Mr. Sugimoto? He is a staff member of this year's Aoi Festival. The committee sent him to inform me that Saya has been selected as this year's acting king, and we will start related publicity work next week."

"Soon, we only heard the news of being selected at the school. Does Mrs. Chiyo also know that Saya's sister was selected?" Miyuki asked worriedly.

Mrs. Chiyo had expected that someone would ask this question, so she replied with a smile: "Of course, it is a great honor to be selected as King Daisai in the festival. That girl also has the same dream, but the committee finally chose Saya."

"From what you said, senior seems to have no interest in becoming Daisai King?" As the heir of a big family, Akashi can understand Saya's mood. The heir has a heavy learning task. Enjoy the fun of life to the fullest, and they have been surrounded by various courses since they were young. Under the long-term high-pressure state, their mental age is more mature than their peers, and those things that should be interesting have become dull.

"This is a necessary part of becoming an heir. You should be able to understand, Akashi." Mrs. Chiyo looked at the red-haired boy sitting opposite, and continued: "Saya often mentions you in front of me. As she said, you are very excellent."

What on earth was she trying to tell him?There was obviously another layer of meaning in the short chat conversation, Akashi felt the hints from Mrs. Chiyo to him, as if a net was blocked in front of him, preventing him from further involving the topic of Saya.

"You're flattering me, I just did my duty as a student." Akashi didn't flinch from this, and still dealt with it calmly.

"Yes, Mrs. Chiyo, Akashi is now a miracle in Luoshan. He became the head of the basketball department not long after entering school, and now he is also the president of the student union. Everyone in our department admires his ability." Kotaro echoed He said, "By the way, can we see Saya, please? The teacher at the school asked us to bring her homework and some gifts for her early recovery."

"Of course, I'm going to go out later, so please take care of Saya for me for a while. By the way, please persuade her to drink the prepared medicine."

Mrs. Chiyo called the butler, and after a while, everyone saw the butler walking in with a tray, and a strange smell of herbs immediately filled the room. Kotaro and the others looked at the small pot of steaming soup on the table. The first feeling is that the taste of that thing is absolutely miserable. Compared with the convenience of western medicine, the ancient herbal decoction is more mysterious and weird. Can that thing really be eaten?

"This is Hashimoto's family's special medicine for colds. Please make Saya drink it in various ways, please."

After leaving tasks for the young people, Mrs. Chiyo was about to go out. Before she left, she ordered the housekeeper to entertain the guests, and Miyuki held the soup and Reo Kotaro. They followed the housekeeper to find Saya, and when Akashi followed, Chiyo The lady stopped him.

"Young master of the Akashi family, Saya is not a good choice for you, please don't be confused by temporary inexplicable emotions, it will make your father worry."

"You are serious, Mrs. Chiyo, whether she is a good choice is not decided by my father, but by me. As for the inexplicable emotion you mentioned, I can tell whether it is real or a phantom, so don't bother you." Mrs. Chiyo His words touched the question that Akashi had been avoiding in his heart. He had seriously thought about how he felt about Saya. The only thing he was sure of was that the feeling of the first encounter had not disappeared, but gradually changed. Her painting is already best answer.

"Saya is the heir of the Hashimoto family, and she will not abandon her responsibilities."

A smile appeared on Akashi's lips, "I like this about her, but ironically this is also what gives me a headache, but it's okay, I have the patience to wait, this is a long-lasting chase, and the winner will definitely it's me."

Mrs. Chiyo sighed helplessly, "It seems that it will be the world of young people in the future. The so-called youth emerges from the blue, and the future Akashi family has an excellent heir."

"Thank you for the compliment."

******

"Hey, Saya, wait for me, I can't keep up with running so fast, I still have something to pick up before."

"Miyuki, how many times do you want to be a god, don't pick up useless things, follow up quickly, don't be bitten by zombies!"

Gunshots and roars came from a certain room in the mansion, which really didn't fit this ancient building, especially when Akashi followed the footsteps of everyone to the room, what caught his eye was the large-screen TV in the room, and There were people complaining about the game, and the person he was worried about was playing the game with Miyuki.

"Sister, what are you doing?" Akashi's face immediately turned cold.

"Release the pressure." Saya didn't look back, and continued to press the handle to beat the zombies in the game.

Akashi frowned and looked at the low table beside her, which was full of study materials and university brochures. She was only in the first semester of the second year, and she had already started preparing for the university exam. She went back to school in the morning and went to school in the evening. Going back to the store for an internship, it can be seen that she really worked too hard, no wonder she was tired and sick.

"Drink the medicine soon, what you need is rest."

"Xiaozheng, she knows that you met Meixiang. In order to reduce the fire, she has been torturing zombies there for 10 minutes to vent." Ling Yang walked to Akashi and said softly.

"Sister, we need to talk."

"What are you going to talk about?"

Akashi's cold tone successfully made Saya stop her hands, but the screen instantly turned red, and the character she controlled was gnawed to death by zombies.

"Let's decide the outcome with a game first. Whoever wins will have the right to speak, how about it? Then you can be convinced and don't quarrel with me." Akashi sat down beside Saya, and picked up the game that Miyuki put on the tatami Handle, press the start button to start the challenge of the two-player mode of the game.

"Do you have mind reading skills?" Saya, who was seen through by Akashi, felt very uncomfortable. Was she so obvious?No, stay calm, stay calm, don't let your last thoughts be taken care of.

"How is it possible, in fact, you were betrayed by the expression on your face, and you are still angry about what you just found out?"

"No." Saya refused to admit it.

"It's okay, I can listen to your whining slowly after I win."

"Xiaozheng, have you played this type of game before?" According to the information that Kotaro got along with Akashi, video games are not in the scope of Akashi's hobbies, but after personal testing by him, Lingyang, and Nebuya, even if it is not in the scope of hobbies In terms of internal activities, Akashi's cheating is still strong.

"No, this is the first time for me. I only read the strategy books bought by my classmates when I was bored." Akashi replied honestly.

"It is impossible for a veteran to lose to a novice. I will definitely win this game." Hearing that Akashi was playing for the first time, Saya's confidence in winning suddenly increased.

"Saya, you will be abused if you underestimate your opponent, you have to be careful." Kotaro reminded kindly.

It's a pity that the warning was given too late. The game has already started. In the first part, Saya's speed and number of kills were far ahead. What surprised her was that he used physical techniques and knives to kill zombies. The process was clean and neat, and even the bullets consumed by gun shooting could be arranged reasonably, and every bullet would never be wasted.

"Sister, your speed has slowed down."

"Don't complain about me." Concentrating, Saya continued to stare at the screen, trying to distance herself from Akashi.

The situation of you chasing after me continued to be stalemate, and Lingyang and Kotaro, who were watching the battle behind the two, were sweating coldly. As they guessed, Akashi's cheats are as practical in the game, and the operation is not like a novice at all. Saya, a veteran, was forced to make mistakes constantly, and the speed of clearing monsters was not as smooth as it was at the beginning.

"Handsome, Xiao Zheng, that knife kill is beautiful."

"There are no misses in the bullets, the guns are headshots, and the marksmanship is very powerful." Xiaotaro can already foresee the result of this game.

"It's better for us to leave for a while." Miyuki suggested in a low voice, because judging from the current game situation, Saya will definitely lose. In order to leave a quiet space for those two, it is still necessary to clear the field in advance.

Lingyang and Kotaro also thought so, so the three of them sneaked outside during the competition between Saya and Akashi, leaving time for the two to spend time with each other, while they went to the garden of the mansion to enjoy the flowers at the place of battle.