spooky love

The teaching assistant, the amount is not that high.He rented a big house, hired his mother-in-law to take care of the trivial things around him, paid Dema's salary, and had to buy the necessary books, which were not enough at all, and he reached out to his hometown for what was not enough.The father never said anything and always had the money he needed ready.

"Although the brewery is still there, the brewery "Satake" can no longer be rebuilt."

Uncle sighed.

"Even if the store is closed, what about the remaining debt..."

Ryoichiro put his hands on his lap and looked up.

"Uncle, how much debt do we owe?"

After hearing the amount, Ryoichiro turned pale.

"There are so many, interest alone is not a joke. We still have a few mountains in our house, sell them..."

Uncle was very depressed.

"The mountain is gone. It was disposed of a long time ago. All that remains is the land of the house and its surroundings."

"Then sell it."

"Not now. After a fire breaks out, it will definitely be called an unlucky place and the price will be bargained."

The two fell silent.After a while, my uncle raised his eyes and looked up at Ryoichiro.

"Do you have a girl you like in Tokyo?"

Uncle suddenly asked this question.Ryoichiro replied "No" with a wry smile.

"Because I'm busy studying..."

Uncle nodded deeply and said, "That's true."

"By the way, do you know the owner of the roundhouse?"

"Are you talking about Adachi Sukuroku?"

Adachi is the operator of the "Round House", a trader in the neighboring port city, and owns three ships.It is said that he was a shopkeeper before he became famous.

"It was yesterday. Adachi came to me and said: I just finished the first seven days. I don't know if it's appropriate to mention this, but he wants to marry his fourth daughter to you."

Ryoichiro responded with an "oh", as if he had nothing to do with himself.

"The other party also knows about our family. He said: If you marry his fourth daughter, he will help us pay the debt. According to his thinking, he should plan to pay the debt for us, but the land must be given to him. ..."

The uncle stroked the beard on his chin frequently.

"That piece of land is very good. Although the value far exceeds the debt, but there was a fire, and now it can't be sold for such a high price. Even if it is sold, it should still not be enough to pay off the debt. Although it can wait two or three years, if the land The interest money during the period is included, and the amount is still the same. If this is the case, why don't you just marry Adachi's fourth daughter, how about it?"

Ryoichiro remained silent.

"In this way, the debt can be paid off, and you can concentrate on your studies without worrying about money in Tokyo. I have seen Adachi's daughter, she is very beautiful."

Uncle seemed to talk more and more vigorously, but Ryoichiro couldn't agree anyway.

"This matter came so suddenly, you shouldn't be able to make a decision immediately, right? Think about it carefully, and the other party also said that there is no need to rush. It means that our family has just encountered misfortune."

Ritsuko's voice came from the entrance, as if she had bought candy and came home.Uncle walked out of the room first, and Ryoichiro also walked through the corridor, put on his shoes at the entrance, and took his hat in his hand.

"Dema."

He came to the courtyard and called the other person's name, and the man who was playing with Ritsuko turned his head.

"I'm going out, come with me."

Dema handed the ball to Ritsuko, patted her head, and ran to Ryoichiro.

The sun was shining brightly outside, although he went out for a walk with him, but he didn't have any particular place he wanted to go.Ryoichiro strolled along the road along the river, and Dema followed him at a distance of about half a step.It's been a long time since he was wearing a white kimono that reflected the scorching sun and looked very cool.

The weary heat is dizzying.Ryoichiro sat under a big willow tree, and Dema sat beside him, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his palm.

Ryoichiro's mind was full of the debts that his uncle had raised just now.Even if the fire-damaged land is sold, it is true that it can only be exchanged for a drop in the bucket, and it is still not enough.Although he wanted to ask his uncle for a loan, his uncle not only took care of his brother's funeral, but even arranged for Dema's mother's funeral without saying a word, so he couldn't add trouble to his uncle.

For Ryoichiro, the most important thing is knowledge and knowledge.Although he can continue to study, it is already very difficult to pay off the remaining debts and support himself in the future, and he has no spare energy to hire Dama again.

Suddenly, Ryoichiro wondered if it would be possible for the university to hire Dema.Although he does not have a degree, he is proficient in English and Russian, and because he is with him, he has a certain understanding of plant taxonomy, and he has also studied Western mathematics and physics in a private school with him. If it is data collection or general affairs, etc. Degree of work, should be able to do it happily.

It would be great if Dema could work in the university to support himself.Even if he becomes self-reliant, the salary provided by the university should not be much higher, so it is good to live together as before.Seeing the exit to solve the problem, Ryoichiro heaved a sigh of relief, turned his head, and met Dema's eyes.

"I'm sorry to ask you to accompany me on such a hot day."

I don't know if it was because of the hot weather, but his slightly flushed face slowly shook from side to side.Dema put his fingers into the lapel of the kimono, making a gesture of holding a pencil, and then he seemed to realize that there was no pencil inside, so he smiled wryly.

"It's inconvenient without a pencil."

Ryoichiro whispered, and held out his palm to Tokuma.

"Write it here, do you have something to tell me?"

Dema held Ryoichiro's hand with his left hand and began to write:

"Walking alone is lonely. 』

Dema showed a serious expression.

"Why are you lonely? I asked you to be with me because you seemed boring."

Ryoichiro hastily withdrew his palm and turned his back to Toma, feeling inexplicably ashamed.The chirping of cicadas overhead can be heard clearly.

"Do not you feel lonely?"

He didn't turn back and continued to ask questions with his back.As far as Ryoichiro saw, he hadn't seen Dema shed a single tear since he came back.Dema went around in front of Ryoichiro, and picked up his handwriting:

"I'm lonely. 』

Even though he wrote about loneliness, De Ma's expression remained the same as usual.The fingers move on the palm:

"However, Master Ryoichiro is more lonely than me, right? 』

Ryoichiro felt a strong love for this man who wrote on the palm of his hand and expressed sympathy for himself.I really want to hug him tightly and kiss his thin lips.

Ryoichiro came to his senses when he heard the loud rattling sound of the cart passing by behind him.Although it is shaded by trees, it is by the roadside, and he is ashamed to be almost absent-minded.He stood up and walked forward quickly, without saying a word, and at the same time he heard the rustling of straw sandals behind him.

When I returned to my uncle's house, the house was quiet, and I didn't see my uncle, aunt, or Ritsuko.

After returning to the big six-story room at the back, Dema stood by the window, stuck his fingers into the lapel of the kimono, and sighed.The moment he witnessed this scene, rationality flew out of Ryoichiro's mind.He grabbed the man's arm standing by the window, pulled it to a corner of the room and hugged him tightly, his thin body trembling uncontrollably, tense and unable to move.

Grab the hair and kiss him as if pressing down.Dema closed his eyes and remained motionless.After maintaining this state for a while, Ryoichiro let go of Dema with the same sudden movement as when he hugged him tightly, and came to the corridor.

He put on the shoes he just took off and ran out, feeling very frightened and his mind was boiling.He was thinking about what excuse to use to explain this irresistible impulse. If he told the other party: In the West, kissing is a way of greeting, not expressing special feelings, but mutual love, would the other party believe it?

In the end, Ryoichiro wandered back and forth around the neighborhood until dusk and after the sun had set, and he finally returned home. He was as uneasy as a child who came home to be scolded for playing a prank. He would not return to his room even after returning home. , playing with Ritsuko with dolls in the tatami living room, while thinking frightenedly that Dema would pass the corridor at some point until dinner time.

Dema, who was eating at the same table, was no different from usual, neither avoiding his appearance nor turning his eyes away.On the other hand, Ryoichiro, who made the move, couldn't hold his breath. He was so flustered that he dropped his chopsticks twice.

After eating, Ryoichiro went to take a bath immediately, and got into bed early.Because it was too early to go to bed, the uncle who came to invite him to have a drink at night asked suspiciously, "Are you feeling well?"

After his uncle went out, Dema immediately turned off the lights in the room.Obviously, the other party did this out of concern for himself lying in bed.

Even when it was dark around him, he still didn't feel sleepy at all.The whole room was full of Ryoichiro's delusions, strutting around like a ghost.

Is the other person angry?Still petrified?He wanted to ask but couldn't.He thought that if the other person was angry, he would have to apologize, but the memory of soft and submissive lips ignited Ryoichiro's urge to touch them.Even if his real intention is to get into the bed next door, and he is afraid of being rejected, after all, this matter should not compare to his impulsive kiss, and if nothing else, he can't even make up an excuse for his previous kiss .

The night was suffocating.In the end, Ryoichiro spent the long night listening to the chirping of insects, and finally fell into a shallow sleep near dawn.

Ryoichiro wrote to the professor, explaining that he had to stay in the country for a while to deal with the aftermath of the disaster at home, and tried to ask if he could hire Dema as a staff member in the university.The reply came soon, and the professor wrote in the letter: I sympathize with the misfortune that happened to Ryoichiro from the bottom of my heart, and the university has entered the summer vacation, so don't worry about things here.

But Professor Dama refused to serve as a staff member.He has taken Dema to participate in plant collection several times, so the professor also knows Dema.Because of the acquaintance, the professor thought that he could not speak, and he would still be troubled in case of inconvenience, so he flatly said that he could not recommend him as a staff member.

calm down