Cherish the time

How does it feel to be separated from someone important to you?

Hikari Shindo didn't know.

——or should I say, he doesn't remember.

The scenes of frantically looking for Zuo Wei in his previous life are still vivid in his memory, but now, his heart is as calm as water.

The sunlight came in from the east window, passed through Saori's silvery spirit body, and fell on Shinto's body.

It was such a quiet and gloomy scene.

"Slap", "Slap".

The sound of the inferior chess pieces falling on the chessboard was a bit muffled, one sound at a time, as if they were hitting someone's heart, blocking them so much that they couldn't breathe.

Shinto Hikaru stared at the chessboard, concentrating on how to deal with Zuo's move.

Zuo Wei half-closed his eyes and tapped the folding fan on the palm of his left hand, obviously thinking about the opponent's next move.

In this game of chess, everyone played very seriously.

It seems that I want to inject all my last thoughts into this game, and pass on this nostalgia through this game.

Seeing the chess pieces falling one by one, Shinto Hikari's heart was extremely bright.

—He must... win this game.

Zuo Wei, who was sitting opposite, obviously had the same belief.

Thus, the two men with the same purpose began to fight each other on the battlefield of the Nineteenth Route.

On this battlefield without gunpowder smoke, both sides showed their full abilities, and there was no intention of holding back when fighting each other. Zizi took risks and made every step of the way. It was really an indomitable and desperate battle.

Zuo Wei swung the plain fan straight, like a sharp knife out of its sheath, entering the vine and dropping the seed in response, like a direct strike of an epee.

The two black and white pieces alternately landed on the chessboard, and the young man's plain fingertips seemed to be shining with light.

When the chess game progressed to the end of the middle game, the whole situation became more and more complicated, and every move affected the whole body, and both sides seemed to be stuck in a quagmire, unable to extricate themselves.

After Shinto made 192 moves, the translucent folding fan did not appear on the chessboard for a long time.

"Zuowei? ”Full immersed in the game, Shinto urged subconsciously, “It’s your turn. 』

The only response to him was the rustling sound of the breeze caressing the curtains.

Shinto Hikari looked up suddenly.

The warm sun still shone on him.

It's just that the gentle spirit body in black crown and white clothes has disappeared.

He sat there quietly, watching the sunlight streaming in through the window.

His gaze was far away, as if at this moment, his gaze spanned thousands of rivers and mountains, penetrated the gap between life and death, and saw the world that ordinary people could not see.

Then, he closed his eyes, his face extremely peaceful.

"Zoe, goodbye. 』

He was talking in his head as usual.

It's just that there will be no other voices in his mind.

Never again...never again.

Shinto Hikaru sat for a while in a daze.

It was as if he had forgotten that he was still alive in this world.

Then bent down, trying to put the pieces on the chessboard back into the chess box.

——Go...is played by two people.

This game without the opponent... There is no need to continue.

He silently packed the chess pieces, and there was an empty silence in his heart.

No sadness, no sorrow, no reluctance, no remembrance.

None of the emotions that used to linger in my heart appeared, but my whole heart was light and empty, with a kind of desolate loneliness.

Hikaru Shinto lowered his eyes, stretched out his hand to pick up the chess pieces on the chessboard.

However, his fingers trembled involuntarily, unable to pick up the chess pieces.

He tried a few more times, but he still could only watch the chess pieces fall from between his fingers and hit the board or chess pieces, making a shocking crisp sound.

He gave up tidying up with a wry smile, pulled his feet out from under his buttocks, propped his hands back on the ground, and then leaned his weight on his hands, just sat there silently, watching what was happening outside the window. Draw the landscape.

"Really... I'm leaving..."

After he maintained this position for a long, long time, a soft sigh and a whisper escaped from the corner of his mouth.

It is clearly a sentence without any emotion, but if someone can hear it, they will definitely feel a kind of sadness that is greater than death.

"Then I have to... go back." He whispered to himself, and slowly stood up from the tatami.

"Backpack... where is it..."

"...ah...toothbrush and towel..."

"...the chess set...haven't received it yet..."

Shinto Hikaru tidied up the room slowly, muttering something all the time.

This is not his habit.

It's just that at this moment, his brain seems to have stopped. If he doesn't use words to tell himself what to do next, he can only stand there blankly, staring blankly at the emptiness of the room.

Fortunately, he didn't bring many things. No matter how slowly he moved, after half an hour, he had already packed up and was ready to go on the road.

Return the chess set, settle the room fee, hand over the keys, and leave the hostel.

Just like when he came, Shinto walked on the streets of Innoshima with his backpack on his back.

He lowered his head while walking, slowing down, carrying a schoolbag like a snail traveling around with his home on his back, giving people the illusion that he has been overwhelmed.

When Shindo was walking on a slightly steep downhill, the bell of "Dinglingling-" rang behind him.

Shinto Hikaru didn't dodge or avoid it as if he didn't hear it.

"Hey hey hey!" Seeing his reaction like this, the boy hurriedly shouted, "Get out of the way—!"

Shinto Hikaru finally looked back with a little reaction, and was pushed aside by the boy who couldn't stop the car.

"Really!" After sliding forward for several meters, the boy who managed to stop the bicycle with his feet yelled back angrily, "I told you to get out of the way—hey...how come you again?"

Shinto Hikaru was stunned for half a second, and then remembered that this was the kind boy who sent himself to the hostel six days ago when he bumped his knee.

"...good afternoon." He greeted him with a nod, and walked on.

"Hey hey hey!" The black-skinned boy who had met once once stopped him again, "You are so in a daze, it's really worrying! ——I'll see you off, where are you going? "

Once again, I was sent to the destination by a kind-hearted cyclist, took the ferry again, took the JR train again, and took the Shinkansen again.

Everything seems to be the same as when it came.

Just a fellow traveler, no longer.

Sitting on the seat of the Shinkansen, Shindo Hikaru aimlessly looked at the crowd outside the window.

He knew that such behavior was useless, but he always repeated this searching action unconsciously.

It wasn't until the train's departure bell rang that he withdrew his searching gaze and stared blankly at the ground in front of him.

——“Goodbye, Xiaoguang. 』

The moment the train started, a familiar voice rang in his ears like a dream.

Shinto Hikari turned his head abruptly.

What I saw was just the fashionable aunt next door holding the baby.

The aunt gave him a slightly vigilant look, turned her body slightly and turned her back to him.

The heart that had been hanging in the air finally fell to the ground.

He showed a bright smile from the bottom of his heart, leaned his head on the back of the seat, and then gently closed his eyes.

Until he suddenly fell into a dream, he did not hide the smile on the corner of his mouth.