Chapter 18 Today, let’s make an exception for her
"who is it?"

As Jiuhuayue walked out of Fujii Itsuki's room, she heard the doorbell outside. She didn't expect someone to visit her at this time.

When she turned on the intercom, she also turned on the video function of the intercom.

She saw a short-haired girl standing at the door. She was smiling at the camera, "Jiuhua, it's me! I heard that Brother Shu was sick, so I came here to visit him."

It was her
Although they had not met very often, Jiuhuayue still remembered her name, Yang Kui Chitose, a classmate from the same school as her.

She came to her house the day before yesterday and made breakfast for the uncle.
What a great relationship, even though they have no blood relationship.

She then pressed the button and opened the iron gate outside the building.

"Hyangui-san, please come in first and wait for me at the door."

Jiuhuayue went downstairs again, and soon saw Yangkui Qiansui, whose body was covered with snowflakes, at the door.

She smiled brightly and handed out a plastic bag with both hands.

"This is..." Jiu Huayue took it and looked inside. "Pomegranate?"

"I saw it on the road and thought it was quite novel, so I bought it. This is specially for you, Jiuhua, to thank you for letting me use the kitchen last time!" Yang Kui Chitose smiled particularly brightly.

"They are all trivial matters. There's no need to be like this." Jiu Huayue said and was about to hand it over.

Yang Kui Chitose would of course not accept it, and pushed it to her again, "Jiuka-san, we've already bought the fruit, it would be a waste if we don't eat it, so please accept it. Even if you don't take the last time I borrowed the kitchen seriously, we are still classmates. I think I should at least bring some gifts when I visit classmates from the same school twice."

"This"

"Does it mean that Jiuhua-san doesn't like me as a classmate?"

"That's not what I meant."

Yang Kui Qiansui's enthusiasm made Jiuhuayue unable to refuse, and she finally accepted the gift.

"Thanks."

"You are welcome."

Jiuhuayue noticed that Qiansui's hair was covered with snow, "Did you walk here?"

"I ran over here. When I heard that Brother Shu had a fever, I immediately bought some cold medicine and came over."

When Jiu Huayue heard this, she thought that she was really wasting her time. She could have just asked Yang Kui to come and take care of the uncle.

But it’s okay. I took care of him for the whole morning, which was like repaying his favor.

"How is Brother Shu doing?"

"He's fine. I bought him some antipyretic medicine and he fell asleep after taking it."

"Did Jiuhua feed him personally?" Yang Kui Chitose maintained a cheerful smile.

Although she didn't want to admit it to a third person, Jiuhuayue didn't want to lie. Besides, she had a very good impression of Yang Kui Chitose. "That's right."

"Hey~ Jiuhua-san is really caring! I thank you on behalf of Brother Shu. By the way, how did Jiuhua-san and Brother Shu know each other?"

"at the carpark."

"The station? Did you meet by chance?"

"Doesn't Yang Kui know this?"

"Brother Shu didn't mention this to me. Does that mean Jiuhua and Brother Shu have only known each other for a short time?"

"We've only known each other for a few days."

Yang Kui Chitose smiled, giving people a warm feeling, "I'm very sorry to ask this but I'm still very curious, does Jiuhua-san have a crush on Shu-nii?"

Jiu Huayue frowned immediately and retorted, "How is that possible?"

"Because... Jiuhua, you think about it. We've only known each other for a few days, and you're already taking care of Brother Shu. Being able to take care of someone shows that the relationship between the two is very friendly and close! This at least shows that Jiuhua still has a certain affection for Brother Shu."

Would I have a crush on that perverted old man?

No. Impossible.

Jiu Huayue immediately shook her head and explained: "Student Yang Kui, you misunderstood. I did this simply because I owed him a favor."

"Favor? What favor?"

". It's like giving me something to eat when I'm hungry. That's all. Don't think too much about it."

Yang Kui Chitose was stunned for two seconds, then nodded with a smile, "I see. I see. Thank you Jiuhua-san for patiently answering my questions. So Jiuhua-san really doesn't like Brother Shu?"

".No, absolutely not."

"What does Brother Shu think of you, Jiuhua-san? What do you think of Jiuhua-san?"

"He is probably very curious about me. That's the only way I can answer."

"I see. Thank you for your patience, Jiuhua-san."

Seeing that Yang Kui Chitose had no intention of asking further, Jiuhuayue breathed a sigh of relief.

It was clearly a normal conversation, but she felt like she was being interrogated.

"Hawaii-san, come in first. It's cold outside."

"Thank you."

"Then I'll go upstairs first. Uncle is in his room. If you want to visit him, just knock on the door three times."

"Understood~"

Yang Kui Qiansui's smile gradually faded until Jiuhuayue's figure completely disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

She put on a calm expression that was completely different from usual, and stared coldly at the place where Jiuhuayue disappeared.

This guy named Jiuhuayue is the enemy.

*
Shortly after Fujii Itsuki heard the doorbell, about five minutes later, he saw Chitose Yangkui walking in carrying a plastic bag.

"Brother Tree——"

The girl's complaining expression clearly showed that she was asking, why doesn't Brother Shu take care of his health?

Fujii Itsuki smiled and said, "I just returned to Otaru, and my body hasn't adapted to the temperature here yet."

"Then Brother Shu needs to take better care of his body. Here, these are the bananas and oranges I bought for Brother Shu on the way."

Fujii Itsuki took it and said, "Did you buy it with your own pocket money again?"

"Ah."

"Why do you always waste your own money like this?"

"Does Brother Shu mean that you don't want to spend my money? Or is Jiuhua's medicine better than the one I bought?"

Fujii Itsuki was stunned, then looked inside the plastic bag.

In addition to the bananas bought by Qiansui, there was another box of cold medicine in the plastic bag, which was the same type as the one bought by Jiuhuayue.

Fujii Itsuki smiled at her and said, "Of course not. I just want you to keep more money for yourself. You can use it to dress yourself up and buy things you like."

"Kuka-san is great, right?"

"That's not right"

"When Mingming Shu finished eating the rice porridge she made and handed the bowl to her, his face was full of smiles. Wasn't it delicious?"

Fujii Itsuki was very honest, "It's really good."

"Kuka-san is very pretty, isn't she?"

"Pretty is pretty."

"I have a suggestion, Brother Shu, would you like to listen to it?"

"Go ahead."

"Since Jiuhua is so caring and Brother Shu thinks she is so pretty, why don't Brother Shu marry her? From now on, I won't have to take care of Brother Shu's health and food. Jiuhua will take care of it all."

Fujii Itsuki smiled, knowing that Chitose was joking with him.

He was also very sorry for making Chitose worry and for making a wasted trip, so he apologized immediately.

Yang Kui Chitose sighed and immediately gave in, "Let me make it clear in advance that I am not jealous of Jiuhua-san!"

"Of course, our Qiansui is open-minded and enlightened."

How could Fujii Itsuki not understand the thoughts of a thousand-year-old girl.

It is normal for a sister who likes to stick to her brother to feel a little jealous when she sees her brother getting along well with other children of the same age.

This is normal.

Not to mention Qiansui, who has been sticking to me since I was a child.

If you don't understand, you can try to replace the brother with your sister. If a sister who has taken care of you since you were a child and loves you very much suddenly develops an ambiguous relationship with another man and ignores you, then you can probably understand Chitose, right?

"Secondly, I don't care if I made this trip in vain. As long as I can see that Brother Shu is doing well, that's more important than anything else!"

".Qiu Sui, you don't have to think so highly of me."

"Finally, Brother Shu, you must never say anything in front of me like "I can't care about you" or "You should be embarrassed to use my money." I would be really sad." Yang Kui Chitose, whose voice was originally very high, suddenly lowered her voice, and Fujii Shu had to care.

"Has anyone ever said anything like that to you?"

Yang Kui Chitose looked at him, without any intention of hiding anything, "Brother Shu, do you feel that we are not as close as we used to be?"

“How could this happen?”

"But Brother Shu, you didn't even tell me in advance when you were going back to Otaru. When we met that day, you clearly wanted to touch my head, but you took your hand back halfway. And when I took care of you and made breakfast for you, you were obviously much more polite to me. Last night I was thinking about whether our relationship was not as good as before."

Yang Kui Qiansui lowered her head and whispered, "I think that my money can be used on Brother Shu. Being able to help Brother Shu is what makes me happiest. Brother Shu has taken care of me since I was a child. I buy clothes and fruits for Brother Shu. This little money is nothing."

Fujii Itsuki had been paying attention to the changes in her tone and expression.

He thought to himself: Qiansui has indeed reached this stage of psychological sensitivity.

In four years, have I closed the gap between myself and Chitose?

Fujii Itsuki also asked himself this question when he just came back.

But when he saw Qiansui ran to find him as soon as he heard that he had returned, this problem was solved.

Nothing at all, just like before.

"Chitose."

"Yes, I am listening."

"Mr. Nagano must have asked you to stay in the store today."

"."

"Chitose?"

"How did Brother Shu know that?"

"How could I not know? That year, Yang Kui Yuehui had an accident on the snowy mountain and it was reported in the news in Otaru City. From that day on, he was particularly strict with you and restricted your travel. Didn't you always sneak out to see me before? And you always got scolded when you went back at night?"

"How come Brother Shu still remembers all this?"

"How could I not remember? I still remember the time when I was working hard to prepare for the entrance exam to Kyoto University. There was always a little girl who liked to sneak out of the house. She didn't run out for any other reason, but just liked to sneak a peek at me from outside the door. I deliberately looked in her direction, and she would suddenly shrink her head and avoid my gaze. She was so cute and timid."

Facing the grown-up girl, Fujii Itsuki recalled the past and smiled.

"What would Chitose think if she knew that I always caught glimpses of that little girl when I was reviewing?"

Yang Kui Chitose was aroused by his curiosity, "What is it?"

"I was thinking, Chitose really likes me as a brother."

Yang Kui Chitose's face flushed.

"The little girl came out to see me even at the risk of being scolded. She was very cautious and stood outside as if she was afraid of disturbing me. She did nothing but ran back to the welfare home just to see me."

Fujii Itsuki's soothing narration also reminded Yang Kui Chitose of the past.

She remembered herself at that time. Because she moved into Yang Kui's house, she met Brother Shu less often. Then she missed him every day and night.

She wanted to tell him that she often had nightmares at night, that the sushi her father made was delicious, and that her mother was going to take her to the amusement park, and she also wanted to invite Brother Shu to go with them.

Want to do everything together.

".Why is Brother Shu saying this?"

"Don't be impatient. Let me tell you slowly. At that time, I was wondering why the little girl was so attached to me? Why did she like me so much? She even ran out in the middle of the night just to see me."

Fujii Itsuki's words once again aroused Yang Kui Chitose's curiosity, and she was also curious about what Fujii Itsuki would think.

".What does Brother Shu think?"

Fujii Itsuki smiled, "The answer is simple, because the relationship between us is very special."

“Very unusual.”

"Perhaps it was fate destined by God that the two of us, who were both abandoned in winter, met each other. Chitose, you should know that children who grew up in orphanages are always sensitive and sharp-tongued, and I am no exception.

"Before, in my mind, I couldn't afford new clothes, I couldn't afford meat, and my meals were packed in a big iron bucket. It wasn't until I went to school and met classmates from normal families. They had beautiful lunch boxes, beautiful new clothes, and toys that I could never afford.

"At that time, I didn't know why they had those things. I only knew that these things were given to them by the people they called 'relatives'.
"Dear, what is it?
"At that time, I thought about it for a long time and observed for a long time. I found that relatives would go to greet them when they got out of school, that relatives would buy them new clothes, and that relatives would buy them the toys they wanted, toys that I had envied for a long time but could not get.

Fujii Itsuki paused when he spoke here.

"That's why I, who had no relatives since childhood, longed for the appearance of someone I could call a relative. Until you, Chitose, appeared."

“My presence.”

"Yes, it was snowing heavily that day, and the weather forecast said that the lowest temperature at night would reach minus ten degrees Celsius. I had just sold some handicrafts that night and was about to return to the welfare home. Because a customer asked me to help clean the room before he was willing to buy our things, I returned a little later than usual. It was by chance that I was lucky enough to find you at the door of the welfare home on a snowy night."

Fujii Itsuki smiled and looked at Chitose Yangkui and continued to talk about the past.

"On a cold night, a newborn baby was placed at the door of the orphanage. It didn't take much thought to understand what this meant. I walked towards you with curiosity, lowered my head, and looked at you. You were very unique. You didn't cry or make a fuss. Instead, you opened your big eyes, and two small hands thinner than bamboo sticks curled up in front of your round face, looking at the night sky with snowflakes falling comfortably.

"You noticed my presence. Maybe you were tired of seeing the snow. The moment you noticed me, you smiled and stretched out your hand to me. You kept babbling, and I felt my heart melt at that moment."

As Yang Kui Chitose listened, a smile inadvertently appeared on her face.

"I picked you up anxiously and fiddled with your swaddling clothes to see if your parents had left anything for you. Unfortunately, there was no clue, only two oranges, one large and one small. I took you back to the orphanage and told the director about finding you. To be honest, the orphanage was no longer surprised by the abandonment of children, so it was natural for you to stay in the orphanage.

"There were very few nurses at the time, and the director and everyone else were busy with their daily work, so they didn't have much free time. I was the oldest among the children, so naturally the task of taking care of you fell on me."

It was the first time that Yang Kui Qiansui heard him talk about how he had taken care of her in the past, so she patiently asked, "And then?"

"Then?" Fujii Itsuki smiled. "Then, of course, there are a lot of troubles in taking care of babies. Children are generally not abandoned without reason, so three days after finding you, the welfare home arranged a physical examination for you and found out that you have congenital heart disease.

"Because I picked you up, the dean gave me the opportunity to name you. You are much more fragile than other children. I hope you can live longer. And because there are two oranges in your swaddling clothes, I named you Tachibana Chitose."

"I know this"

"I gave you a name, and knowing that you have a heart disease, I will naturally be more careful with you.
"I have to feed you little by little, and coax you to sleep carefully. Even if I use toys to play with you, I dare not do it too vigorously, for fear that you will get heart problems if you get excited.

"It's strange. It's obviously very troublesome to take care of you, but I always feel that I don't hate it. Compared with other children who like to run and play, I prefer to carry you on my back and interact with you. Take you to see the snow, take you to see the sea, take you to see the railway tracks and trains. Although you can't speak yet, every time I take you out, you will respond to me with babbling, as if telling me that you are happy to go out with me."

The story is over.

"Now Chitose knows why I said that there is something special between us, right?"

"Well," Yang Kui Qiansui said, tears in the corners of his eyes, and his voice was choked, "I am the only relative of Brother Shu in this world."

"That's it. So, Chitose, no matter what's on your mind, you can tell me directly. I will do my best to answer it for you."

The atmosphere had already been set to this point, so Fujii Itsuki waved to his sister and asked her to sit next to his bed.

I reached out my hand, just like in the past, and touched my sister's head, gently stroking her fragrant hair.

This girl is very sensitive and cares a lot about the past.

Fujii Itsuki talked about such a long time ago just to remind her of the past they shared.

Qiansui did not resist being patted on the head at all, even though this action had not happened for several years.

Even though she has grown older and become prettier, when I recall the past, she still seems to be the little girl who liked to stick to me.

As he touched her, Qiansui's face turned red and she became more obedient.

"Are you used to it now?"

"Yeah, I like it very much."

"Chitose is still as well behaved as ever."

".Brother Tree."

This call of "Brother Shu" is many times more delicate than usual.

Fujii Itsuki smiled bitterly. He knew very well what Chitose meant by calling him like that. She used to call him like that when she wanted him to hug her.

"I must remind Chitose that you are already sixteen."

"But. Brother Tree."

Okay, Qiansui’s idea is about to come out.

"If Chitose isn't afraid of infecting you with a cold, you can hug me."

Before he could finish his words, a soft girl fell into his arms.

She leaned her head against his chest, and gently put her arms around her waist. There was no other movement or rubbing, but just when she threw herself into his arms, he could feel the softness and warmth in his chest.

She clung to him tightly, as if she would never let go for the rest of her life.

She was much bigger, softer, and heavier.
The girl still likes to act coquettishly like this.

Forget it, let's make an exception for her today.

Fujii Itsuki thought to himself and hugged his sister in his arms.

The scene was very heartwarming, but while enjoying herself, Chitose Yangkui had already made a secret decision in her brother's arms.

From now on, no one can take my brother away, and no one can get close to my brother.

No one can.

(End of this chapter)