Chapter 90 The Night the Thief Came

"power cut?"

The desk lamp and chandelier went out together, and the laptop entered battery life mode, with the power off icon flashing and the screen brightness dimmed.

Before Fujii Itsuki could even stop writing, the room fell into darkness.

I was about to finish my lesson plan in half an hour, but now this happened -

It's a really annoying situation.

But the power outage was a power outage, and Fujii Itsuki had no choice but to leave his seat, go to the window, and look outside in the faint moonlight.

The street lights far in the distance were on.

He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

This is not bad, at least it proves that the power outage is not in the entire area.

If the whole area loses power, it will be troublesome. At the speed of the Otaru government, the power supply will not be restored for three or four days.

How will he work then?

The phone only has 15% battery left.

Turning on the flashlight function on his mobile phone, Fujii Itsuki walked out of the room.

He turned on the flashlight on his phone and left the room, guessing there might be a short circuit somewhere that tripped the switch and left the whole house without power.

But since he wasn't sure where the main circuit breaker of Jiuhua's house was, he could only grope along the corner of the wall.

Fujii Itsuki's cell phone can only illuminate a small corner.

Jiuhua’s house occupies a large area and is an old European-style house.

Although the furniture here is of good quality and made of gilded wood, it is after all old items that have not been used for many years. When it turns black, it has a bit of the atmosphere of a horror game.

He came out of the bedroom, walked around the lobby, and looked around, but couldn't find the location of the switch.

So he had to look around the open kitchen.

But there was nothing here, so he could only feel his way over.

The moon was covered by black clouds and the house was too dark. Fujii Itsuki seemed to hear some strange noises on the right and thought it was Jiuhua, so he followed the sound and walked over there.

Coincidentally, a message popped up on the phone at this moment.

[Battery power is less than 5%, shutting down soon]
Fujii Itsuki originally wanted to turn off the flashlight and rely solely on the screen for light, but he didn't expect that the battery life of this Apple phone was so unreliable.

It just showed 5%, and the next second it dropped to 3%, then 1%, and finally shut down.

The whole process takes less than a minute...

Now the only source of light disappeared completely.

"."

Fujii Itsuki was helpless and could only move forward in the dark. He thought it was Jiuhua who made the noise just now.

"Jiuhua! Jiuhua!"

"."

No response.

Strange. Could it be that Jiuhua has fallen asleep?
What was that sound just now?

He's not a thief, is he?

Could it be that the sudden power outage was caused by a thief?
Fujii Itsuki became alert, he shut his mouth, walked lightly, and groped forward in the darkness.

It was pitch black everywhere and I couldn't see anything.

He stretched out his hand and suddenly touched something soft. The other party was obviously frightened, his hand paused, and he shrank back.

"Who is it?!"

"Nine flowers?"

"Uncle?"

The two talked in the dark.

"Uncle, you scared me to death! I thought it was some pervert who sneaked into my house and touched my shoulder."

Fujii Itsuki first gestured for her to be at ease, then asked, "What's going on?"

Nothing can be seen here, and Jiuhuayue is completely hidden in the darkness.

"I don't know. Suddenly the power went out. I heard some noise, and then I heard you calling me, so I came out."

“You didn’t pay the electricity bill?”

"I have an electricity bill. I paid it at a convenience store not long ago."

"Then why did it break? By the way, why were you on the first floor?"

".The water heater upstairs is broken, I'm coming downstairs to take a shower."

Then this should be the door to the bathroom on the first floor.

"You're not naked, are you?"

"Yes! There is a bath towel! Don't ask questions like this when you already know the answer. Otherwise, why do you think I didn't respond to you?"

Strange.
He came closer because he heard the noise and then shouted.

But Jiuhua also came out of the bathroom after hearing some noise.
This shows that both people are attracted by the same movement.

Who is that?
It can’t be really haunted.

At this moment, Fujii Itsuki suddenly caught a glimpse of a reflected metallic color in the darkness out of the corner of his right eye.

The faint light flashed by not far away.

"who--?!"

He shouted immediately, and then heard very clear footsteps.

Oh no, a thief really broke in!

"Uncle! Don't scare me! Where are the other people?"

"I'm not so bored as to scare you at this time."

Fujii Itsuki realized that something was wrong and, based on the sound of her voice, stood in front of Jiuhua.

"Is there really someone there?"

"Um"

Fujii Itsuki was sure that he was not mistaken. The reflection he saw just now should be the moonlight reflected by some metal object.

"Jiuhua, where's your cell phone?"

"It's upstairs. Where's yours, uncle?"

"Mine's out of battery."

Fujii Itsuki frowned. He didn't know the purpose of the thief breaking into Jiuhua's house. If he came to steal money, it would be fine. Such a person would not have the courage to attack others.

I'm afraid it's some kind of perversion.
Fujii Itsuki retreated while blocking Jiuhuayue behind him.

If he was not mistaken, the thief must have brought some metal object into the house, which was very dangerous. His loud roar just now obviously scared him.

"Uncle."

"Hush! Move slowly and try not to make any noise. We don't know why they came in. Do you have any valuables here?"

Fujii Itsuki was blocked by something. He reached out and grasped a wine bottle. He immediately realized that it was next to the cabinet in the open kitchen.

There just happened to be a row of beers on it that he had bought but had not had time to drink yet.

There is wind blowing in from outside
Fujii Itsuki is located close to this location.

Jiu Huayue was so nervous that she didn't dare to speak loudly: "My own money is in the wallet upstairs. That's all I have for living expenses."

"Money is not very important. Try not to conflict with the other party if possible."

Just then, there was a sound of someone coming down the stairs on the second floor.

more than one!
Fujii Itsuki was panicked. It would be okay if he was alone, he could just deal with it, but at worst he could just let the other party take the money and leave.

I guess the other party just wants to steal money and won’t waste any time on me.

But if it's two adult male accomplices, it's a different story.
Fujii Itsuki became more and more nervous. He could clearly hear his own breathing and heartbeat.

He can't see anything now, but how does the other party know the way?

Judging from the noise, the other party was obviously moving.

Why can I see it?
Wearing night vision goggles?
Fujii Itsuki was nervous, and Jiuhuayue was also nervous.

She never thought that a real thief would come to her house.

Although this house is big, there is indeed no money in it.

The dark clouds outside the window were slightly dispersed by the wind, and the moonlight shone into the room, making the visibility slightly better.

At this moment, Jiuhuayue happened to see a dark shadow on the right side of Fujii Tree!
The shadowy figure was holding a silver metal baseball bat and was about to raise his hand. Jiu Huayue hurriedly shouted:

"Uncle! On the right!"

Bang!
Quite a loud sound.

Fujii Itsuki was already in a highly tense state, and it was almost a conditioned reflex. The moment he heard Jiuhuayue's shout, he picked up the wine bottle behind him and smashed it to the right.

It was just the wrong thing, the grass hit the black shadow's head!

Beer pops.

The other party screamed and stepped back.

Fujii Itsuki's palms were sweating and his adrenaline was surging, but he didn't care about anything else at this point. Relying on his youth, he pressed on to pursue his victory.

He picked up another wine bottle, then used the moonlight to find the approximate position, fixed his body, opened his legs, and gathered all his strength before smashing it at the opponent's head again.

There was a click, and then a bang.

The shadow screamed again and the bat in his hand fell.

Jiuhuayue quickly closed her eyes and didn't dare to look at Fujii Itsuki who was blocking her way.

This wine is really worth buying!

"Asshole! Come on!!"

The other party was obviously frightened by Fujii Itsuki's momentum. He slapped his head and cursed at others, saying things that only a gangster would say.

He wanted to go forward.

"Idiot! What are you doing?!"

Just when Fujii Itsuki was about to buy him another bottle of beer, the other party's accomplice who ran to the entrance to open the door shouted at him.

"me--"

"Idiot! Let's go! We are stealing, not robbing! What are you thinking with your pig head?"

This man was obviously angry, but he was also obedient. After hearing his accomplice's orders, he patted his dizzy head, turned around and ran away without looking back.

The two thieves rushed out.

"Asshole, you're running away now?"

Fujii Itsuki grabbed the wine bottle and chased to the door, throwing it out with all his strength to ensure that the two thieves were completely away.

unlucky!

What is this!

He returned to the house and asked Jiu Huayue to go upstairs and get the phone and call the police.

Although it was the first time for this girl to see such a scene, she was not scared. After going to the second floor to get her cell phone, she immediately called the police.

The police said they would be at the scene within ten minutes.

The power supply to Jiuhua's house was not cut off, but the two thieves turned off the main switch, so they just had to pick it up again. When he saw the power was restored, Fujii Shu gasped and looked at Jiuhua Yue.

The girl was still wearing a white bathrobe.

"Are you okay?"

Jiu Huayue looked worried and was obviously frightened: "Uncle, you are the one, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Fujii Itsuki smiled. "Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about that guy. I smashed two bottles on him, it would be unacceptable if he didn't have a concussion."

"Uncle, you are still in the mood to joke at this time!"

"That's the time to joke."

Jiu Huayue didn't know what to say to him at this time.

She was still frightened by what happened just now.

She had never encountered a thief in her life.

Not to mention a head-on confrontation with a smaller thief.

There was a thief in the house.
The uncle actually beat them away.

Fujii Shu saw that Jiuhuayue was not in good condition, so he walked over to her side and comforted her, saying, "It's okay, I drove those two guys away."

"Um"

"Jiuhua, are you feeling unwell somewhere? Physically."

".No, I just wondered why you were so quick, uncle. Aren't you a teacher?"

"Do you think I scared you?"

"It would be a little strange to say no. After all, you usually speak so softly to everyone in school. Although you are a little frivolous in private, you are not like what you did just now."

"What if I were to tell you, Jiuhua, that I grew up in an orphanage and suffered a lot of discrimination when I was a child?"

"."Jiuhuayue looked at him with her purple eyes.

Fujii Itsuki closed his eyes, pinched his right arm with his left hand and said, "Although I usually don't show anything, it doesn't mean I won't get angry."

"Uncle, you are bleeding."

Fujii Itsuki glanced at the base of his right hand and said, "It's nothing, just a scratch from glass."

"I, I'll go get a hemostatic patch!"

Jiuhuayue ran back to the second floor in a hurry.

Get her shark patch from the second floor.

She first helped Fujii Itsuki wash the wound, then asked him to sit on the sofa, helped him apply iodine to disinfect it, and finally put on a hemostatic patch.

The wounds were not big, but they were all scratches on the skin caused by broken glass.

"It was indeed quite thrilling just now. Fortunately, the other party was quite timid and not a vicious person. I was also lucky."

In fact, Fujii Itsuki was still frightened by what had just happened.

After all, I haven’t done this in many years. I guess it hasn’t happened since I entered high school.

"."

Jiu Huayue looked at the broken glass and beer on the ground, as well as the silver baseball bat that fell among the broken glass.
She remembered that the other party seemed to be aiming at the back of the uncle's head.
If that guy had succeeded just now.
Jiuhuayue couldn't imagine what would happen.

"Sorry." The girl whispered.

"Why apologize? Did you drop anything?"

". Only my wallet was gone, nothing else. I put my phone under the shark doll, so the thief didn't find it. My most expensive thing was actually the small one, but it's a pity they didn't know the value of it."

"Jiuhua isn't scared, right?"

".Of course I did. I was a little scared of you, but when I thought about how you were protecting me, I wasn't that scared anymore."

"Who said I was trying to protect you? I was trying to protect myself from being robbed."

Jiuhuayue pouted and said, "What a joke this uncle is!"

He's injured, yet he's still talking nonsense.

She put the last Band-Aid on Fujii Shu's right cheek.

"It's done! Uncle, look at all the wounds on your hands and face."

"Do you feel sorry for me?"

"Of course, uncle, you are my good friend! Not to mention that such a good friend just stood in front of me and helped me drive away the thief!"

Jiuhuayue said these words seriously, and she was very scared.

"If you didn't live here, I wouldn't know what I would do if those two thieves broke into my house."

It is indeed dangerous for a girl to live alone.

Big cities are okay, but cities like Otaru, which are like the fringe of urban and rural areas, are full of dangers.

Chitose was asked by Mr. Nagano not to leave the house after 8 o'clock in the evening.

And since Jiuhua is so beautiful and lives in such a conspicuous mansion, it is naturally even more dangerous.

Fujii suddenly thought of Matsumae Koharu.

Will she be okay?

Fujii Itsuki took out his cell phone which had just been charged and made the call.

Matsumae Shinchun picked up the phone and asked Mr. Fujii if there was anything wrong that made him call so late.

Fujii Itsuki felt relieved and asked her to lock the door tightly, saying that there were many thieves in Otaru and she should be careful.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with her, he hung up the phone.

Nine minutes and twenty-two seconds after the police were called, they arrived at Jiuhua's home.

Fujii Itsuki asked Jiuhuayue to go upstairs and change her clothes, and he went to help the police collect information.

In Japan, burglary is a serious crime and the police take it very seriously.

Only then did Fujii Itsuki realize that the door to the living room was not closed, which allowed the two thieves to sneak in without making any noise.

It was a good thing that Jiuhua was taking a shower on the first floor with the door locked, otherwise something dangerous might have happened.

After the police investigated the data, they asked Fujii Itsuki to write a statement and then left.

They said they would catch the thief as soon as possible through clues.

They said they would catch him as soon as possible, but right now, it's hard for people to feel safe with such a blank check.

Fujii Itsuki has this feeling, and Jiuhuayue is even more so.
"what happened?"

"I, I, you won't laugh at me if I tell you this, right?"

"Maybe."

"I'm a little afraid to go back to my room and sleep alone."

A thief broke in in the middle of the night. It's really hard to sleep peacefully when something like this happens.

In fact, Fujii Itsuki still has a lot to say to Jiuhuayue at this time.

For example, it is dangerous for a girl to live alone, it is better for her to be with her parents.
But when she faced this kind of thing today, Fujii Itsuki really couldn't bear to keep a stern face and educate her.

"Then how about you come to my room and sleep after you take a shower? I'll sleep on the floor, and I can watch over you if anything happens. You can also call me if you think there's anything. At least that will make you feel a little more at ease."

"Well is this okay?"

"You don't mind my words."

Fujii Itsuki wanted to make another joke, "Didn't Jiuhua and I have an argument a few days ago?" But when he saw her current look like a little girl, as if she was frightened by a bad guy, he couldn't help but feel pity for her.

I just held back the joke and didn't say it to her.

It was late at night, and after what happened to the thief, neither of them could sleep well.

I always feel that those two guys will be resentful and come back in the middle of the night.

Fujii Itsuki asked Jiuhuayue to take down her little shark and hold it while sleeping so that she could feel more secure.

But as soon as she turned off the lights, she seemed to become scared again.

Just like a rainy day
"A bit afraid of the dark?"

Fujii Itsuki asked, and then saw Jiuhuayue sitting on the bed and slowly shaking her head.

"That's not it. I just..."

"Just what?"

"I just haven't recovered yet. A strange thief suddenly broke in in the middle of the night."

"I see."

"Also, I'm not scared, I just don't like it and can't get used to it."

"Understand, understand."

Fujii Itsuki agreed and sat next to Xiao Jiuhua again.

The child was sitting in a kneeling position with his head lowered, and his fingers were circling in front of his belly.

After spending some time with Xiao Jiuhua, Fujii Itsuki certainly knew that this child was very reluctant to reveal her weaknesses to outsiders.

She is very strong-willed outside.

It gives people a feeling of being cool and resolute in doing things.

But after getting along with her for a while, I found that she was not like that.

Xiao Jiuhua is Xiao Jiuhua
She will be afraid, lonely and care about what others say.

She likes Baby Shark and is very childish.

She was afraid of thunderstorms and was very naive. She found it difficult to talk about such things, but she only told them to herself.

She asked herself that day.
Allow yourself to be with her for just a little while, for one night.

Just like now.
It was late at night, and under the cover of darkness, the girl's light voice was heard everywhere, as if she was adding something. She kept repeating "just. just" and tried to cover up her inner uneasiness with explanations.

Fujii Itsuki heard the tiny sound she made beside him and couldn't help but smile.

He didn't even know where this smile came from.

Maybe he thought she was kind?
Maybe he thought she was naive?
Or do you think she is easily moved?
Maybe, it’s because of these.

I think that little Jiuhua, who wants to hide her inner fear so much, is so cute. She tried her best to hide herself, but she also tried her best to make me notice her and understand her inner fear.

"Cough cough."

Fujii Itsuki cleared his throat to get Jiuhuayue's attention.

She did look over.

"I'm a little tired. I might fall asleep while sitting here. Then, I don't know who will lean on my shoulder and take a short nap."

As Fujii Itsuki said this, he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Jiu Huayue knew that he was just kidding, but it was as if he was deliberately inviting her.
When Jiu Huayue realized that the uncle said this deliberately to take care of her and not to hurt her little self-esteem, her face turned red with shame.
She couldn't help but stare at his profile, but after just a moment, her shy eyes fled away.
Time passes little by little.

In the quiet night, the girl moved her body towards him, getting closer and closer, and narrowing the distance between them little by little.

Not until it was as close as possible did Jiu Huayue try to lean the entire weight of her upper body to the right.

She rested her head softly on Fujii Itsuki's shoulder.

The girl closed her eyes, feeling the mature and solid sense of security coming from his shoulders.

Fujii Itsuki remained seated, thinking about how to apologize to Jiuhuayue. But when he turned his head slightly, he heard a very small "thank you".
Fujii Itsuki couldn't help but smile, and sighed in his heart at Xiao Jiuhua's fragility. His heart couldn't help but flow with a trace of warmth in this cold night.

In fact, she doesn't even need to say sorry, right?

(End of this chapter)