"..."

silence.

The early morning sunlight gradually penetrates into the room, casting a dreamy light blue on the wall.

How many days and nights in your life have you been like today, lying on the bedside, holding your head in your hands, staring blankly at the dim ceiling above your head at dawn?

Sakakihara Raku himself can’t remember clearly.

But he clearly remembers when he stopped looking forward to the arrival of a new day.

When I was a child.

My sister and I never have enough to eat.

Every day, I have to endure the odor in the old house, the cockroaches and mice crawling in every small gap... and I also eat the cheapest and cheapest specials.

At that time, the living conditions were not good, the food was not good, and the clothing was not good.

But every day when I wake up, I always have infinite yearning, infinite expectations, and even infinite longing for the future and tomorrow...

Tomorrow, it will be better.

I, one day, will let my mother and sister live a happy life.

The house is not comfortable to live in, so I will buy it.

If the food is not good, I will do it.

I don’t have enough money, so I will make the money for living and study expenses.

All of this, all of this, I have done, there is only one reason - they need me.

I am relied on by my family, I am relied on by my family, and I am believed by my family.

This strength, this belief that I have to persevere even if I work hard... is also the person who needs me, providing me with warm motivation.

...

However, I don’t know when it started.

Things are becoming more and more complicated.

I began to become tired of coping, began to become unable to do my best, and began to become unable to return to the past even though I tried my best.

More people started to need me.

I need to be responsible, I need to fill their emotional wounds...

When I see their miserable past, which is as pitiful as my own in the past... I can't help but feel soft, and always want to give them some care...

Because of this, I increasingly felt that I was unable to do what I wanted to do, and various contradictions that were difficult to make came one after another.

And because of the past experiences and emotions between them...it has become even more difficult to choose...hard to choose.

And for this reason, he made many mistakes that cannot be denied.

...

"Ah...huh..."

Sakakihara closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and got up... dressed... and washed up as usual.

Staring at his almost lifeless face in the mirror, he tried to smile, but it was difficult to force out another smile no matter what.

It's hard... to like her again.

...

"happy."

Sakakibara immediately turned his head and smiled lightly at Amami Yuki, who had just appeared at the bathroom door, "Good morning, Yuki, are you up?"

"Well," Tianhai Zhixue nodded lightly, "There is a very important game today, and I couldn't sleep very well, so I got up early."

"Are you confident about today's game?"

"have!"

"Hmm...that's good."

Sakakihara reached out and touched her head again, and at the same time he touched the missing piece of hair on the back of her head.

"Come here, I'll comb your hair."

Tianhai Zhixue glanced at him one more time, and after being quiet for a while, nodded, "Okay."

Sakakibara asked Amami Yuki to stand in front of her, picked up the comb, and gently smoothed her dyed beige hair.

Tianhai Zhixue quietly looked at the person behind her who was combing her hair.

"Happy... unhappy?"

"Unhappy? Why do you and Ling both say that?"

"It's just that... I feel like Le is very tired."

"Are you tired?"

"It feels like this."

Sakakibara went to her room and took out the big white flower he gave her. When he came back, he held her hair and gently clamped the buckle under the white flower between her hair.

"Why am I tired? Compared to before, I don't have to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. You and Ling are also starting to try to wash the clothes by yourself... I should be more relaxed than before.

That’s right.”

"..."

Tianhai Zhixue listened silently, always wanting to try to refute what he said, but could not find anything to refute.

"Le...Le, do you know what's going on with Sister Qiyue recently? I've talked to her a lot recently."

"I know," Raku Sakakihara's voice sounded smooth, "Recently, apart from reading alone and practicing basketball with you, she only has to run to her company every day. It's good, she has her own things to do.

"

Tianhai Zhixue turned back in front of him and raised his head:

"Sister Qiyue... doesn't seem to be very angry with Le anymore... Do you want me to try to talk to Sister Qiyue about Le?"

Sakakihara put his hand on her shoulder:

"I know you mean well, but if you tell Zhixue, it will only make the relationship between you and her more awkward. This is unnecessary, you know?"

"..."

"And after such a long time, Qi Mingyue's attitude has become obvious. She has given up and no longer pinned her hopes on me. She has begun to choose to focus on herself, whether it is her interests or career.

So there is no need for Yuki to disturb her anymore."

Tianhai Zhixue wanted to say something more, and looked at the person in front of her who was still smiling at her:

"But...but I have always thought that Le is not as bad as Sister Qiyue thinks now...Le has always been very good. I want to help Le try to explain and talk to Le."

"It's not necessary, Yuki. She has a bad impression of me, which is good. As I said just now, for such an excellent person, if she starts to focus only on herself at this time, her life will be much better than before.

"

"......happy."

"Okay, okay," Raku Sakakihara laughed again, "Don't you have an important basketball game today? You promised to win the championship? Although it is just a sports festival, this is not a sign for you to move forward bravely.

Does your hard work prove it?”

"Well, it's very important."

"Do you believe in yourself?"

"Believe! I also believe in Ling, Liuli Qiyitian and the others."

"That's good. Since you have to work so hard today, how about I make breakfast for you?"

"Okay! Thank you Le."

"Yeah, you're welcome."

...

Breakfast was just some simple fried eggs, fried bread with butter and warm milk. After eating these for many days, Ling kept saying they were delicious.

As she ate, she said, "The bread fried by my brother is to my liking." She ate until her stomach was completely full.

The same is true for snow.

"You are so happy eating, how about you cheer more on the field?"

"Come on? Hum~ I absolutely guarantee that I will try my best 100%!"

"That's good."

They were urged to put on their school uniforms and jerseys and go to school. At ten o'clock this morning, their game will officially begin.

Raku Sakakihara arrived at the gym ahead of time and joined their team.

Yuki, Suzu, Tianno and Amami Nanamigetsu were exchanging information and discussing today's tactics.

In Sakakihara Raku's eyes, they get along harmoniously and steadily...

"Are you still free after the Ruri Sports Festival?"

"Lejun...Why are you asking this? Are you going out on a date?"

Sakakihara closed his eyes and said, "That's right."

"...What does it mean? It's just a date. If you ask me to go out, of course I will go."

"Well," Raku Sakakihara responded, and asked another question, "Recently, Ruri rarely comes to me."
To be continued...