Chapter 10

After the incident with the thugs was over, the two siblings returned to their daily lives.

It was strange, as on that day, Hikizuki had been beaten so badly that he could hardly crawl, but after sleeping with a small hot water bottle at home for a night, there was no trace of the beating left, and he seemed as energetic as if he had drunk eight cans of Red Bull. This puzzled him for a while, but not for long, as he had a more important matter to attend to—taking care of his sister.

Hikizuki didn't know how he got home, but the most likely scenario was that his sister had carried him back. Seeing her tired face, he became even more convinced of this. Feeling sorry for his sister, Hikizuki covered her with a blanket and got up to prepare some food for her.

His sister woke up at noon. The moment she opened her eyes and saw that her brother was gone, she ran around the house like a headless chicken until she found him in the kitchen.

Shizuki, watching her brother struggle with the stove, shed tears again, which she had been doing all night. The silent sister quietly hugged her brother from behind, tightly.

Hikizuki's body stiffened for a moment, then relaxed. He quietly savored the feeling of being relied upon. "It's okay, it's all over."

"But, but you were beaten."

"That's over too, we're home now."

"Does it still hurt?"

"No, it doesn't."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe it or not, it's up to you."

"I just don't believe it." The sister, still doubtful, hugged him tighter. "Are you holding it in? Let me see later."

"No, you can't."

"I want to see." The sister forcefully turned her brother's face and was stunned.

Because his face looked like a black coal ball, everything except his teeth and eyes was black.

...Silence...

"Ha ha ha, oh, my stomach hurts, ha ha..."

======================= The Black Coal Ball Line =======================

Three days had passed since the robbery. During these three days, the two siblings hadn't gone out once, not even to get the newspaper. But humans are social animals and need to go out, even if they don't want to. Life forces you to go out.

Well, if you don't go out, you won't have any vegetables to eat. You can't eat rice every day.

In the end, Hikizuki successfully pulled his sister back from the brink of becoming a shut-in on that afternoon. He felt a great sense of accomplishment for all the effort he had put in.

The vegetable store was actually right at the entrance of the neighborhood, but Hikizuki, who had been cooped up at home for three days, insisted on dragging his sister to a distant market. "More exercise is good for your health and well-being."

When they arrived at the market, Hikizuki realized it was completely different from the small but fully equipped store at the neighborhood entrance. The bustling crowd and the jostling people looked quite intimidating.

Hikizuki, who had lived far from the market in the orphanage and later only bought vegetables from the store, was naturally shocked by this new experience.

Shizuki, on the other hand, had come here twice with her grandmother and had some memory of the place. Seeing her brother's surprise, she suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment, as if she had grown up. Under this sense of accomplishment, she took the lead and pulled her brother into the crowd.

In the crowd, Shizuki displayed combat skills far beyond her usual level, using techniques like finding gaps and moving against the flow with great proficiency. In no time, they emerged with two plastic bags of loot.

"Shizuki, you're amazing." Hikizuki sincerely praised the combat skills women can display in shopping.

"(*^__^*) Thank you." Shizuki tilted her head and then froze.

"What?" Hikizuki looked back, but there was nothing unusual about the group of vendors.

"That, the candy skewers." The sister pointed to a bicycle with a red wooden stick at the back, which had many candy skewers on it, colorful like a peacock.

"Oh, do you want to eat them? I'll go buy them."

"Never mind," the sister glanced at the two bags in her brother's hands. "I'll go myself."

"Be careful."

"I know, I'm not a kid anymore." Shizuki skipped across the street to buy two candy skewers and then ran back like the wind.

"Be careful, don't fall." Hikizuki couldn't help but shout.

Well, it seems that sometimes jinxes do exist. Shizuki ran too fast and didn't pay attention to her feet. The result was that she tripped over the curb and fell with a thud.

"Shizuki!" Her brother, in a panic, threw down the two plastic bags and ran over to help her up. Fortunately, she didn't seem to be hurt, not even a scratch.

"Candy skewers..." Shizuki looked at the sweets in her hand, which were now dirty, with regret.

"Candy skewers? I told you to be careful. There are no more candy skewers today." Hikizuki, while brushing the dirt off her, said in a bad mood.

"Um..." Shizuki pouted but didn't say anything, but her eyes kept darting to the two candy skewers.

"Come on, let's go home." The brother turned to pick up the two bags of vegetables and walked forward, but he didn't hear her following. He turned back and saw his sister still standing there, looking helpless. "What's wrong?"

"My ankle is sprained, it hurts." The sister said with a sad face.

Hikizuki sighed. "╮(╯▽╰)╭, who made me the brother?" He walked to his sister, squatted down, and said, "Get on."

"Hee hee, you're the best, brother." Shizuki leaned forward and clung to her brother like a koala.

"Not good, my mood is not good."

"What? I'm complimenting you, can't you show some happiness?"

"What's there to be happy about with a sister who likes to cause trouble?"

"Tsk, you're not good, you're a bad guy!"

"You're right, should a bad guy do something even worse?" Hikizuki smiled mischievously and loosened his grip, scaring Shizuki into hugging the two plastic bags even tighter.

"..." Shizuki was quiet for a while. The brother, thinking he had successfully subdued her, whistled triumphantly. Then he heard the sound of her grinding her teeth. "Oh no, I'll bite you if you scare me!" She then bit her brother's neck.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, let go, sister, it hurts!"

"Are you going to bully me again?"

"No, no, spare me."

Shizuki released her teeth and watched the small bite mark turn from white to red and then to purple, finding it interesting. She gently licked it with her tongue. "Does it really hurt?"

"Of course, you really bit me." Hikizuki rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bite you. Let me lick it for you." She then licked the spot like a kitten, which was ticklish but also comforting.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. They walked step by step toward home, and toward a golden future, under the setting sun.

...

...

"Brother, will you always be this good to me?"

"Of course, if I'm not good to you, who else would I be good to?"

"No, no, I mean in the future, ten or twenty years from now."

"It will be the same, I will always be good to you."

"What if I have a sister-in-law, who will be more important, her or me?"

"Well, that's hard to say."

"Sigh~~, if you're like this now, you'll definitely ignore me after you get married."

"Nonsense, your husband will take care of you, why should I interfere?"

"No, I don't want to get married. I want to stay with you forever."

"Ridiculous, how can you not get married?"

"Then I'll marry you, and you'll have to be even nicer to me as both my brother and husband."

"Are you asking for a beating?"

"You said you wouldn't hit me."

"But you can't just say things like that."

"I'm not saying it randomly... it's all true." The sister pressed her red face against her brother's back, speaking softly, as if to him and to herself.

... The sunset remained the same, and the two small figures were stretched long, looking like one big person.

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