Chapter Three: Eye Contact

  Taking a few deep breaths, Yukimura revealed an expression that was unclear whether it was tears or laughter. With a hint of relief and a smile as if he had been reborn.

  To be alive, really alive, not dead...

  He shook his head slightly, and the smile on his face became more uncontrollable, as if a few tears had fallen from the corners of his eyes.

  After all, he was only a 12-year-old boy who had encountered a corpse, and although it was a beautiful corpse, it was still a terrifying thing for him. So, when he knew that the person in front of him was not a corpse but alive, how could he not be excited?

  He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, he stretched out his hand to touch her face, but suddenly his hand felt heavy, and before he could see anything clearly, his wrist had fallen into the other person's five fingers, which grasped it tightly.

  She gripped with great force, as if using her entire body to do so. Mukura even felt that the wrist she was holding onto had gone numb from that instant on, losing all sensation.

  She stared at him with a blank expression, her eyes as cold and biting as the sky at this moment.

  He also looked at her, the two of them staring blankly for a long time, but neither of them made a sound. Until Konmura's breathing became slightly rapid and his legs felt a bit sore from squatting, he suddenly felt the force on his wrist loosen, as if the electricity had been cut off suddenly. Her head nodded downwards, and she suddenly fell asleep.

  Koumura gently rotated his captured wrist, which was a bit sore, and after confirming that nothing was wrong, just a little painful, he did what he had thought of doing just now.

  He placed his hand on her forehead, and the abnormal heat made him furrow his brow in distress. He let out a light sigh, "As expected... she got rained on and injured. She's really running a fever..." But that face, however, didn't have even a hint of redness, not even the flush caused by the fever.

  As a 12-year-old boy, Sugimura Seiichi would not naturally allow such an immoral act to come from his own hands, knowing that the other party was still alive and leaving her here to fend for herself.

  But looking at the wound on the girl's chest and abdomen, Yukimura was somewhat hesitant.

  The rain is coming down really heavily. It's a heavy rain that would hurt if it hit you.

  After thinking for two seconds, he put down the umbrella in his hand without hesitation, and gently picked up the girl with a posture that tried not to touch her wound, and quickly walked towards home.

  And in its original position, only that umbrella remained on the spot, as if watching their departing figures, standing quietly and solemnly.

  Back home, after carefully laying down the girl, Kōsuke Hashida ran out to call for Dr. Nakadomari from next door.

  He was a doctor who had established himself at the age of thirty, and although he ran a small clinic, he had seen just as many patients and performed just as many surgeries as doctors in large hospitals. The clinic was also equipped with all sorts of equipment, truly living up to the saying "small but complete". And from childhood to adulthood, whenever Sugimura had any health issues, he would always go see him.

  Dr. Kawashima listened to Sugimura's explanation, shouldered his medical bag and followed Sugimura with his assistant in a hurry.

  Upon arriving at the Sugiyama residence, as soon as he saw the girl lying in bed with a wound on her chest, his entire face fell.