The sky was gray and it was raining lightly.

Just over a month after the New Year, the city of Konko on the east coast of Lake Biwa is still cold, accompanied by a pattering of humidity.

A hazy light mist shrouded the bushes and drifted in the air. The path paved with stone steps wound upwards, connecting several nearby houses, and at the end was a single-family villa.

It was dark, and the lights in the rooms on the second floor were turned on early.

"Tired..."

In front of the desk, a girl wearing pink home clothes put down her automatic pen, leaned back, and straightened her somewhat stiff arms.

Her long hair fell down and hung on the back of the chair, swaying as she turned her head. When she opened the curtains, the water vapor outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was hazy, and the terrace was damp.

"Is it still raining?"

After staring out the window for a while, Kirino Akane withdrew her gaze and returned it to the notebook in front of her, while her slumped body slid down a little further.

Taking off her glasses, she glanced at the desk calendar placed in the corner of her desk.

The red star marks a certain day at the end of February, and underneath is her own note:

【Entrance Exam!】

More than half of the last semester of Form Three has passed, and for students like her who have already set their goals, preparation for the exam begins before the summer vacation.

"There's still more than a week left."

There wasn't much time left, but it couldn't be said to be urgent. At least she didn't feel much nervousness at this time;

But she couldn't relax completely, after all, the private high school she wanted to go to was still a bit difficult for her.

"Danhai High School...it would be great if we could take the exam earlier."

After continuing to be in a daze for a while, Akane Kirino closed her notebook, stood up and walked around the room, then sat on the bed, picked up the stuffed bear beside the pillow and hugged it in her arms, looking straight out the window.

"Something's wrong..."

There is a strange feeling.

"Is it because I studied for too long today?"

Kirino Akane shook her head.

wrong.

This feeling, which is difficult to describe clearly at once, started last night.

However, she didn't take it to heart at the time and just thought it was because she had been cleaning the old house in the afternoon and was too tired.

"Or... pre-exam syndrome?"

Looking at the wet terrace outside the floor-to-ceiling window, her hand unconsciously touched her chest, but she suddenly paused.

"Eh..."

After touching the clothes twice more, Kirino Akane picked up the collar and looked down at the inside.

——The mahogany amulet hanging on my chest has disappeared.

...

Snap, snap.

Opening the long-handled umbrella, fine raindrops beat on the umbrella surface, like the beat of a drum.

It was much colder outside than inside the house. Akane Kirino breathed a sigh of relief, and a cloud of white mist immediately rose in front of her. Looking back at the closed door, she wrapped her sleeves around the cold umbrella handle and walked straight along the stone path.

Down.

"If it's not there... no, it must be there!"

The unknown means there is still hope. Kirino Akane is looking forward to it, and at the same time, she is also trying to remember when was the last time she habitually touched the amulet.

The small peach wood amulet was only a few centimeters long and no thicker than her thinnest little finger. It was strung on a red string and had indecipherable patterns engraved on its surface.

This was a gift from her deceased grandmother.

The child cried a lot and behaved a little abnormally, but he soon regained his composure after putting on the amulet, and he has never taken it off since.

She is sixteen years old, which is about the same amount of time this amulet has spent around her neck, which is of great significance;

She couldn't find the bedroom, kitchen or bathroom at home, so she could only hope in the old house that had just been cleaned yesterday.

The drum beats were chaotic, and Kirino Akane was absent-minded. She walked along the stone steps and winding path to the bottom, and was awakened by a sudden cold wind.

She raised her eyes and saw a black figure walking past her.

It was a slender woman, wrapped in a black robe, with black hair hanging down almost to the ground.

In stark contrast, was her pale and bloodless face.

"..."

Kirino Akane stopped unconsciously.

If the woman felt something, she slowly turned back and looked over expressionlessly.

Oops……

She quickly avoided the panic-stricken sight, lowered her head, clutched her umbrella and left in a hurry.

And that person kept watching her back until she disappeared around the corner of the path, without showing any more expression on her face.

"Strange people..."

On the other side of the corner, seeing the lonely figure continuing to move forward in the rain, Kirino Akane retracted her head.

After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped again.

"Wait a minute, doesn't she even have an umbrella?"

Turning back to the intersection, there was no one on the path she came from. She turned around and looked at the old Japanese house not far away, feeling a little regretful.

"It would be nice if I noticed it earlier... Could this person I haven't seen be a relative of someone's family?"

Walking straight ahead along the mottled and neat wooden wall, looking up, on the other side of the misty rain curtain is the Kirino family's old house.

The old classical Japanese-style wooden house occupies a wide area and was inherited from the previous generation by her father's elder brother, uncle;

It's just that her uncle's family moved abroad a few years ago, and her family has another house, so the house here is empty. Occasionally, relatives from far away will come to visit, and they will stay here for a few days, and the cleaning work will be left behind.

On to her head.

The house is spacious, the yard is naturally not small, and there is a vegetable patch at the back.

There are a large number of trees and flowers planted on both sides of the walkway in the front yard. When spring comes, the green trees and red flowers complement each other, which is fresh and eye-catching. The weather is cold at this time, but it is actually bare.

Under the gray sky, the black branches spread out their claws and formed strange shapes. Kirino Akane looked up as she walked, and it wasn't until she walked into the yard that she noticed that the main door of the house was a little open.

"Eh?"

Did you forget to close the door yesterday?

She quickly quickened her pace, and as soon as she walked into the entrance hall, she bumped into a figure.

"..."

He was tall and thin, and the clothes he wore to cover his body were in tatters, so dirty that the original color could not be seen. They were wetted by the rain and stuck to his body;

His long, messy hair almost completely covered his face, and the little bit of face that was revealed had nothing to do with cleanliness. He could only tell that he was a man.

tramp?

Seeing the man who broke into the house turn around, Akane Kirino immediately took two steps back cautiously and at the same time raised the long-handled umbrella in her hand.

"Who are you?"

There were some water stains on the floor, probably from dripping from his wet body.

"As you can see..."

For some reason, she had a preconceived idea that the homeless man must be quite young, but his voice sounded very young, with obvious fatigue.

"I'm just a homeless wanderer. I haven't eaten for several days and I want to borrow some food to satisfy my hunger."

After seeing her, the tramp stopped going in, explained, and backed away.

The two of them passed each other, Kirino Akane still held up the umbrella which had little deterrent effect, and he did not stop until he retreated to the door.

"Can you give me something to eat?"

His actions made Akane Kirino feel at ease, but she did not relax her vigilance. After all, she was alone.

"Sorry, no one lives here usually, and there is no food at all."

Turning the tip of her umbrella, she pointed outside the yard again.

"But when you go out of the alley over there, there is a ramen shop at the intersection on the right. Uncle Daisuke there is a very good person. Just tell him 'make up for it later' and he will understand what it means."

"That is to say..."

“Free ramen.”

"Really?" Hearing that there was free hot food, the homeless man's tone rose a lot, "I understand, thank you."
To be continued...