He glanced at Zenin Kiyoshi's figure leaving in the distance, then at the garbage still piled up. His body, sunk deep in the sofa, shifted slightly, but ultimately failed to escape the sofa's pull and was pulled down again. He lay in the sofa, sniffing the smell of the sofa soaked in his own hair oil, his eyes a little sore.
Perhaps it was from watching TV for too long. He extended his index finger and thumb and rubbed his eyelids a few times. The sound of the TV show coming from his surroundings seemed a little more interesting than usual.
But he still chose not to accompany Zenin Kiyoshi to take out the trash.
When Zenin Kiyoshi returned, there were fine beads of sweat on his forehead. The weather in Tokyo at this time of year was always so stuffy. With just a little activity, sticky sweat would trickle down his back.
Before Zenin Kiyoshi could catch his breath, a somewhat lazy voice sounded:
"If you want to drink water, there's some on the coffee table. Go get it yourself."
Hearing this, Zenin Kiyoshi glanced at Toji, who was still sitting on the sofa, and then at the coffee table, which had clearly been empty before. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Did you pour it specially?"
Hearing Zenin Kiyoshi's words, Toji was slightly taken aback. He didn't expect this kid to have such sharp observation skills, to have noticed that he had just poured that cup of water specially. But although he was a little surprised, his tone did not change in the slightest, still as flat as ever.
"It's been there for a while."
Zenin Kiyoshi chose not to expose Toji's lie. For someone like him, whose heart was somewhat closed off at the moment, excessively exposing the other person's emotions to the sun was not a good choice.
He walked forward and picked up the teacup, which still had some undried water droplets on the outside. With just one glance, Zenin Kiyoshi could tell that this cup must have been washed by Toji just now.
After all, finding another clean water container in a single man's home, besides his own cup, was a very difficult thing to do.
The cool liquid slid down his throat from his mouth. After drinking most of it in one gulp, Zenin Kiyoshi put down the cup and said to Toji with a smile:
"Thank you. What do you want to eat for lunch? I'm not Japanese, so you might not particularly like the food I make."
Hearing this, Zenin Toji grinned. He pressed a button on the TV remote, and his tone changed for the first time:
"Not Japanese? Then why are you called Zenin?"
He didn't ask about Zenin Kiyoshi's cooking, nor did he ask which country Zenin Kiyoshi was from. He only asked about the two words "Zenin."
Zenin Kiyoshi knew that this was his subconscious denial of his childhood, a persistent desire to deny all the good things about the Zenin clan:
"It's just a name they forced on me. You can just call me Kiyoshi."
Hearing this, Toji turned his head and looked at Zenin Kiyoshi for the first time, then grinned and said:
"Same here. You can just call me Toji. No need to add Zenin."
"Okay, then, Mr. Toji, what would you like to eat?"
"Anything is fine. Do you need me to help?"
"Sure. Can you cut vegetables?"
"I'll cut the meat. I'm better at that."
Their conversation was brief. Five minutes later, Toji looked at Zenin Kiyoshi who was cooking, hesitated for a moment, then sighed and suddenly asked in a rather awkward tone:
"Why did you interfere in that matter today?"
"I didn't want to see children die in that way."
"But those are not your children. Does their life or death have anything to do with you?"
Hearing Toji's words, Zenin Kiyoshi turned his head and looked at him. His black eyes seemed to be able to see through the surface and directly into Zenin Toji's heart.
"If I could really stand by and do nothing, then I would have let you call me Zenin Kiyoshi, not Kiyoshi, right?"
The other person's words pierced Toji's heart like a steel needle. Hearing Zenin Kiyoshi's words, he suddenly seemed to realize why he resisted the two words "Zenin" so much.
But... he himself was unknowingly slowly becoming those two words.
Thinking of this, Toji let out a self-deprecating breath. He extended the kitchen knife in his hand to the sink, turned on the faucet, and carelessly wiped the minced meat remaining on the kitchen knife. His tone became a little lighter:
"Do you think I need to add Zenin when I introduce myself outside?"
"When I went out, the door wasn't completely closed, there was a small gap left. But when I came back, the door was tightly closed. The wind wasn't very strong today, so, after I came out, you must have followed me out too, right?"
"Can't I just be going out for some fresh air?"
Toji felt an indescribable sense of shame and annoyance at Zenin Kiyoshi's ability to so easily detect all his small movements. He was just a ten-year-old kid, yet he had such an insightful look. Tsk, so annoying. Forget it, not that annoying...
Just as Toji was still struggling with his thoughts, Zenin Kiyoshi's voice came again, but this time with a hint of indescribable teasing in his words:
"People who can breathe fresh air shouldn't be considered members of the Zenin clan, because most of the people here are lifeless, like zombies living in a tomb. Besides, I didn't say why you came out, did I?"
The words spoken by the kid in front of him left him unable to refute, but this feeling did not make Toji feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, he felt that Zenin Kiyoshi's arrival was like suddenly opening a window in a stuffy and foul-smelling house. A clear, cool breeze blew away much of the haze in his life.
He casually chopped the kitchen knife on the cutting board and then said:
"The meat is cut. I'll leave the rest to you. By the way, for the next period of time, don't leave my side. Someone is targeting you. They're not from the Zenin clan, or rather, they're something from the Zenin clan. In short, they're not good people. Don't die."
Having said this, Toji did not intend to reveal any more. He just wiped his hands on his clothes and then walked straight out of the kitchen.
Hearing Toji's words, Zenin Kiyoshi's eyes narrowed slightly. In fact, he could roughly guess the identity of the people Toji was talking about...
The legendary most evil sorcerer, Kenjaku.
Based on his control over the Kamo family in the original story, Zenin Kiyoshi did not think Kenjaku would not have a hand in the Zenin clan, which was also one of the three great families.
The reason this part was not in the original story was because Maki killed her entire family. But now, there would be one or two rats lingering here more or less.
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