"It turns out he's a magician! Mr. Akira Sakurai is so amazing!" Madoka bowed and sat down opposite Akira Sakurai, clapping her hands and exclaiming.

"Is Mr. Akira Sakurai traveling alone?" Madoka asked.

"Well, it's been a long journey." Akira Sakurai responded with a smile.

"Traveling alone? Mr. Akira Sakurai is so awesome!"

"Madoka is a high school student, right? Then call me senior. It sounds more friendly."

"Okay! Are you going to Otaru this time, senior?"

"No, my journey has come to an end."

"Hey, here?" Madoka blinked blankly.

"Because Madoka is my destination." Akira Sakurai smiled, her smile pure and without any impurities.

"Study...what are you talking about, senior..." Madoka stammered, and the girl's fair face turned red.

"Does Madoka go to Otaru to bury Nian?"

Xiao Yuan was stunned, hugged her backpack tightly with both hands, and said nervously: "How did the senior know?"

"I'm a magician!" He laughed, and his hearty laughter attracted the attention of the young people around him. They looked at the man who called himself a magician in surprise and curiosity.

"Xiaoyuan, can you tell me the story of Xiaomian again?" He looked expectantly.

"...A story about me and Xiao Nian? Okay." Xiao Yuan hugged her backpack tightly and whispered a long story.

In this story, the protagonists are a girl named Madoka Ogata and a cat named Xiaomi. This is a story about a girl and a cat who grew up together and redeemed each other.

In the girl's sweet and soft voice, the morning sunshine was softened.

Akira Sakurai sat quietly opposite Madoka, listening to the story the girl made up.

He looked at Madoka's clean face and wondered how on earth this girl could make up such a true story.

Is it because you feel the same way?

"Cats can only live fifteen years. Although cat elves can live for a long time, once they leave the mountains, they only have the lifespan of an ordinary cat. Xiao Nian came out of the mountains to save me. I met him when I was three years old.

, it left when I was eighteen.”

Sadness was written all over Xiao Yuan’s face,

"The day Madoka left was also winter. When I got up in the morning, she put her head in my hand and meowed. I understood that she was saying goodbye to me. She left that afternoon. I opened the cat

When the can was placed in front of it, it didn't even raise its head to smell it. Slowly, its body became cold."

Madoka held her knees with both hands and lowered her head. Sakurai Akira couldn't see her face, but she could see the tears falling down drop by drop and hitting her skirt.

Her shoulders twitched slightly, looking pitifully fragile.

"Senior, I cried again while talking, I'm sorry!" Xiao Yuan wiped away her tears hard, "Obviously Xiao Nian's return to the mountains to become a cat elf should be a happy event!"

Sakurai Akira looked at the girl's bright smile, knowing it was fake, but he still felt a little sad.

He silently wondered if there really was an autistic girl named Ou Fangyuan in the world. She lived in her own world since she was a child. When she was three years old, she met a cat elf from the mountains. The cat elf gave up her eternal life.

, just to save her as a mortal...

Just like the boy named Sakurai Akira who has lived in the mountains since he was a child. He longs to go to the world outside the mountains and live a normal life, but this is not allowed because he is burdened with the burden he was born with.

Destiny, until one day, the divine manifestation came to his world, just to redeem this boy who should have had blood on his hands and humbled himself into the dust...

Sakurai Akira didn't speak anymore. He looked at Madoka with a distracted look, as if he was thinking about something.

Madoka tilted her head and looked at him cutely, but deep in her eyes there was a coldness.

"Sorry, Madoka, I just got distracted."

He finally came to his senses and apologized to the girl.

"What were you thinking about, senior?" Madoka blinked her big eyes.

"I'm thanking God for allowing me to meet Madoka again." Akira Sakurai smiled brightly.

"Eh?!" Madoka said with a blush on her face, "What does it mean again? Have senior and I met before?"

"Madoka, thank you. It's great to meet you again!" Sakurai Akira stood up and bowed deeply to Madoka to express his gratitude.

"Actually, I fell into a strange dream recently. I once thought I had changed, but that dream forced me into a dead end again, forcing me to face the future that I feared the most. But when I met Madoka and everyone again, it made me

I finally came to terms with myself."

"Mr. Akira Sakurai, did you have a nightmare?"

"Well, it was a terrible nightmare. In the nightmare, I fell into hell because of fear. I brutally killed many innocent people for my own selfish desires. I was an unforgivable bad guy, and Madoka was the last person in the world to pity me.

.”

Although even this mercy is fake...

Sakurai Akira smiled softly. He looked at the girl in front of him, and there was a burning emotion in his heart.

"Hey, it really is a nightmare!" Madoka hugged her backpack with worry on her face.

"Yes... but fortunately, I met Madoka and everyone, which made me understand that I am indeed different from before. It's still not too late, and we still have an infinitely bright future."

The young man sat down again, closed his eyes and said with a smile.

The sun hit half of his face, and his face was white and even transparent. The heartfelt and satisfied smile at the corner of his mouth was full of infinite hope. The mountains outside the window seemed to be washed with black.

The mighty wind blew through the mountains of Hokkaido, heading towards the distant and unknown road ahead.

It turns out everything was not a dream!

But everything has been changed!

He really defeated his destiny, just because someone chose to stand behind him!

"...Senior, what's in your travel bag?" Madoka was also distracted for a moment, tilting her head and staring at the travel bag in his hand.

"Is this it?" Akira Sakurai put the travel bag on the table, took out a thick stack of manuscripts, and said with a slight embarrassment, "I wrote this, and I plan to take it with me to visit me this time.

editing teacher."

"Senior, can you still do it? That's amazing!" Madoka's eyes widened, her voice full of surprise and admiration.

Just at this moment.

"Dear passengers, please pay attention. Passengers, please pay attention. An emergency announcement is now being broadcast. Due to a short circuit in the control system, the air-conditioning system in Car No. 8 is out of control. The temperature of the car has increased significantly. The conductor needs to make repairs. Passengers in Car No. 8 please bring their respective

The luggage was transferred to the VIP compartment to rest. To express our apology, we have prepared free afternoon tea for everyone in the VIP compartment," the conductor said on the radio.

Sakurai Ming was startled. He turned to look out the window and realized that the train was about to arrive at Xiajiang Bridge.

What a pity...Is this the end of it?

"Senior, shall we go to the VIP compartment together?" Xiao Yuan's voice was soft and cute.

"Madoka, go by yourself, I still have some things to deal with." Sakurai Mingding looked at Madoka's beautiful eyes, as if he wanted to remember those eyes forever in his heart, he said softly, "Madoka is really cute

, I will always remember Madoka today, and if I can, I really want to travel to Otaru with Madoka."

Madoka's face was as hot as if she was drunk. She was flattered and stood up and bowed deeply: "Thank you, Akira Sakurai-senpai!"

"correct."

Akira Sakurai seemed to suddenly remember something. He carefully put the manuscript into his travel bag, shook the travel bag in his hand at Madoka, and said with a grin,

"I won't leave it to Madoka for safekeeping this time."

He sat on his seat and watched the cute girl pass through the beams of sunshine one after another.

Light dust was flying in the sunshine, and the girl turned her head to look at him from the end of the carriage. He raised his hand, smiled and said goodbye to the girl who briefly appeared in his life as "Ogata En".

The car door closed, blocking Sakurai Akira's sight of the girl's back.

He turned his head and looked directly into his eyes reflected in the car window.

There once was a boy named Akira Sakurai who met a lovely girl named Madoka Ogata on this train and in this seat.

That was a boy with sin on his back and blood on his hands.

His sins were so serious that even the ringing of Buddhist bells in temples all over Japan could not restore him to a shred of humanity.

That's a silly, cute girl with a sweet smile.

Even the sinful boy could not stretch out his bloody claws against him.

At the last moment of their separation, the boy didn't even dare to raise his hand to wave goodbye to her, because the ugly, sharp-edged hands after transforming into a dragon would reveal his identity and destroy the impression of "Senpai Akira Sakurai" in Ogata Madoka's mind...

but.

It’s no longer the same.

Even if the boy discovers the girl's true identity.

But so what?

He is still very grateful to this girl who is willing to give him a little warmth, even if there is a lie behind that warmth.

Sunlight shone in from every empty window, and fine dust billowed in the beams of light. Sakurai Akira tightened her grip on the travel bag in her hands in this morning light.
To be continued...