Akane Kirino dodged backwards, Hongzi put down the spray head, and each was in a hurry.
"Feel sorry!"
"It's okay..."
Despite quickly avoiding, Akane Kirino's suspender shirt and hot pants were still a lot wet, but she didn't care too much, just a little surprised by her reaction.
Hongzi was even more surprised than her.
“…become Soya’s family?”
"Hmm? It's just like the bell." Akane Kirino said casually. Looking at the spray head that was still spraying water, she looked at Hongko who was a little confused and anxious, "Why would you better let me do it myself?"
"No." Hongzi immediately refused, then realized that what she was talking about was happening in front of her, and asked for a second sentence: "There are blind spots that you can't wash, so let me help you. Turn it over."
"All right."
Akane Kirino turned around and looked back at her: "It shouldn't be too much behind it, right?"
Hongzi raised the spray head and rinsed the left thigh, "Not much."
"Just take a shower," Akane Kirino suddenly said, "The clothes are already wet."
Hongzi nodded, got up and turned off the nozzle, ready to go out.
"Don't Hongzi wash together?"
"Hey..." She was stunned for a moment, then thought about it, and quickly agreed, "Okay."
She went to put water into the bathtub, and Akane Kirino walked to the bathroom door, "Songya--"
He appeared quickly and poked his head at the entrance of the living room to look at her: "What's wrong?"
"I want to take a shower."
"This time? Just do whatever you want."
She continued, "Hongzi needs to wash too."
Zong Gu was not surprised, "Whatever you want."
"So Zonggu will help us get the clothes we want to change. Hongzi and I have taken off all our clothes."
“…”
Zong Gu pursed his lower lip and Hongzi's voice came from the bathroom: "Xian! What did you say to him--"
"Take it yourself."
Ignoring Akane Kirino's complaints, he turned back to the living room.
"It's like being instructed to your boyfriend." Chao Kurizuki said, "although she doesn't have that consciousness yet."
“…”
Zong Gu sat down on the side of the lunar area as if he hadn't heard it.
She also sat over and said nothing else, looking at the chaotic sky in his eyes together.
After taking the clothes downstairs, passing by the living room, looking at the figures facing each other with their backs to each other, Akane Kirino found that the restlessness in her heart suddenly subsided a lot.
"Are family..."
She was unconsciously avoiding the thoughts that made her uneasy.
When I returned to the bathroom, the hot water in the bathtub was almost allocated.
"The temperature is almost the same."
"I'll try...yes."
Akane Kirino and Hongko took off their clothes, washed their bodies separately, and then sat in the bathtub.
"I felt that my work and rest were changing in the countryside. I took a shower almost at this time yesterday." Akane Kirino said.
Hongzi sat on the other side, remembering the scene when the three of them took a shower together yesterday, with a smile on her face, but what followed was her separate conversation with Chao Wuling afterwards, and her smile faded away.
"Mom just said, come here to pick us up the day after tomorrow." She said suddenly.
"Yeah."
Akane Kirino leaned against the bathtub and relaxed, "Then there are two days left."
"Um……"
"After Hongzi goes back, we will go to Hokkaido next."
"I guess so."
She had lost interest in the travel she had already arranged.
"I don't want to go anymore..." / "Remember to bring me souvenirs."
The two spoke at the same time, but were stunned at the same time.
“Eh?”
"I can't bear to leave Akane." Hongzi looked for repairs quickly, "I want to separate from you for a week, and it feels like the sky is about to collapse."
"Hahaha--"
Akane Kirino smiled happily, "I will send messages to Hongzi every day."
"Yeah, I've agreed."
"So Hongzi can't live without me."
Hongzi's body slid down, half of her face sank into the water, and after a while, a string of bubbles were spit out.
"Akane is my most important friend."
The smile on Akane Kirino's face was not interrupted, "Yeah~"
She continued to slide down, and she was completely in the water.
The roar in her ears was like an illusion. She opened her eyes and looked at the twisted water world of Mohu. Everything was shaking and everything was shaking.
Both hands reached towards her.
Crash.
When she was pulled back to the surface, Hongzi took a deep breath. She wiped her face and lay down to the edge of the bathtub.
Akane Kirino also lay down and squeezed with her.
"Akane has any plans?"
"What?"
Hongzi turned her head, "I've been going to Hokkaido and Soya go to Kanto these days."
Akane Kirino thought for a while, "I don't know."
"If Soya really doesn't want to take me to Kanto, I'll stay at home."
Her tone was a little unhappy.
"He has something important to do." Hongzi said, not understanding whether she didn't want the two to become closer in places she couldn't see, or simply didn't want her to affect Zonggu's itinerary.
Akane Kirino sighed, turned over again, leaning against the edge.
"I know, too."
Hongzi looked at her side face, her long hair was simply wrapped around the back of her head, and a few strands of black hair in her ears were wet with water and stuck together.
"Akane seems to be getting more and more attached to Soya."
She didn't expect that she would really say this, so she was particularly concerned about her reaction.
"Is that true?" Akane Kirino was indeed stunned, "It's not particularly sticky, everyone is usually together."
"But Akane is different."
“Where is different?”
Hongzi was silent for a while, "Akane is more proactive."
Akane Kirino thought for a while, "Is that because Soya is too lazy? Or, except for the shrine, he likes to be led by the nose in other things... Well, it's a bit too much to say this... Soya is even more
Like passive?"
She also wanted to use other words to explain, Hongzi said that she had understood, "I can understand what you mean."
Hongzi sighed again, "Maybe that's it."
Akane Kirino didn't speak for a long time, thinking.
"Ani?"
"I was wondering...will Sonya be with Senior Sister Guanyuan when she goes to Kanto?"
Hongzi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that he had not considered the real rival in love for a long time.
"I don't know... But since Soya went to Kanto for their sake, it's very likely that the senior sister will go together."
Akane Kirino patted the water in front of her, "I know."
Hongzi also turned around and said, "They have something to do, not to play."
"Hongzi just said this."
“Ah… well.”
Akane Kirino arched her legs, slid her body a little, and her head rested on the edge of the bathtub. She looked at the small window and became stunned.
The sound of water made her pinch the four-leaf clover pendant hanging on her chest.
When thinking, she always likes to hold or pinch something. It used to be amulets, but now it is given to Zong Gu, and instead it is the pendant given back by Zong Gu.
Hongzi leaned aside without interrupting her, waiting for her to think about the problems or conclusions.
She was a little nervous.
Akane Kirino may announce that she still wants to follow Soya to Kanto, or give up this plan completely; she may suddenly realize that what she really cares about is not going to Kanto, but Soya, and then think of more...
For example, the essence of this concern.
Although the bystanders are sober, what awakens the confused authorities is often just a trivial clue. Hongzi can't help but start ruling every word she said to her just now.
But Akane Kirino didn't give her a chance to think too much, and suddenly spoke:
"If Zong Gu had just put a stone under the wooden board, wouldn't it be possible to make the angle smoother and then let more crucian carp swim up?"
“…”
Hongzi admitted that she had thought too much just now.
The tight mood suddenly sootheed, and her body relaxed. She raised her feet and placed them on the edge of the bathtub.
"Maybe there is no suitable stone nearby. I saw Zong Gu searching for a long time before I found the stone."
Akane Kirino also imitated her to put her feet on and sighed regretfully: "Then there is nothing I can do."
"There are stones underneath, and the wooden boards are not easy to fix, right? The water upstream is constantly impacting." Hongzi even thought about this matter seriously.
"That's right."
She thought about it again before accepting that it was the best choice to adapt to local conditions.
After soaking in the bathtub for more than twenty minutes, the two of them came out.
Back in the living room, Zong Gu and Chao Wuling were lying on the floor on the edge. They didn't react much when they heard the movement, but just raised their heads.
Akane Kirino strode over, raised his feet and shook it on Sonogu's face. He just turned his head and turned to the side, and he was too lazy to raise his hands.
She occupied another position beside him, and Hongzi had to sit next to her.
"It's much more comfortable to take a bath. The water in the bathtub hasn't been released yet. Do Zong Gu want to soak it for a while?"
"No, I'll wash it tonight."
"How come Zong Gu is lazy?"
"If you two soak for a few more minutes, I might fall asleep."
Akane Kirino also lay down, "I had already slept in the morning."
"This is how summer is." Soya yawned, more energetic than before. "Especially in the afternoon, if you don't do anything, you'll be sleepy."
"I feel so, so what's going to do next?"
He didn't even look at her, "Sleep."
“…It’s not interesting.”
"You should understand earlier: boredom is the norm in life."
This is what Akane Kirino is most reluctant to accept, so she doesn't want to pay attention to him for the time being.
After riding a long lap, she took a bath for more than 20 minutes. It was only 2:00 in the afternoon. After sitting for a while, she had nowhere to vent her energy. She was not sleepy at all, but she was just eager to do something.
What.
"Let's find something to do."
"I agree, as long as I don't count it." Zong Gu replied with his eyes closed.
Akane Kirino was a little dissatisfied, "When we sleep at home all day, we ran so far to the countryside, what exactly did we do?"
He opened his eyes: "Aren't you here to accompany Hongzi's grandma?"
“…”
She opened her mouth and immediately became silent.
Speaking of grandma, Zong Gu continued, "If you really have nothing to do, you can help Hongzi's grandma go to the vegetable field to take a look and pull out the weeds."
Akane Kirino thought for a while and really got up to find her grandmother.
Hongzi looked back for a while and took her place.
"She doesn't know the way, Hongzi will take her with her." Zonggu said again.
"No, Akane went to the vegetable field once yesterday..." She suddenly understood, "You want to send me away."
"I mean Hongzi follows her, even if she does something wrong, she won't be too much."
Hongzi curled her lips and reluctantly accepted what he said: "Akane still knows how to behave."
After a while, Kirino Akane walked over from the warehouse behind with a small shovel and gloves.
"I'll remove the weeds, are you going to come?"
Zong Gu and Chao Wuling both shook their heads. Hongzi looked at the two of them and stood up.
"Wait for me, I'll go change my shoes."
Akane Kirino walked closer and scraped Soya's bare soles with a small shovel, "Are you bored to stay here?"
"It's not boring." He moved his feet, "I always have to take out some time to settle, for example, I'm thinking about things now."
"What's the matter?" she asked.
Zong Gu continued to edit: "I can't say it now, I'll tell you when I figure it out."
"Hmph, mysterious."
The next to him, Chao Kurizuki sat up and looked at Akane Kirino: "Things related to you."
“Huh?”
“…”
Zong Gu immediately glanced at her, and said only this to Wuling, then got up and went back to the living room to drink water.
"My business?" Akane Kirino looked at her and then looked at Soya who was also sitting up.
"Well... aren't you bored? I'm thinking about what to do tomorrow."
She smiled, "Then you have to think carefully, it's best to tell me when I come back."
"I will."
"Don't fall asleep."
"As I fall asleep, I think deeply."
She smiled and suddenly approached a lot, "I have something I want to ask Zong Gu."
“…”
Zong Gu avoided it later, and then asked, "What's the matter?"
"Will Zong Gu go to Guandong in a few days? Will he go with Senior Sister Guanyuan? How long will it take and when will he come back?"
He was stunned for a moment and said, "I went to Guandong to..."
"——It's for serious things, right? I've known it a long time ago." Akane Kirino waved a small shovel on his face to express his dissatisfaction, "What are you nervous? I don't want to go."
Sonoya smiled, "Really?"
"Then will you take me there?"
“No.”
"Hmph, that's true."
She has no obsession with going to Kanto, and she still doesn't want to stay at home alone.
"Kyoko won't go, she doesn't have time." Soya said, looking back at Aogi Ring who was drinking water in the living room, "But Ling will be with me. I plan to go back to the children's welfare home in Sendai to see her
Want to go too."
Akane Kirino was stunned for a moment, and only then did she know what he planned. She asked for no reason: "Songya won't stay there, will she come back?"
"Of course." Soya signaled her to rest, "There is no one or something worthy of my stay there."
Akane Kirino sat down and looked at him with her eyes: "Then is there any here?"
“…”
Zong Gu looked at her and nodded, looking away: "Of course."
"Who?" she asked again.
"Everyone."
Akane Kirino smiled, "I agreed to live together in the future, so Soya can't leave halfway."
He pursed his lower lip, "About this..."
She came over again, "Did you regret it?"
"……No."
Zong Gu thought for a while, "I mean I still have to keep Hongzi secret now, and I will tell her when the time is right."
"Don't worry." The little shovel waved left and right in his hand, indicating that Akane Kirino was in a good mood at this time, "No one can dig out a secret from my mouth."
Zong Gu didn't believe it, but he didn't reveal it. Underestimating her will only cause more trouble, "Be careful on the road."
"I have to wait for Hongzi..."
When she turned her head, Hongzi, who had changed her shoes, was walking over from the other side, holding a bucket in her hand.
"Grandma asked me to bring some vegetables back."
"Yeah, then let's go."
The two left side by side, and their figures quickly disappeared at the corner of the yard.
He brought two cups of wheat tea to Wuling. The water droplets condensed on the transparent cup wall, and the hand was cold.
"Thanks."
Zong Gu drank half a cup in one breath, and the sleepiness that had been disturbed by Kirino Akane completely disappeared.
"Borus is the norm." She suddenly repeated what he had just said.
Sonoya put down the cup, "This sentence is indeed more convincing by Ling."
The longer the life is, the more you can feel the calmness and boredom in it, even more so when this long stretches to hundreds or thousands of years.
Asahiro sat down beside him, "Do you want to have a little fun?"
Zong Gu immediately thought of her "joke" just now and shook his head: "It's troublesome to be too interesting, it's good now."
"There will be quite long and boring years later."
"Can it be longer than the years that Ling has experienced?"
Chao Wuling looked at him again, but there was no answer.
Zong Gu didn't care, and drank the remaining half cup of iced wheat tea in one go.
The clouds scattered in the sky, revealing the blue sky. The sunlight that had disappeared for most of the day also appeared again, conveying more heat to the ground.
The boring time passes by neither fast nor slow, and the two sit or lie down on the side of the law, talking about the present or the past without a word.
“…Have Ling never returned after leaving the Children’s Welfare Home two years ago?”
"Um."
"I don't know how many people I know stay there now."
“There won’t be much change.”
"Well, except for children who have to leave the children's welfare home at the age, there shouldn't be many people being picked up... I still remember how they look."
Zong Gu's eyes were straight, looking at a corner in the yard with nothing, and fell into a past memory: "I still remember that I planned to return to the welfare home after completing my studies and take care of the children in the welfare home like a teacher.
We... don't know when they will be thrown into the corner of our memory."
He shook his head at Wuling: "That place is too small, and there is a stage that is more suitable and needs you more in this world."
Zong Gu laughed, "I feel like I'm so proud of my elders."
“…”
She looked over and said, "Do you think I'm old?"
"Not at all. Since the appearance will not change, age is just a number... Will the bell care about age?"
"I care about you."
Zong Gu smiled a little complicatedly and nodded.
Soon, Akane Kirino and Hongko finished their work and returned to Yuanqiao's house, which showed that there was little fun in the vegetable field.
"Did Soya have come up with fun ideas?"
“Um…”
"I just knew. But it's okay, I thought of it."
Akane Kirino sat down beside him, shook her long hair, "Let's go to the mountain to watch the sunrise."