In the midst of busyness and coldness, two more days have passed.
As the second semester comes to an end, preparations for the Christmas party in the gymnasium are also in the final stages.
Class C of the first year, evening class meeting.
Naruse waited for the teacher to announce the end of the evening class meeting, and took the time to go to the gymnasium to complete the final work, but Nakahara Yuki had a lot of things to explain today.
"Tomorrow is the last day of this semester, so I will talk a little more in today's evening class meeting. Please wait a moment."
Naruse had no choice but to listen, but he was not too anxious. After all, there was not much left to do after all the preparations had been made today.
The evening class meeting was going on, and outside the Class C classroom, starfish slowly passed by from front to back.
After a while, she walked from the back to the front and glanced inside pretending to be casual.
After repeating this several times, Takigawa Hikaru noticed her first, and then Naruse also noticed her.
Buzz——
Starfish stopped wandering for the fourth time and took out his phone to take a look.
Chunhai: You go over first, the evening class meeting won’t end for a while.
"..."
Starfish: Oh.
Seeing that she finally stopped wandering in the corridor, Naruse put away his phone and muttered to himself.
"Is the evening class meeting of Class E over so soon..." Reading
There were no other people in the corridor, and there weren't many sounds.
After another five or six minutes, the evening class meeting finally ended, and other classes on the same floor gradually became more noisy.
"Chunhai, I'll go to the club room first and come right back."
"Well, take your time."
Naoko left the classroom first. Naruse lowered his head and packed his things. Hikaru Takigawa came over and said, "Can you finish your work today?"
"Absolutely." He picked up his schoolbag, "If it weren't for a few senior students who have been optimizing, our work would have been over a long time ago."
She laughed and said, "This is my first Christmas party. Everyone is trying to keep improving."
"Well. Are you coming over today?"
"It's the last minute. I'm not feeling well in the past."
"As long as you don't go around chatting with people."
"I can't help it."
"..."
Naruse turned to look at her.
"Okay." Takigawa Hikaru smiled and hooked his shoulder, "I'll go somewhere else first and come back later to see what happens."
"Whatever you want."
As soon as the two of them walked out of the classroom, they met Morimi walking towards them.
"Are you going to the gym today too?"
Looking at the two people holding each other's arms, she pushed up her glasses and said, "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. The preparations over there are not over yet?"
"We can finish it today." Naruse said, looking at the other students coming out of Class E one after another, "Did the evening class just end?"
"Yeah. You have a lot to explain today, don't you?"
"Then why did the starfish escape just now?"
"Starfish..." She felt a little helpless, "Just now the teacher said that people who want to help prepare for the Christmas party can go there in advance, so she ran out first."
It turns out I didn’t want to go there alone...
Naruse smiled and said nothing more.
Takigawa Hikaru let go of Naruse and went over to hug her, "Kazuha is going to study in a private school?"
"No need today."
Morimi looked at her and asked, "Are you helping me too?"
"I'm causing trouble."
"You are so proud." Naruse glared at her from the opposite side.
She smiled and then said: "Why don't you go and take a look at Kazuye? We are almost ready."
Morimi thought for a moment and went back early to sit in the store, so he didn't refuse.
"oK~Then I'll come find you later." Hikari Takigawa let go of her and walked to the other side.
"Come over." Naruse greeted.
Morimi followed.
"What else are you busy with today?"
"Our restoration department is mainly responsible for decorating the Christmas tree. It's almost done, and there is only a little finishing work left."
"Really? I think you all seem to be enjoying it these days, and so does Haixing."
"Are you envious?"
She just chuckled and didn't answer.
"By the way." Naruse thought of something, "Will Morimi attend the Christmas party tomorrow?"
"Haixing came to me and came with me, so I signed up first. As for whether I want to go or not, it depends on the situation."
"What's going on?"
She looked over and said, "What do you think."
"I think it's better to relax without thinking about anything," Naruse said.
She looked at him again and exhaled.
"It's so easy to say."
When we arrived at the gymnasium, compared to a few days ago, the huge changes inside were somewhat unrecognizable, at least to Morimi, who last came here for a routine meeting on Monday.
"The Christmas elements are too dense..."
She looked around and saw that the venue was covered with socks, Christmas hats, snowflakes and other decorations, and there was even a reindeer car hanging above her head.
"Because it's a Christmas party." Naruse said.
"But... this is a bit too dense."
"Because it's the first Christmas party."
She looked around and pointed at the thing hanging above her head, "Isn't this too dangerous?"
"It's very real, right?"
Naruse looked up, with a subtle smile on his face.
"This reindeer carriage is entirely made of cardboard. It is actually very light in weight and is basically impossible to fall off. If it does fall, it will only scare people at most."
"..."
Morimi raised his head again and squinted his eyes carefully for a while.
"It's amazing."
The two of them continued walking inside and came to the place where the Christmas tree was placed.
After these few days of decoration, the entire Christmas tree has taken on a new look and is absolutely gorgeous.
The green pine branches are thick and dense, and are wrapped with colorful string lights from top to bottom. The branches and leaves are filled with various small ornaments carefully made by members of the restoration department.
Morimi walked around the Christmas tree twice, "Can I touch it?"
"Yeah."
She first touched the pine branch, then picked up a miniature Santa Claus doll and squeezed it gently.
"This is what Shangzi did."
Naruse nodded.
"Well done."
"Of course."
"I'm not complimenting you."
"Yiye." Haixing, who came over first, also saw the two of them, "You're here too."
Morimi also said hello, and seeing her holding the cardboard box in her hand, Naruse sighed helplessly, "What are you going to hang up? You should consider the bearing capacity of this tree."
Haixing looked at him, a little innocent, "My senior sister said she wanted to hang it up..."
Naruse leaned over and said, "Let me see what it is."
After looking at the two of them, Morimi then looked at the gorgeous Christmas tree in front of him. The branches and leaves were filled with overflowing enthusiasm.
"That's awesome." She muttered again.
She walked around the gym, and then returned to the Christmas tree. Naruse and Haixing squatted together, picking things from the cartons.
"There are enough snowflakes on the branches, no need;
This kind of metal bell is the heaviest. Hanging it too much will pull the branches off;
These puppets... Well, let’s hang a few of them up."
Haixing pouted and took out several puppets made by Shangzi individually.
Naruse stood up and said, "Let's hang the starfish. I'll take these back to the warehouse."
Except for those puppets, the rest were all selected by a few senior students from the materials in the warehouse.
"Oh."
He left with the carton in his arms, and Starfish took the stuffed doll and spun around the Christmas tree.
"Do you need help?" Morimi asked.
"Hmm... Okay." Haixing handed her a small Santa Claus, "The lower part is full, let's hang it on top."
Senjian is tall and can reach higher places, but she has some difficulties.
Taking the doll, Morimi squeezed it twice. It was soft and elastic, and felt good in the hand.
Look at the Christmas tree, there are many similar Santa Claus dolls.
"You have made so many exquisite puppets in just a few days... Shangzi's efficiency is too high."
Haixing shook his head, "Shangzi said that only part of it was newly made, and she had been preparing it before."
"Before?"
"He seemed to have planned to prepare a Christmas party at home."
"Naruse?"
"Yeah."
Morimi was slightly surprised, "I can't tell."
Getting close to the Christmas tree, smelling the faint smell of pine branches, she carefully tied the puppet to one of the branches, and then reached out for another puppet.
She turned around in a small circle and hung up several dolls. She patted the broken bark on her hands and was about to say something when a branch suddenly slipped and fell to the ground.
"I didn't touch this one..."
Starfish picked up the branch and looked at the end, "It's okay, there are too many things hanging on it, and the place can no longer bear it."
"Isn't it fixed?"
"Well, there are many small holes in the wire mesh inside, just plug them in."
After looking at the branches that were not too thick, Morimi looked closer at the barbed wire wrapped around the Christmas tree.
"If it's not fixed, it's completely hung by friction."
"Ah... um."
Starfish looked at her blankly.
"Then this branch can't be hung anymore." Morimi pointed to the part at the end of the branch where the bark has fallen off, "It's too smooth."
"Ah... then just change a bunch. Last time I dragged a lot of pine branches here, and the extra ones were put in the warehouse."
Morimi turned to look at the warehouse of the gymnasium, "Is Naruse still over there? I'll go over and have a look."
When I came to the warehouse, the sporting goods that were originally piled here were sorted aside. At this time, all the materials piled up were Christmas party-related materials.
In front of one of the rows of cardboard boxes, Naruse was squatting on the ground, opposite four or five second-year seniors who were looking at him eagerly.
"...It's really impossible to hang up anymore."
He put the decorations that the starfish had taken out before and put them back into their original places by category.
"I understand how the seniors feel, but this is the first Christmas party, not the last."
"Who can guarantee that there will be a Christmas party next year."
"There is nothing wrong with this year's party, and we will definitely continue to hold it next year."
"It's hard to say... Can Naruse run for student council president after he reaches second grade?"
"Stop making trouble, senior sister..."
Naruse dealt with it helplessly. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Morimi standing not far away. He turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"
She walked over, looked at the second-year seniors, and then looked at him, with a calm expression on her face.
"There are so many things hanging on the branches that I can't hang them. If they fall off, I can't hang them anymore. Haixing said there are still unused pine branches here."
The senior students were stunned for a moment, and one of them quickly asked: "Is there no big problem?"
"No, only one branch has fallen down so far, but the other branches look heavy too. I don't know how long they can last."
"No, I'll go take a look!"
Several people immediately gave up their plan to hang anything on the tree.
"Ah, by the way - Naruse, remember to pick a bunch of beautiful pine branches."
"Okay."
Watching several people leave the warehouse, Naruse breathed a sigh of relief, "You came at the right time."
Morimi smiled and said, "I didn't expect that there would be times when Naruse couldn't handle it."
"After all, we are all seniors in the club."
"Naruse doesn't look like someone who respects his seniors."
"I respect all seniors who deserve respect."
"Are you talking about tongue twisters?"
Naruse smiled, put the last thing in the carton back, stood up and moved his numb legs.
"After all, the task given to us is just a Christmas tree. Seeing other people in the gym being busy - especially the reindeer car made by the handicraft club, Morimi also saw it just now - he wanted to do more for the party,
It’s natural.”
"But there is also a saying that 'too much is not enough'."
"Yeah. I hope it can end smoothly this afternoon."
The extra decorations were put back to their original places, and Naruse walked deeper into the warehouse, "Put the pine branches in there, I'll go get them."
Nothing happened, Morimi also followed.
He glanced at her and said, "It's full of dust."
"I'm just taking a look and have no intention of helping."
"I don't need your help, just pick a bunch of pine branches."
Because it has no other use for the time being, and it was bought with money from the student union, it cannot be thrown away. The excess pine branches are piled in the deep corner of the warehouse.
Naruse bent down to pick for a while, and pulled out a bunch of pine branches that were not too long and had a pretty shape.
"How about this bunch of pine branches?"
"It's quite thick." Morimi took a look and gave a simple evaluation.
"Well, it won't be too heavy..."
Naruse weighed it twice and decided to change to a lighter one. The branches were pressed against the branches, so it was not that easy to find.
Seeing that he seemed to be choosing for a while, Mori looked over to the thick bunch of pine branches, dusted off the sponge mat used in physical education classes, and then sat on it.
Gently waving the pine branch in her hand, she stared at somewhere on the warehouse wall, her expression gradually becoming trance-like.
While choosing, Naruse glanced at her twice and said nothing.
After browsing for a few minutes, he finally selected a bunch of pine branches that were relatively good-looking and relatively light. When he looked back, Morimi also looked at him.
"Have you chosen yet?"
"Yeah."
"Then go out. If you stay any longer, strange rumors will start to spread again."
Naruse was startled and looked past her. Sure enough, he saw some people who came to the warehouse looking for things looking this way.
He didn't say anything, and went out with the pine branches. Morimi followed him.
"After decorating the Christmas tree, do you have anything else to do?" she asked.
"There should be no more."
"Go home?"
"It shouldn't be so early."
"Really? Then I'll go back first." Morimi said.
Naruse looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing. Be careful on the road."
Back to the Christmas tree, Shangzi had already come from the club room.
"Yiye is also here today."
"Well, I'm ready to go back now."
Naoko took the pine branch from Naruse and glanced at him, "Why don't you stay a little longer?"
"No." Senmi told the truth, "The results will be released tomorrow, and I'm feeling anxious now."
Shangzi smiled.
"Be careful on the road."
After saying goodbye to them and Starfish, Morimi looked at the Christmas tree again and left the gym alone.
"Replace this string of branches."
"Yeah."
After replacing new branches and checking the connections of other parts, the Christmas tree is finally fully decorated.
"That's it." Naruse said, "If you keep pursuing perfection, there will be no end."
Although several senior students in the restoration department had regrets, they did not say anything more and nodded to accept.
"Is the Christmas tree here?"
"There will be a graduation ceremony tomorrow morning. Let's move it into the warehouse and keep it there."
Naoko borrowed a trolley and brought it over. Naruse grabbed the heavy base with both hands and took a deep breath.
"Wow..."
Amidst the exclamations of the girls, the Christmas tree shook a little and then was placed safely on the cart.
"——Are you going to put it away already?"
Hikari Takigawa came over just now.
"Well, it's no problem anymore."
"I'll push it." She came over and held the handle of the trolley, and together with Naruse, she took the Christmas tree to the warehouse.
After parking the car, she dusted off her hands and smiled at Shangzi and Haixing who were following her.