When I woke up in the morning, Haixing took a shower and prepared to go to Naruse's house.
"Haixing, do you want to go there too today?" Hearing his daughter coming down, Maki Seiichiro asked from the kitchen.
"Well...I'm going to play."
"I cooked Kagami Mochi." Seiichiro said.
"Ah." Haixing was startled.
She has been running to his house every day these days and has nothing to do. She has lost her sense of time.
No wonder there was a banging sound downstairs just now. It turned out to be smashing mirror cakes.
Is it already the day when the mirror opens...
School will start in a few days. Have you persisted for so many days?
She didn't understand what she was insisting on, but if she suddenly decided not to go, she would feel like giving up.
And she is not ready to give up yet.
Seiichiro looked at his daughter, "It's already cooked. Do you want to have a piece?"
"Want to eat."
I went to the kitchen to eat a piece of cooked mirror cake, and Haixing went out.
When she was walking past Morimi Furu Honten, someone called her, "Starfish."
"One leaf..."
She has been staying at Naruse's house these days, facing Naruse and Naoko all day long. On the contrary, she is far away from other friends.
Not to mention the Takigawa sisters who went to Morioka's grandma's house, the last time she saw Morimi seemed to be a week ago.
"Good morning."
Morimi came out of the store and tilted his head towards the other side of the county road, "Where do you want to go?"
"Well..."
Haixing nodded, paying attention to her expression.
Over the past week or so, she has gradually become accustomed to Naruse's cold treatment and Naoko's calm gaze. She can now shamelessly pretend not to care about the two people's direct resistance or silent exploration.<
/p>
But when she suddenly faced Yiye, she didn't know what her attitude would be.
She doesn't know exactly how much Kazuye knows now.
While Morimi looked calm, Haixing could not tell anything, "Haixing seems to have been staying at Naruse's house recently."
"Well..."
She came closer and looked directly at her from behind her lenses: "What are the starfish doing over there?"
After briefly looking at each other, Haixing looked away first.
"I didn't do much... I just stayed with everyone."
Although the so-called "everyone" is only two people.
"Are you just staying at his house?" Morimi continued to ask.
"Yeah."
"Isn't it boring?"
"It's okay..." Haixing pursed his lower lip, it would be strange if he wasn't bored.
Morimi looked at her for a while longer, testing her attitude one last time.
"Why?"
"Eh..."
Haixing looked at her and hesitated, "Because... I haven't had much to do recently, and staying at home is boring."
Seeing that she still avoided talking about her true purpose, Morimi sighed softly.
"I know."
Seeing the flash of disappointment and helplessness on her face, Haixing suddenly felt uneasy.
"One leaf..."
"School will start in a few days." Morimi quickly adjusted his mood, at least on the surface, "I won't be bored by then."
Haixing looked at her and nodded slowly.
"That's it, there's nothing else." Morimi smiled at her.
"Then I'll go there..."
"Yeah."
After walking a few steps, Haixing suddenly heard her say from behind:
"If you are really bored, you can actually come to me...if you are just bored."
She turned around, but Morimi just waved to her, then turned around and went in.
"..."
Haixing stood there for a while and walked towards Naruse's house.
It was Shangzi again who came to open the door.
"Good morning."
With her long hair hanging behind her back, she said hello with a smile and turned sideways to let her in.
"Excuse me..."
Haixing glanced at Shangzi's pajamas and could see that she had just woken up.
——I came a little too early.
"We just got up. Harumi is preparing breakfast. Haixing, please sit down for a while." Naoko said, raising her arms again and stretching. The pajamas on her chest were stretched fuller and the buttons were tight. Haixing pretended not to see it, walked around the living room, and then turned to the kitchen.
Naruse is holding a knife and is cutting or chopping something.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The starfish came a little closer, and under the knife's edge, it turned out to be a mirror cake.
Bang!
He raised his knife and slashed hard, cutting out another small piece of the mirror cake that had been divided into four.
"It was just left for more than a week, but why did it become so hard..." Naruse complained as it was really hard to cut.
"It's been two weeks." Haixing said.
He turned to look at her, shook the knife in his hand, "Stay away from me."
Haixing took two steps back, then turned around, took another small piece of mirror cake, and continued to cut it laboriously.
It wasn't until the entire mirror cake was cut into suitable pieces that Naruse breathed a sigh of relief.
Putting the mirror cake into the oven, while waiting, he turned around and saw her still standing in the kitchen, and said, "Do you like to eat mirror cake?"
Haixing looked at him and replied: "Absolutely."
"I've been eating mirror cakes all day today - I've finished my family's mirror cakes, and Shangzi's family's. Those who don't like mirror cakes can go home now."
"..."
She curled her lips and moved twice, but still didn't go out.
After throwing the kamemochi into the oven to heat, Naruse then cooked red bean soup.
Ding——
After waiting for a while, I opened the oven, and the originally hard mirror pancake was baked until it was puffy, soft, faintly browned, and exuded a faint aroma.
Take a bowl of thick red bean soup and soak the hot mirror cakes in it. Breakfast for the three of you is ready.
When Shangzi came over for breakfast, he was still wearing pajamas, and his hair had been combed together and hanging on one shoulder.
"The light seems to be coming back today."
"She has been in Morioka for several days."
"I seem to be having a lot of fun."
The red bean soup was sweet. Haixing took a bite of the mirror cake and swallowed it slowly.
After breakfast, the three of them returned to the living room, repeating the inactivity they had done yesterday, the day before yesterday, and even since the first day of the first lunar month to this day.
At noon, lunch was still red bean soup and mirror pancakes.
Starfish is a bit boring, but I just came here to eat and drink, so I can’t say anything.
The sum of the mirror cakes from the two families was enough for three people to eat two meals, and there was still a lot left. She began to think about whether it would be better to go back early in the evening.
As a result, Naruse himself couldn't stand it anymore.
"Do I have to finish the mirror cake?"
Starfish also looked over expectantly.
Shangzi smiled and said, "Mirror cake is the residence of Lord Nian Shen. It's better to eat it. You will be blessed."
He was a little helpless, "Then let's eat differently tonight."
"Hmm."
Starfish also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Takigawa Hikaru came to the door.
"I'm back."
She smiled at Naruse who opened the door, holding some specialties brought back from Morioka.
"Well, the starfish is here today."
After entering the door, she saw Starfish sitting on the sofa. She gave her one of the specialties, "Just in time, this is for Starfish."
"Thank you..." Haixing took it.
"I wonder if Kazuyo is here at the bookstore. If not, I will have to travel a long way."
"As for Yiye, I was staying at the bookstore in the morning. I don't know if I'm still there now." Haixing said.
"It's okay, I'll find out when I go take a look."
Takigawa Hikaru had no intention of staying long, so he delivered the gift, chatted for a few more words, and prepared to leave.
"Haixing, do you want to go back together?"
"I..."
She didn't know how to explain her reason for staying, so she glanced at Naruse subconsciously, and he looked at her too.
"..."
He was waiting for her to nod.
"I won't go back."
"Really?" Hikaru Takigawa smiled slightly, and didn't care. He said hello to the three of them and left first.
Arriving at Morimi Furuhontō, she glanced inside and found that Kazuha was indeed still here.
"Great."
"Light..." Morimi pushed up his glasses, "Are you back?"
"Well, I came back at noon." Hikaru Takigawa picked up the paper bag in his hand, "This is a specialty for Kazuyo."
"Thank you."
Morimi took it and looked at it, then asked: "Where's Sister Yue? She's back too, right?"
"Yeah, Yue is studying at home. After she comes back, she has already entered a state of preparing for the exam wholeheartedly." Takigawa Hikaru said.
Morimi took a deep breath and said, "As soon as school starts, there will be common exams. There is not much time left."
"Yeah... hmm?" Hikaru Takigawa leaned on the counter and suddenly noticed that there were books and notes in front of her.
"Kazuye is also studying."
Morimi nodded.
"If you're studying, why don't you go home?" Hikaru Takigawa asked. She remembered that she rarely studied here because she couldn't stay focused all the time.
Mori smiled and said, "Because I guess the light will come."
"Really?" Takigawa Hikaru also laughed, "Then I won't disturb your study and go back first."
"Um...wait a minute."
Morimi stopped her, "Did Hikari come from Naruse's house?"
"Yeah."
"The starfish is still over there."
"Yes. Speaking of which, has Haixing been staying at Harumi's house these days?"
Morijian was silent for a moment, then shook his head, "I don't know."
Takigawa Hikaru didn't ask any more questions, said hello to Morimisuki who came out after hearing the noise, and went back.
Seeing his daughter staring outside in a daze, and then quickly lowering his head to read after recovering, Morimiki said: "I'm here, Kazuyo should go home."
She said nothing, shook her head, and then put away the books and notes.
Stretching, she picked up the book she had put aside and looked outside.
"Let's start again tomorrow."
At dinner time, Shangzi put the last bit of broken mirror cake into the pot and cooked it with the meat slices. It tasted quite good.
Both Naruse and Haisei ate a lot, and the latter also drank a lot of broth. After eating, he fell on the sofa and refused to get up.
"You need to go home and lie down." Naruse drove him away ruthlessly, "I'll take you back."
"Wait a little longer...I'll feel better."
She weakly propped herself up and leaned against the sofa, trying to make herself more comfortable.
Naruse glanced at her and said, "You don't want to stay overnight, do you?"
Shangzi didn't speak, but looked over, waiting for her answer.
"Who wants to stay overnight?" Haixing quickly denied it, but he couldn't help but feel something in his heart.
During this period of time, she would usually go home after dinner, and it would not be later than seven o'clock at the latest.
The whole night time was left to him and Shangzi.
And the night long ago was always the time when he and she got close to each other with their own concerns after hurting each other during the day...
Haixing glanced at his profile.
As soon as the thought comes together, it grows wildly and uncontrollably.
It’s just that she rejected it personally just now, and now she needs an opportunity to confirm again.
He won't give her a chance.
She looked at Shangzi again.
"I want to take a bath here."
Shangzi looked over, and after another two or three seconds, he spoke: "Haixing, do you want to take a bath?"
"Hmm. Is that okay?"
"Of course. I'll release the water..."
Naruse interrupted her, "Can't you go home and wash it?"
"Can't you wash it here?" Haixing asked.
"Can't."
"Why?"
"Because this is my bathroom."
"Chunhai..." Seeing that he couldn't give any clear reason to object, Shangzi sighed inwardly, "I'll go release the water first."
After trying to stop her to no avail, Naruse turned to look at Haixing when she left the living room: "What do you want to do?"
"Take a bath..."
"Then what?"
"..."
Starfish looked aside and said nothing.
Naruse took a deep breath and said, "Don't even think about staying overnight."
"Why not?"
"You just said you didn't want to stay overnight."
"..."
Starfish was speechless.
Shangzi quickly returned to the living room and said, "Haixing can go wash it now."
"Thank you..."
Haixing got up and went to the bathroom.
Naoko sat down next to Naruse and watched TV.
After a while, she came closer.
"I seem to have forgotten to bring pajamas for Haixing..."
"She doesn't stay overnight."
She nodded slightly, her body became more relaxed, "Yeah."
After a while, Haixing put on his own clothes and returned to the living room after taking a bath.
"I've finished washing..." She put her hair in a bun and looked at Naruse and Shangzi respectively, "I should go back."
Naruse was a little surprised that she changed her mind so quickly, but of course he would not object.
"I'll take you back."
She nodded.
Putting on his coat and going out, Naruse walked in front and she followed behind.
"When did it start snowing..."
Before he reached the intersection, he suddenly realized that Haixing had not followed.
Looking back, she was squatting on the snow, her head buried in her arms.
Naruse took a few steps back, and before speaking, he heard her deep sobbing.
"..."
He pursed his lower lip, took a silent breath, and stood aside.
After a while, the sobbing gradually subsided.
"Has Shangzi started to hate me too..."
"No."
After rubbing it on her arm a few times, she raised her head and wiped it on her face again.
"I won't come tomorrow."
Naruse looked at her and said, "Yeah."
"..."
She was silent for a while, the wind and snow kept hitting her face.
"I don't know what to do anymore."
Naruse looked at the lights at the intersection. Black and white snowflakes kept shuttling under the light, appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye, forming an invisible line, scattered and chaotic.
"Don't think about impossible things, just pretend that nothing happened, and it will be fine in a few days."
"..."
She lowered her head and hugged her knees, "How can you say 'just pretend nothing happened' so easily...Ah, you don't like me."
She wiped it under her eyes, "I should have understood it a long time ago... No, I have understood it a long time ago."
I just haven’t been willing to accept it.
Starfish bit her lip to prevent her voice from shaking too much.
"It turns out that I was really wrong at that time..."
Naruse looked over, "What?"
She shook her head slightly, the movement was so small that it was almost invisible.
"I won't like you anymore."
"..."
Naruse took a deep breath of the cold air soaked in wind and snow, and felt a stinging pain in his chest.
"Well, it should have been like this a long time ago..."
Snap!
A ball of snow came over and hit him in the chest.
The sudden outburst almost used up all her strength. Starfish trembled and calmed down for a while, then took a few deep breaths.
"...I'm sorry."
Naruse said nothing, just patted his clothes.
She tried to get up, but fell to the ground again. She struggled a few times before standing up, and did not hold the hand he extended.
"I'm going home."
"Yeah."
The two of them walked forward again.
When we walked out of the intersection and turned onto the county road, it was only six or seven o'clock and there was no one on the road.
Two lines of footprints by the two people extend all the way to the entrance of Zhenmu Hotel.
"Arrived."
"Yeah."
"Thank you for sending me back." Haixing turned around and put a smile on the corner of his mouth, "Good night."
"Good night."
When she returned home, Naruse turned around and went back.
He lowered his eyes and walked back along the footsteps he came from when he heard several calls suddenly coming from the wind and snow.
"...Naruse...Naruse!"
He turned around and squinted his eyes, "Morimi...haven't you gone back yet?"
"I was just about to go back. When you and Haixing came over, I was standing at the door. Didn't you see?"
Naruse took a deep breath and cheered up again, "I didn't pay attention."
"..."
Morimi looked at him for a while, "What's wrong?"
"A bit cold."
"Eh?"
"No, it's nothing..."
He looked at her, "You want to go home? Do you need me to take you off?"