When the cafe clerk came back, he was carrying a cup of hot cocoa.
"Thank you."
Naruse took a sip, put down the cup, and continued to look out the window.
The clerk touched the light on the second floor before going downstairs, and it seemed that the sky outside was even gloomier. The rain was lighter than before, but it was still not enough to leave.
"How's it going?" He looked at the starfish.
"Ah?"
She was stunned for a moment, and then realized that he was talking about the "long river of history" he asked her to draw just now.
As for the actual completion, he could see it from the opposite side: there was nothing but a winding thin line.
"Are you still thinking?" Naruse asked again.
Starfish responded vaguely.
"Actually, there is a very simple way: use the catalog of Japanese history as a reference point for the turns of the 'river'."
"Well..."
She glanced at him and couldn't understand his calmness at this time.
After all, she was still filled with the embarrassment of being caught peeking at her notes.
"Are you still thinking about what happened just now?" Naruse suddenly said.
"Ah... um."
Now that he made it clear, Haixing no longer concealed it and asked directly: "What are you investigating?"
"Didn't you just watch it?"
The notebook was not taken in and was put aside. Naruse handed it over again.
"..."
Haixing's face turned hot, thinking that he was deliberately mocking her for peeking just now, but seeing that his expression remained normal, she thought that maybe she was being overly concerned.
"No need." She didn't answer, and she didn't want to directly admit that she didn't see anything other than the good and evil attitudes of some people towards Shangzi. "What do you think?"
Naruse took back the notebook, "As you can see."
"..."
Anger temporarily gained the upper hand, Haixing couldn't help but glare at him.
Naruse didn't notice, but continued talking.
"I happened to hear someone in the handicraft club say bad things about Shangzi, and they were very mean, so I wanted to investigate: Is this their personal behavior, or is it a widespread situation?"
As soon as he heard "speak ill", Haixing subconsciously shrank his head and glanced at him.
When it came to "mean and bad words", she said them a lot back then, and she said them all in front of him.
Naruse still didn't look at her, looking sideways at the notebook: "Now, the investigation has produced some preliminary results."
"So was this the reason why you made an appointment with those girls just now?" Haixing asked.
Naruse nodded, "They are all members of the handicraft club. When I invited them to drink coffee, they always asked questions about Naoko."
"So, is there any conclusion?"
Naruse took a deep breath and did not answer.
Haixing regarded this as the worst case scenario and said, "In this case, wouldn't it be enough for Shangzi to withdraw from the handicraft club?"
He shook his head, "No."
"Why?"
"Because Shangzi still feels that the atmosphere in the craft club is very good. Although she occasionally receives some criticism, she gets more happiness there... This is also the conclusion I came to after observing."
Haixing finally became wiser, "Don't Shangzi know about this?"
"Of course."
"Why don't you just ask her?"
"Because Shangzi didn't choose to tell me proactively."
"Huh?" Haixing couldn't understand again.
Because she is an idiot who occasionally thinks too much about herself, Naruse thought in his heart.
After staring at him for a while, seeing that he still had no intention of explaining, Haixing suppressed his dissatisfaction and asked: "Then what are you going to do next?"
Naruse opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't speak.
He looked sideways out of the window, not knowing whether he didn't want to answer her or because he didn't have any ready-made ideas.
Once the conversation stopped, silence spread, the sound of rain poured down, and the atmosphere of a good conversation just now disappeared.
From time to time, the sound of cars passing by can be heard outside the window, so clear that one can even see the splash of water in one's mind.
Because the topic was Shangzi, they could pretend not to mind talking to each other so much, Haixing thought to himself.
Returning to each other, there are only emotions that are a thousand times more complicated than the previous embarrassment.
They used to be step-siblings who hated each other, but things have changed and they will never become friends...
Starfish unconsciously touched his lips.
The past surged up like a night tide, suddenly submerging her, and her chest felt extremely tight.
She lowered her head, and when she raised her gaze again, there was no trace of heat coming out of his cocoa.
"Aren't you going back?"
After not speaking for a long time, her voice had some changes.
The sky was getting darker. Naruse looked out the window and turned around after a while.
"I didn't bring an umbrella."
"..."
"But it's really time to go back."
He stood up and showed her the weather conditions on his phone, "The typhoon is getting closer and closer, and the rain will not stop today."
He packed up his things - in fact, it was just the notebook, then picked up his schoolbag and prepared to leave.
After being glanced at by him, Haixing suddenly reacted, hurriedly stuffed the test papers and books into his bag, got up and followed.
When we came downstairs, Naruse was not the only one who was aware of the heavy rain. There were far fewer people in the cafe than before.
After paying the bill, he looked up at the door, then plunged into the rain without looking back.
"..."
Haixing hesitated for a moment, but could only follow, holding his schoolbag on his head.
They jogged all the way, stepping on the water, and when they arrived at the bus stop a few hundred meters away, both of them were already soaked.
Naruse checked the time before leaving, and before waiting for a while, the last bus back stopped in front of the two of them.
After getting in the car, he walked to the nearest empty seat and sat down. Although the seat next to him was empty, Starfish walked inside again, not too far or too close to him.
It wasn't until the bus restarted that she had time to take out a tissue and wipe her wet face and hair.
Da da da da——
The heavy rain beat on the car windows and flowed down the river.
The trickles and drops all become cold and crystal clear in the messy car lights.
There were not many people in the car, and no one was talking. Only the humming sound of the engine could be heard.
A drop of cold rain dripped down the tip of his hair into his neck, and Starfish couldn't help but tremble.
After staring at Naruse's back in front of her for a while, she looked at the half pack of tissues in her hand, then stood up holding on to the seat.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
She walked over and he looked down at his phone to see who he was sending a message to.
Shangzi:Have you gotten in the car?
Naruse:Yeah.
Shangzi: It must be wet...
Naruse: Not bad.
Haixing was hesitant about how to speak. He suddenly looked up and found that it was her. His expression relaxed, and then he said: "If you always peek, I will still care."
"..."
Starfish instantly became embarrassed, but could not refute.
Although she didn't intend to, she did see the conversation between him and Shangzi, not to mention that she had deliberately peeked in the previous time.
Always suspicious, always on guard, they really can't treat each other normally.
She threw down the tissue, turned around and returned to her seat, then took her bag and moved back a few rows, far away from him.
Naruse thought she had thrown something away to vent her anger, but when she picked it up, she found it was a tissue, and then he understood the purpose of her visit.
What a headache...
He thought what he said just now was a joke, but he forgot that they were not even friends now.
He turned around and said, "Thank you."
The wet hair stuck to his face, and Haixing stared coldly at the car window without paying any attention to it.
Naruse didn't say much, turned back, took out a tissue and wiped his face, then stuffed the remaining half of the bag into his pocket.
After leaving the city, the bus sped along in the dark.
The sound of rain keeps falling.
Because he couldn't see clearly what was going on outside, Naruse greeted the driver early.
"Stop at the next stop, Qingliu——"
After a while, the bus pulled over, slowed down, and stopped.
Naruse stood up and shouted behind him: "Starfish."
She didn't answer, but she picked up her things and got out of the car.
It was still raining outside and it was very dark, so after getting off the bus, Naruse was immediately startled when he saw the dark figure hiding on the platform.
"Spring Sea."
It’s actually Shangzi.
She held an umbrella and said, "I'm here to pick you up."
"バカ!"
(ba ka)
Naruse clearly remembered that he had just refused her umbrella and asked her to stay at home.
Shangzi just smiled slightly and handed him the other umbrella he brought, "Go back."
Until she saw Haixing getting off the car after him.
"Starfish?... Didn't Starfish bring an umbrella either?"
Haixing looked at her, but because Naruse was beside him, he didn't want to speak. He nodded as a greeting, and then went back in the rain.
Naruse handed the umbrella to Naoko.
She chased after him, and as expected she didn't encounter much resistance, and Haixing quickly took over.
"Thank you."
"The starfish is completely soaked. Let's go home early and take a bath."
"Well..."
Starfish left under her umbrella. Naoko watched as Naruse came over, lowered his head and squeezed under her umbrella.