Standing at the back of the classroom, Naruse touched the wood composite board next to him and felt the texture of the paint with his fingertips.
He painted these all one stroke at a time. Two weeks later, the paint has already solidified and dried, so there is no need to worry about getting it on your hands or clothes.
The work of painting the wooden boards has been over for a week. Since he had nothing to do, he stayed after school to help. Now he is responsible for another part.
Naruse caressed the wooden board. On the outside was a bright pattern painted by him and Itoo, while on the other side facing inside, sound-absorbing material, that is, sound-insulating cotton was to be installed.
Yesterday afternoon, the boys in Class C tried to assemble a soundproof room, but after actual experience, the soundproofing effect was not as good as expected.
Naruse also went in and tried it once, and thought it was okay.
He tapped his knuckles, and the wooden board was struck with a muffled sound. "You can hardly hear the sound outside, can you."
"It's not enough." Another boy next to him said, "Naruse has never attended the Tsudaka Cultural Festival. It was very lively that day, in other words, it was very noisy."
Naruse glanced at the first-year boys beside him. Although everyone was promoted to Tsugao this year, most of them had already experienced Jingao in middle school.
"It needs to be soundproofed to the point where even if you scream loudly inside, you won't be able to hear it outside!" Another boy stressed.
Naruse smiled, this is what he stayed to help with today - add a layer of thicker, more expensive, and better sound insulation cotton on top of the original one.
At present, the new soundproofing cotton has not been delivered yet, and there is no way to start the subsequent work. They can only wait.
The cultural festival at the end of September is getting closer and closer, with less than two weeks left, and preparations are in full swing. The boys are busy assembling the soundproof room, while the girls are contributing to decoration and publicity.
For example, cutting colorful paper, drawing promotional posters, etc.
Looking at the girls busy and chatting in front of the classroom, Naruse couldn't help but think of Naoko who was staying at the handicraft club at this time.
Two weeks ago, she took the initiative to reveal to him her plight in the handicraft club for the first time at the Hamono Cafe outside Tsugao.
It was also at that time that she expressed that she would solve the problem there herself.
Naruse didn't know if Naoko had noticed his secret investigation, but since it was her request, he never went to the handicraft club's office after that.
"It's so slow——"
Compared with the girls laughing and joking in the front row of the classroom, the boys have nothing to do and seem a little impatient.
"It's already been this time and it hasn't been delivered yet. Please give me another call to remind you."
"I contacted you just now and said that you have arrived at Shinji Town."
"Isn't it nearby? Can't we find the location of Jingao?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? The owner of that shop is a graduate of Jingao... Well, the call has come."
The person who contacted the store was Tanaka Koji, the executive committee member of Class C Cultural Festival. When he received the call, it turned out to be from there.
"Hey...are you here already? Can't come in? You shouldn't be...I understand."
After hanging up the phone, he greeted the boy: "The soundproofing cotton has been delivered, but the store's cars are not allowed to enter the school. Who will come with me to get it?"
Being idle is also idle, Naruse was the first to respond.
"Here comes another boy...Tsuchikawa, please come with us."
Together with Tanaka Koji, the three boys went downstairs together.
Leaving the main building, bypassing the circular flower bed in front of the teaching building, the three of them walked towards the school entrance.
The road was bustling with people. Although it was close to the cultural festival, there were also many students leaving directly after school.
Naruse unconsciously looked for a familiar figure among them, and Tanaka Koji suddenly spoke:
"Oops... three people may not be able to hold such a big volume."
Following his line of sight, Naruse also saw two middle-aged men standing at the school gate.
One of them was holding a large roll of black soundproofing cotton, which looked much taller than the small truck next to him.
As for the high-grade soundproofing cotton that drained almost all of Class C's cultural festival budget, they ordered a total of six rolls.
"No."
Another boy, Taiga Tsuchikawa, complained, "I don't want to drag that thing twice over such a long distance."
"It's not easy to carry, but the weight shouldn't be too heavy. It shouldn't be a problem for each person to carry two rolls downstairs." Naruse looked over and said, "I'll go up first later, and then ask a few people to come down, one at a time.
The move can be completed."
Tanaka Koji agreed, and Tsuchikawa Taiga didn't say anything.
The people in the store also noticed the three boys walking towards them. They recognized the ones who came to place orders and raised their hands to wave.
"Naruse is really reliable."
On the way over, Tanaka Koji looked at Naruse again, "And I feel like Naruse is getting along better with him recently than when he first started school."
"That's right."
Tsuchikawa Dahe nodded, especially agreeing with the last half of his sentence.
"How should I put it? Although Naruse didn't have any airs when school started, he always felt a little superior... just a little bit."
"Is that so?"
Naruse smiled and said, "I didn't even notice it myself."
This is a lie.
But it’s not completely false.
Before Kazuyo Morimi pointed it out, he really didn't realize that his occasional unconscious behavior would make him appear a little superior...or, in other words, a little proud.
These are her original words.
Naruse still remembered that one day two weeks ago, he, Naoko and Morimi went to the supermarket to do shopping together, and casually mentioned what she was hesitant to say that morning.
Morimi did not deny this, "Do you care about it?"
"I don't really care about it, just about what I'm going to have for dinner today."
"I feel the same way, so I have forgotten what I wanted to say this morning."
"..."
But after walking around in front of the shelves, she still told him.
"That's it."
"I hope you can explain it more clearly."
"I obviously care, but I can't let go of it, so I can only pretend not to care, because I am a 'city dweller' who has been to big cities and has wider knowledge - this is just my irresponsible guess about the cause. If it is wrong
, just pretend you didn’t hear it. Naruse’s actual performance gives people the feeling that you seem a little proud of yourself.”
"...Just say the last sentence."
"But don't worry, Naruse's 'symptoms' are not very obvious, and the frequency of triggers is not high. It can even be understood that I am too sensitive, because most high school students are like this, regardless of gender." p>
Although he did not directly accept her somewhat rude views in front of Mori at the time, after that, Naruse often looked at himself consciously or unconsciously;
In this case, although in his opinion, he just said less casual emotions or said a few more useless nonsense, in the eyes of others, "Naruse-san has become
We get along better"...
Back to the present.
The three of them came outside the gate of Tsu High School. Tanaka Koji met with the people in the store, while Naruse and Tsuchikawa Taiga each carried a roll of soundproofing cotton and tested the weight.
"It's okay. It's not that heavy. It's almost the same as last time." Tuchuan said.
Naruse picked up another roll of soundproofing cotton, "I feel like the three of us can move it back."
"Well, although it's not heavy, it's not easy to balance..."
After Tanaka finished handing over, the three of them carried six rolls of sound insulation cotton and staggered back to Class C without stopping.
"Stop sitting still and come over to help. Cut out a part first and try the effect."
"If it doesn't work, can I still return it? Having said that, shouldn't I buy a roll first to try the effect before making a decision?"
"You know what the heck, you can get a discount if you buy six volumes."
"That's because as soon as you went to the store, you shouted that you wanted to buy six rolls of sound insulation cotton!"
The boys in Class C are all a bit talkative, and even when they are busy, their mouths will not be idle. Naruse is holding a cutting knife and has a headache from the noise.
The same goes for the boy who draws lines on the soundproofing cotton with a marker.
"Is the line drawn slanted?"
"Ah...hey, you guys are so noisy!"
The fine soundproof cotton cannot stop the sharp blade. You can feel a little resistance when cutting, but at the same time it is very smooth, giving people an inexplicable pleasure.
After cutting out seven or eight pieces of soundproofing cotton in one go, Naruse held a knife, still feeling a little unfinished.
Paste the cut small pieces of sound-insulating cotton inside the wooden board that has been installed with a layer of sound-insulating cotton. After all sides are pasted, Naruse feels that the internal space is a little narrower.
"I'll go in and try."
Tanaka Koji got into the soundproof room and asked another boy to close the door on the other side, "You can say whatever you want, the louder the better."
After that, he closed the door tightly.
Anticipating that the boys were about to start making noise, Naruse quickly moved away and sat on Naoko's seat next to him.
"Hey——"
"Hey - can you hear me -"
"Tian·zhong·da·bai·chi——"
The girls in the front row of the classroom turned around and frowned at the noise.
After shouting for a while, the boys were a little suspicious.
"Really can't hear anything?"
"You can't be just pretending."
"It's possible. It would be embarrassing to buy such expensive soundproofing cotton but it still doesn't work."
"Speaking of which, Tanaka insists on buying sound insulation cotton at this price. Isn't it because he got a rebate from the store?"
"Get kickbacks! Get kickbacks——"
"Real or false?"
"Shh... of course I'm joking, just trying to see if he really can't hear me."
After a while, Tanaka came out of the soundproof room with a happy face.
"I really can't hear anything. Come in and give it a try!"
It seems to work really well.
Naruse also went in to give it a try. The soundproof room was so quiet that he suspected that everyone outside had gone home as soon as he entered.
"Okay, just use this. Install the rest as well."
The next morning.
After explaining some things, when Nakahara Yuki left, she called Tanaka Koji out alone.
"Um, Tanaka-san, someone reported that you took a lot of kickbacks when purchasing items for the cultural festival..."
"Ah?"
"Many girls have heard it, and they can all testify..."