From the time the third grade students first poured in, the buzzing whispers continued, filling every corner of the venue.
Following the team and arriving at Class C, Naruse stopped and looked at the Tsugao students who were already sitting on the floor.
"Don't just stand there stupidly."
The girl in the other row behind shook her feet and kicked his indoor shoes. Naruse came to his senses and sat down too.
"It's so casual."
"It's a cultural festival, relax." Hikaru Takigawa said with a smile.
Shangzi also squeezed in from the front, hugged his knees, and sat next to him.
As an important stage during the cultural festival, the windows around the gymnasium have been covered to prevent light from entering.
The second-grade students are still entering the venue, and the first-grade students who have just arrived are also taking roll call, and the lights in the room are turned on brightly.
The stage at the front has always been empty. Occasionally, half of the body can be seen accidentally exposed on the right edge. It seems that there is behind the scenes.
Mori Jian stared at it for a while, then suddenly heard an overly unrestrained laughter coming from behind, and turned around again.
"Hahaha, is it true?"
"I'm not lying to you!"
The hot girls were sitting in a pile, and Haixing was indeed sitting with them, but on the edge, and there was obvious hesitation on his face, and it seemed that they were not getting along too smoothly.
This is natural, Morimi thought, otherwise her stalker-like behavior this week would be meaningless.
Before Haixing noticed, she turned around, then looked at Class C, which was a class away, and quickly found Naruse among them.
Morimi stared for a while, but before Naruse could react, Naoko beside him suddenly looked over.
"..."
Their eyes met, and she smiled distantly. Morimi nodded, and then looked away.
"What's wrong?" Naruse finally noticed.
Naoko hugged her knees, resting her head on her head and looked at him for a while, "Has Harumi done anything to make Kazuyo unhappy recently?"
"Morimi?" Naruse was startled, then forced a smile, "No."
"Really..."
Shangzi wanted to say something else, but the surroundings suddenly darkened.
In the dark venue, there was a chorus of exclamations, and then all eyes focused on the only stage that was still lit.
A petite sophomore girl appeared in the middle of the stage and raised the microphone.
"Everyone - did you feel the atmosphere of the cultural festival?"
"Oh——"
The people around him cheered inexplicably, and Naruse looked around and smiled inexplicably.
"Cultural Festival - it's begun!"
"Oh——"
The opening ceremony was so brief, but it greatly aroused the emotions of all the students in the audience.
The performance on the stage followed the opening ceremony. Almost in the blink of an eye, a whole set of rock band equipment was brought up. Several boys dressed in heavy metal style rushed onto the stage from both sides. Without saying any hello, they just went crazy.
It’s time to play.
The lead singer held the guitar and tore at it for a while, then suddenly raised his head and roared into the microphone:
"You, you, you, you - are you ready to die!"
Death metal genre?
Naruse glanced at the stage, but he really couldn't appreciate the style. He pulled Naoko and left the gymnasium with other students who were leaving one after another.
"I'll come over to see Chunhai again during lunch break."
"Hmm."
The two separated before the connecting corridor. Naoko went to the handicraft club, and Naruse continued upstairs and returned to Class C classroom.
There were two desks placed at the door, spliced together, and Hikari Takigawa was already sitting there.
"Hey, Chunhai."
"Light." He sat down next to her.
Taking advantage of their excellent image and popularity, they attract customers at the entrance of the classroom and do some statistics. This is the job they were asked to do during the cultural festival.
"I called many friends."
Takigawa Hikaru looked around, "Why haven't you come here yet?"
"The show just ended, so I should be here soon," Naruse said.
He looked at her and said, "If you can't sit still, it doesn't matter if I stay here alone."
"No problem." Hikaru Takigawa said with a smile, "I didn't help much during the preparations before, but now it's time to play a role."
Naruse said nothing, nodded, then turned around and looked inside the classroom.
Several "students" were standing outside the soundproof room, chatting together because they had nothing to do for the time being.
Although Class C’s project is novel, the level of interest is a matter of opinion. It’s hard to say how many people it will attract.
After all, what you want to read are books with healthy and sound content. Even if someone keeps something secret - which is inevitable - they cannot publicize it publicly.
"——Light, I'm coming."
Naruse turned around and looked at the girl in front of him who was probably Class C's first customer today. Although she was facing Hikaru Takigawa, her eyes were frequently looking this way.
"You're here, welcome~"
Hikari Takigawa looked very happy. Not only did she stand up to greet her, but he also took the initiative to pull her into the classroom.
"Ah, I'll leave the outside to Chunhai for now."
"Don't worry."
Naruse waved his hand and the two walked into the classroom.
"That boy outside..."
"Harumi? He is the childhood sweetheart who came back from Tokyo."
"Hey, that's it."
Naruse listened intently to what was going on inside, and after a while, he suddenly noticed the "guest" in front of him.
"..."
He looked at her, thought of what Shangzi had just said, and quickly lowered his gaze, "Welcome. You should make a noise when you are here."
Morimi ignored his complaint and glanced into the classroom, "It seems that I am the second guest of Class C."
"Hmm."
Naruse took out a piece of white paper from the desk and drew the first two strokes of the character "正" with a pen.
"What are the books that can be chosen?" Morimi asked.
He lowered his head and searched again, and took out another piece of paper, which contained a reading list that had been approved by the Cultural Festival Executive Committee.
She took a quick glance and said, "Even the Manyoshu has been moved out, so there are too few choices."
"It should be said that this is the only thing that can be left."
Naruse looked around and whispered: "There is also a secret book list. Go in and ask the girl on the far right."
Morimi showed a smile and asked, "Are there any prohibited works?"
"It depends on whether the unit that gives the prohibited evaluation is the relevant department or the cultural festival executive committee of our school."
She pushed up her glasses and walked into the classroom.
Naruse turned his head and glanced, and saw that Morimi had indeed gone to find the girl in charge of the "prohibited works".
He picked up the pen and made a mark behind the "Newly compiled Manyoshu" on the book list - those who choose prohibited works will be recorded on the head of the so-called "Newly compiled Manyoshu".
After a while, Takigawa Hikaru also returned outside.
""Snow Country"."
"OK."
Naruse recorded that two more girls came together and stopped at the door of Class C.
"Light!"
It seems that he is another friend of Hikaru Takigawa.
However, it seemed that only the first guest could enjoy her standing up to greet them. Hikari Takigawa sat behind the desk and greeted them with a smile.
"You are here, welcome. Select the book you want others to read to you here first, and then select the 'reader' after entering."
"I want Hikaru to read to us."
"Hmm~ I'm happy to. But there are two of you, who should I read to?"
Naruse sat next to him, acting as if it had nothing to do with him, but one of the girls suddenly looked over.
"Just let Guang's childhood sweetheart..."
"——Naruse."
Suddenly someone leaned out of the classroom.
"Morimi?" Naruse turned around, "What's wrong?"
She looked at him and said, "You guys seem to be able to choose your own readers, and I've chosen you."
"..."
Takigawa Hikaru looked on with a smile on his face, "Oh, it's a good choice. I also recommend Harumi."
"Hello..."
"Just leave it to me outside."
"Don't cause me such unnecessary trouble." Naruse said.
Morimi pushed up his glasses, and a cold light came from behind the lenses: "Have you caused me enough trouble?"
Naruse was speechless and had no choice but to get up and walk into the classroom.
When he came to the soundproof room at the back, the girl in charge of banned books sneakily slipped him a book and pushed him in quickly.
With the last bit of light before closing the door, he could clearly see the words on the cover.
""Norwegian Wood"... was this book also classified as a banned work by the executive committee?"
Another voice came from the darkness: "Probably because it contains direct descriptions of sex. However, as long as Murakami can win the Nobel Prize for Literature, even if this kind of description is the only thing left in it, no one will stop it.
”
It was pitch dark in the soundproof room. Naruse couldn't see anything and could only fumble around.
"Isn't the Tanizaki Award enough?"
"After all, the moon in foreign countries is rounder - the more people don't understand, the more they think so."
After fumbling for a long time, he finally turned on the desk lamp brought by a certain classmate, and the light instantly filled one side of the small space.
Through a twenty centimeter square hole, Morimi looked at him from the other side of the board.
"Didn't Naruse help build these soundproof rooms? Why are they still so clumsy?"
"When I helped build it, I had no intention of coming in personally."
Adjusting the light direction of the desk lamp, Naruse got used to the narrow environment a little, and then looked at Morimi.
"Which paragraph should I read? Each guest only has fifteen minutes at most, and almost two minutes have passed now."
"Whatever you want." She said in an indifferent tone.
He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Let's start from the beginning."
[I am thirty-seven years old. Now, I am sitting in the cabin of a Boeing 747. This huge aircraft is swooping down through the thick dark clouds, preparing to land at Hamburg Airport. It is cold in November.
Biting rain...]
"Are you sure people outside can't hear the sound inside?" Morimi suddenly interrupted his reading.
Naruse glanced at her, "Can Morimi hear the sounds outside?"
"Can't."
"It's the same outside."
She pricked up her ears and listened for a few more seconds, then moved closer to the entrance of the cave and said, "Come here."
"What?"
"Come closer."
Naruse moved a little closer.
"How long will Naruse plan to keep pretending to be stupid about the starfish?"
"..."
Morimi stared at him from the other side of the cave, "It's about time you take care of that ignorant sister by yourself."
Naruse was silent for a while, then forced out a smile: "I don't understand..."
"Really? Naruse has recently chosen to come to the bookstore when I'm not around. I thought you already knew it."
"..."
Seen through.
Her face turned a little colder, "Isn't it that Naruse was too embarrassed to face me, so he deliberately avoided it?"
"I..."
"——You'd better think carefully before answering. This will affect whether you can come to my house to buy books again in the future."
"..."
Naruse sighed deeply, and then could only lower his head: "I'm extremely sorry."
Through the glass lens, Sen looked at him expressionlessly.
"So..."
Naruse closed the book that he probably no longer needed, "Has Haixing given you any trouble lately?"
"It's a big trouble. Because I always have to keep an eye on her, my own life has been affected."
Morijian raised his eyes and stared at him coldly: "And the person who left this trouble to me is actually living a comfortable life - you are worried that Haixing will go astray and fool around with people of unknown origin, so go and discipline her yourself
Ah!"
As soon as she started complaining, it became endless. Why did Haixing stop her in the name of a teacher when she was about to leave school with the hot girls, and suffered the eyes of the hot girls? Or when she really couldn't stop her, he stopped her all the way.
She tracked her to the karaoke bar and hid in the private room next door. The staff of the karaoke bar almost called the police as a suspicious person; Haesung seemed to be staying away from her recently because of her frequent weird behaviors, and she spent too much on these things.
I no longer have enough time and energy to focus on studying...
"If... I mean if, Morimi just needs to play with Haixing like ordinary friends and let her stay away from those hot girls naturally, can she avoid these troubles..."
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Naruse couldn't continue because Morimi's gaze was so cold that it almost extinguished the only light in this darkness.
"What are you talking about? It's obvious that I can't even communicate with starfish normally."
Naruse lowered his humble head again: "I'm extremely sorry——"
Mori Jian stared at him fiercely for a while, then suddenly sighed.
"Just because I can't force myself like ordinary friends, I've almost reached my limit. Yes, I care about Haixing very much, and this is the fundamental reason why you will take advantage of me. But now,
I have to reconsider my own affairs - if Naruse is really worried about Haixing's interpersonal problems, then he should find a way on his own."
Naruse pursed his lips and spoke after more than half a minute: "Have those hot girls been hanging out with those college students recently?"
"No. At least they didn't show up when the starfish was around."
"That's right. I heard that they are students of Qingda University, so they probably won't come here casually."
Morimi looked at him without saying anything.
Naruse also fell into silence for a moment. The door behind him suddenly opened and light came in.
"The time has come."
"Okay."
Suddenly leaving the darkness, he squinted his eyes and got out of the soundproof room, as did Morimi who came out from the other side.
The two looked at each other. Just as Naruse was about to say something, she suddenly lowered her head.
"I've already told you, I don't want to hear about that kind of bed situation, why do you keep..."
After saying that, Morimi hurriedly ran out of Class C classroom with his head lowered.
"..."
The eyes from all around focused on the "banned books" in his hand, and Naruse was speechless for a moment.
This guy...
After returning "Norwegian Wood" to his classmates, Naruse went back outside and found that there were many people waiting at the door.
Takigawa Hikaru is maintaining order: "You have to line up well."
He went over and sat down.
"Why are there so many people here all at once? Are these people in line now all friends of Guang?"
"We basically know each other."
Takigawa Hikaru turned to him and smiled, "However, not everyone was summoned by me."
“It’s amazing to know so many people.”
Watching her greeting the men and women in the team, Naruse suddenly thought of something.
"Has Hikaru interacted with starfish recently?"
"Starfish?" Takigawa Hikaru thought for a moment, "Just the same as usual. What's wrong?"
"Just a little curious."
Looking at the people in line, Naruse leaned back and lowered his voice, "Don't you usually play with starfish a lot?"
The two grew up together and both have fun-loving personalities. They should be able to play together now, but this is not the case in reality.
"Starfish..."
Takigawa Hikaru also leaned back and leaned against his shoulder quite naturally, "I don't know why, Haixing doesn't seem to be willing to play with me... Well, no. I should say..."
She pondered for a long time.
"Stressed? You may feel this way occasionally."
"Is it because the light is too bright?"
"Hahaha, is that so? Anyway, after entering high school, Haixing met those hot girl friends, and he kept in touch with us even less."
"Do you usually hang out with those hot girls?"
When it comes to making friends, Hikaru Takigawa seems to accept everyone, especially girls.
"Occasionally," she said. "Sometimes we meet at places like karaoke. If we know each other, we get together."
Naruse turned her head, and she seemed to be staring at his earrings, then raised her eyes to look at him again, her eyes clear.
"Haixing doesn't seem to be having a good time with those hot girls recently, and she seems a bit lonely. If Guang is free, let's take her to play with her."
Takigawa Hikaru didn't think much, "Okay."
"Even if she doesn't seem happy, it's just to cover up her shyness, don't worry about it." Naruse said without hesitation.
"Hey~ Is Haixing like this?" Hikaru Takigawa smiled, "Okay, I understand. I will take Haixing with me."
Naruse breathed a sigh of relief.
When I returned my attention to the front of me, there seemed to be no change in the people in line.
"Only six soundproof rooms have been set up, but it still looks like there are too few."
What's more, each person has to experience it for fifteen minutes. If you give it all, you can only receive a maximum of twenty-four guests in an hour.
He looked to his left. There were more people waiting outside the tacky maid cafe of Class D.
"It's so lively."
"This is the Tsudaka Cultural Festival, which is famous in Tsuzen City."
Takigawa Hikaru also looked over there, "On Saturday, the third day, there will be a large number of students from other schools coming to participate, and that will be the busiest time."
As she spoke, she suddenly turned around and smiled.
"Let's go shopping together during the lunch break."