Even though he has become a high school student, Naruse finds that he still has insomnia for the next day’s trip, just like when he was in elementary school.
When I wake up in the morning, the memory of when I fell asleep last night has long gone, and along with it are the dreams that are gradually blurring.
Naruse couldn't keep his eyes closed, so he lay down for a while before sitting up and looking out the window.
The weather is sunny, suitable for a long trip.
"Spring Sea."
Shangzi's voice came from outside the door.
"I'm already awake."
"Okay."
She quickly went downstairs again.
As we enter October, the daylight hours are shortening, the temperature continues to drop, and the mornings are even a little cold.
Naruse felt that he was not sensitive to changes in temperature, but his body did not think so, and he slept better in the morning.
But now that he's awake, he won't stay in bed for too long.
I got up and went downstairs, went to the kitchen to say hello to Shangzi, and their eyes fell on each other's clothes at the same time.
"Why is Naoko wearing casual clothes?"
"Harunami is the one, why are you wearing a uniform?"
"Over in Tokyo, you have to wear a uniform even if you go hiking."
"That's not the case here." Shangzi, who was wearing casual clothes, said with a smile.
Naruse wanted to say something else, but he felt sleepy and yawned first.
"Ha...that's it, I'm too lazy to change it."
"Hmm."
After washing up, the two of them had breakfast together.
All the things she needed to bring for the hike were packed last night, but when she went out, Naoko asked Naruse to wait for her.
She returned to her home and when she came out again, she also changed into a uniform.
"After thinking about it, casual clothes are still too conspicuous."
"What can I say? Today's situation is just the opposite, right?"
"I'm worried that Harumi will be embarrassed if she wears a uniform alone."
"No way."
The two went to the bus stop to wait for the bus, and found that among the Tsuga students in casual clothes, Morimi was also wearing a uniform, no different from usual.
Starfish, who was standing not far away, was wearing a hoodie and jeans. He looked at the three people's "fancy clothes" and said nothing after all.
When we arrived at school, it turned out that most of the first-year students were in casual clothes. At least in Class C, only Naruse and Naoko were wearing uniforms.
Suzuki and Mi came to say hello to Naoko, looked at their clothes, and whispered:
"One-day limited couple costume?"
Shangzi just smiled.
Hikari Takigawa came a little later than usual, saying it was to comfort Tsuki Takigawa who suddenly remembered that her school trip had been postponed after getting up.
"Sister Yue, didn't you cry?"
"I cried."
At 8:30 in the morning, the first-year students of the Prefectural Tsu High School went downstairs to gather under the sad eyes of the third-year students, and got on the bus to Mutsu Bay.
At 8:40, the team set off on time.
The destination is the side of Mutsu Bay in Aomori City, to be precise, the Asamushi area in Aomori City, which is famous for its hot springs.
It takes more than an hour to get there from Tsumae.
The bus was traveling at high speed, and after staring out the window and Naoko's side face for a while, Naruse closed his eyes and rested, but Takigawa Hikari's voice came from above:
"Chunhai didn't sleep well last night?"
"Almost."
"Me too."
She lay on the back of the chair and smiled at Shangzi, who was looking at him, "I still dreamed about the past."
Naruse couldn't sleep either and looked up at her: "Did we go to Asamushi Aquarium together before?"
"Huh? No."
Hikaru Takigawa shook his head, "I was dreaming about myself. A certain girl who was on the basketball team and entered the national competition together is now in a high school very close to Asamushi Onsen."
"Ah, I played in the semi-finals again in my dream. I was exhausted, even though I still lost in the end.
Then, the girl asked me after the game why she stopped playing with everyone after she entered high school.
It’s very confusing, right? Everyone has obviously been assigned to different schools. I was just about to explain it to her when I suddenly woke up."
After finishing speaking, Takigawa Hikaru fell into silence, seeming to be recalling last night's dream again.
Naruse looked at her and asked, "Do you feel sorry for me?"
She thought for a while.
"This feeling no longer exists."
She put down her hands and put them on his left and right shoulders, "Besides this, when Chunhai and Shangzi arrive there later, do you have any plans?"
"After visiting the aquarium?"
"Yeah."
After visiting the aquarium, you have two hours of free time.
Naruse glanced at Naoko and she shook her head.
"Do you have any plans?"
"Let's go on a yacht together."
The two agreed.
"OK~ That's settled."
Squeezing Naruse's shoulder again, Hikaru Takigawa sat back in his seat and went to chat with others.
Naruse continued to rest with his eyes closed, listening to the hum of the engine and the low laughter in the car.
I don’t know how long it took, but my shoulders felt heavy.
He didn't open his eyes and leaned in slightly.
......
The first stop of the excursion for the first-year students of Prefectural Tsu High School is the Asamushi Aquarium, which is nestled between mountains and the sea.
After getting off the bus, students poured in one after another under the leadership of the teachers in each class.
Standing in front of a huge aquarium, Nakahara Snow wore a light pink gauze hat, sunglasses hanging from her collar, and was not wearing a uniform. Rather than being a teacher, she looked more like an unintentional tourist.
"Next is a free visit, but you can't leave the aquarium. There will also be a dolphin show at the dolphin pool at ten o'clock. If you miss it, you will have to wait another hour and a half."
"Yes——"
The students from Class C beside him suddenly dispersed. Naruse took the visitor's brochure and looked around.
This aquarium has two floors above ground and one underground floor. There are many places to visit.
In the aquarium on the front, silver-white squids swim freely. In the tank next to it are a few bunches of motionless farmed scallops, and directly opposite, there is an information wall showing how to cook scallops. It is said that scallops have more than two hundred eyes. I wonder what they will think when they see those pictures...
Seeing him staring at the scallops in a daze, Shangzi suggested: "Let's go to the undersea landscape tunnel first."
"Okay."
Bypassing the aquarium with a giant sea turtle lying on its belly, they followed the crowd and arrived at a landscape tunnel more than ten meters long.
Naruse raised his head, and through the completely transparent glass, countless fish were swimming back and forth in the blue water, leisurely and contentedly.
He stared at it for a while, and a huge ray suddenly swam from above, revealing a slightly ferocious face below.
"...I still feel shocked."
Naruse was completely attracted and only heard the second half of Naoko's words.
"Yes."
He didn't look back until the ray swam far away.
The two walked to the glass and looked at the swimming fish inside, observing their leisurely swimming and frightening, or suddenly refracting a large silver light, or quietly disappearing in the deep color.
"Is this what the bottom of the sea looks like?"
"The situation on the real seabed is probably more complicated...the water may not be so clean."
After staying in the underwater landscape tunnel for a long time, Naruse and Naoko continued to move forward.
"What a huge coral reef."
"There are a lot of jellyfish here..."
The two stopped in front of the aquarium they were interested in.
"Naruse——"
A boy came over and said, "Would you like to go to the snack corner? Tsuchikawa said that you can taste scallops grown by the aquarium itself there."
"...I am more interested in living scallops now."
It's still early now, and he doesn't have much appetite. He can go over there at noon.
"Okay."
Watching the boy walk away, Naruse looked at Naoko again. She was surrounded by several girls, and she seemed to be chatting happily.
He didn't bother, turned around and looked at one aquarium after another, continuing to wander around and visit.
Today is not the weekend, and there are not many people in the aquarium. Most of them are students from Tsugao. The first-grade classes have already dispersed and were strolling around. Naruse followed the crowd to the second floor and saw the starfish gathering together.
and Hikaru Takigawa.
"Touch area?"
After looking at the sign on the wall, Naruse walked over and saw the starfish lying on the edge of the pool, about to reach out and touch the sea creatures inside.
"Are we going to bump into each other..."
Her hand was testing downwards, but she didn't dare to take another look. She turned her head and stared closely at Takigawa Hikari who was leaning aside.
"Don't be afraid, it's just a sea cucumber."
"I can't stand that... don't rush me."
"We're almost there."
Starfish suddenly opened his eyes wide, took a deep breath, and poked his finger down, feeling a cold and slippery feeling on his fingertips.
"Ahhhh."
Takigawa Hikaru laughed.
"How is it? It feels amazing."
Starfish turned his head and looked into the water, then immediately looked away.
"Ah ah... so disgusting! So disgusting!"
She shouted that she was disgusting, but she never moved her hands away, and kept touching the sea cucumber back and forth.