After the second free operation ended, the first-year Tsugao classes gathered again at a large parking lot near Asamushi Onsen Station.
After finding the Class C bus, Naruse and Naoko got on the bus and sat there for a while before other students came over to gather.
When it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon, there was a sudden noise outside.
Naoko took a look and saw that it was Hikari Takigawa coming over surrounded by a group of girls.
"What's wrong?" Naruse beside him also poked his head.
"It's light."
Surrounded by warblers and swallows, Hikaru Takigawa stood at the car door before getting in. It took several minutes just to say goodbye to the girls in other classes.
"Okay, let's talk about it later."
Finally getting in the car, she walked towards the back and quickly noticed the two people looking at her.
"Did Haruka and Shoko go to the hot springs?"
"Yeah."
"It's very nice." Hikari Takigawa sat down in the back seat, "It's really comfortable to soak in a hot spring after hiking."
Naruse turned around and looked at her short hair that was still a little moist, "Are you with those girls just now?"
"That's right. We met at Asanyama Hot Spring and we all took a bath together. Oh my, there are girls from Tsugao in the hot spring pool."
"After all, it is the off-season for tourism, so there are not many tourists."
Takigawa Hikaru leaned forward and lay on the back of Naoko's seat, looking at the two of them, "Speaking of traveling, where should we go to play in the future?"
Naruse glanced at her and said, "Are you confused? I have to go back to school later."
"I mean when I have free time, such as winter vacation."
"It's too early to think about it now."
"So you can prepare early." She put down her arms and gently hugged Shangzi on the seat, "What do Shangzi think?"
Shangzi held her hand and tilted his head slightly, "You just said that because you want to go somewhere."
"Oops."
Takigawa Hikaru smiled, "Because I was soaking in a hot spring just now, I thought it would be great if I could also soak in a hot spring in winter. I also wanted to take Yue to relax, and then Reiko recommended a hot spring in Yamagata.
."
Reiko was probably one of the girls who went to the hot spring with her just now. Naruse had never heard of the name and didn't recognize it, "Over there in Yamagata? What hot spring?"
She thought for a while, "It seems to be called Baiyin Hot Spring."
Naruse frowned, "Shirogane...Ginzan Hot Spring?"
"Ah...yes! That's the name. Chunhai also knows it, is it very famous?"
"Of course it's famous. There used to be a famous TV series "Oshin" that was filmed there." He paused, "My mother also filmed commercials at Notoya there."
"That's it..."
Takigawa Hikari's eyes widened a little, "So, is Harumi going?"
Should you go to a hot spring during the winter vacation...
Naruse imagined it for a while and had some expectations.
“Winter is the peak tourist season there, so it’s not easy to book rooms.”
"Hmm...is it still too late to make an appointment?"
"I don't know, let's check it out on the website." Naruse said, but found that Takigawa Hikaru was looking at him unmoved.
"...Okay."
He took out his mobile phone and checked it for her.
"Yinshan Hot Spring...is available."
There are many hotels in Ginzan Hot Spring, and there have been a large number of reservations since November.
"Should we go before the new year or after the new year?"
"Well... years ago."
Takigawa Hikaru lay forward again, lowered his head, and unconsciously sniffed the fragrance of Naoko's hair.
Naruse glanced at her, "You actually left your family to go to the hot springs at such a busy time."
"That's too much." She laughed, "Didn't I bring Yue with me?"
"You decide the specific date yourself." Naruse handed her the phone.
Takigawa Hikaru took the phone and looked through it.
"Wow, the accommodation fee is so expensive!"
“It’s peak season after all.”
"It's too expensive. I still want to live there for a week."
"You really don't want to help prepare for the New Year."
She browsed for a while, then suddenly raised her gaze, "Both Chunhai and Shangzi are going there, right?"
Naruse looked at Naoko, and she was also looking at him.
"Then go."
"Hmm."
"OK~" Takigawa Hikaru smiled, and then thought about it, "Let's call Kazuyo and Haixing too."
Naruse pursed his lower lip.
"They may not agree."
After all, one is busy studying, while the other doesn't want to see him.
"I'll go ask."
She was about to get out of the car with her mobile phone, but was stopped by the teacher standing at the door.
"Where are Takigawa-san going? We are getting ready to go back."
"I'll go to Class E and be back soon..."
"No."
Takigawa Hikaru raised her hands to the side, and Nakahara Xue De raised his head to look at her, "Go back and sit down, the teacher is going to start calling the roll."
"Xiao Xue~"
"No·ok~"
Takigawa Hikaru had no choice but to return to his seat.
"Send a message and ask."
She lowered her head and edited the message. On the other side, Zhongyuan Xue walked back and forth in the car, glanced around and started to call names.
Before I even clicked on Hikaru Takigawa, Morimi and Haixing had already sent replies respectively.
"Kazuha said he didn't have time, but Haixing agreed."
Naruse was a little surprised and looked back at her, "Did you tell her that I would go too?"
"Huh? I didn't say that."
"Then let's talk now."
Takigawa lowered his head to read the news, and when he raised his head again, he also frowned.
"The starfish can't say anything anymore."
"Hehehe..." Naruse laughed dryly.
Hikaru Takigawa leaned forward again, "Can Harumi and Haixing still not make up? They even played together today."
"So it's her problem. Forget it if Haixing doesn't go, just leave her alone."
Shangzi glanced at him.
"Takigawa."
"At..."
As Nakahara Yuki called the roll, she walked over and pushed Takigawa Hikaru back to her seat.
A few minutes later, she returned the phone to Naruse.
"Has the reservation been made?"
"No. There are a lot of things to fill in. Let's go back and do it again."
After a while, the buzzing engine sounded and the bus shuddered slightly.
Zhongyuan Xue stood up for the last time:
"It's about to leave, everyone, sit down in your seats——"
As the bus of class B next to it pulled out of the parking space, the bus of class C quickly followed and embarked on the way back from the hike.
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The route back is slightly different from the one we came here, but the journey is still long.
Perhaps because he got enough rest while soaking in the hot spring, Naruse didn't feel tired at this time, while other students on the bus stopped moving within ten minutes after the bus started.
Shangzi beside him also yawned more and more frequently.
When the scenery outside the car window gradually changed to the unchanging woods, she finally gave up her resistance to sleep.
The bus shook and she leaned on it.
Naruse turned to look at her, then looked out the window.
woods.
Retreating woods.
Driving on this section of the road, only the woods that keep receding are left on both sides of the county road.
The same is true for the front of the field of vision.
He was awake alone, his eyes were nowhere to be found, and then he returned to his side and stayed there for a long time.
The girl on the shoulder has her eyes closed, her face is calm, her chest rises and falls slightly, and her breathing is low and inaudible.
The skin is delicate and tender, the cheeks are so plump that people can't help but want to reach out and pinch them, and the thin lips are light red and moist, breathing slightly in sleep.
She is a neighbor's child and the one who grew up with him.
At the same time, he is also a member of the opposite sex who is outstanding in all aspects.
Naruse lowered his head and moved closer.
Her long black hair was draped casually over her shoulders, exuding a faint fragrance. Her body temperature was constantly coming from her shoulders and arms as they touched each other.
She is so close.
Everything about her is within reach.
Naruse slowly raised his hand, and stopped when his fingertips were about to touch her cheek.
"..."
Can we just start like this?
He believed in Shangzi and believed in himself, but the various "beginnings" he had witnessed were all the first steps towards the end.
And the person who was running tiredly between the beginning and the end was still his perfect artist mother.
How long can he maintain such a fragile relationship like love now?
Once you start, you can't regret it.
As long as you take one step towards the transformation of your relationship, you will never go back.
What’s the point of a beginning that is bound to end?
After all, what is the meaning of life?
So busy, yet so short, it seems like everything is in vain...
With his chest feeling heavy, Naruse took a deep breath and pulled his thoughts back to stop them from sinking endlessly into the depths of darkness.
"...thinking about such useless things again."
Looking at Naoko who was still sleeping, Naruse put down his hand.
As long as this is the case...
Just keep it this way.
She feels the same way.
The seemingly invisible distance between each other is a tacit understanding that they have never spoken.
Without a beginning, there will be no end.
......
An hour later, several buses carrying students from each class of first grade drove into Prefectural Jingao and stopped in front of the main building.
After being awakened, Hikaru Takigawa walked over to Class E again as soon as she got off the car. Before Naruse went upstairs, he saw her stopping Morimi and Haisei.
"You haven't given up yet."
Back in the classroom, Nakahara Xue assigned today's excursion as homework, briefly explained a few words about the three-way interview starting tomorrow, and announced that school was over.
Because she was a little tired and there was nothing going on in the club, Naruse Monkko did not go to the club room.
"Go home."
"Yeah."
"My neck hurts a little from sleeping..."
"You fell asleep when you got in the car."
"It's not that fast..."
I went to the supermarket to buy ingredients, and Naruse carried them. When I got home, Naoko was flipping through her keys in her bag, and the door to her house next door suddenly opened.