The rain beat on the umbrella surface in the darkness without stopping.
"Closed."
Under another umbrella, Hikaru Takigawa looked back at Naruse, "It seems that this place is not open to the public at night."
"It seems so." He looked at the stone tablet inscribed with the words "六道之tsuji" at the entrance of Liudou Zhenhuang Temple, "The intersection of the underworld and the human world also ends at the same time."
"Haha."
Takigawa Hikari turned the umbrella in his hand and came back from the closed temple door, "Then let's go and have a look in front."
"Yeah."
The two left Liudao Zhenhuang Temple and continued to wander forward.
After dinner and cleaning up, Haixing and Takikawa Yue wanted to take a bath. Takikawa Hikari was still very restless and took Naruse out for a walk.
The two of them had just come out a while ago.
The rain kept beating, flowing down from the eaves on both sides, weaving into a crystal bead curtain.
The lights from the roadside shops were shattered to pieces, and occasionally there was the sound of rushing water behind them.
"The car is coming."
Naruse stood on the side of the road and pulled Takigawa Hikaru again.
After the car drove by, the two of them continued walking forward.
"The houses in Kyoto are so densely packed, it feels like they are crowded together."
"After staying in the countryside for a long time, I always feel this way when I go to the city."
"Really?"
"Tokyo is also very crowded."
After walking forward for a while, the road extended to a small branch to the right.
"Barbershop."
The unique red, white and blue lamppost in front of the barber shop is spinning, which is very conspicuous in the alley without much light.
"Let's go this way." Hikaru Takigawa said and walked in.
"Do you know the road?" Naruse quickly followed.
"I don't know you. But with Chunhai here, you won't get lost."
"I don't even have this kind of confidence myself."
She raised her umbrella and turned back, smiling at him.
When passing by the barber shop, the two of them looked inside and saw a barber cutting a customer's hair.
Takigawa Hikaru didn't stop and continued walking forward, "I feel like my hair is a little long. I'll have to fix it a little when I get back."
Naruse followed her and said, "This length is not bad."
"It blocks my eyes a little bit..." Hikaru Takigawa said, lowering his head, "Look."
He didn't see anything, "Yeah."
"It needs to be cut."
"Yeah."
Continuing along the alley, the two quickly walked to another road. Naruse looked around and asked, "Do you want to go shopping again?"
"That's almost it." Hikari Takigawa turned his umbrella, "Let's go back."
So he walked to the right.
After walking for a while, Naruse suddenly turned around and led her into another alley.
"I just said that if Harumi is here, you will definitely not get lost." After walking for a while and stopping in front of the guest house, Takigawa Hikari said.
Naruse closed the umbrella and said, "Let's go in."
"I'm back~"
She called out to the inside, and Takigawa Yue came down from the stairs to greet her, while Haixing was taking a bath.
Naruse went to the living room and sat down. Hikaru Takigawa followed his sister upstairs and came down after a while.
"Yue is ready to sleep."
"So early."
"I'm very tired today."
"Also...when I came back, Sister Yue already looked like she was going to become a Buddha."
"Haha."
The living room of the B&B was transformed into a bedroom, but many things were retained, such as the TV.
Turning on the TV, Hikaru Takigawa pressed the remote control a few times and handed it to Naruse.
"There's nothing to see."
"Just listen to the sound." He leaned against the sliding glass door, listening to the pattering of autumn rain in the yard, and had no interest in TV programs.
"Chunhai, do you want to sleep here tonight?"
"Of course." There are two beds in the room upstairs, but one of them already belongs to Takawa Yue, and he has no intention of sleeping in the other bed.
Takigawa Hikaru patted the tatami, "Then I'll sleep here too."
"Whatever you want."
After a while, Haixing finished taking a bath and came out wearing a bathrobe.
"How do you feel?" Hikaru Takigawa asked.
"Eh...it's okay. The bathtub isn't too big, but it's quite comfortable to soak in."
"Chunhai, let's take a shower first. I want to sleep after taking a bath."
"Yeah."
Naruse then went to take a shower.
He had taken a look at the bathroom when he came here in the morning, and found it to be quite satisfactory in every aspect, with nothing special about it.
After washing his body, he sat in the bathtub and enjoyed the hot water.
There is only one lattice window in the bathroom, right next to the bathtub, and outside is an enclosed courtyard.
In the dark rainy night, you can't see anything.
Naruse closed his eyes and leaned against the bathtub until Hikaru Takigawa came to the door.
"Chunhai, I received the news."
"It's Shangzi, right?"
"Yeah, but I didn't click it."
"I understand, let it go."
He was almost finished soaking, so he got up and got out of the bathtub, put on the bathrobe provided by the B&B, and returned to the living room.
"..."
Looking at the three quilts on the floor, Naruse looked at Haixing and Takikawa Hikari, "Are you ready to sleep?"
"I went to bed after taking a shower - if you can't fall asleep, you can lie down first."
He didn't say much, picked up his phone and looked at it. Shangzi sent him a photo that was half a puppet and half her.
Shangzi: Finished another one.
He replied to the message, and Hikari Takigawa got up to take a shower.
"Where do you want to sleep?" Haixing asked suddenly.
Naruse looked at it and pointed to the outermost quilt.
"Oh."
Starfish got into the quilt in the middle, and when she saw him looking at her, her face suddenly turned red, and she sat up again, with her blond hair falling on her shoulders.
Naruse looked at the phone again, "You go to bed first and don't worry about me."
"...I'm not sleepy yet."
The TV was still on, and Naruse sat on his quilt, his attention wandering from time to time to the two screens and the starfish.
At a certain moment, she suddenly asked:
"Are you still going out tonight?"
Naruse was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Are you hungry?"
"No!" Haixing quickly denied, "Just...asking."
He glanced at the yard outside.
"If you feel hungry before going to bed, you can go out."
Haixing nodded slightly and said nothing, as if it was just mentioned casually and she had no intention of going out.
The two of them were speechless. She lowered her head and fiddled with her phone, while Naruse looked at her twice.
From last night when they went to eat skewers together, to now sitting together in yukata, and then sleeping in the same room, the recovery of their relationship can be described as rapid.
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Of course he would not refuse such a change, but he could not easily accept it with peace of mind.
Does she really not care about the past?
While deep in thought, Naruse unconsciously touched his earrings.
When he came back to his senses, he found that the starfish was staring at him, or rather at his earrings.
"...earrings."
"Earrings?"
Haixing looked away and looked over again, "Do you... know how to get earrings?"
Naruse squeezed it for the last time, let go, and smiled again, "Is it weird?"
"No." Haixing immediately shook his head and hesitated, "...it's a bit strange."
The strange thing is not that he already had earrings, but that he chose to have earrings. Naruse understood what she meant.
"When I was in Tokyo, I couldn't make friends for a while, so I made another group of 'friends'."
Naruse watched TV and said, "In order to fit in with others, I also got earrings."
Starfish looked at him blankly.
Did he experience the same thing in Tokyo?
"...When you first entered high school?"
Naruse looked over and said, "No, it was when I was in middle school. Before I entered high school, I had completely said goodbye to those people."
"..."
Still not quite the same.
She lowered her head, and Naruse looked at her ears hidden among her blond hair, "Did those hot girls take you to get those starfish earrings?"
Starfish raised his head and responded.
"...Is it weird?"
He smiled and said, "No."
Earrings, manicure, etc. are not as eye-catching as her blond hair.
After looking at it for a long time, he even felt that it was very suitable, although the literary girl who stayed in Aomori had a completely different view.
——Maybe it’s because he and Haixing haven’t seen each other for four years, and the blank space in between is enough to digest such a change, while Morimi watched Haixing suddenly dye his black hair into gold.
"..."
He looked at her, and she looked at him. It had been many years since the two of them had stared at each other's faces directly and for a long time.
The sound of rain in the yard and the sound coming from the TV were all blocked out by an invisible barrier.
In the silence, Haixing heard his own heartbeat.
Thump, thump——
"...I want to see your earrings."
Naruse was slightly surprised, but did not refuse. He tilted his head and pointed one ear towards her.
The starfish got out of the bed and came closer on its knees.
The black earrings are hidden under the short hair that is still a little wet. It is impossible to tell what material they are made of, and they seem to be embedded in his earlobes.
Her gentle touch attracted his side eyes, and their eyes connected.