The alarm clock on the bedside rang on time, and Shangzi twisted his body in the bed and frowned.
Didi didi——
With her face buried in the pillow, she raised her hand to fumble, and a ball of fluffy stuff fell down.
"Well..."
Shangzi finally opened his eyes.
Picking up the stuffed animal that rolled down to her chest, she reached out and turned off the alarm clock, then retreated back into bed.
After squinting in a daze for a while, Shangzi put the puppet aside and sat up.
After getting up, changing out of her pajamas and putting on her uniform, she walked to the window and looked outside.
A world of ice and snow, a white world.
The sky is gray and snowflakes are still falling, just like it has been for more than a month.
The snow is deep, and the path that was cleared last night leading to the neighbor's house is covered again.
By December, Aomori Tsumae and even the entire Tohoku region have become a land of snow.
Drop——
Putting on a coat again, Shangzi turned off the air conditioner, walked out of the room, and went downstairs to wash up.
A few minutes later, she walked out of the house and walked through the snow on the ground to Naruse's house.
"It's so cold..."
After all, it was still too cold outside. Shang Zi shook his head and closed the door as soon as he entered.
After all the air-conditioning around her body dissipated, she came to the second floor and gently opened the bedroom door.
The warm air rushed towards her face, and she walked to the bed. Naruse was curled up in the bed, still asleep.
After looking at him for a while, Shangzi quietly exited the room and returned downstairs.
"Today...by the way, I bought that one the day before yesterday."
Opening the refrigerator, she began to prepare today's breakfast.
It took another twenty minutes or so before Naruse got up.
"Good morning, Chunhai."
"Good morning..." He seemed to have come specially to yawn for her, then turned around and went to wash up.
When Shangzi brought breakfast to the table, he found that he was standing by the window, looking at the falling snowflakes outside.
"It's so quiet."
"Haruhai always says this."
"Hmm...but it's so quiet."
"Let's have breakfast first."
Sitting at the dining table, Naruse looked at today's breakfast. In addition to the usual items, there was also a fried spring roll.
"I almost forgot, I bought spring roll wrappers when I went to the supermarket the day before yesterday."
"Hmm."
He picked up a piece, took a bite, looked down and asked, "What's the filling inside?"
Shangzi put down the soup bowl and licked his lower lip, "I added some of the leftover meat and vegetables from last night."
"Really?" Naruse looked at it again, "mixed together, the taste is surprisingly good."
She smiled and said, "That's good."
After breakfast, it was almost time, and the two of them went out together.
"It's so cold——"
Naruse stomped on the snow under his feet, which was so thick that it made a muffled sound.
Shangzi came over and pulled his scarf tighter.
"Let's go."
The snow wasn't very heavy today, but at Shangzi's request, he still held up an umbrella.
Since the beginning of winter, the snow has stopped falling, and it has been painted over and over again, completely turning this place into a white world.
Step by step, every time I set foot, there was a crunching sound. When I came to the county road, the road was also covered with snow, but it was not as deep.
"Be careful..."
The two of them supported each other and walked through the snow to the bus stop, which was crowded with people.
"Good morning."
Morimi greeted the two of them and huddled into his scarf.
"Good morning, Kazuyo."
Shangzi responded with a smile, then looked at the starfish next to him, "Good morning, starfish."
"Good morning..."
His eyes circled around her and Naruse, and Haixing quickly looked back.
Morimi leaned over and touched Naruse with his arm, "Have you finished the book you borrowed yesterday?"
"How can it be so fast? I only read half of it."
The wind kept blowing, and Naruse just glanced at her, so cold that he didn't want to move his head, because if he moved his neck, the wind would leak.
"I had a homework yesterday."
Thinking that she had also highly recommended that book when borrowing books from the library yesterday, he added, "I should be able to finish it today."
"How do you feel?"
"Do you feel...it's pretty average at the moment, maybe I haven't seen the exciting parts yet."
Mori Jian looked at him with an unkind look.
"The most exciting part of that book is the game between several characters in the first half. You don't have to read on. The person who stole the will is Tanimoto, and Akiba's psychological monologue is used to confuse readers."
"...Hello."
They have different aesthetics and preferences, and she is often quite aggressive when denied by him.
Naoko smiled at the side, held Naruse's arm again, and moved closer.
"It's so cold..."
After the onset of winter, several people who originally chose to take the early bus all changed to the later bus just to get more sleep in the morning, and Morimi was no exception.
Besides her, two other people have also been commuting by bus recently.
"Good morning——"
Hikari Takigawa waved over and held her sister with the other hand.
Although she is very confident in her skills, riding a motorcycle in the snow is really dangerous, not to mention that the snow on the road rarely melts and there is no time to clean it.
As early as a month ago, the Takigawa sisters switched to commuting by bus.
Takikawa's house was closer to the bus stop, so the two of them went out at the same time. After a while, the bus came.
The crowd surged forward, and Naruse was tall and powerful, so he could only push Naoko into the seat and stand next to her.
There are too many people going out at this time.
"Hold me." Morimi was also standing. Seeing that Haixing had no handrails to hold on to, he pulled her towards him.
"Okay..."
Starfish squeezed over and grabbed her arm.
"Stand firm."
"Yeah."
"You too." Morimi turned around and said.
"..."
Naruse, who was leaning against her, just tilted his head.
The bus was swaying all the way, and the two of them were holding on to the armrests, back to back. He only felt that she was getting stronger and stronger as she came closer.
"Are you okay?" In front of him, Hikaru Takigawa protected his sister who also had no seat.
Takigawa Yue shook her head and said it didn't matter.
"Don't Mr. Takigawa drive to work every day? Why don't you take his car to school?" Naruse asked.
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"Because dad doesn't actually go to work that early."
Takigawa Hikaru smiled at him, "When it's so cold, he always gets up early to take me and Yue to school. It feels a bit excessive - but it doesn't matter at night. Now Yue is picked up by her father after attending school.
Coming back."
Naruse nodded and looked out the window at the receding scenery.
White. White. Still white.
The snow covered the fields and mountains, turning everything white. The telephone poles along the county road were smeared to pieces and became thin, becoming the only embellishment to prevent people from getting lost.
"Winter is still very long."
......
When we arrived at Jingao, a path had been cleared in front of the school, with snow piled on both sides.
"...I also helped yesterday by loading the snow into the cart and pushing it to... Hey, does the river next to the cafe have a name?"
Hikaru Takigawa looked at Naruse.
He shook his head, "It's probably a tributary of the Iwaki River. I don't know the specific name."
"Okay. In short, we just push the snow over there and dump it, then come back and shovel the snow, and then send it over. I heard that the snow in Aomori City is dumped into the sea?"
"Well, use a truck to pull it to the port and dump it one by one."
"Ah, I kind of want to see it."
Entering the main building, Naruse changed his shoes, waited for Naoko and Takikawa Hikaru, and looked around again.
It’s freezing cold, so more and more people come to school at this time.
Morimi and Haixing changed their shoes and were waiting for them. One of them just looked this way, and the other deliberately didn't look this way.
"...Then, I will come back first."
Takigawa Hikaru was chatting with Naoko, and after changing her shoes, she raised her eyes and suddenly said hello in Naruse's direction.
"Ming Dynasty——"
Naruse looked at her and then looked back. There was a short-haired woman in sportswear standing in front of the stairs behind him. He had an impression that she seemed to be a consultant for the women's basketball team.
"Guang." After hearing the greeting, she also came over, "You came just in time, I have something to ask you."
"What happened?"
"Come to the staff room and talk."
"oK~"
She responded and waved to her waiting companions, "You go up first."
After they separated in front of the classroom, Naruse called Morimi to stop again and gave her the book that she had completely spoiled. Read the book
"You have to go on duty in the library today and return it for me."
Morimi took the book and pushed up his glasses, "Aren't you going to borrow other books?"
"I'll borrow it when you're not here."
"..."
"Just kidding." Naruse smiled, "I have other things to do this afternoon."
Glancing at Naoko next to him, Morimi didn't ask any questions and turned around to go to Class E.
"Hasn't Harumi not finished reading yet?" Naoko said.
"The most important parts have been spoiled by her, so there is no need to read any more." Naruse glanced at Morimi's back and lowered his voice, "And the other parts are pretty average."
Shangzi smiled.
After a while, Hikaru Takigawa, who was dragged away by the counselor, also came to the classroom.
"The Ming Dynasty consultant said that because it has been snowing recently, the children in several nearby nurseries can't go outside to play sports, and they need to develop other interests. So the nearby community invited our Jingao women's basketball team to play for the children.
A basketball lesson."
"Really?" Naruse knew that she would definitely agree to such a thing, "When?"
"On Saturday morning, it's at Jingao Gymnasium. Harukai and Shoko, do you want to come and have a look?"
"Okay."
Naruse agreed quickly and without hesitation, but Takigawa Hikaru felt a little uncomfortable.
"Is it Saturday?"
"Well. There was a concert at the Civic Hall that afternoon, and Shangzi and I were going out."
"Concert?" Takigawa Hikaru looked at them, "Does Harukai Monk still have such interest?"
"It's a performance by the Jingao Wind Band. Every year, they jointly hold a concert with the Nangao Wind Band." Shangzi said, "I have a friend in the wind band who invited me to participate."
"Ah...I remembered it. I heard a few friends talk about this."
Hikari Takigawa nodded, "After basketball class, I'll go with you."
"Okay."
After a while, Zhongyuan Xue walked into the classroom to hold the morning class meeting.
Classes come and go, and the cycle alternates. The snow outside the window also falls and stops, the sky is always gray, and the daytime passes unconsciously.
After school in the afternoon, Naruse and Naoko went to the restoration department's office and sat there for a while.
"So cold! So cold! So cold——"
Ogawa Rina stomped to the club room, "There are still people making snowmen on the playground at this time. Are they from out of town? Naruse wants to make a snowman?"
"I'm a local." Naruse laughed dryly, "I'm not interested either."
As a native of Aomori - although he has been away for four years - he has long been accustomed to snow and has no interest in playing in the snow, not to mention that today is not the first day it snows.
Shangzi smiled, as if he had something to say, but he didn't speak.
"I suddenly want to build a snowman. It can't be a special event," Naruse said.
"Then I don't know... Well, wait a minute, I'll ask the handicraft club."
Rina Ogawa sent a message to her friends in the handicraft club and received a reply quickly.
"I'm not from the handicraft club... but they also know a little bit. It seems that a few boys from the track and field club are planning to build a giant snowman in order to cheer up the wind band that will perform at the Civic Hall on Saturday."
Shangzi smiled and said, "It's really amazing."
Ogawa Rina shook her head, "I have nothing to do."
Other members came over one after another, talking about building snowmen on the playground.
"I have a friend in a calligraphy club who said that someone went to their office and asked them to write a calligraphy."
"Wish the wind club a good performance or something like that?"
"Yes. And it is also required to be as big as possible, preferably one that can be photographed by satellites."
"Are the boys in the sports department okay with their brains..."
After a while, seeing that the time was almost up, Naoko stood up and looked at Naruse: "Let's go there."
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"Okay."
"Where are Shangzi going?" someone asked.
"Gymnasium." Shangzi said, "The wind club will have a rehearsal there today. My friend invited me to come over and watch."
"That's it..."
After leaving the club room, the two of them went downstairs and walked to the gymnasium.
Arriving at the corridor on the ground floor, with the cold wind blowing, Monk Naruse also saw more and more students gathering on the playground.
A huge snowball has rolled up in the middle, which is taller than a person.
Several boys were pushing aside, and their excited voices could be heard from here.
Naruse looked at it a few more times and said, "I had so much fun."
"When it first snowed in November, Harumi seemed to be very excited when he saw the snow piling up." Naoko said.
"No way, don't talk nonsense."
She just laughed.
When we arrived at the gymnasium, the stage was already filled with music stands, and most of the members of the wind club were seated and adjusting.
There were some folding chairs placed underneath. Since it was not a formal performance, there were not many of them, so Naruse found a seat in the middle and sat down.
Shangzi sat and watched for a while, then his eyes suddenly lit up, "I'll go say hello."
"Yeah."
Arriving in front of the stage, she looked at a certain trumpet player on the stage, and waved when the other player also looked over.
"Kwai."
"Shangzi——"
The trumpet player stood up and came over, then knelt down and held her hand, "Great, Shangzi is here. I'm so nervous."
"It's okay." Shangzi smiled at her, "Just follow Aoi's usual rhythm. It will be fine."
"Thank you!" She looked at Naruse, who was sitting alone, and asked, "Is your boyfriend here too?"
Shangzi just smiled.
"Kui——"
"Coming!"
After shaking Shangzi's hand again, she returned to her seat and raised the trumpet in her hand to Shangzi.
"Come on." Naoko also waved and returned to Naruse's side.
One after another, other people came to the gymnasium and sat down in the auditorium. After a while, the first rehearsal of the wind section began.
As soon as the music started playing, Naruse and Shoko looked at each other and smiled at the same time.
"Conan's theme song..."
"Yes."
"Don't bring strange incidents to school."
"No."
"In the official performance, will this be the first track too?"
"I don't know."
The two gathered together and talked in low voices, and the atmosphere in the gymnasium became more lively, with more and more people coming.
The whole rehearsal lasted for more than an hour. After it was over, Shangzi went to chat with his friend who played the trumpet.
Naruse didn't want to be outside in the wind, so he waited on his seat, but he heard people going out exclaimed one after another.
There seems to be some big movement on the playground.
When Shangzi came over, the two of them walked out of the gymnasium and saw two huge snowballs on the playground.
"Did the snowman lie down?"
"The snowball is too big. I can't put it on top... The smaller snowballs are more than two meters high."
The cold wind blew, and Naruse shrank his neck, "It's impossible to move it up manually."
"I think too..."
The sky had darkened and it was snowing again. The two of them only stayed for a while and then left the school.
There are only a few buses going back. At this time, the probability of meeting someone you know is very high.
When the two came to the platform, Starfish, who was alone, looked up at the sky and exhaled white air.
"Starfish."
"Naoko..." She lowered her head in response, not turning a blind eye to Naruse beside her, and nodded.
More than a month ago, when they just came back from Kyoto, the two of them were cold to each other for a while.
And gradually, just like when Naruse first returned to Tsumae, in the exchange with other people, the two people who were "coerced" by the atmosphere slowly resumed the conversation.
It's just shorter, a little colder, and a little insincere.
Of course, no matter whether others were present or not, neither of them mentioned anything about Kyoto and the things that happened even further back in the past.
Silence does not mean forgetting, it just hides it deeper.
"Why are you alone today?" Naruse asked.
"Just something happened, so I came back first."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Shangzi stood between the two of them, exhaling cold air while waiting for the bus.
"Ha..."
The diffuse white mist disappeared in an instant, but the lead clouds in the sky became thicker and deeper.
The bus started to slow down in the distance and stopped in front of the platform.
The three of them got on the bus, Haixing lagging behind. Watching Naoko take the seat first, he pulled Naruse and sat next to her.
Haixing did not follow him, but sat down nearby a few seats away.
After all the passengers got on the bus, the bus restarted and started driving along the snow-covered road.
While shaking, Haixing saw Naoko leaning on Naruse's shoulder.
"..."
She bit her lip, tilted her head and leaned against the car window, but shrank from the cold.