Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 499: Tangled Chains
At around five o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun was about to set and it was not so hot, Naruse and Naoko left school and rode around the city.

When passing by an izakaya, he slowed down and pulled over, turned around and asked Naoko for her opinion. When she said it was okay, he found a place to park and went in together.

Today is Friday, and the two of them are already outside, so they just have dinner together like before.

"It's been a long time since the two of us ate together like this..."

"Nonsense. When we travel, except for the few days when my mother comes over, aren't we always the only two of us?"

Naoko held his arm, "I'm talking about the date on Friday... At first it was just Harumi and I, but then everyone came."

Naruse pursed his lower lip and turned around to look around the bustling izakaya.

"We can't tell them not to come."

"Um……"

After ordering food and drinks, Naruse chose a quieter private room even though it was just the two of them today.

"Ah, it's much more comfortable...the air conditioner in the private room is also cooler."

“Because it’s only for our area.”

The two of them blew on the air conditioner for a while to dissipate the heat brought in from outside, and their little movements with each other became more frequent.

"Well……"

Tuk Tuk-

There was a knock on the door of the private room, and Naruse immediately took out his hand, and Naoko also adjusted her uniform.

"come in."

The first thing that came was the drinks, two large glasses of Calpis with ice cubes.

The clerk closed the door and left. Naoko moved to the table, picked up the drink and took a sip.

"Well……"

She shrank her neck and said, "It's so cold."

Naruse also took a sip and licked his lips. He was satisfied and lay down on the tatami again.

"The drinks are delivered so quickly, I don't know how long it will take for the food to be delivered."

"There seem to be a lot of customers outside."

"Maybe it's because of Friday."

Shangzi responded, then walked around the low table, crawled next to him, and sat on his knees on the ground.

"..."

Naruse looked up at her, moved closer to her, and rested his head on her thigh.

"How about it." Shangzi adjusted.

"That's good." Naruse said, and she stopped moving and maintained her current posture.

Most of his vision was obscured by a pair of huge peaks on his head. He simply closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling the softness of his girlfriend's thighs.

"Comfortable."

“There’s no place in the world more comfortable than here.”

Naoko laughed and looked down at his face.

"Can't fall asleep."

He closed his eyes, "Then Shangzi needs to tell me something."

"Well……"

She raised her head slightly, thought for a moment, and the smile on her face suddenly faded.

"Kazuha and the others will be back tomorrow."

"……Um."

"I have been busy with club affairs these past few days, and I am very happy every day. I almost forgot that they have been in Tokyo for so long."

Are you happy because of club activities, or because they are away...

Naruse opened his eyes, no longer sleepy.

His sight was blocked and he couldn't see her current expression.

After a brief silence, when Shangzi spoke again, the topic changed again: "I don't know what gifts they will bring back."

"Anyway, it shouldn't be something I haven't seen before." Naruse said, "And I don't know whether there will be a gift."

"There will be." Shangzi smiled.

"just wait."

After lying on the soft lap for nearly 10 minutes, Naruse's sleepiness, which had subsided, was about to reappear when the door of the private room rang again.

"Get up first..." Shangzi whispered.

He sat up and turned around to see her stretching her legs, so he touched her legs and asked, "Are your legs sore?"

"not bad."

"Come in." He raised his voice.

The clerk opened the door, brought their order in, and placed it on the table.

"Please enjoy."

The door of the private room was closed again, and the two of them returned to the low table and started eating.

Shizi was distracted when ordering, and only then did he notice the amount of food delivered, "It seems like I ordered a little too much."

"Get used to it...eat slowly, two people can still finish it."

"Yeah." Shangzi picked up a skewer of chicken and green onions and took a bite, feeling the tenderness of the chicken and the fragrance of the green onions.

Naruse picked up a piece of fried chicken and put it into his mouth, then looked at the time and estimated when they would finish eating.

"Hmm... I feel like the food in this izakaya tastes better."

"At least this fried chicken nugget is crispier than the one I went to last time."

"Chun Hai, try this. The ingredients feel very fresh."

"Hmm... It's very fresh. Cheers." The two raised their glasses and clinked them.

"I already frequent izakayas now. After Harukai goes to college and starts working, I will definitely come more frequently," Naoko said.

Naruse took a sip of Calpis and said, "That's hard to say."

"Chunhai is also very interested in wine."

"No way, what I'm drinking now is a drink." He shook the glass in his hand.

"Harumi wants to drink now, but no one dares to sell it to you... Last time I stayed at a hotel next to Hikone Castle, and when I had the chance to drink beer, Harumi drank it."

"That was different. What I enjoyed at that time was not the beer itself, but the sneakiness..."

He stopped suddenly.

Shangzi glanced at him and he picked up a skewer of barbecue, "That hotel is so irresponsible."

She smiled and said, "Chunhai is so embarrassed to say that."

Naruse picked up the drink and took another sip.

"It doesn't matter if you like drinking. When we live outside in the future, I will prepare food and drinks every day for when Chunhai comes back from get off work." Naoko looked at him and said, her face a little red, but her eyes were full of expectation.

"..."

Naruse opened his mouth, and felt a sudden pain in his chest.

He knew what she really expected.

——It belongs to him and her, an independent life for two people.

"...I don't like drinking that much." He lowered his gaze and stuffed food into his mouth.

"I watch salarymen on TV. They go to izakayas and have a few drinks almost every day. Some people have to be very drunk before going home. Maybe they get drunk on the roadside or on the train." Naoko smiled, "But you won't have this problem if you drink at home. I will take good care of Harumi."

Naruse swallowed the food in big mouthfuls.

"Of course, drinking too much is not good either...eat slowly."

"Um...cough, cough!"

He responded, but he choked and coughed one after another.

Naoko quickly stood up and came over, patting him gently on the back, "Chunhai ate too fast."

After taking a big gulp of drink and swallowing all the food, he felt better.

"Is Harumi very hungry today?" Naoko asked.

Naruse didn't answer, looking up at the ambiguous chandelier above his head.

Taking a deep breath, he felt weak.

You can't really be cruel to the girls you're close to, but essentially you still can't be cruel to yourself.

The current situation is also the result of him never being truly cruel.

He couldn't be weak any longer.

He grabbed Shangzi's hand and held it in his palm. He looked at her and took the initiative to wrap the chain around her for the first time, "I will never leave Shangzi."

"Eh...um."

Shangzi was startled for a moment, then smiled and sat down next to him, "Me too."

Naruse looked at her and tightened the chain, "Even if I become disgusting in the future, Naoko can't leave me."

She looked at him and leaned her head up.

"Well. No matter what happens in the future, I will never leave Chunhai... The only one I can rely on is Chunhai."

Staring down at his girlfriend nestled against his chest, Naruse wanted to say that the only person she could rely on was actually her adoptive parents.

But at this moment, there was no need for him to say such unnecessary words.

He hugged her tightly.

"Chunhai is a little strange today..."

"I am drunk."

Shangzi smiled and rubbed his chest with her head again, "Shall you continue eating?"

"Ah."

She sat up straight again, stretched out her arms, brought her drink over, and touched it to him.

"cheers."

Leaning on each other, they continued to eat and drink.

The two of them slowly eliminated the four or five people on the table who were placing orders for the first time, so naturally there was no need to add anything more.

They ate and drank and rested for a while. By the time they came out of the izakaya, it was already dark.

"Let's go back."

"Ah."

Naruse got on the motorcycle, and Naoko sat behind him, hugged his waist, and touched his stomach through his uniform.

"I really ate a lot today."

"Don't press it, you'll spit it out if you press it."

She laughed.

"Helmet on."

"I don't want to wear it today..."

"Put it on."

"Ok."

After leaving the izakaya, Naruse rode a bicycle and took Naoko for a spin around the Tsumae Castle where the lights were on.

The ancient castle stands alone among the withered cherry blossom trees.

The night was draped over the two of them, and the wind would not blow it away.

(End of this chapter)