Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 611 Forced
  After sending the package, Naruse and Naoko wandered out until the afternoon, then went to a fabric store to buy some wool before returning to their residence.

Before dinner in the evening, he received a brand new pair of knitted gloves.

"It's very warm."

"Ah."

"I've been knitting this pair of gloves all afternoon. What should I do with the order?"

"There are no orders for now." Shangzi cleared the table and stood up, "Let's go eat."

Smelling the smell of hand cream on the knitting needle gloves, Naruse took off the gloves and went downstairs to eat.

After dinner, as soon as Shangzi returned to the room, he knitted a scarf again.

"How long does it take to knit a scarf from scratch?" Naruse asked.

She slowed down a little and thought for a moment, "About two days."

The two days she mentioned were not the two days that counted as one day after coming home from school and knitting all night, but two complete days from waking up to falling asleep.

"What should I do with the order?" Naruse asked again.

"There are no pre-orders now." Shangzi continued to knit the scarf, "There are still a few puppets left."

Naruse frowned, "Aren't there still too many orders in the past two days that we can't handle them?"

She looked up at him without speaking.

He quickly reacted, "Did Shangzi close the pre-order on his own?"

"Ah."

"why."

She lowered her gaze and kept knitting, "I'm too busy."

Naruse looked at the scarf she had just started knitting in her hand again, and suddenly realized something.

"...Two days."

"Ah."

Two days was the deadline she gave for him to stay here.

"After those two days, will Shangzi go back with me?"

"Can I refuse?"

"Of course. I will stay until Naoko..."

Snapped!
  She slammed down the knitting needles and yarn in her hands.

Naruse immediately shut up, and she turned to look aside, trembling all over.

"I can never go back with you willingly."

He immediately moved over and hugged her shoulders, "Sorry, I just don't want to force Shangzi."

Shangzi turned to stare at him: "From the moment you found me, you have been forcing me."

As if his heart had been grabbed and twisted hard, Naruse pursed his lips tightly.

"……Yes."

"Since you are unwilling to let me go, then simply force me to the end, force me to go back there, force me to accept everything... What does this mean now, is it charity?"

He was silent for a while.

"No, it's just to satisfy my guilt towards Shangzi."

After a pause, Naruse took a deep breath, "I understand."

From the beginning, he was forcing things upon others. His weakness will only make it more difficult for her.

He was uncontrollably a little disappointed.

But he is no longer qualified to lose.

He crawled to the side and picked up the dropped needle and thread. He didn't return it to Shangzi, but found a bag to put it in.

"In that case, let's find time to knit the scarf later. We'll go back tomorrow. We have to stop in Tokyo for one day, so we'd better start as soon as possible."

Standing up, Naruse said again: "If you have anything to take away, pack it up now. I'll go say hello to Ms. Eda and the others."

"..."

The two looked at each other for a long time. Shangzi lowered his eyes and began to pack his things.

After putting on some clothes casually, Naruse went downstairs and came to the restaurant next to him.

The snow had already continued to fall before it got completely dark. There were no customers in the store at night. Seeing him come in, Ms. Zhizi showed a slightly surprised smile on her face.

"Naruse-kun..."

"Ms. Edako." Naruse hesitated for a moment, then said, "Naoko and I are going back tomorrow."

"Oh."

Ms. Zhizi's eyes widened suddenly, "This... is really sudden."

"We have been away from home for a long time, and it's time to go back...especially Naoko."

She nodded slowly, remained silent for a while, then sighed and smiled at him.

"Naoko has lived here for more than half a month, and I'm really reluctant to leave suddenly." Naruse lowered his gaze, "Naoko is also very reluctant to leave Ms. Edako and Mr. Sakahara, but..."

"It's okay, I understand."

Ms. Zhizi asked them to be casual and just take their belongings with them. She would take care of the house.

Naruse didn't say anything, he knew Naoko wouldn't leave a messy room to her.

"Before leaving tomorrow morning, we will come over to say hello to Ms. Edoko and Mr. Sakahara..."

After chatting for a few more words, Naruse left the restaurant.

Walking from the warmth into the dark cold, he stood on the roadside downstairs for a while before returning to Naoko's room.

White snow falls one after another in the wind.

At this rate, Mr. Sakahara might have to clear the snow from the roof again tomorrow morning, he thought.

When he went downstairs, he threw on some clothes, but they couldn't completely protect him from the cold night. He later realized that he felt a little cold.

"what……"

Exhaling an almost invisible white mist, Naruse crossed his arms and stared at the dim sky.

I don’t know how long it took, but there was a noise behind me.

He turned around, and Shangzi stood there looking at him for who knows how long.

"Take a shower," she said.

"it is good."

Naruse turned around and went in.

After closing the door and going to the bathroom, Shangzi helped him take off his coat and hung it outside. The two of them stood under the shower head and rinsed off.

woohoo-

Hot water was poured continuously, Naruse closed his eyes, and his body that was cold by the wind was slowly recovering its temperature.

The soft body squeezed in front of him, he opened his eyes, and Naoko hugged his waist.

He hugged her too, and the two of them swayed slightly in the falling hot rain, as if they were taking some gentle dance steps.

There was just no music in the small bathroom, just his hoarse sigh.

"sorry."

Shangzi raised his head, and the hot water poured on his head flowed down each other's cheeks, like unstoppable tears.

"Ah."

Looking at each other, he lowered his head, and she raised her head slightly and kissed him.

Sometimes shallow, sometimes deep, just kissing.

After rinsing for a while, the two of them sat in the bathtub, but the time in the bath was not long.

Back in the room upstairs, Shangzi had packed everything he wanted to take away and could take away.

Naruse glanced at the things on the table and asked, "Are these puppets going to stay?"

"Well." Shangzi spread the quilt, "I don't have anything left, only these...if they need it."

"Ms. Zhizi will like it."

She nodded, spread out the quilt, lay down in it, and looked at him.

Naruse was about to turn off the light, and she said, "Don't turn off the light yet."

He looked at her, left it alone, and lay down on the bed.

Shangzi turned sideways and lay on the pillow. She kept the light on, just to keep looking at his face.

Looking at each other.

"Does Harumi really like me?"

"..."

Naruse also looked at her and nodded.

"like."

"Then why is it like this?"

He opened his mouth, "It's all my fault."

Shangzi came closer, still staring into his eyes, "At this time, is there any need to hide it for them?"

"No matter what, the responsibility lies with me." Naruse said.

"Of course." She looked at him, "But before I go back, I want to know what they did... From that time to now, Harumi hasn't really explained it to me, has he?"

He was silent for a while.

"Where to start?"

"Start with the worst one," Naoko said.

(End of this chapter)