Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 89
clack clack clack -

The rain beat against the umbrella in the dark without stopping.

"closed."

Under the other umbrella, Hikaru Takikawa 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 [Rokudo no Tsuji] at the entrance of Liudao Zhenhuang Temple, "The junction point between the underworld and the human world is also the time to get off work."

"Haha."

Hikaru Takikawa turned the umbrella in his hand, and came back from the closed temple gate, "Then go ahead and have a look."

"Ah."

The two left Liudao Zhenhuang Temple and continued to wander forward.

After dinner and tidying up again, Haixing and Takikawa Tsuki wanted to take a bath, Takikawa Hikari wanted to move, so she took Naruse out for a walk.

The two had just come out for a while.

The rain kept beating, flowing down from the eaves on both sides, weaving into crystal bead curtains.

The lights from the roadside shops shattered all over the place, and occasionally there was the sound of rushing water behind him.

"The car is here."

Naruse stood on the side of the road, and gave Takikawa another hand.

When the car drove past, the two continued to walk forward.

"The houses in Kyoto are so dense, it feels like they are crowded together."

"After staying in the country for a long time, it's the same feeling when I go to the city."

"is it?"

"Tokyo is also crowded."

Going forward for a while, the road extends to the right with a thin branch.

"Barber Shop."

The unique red, white and blue lamp posts in front of the barber shop are spinning, very conspicuous in the alley without much light.

"Let's go this way." Hikaru Takikawa said and walked in.

"Do you know the way?" Naruse quickly followed.

"I don't know. But with Chunhai here, I won't get lost."

"I don't even have that confidence myself."

She raised her umbrella and turned around, smiling at him.

When they passed by the barber shop, the two looked inside, and there happened to be a barber inside who was cutting hair for customers.

Hikaru Takikawa didn't stop, and continued to walk forward, "I feel that my hair is a bit long. After I go back, I have to fix it a little bit."

Naruse followed her, "This length is okay."

"It's blocking the eyes a little..." Hikaru Takikawa said, lowering his head, "Look."

He saw nothing, "Yeah."

"It has to be cut."

"Ah."

Going straight along the alley, the two quickly walked to another road, and Naruse looked around, "Do you still want to go shopping?"

"It's almost there." Hikari Takikawa turned his umbrella, "Let's go back."

So he went to the right.

After walking for a while, Naruse suddenly turned and led her into another alley.

"I just said that with Harumi here, I will definitely not get lost." After walking for a while and stopping in front of the boarding house, Takikawa Hikaru said so.

Naruse closed the umbrella, "Go in."

"I'm back~"

She yelled inside, Takikawa Tsuki came down the stairs to greet her, and Haixing took a bath.

Naruse went to the living room to sit down, Takikawa followed his sister upstairs, and came down after a while.

"Yue is going to bed."

"So early."

"I'm very tired today."

"That's right... when she came back, Sister Yue already had the expression of wanting to become a Buddha."

"Haha."

The living room of the homestay has been transformed into a bedroom, but many things are still kept, such as the TV.

Turning on the TV, Hikaru Takikawa pressed the remote control a few times before handing it to Naruse.

"There's nothing to see."

"Let's just listen to the sound." He leaned against the glass sliding door, listening to the pattering autumn rain in the yard, and he was not interested in TV programs.

"Does Chunhai want to sleep here at night?"

"Of course." There were two beds in the upstairs room, but one of them already belonged to Takikawa Tsuki, and he had no plans to sleep in the other bed.

Hikaru Takikawa patted the tatami, "Then I'll sleep here too."

"up to you."

After a while, Starfish came out in her bathrobe after taking a bath.

"How do you feel?" Takikawa asked.

"Hey...it's okay. The bathtub is not too big, but it's quite comfortable to soak in."

"Chunhai, let's take a bath first, I want to sleep after taking a bath."

"Ah."

Naruse then went to take a shower.

He looked at the bathroom when he came over in the morning, and it was quite satisfactory in all aspects, and there was nothing special about it.

After washing his body, he sat in the bathtub and enjoyed soaking in the hot water.

There is only one latticed window in the bathroom, right next to the tub, looking out onto the enclosed yard.

In the dark rainy night, I can't see anything.

Naruse closed his eyes and leaned against the bathtub until Takikawa Hikari came to the door.

"Chunhai, I got the news."

"It's Shangzi."

"Well, but I didn't click on it."

"I see, let it go."

He was almost done soaking, got up and left the bathtub, changed into the bathrobe provided by the hotel, and returned to the living room.

"..."

Looking at the three quilts laid out on the floor, Naruse looked at Haixing and Hikari Takikawa again, "Are you ready for bed?"

"I fell asleep right after I took a shower—you can lie down if you can't fall asleep."

He didn't say much, picked up his phone and looked at it, and Shangzi sent him a photo that was half a puppet and half her.

Shangzi: Finished another one.

He replied the message, and Takikawa got up to take a shower.

"Where do you want to sleep?" Hai Xing asked suddenly.

Naruse looked at it, and pointed to the outermost futon.

"Oh."

Hai Xing got into the quilt in the middle, saw him looking at her, blushed suddenly, sat up again, her blonde hair fell on her shoulders.

Naruse looked at the phone again, "Go to sleep first, and leave me alone."

"...I'm not sleepy yet."

The TV was still on, and Naruse sat on his quilt, focusing on the two screens and the starfish from time to time.

At a certain moment, she suddenly asked:
"Are you going out tonight?"

Naruse froze for a moment, then laughed, "Are you hungry?"

"No!" Hai Xing quickly denied, "Just...asking."

He glanced out at the yard.

"If you're hungry before bed, you can go out."

Hai Xing nodded lightly and didn't speak, as if she just mentioned it casually, and she didn't have much intention to go out.

The two were speechless, she lowered her head and fiddled with the phone, while Naruse looked at her twice.

From the two of them eating yakitori together last night, to sitting together in bathrobes now, and sleeping in the same room after that, it is not an exaggeration to describe the restoration of their relationship by leaps and bounds.

Of course he would not reject such a change, but he couldn't easily accept it with peace of mind.

Did she really not care about the past?
In deep thought, Naruse unconsciously touched his earrings.

When he came back to his senses, he found that Starfish was staring at himself, or at his earrings.

"...ear studs."

"Earrings?"

Hai Xing looked away, then looked over again, "You...can you also wear earrings?"

Naruse squeezed it for the last time, let go, and smiled again, "Is it weird?"

"No." Hai Xing shook his head immediately, but hesitated, "...it's a bit strange."

The strange thing is not the one who has already got the earrings, but the one who chooses to have the 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, "In order to fit in with the group, I also got ear studs."

Starfish looked at him blankly.

Did he have the same experience in Tokyo?
"...When you first entered high school?"

Naruse looked over, "No, it was in middle school. Before entering high school, I had already said goodbye to those people."

"..."

Still not the same.

She lowered her head, and Naruse looked at her ears hidden between the blond hair, "The earrings of starfish, are those hot girls taking you to get them?"

Starfish raised his head and responded with a sound.

"...is it weird?"

He smiled, "No."

Earrings, manicures and the like are not as eye-catching as her blonde hair.

And after watching 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.

——Perhaps it was because he and Hai Xing hadn't seen each other for four years, and the blank space in between was enough to digest such a change, while Morimi watched Hai Xing suddenly dye his black hair into blond.

"..."

He looked at her, and she looked at him. They hadn't looked at each other's faces so directly and for a long time in many years.

The sound of the rain in the yard, as well as the sound from the TV, were all cut off by an invisible barrier.

In the silence, Hai Xing heard his own heartbeat.

Plop, plop--

"...I want to see your earrings."

Naruse was a little surprised, but he didn't refuse. He tilted his head and turned one ear to her.

Starfish got out of bed and approached on knees.

The black earrings were hidden under the short hair that was still a little wet, and the material was invisible, as if they were inlaid on his earlobes.

She touched him lightly, drawing his sideways gaze, and their gazes were connected together.

Starfish opened its lips and moved a little closer.

"It's a nice soak—what are you doing?"

(End of this chapter)