Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 92
After zero o'clock, the rain outside seems to be getting lighter.

It was still dark in the yard, with almost no light to be seen.

Naruse turned sideways to the outside, his eyes open without blinking.

Starfish, who was driven back to her bed, looked inside, looking at Hikari Takikawa who was sleeping soundly, but her mind was not on her at all.

Both of them intentionally controlled their breathing, and there was only silence in the dark living room.

After an unknown amount of time, Hai Xing turned over and stared at him for a while.

"are you asleep."

no respond.

She moved a little closer.

"If you dare to come over again, I will throw you into the yard."

"..."

In view of some past physical exchanges, his threats are still somewhat deterrent.

Hearing the sound of rain outside, Hai Xing bit her lip and didn't come any closer.

After a long time, when Naruse turned her head again, she was curled up in the quilt, already asleep.

"Well……"

Squinting his eyes to check the time on his phone, it was almost two o'clock in the morning, and despite his preoccupation, he was extremely sleepy.

Fortunately, he can sleep a long time on the Shinkansen tomorrow, he thought.

Taking a last look at Haixing, Naruse pulled up the quilt and turned to sleep.

The next morning, when Naruse woke up again, the first thing he saw was Takikawa Hikaru's face.

"You're awake."

She sat beside his quilt, "Last night, she said she would call me when she got up in the morning, but Chunhai woke up later than me."

Naruse rubbed his face, his consciousness just woke up from the haze, and he let go for a while.

"……what time is it now?"

"Well, it's about one o'clock in the afternoon."

He sat up suddenly, "What time do you say?"

"Hahaha." Hikaru Takikawa laughed, "I'm just kidding...ah, it hurts."

Kneeling her, Naruse looked around and picked up the cell phone beside the pillow.

"Is it only after seven o'clock... It scares me."

He breathed a sigh of relief, then was surprised that he went to bed late and woke up early.

Is it because you are thinking about getting up early and going back home?
Although before falling asleep, his mind is full of starfish...

Hikaru Takikawa had already changed into his own clothes, so he probably had to wake up for a while.

There was still a joking aftertaste on the corner of her mouth, "Did Chunhai go to bed late last night?"

"...More or less." Naruse looked at the quilt beside him, starfish was completely shrunk in the quilt, only a few strands of hair were still exposed.

"The starfish hasn't woken up yet." Hikaru Takikawa said, making a gesture of lifting the quilt, "I saw it just now."

Naruse didn't say anything, and sat for a while, becoming more conscious.

It was still early, but he wasn't about to go back to sleep either.

"I'm getting up."

"Ah."

He glanced at Takigawa Hikaru, "I mean, I'm going to change clothes."

She smiled, got up and left the living room, "I'll go upstairs and have a look."

Taking off his yukata and changing into his own clothes, Naruse stared at Haixing's bedding, and only remembered to pay attention to the weather outside when he went to wash up.

The sky was white, and the rain, which continued unabated until the second half of the night, had completely stopped.

"Spring Sea."

Naruse brushed his teeth, and Takikawa Hikaru leaned forward at the door, "Yue and I went for a walk around the neighborhood, and we'll be back soon."

He rinsed his mouth, "Now?"

She nodded, "I'm going back later, take a small turn."

"Well, I'll make breakfast."

"Ah, then I'll stay and help..." Takikawa Tsuki said.

"No, sister Yue, let's go shopping."

After washing up, Naruse came to the kitchen.

He specially saved some ingredients for breakfast last night, and he processed it while lighting a fire to boil water.

In the end, when he finished making breakfast for four people, Sister Takikawa still didn't come back.

You won't get lost, will you?
Naruse sent a message to Hikari Takikawa.

Light: Lost.

"..."

Guang: Every path and intersection here looks alike, and they look different at night and during the day.

Naruse: Where are you?

Guang: I feel that I am near the right intersection.

Naruse: Don't run around, I'm here to find you.

He went to the living room and saw that Haixing was still asleep, and he didn't intend to wake her up, so he went out alone to find Sister Takikawa.

And Takikawa Hikari's feeling was not wrong, as soon as Naruse walked out of the alley where the hotel was located, he saw her coming from the other side waving her hands.

"Spring—sea—"

When the two came over, Takikawa smiled, "Oh, I almost didn't have breakfast."

"It's a good thing you didn't run too far."

"It doesn't matter if you run far away, you will get lost on the small road, but you won't get lost on the main road." She came behind him and pushed him back with both hands, "This is what Chunhai taught me."

"yes."

"Yes. Chunhai said..."

The three of them took their time, but when they returned to the B&B, they heard starfish crying from inside as soon as they entered the door.

"Light--"

"Sister Yue—"

"Where did you guys go? Woohoo... Chunhai..."

Naruse immediately quickened his pace.

After entering the door, Hai Xing sat barefoot in the middle of the stairs, with disheveled hair and teary eyes, crying more embarrassingly than when he first hit her.

"..."

Eyes met, she squinted her eyes to confirm it was him, sobbed again, but the crying stopped.

Naruse didn't speak, turned and went to the kitchen, Takikawa Hikaru and Takikawa Tsuki immediately stepped up the stairs to comfort her.

"Starfish...why are you crying like this, your eyes are so swollen."

In the kitchen, Naruse could also hear her sobbing and crying:
When I woke up, there was no one in the living room, no one in the kitchen, and no one in the upstairs room. There was no one in the whole house, and no one responded to my shouts;

She couldn't find anything about their luggage, only three sets of changed pajamas;

There was an untouched breakfast in the kitchen, but it felt like a little comfort from leaving her alone in Kyoto...

"Everyone's luggage is in the closet, isn't Starfish still awake?" Takikawa comforted with a smile.

Naruse shook his head, and brought the freshly served miso soup to the table.

The voice on the other side of the stairs suddenly dropped.

"...I thought he was going to leave me."

Naruse pursed his lower lip.

Even when he was the most rude to her before, he wouldn't do it to this extent, right?
How bad is the him in her heart?

...Or last night, he spoke too seriously?
But between him and her, that kind of relationship must be ended—no, it has already ended, and now we must prevent it from resurging.

resurgence...

After going through those things, does Haixing really still have this kind of plan?
He also finally realized that it was really a kind of reluctance for him to return to the normal state of getting along with each other.

Frowning, Naruse was only thankful that he had prepared breakfast before, and didn't let the mess affect the food.

"Abandon starfish? How could Chunhai do such a thing. Did starfish have a nightmare?"

"……probably."

After a while, the two sisters helped Haixing back to the living room to change clothes, and then came over to have breakfast together.

"Hey, why did Chunhai start eating by himself?"

"You are moving too slowly. After I finish eating, I will go back alone and leave all three of you behind."

"Haha."

Starfish glanced at him, unable to smile.It's just that during the day, her emotions in all aspects were restrained a lot, and she didn't say anything.

Naruse ignored her and buried himself in his breakfast, which ended soon.

He came outside, contacted the owner of the homestay, and talked about checking out.

"...Is it okay to leave the key in the mailbox?...I see."

After the three of them finished their breakfast and cleaned up, they took their luggage and prepared to leave. It was almost nine o'clock in the morning.

"As a result, the landlord didn't show up from the beginning to the end." Takikawa Hikari was a little emotional.

"It's just that we don't know him."

Naruse put the key of the house into the mailbox at the door, "The landlord lives nearby, maybe I ran into him when I went out for a walk with Sister Yue in the morning."

"What a shy landlord."

"Ordinary homestays seem to be like this."

Leaving this side, the four of them got on the bus and got off at Kyoto Station.

Before taking the Shinkansen back, Hikaru Takikawa was going to buy an station bento for lunch.

Just as Hai Xing was about to follow her, Naruse pulled her back.

"Sister Guangheyue help me and Haixing choose a bento."

Naruse didn't look at her, "Haixing and I went to buy drinks."

(End of this chapter)