Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 95 Snow Country
Drop drop drop-

The alarm clock at the head of the bed rang on time, and Shangzi in the bed twisted his body and frowned.

Drop drop drop-

With her face buried in the pillow, she raised her hand to grope, and a fluffy thing fell down.

"Well……"

Shangzi finally opened his eyes.

Picking up the puppet that rolled down to her chest, she reached out to turn off the alarm clock, and then shrank back into the bed.

After squinting his eyes for a while, Shangzi put the puppet aside and sat up.

After getting up, changing 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 snowy, just like it has been for more than a month.

The snow was deep, and the path leading to the neighbor's house that was swept out last night was covered again.

By December, Aomori Tsumae and even the entire Northeast has become a country of snow.

drop--

Putting on another overcoat outside, 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 came to Naruse's house through the snow.

"It's so cold..."

After all, it was still too cold outside, Shangzi shivered, and closed the door as soon as he entered.

After all the cold air wrapped around her body dissipated, she came to the second floor and gently pushed open the bedroom door.

Warm air rushed towards her face, she walked to the bed, Naruse was curled up in the bed, still sound asleep.

After watching him for a while, Shangzi quietly exited the room and went back downstairs.

"Today... By the way, I bought that one the day before yesterday."

Opening the refrigerator, she began to prepare today's breakfast.

After another 10 minutes or so, Naruse finally got up.

"Good morning, Haruhi."

"Good morning..." He seemed to come here specially to yawn for her, then turned around and went to wash up.

When Shangzi brought breakfast to the dining table, he found him standing by the window, staring at the snowflakes flying outside.

"It's so quiet."

"Chun Hai always says that."

"Hmm...but, it's so quiet."

"Let's have breakfast first."

Sitting at the table, Naruse looked at today's breakfast, besides the usual ones, there was also a deep-fried spring roll.

"Almost forgot, I bought spring roll wrappers when I went to the supermarket the day before yesterday."

"uh-huh."

He picked up a piece, took a bite, and looked down, "What's the stuffing inside?"

Shangzi put down the soup bowl and licked his lower lip, "I added some leftover meat and vegetables from last night."

"Really?" Naruse looked again, "Mixed together, the taste is surprisingly good."

She smiled, "That's good."

After breakfast, it was almost time, and the two went out together.

"It's 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 too heavy today, but at Shangzi's request, he still held up an umbrella.

Since the beginning of winter, the snow has stopped, stopped, and painted over and over again, completely painting this place into a white world.

One step at a time, each footfall is accompanied by a creaking sound.Coming to the county road, the road is also covered with snow, but it is relatively less deep.

"Be careful……"

The two supported each other and walked through the snow to the bus platform full of people.

"Good morning."

Mori Jian greeted the two of them, then retracted into the scarf again.

"Good morning, One Leaf."

Shangzi responded with a smile, then looked at Haixing next to him, "Good morning, Haixing."

"Good morning……"

His eyes turned around on her and Naruse, and Hai Xing quickly looked back.

Morimi leaned over and touched Naruse with his arm, "Have you finished reading the book I borrowed yesterday?"

"How can it be so fast, I only watched half of it."

The wind kept blowing, Naruse just glanced at her, he was so cold that he didn't want to move his head, because if he moved his neck, the wind would leak out.

"I had homework yesterday."

Thinking that she also highly recommended that book when she borrowed it from the library yesterday, he added, "I should be able to finish reading it today."

"how do you feel?"

"Does it feel like... It's pretty average at the moment, maybe I haven't seen the wonderful things yet."

Senjian looked at him with a bad look.

"The most exciting part of that book is the game between several characters in the first half. You don't need to read on, the person who stole the will is Tanimoto, and Akiba's psychological monologue is used to confuse readers."

"……Hey."

They have different aesthetics and preferences, and when denied by him, she is often quite aggressive.

Naruse smiled at the side, held Naruse's arm again, and pressed it closer.

"so cold……"

After winter, several people who originally chose to take the morning bus all changed to take the later bus, just to get more sleep in the morning, and Morimi was no exception.

In addition to her, two other people have recently commuted by bus.

"Good morning--"

Hikaru Takikawa came over waving his hand, holding his sister with the other hand.

Although she is very confident in her skills, riding a motorcycle in snowy weather is really dangerous, not to mention that the snow on the road will basically not melt, and there is no time to clean it.

As early as a month ago, the Takikawa sisters switched to commuting by bus.

Takikawa's house was closer to the bus platform, and the two of them almost pressed their hands to go out. After a while, the bus came.

The crowd rushed up, and Naruse was so powerful that he could only push Shangzi into the seat and stand beside her.

There are too many people going out at this point.

"Grab me." Mori Jian also stood, seeing that Haixing had no handrails to grab, he pulled her towards him.

"it is good……"

Starfish squeezed over and grabbed her arm.

"Stand still."

"Uh-huh."

"You too." Sen Jian turned his head and said.

"..."

Naruse, who was leaning against her, just tilted his head.

The bus wobbled all the way, and the two of them were holding on to the handrail, back to back, and he only felt that she was getting stronger and stronger as she leaned over.

"It's okay." In front of him, Takikawa Hikari protected his sister who also had no seat.

Takikawa Tsuki shook his head, saying it was okay.

"Don't Mr. Takikawa drive to work every day, why don't you take his car to school?" Naruse asked.

"Because Dad doesn't go to work that early."

Takigawa Hikaru smiled at him, "When it's so cold, it's a bit too much to ask him to get up early to send Yue and me to school - but it doesn't matter at night, now that Yue finishes her private school, it's dad who picks her up back."

Naruse nodded, looking out the window at the receding scenery.

White.White.Still white.

The snow covered the fields, mountains and rivers, and everything was white.The utility poles along the county road are smeared and thin, which is the only embellishment for people not to lose their way.

"Winter is still long."

Arriving at Jin Gao, a road has been cleared at the gate of the school, with snow piled on both sides.

"...Yesterday I also helped out. I loaded the snow into the cart and pushed it to... Hey, does the river next to the coffee shop have a name?"

Hikaru Takikawa looked at Naruse.

He shook his head, "Probably a tributary of the Iwaki River, I don't know the exact name."

"Okay. In short, push the snow over there and pour it down, then come back and shovel the snow, and then send it over. I heard that all the snow in Aomori City is dumped into the sea?"

"Well, pull them to the port by truck, and dump them one by one."

"Ah, I kind of want to see it."

Walking into the main building, Naruse changed his shoes, waited for Naoko and Hikari Takikawa, and looked around.

It was freezing cold, and more and more people came to school at this time.

Mori Jian and Hai Xing changed their shoes and were waiting for them, but one was looking at this side, and the other was deliberately not looking at this side.

"...Then, I will come back first."

Hikaru Takikawa chatted with Naruse, after changing her shoes, she raised her eyes and suddenly greeted Naruse in the direction.

"Ming Dynasty--"

Naruse looked at her, and then looked back. Standing in front of the stairs behind him was a short-haired woman in sportswear. He had a little impression that she seemed to be a consultant for the women's basketball team or something.

"Guang." Hearing the greeting, she also came over, "You came just in time, I have something to ask you."

"what's up?"

"Come to the staff room and tell."

"OK~"

She responded, and waved to the waiting companions, "Go up first."

After leaving in front of the classroom, Naruse called Morimi to stop again, and handed her the book that she spoiled completely.

"You are going to be on duty in the library today, and return it for me."

Sen Jian took the book and pushed down his glasses, "Don't you borrow other books?"

"I'll borrow it when you're not around."

"..."

"Just kidding." Naruse smiled, "I have other things this afternoon."

Glancing at Shangzi next to him, Mori turned and went to Class E without asking any further questions.

"Hasn't Chunhai finished watching it yet?" Shangzi said.

"She has spoiled the most important parts, so there's no need to read any further." Naruse glanced at Morimi's back and lowered his voice, "And the other parts are quite ordinary."

Shangzi smiled.

After a while, Hikari Takikawa, who was pulled away by the consultant, also came to the classroom.

"The consultant of the Ming Dynasty said that because of the recent snowfall, the children in several nearby nursery schools can't go out to play sports, and they need to develop some other interests. So the nearby community invited our Jin Gao women's basketball team to play sports for the children. A basketball lesson."

"Really." Naruse knew she would agree to such a thing, "When?"

"On Saturday morning, at Jingao Gymnasium. Will Haruhi and Shangzi want to come and see?"

"Okay."

Naruse agreed quickly and without perfunctory, but Takikawa Hikari was a little uncomfortable.

"It's Saturday?"

"Yeah. There was a concert in the Civic Hall that afternoon, and Shangzi and I were going to go out."

"A recital?" Takikawa Hikaru looked at them, "Does Monk Harukai still have this kind of interest?"

"It's the performance of the Jingao Brass Band, and every year we hold a concert with Nangao's Brass Band." Shangzi said, "I have a friend who is in the Brass Band and invited me to attend."

"Ah... I remembered, I also heard a few friends talk about this."

Hikaru Takikawa nodded, "When the time comes, after basketball class, I'll go too."

"Okay."

After a while, Zhong Yuanxue walked into the classroom for the morning class meeting.

Classes, classes, alternate cycles, the snow outside the window is also falling, the sky is always gray, and the time of day passes unconsciously.

After school in the afternoon, Naruse and Naoko went to the restoration department's room and sat there for a while.

"It's cold! It's cold! It's cold—"

Rina Ogawa stomped her feet and came to the department room, "There are still people making snowmen on the playground at this time, are they from other places—does Naruse want to make snowmen?"

"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 used to things like snow accumulation, and he has no interest in playing with snow, let alone today is not the first time it has snowed.

Shangzi smiled, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't speak.

"Suddenly there is a need to make a snowman, so there must be some 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 friends in the handicraft club, and got a quick reply.

"It's not from the handicraft club...but they also know a little bit. It seems that some boys from the track and field department plan to build a giant snowman in order to cheer up the brass band club that will perform at the Civic Hall on Saturday."

Shangzi smiled, "It's really amazing."

Rina Ogawa shook her head, "It's free."

Other members came over one after another, talking about making snowmen on the playground.

"I have a friend in the Calligraphy Club. They said that someone came to their department and asked them to write a picture."

"Wish the brass band perform well or something?"

"Yes. And it is also required that the writing be as big as possible, preferably the kind that can be photographed by satellites."

"The heads of the boys in the sports department are fine..."

After a while, seeing that the time was almost up, Shangzi got up and looked at Naruse: "Let's go there."

"it is good."

"Where is Shangzi going?" someone asked.

"Gymnasium." Shangzi said, "The brass band club will have a rehearsal over there today, and my friend invited me to watch it."

"I see……"

After leaving the department room, the two went downstairs to the gymnasium.

Coming to the corridor on the ground, with the cold wind blowing, Naruse and Shangzi also saw more and more students gathering on the playground.

A huge snowball has rolled in the middle, taller than a person.

A few boys pushed aside, and the excited voice could be heard here.

Naruse glanced a few more times, "It's really fun."

"When it first snowed in November, Chunhai seemed very excited to see the snow piling up," Shangzi said.

"No, don't talk nonsense."

She just laughs.

When we came to the gymnasium, the stage was already covered with music stands, and most of the members of the brass band were seated and adjusting.

There were some folding chairs underneath, and because it was not a formal performance, there were not many of them, so Naruse found a middle seat and sat down.

Shangzi sat and watched for a while, then his eyes suddenly lit up, "I'll go say hello."

"Ah."

Before coming to the stage, she looked at a certain trumpet player on the stage, and waved when the other party also looked over.

"sunflower."

"Shangzi—"

The trumpeter got 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 again, "Is your boyfriend here too?"

Shangzi just smiled.

"sunflower--"

"coming!"

After shaking Shangzi's hand again, she returned to her seat and raised the trumpet in her hand to Shangzi.

"Come on." Shangzi also waved his hand and returned to Naruse.

Other people came to the stadium one after another and sat down in the auditorium.After a while, the first rehearsal of the wind section began.

As soon as the music sounded, Naruse and Shangko looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

"Conan's theme song..."

"Yes."

"Don't bring strange incidents to school."

"Will not."

"During the official performance, is this the first song?"

"I do not know."

The two gathered together and discussed in a low voice, the atmosphere in the gymnasium became much more lively, and more and more people came over.

The whole rehearsal lasted for more than an hour. After the end, Shangzi chatted with the friend who played the trumpet.

Naruse didn't want to blow the wind outside, and waited on the seat, but he heard the people who went out exclaim one after another.

There seems to be something big happening on the playground.

When Shangzi came over, the two walked out of the gymnasium, and at the same time saw two huge... two snowballs on the playground.

"Is the snowman lying down?"

"The snowball is too big, there is no way to put it on... the small snowball is more than two meters high."

When the cold wind blew, Naruse shrank his neck, "It's impossible to carry it up by manpower."

"I feel so too……"

The sky had already 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 acquaintances is very high.

When the two came to the platform, Haixing, who was alone, looked up at the sky and exhaled white air.

"starfish."

"Shangko..." She lowered her head and responded, not turning a blind eye to Naruse who was beside her, and nodded.

More than a month ago, when they had just returned from Kyoto, the two had been cold to each other for a while.

And gradually, just like when Naruse just returned to Tsumae, in the communication with other people, the two people who were "wrapped" by the atmosphere slowly resumed the dialogue.

It's nothing more than shorter, a little colder, with a bit of insincere.

Of course, no matter whether other people were present or not, neither of them mentioned anything about Kyoto and its past.

Silence is not forgetting, but hiding deeper.

"Why are you alone today?" Naruse asked.

"Just something, let me come back first."

"yes."

"Ah."

Shangzi stood between the two of them, breathing out cold air while waiting for the bus.

"what……"

The diffuse white water mist was fleeting, but the lead clouds in the sky became thicker and deeper.

The bus that started to slow down in the distance stopped in front of the platform.

The three of them got into the car, Hai Xing lagged behind, watching Shang Zi take the seat first, then grabbed Naruse and sat beside her.

Hai Xing didn't follow, and sat down a few seats away.

After all the passengers got on the bus, the bus restarted and drove along the snow-covered road.

While shaking, Hai Xing saw Shang Zi leaning on Naruse's shoulder.

"..."

She bit her lip, tilted her head and leaned against the car window, but shrank from the cold.

"It's so cold..."

　point out the family

　　In addition: it is almost the end of the month, ask for a monthly pass.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)