Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 97 Prelude
The basketball teaching started at nine o'clock in the morning and lasted until twelve noon.

"Let's be here today."

After the teaching was over, the reporter from the news agency who had disappeared to nowhere suddenly appeared again, and wanted to take a photo with the basketball club members and the children.

Naruse and Shangzi were almost involved in the whole process, and it was much more natural to be pulled to take a group photo at this time.

Click!

After the group photo was over, Naruse said goodbye to the children, and went to the vending machine outside to buy three bottles of drinks and came back.

"Give."

"Thank you." Hikaru Takikawa took the drink, opened it and took a sip, "I'm a little hungry too, let's find a place to eat."

"Ah."

She still had to change clothes, while Naruse and Naoko waited in the gymnasium, watching the nursery staff put together the children's basketballs and basketball hoops, and then moved them to the truck parked outside.

"Snow is really not convenient."

"Yes."

What's more, it has been snowing for several months in a row, and outdoor sports will basically be affected.

After waiting for a while, Takikawa Hikaru changed back into his original clothes and came out.

"I'm going first—"

After greeting the other members, she dragged the two of them out of the gymnasium.

"Should we eat nearby, or go to the Civic Hall?"

"It's all right." Naruse said, "But I'm not very familiar with the Civic Hall."

"Just follow me."

Hikaru Takikawa smiled, "Harukai hasn't been there for a long time, right?"

"Yeah, the last time I went was when I was in elementary school."

"Sakura Festival?"

"more or less."

"When did Chunhai and Haixing fall into the water?"

"No, it's after that..."

The Civic Hall is located in Tsumae Park, next to Tsumae Castle. Although it is in a rather eye-catching location, it is slightly remote compared to Naruse's usual commuting route.

The three of them took a bus and got off outside the park.

"There's a soba restaurant over there, do you want to go?"

"I seem to remember that store. Go ahead."

When I came to the soba noodle restaurant, the interior store was very large, with an ordinary hall on one side and tatami mats on the other.

When I came to the tatami side, there were already many people sitting inside, but it didn't look crowded, and there were friends of Hikaru Takikawa among them.

"Are you also here to come to the concert of the brass band club?"

"Yes. Aren't you going to teach kids how to play basketball today? It's over already?"

"It's over already."

"Sit here."

Hikaru Takikawa was held back by his friend, and Naruse and Shangko sat at another table next to him.

The two ordered soba noodles each, and Naruse ordered prawn tempura and vegetable tempura.

"I remember the last time I came here, my mother said that the tempura in this store usually tastes pretty good."

Shangzi looked at him, "Is there any time when the smell is not okay?"

"Sakura Festival."

"Eh? Why..."

"Because there are too many tourists, the tempura in the store is fried in advance, and the texture and taste are not as good as freshly fried."

Shangzi smiled, "I see."

But today is just an ordinary day, the reception pressure is not high, and the tempura delivered is golden, plump and very crispy.

Both of them were satisfied after eating soba noodles and tempura.

"Not bad."

"Ah."

Naruse finished eating first, had nothing to do, touched the tatami mat under his body, and waited for Naoko.

Snowflakes were flying outside one after another, the fence outside the window could only be seen in shape, and the branches and leaves were all covered.

He remembered that there was a parking lot outside, but he couldn't see it now.

A few minutes later, when Naoko finished eating, Takikawa Hikari was still chatting with his friends.

"Light."

"Ah, has Chun Hai finished eating?"

"Ah."

"Chunhai Monk, let's go first, I will come to you later."

Leaving the soba restaurant, the two walked into Tsumae Park, instead of going directly to the Civic Hall, they strolled around the huge park for a while.

The trees stand along the road, the branches are covered with heavy snow, and the vermilion bridges are dotted with the boundless white world.

"I can't see the castle tower from here."

"The view is blocked, let's go on."

Across the inner moat, the two looked at the castle tower in the snow, and agreed to come back together before the Cherry Blossom Festival next spring.

After turning around for a while, the two went to the Civic Hall.

Walking into the promenade in front of the guild hall, Naruse stomped his feet a few times to shake off the snowflakes on his body, Shangzi came over and patted his shoulder and hair.

Entering the guild hall, today's performance information has been hung on the front stand.

【Prefectural Tsuga Brass Ensemble Club, Prefectural Nangao Brass Ensemble Club Fifth Regular Joint Concert】

"It's already the fifth time."

"Yes."

The entrance to the concert hall is on the first floor, and Naoko led Naruse to the second floor first. The members of the two high school brass band clubs were sitting outside the backstage at this time, waiting for the performance to start.

"sunflower."

"Shangzi!"

Shangzi pulled his friend who was about to perform on stage and chatted with her for a while.

"So nervous..."

"Didn't the rehearsal go well last time? Just in the state at that time, just do it again."

"Hmm - I'm sure I'm still nervous!"

"Well, moderate tension can also improve concentration."

"If only I could stay calm like Shangzi."

Shangzi smiled, "If I'm asked to perform on stage, I'll be nervous too."

Naruse was a little bored waiting on the sidelines, and was curious about the changes in the town hall that he hadn't been to for several years, so he proposed to go to other places first.

"Okay...the concert starts at two o'clock."

"I'll just walk around casually, and I won't go too far."

There was a stained glass wall at the entrance, very beautiful, just as he remembered it.

A new coffee shop was opened on the second floor, and there were many students from Jin Gao and Nan Gao sitting there. Most of them looked relaxed, but there were also poor children who were so nervous that their faces were stiff.

Naruse turned up and down a full circle, and seeing that it was almost time, he entered the concert hall from the side entrance on the first floor.

There were already many people sitting on the seats near the stage below, except for the students from the two schools, the rest were basically the parents of the performers.

Naruse glanced a few times, didn't see Shangzi, and continued to walk up, but someone in a certain seat in the middle and back cast his gaze from a distance.

"..."

After walking up a few more steps, Naruse also squinted at the other party.

"There is space here." She beckoned.

"No one else sits at the back except you." He walked over, "Why is Sen Jian coming?"

Sen looked at him, "I'm tired from studying, come here and relax a bit."

Naruse only believed half of it - this was not the reason for her coming, it was more like an excuse to convince herself after coming here.

He sat down, "Does Morimi have any friends playing in the band?"

"It's my cousin." She pointed to the stage below, "And she's not in our school, she's in the brass band club of Nangao."

"No wonder I haven't heard you mention it."

"Because I don't usually contact her very much, I just received a message from her yesterday asking me to come and watch her performance..."

Mori took a breath, too lazy to say more about this matter, and asked him instead:
"Did Naruse come here alone? Impossible, where is Naoko?"

"I'm looking for her too."

Naruse looked down, but there was still no sign of Shangzi, probably she was still cheering for her friend outside the stage.

After sending a message to Shangzi, he raised his eyes to Morimi who was staring at him, "What?"

"It's nothing. It's just a little lonely seeing Naruse and Shangko so close."

"How sour."

She smiled, put her hand on the armrest, and looked at him with her chin on her hand, "It's sincere."

Naruse looked at her, "It seems that you have made a breakthrough recently."

Otherwise, she wouldn't feel "lonely".

Sen Jian smiled more happily.

"It's just that I took the first place in the mock exam of the school yesterday."

No wonder he was willing to come to the concert and was in the mood to joke with him.

Naruse raised his hand and clapped twice, "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

Sharing this matter with him, the sense of satisfaction that lasted until now after the exam yesterday inflated a bit, and Morimi stretched in a relaxed way.

"Okay...don't sit by my side, go find your Shangzi."

Naruse looked down at the news, and said casually, "Isn't Morimi lonely, I'll accompany you a little longer."

There was a sudden sinking on the shoulders.

She leaned forward, "Is this okay?"

"..."

Naruse leaned to the side, avoiding her support, "バカ (ba ka)."

After a while, she snorted softly and pushed her glasses again.

"Shangzi hasn't come here again..."

Before she finished speaking, a hand suddenly stretched out from the back of the seat and touched her face.

"—I'm here."

"..."

Sen Jian trembled.

Just as she was in shock, she turned her head.

"……Light!"

(End of this chapter)