"Mom, I'm sorry, I can't go back this year."
"How are you preparing for Kenta's high school entrance exam?"
"Well, judging from the results of the mock test, it shouldn't be a problem to get into West High School."
"Have you received the money?"
"I have enough here, it's okay."
"Yeah, well, I'll take good care of myself."
Nana Hashimoto was leaning against the window of the dormitory living room, the busy tone of the phone ringing in her ears.
Due to several consecutive days of snowstorms in Hokkaido, flights and trains from Tokyo to Asahikawa were canceled. For the first time in her life, Nami Hashimoto celebrated the New Year more than 900 kilometers away from her hometown.
Even though this place was Tokyo, which I had always wanted to come to when I was in high school, I couldn't hide the loneliness of being alone.
All the members who live in the dormitory have left, and they will come back one after another after the three-day vacation. This is a very rare and pure time.
I live alone in an empty dormitory, eat alone, lie on the sofa and read alone, and occasionally go shopping alone.
You don’t have to go to a bustling place to join in the fun during the New Year. It’s good to return to the original purpose of the holiday and use it to rest.
Hashimoto Nana was not ready to go downstairs to the nearby convenience store to buy a bento for today's dinner. Living alone, as long as she can fill her stomach, that's all, she thought.
Just as I walked down the stairs, an unexpected person appeared in front of the dormitory door.
"Eh? Why hasn't Nanamin gone home yet?" Amamiya Soi pushed the door open with her foot and looked curiously at Hashimoto Nanami who was coming down the stairs.
She carried a large bag of ingredients bought from the supermarket with both hands, including chicken, beef, sausages, various meatballs, cabbage, spinach, broccoli, potatoes, green onions, soft tofu, shiitake mushrooms, hot pot base, and a bag of oranges and half a watermelon.
"Uh..." Hashimoto Nanami looked at Amamiya Shiori in astonishment, who looked like a cooking aunt returning from shopping.
"There was a heavy snowstorm in Hokkaido, so the flight was cancelled," she explained.
"I see~" Amamiya Suga put the bag on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. Her hands were hurting from carrying such a big bag all the way.
"Speaking of which, Xiaozhi, didn't you go home with Maiyan? Why are you back now?"
"Go home?" Amamiya Shiori wiped away his sweat, "Oh, you mean noon, that's when I took Mai to the station."
"You guys? Aren't you going back together?" Hashimoto became even more confused.
"Why are we going back together? My hometown is not in Gunma."
If you're not in Gunma, how did you two know each other? Hashimoto Nana was very puzzled.
"Didn't you know each other since you were kids? I thought you were also from Gunma."
"Actually, I was originally from Tokyo, and now I live in Tokyo. I just moved around a lot when I was a kid, and I lived in Gunma for a while in middle school, and that's when I got to know Mai-kun," Amamiya Sugawara explained.
According to the personal information on Nogizaka's official website, she was also born in Tokyo. Her family also had a small house in Tokyo back then, but it was sold a few years ago.
"I see," Hashimoto Nana nodded, "Wait a minute - since you are from Tokyo, why don't you go home now? You bought so many ingredients."
Nana Hashimoto caught the blind spot.
"Well-" Amamiya Sugaru touched the back of his head, thinking about how to explain it, and Hashimoto's question hit the mark.
It's not that she doesn't want to go home, her home is wherever she is now.
Of course I bought so many ingredients for the purpose of eating. It’s the New Year, so why not eat richly?
"There are some inconveniences at home." She used a forced smile to cover up her embarrassment.
"I'm sorry." After hearing Amamiya Shiori's answer and looking at her forced smile, Hashimoto Nana unconsciously made a mistake.
It's not that you don't want to go home, but it's inconvenient? Combined with Amamiya Sōri's previous explanation of her Tokyo origin, Hashimoto Nanami had a vague guess in her mind.
I have settled in Tokyo, but my home is not far away, but I have to live in a dormitory. It is not convenient to go home during the New Year, either because I have irreconcilable conflicts with my family, or there are changes in my family.
If Amamiya Shiori can get into Tokyo University, she must have a good tutor. Maybe her parents are opposed to her becoming an idol?
Or another possibility is that her parents divorced and formed a new family with other people, making her feel out of place?
Every family has its own sutras that are difficult to recite. Amamiya Shiori, who is like a beautiful girl in the eyes of ordinary people, also has these and other troubles. Hashimoto Nami doesn’t know how much Mai Shiraishi knows, but she is not a gossip. , will not take the initiative to ask about other people's privacy.
"It's okay, there's nothing to apologize for." Amamiya Soi didn't know what Hashimoto Nana was thinking about in a short period of time, but he just felt that the way she looked at him became much softer.
Is it an illusion?
"Let me help you carry it!" Nana Hashimoto took the initiative to lift the plastic bag.
"Slow down, it's quite heavy." Amamiya Suga smiled as she watched Hashimoto Nana bending down to carry the bag and dragging it on the ground without any effort.
"Since Nanamin can't go home, just celebrate the New Year with me!" she suggested.
"May I?"
"Of course. There are only two of us left in the dormitory. Let's spend it together if we want!" Amamiya Sugawara invited her warmly. "Let's have hot pot tonight. Let's cook it on the induction cooker in my room."
"Then why are you embarrassed..."
"Oh, come on, come on!" Amamiya Shiori helped lift the bag, "I can't eat so much by myself, so just do me a favor."
"Okay, okay." Nana Hashimoto really had no reason to refuse.
"I bought the hot pot ingredients from a Chinese supermarket. It's guaranteed to be spicy enough." Amamiya Shiori took the things out of the bag and laid them out in the kitchen.
A lot of stuff cost her tens of thousands of yen.
With the existence of hot pot base, making hot pot becomes very simple.
Amamiya Shiori and Hashimoto Nana modified the knives for vegetables and meat, and arranged the watermelon and orange slices.
In Amamiya Shiori's room, an induction cooker and a frying pan were placed on the stove table. Put the chopped hot pot base ingredients into the pot, pour in boiling water and stir-fry.
The red oil floating on the bottom of the pot exuded a pungent aroma, which made Nana Hashimoto move her fingers.
According to Japanese people's level of spicy food, both Hashimoto and Amamiya are relatively spicy people. The spiciness of the hot pot base is just right and within the acceptable range.
Add chicken, beef, tofu and chopped sausages to the bottom of the boiling pot.
The two of them stretched their legs under the warm stove table and waited for the first wave of ingredients to be cooked.
There was no TV in the room, so Amamiya Shiori used a laptop instead. Anyway, someone was broadcasting the Red and White Song Contest on YouTube, and it was unlikely that NHK would come to collect the dues tonight.
"Cheers!" Amamiya Shiori raised the glass filled with juice.
"Cheers!" Nana Hashimoto, who was sitting opposite, clinked glasses with her.
On the laptop screen, the Red and White Song Festival officially begins. Groups of artists appeared one after another under the introduction of the red group and white group committees.
The last days of 2012 are about to pass in the lights of thousands of homes.
