Baiyunshan set off with Akimoto Manatsu, and not long after, they came to a very familiar place.
"Do you remember this place?"
Baiyunshan stopped and looked back at Akimoto Manatsu, who seemed to have vaguely guessed something, and said with a smile.
Akimoto Manatsu looked at him blankly, his face no longer confused as before, but showed a little nervousness, and nodded gently.
In front of me is a small and simple-looking shrine. It is Nogi Shrine that I visited at the beginning of this year and returned to again at the end of March.
Logically speaking, it is not possible to enter Nogi Shrine at night, and the gate should have been closed long ago, but it is open for some reason at this time. From the outside in, the environment is deep and the air is slightly cool. Walking on the stone road, you feel as if you are walking in the forest. The paths between are average.
"Let's go in."
Baiyunshan reminded, the two entered from the torii gate, walked on the path of stairs, and soon came straight to the interior of the shrine, stopping at the place where the praying ema was hung.
Looking at the praying ema hanging in front of him, Akimoto Manatsu's eyes suddenly became complicated. He seemed to have thought of something, and he pursed his lips and watched all of this in silence.
Baiyunshan came to the ema. The large ema here was the prayer ema written by the members themselves. The pieces were stacked on top of each other. It looked no different from a few months ago. Baiyunshan glanced at the names one by one, and finally crossed the pile of ema, looking at another piece of ema not far away from these ema.
He approached slowly, then reached out and picked off the piece of Ema.
"I discovered it accidentally when I brought everyone back to fulfill their vows. At that time, I thought the name looked familiar, and then I remembered it. What a coincidence -"
Baiyunshan put the praying Ema into Akimoto Manatsu's palm and watched her quietly.
Akimoto Manatsu stared blankly at the Ema in her hand. The handwriting on it was so familiar, and the wish written on it was the determination she had made from the beginning. In the place of signature, the four words Akimoto Manatsu were exactly the same. People are spread out on wooden painted horses in an orderly manner.
"Now it's back to its original owner."
Baiyunshan said with a smile.
Akimoto Manatsu's body trembled slightly, and her vision suddenly blurred. She originally thought that no one would notice her efforts and bitterness, and that she could only bear all the bitterness and longing silently, but now it seems that is not the case. .
There are many things in this world that are unknown and little things, and it is these little things that contain the beautiful emotions that people place on them. Before her return, in January when the weather was still cold, Akimoto Manatsu visited Nogi Shrine, where she wrote down her wish to be harmonious and close to the members, and then hung it on the wall not far from the members. On another wooden frame.
The reason for doing this is also very simple. Nogizaka held a prayer event at the beginning of the year, and all the members went to Nogi Shrine for the first New Year's greetings. This is undoubtedly a very commemorative event. Perhaps when Many years later, when the girls are each moving on to their own lives, they talk about their memories since joining the group, and this event will definitely be among these precious memories.
However, at this event, a girl named Akimoto Manatsu, who was also a first-year student, was not among the girls who visited the shrine...
So after seeing this event on the news, Akimoto Manatsu came to this shrine silently and alone. She was very envious of the members' ema as they watched the lively gathering, but after thinking for a long time, she still I just hung the Ema I had written aside, which was so sad and heartbreaking.
After all, she has not returned. Akimoto Manatsu, who has never appeared in front of the public eye, is just an unknown person that no one knows. Her Ema and her wishes naturally cannot be regarded as a member of Nogizaka 46, so She could only hang aside, like a passerby looking up. Her efforts, thanks, and smiles had nothing to do with her.
——But after all, someone will remember it.
Just like there are always people in this world who do not fix their eyes on the selection team that shines with their own unique brilliance like others, but purse their lips and worry about encouraging Under with a gloomy face. Baiyunshan has long paid attention to At this point, and at this moment, I took this opportunity to speak out.
Akimoto Manatsu, you are not a lonely brave man.
Your efforts and bitterness will not go unnoticed and will be gradually forgotten. Every move you make carefully that seems childish or even ridiculous, someone is paying attention to it and showing relief for it. Smile, because you are already outstanding and there is no need to feel inferior.
The night is cool. From tens of millions of light-years away, stars that have survived for billions of years span the distant space and shine their light on the heads of humans who have only been born for only ten thousand years on the blue planet at this moment. It seems that just to be looked up to by this group of humble beings at this moment, but since everyone is bathed in such a great starlight, who can be easily ignored and gradually forgotten?
At least the sweat and tears put in by one person named Akimoto Manatsu will not be easily ignored or forgotten by those who love this group.
Akimoto Manatsu suddenly felt a huge sadness filling her nasal cavity, feeling sad and happy at the same time. She once read a fairy tale when she was a child. There was a puppet that could move around and wanted to be friends with the children, so it joined the group of children. We went to school together, played together, and went to catch butterflies and fish together. However, because of the cost of being able to move around, no matter what it did, no one could see it. In the end, the puppet sat sadly by the river and cried, slowly The ground died. After death, it became a motionless puppet again. It was not discovered until this moment by the adults, so it was inserted in the middle of the field and became a scarecrow. From then on, the children would visit it from time to time and regard it as a scarecrow. Friends, hang unwanted old clothes on it, decorate its appearance, and play with it all day long.
The puppet didn't make friends until it died. Akimoto Manatsu felt that it was very pitiful since she was a child, so she never wanted to become a puppet when she grew up. But what happened was counterproductive. When she wanted to return, she sadly found that she seemed to have become invisible. She has become the same existence as that poor puppet. Any move she makes seems to be as powerless as that puppet.
However, today, someone came to her in an unreasonable way, opening up her humble and sad heart that she had been working hard for and looking forward to silently, and told her that she did not need to be sad. There is no need to doubt or feel inferior. There are always people in this world watching you. Your beauty and hard work are not in vain, just like the oriole in fairy tales that can see the puppets, unlike the children who cannot see the puppets.
He even told her bluntly in this way that she was not that puppet. Even if she was, it was an enhanced version that could be seen and move around freely, because that person was Oriole and a child.
"Baiyun-san...thank you."
Akimoto Manatsu sobbed and tried to show a smile. When the girl smiled, her eyes would involuntarily narrow, looking like a kitten that had just woken up.
Seeing the girl gently wiping away the tears on her cheeks, Baiyunshan was not in a hurry to accept the girl's thanks, but said softly: "Now, do you still feel that there is any distance between you and everyone?"
Akimoto Manatsu blinked his slightly red eyes, smiled and shook his head slightly.
"That's good."
Baiyunshan smiled happily and nodded, and then said half-jokingly: "Actually, I thought about a problem when I first heard your confession. You may feel confused and distant. In fact, it is just because you have never really communicated with everyone and gained everyone's trust. It’s just recognition, and in that case, holding a welcome party will actually solve everything, right?”
Akimoto Manatsu also smiled when he heard this, but lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking of.
"So -" Baiyunshan continued: "I thought of bringing you here."
After saying that, he stretched out his right hand and made a loud snap of his fingers.
The sound of snapping fingers was very pleasant in the silent shrine, but then, the members were seen walking out from behind the worship hall and the grass, and one after another, with smiles on their faces, they came to the girl.
Akimoto Manatsu looked at this scene in astonishment, vaguely seeming to guess something. The mist that had subsided in his eyes surged up again, immediately blocking his sight.
"Sakurai Reika です."
"Wakatsuki Yumi."
"Hashimoto Naomi."
"Mai Shiraishi."
"Sayuri Matsumura."
"Ikuta Erihana."
"Ikoma Rina です."
"Nishino Nanase Yuki."
"Takayama Ichimaki."
...
As if to make up for the initial debt, the girls stretched out their hands to introduce themselves one by one, with gentle smiles on their faces. As they spoke, they stared at the girl in front of them, their eyes full of beauty and kindness.
Baiyunshan stood at the front of the members, and he also smiled, and said his name softly: "Hakuyunshan です."
Immediately, everyone looked at the girl in the center, Akimoto Manatsu, smiled at each other, and spoke together in unison.
"Although I'm so late, welcome back, Manatsu!"
Akimoto Manatsu rubbed his red eyes and showed a tear-stained smile. The crystal teeth shimmered under the light, which was very moving.
The girl spoke softly, as if whispering.
"I'm back."
