When we reach the end of the sidewalk, there is a fork in the road. There is a barbed wire fence on the cement wall next to it. Inside, you can see the railroad tracks that trams pass from time to time. They look somewhat mottled by weather.
With the little episode just now, the originally dull atmosphere seemed to be gradually becoming more cheerful. Keep walking along this road, and you can faintly see a tunnel that is not too high in the distance, with a conspicuous height restriction sign hanging on it. .
The two returned to their usual rhythm of getting along.
"I haven't had a walk like this for a long time."
The winter wind was already a bit strong, and the area was relatively empty, which made the girl's hair a little messy.
However, looking at the empty space surrounded by people, Hashimoto Nana felt inexplicably relaxed, and the slightly turbulent emotions just now were blown away.
She slowly bent down and picked up a stone from the ground. The area near here should have been the bed of a stream, but in winter, when the river dried up, these stones were exposed in the air.
"When I first came to Tokyo, I wasn't familiar with anything, and the place I lived in was a cheap and simple rented small room—"
The stone was a very ordinary pebble, nothing unusual. Nana Hashimoto looked at it, but seemed to be caught in some kind of memory: "I almost have to go to class during the day, and I only have time to work at night. Of course, it's weekends." I was free during the day, so sometimes I spent the whole day running around at various part-time jobs, and almost fell asleep as soon as I got back to my room—"
Of course Baiyunshan knew about the girl's experience. He looked at her with a touch of pity in his eyes and nodded: "It sounds like she is very tired."
"It's actually not bad."
Nana Hashimoto suddenly stopped speaking, looked back at him and said, "Really, if it's just physical fatigue, it would be okay, because even though I'm a little tired, I still have hope and I understand what I'm doing. It's just that Staying alone in a small space for a long time can easily affect your mood, so during that time, when I was resting, I usually didn’t stay in the room, but liked to go out for a walk by myself.”
"walk?"
"Yeah, just like now."
There was a hint of emotion in Hashimoto Nana's tone. She looked at the pebble in her hand and whispered: "Go out for a walk and relax. When you go back, find a stone to take back as a souvenir to prove that you are here." Pass."
"Yeah."
Baiyunshan listened quietly to her narration of his past. Although he seemed to be looking at it from the perspective of a bystander, and his tone was dull most of the time, he could still feel the calm and tenderness hidden deep inside. The loneliness below.
This kind of loneliness is as fragile as snowflakes in the sun, but it also has a crystal clear beauty, just like the girl in front of her.
There will always be an urge to put it in the palm of your hand and take care of it.
"Forget it, let's talk about something else."
After a moment of silence, Hashimoto Nana didn't react. She patted the dust on her hands, put the stone back, straightened up and looked at him.
There seemed to be some hesitation, and the girl said after a while: "Baiyun-sang, do you know? After this prayer, I heard that it seemed that the process was too harsh, so out of compensation, all members were given a few days off. ——”
"holiday?"
Baiyunshan raised his eyebrows, but he wasn't too surprised. After all, he knew that this prayer would be too unkind if he didn't even have a holiday after such hard work, so he said curiously: "Sounds pretty good. Yes, what are your plans?"
"It is said that I plan to go to a hot spring hotel. This winter is too cold, and the recent prayer activities have been too hard. Plus Ikku-chan and the others have a cold, so I feel that soaking in a hot spring might be a good choice."
Hashimoto Nana explained.
"Hot spring hotel——"
Baiyunshan touched his chin and nodded, then realized something and looked at her in shock: "Wait, are you going too? Nanamin."
"Yeah." The girl nodded.
"Baiyun-sang, come too."
Unexpectedly, Hashimoto Nana suddenly opened the invitation.
Baiyunshan was stunned, his eyes widened, and he subconsciously pointed at himself: "Me?"
"Yeah, what's the problem?"
The girl looked at him strangely.
Baiyunshan smiled bitterly and touched his chin. Of course there was a problem, and it was a big problem... Looking at the girl in front of him who didn't know whether he really didn't understand or pretended not to understand, he hesitated to formulate his words: "But, After all, this is your vacation, and if you go to the hot springs, I will be the only one..."
"Baiyun Sang should be free later, right?"
Hashimoto Nana did not give him time to hesitate.
"Uh... maybe, maybe, if nothing else happens... I have time—"
Baiyunshan's face was tangled.
Faced with such an invitation, no normal person would be able to refuse it, not to mention that the girl obviously still had a last resort that didn't work - that was a legitimate reason.
"That's fine. After all, we need someone to pay the bill."
Pay the bill...?
Baiyunshan touched his head in confusion.
"Besides, Baiyun-sang, didn't you say that?"
Having said this, Hashimoto Nana tilted her head and looked at him. Her face, which had been serious until now, finally couldn't help but smile: "As long as you don't look at it with a dirty look."
...
...
That ends the topic of vacation arrangements.
Whether you agree or not, it actually doesn't matter, because the two of you already know the answer. In other words, as early as the moment the girl spoke out, she already understood what the outcome would be.
The tips of their noses smelled the faint body fragrance wafting from the girl's hair. The two of them were talking and walking aimlessly along the road. Occasionally they talked about their recent experiences, and occasionally they pointed at the clouds somewhere in the sky in reverie. Their relationship has always been very subtle, maintaining a strange tacit understanding that makes it almost unnecessary to think about anything superfluous. Just walking and talking together like this makes them feel spiritually satisfied.
Not long after walking, the tunnel that was just in the distance appeared in front of me.
The tunnel is not that tall, it is just big enough for pedestrians to pass through. Numbers and letters are painted on the telephone poles next to it, which look like graffiti with unknown meanings.
Nana Hashimoto suddenly stopped.
"Just walk here."
She whispered: "If we continue walking, it will be inconvenient to go back."
"good."
Baiyunshan responded, saying he had no objection. He also felt that it was almost time to leave.
However, Hashimoto Nanami did not turn back in a hurry. She seemed to have remembered something, but took a few steps forward, then turned to look at him in front of the tunnel, stared into his eyes and said: "But I remember, before coming out , Baiyun Sang said, do you have something to say to me, right?"
The wind in front of the tunnel is always stronger. With her movement, the girl's skirt and hair around her ears were blown away when she turned around. Looking against the light, under the clear blue sky, there was a tenacity and stubbornness. The beauty is like dandelions in the wilderness.
Bai Yunshan looked at her eyes and wondered if it was his misunderstanding. He only felt that there seemed to be some unexplainable meaning in it. His throat was a little dry, his heart was slowly speeding up, and he felt inexplicably nervous.
But he nodded steadily.
"Um."
"Then tell me."
Nana Hashimoto didn't seem to notice his nervousness, she just stared at him calmly, waiting for his answer.
Said, seems to be a very simple action.
But Baiyunshan felt that his throat was a little difficult at this time. It was so difficult that he had quietly made up his mind before setting off, but at this juncture, he still felt as if he was blocked by something and could not speak.
Baiyunshan's eyes went beyond her cold face under her smart short hair, and looked at the tunnel behind her, at the meaningless graffiti on the pillars beside the tunnel, at the sky without a single cloud, and at the streaks of light drawn across the sky. A cloud of airplanes finally found that these things still couldn't calm him down, so he returned to the girl.
Looking at each other, many pictures naturally appeared in his mind, including the misunderstanding when they first met, the tacit understanding during the lantern festival, the unexpected hug in the cabin, the plum wine and conversation on the rooftop, the fireworks display A kiss, the thickly carpeted maple leaf trail as I bid farewell to Iwase, and every bit of daily life for nearly a year.
These pictures all reminded him of one thing, something that he didn't need and shouldn't be confused about, and his throat, which was as dry as a bellows in disrepair, seemed to gradually calm down.
A sudden cold wind blew fallen leaves flying and weeds swaying.
He spoke slowly.
"beep--"
The sudden roar of the tram was only a moment later than the blowing cold wind, and it roared past the upper end of the tunnel beside the two of them, like a thunder.
Then, everything fell silent.
Baiyunshan could only hear his own violent heartbeat, pounding in his ears like a drum.
But he couldn't hear anything, and his pupils only reflected the cold face of the girl in front of him, because he didn't know whether the other party heard clearly what he just said, or maybe everything was buried in the sound of the passing tram.
After a few seconds of silence.
There is still only the howling of the wind.
Hashimoto Nana slightly tilted her head, an embarrassed look appeared on her face, biting her lip and hesitantly said: "Well...I'm sorry, can you please say it again? Baiyun-san——"
"..."
As if all the strength in his body had been drained at this moment, Baiyunshan's face could still remain calm, but there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes unconsciously.
But fortunately, he reacted quickly, suppressed the disappointment, barely pulled the corners of his mouth, and showed a smile.
"Uh... forget it, it's nothing."
"Really nothing?"
"nothing."
"But why do I think you look a little ugly?"
The girl chased after him.
Baiyunshan said helplessly: "I'm just a little tired. Let's go back together."
After that, he turned around and prepared to go back along the way he came.
"oh."
Hashimoto Nana was still a little puzzled, but seeing that he didn't seem to want to say anything, he didn't mean to break the casserole and ask for the truth, which made Baiyunshan breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, if he really continued to ask questions, he wouldn't know what excuses he should give.
However, what he didn't notice was that at the moment he turned around to go back, the girl finally and quietly let go of the palm she had placed behind her back.
On the palm of the hand, a dazzling blush slowly seeped out from the fair skin.
