The cold wind outside the house was still noisy, but the empty cabin was silent, and time seemed to slow down quietly here.
Baiyunshan sat quietly on the edge of the bed, completely immersed in the letter left by Hashimoto Nanami.
"But it doesn't matter if you don't understand it, because everything that happened this year will be firmly in my mind."
"We talk and work together. Sometimes we have already gone home, but we still talk on the phone until midnight, listening to each other's voices and falling asleep..."
"It was the first time I drank plum wine on the rooftop. The sour and astringent taste was like fruit juice. Even though I had no experience at all, I still managed to drink it in one gulp..."
"I went to the fireworks display and the lantern display with Baiyun-sang, to see the pond full of lotus flowers, to see the endless carpet of maple leaves, and to read my favorite poem on the tree-lined path, it was just like It’s like the plot in a comic. Thinking about it now, they are all very warm and beautiful memories..."
Baiyunshan did not speak. The thoughts in his mind fell into memories along with the words. His expression was sometimes gentle, sometimes stunned, and sometimes he pursed his lips slightly.
His eyes moved slightly downward, but the next sentence made his pupils shrink instantly, with a look of surprise on his face.
"Ah, yes, I almost forgot. Bai Yunsang doesn't know. In fact, on the day when I went to visit the class, I heard clearly what Bai Yunsang said to me under the tunnel..."
Wha, what——
Baiyunshan opened his eyes wide and opened his mouth in shock for a long time. Finally, he sighed softly and couldn't help but reveal a helpless smile on his face.
"It's a confession...right?"
It seemed as if everyone in Baiyun Mountain could see Hashimoto Nana's playful and proud smile curling up at the corner of her mouth. With the satisfaction and regret of solving a mystery, she raised her neck and squinted her eyes and murmured softly.
"It's so beautiful..."
"It's so beautiful that I almost thought it was a dream, so beautiful that tears almost burst out of my eyes. I want to laugh and cry. I want to be hysterical, want to be unscrupulous, want to care about nothing, not think about anything, Just hold you hard and tell you in your arms that I am too..."
"But I can't."
Hashimoto Nana’s self-deprecating smile seemed to appear in front of her eyes through the words.
"Because I know I can't agree."
"I couldn't even show any reaction. I could only clench my fists, grit my teeth, and try to pretend I didn't hear..."
"Baiyun-sang, do you know? At that time, I wanted to just deal with it like this, but at the same time, I wanted you to discover my abnormality, and then continue to ask again regardless. If you really did this, I might also really do it. I don’t have the courage to persist any longer..."
"Fortunately you didn't..."
Seeing this sentence, Bai Yunshan's brows twitched slightly, and his fingertips turned slightly white. Although the words written on it were good luck, he could not see any joy or relief at all. Instead, he was full of regret and regret, which penetrated deep into his bones.
It turns out that Nanamin was actually suffering from such feelings at that time, but she was completely unaware of it...
Baiyunshan's heart was full of self-blame and regret.
"Ah~ah... It would be great if I could choose to go back to the past every day in my life, Baiyun-san..."
The girl's leisurely emotion seemed to be accompanied by the sound of wind.
"Go see the loved ones you want to see most every day..."
"Go and say sorry to the people you accidentally hurt every day..."
"Eat my favorite snacks every day..."
"Then every day, I accept the same confession."
Baiyunshan lowered his head and looked at this sentence, licking his lips slightly, but couldn't say a word.
At the end of the text, a small eye-catching teardrop gently dripped, locked here like a period, and it also grabbed his heart fiercely, as if there was a knife cutting inside, and it hurt his heart.
Is this Nanamin's true heart? The emotions wrapped under those layers of iron armor include not only tenderness, but also so much dependence, regret and loneliness.
Although she was crying because of sadness, she still smiled and pretended to be fine, writing relaxed words on the paper, just not wanting to expose her fragile side.
It's heartbreakingly stubborn.
"But unfortunately not."
"I will never have the chance to see the day when I work hard with everyone to reach a higher stage..."
"The experience of going to eat barbecue together and being so exhausted that I didn't even want to say anything and just yawned next to me should no longer happen..."
"There are many, many more who will break their promises..."
"I'm so sorry, Baiyun-san."
"I'm sorry for causing you a lot of trouble..."
"I'm always willful for various reasons, I'm sorry..."
"I'm totally merciless when we quarrel, I'm sorry..."
"I always have a lot to say, but I keep it in my stomach. I'm sorry..."
"I just agreed to your confession, but I left like this the next day. I'm sorry..."
Baiyunshan turned over the next piece of letter paper. The words on it were still beautiful and clear, but he felt that the vision in front of him was gradually blurring and he could not see clearly.
"Although Baiyun-san, you have never wanted me to force myself, but I have always firmly believed that the path I have chosen is the right one."
"Baiyun-sang must also be blaming me, right? Such a willful move is too much. But it doesn't matter. If you are sad or angry, you should vent it directly, don't be like me. I know, Baiyun-sang, you He is the one among us who likes to keep everything in his heart the most..."
"There will be no such thing-"
Baiyunshan couldn't help but murmur softly. In the blurred vision, Hashimoto Nanami's figure seemed to appear, and a familiar voice sounded in his ears.
"It's just that even if I say this, Baiyun Sang probably still won't do it..."
"you guessed right."
"Am I right?"
"Um."
"Really?"
"Um!"
"Sure enough, I knew it, I knew we really had a connection!"
Hashimoto Nana smiled happily, the sun shone in, and the girl stretched contentedly, looked back at him, and softly murmured the last paragraph on the letter.
"Then, let me end with a sentence I know from Baiyun Sang that I like very much..."
"Every encounter in this world is a reunion after a long absence, and this is exactly the meaning of goodbye..."
"Serna."
——Nana Hashimoto.
All the contents on the letter paper are now complete.
After a long time.
As the wind outside the house gradually died down, Baiyunshan stood up silently, with a dull expression on his face. He slowly folded the letter, put it in his pocket, and walked out of the room.
He subconsciously came to the living room along the corridor, and stopped in front of the wooden door. He didn't know what he thought of, but he suddenly squatted down gently, then put his hand on the door, and carefully opened a gap.
Looking through the crack in the door, I can still see a girl sitting facing the courtyard as usual, lowering her head and reading a book quietly. The short hair beside her ears fell gently, and a few strands of hair were playfully blown to her cheeks by the wind, and she gently tucked them behind her ears with her fingers——
Then, she seemed to notice his gaze, raised her head and looked here, smiling slightly.
"Nanamin—"
Baiyunshan pushed the door open suddenly, bringing up a gust of breeze, which made the hair on his forehead move slightly.
But no, nothing.
There were only empty furnishings in front of him, the light reflected from the snow in the courtyard, and the cold air blowing in here along with the cold wind, making his body tremble uncontrollably.
Baiyunshan weakly closed the door again and remained silent for a long time.
...
...
When Nana Hashimoto returned to Asahikawa, there was a clear sky above her head.
The golden sunshine filled the entire city, and the snow on the lawn reflected the light, making it even more dazzling, almost making it difficult to open one's eyes.
Hashimoto Nana walked silently, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and her short hair was still the same, but her temperament was a little more dull than her usual coldness.
The cold air in the North was a bit rusty and dry, making it easy for a first-time visitor to feel uncomfortable. However, she had no such concerns at all, and there was no trace of any waves on her face.
Arriving at an empty residential area, there were no tall buildings around to block the sunlight. Nana Hashimoto was bathed in the light and also felt a little dazzling.
She seemed to suddenly think of something, her body trembled, and she subconsciously looked up, only to find that the snowy sky was as blue as a wash, and there was only one cloud in her sight -
Cloudless.
The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, as if she was mocking herself, but also seemed lonely. She slowly lowered her gaze and looked at the deepest house in front of her.
Next to the fence outside the house, Hashimoto's nameplate hung clearly. In the eyes, a middle-aged woman who looked somewhat similar to her, but looked more mature and older seemed to have noticed something and stopped. While shoveling the snow, he straightened up slightly and wiped his sweat, then glanced over here.
The next moment he was stunned.
"Na, Nanamin?"
The woman opened her eyes wide and said in surprise.
Hashimoto Nana looked at her, and finally a smile slowly appeared on her face, but her tears couldn't stop falling down like a bursting dam, and she spoke softly.
"I'm back, Mom."
(End of Volume 5)
