After coming back to his senses, Hashimoto Nanami remembered the purpose of the other party's return, and reached out to ask for the reply letter from Kitano Hinako.
Opening the letter paper, the reply above was equally concise:
"Hello, Ms. Hashimoto Nanami.
As you said, if time is not limited, it is indeed a bit too empty. So, probably limit it to the high school stage. What do you think?
--Baiyun Mountain. "
High school?...
Seeing this familiar word, Hashimoto Nanami's expression was startled, and some pictures seemed to flash before his eyes in an instant, just like the ripples of fallen leaves on the water, but disappeared in the blink of an eye.
She suddenly thought of something. She turned to look at Kitano Hinako, who was waiting silently for her to write a letter. Her eyes were moving wildly from time to time. She didn't know what she was thinking. After a moment of silence, she asked: "By the way, Hinako, where are you now?" Years old?"
"Ah? I...?"
Kitano Rinako didn't expect that the question would suddenly come to her, and she was caught off guard for a moment.
But fortunately, although the girl was a little stupid, she was not stupid, and she would not be unable to answer such a question. She scratched her head and recalled for a moment, then blurted out: "She should be... sixteen years old, right? If you haven’t celebrated your birthday yet—”
"Sixteen years old——"
Hashimoto Nana couldn't help but laughed with emotion before hearing the words. He waved to her to sit next to him, then gently touched her head and said: "When I was in high school, I was almost ten years old. Six years old."
"Eh~ Really?"
Kitano Hinako obediently sat down holding her knees. After hearing this, she had an idea, stretched her neck and asked curiously: "Then Nana Min-san, can you tell me some stories about what happened when you were in high school?"
"Well... I'm actually not afraid of Hinako's jokes. In high school, I was actually very gloomy and boring——"
"Oh, just tell me--"
"Okay, okay..."
Hashimoto Nana smiled bitterly upon hearing this, but couldn't stand the girl's crazy coquettish behavior like a husky having fun, so she could only reluctantly nod in agreement.
"Then let's talk, just say a little bit -"
Hashimoto Nana slowly spoke while recalling.
His eyes were lost in memories, and the time in the room seemed to be stretched out, but the writing on the letter did not stop, but continued to spread.
"Baiyun Mountain Mulberry:
If it was high school, I don’t remember much about Ms. Hashimoto Reina herself, but if I want to say the most impressive thing, maybe there is only one thing.
——Nana Hashimoto. "
...
...
Asahikawa Nishi High School, Hokkaido, is located at 1-8, 5-9-chome, Kawabata-cho, Asahikawa City.
This is the high school that Hashimoto Nana was admitted to when she was sixteen years old.
When school started in April, the cherry blossoms in Hokkaido had not yet bloomed, and Nana Hashimoto still had long hair. Standing in the spacious auditorium where the opening ceremony was held, she was no different from the other students standing in rows inside.
In the girl's own words, her entire high school career can only be described as boring.
The school is divided into general subjects and science and mathematics subjects, and Hashimoto Nana happened to choose the latter, so the competition is very fierce. Therefore, during more than half of the time at school, girls switch back and forth between studying, resting, and studying. In addition to studying, they only study, and the friends they make are limited to the class they are in.
——And not much.
The only time that can be called leisurely is during club activities.
Since she also serves as the manager of the basketball team, Hashimoto Nana has to accompany the club during the exercises and stand aside to supervise... Of course, there is no need to play on the court by herself. Since middle school, she has never walked up the stairs. After accidentally falling down and injuring her waist, the girl never played ball again and could only live out her addiction——
The content of the training varied. Sometimes I would go for a run by the river outside the school. I would run back and forth on a slope that seemed to be only a few dozen meters long. It took about 30 minutes to go back and forth about ten times.
At this time, it was her rare leisure time, either sitting on the grass by the river and reading a book, raising her eyes from time to time to pay attention to the progress of the basketball club's running practice; or staring at the sparkling river in a daze, not caring about anything, etc. No need to think about it. At dusk, the ripples cast by the sunlight on the water are like strings of golden streams. The scene is really unforgettable——
After practicing, I would sometimes go to the nearby ramen shop for a full meal. There is no fixed restaurant, it depends on my mood, but the one I go to the most is a small noodle shop called Bee House.
The reason is simple. This ramen shop has reasonable prices and generous portions, and there are discounts for students. Naturally, it is easily sought after by students who don't have enough money, and Hashimoto Nana is no exception.
In addition, she will also use the pocket money she saves to occasionally go to bookstores or bookstalls to choose the books she wants to read according to her mood. This is a habit left over from the girl's childhood when she used her pocket money to buy biographies. There is nothing special about it, most of them just choose based on the packaging. Especially when you see the contrast between the title and cover of the book, it is even more attractive.
If she had more free time, she would go to a hill very close to her home—a hill, but it would be more appropriate to say it was a slope. Although the height is not as high as a real mountain, there is a row of tall maple trees planted on the slopes here, and in autumn the ground is covered with fiery red maple leaves.
Nana Hashimoto likes to relax here very much and waits until the sun goes down before leaving. Back home, there are always a few words of admonishment, and occasionally I bully my younger brother who is still in elementary school... Of course, it is not bullying in the true sense. In fact, it is mostly a joke, but sometimes it is It’s true that he will really get angry——
Although there is a TV at home, Hashimoto Nanami rarely watched TV when she was in high school. On the one hand, she did not want to compete with her younger brother, and on the other hand, because girls listened to the radio more often than to TV. ——
The reason is also very simple. When you go home and do your homework at night, you can't raise your head to watch TV and start writing at the same time, right? Therefore, whenever she is busy in the room, Hashimoto Nana is always used to turning on the radio, switching to her favorite channel, and listening to some interesting programs or music to study. Over time, she has developed a habit.
This was the beginning of her high school life.
Overall, although it seems a bit boring and ordinary, for Nana Hashimoto, there is nothing worth hating or escaping from.
On the contrary, she still felt that this time was precious for a long time afterward.
-If that hadn't happened.
