Asahikawa Nishi High School, Hokkaido.
The setting sun has fallen in the sky, leaving only a silent gray-blue drifting. Stars are like diamonds dotted on this oil painting-like night. Baiyun Mountain can still be clearly recognized through the dim light of incandescent lamps on the roadside. These few words in front of me.
Asahikawa City Kawabata-cho 5-9-chome 1-8, this is the place——
The address next to him was accurate. He looked up at the teaching building shrouded in the night. Only part of the building's frame could be vaguely discerned through hazy lines.
The leaves of the trees planted in the open space have long since fallen off, leaving only empty tree branches sticking out of the fence. There are a few bicycles parked in twos and threes under the fence. It is unclear whether they are locked or not, and the scene looks a bit cold.
This is the alma mater where Nanamin stayed for three years——
It’s hard to imagine what the stubborn and cold-blooded girl now looked like when she attended this school in the past. Baiyunshan couldn't help but think.
She said she was boring and low-key when she was in school. In fact, that should be the case, right? It's unimaginable to say that a girl like her is so public. Apart from studying in class, she doesn't have many spare time activities because of her poor health, right? As she said herself——
It's true that I like basketball, and I also like to go to football games, but later on, due to changes in my family, my interest in this aspect became less and less, right?
Not only that, she is definitely more low-key and dull. Hashimoto Nanami, who has long hair, wears a uniform and carries a schoolbag, goes to and from school alone, and looks no different from other girls of the same age. But in the heart, who can imagine what kind of state of mind this teenage girl was carrying at that time?
At least, her father's death must have been a huge blow to her——
Baiyunshan stood in the cold air covered with snow, silently understanding the girl's mood at that time.
Looking at the empty school gate, he suddenly had the urge to go in and take a look, but then he turned around and looked in one direction, and the sound of footsteps on the snow could be heard in his ears.
"How did you know I was here?"
The girl's thin face could still be seen clearly in the dim light. Baiyunshan was a little surprised when he saw this, and subconsciously asked.
Naturally, the person who came was none other than Hashimoto Nanami. The girl did not answer Baiyunshan's question, but first took a deep look at the school gate and building in front of her, and then slowly looked away after looking at it for a while. , turned to look at him.
"From the time you asked that kid Hinako to bring a letter to my room, I had almost guessed that you wanted to use her to ask me about the past—"
"So you saw it -"
Baiyunshan smiled awkwardly.
In fact, just as the girl said, the reason why Baiyun Mountain went to so much trouble was not only to communicate by writing letters, but more importantly, of course, to obtain information about the girl's past.
In fact, you can ask Mrs. Hashimoto about this kind of thing, but more importantly, Baiyunshan is not just about getting information. He has not forgotten that his purpose is to make the girl change her mind and go back with him. It's okay to get information from Mrs. Hashimoto, but how can it compare to letting the girl tell it herself? You know, sometimes talking about the past is also a way to open up your heart——
I just didn’t expect that my idea would be seen through by the other party from the beginning.
"——As for the future, I will come here to take a look. It is really normal."
Nana Hashimoto added.
"Where is Hinako? Has she gone back?"
Baiyunshan asked again.
Hashimoto Nana nodded slightly and said: "In addition, she told me that she will go back to Chiba tomorrow, saying that she also wants to sign up for Idol because of me."
"Yeah, it's a good thing——"
Baiyunshan nodded, a little surprised that a fool would make such a choice, but then he thought of the stories the girl told during the day and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "But I asked you to tell some stories that happened in high school. Who would have thought that you would actually tell all this? I saw clearly that when the child Hinako came out, her eyes were red, and she cried a lot at first sight——"
"Isn't that what you want to know?"
Hashimoto Nanami looked at him and asked.
Baiyunshan was suddenly speechless.
After the silence, the girl slowly spoke again and said softly: "Do you want to know what else happened next?"
Baiyunshan's eyebrows slowly raised.
...
...
The long period after the funeral was somewhat depressing.
Having lost the breadwinner of the family, she also lost her only source of income. For the sake of her family and children, Mrs. Hashimoto, who had just lost her husband not long ago, had to force herself to quickly get over her grief and become a full-time housewife again. He went out to look for work, but the situation did not improve quickly.
The first is the debt issue. Although Hashimoto's father died in a car accident, it was purely an accident. There was no so-called perpetrator, and there was no issue of compensation at all. On the contrary, because of his death, some of the economic loans that were bound to him during his lifetime lost their source and could not be repaid in time, so he owed a large amount of debt.
Fortunately, with the help of relatives and friends, as well as the Hashimoto family's own savings, the debt was quickly repaid in full, preventing this fragile family from being sent off the cliff.
However, after this incident, the Hashimoto family's savings were almost emptied, and the remaining savings could barely cover daily expenses. In times of emergency, even water and electricity bills could not be paid in time, resulting in a blackout of water and electricity at home for a period of time. , the situation can be described as precarious——
Mrs. Hashimoto also had to work several part-time jobs, relying on the support of relatives and friends to survive. As the days passed, the situation improved slightly after she adapted to this situation, and she no longer needed to rely on financial support. It's just that because he is busy at work all day long, he naturally lacks a lot in the management and education of his children, but there is nothing that can be done about it.
It was in this environment that Hashimoto Nana's unique character was shaped step by step. In addition, she saw clearly that although the situation seemed to be getting better step by step, it would not last long. With my mother's level of exertion, it would be okay at first, but if I continue to persist, I'm afraid I won't be able to last for a few years.
So the next decision was made.
"What? You want to go to Tokyo to study alone?!"
When Mrs. Hashimoto heard the news, she was in disbelief at first, but then decisively rejected it without hesitation: "No! Nanamin, you are in such poor health, how can I trust you to go such a far place alone? No, I can't promise!"
"I know......"
Hearing the concern hidden in her mother's words, Hashimoto Nanami felt a warm current in her heart, but was soon overtaken by a firmer will: "It's just that I have reached such an age, and I don't want to drop out of school after high school. , if you continue to study in college, it will bring a burden to you and Kenta, so this is the only way to do it——"
"You, what do you mean..."
Hearing that her daughter's words seemed to have other meanings, Mrs. Hashimoto couldn't believe it and looked at her blankly.
As expected, Nana Hashimoto bowed slowly to express her gratitude, her tone soft but unshakable: "Don't worry, after I go to Tokyo, I will work and make money on my own, and I won't ask you for any living expenses. If you really feel sorry for yourself, please send me some rice occasionally, please——"
Mrs. Hashimoto was speechless.
