The season is spring, and the time is half past two in the afternoon.

The sky over Naha Airport was clear. Thin clouds float in the sky, much bluer than Tokyo's, and just looking at them without doing anything is enough to dispel any unhappiness in your heart.

The girl with a red ponytail pushed her sunglasses above her head, squinted her eyes at the sky, and took a deep breath as if she had smelled some wonderful fragrance.

That's right, that's the taste. She said softly in her heart.

It's not a smell, it's not just something concrete that can be directly described, it's something more abstract, but something that can be clearly felt with the eyes, ears, and even the body and pores—the kind of sour emotion that springs from the bottom of the heart, meanders down the veins, and finally crawls like a vine all over the body.

“...... ただいま (I'm back). ”

She blinked her slightly moist eyes and whispered.

In a trance, someone seemed to chuckle and responded in her ear in an uninhibited southern tone, "おかえり (Welcome back)".

The red-haired girl turned her head suddenly, and unexpectedly met a pair of black eyes full of smiles, and was stunned on the spot.

"What, scared?"

The young man who suddenly appeared behind her as if he was teleporting smiled, as if he was satisfied with the effect he had made, and showed a mouthful of white teeth.

"Rin......?"

Looking at the familiar smile in front of him, Nao moved his lips hesitantly, "...... What's wrong with your head?"

"Ahh Apparently no one cared! The school people always thought I was born with blonde hair. ”

"As far as you're still a member of the Discipline Committee, your teacher's glasses are deep enough. Nao twitched the corner of his eye, raised his foot and walked out, "What about Zhinian, he should be the first to dye his forehead hair back black, right? ”

"That's right, that's right, that's the psychology of the so-called dark creatures!"

Rin Hirakoba laughed and caught up with her, placing his wrist on her shoulder as he had done as a child.

"It seems that even if you go to Tokyo, you haven't changed at all, you guy!"

"You too, even if you become a second year, you are still alive like an octopus. Feeling the nostalgic weight on her shoulders, Nao couldn't help but laugh and raised her elbow to expertly slam into the other's stomach.

"Oh! I knew you were going to do this. It's a pity that I haven't been playing for more than a year, and now I'm not so easy to be fooled by you!"

The boy easily blocked the elbow blow, raising one side of his eyebrow at her.

Nao couldn't help but be a little stunned when he heard this.

She turned her head sideways and looked at the other party seriously—honey-colored healthy skin, slender and beautiful eyes, the young man in front of her didn't seem to have changed much compared to a year ago, but the fading immaturity between her eyebrows and the sudden rise of her figure made her aware of the flow of time.

In fact, it's not just Pinggu Rin, why isn't she like this herself?

Although it was less than two years since they graduated from elementary school to the second year of junior high school, they seemed to have crossed a towering threshold with each other, and they became more and more mature physically and mentally - the irascible wild girl and the monkey jumping up and down have also disappeared and become the current Saotome Nao and Rin Heikoba.

If she doesn't come back this time, I'm afraid she won't recognize each other when they meet next time......

She couldn't help but think of her grandmother Sakurako, who had been away from her homeland for more than 30 years. How much loss and panic will she feel in her heart when she sees that the people she knows well in her hometown are all old one by one and no longer remember? When she thinks of the "guys" who forced her to spend most of her life in Tibet, how deep hatred will grow in her heart?

A faint sigh escaped from Nao's lips.

Rin Hirakoba, who was observing her friend with her spare eyes, didn't miss her expression. The young man's eyes that were shining at all times softened unconsciously, and he raised the hand holding the girl's shoulder and patted her head gently.

"Don't put on a sad look, save the troubles until tomorrow. I don't know how tricky the case is that I have to get you back, but at least Zhinian and I are here, and if there are a lot of people, we will always think of a way. ”

The black-haired young man said in a voice. There is a tenderness that can't be concealed in the tone that is different from before.

Nao opened her mouth and tried to say something that deliberately buried him as usual, but for some reason she couldn't make any sound. She pulled down her sunglasses to cover her eyes and nodded in subtle amplitude behind the lenses.

Rin Hirakuba seemed to be the happiest one about Nao's return to Okinawa - it's not that Zhiniankuan's reaction was too cold, but it was really difficult for a strong man to see any joy from his unwavering dark expression, so when he received a text message that Nao would return to Okinawa a few days ago, Rin Hirakuba, who was so excited that he almost made a fuss, immediately erased his idea of wanting to pick up the plane, so as not to give a basin of cold water to Shuguang, who rarely returned to his hometown.

Although they both knew she wouldn't care, the other two raised their hands in approval.

It should be noted that the "other two" here are the consequences of Pingguchang's too high excitement - the "almost" that almost made everyone known.

So when Nao walks into the house of the sea that he frequented as a child, he sees the scene of his gloomy friend and two strange teenagers looking at each other affectionately - or it would be more appropriate to describe it as "staring".

Think about it with your hair to know who did the good deeds. Nao glanced to the side out of the corner of his eye, his eyes full of disdain.

"That's what it means to say 'if there are a lot of people, you always think of a way?, huh?"

"Ahaha......"

Hearing that his original words were poured with a large spoonful of sarcasm and returned, Rin Hirakuba could only look at the ceiling and laugh dryly.

"Don't you know what he's doing?" Zhiniankuan, who had noticed the movement since the two of them entered the door, pulled the corners of his mouth and revealed a smile that was full of yin qi no matter how he looked.

"It's because I know it so well, so I've been prepared for it for a long time. ”

The red-haired girl walked slowly to Zhinian's side and reached out her hand, as she had done after every training session in the past, and clashed her fist with him.

"Long time no see. She smiled and said, "But when I see you, I always feel that there is no real feeling at all for more than a year." Except for the color of your forehead, you haven't changed at all!"

"You've changed a lot. Zhiniankuan said meaningfully.

"Ahh More or less. ”

Nao sighed with some emotion.

"What, this guy hasn't changed at all!!" Pingguba, who didn't understand the conversation between the two at all, looked at them with strange eyes.

Nao shrugged his shoulders undeniably at his words. Zhinian's eyes were cold, and his gaze poked at Pinggu Field Rin like a knife.

Aside from Pingguchang, Zhinian noticed it as early as elementary school - the obsession that is different from ordinary people contained in Nao's heart.

Having also had siblings and having lost his father since childhood, he understands Nao's sense of insecurity - whether it is the deathly training or the excessive attention to her sister Natsu, it comes from the untimely death of her father Kohei Saotome and the departure of her mother Junko Saotome. It's like a monster chasing after her, no matter how exhausted and scarred she is, she never stops.

Looking at the red-haired girl who appeared more and more frequently on TV, he sometimes wondered: Maybe the young Nao had a premonition at that time - that sense of crisis that never disappeared for no reason.

That's why I took it for granted and embarked on this path that ordinary people may not be able to reach in their lifetime.

The huge changes that have happened to her, which can be described as rebirth, can only be seen by a happy child like Rin Hirakoba, who doesn't have to worry about anything.

Thinking like this, the air pressure around Zhinian's body became lower and lower.

Feeling the drastic drop in temperature beside him, Nao glanced at Zhinian in surprise, and Fuer suddenly laughed as if he had thought of something.

"Zhinian you, it's really reliable!" The girl's golden green eyes bent into a crescent moon, and she patted Zhiniankuan's back vigorously with her teeth.

The people present were horrified to find that the tall and gloomy young man's ears were red.

"Wonders ......"

"Incredible......

The two teenagers across the table widened their eyes and muttered incredulously.

"Ah, yes!"

The unfamiliar voice made Nao, who had been immersed in the atmosphere of a friend's reunion, suddenly wake up, and nodded apologetically at the other party, "I haven't introduced myself yet." I'm Saotome Nao, a student of the same grade as Rin and Chinome in elementary school, and I'm currently in the second year of middle school in Tokyo, and I met for the first time. ”

As if he had realized his gaffe, the short-haired young man opposite pushed his glasses a little embarrassedly, "It's rude." I'm Kite Eishiro, who is in the same club as Heikoba-kun and Zhinian-kun, so please advise. ”

"Yujiro Kai, like them, they are both second grades, please advise!"

Another teenager with half-length black hair and a hat raised his hand and waved, the silver ring hanging from his chest with a rope to his movements. He stared at the girl with long fiery red hair and a Ryukyu style in her gestures, her brown eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Speaking of which, you're the super-famous 'Dawn of the Police World'! I've heard Rin talk about it for a long time, but ah...... It's really different from the real person and the TV!"

"How can it be the same!" Pingguchang pursed his lips with a look of disgust when he heard this, "The guy on TV who put on an expression of 'I am a partner of justice', I feel a stomachache every time I see it! ”

"Hey, don't talk about this kind of old history! Don't forget that you're part of it!"

"Liar, isn't it?!" Fei Fei became inexplicably excited, leaning over to look at Nao, "So you're similar to us! This is called the so-called alternative justice, right? I thought you should be more ...... in private How can you say it, more rigid and old-fashioned?"

"Kai-kun—"

The wooden hand dragged out his voice, and his tone was full of menace no matter how he sounded.

"What's the matter, Eishiro, aren't you interested at all?" said Yujiro Kai dissatisfied.

"Completely-no-yes. ”

Kite replied categorically, but the lens on one side reflected a harsh light.

Hirakuba grinned with his teeth grinning, completely ignoring the twitching corners of Nao's eyes, and continued, "What's more! Do you know what the bravest thing this guy has ever done is?"

"Isn't it the lone gun-wielding criminal I reported last time? I heard that the prisoner also fired!"

"Heikoba-kun is probably referring to the events before Saotome became a police officer. Speaking of which, a few years ago, I had heard a rumor...... "The wooden hand lifted the frame on the other side with his knuckles, and the dark purple pupils met the golden green of the girl's Yingying," a schoolboy was besieged by a delinquent teenager, and with a broken left hand, he defeated all the bad guys who attacked him with only one person, and the atmosphere in that area was very stable for a short time. After hearing this rumor, I have always wondered, what kind of psychological state was that elementary school student in at that time, and what kind of reason could give him the strength that can almost be called invincible?"

Looking at Kite's inquiring eyes, Nao narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"But at the end of the day, just like the level of tennis supervised by our club, it's probably just a joke based on false rumors. ”

As if unaware of the coldness in the girl's eyes, the black-haired boy curled the corners of his mouth and picked up the teacup with some pleasure.