At the junction of the shade of the trees and the beach, Toru Shimizu squinted his eyes and looked at Nanami. In the monotonous footsteps on the wooden sidewalk, there was a considerable distance between the two.

Seeing the sound of the waves on the side, he also had plans to join in the fun, Qing Shui Toru coughed lightly, and preemptively spoke: "Come out to sketch on your day off, does Nanami-san like painting very much?" ”

"Hmm." She lowered her head and snorted softly, and there was a beautiful arc on the bridge of her nose from the side, "I loved it in high school, and this year I tried to apply for Tokyo University of the Arts." It's a pity that my grades were a little worse, and I was only admitted to the design major. So I had to find time to practice painting on my own. ”

"The design major of Dongyi University is also very powerful."

"Nothing. What about Shimizu-san? Is it a professional writer? ”

"Not to that extent," Toru Shimizu waved his hand, "I'm still studying at the Waseda Faculty of Letters." As for writing, in addition to personal interests, it is also a means to earn living expenses. ”

She nodded, not asking anything more.

A newlywed couple in Western-style dresses passed by, followed by two or three videographers with professional equipment, as if they had come to the beach to take wedding photos. The two paused to move out of the way, watched the pedestrian walk onto the beach, and fell silent.

Inexplicably wanting to record something, Toru Shimizu picked up the camera and pointed it at the shore and pressed the shutter a few times. Nanami Nanami also seemed to be a little interested, and when he finished filming, he asked softly, "Can you let me take a look?" ”

"No problem."

In order to avoid the previous situation, Toru Shimizu took the camera off his neck and handed it to her. Seeing her looking at the screen seriously, she unconsciously missed the smell of shampoo.

What is the situation of yourself today?

It's a strange feeling. Before I had time to understand it clearly, Nanami Nanami next to me suddenly said: "This coast is similar to my neighborhood." ”

"Where is Nanami-san's home?"

Toru Shimizu responded immediately. I feel like I can think about it again, but the topics that finally came up are not to be missed.

"Otaru City, Hokkaido, have you ever been to Shimizu-san?"

"Nope. But I've seen Shunji Iwai's movies. ”

"Love Letters? My house is not far from the filming location. ”

"If only I had the opportunity to see it."

Nanami raised her head and looked at him when she heard this, and she didn't know what was flashing in her bright eyes.

Some worries about whether some ideas that she didn't understand were discovered by her. She just returned the camera, looked at the coast again, and asked, "Is Shimizu-san from Tokyo?" ”

"No, I'm from Kyoto, and I've been there all the time before I went to university."

"Kyoto, I went there once when I was in high school."

"Travel?"

"It's because of the high school girls' basketball league," she looked back at Toru Shimizu with a surprised face and smiled, "Why, can't you see it?" ”

Noticing her slender wrists exposed outside the cuffs, Toru Shimizu smiled a little and nodded in acknowledgement.

It seems that he has found the rhythm of communication, and the words are finally free of the strangeness they had when they first met. Breathing a sigh of relief, Toru Shimizu asked a question that he had been concerned about lately.

"Nanami-san only came to Tokyo this year?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

A gust of sea breeze blew, and she raised her hand to pull the strands of hair that had spread out from her sideburns behind her ears.

"Last time, after the book signing, we met at a barbecue restaurant, right? Later, I... I went with a friend again and found out that you had resigned. Is something wrong? ”

She tilted her head and looked over, her scrutinizing gaze making Qing Shui Toru feel a little inexplicably empty. Luckily, it didn't last a few seconds before she bent her eyes, lowered her head and chuckled.

"Nothing happened, just because school started. Although the hourly salary there is a little higher, it is a bit too late to go to work there after class. ”

"I see."

Qing Shui Toru exhaled. Although the doubts were solved, I always felt that she had seen through something.

"In that case, I also have a question for Shimizu-san."

"Just say yes."

"Why does Shimizu-san want to become a writer?"

Never asked like this, Toru Shimizu couldn't give an answer right away.

If you really want to talk about it, the so-called interest in literature that was previously shown by both teachers and elders was neither encouraged nor opposed, and it was good to develop freely. I don't know my relatives and friends who write for a living. Even when he decided to apply for the Faculty of Arts in high school, his parents just said, "Since you've decided, let's work hard." ”

In short, everything seems to come naturally.

Looking at the undulating sea, Toru Shimizu thought back seriously. Nanami Nanami stood aside and did not urge.

"It should be because of a feeling." As if he had caught something, he suddenly spoke.

"Feelings?"

"I remember when I got up one day not long after I started high school, I suddenly felt that something was wrong. How to put it, it's like a piece of the complete puzzle has been taken away. Whether it's reading books on the shelves or listening to others talk about something, I always feel... It's like some part of the world is missing. After feeling that way for a while, I suddenly felt that I might as well fill in the blanks. ”

Speaking of this, Qing Shui Toru himself also felt a little bit of a spectrum, smiled self-deprecatingly, and said, "How is it?" Doesn't it sound like the fantasy of a second-year teenager? ”

Nanami seemed to have realized something, but she just nodded lightly with a sudden expression and didn't give any comment.

It wasn't obvious when she first said it, and as she moved, her inexplicable shame began to swell. didn't care about guessing what she had realized, Toru Shimizu just wanted to find a random topic to cover up the "reason for becoming a writer", so he blurted out the things that had been a headache for the past two days.

"By the way, Nanami-san thinks I can go and preach to high school students?"

"Preach?"

Having just been dragged out of her thoughts, Nanami looked like she didn't quite understand what he meant.

"It is to tell the students who come to visit about their application experience and school situation, and the most important thing is their personal achievements."

"Any questions?"

"Compared to the predecessors of Haruki Shugami and Shion Miura, a writer like me who only has one book has no personal achievements that can be mastered, right?"

Spit out these words, and Toru Shimizu noticed that Nanami's gaze was a little strange.

"It seems that Shimizu-san has high expectations for herself," she curled the corners of her mouth and laughed, "but for ordinary people like us, it is very powerful to be able to put our works in the bookstore." ”

"It's not ordinary people who can be admitted to Dongyi University."

Ignoring his interruption, Nanami Nanami raised her head and stared at Toru Shimizu's eyes, took away her smile, and said seriously, word by word: "At least, Shimizu-san, who signed for me at the bookstore, is a real writer in my opinion." ”

Following her gaze, the unknown emotion that suddenly brightened in her eyes flowed in. Barely resisting some kind of urge to run rampant in his heart, Qing Shui Toru pretended not to move and looked away.