The rain outside the window had been raining for more than an hour, and the momentum had slowed down slightly, but it still didn't stop.

Sitting on the second floor of the café, the starfish who didn't have an umbrella couldn't leave, and ordered another cup of coffee.

She wasn't bored either, watching the girls come here in line to "date" her ex-stepbrother, and she even started counting.

This is the fourth one......

No, it was only the fourth she saw. Who knows how many girls he had met here before she came.

And her thoughts have changed from being surprised at first, to now just wanting to know what he is doing.

Screening a girlfriend from among these people?

Judging from the fact that the girls came in line and did not collide with each other, it seems that this is possible.

The second cup of coffee also bottomed out, and Starfish looked out the window at the rain, thinking about whether to order another cup and ask for another piece of cake by the way.

"—then I'll go back first."

After chatting for more than ten minutes, the fourth girl was about to leave.

Starfish lowered her head and listened to the movement over there.

"It's raining so heavily, be careful on the road."

"Uh-huh. Thank you, Naruse-san. I'm a pleasure chatting with you. ”

"Hehe, so am I."

Then there was the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer.

When she went downstairs, Starfish raised her gaze and found that Naruse had taken out a notebook again, recording something on it.

Starfish guessed that it was a multi-faceted evaluation of the girl, such as appearance, personality, and figure. Among the boys in Class E, it is said that there is a mysterious manual that covers all the girls in the entire grade.

After the fourth girl left, nearly ten minutes passed, and the fifth girl still did not appear.

Is that all?

But it's really not early, not to mention that it's still raining outside.

It seems that the rain will not stop for a while, what should she do......

Retracting his gaze from the window, the starfish shook suddenly, like a frightened rabbit.

- Naruse turned around at some point and was looking at her.

“……”

Seeing her reaction, he smiled briefly, with a lot of helplessness on his face.

"It's been an hour, why are you still here?"

“……”

It turned out that he had already discovered her.

The starfish was no longer surprised, only felt that both cheeks instantly became hot, and then a little angry.

"You have to take care of it."

She wanted to leave from here now, but the rain prevented her from going nowhere.

"Didn't you pass the make-up exam?" Naruse asked suddenly.

“……”

Starfish gritted their teeth, even if they had nowhere to go, they couldn't stay here any longer!

She staggered to her feet, grabbed her bag, and turned to go downstairs.

It was only halfway down that she saw that there were people sitting underneath, and it seemed that they were all stopped here by the heavy rain.

She hurried downstairs, the movement was not small, and more than a dozen eyes suddenly all converged on the stairs, staring silently.

“……”

It was raining outside, and it was impossible to walk, and the starfish could not continue to stay on the first floor in such a situation of being watched, so they turned around and went up again.

Naruse, who had already turned around, looked back and said nothing.

The starfish returned to its original position and began to sit down.

Except for the clerk who was quickly dismissed, no more people came up.

There was no communication between the remaining two, and the second floor was so quiet that only the sound of rain could be heard.

And just like that, another ten minutes passed.

Closing the cap, Naruse stared at the note, thought for a moment, and closed the notebook as well.

Today's harvest is not small, and he is ready to go back.

Just looking at the time, he realized that there were still forty minutes left before the next bus to Aoyagi arrived.

"It's a real problem...... The rain didn't stop. ”

Turning around and seeing the starfish, Naruse was stunned for a moment, and then remembered what she had just gone and returned.

"You haven't passed the retake?"

The starfish was stunned and furious.

It's not enough for this person to be sarcastic just now, it's endless!

"If you don't pass it, you'll be in trouble. Did you bring the test paper, let me see. Naruse said again.

"Huh?"

Starfish froze.

"There's still some time anyway."

Naruse looked out the window, hoping that this casual time would not be extended by the heavy rain.

Starfish looked at him, was silent for a while, and only after he spoke again did he whimsical over with his schoolbag and take out all four make-up exam papers.

Sweeping his gaze, Naruse raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Starfish stared at him closely, and his tone was not good.

He smiled, didn't say much, and asked, "What is the standard for passing the Tianjin High School exam?" ”

"You don't even know that? …… If you have an average score of more than half, you will be considered a pass. ”

"What about the specific scores of these subjects?" He asked again.

After being tortured for so many days, the starfish remembered clearly and said them one by one.

Naruse didn't say anything, swept the four test papers in his hand again, and took out the history of Japan in them.

"It shouldn't be difficult for you to remember that Oda Nobunaga is the 'Sixth Heavenly Demon King', and it shouldn't be difficult to remember that the political policy he pursued is 'the world's Buwu'."

Starfish lowered his eyes and looked at the table, "There are so many names, who remembers them clearly." ”

"If you can't remember anything, you'll never be able to pass the Japanese history of the starfish."

She pursed her lips, thinking that he had utterly uttered useless nonsense.

"You think that there are too many names and events to remember, and it is simply because you have only a vague idea of Japanese history as a whole."

Naruse looked at her, "Do you think that the names of Oda Nobunaga, Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen, and Tokugawa Ieyasu are being called around, and suddenly the Warring States period is over, and then suddenly it is the Meiji Restoration." ”

Starfish raised his gaze, looked at him, and quickly looked away.

"Isn't that so?"

"Of course not."

Naruse smiled, dipped his fingers in the unfinished coffee, and drew a zigzag line on the coffee table.

"History is a long river from far to near, and every time it turns, there must be a reason."

He drew a few more dots on the line.

"This is the Meiji Restoration, this is the Edo period, the Sengoku period, the Northern and Southern Dynasties era...... If the goal is only to pass the exam, then just remember where the river turned, and who and what caused it to turn, and that's pretty much it. ”

Starfish was stunned for a moment, then looked at him again.

"Did you bring a book on the history of Japan?"

She took out the history of Japan from her schoolbag and handed it to him, but he pushed it back.

"What do you want me to do. The book is here, you can try to draw a 'river' by yourself. ”

She looked at the river of coffee that twisted in front of him and nodded slowly.

Watching her take out her notebook and flip through the history of Japan in a daze, Naruse glanced at the time and realized that she could still have another cup of coffee.

"Would you like another cup of coffee?"

Starfish was stunned, then shook his head.

Regardless of the fact that she had already drunk two large cups of coffee, the current atmosphere seemed a little strange......

Naruse didn't say much, got up and went downstairs.

The starfish continued to flip through the history of Japan, and suddenly his eyes fell on the notes on the other side.

“……”

The notebook that may have recorded his evaluation of the girl he was "dating" today.

She hesitated.

If you just take a quick look, you won't be noticed......

If it was something else that had nothing to do with it, she would put it back immediately.

Starfish turned his head to look, but there was no movement on the stairs, so he quickly picked up his notebook and flipped through it.

【Kazumi Suzuki:

Friendly.

Naoko's friend.

The original intention of joining the craft club was to socialize. 】

……

Haruka Yamamoto:

Neutrality. (doubtful)

Passionate about paper art, he doesn't care about interpersonal relationships within the community. 】

【Ritsuko Sugiyama:

Neutrality. (doubtful)

Minister of Handicrafts.

Know Naoko's situation. (doubtful)

He had reminded the ship, Takahashi and others to converge. (doubtful)

There are plans to let Naoko take over. (doubtful)

Valuing the community. 】

……

【Qianjia on board:

Abhor.

There are many targets for Naoko, and the reason is unknown. (Physiognomy?) Appraise? ）

Learn about Naoko's life.

I don't want Naoko to take over the handicraft company. 】

【Takahashi Tomoyo:

Abhor.

Often targeted at Naoko. (Jealousy?) ）

was witnessed secretly cutting the puppet that Naoko left in the ministry. (Private, can't be revealed.) ）】

……

“……”

The more Haixing looked, the more surprised he became, was this a survey specifically about the friendliness of the members of the handicraft club towards Naoko?

It turns out that a good old man like Naoko is in such a bad situation in the community.

She was so distracted by the shock that she even forgot about her situation, until she suddenly realized that something was wrong with her.

The starfish turned its head and slowly raised its gaze.

Naruse looked at her calmly.

"Is there anyone you know?"