Hearing the sound of talking from downstairs, Starfish was stunned for a moment, then pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a while before confirming who was talking to his father.

She went downstairs to see that the person standing in front of Seiichiro Maki was really Naoko.

"Naoko."

Seeing a starfish wearing black-framed glasses and a homely dress, Naoko smiled slightly, "Starfish." ”

With a smile, she quickly glanced at her hotel again, and made sure that Naruse didn't come with her, before asking, "Is there anything wrong with Naoko coming over?" ”

Seeing the two chatting, Seiichiro Maki turned around and went back to the store.

"I'll get the umbrella." Naoko said.

"Umbrella?"

Starfish was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly remembered what happened the night before: although she was drenched, she finally came home with Naoko's umbrella.

"I almost forgot."

She turned and went upstairs, "I've put away that umbrella, it's upstairs." Naoko will come up and sit down for a while. ”

"Excuse me."

After taking a few steps, Starfish reacted again and turned to go downstairs.

"I'm going to pour a drink."

Naoko passed by her and asked casually, "Hasn't Kazuha come over yet?" ”

"Nope. But it's almost time, and she should be coming soon. ”

Before entering Starfish's room, Naoko stopped at the door of another room on the second floor.

There was no one left or right, and after hesitating for a few seconds, she still didn't open the sliding door.

This is the room where Naruse used to live, and it is about the same size as the starfish's room, the main difference being the side of the window facing the back street.

It was already five years ago......

Naoko sat and sat for a moment, and Starfish came up with a large bottle of barley tea and three cups.

"Please."

"Thank you." Naoko sat on a floor mat with books and notes on a low table beside her, and it looked like Starfish was studying before she came.

The few failed make-up exam papers were also on the table, and Haixing packed them up under the notebook and pressed them, a little embarrassed, "Dad said that I saw Yiye go to the bookstore just now, and she will come over later." ”

"Am I going to disturb you?"

"Ah, that's okay."

"That's good." Naoko took a sip from her cup.

Starfish suddenly thought of a possibility, "Did Naoko come here alone?" ”

"Hmm." Naoko smiled, understanding what she really wanted to ask, "Harumi is out." ”

"Oh." The starfish didn't ask much, and his face was deliberately cold.

Naoko looked at her and realized that it was much more natural to talk about this topic than to take the initiative to speak.

"Harumi has gone to get a new uniform. When he goes to school tomorrow, he's wearing the same uniform as us. ”

The starfish subconsciously turned his head, looked at the Tsugarka uniform hanging on the wall, and said casually: "Yes, it's really fast." ”

"It's the off-season for the factory."

Naoko looked at her, "Harumi got a call from the uniform shop on Friday, but because of the typhoon, I couldn't pick it up at the store - by the way, Harumi said that he ran into a starfish when he was doing those things at the café that day. ”

Starfish was just listening, but there was a sudden obvious surprise on her face, and she looked at her again.

"Did he tell Naoko?"

"Chunhai told me everything." Naoko nodded, because she didn't know what expression to show more appropriately, so she simply didn't have an expression, just looked at her calmly.

In the eyes of the starfish, it means something else entirely: the Naoko, who is always smiling, can't smile anymore.

"So what are you going to do?"

“……”

What Chunhai did in private has something to do with her?

Naoko was pleasantly surprised and surprised, and puzzlement followed.

"I ...... I don't know. She told the truth.

"He said the same."

Although he doesn't have a good relationship with his former stepbrother, he has no prejudice against the gentle and amiable Naoko.

She tried to comfort her, but for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

"Still, there's always a way to fix it...... Probably. ”

Way? Settle?

The more confused Naoko's heart became, the calmer her face became.

"What did Harumi say at the time?"

He said......"

Starfish recalled, and then remembered that Naruse didn't answer his question at the time, and that he had interpreted his silence as powerless.

Naoko was still looking at her, waiting for an answer, and Starfish simply said his previous words to support his inference.

He said that Naoko still feels that the atmosphere of the handicraft club is very good and will not quit...... Well...... Even if he is targeted, he will not be told anything. ”

“……”

Hearing the "Handicraft Society", Shangzi was stunned for a moment, and then her heart tightened.

It turned out to be because of this incident......

Thinking about Naruse's actions in the handicraft club these days, she almost understands.

Sure enough, it still troubled him.

But......

"There's always a way to fix it." Naoko smiled.

"Ah...... Well. Seeing her smile return, the starfish nodded vaguely.

She just didn't quite understand that Naoko seemed to be in a much better mood all of a sudden.

"I want to stay at the craft club because I care about like-minded friends, not people who target me." Naoko smiled at her again, "Don't worry. ”

Hearing her say this, the starfish was also relieved.

After that, Naoko, holding a glass of water, drank it or not, and was silent for a while.

When she came back to her senses and saw Starfish looking at her, she smiled and said, "Having said that, the relationship between Starfish and Chunhai seems to have changed for the better." ”

Starfish immediately sank his face and glanced to the side, not angry at her, "How is it possible." ”

Harumi said that the day before yesterday at the café, he also tutored the starfish in Japanese history.

"That's ......"

She opened her mouth, wanting to say that the truth was actually discovered by him by her inadvertent eavesdropping, and she was at a loss for a moment before accepting it in a daze.

"He's not a tutor at all." Starfish decided to deny it from another angle.

"-yes, I think that's a good way for starfish." A third man's voice came from the door.

The two looked over, "One leaf." ”

Kazuha Morimi came.

"Naoko, starfish."

She sat down and greeted the two of them.

"Are you going to start?" Naoko stood up, "Then I should go back too." ”

"Won't you sit down a little longer?" Mori saw her.

Naoko shook her head and smiled, "Starfish's make-up exam is more important, so I won't bother." ”

"That's right, umbrella." Starfish also stood up.

She opened the door to the room that belonged to Naruse and went in to look for it.

Naoko glanced at the door, "Has this become a utility room?" ”

Starfish came out with an umbrella and closed the door casually.

"There are only two people in my house, and the room is empty and empty, so I will use it to put things."

Going downstairs to see off Naoko, she went back upstairs and stood at the door of the utility room for a while.

Morimi in the room held his chin and looked out the window again without urging.

......

At the second-hand shop near the station, Naruse sat at the front desk and had been waiting for nearly an hour.

Maybe it was because of the bad weather, not a single guest came to the door during the period, and he didn't feel bored, but enjoyed it.

If you really own a second-hand store, that's what it would feel like?

Sitting at the front desk and looking inside the store, Naruse thought.

After a moment's pause, he looked down at the disassembled radio in front of him.

Although he has little contact with electrical repair, after studying for a while, he also sees what needs to be repaired.

The soldering iron was at hand, and he was confident that he could reconnect the wires, but it was someone else's stuff, and he didn't do it in the end.

Just as Naruse was about to turn the fifth lap of the store, the real owner, Naru Shiogetsu, finally returned.

The pickup truck stopped in front of the second-hand shop, and he jumped out of the car and lifted a wooden box a meter high from the body.

"You ......"

Carrying the wooden box into the store, Chao Yueming looked at Naruse, and finally remembered that he was the one who asked the store to look after him.

"Thank you, great work. I'll pay for the sighting. ”

Naruse was a little curious about how much he would pay him, and when he did hand over a thousand-dollar bill, he shook his head again, saying that he didn't need it.

"Yes." Chao Yueming didn't say anything polite to him, and put it away directly.

Naruse looked at the wooden box, "This is the record player?" ”

"That's right." Chao Yueming opened the wooden box and revealed the record player inside, "Hand-cranked, it has a history of more than a hundred years. ”

Naruse raised an eyebrow.

"What about the price?"

Chao Yueming, who had been expressionless, also showed a bit of pain at this time, "110,000 yen." ”

"It's not cheap......"

He took out another vinyl record from under the wooden box, and shook it a few times, and the old record player babbled, the kind of dance music that Naruse had only heard in movies.

After the release, Shiozuki asked Naruse to help with the handle and carried the record player into the store's warehouse.

There are more antiques in it, and Naruse was looking at it, and Chao Yueming suddenly spoke: "I remember who you look like." ”

He patted the old drawer-type wardrobe next to him, with a celebrity poster on the side, an actress who was very popular more than ten years ago and even now.

Looking at the pretty girl on the faded poster, Naruse smiled.

"She's my mom."