In the city of Tsumae, there is an ancient castle built in the early 17th century, called Tsumae Castle, which has survived the storm and is now one of the 12 remaining castle towers in Japan.

Tsumae Castle is a nearly 50-hectare Tsumae Park with nearly 5,000 cherry trees planted throughout the city, and the cherry blossoms dance every spring.

This is where the Tsuzen Cherry Blossom Festival comes from.

To the west of Tsuzen Castle, there is a moat that was originally a tributary of the Iwaki River, and the banks are planted with cherry blossom trees.

In addition to this, there are pleasure boats on the river.

Naruse and Starfish, who followed their parents and came to play before the start of the cherry blossom festival, sat on one of the rowing boats.

The rower was Seiichiro Maki, and in order to maintain balance, the two children sat at the other end of the boat, while Matsuchiaki did not come up, sitting on a bench by the river and watching with a smile.

"Don't squeeze me."

The starfish clutched the side of the boat and turned to glare at his stepbrother beside him, "I'm going to fall." ”

Naruse ignored her, clutching the side of the boat on the other side, and shrunk back to try not to touch her as much as possible.

However, the hand-rowed boat is so big, and the two children dare not get too close to the water, and there will always be friction between the rocking.

"Don't push me!"

"Who's pushing you?"

Starfish and Naruse glared at each other.

Sitting across from the two, Seiichiro Maki sighed with a headache.

"Starfish, it's hard to come out and play once, so don't quarrel with Chunhai. You look at the cherry blossoms by the river......"

"He's been squeezing me!"

"I didn't, the boat was shaking."

"You see, Chunhai didn't mean it......"

"He just did it on purpose!"

Seiichiro Maki could only sigh.

Looking at his expression, Starfish knew that her father still didn't believe her, but she could feel that the stepbrother next to her looked innocent, but he always squeezed over with a little deliberateness.

He just wanted to knock her into the river!

As for the reason, starfish can also guess.

In addition to the usual-for-tat between each other, because it was Song Qianqiu who accompanied them on the boat just now, she lost her temper and was replaced by her father.

As Seiichiro Maki waved at Matsuchiaki on the shore bench, Starfish turned his head and glared at Naruse, who had squeezed over again, and he looked at her expressionlessly.

Hidden behind the collar, the neck showed a slight red mark from her fingernails.

“……”

The guilt that flashed in her heart softened her expression for a moment, and her eyes drooped.

But only for a moment.

There are also traces left by him on her.

Just raising his gaze again, he had already turned his head and looked at the river.

Looking down, it was Matsu Chiaki who was smiling and waving at them on the bench.

True hypocrisy......

The starfish immediately turned its head away and looked to the other side.

The water is calm, there are no waves, and there are patches of pink cherry blossoms.

Bored, she reached out to pick up a slice.

The river was still a little cold, and she retracted her hand suddenly, and the petal she liked also drifted away with the waves.

“……”

For no reason, a strong thought suddenly welled up in her heart, and she was about to pick up that piece.

The starfish moved to the side, leaning over and stretching out its arms.

Most of her body was out of the boat, and the river seemed to ripple on her face, and she herself felt that this was a bit dangerous, but the cherry blossoms were already close at hand.

You'll be able to run into it right away......

At that moment, the boat beneath her suddenly shook.

Eh......

At the moment of imbalance, looking at the water surface that was getting closer and closer, the starfish was only at a loss in his heart.

Thump!

"Starfish!"

Thump!

The stirred waves of water wet the past, and between the ripples, it was finally calm.

On the Hozu River, the starfish looked away from the water, and the person sitting on the other side of the boat was still the same person back then, but the relationship between the two was no longer a stepbrother and stepsister who could not be screwed together.

“…… said that at that time, Ling fell by himself. ”

Naruse paddled the oar gently, "And I jumped down to scoop you up." ”

The starfish clung to the side of the ship, "You jumped off and got cramps, it was Dad who scooped me up with you." ”

“……”

Naruse was silent for a while, using his expressionless face to hide the embarrassment of suddenly remembering that past.

This part is obviously something I want to forget......

Coming back to his senses and looking at the nervous starfish, he shook his head, "At least I didn't shake you down." ”

She remembers that past deeply, but she still insists on her own ideas:

"It's you......"

"Tsk."

The embarrassment had not subsided, and her inexplicable and persistent planting made him a little annoyed, so he took the initiative to shake the boat.

"Ahh

The starfish immediately screamed.

"That's how you shook it then!"

“……”

Naruse was so angry that he laughed.

"Spring Sea, Starfish—"

Hearing the starfish's scream, Hikaru Takikawa greeted not far away, "What's wrong?" ”

Naruse sneered, "She's going to jump into the river." ”

Hikaru Takikawa: "Hahaha. ”

Starfish screamed, "Light, help—"

Hikaru Takikawa: "Hahaha. ”

She rowed the boat and slowly leaned over, "I feel like you're having a good time." ”

“……”

Starfish broke down a little, looked at her boat, and even began to think about jumping over when she got closer.

Naruse saw through her plan at a glance, shook his head, took a deep breath to calm down, and planned to end this farce.

"Say whatever you want about the past, but if you don't move now, the boat won't capsize—if you jump over, it will do."

“……”

Starfish immediately looked away, denying his speculation of a direct hit.

"This kind of hand-rowing boat is not so easy to flip." Hikaru Takikawa smiled, "Don't worry. ”

Takikawa Yue also comforted a few words.

The starfish had nothing to say, and although he was still clutching the side of the ship in his hands, he was not as vigilant as he had just been.

"Let's go over there and have a look." Hikaru Takikawa pointed to the other side, "Get closer to the maple leaves." ”

"Hmm." Naruse rowed the boat, adjusting the direction.

In order to take care of the frightened starfish, he slowed down, and the distance between the two boats gradually widened.

Arashiyama is reflected, the maple forests are dyed, and the surface of the Hozu River seems to be burning.

"If you come back half a month later, the maple leaves here are basically red, and it will be even more beautiful by then...... Although it's not bad now. ”

Starfish was stunned, and when she saw that the Takigawa sisters in front of her did not react, she realized that Naruse was talking to herself.

“…… Oh. ”

Naruse looked upstream, "If you come here in the summer, you can also experience rafting on the Hozu River." ”

Responding and taking the initiative to ask are completely different things, and after a long time, Starfish spoke: "Have you been here?" ”

Naruse was also a little surprised, but he quickly replied: "I came to play once during the summer vacation two years ago." ”

Is it with that person, Starfish guessed in his heart.

"I've been on the little train here."

"Eh, the one that's hard to make a reservation?!"

"Well, you have to make an appointment a week in advance."

Paddle and row, the boat approached the opposite shore. Layers of maple trees stretch out their foliage and almost hang down into the water.

There is a path on the shore, and many Tsu High School students have already come here, and there are also people who know Hikaru Takikawa.

"Let's have fun~"

"I said don't be too ostentatious...... A couple of teachers are coming over this way. ”

"It's fine."

Having said that, after staying under the maple leaves for a short while, Hikaru Takikawa rowed towards the center of the river.

After a short period of boating, they returned to the shore and went down the river to the Togetsu Bridge and the nearby Arashiyama Park.

It wasn't until half past four in the afternoon that the third-year students of Tsu High School gathered and returned, and the three of them did not stop for long, and took the train back to Gion.

(End of chapter)