When I came to Morimi Bookstore, Kazuha was sorting out the bookshelves.

"Are you coming?"

After saying hello to her parents, she picked up her schoolbag and followed the three of Naruse to the real wood hotel diagonally opposite.

"It's nice to have a study meeting together."

Seiichiro Maki was a little happy, and the starfish quickly came down from the upper floor.

"Be careful on the road."

"Okay." Naruse stayed behind, "We'll send the starfish back." ”

"I'm relieved to have Chunhai here." Seiichiro said.

Naruse didn't say anything and nodded.

Following his companion in front, Starfish looked at him one more time and then looked ahead.

Walking through the snow, one step at a time, Morimi's house was not close, and in this case it seemed even farther away.

"It takes a lot of time to walk this way every day." Naruse stepped on the white snow and looked back at Morimi, "Why don't you live in the bookstore?" ”

"I'd love to."

“……”

Seeing him roll his eyes, Morimi smiled briefly.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a little extra steps. Such a long journey is just right to tidy up your mood. ”

"Yes......"

Hikaru Takikawa nodded understandingly, "If I had to walk this far before going out, maybe I would have been numb to going to school." ”

"It's not the same thing at all, don't be numb."

Walking forward for a while, Naruse narrowed his eyes.

"It's almost there."

Naoko took his arm and raised her gaze as well, and Morimi was in front of her.

The starfish exhaled a cloud of cold air and shrunk his neck again, "It's finally ...... arrived."

"There's no air conditioning over there." Morimi said next to him.

"Eh, isn't it cold?"

"Resist with your will, and you won't feel cold."

"Eh......"

She laughed.

And when she arrives at Morimi's house, Starfish realizes that she is joking - her family's old house does not have air conditioning, but there is a kotatsu and electric heater.

"Can five people sit down?" When Naruse was at home, he turned on the air conditioner in the room and the floor heating in the living room, and never used the kotatsu.

"I can still sit down if I squeeze it." Morimi put down his school bag, "You guys sit down first, I'll make tea." ”

Naoko followed, "I'll help." ”

"No...... What is it? Morimi suddenly noticed what she had brought up.

"Onigiri." Naoko smiled slightly, "Let's eat together when you're hungry." ”

Morimi looked at it again and couldn't help but shake his head: "When I'm with Naoko, I always have the feeling that I'm not a girl." ”

Naoko smiled, "How so." ”

When the two returned to the living room, Naruse, Hikaru Takigawa, and Starfish had already burrowed into the kotatsu, and the former was looking down inside.

"There should be a switch or something...... There seems to be an electric heater under the table. ”

"The switch is over here." Morimi put down the cup, lifted the quilt, and skillfully turned on the switch of the electric heater.

"Ah, it's hot." Hikaru Takikawa was quick to give feedback.

Morimi smiled and pointed to the other electric heater that was placed outside, "Does this need to be turned on?" ”

"No, it's enough to have a kotatsu."

The kotatsu on all four sides, the three of them sat on one side, and Naoko sat next to Naruse quite naturally, squeezed with him, and gave up the empty seat to Morimi.

Next to it is a starfish, and Hikaru Takikawa sits opposite.

Waiting for Morimi to sit in the kotatsu, his ten legs tucked intricately under the quilt, so intimate that he couldn't be more intimate.

"Don't hold me down...... Whose leg is this? ”

"Wait a minute, Chunhai doesn't move yet."

"I haven't touched ......"

It took a while to adjust before everyone was barely satisfied.

"Let's get started."

According to the pattern of the afternoon in the library, several people continued to hold a study meeting.

Starfish, Naoko, and Hikaru Takikawa find their own problems by doing exercises, and Naruse and Morimi are responsible for answering questions for the three of them, checking and filling in the gaps by the way, looking for their own loopholes.

"Kazuha, what does this mean?"

"I'll see...... Does Light recognize this word? ”

"I don't know."

"This is a new word I learned this semester, haven't I taken the test before?"

Morimi was flipping through the vocabulary book while explaining to Hikaru Takikawa, and at one moment suddenly looked up at the starfish opposite: "Is there a problem?" ”

She wanted to speak and stopped, and looked at her for a long time.

Starfish picked up the exercise book, "This question ......"

Morimi glanced at it, "Naruse." ”

"I'll see." Naruse took the exercise book and put it between each other, "Which question?" ”

Starfish looked at him and held out a finger, "This." ”

A very simple question, and it is also a common type, Naruse looked at it twice, and almost calculated the answer in his heart.

It's just that he has to make the starfish understand his train of thought.

"The question is that the minimum value of this quadratic function in this interval is not understood?"

"No...... I understood, but the answer I made was different from the number of the normal answer. ”

"Hmm, it's different......"

Isn't that just doing something wrong?

"Let me see your process."

Starfish handed over the sketchbook, and Naruse glanced at it and saw what the problem was.

"Before finding the extremum, have you confirmed the position of the vertex?"

Starfish looked at him and shook his head.

"Then you reconfirm and try again."

Starfish took back the sketchbook and the exercise book, and was about to start working on it, when he added:

"Whether you're sure or not, a sketch when solving a quadratic function problem can help you avoid a lot of mistakes."

"Oh......"

After a while, Naruse heard her suddenly take a breath and understood where she had found her mistake.

After a while, she lowered her head and said, "It's done."

"Hmm."

Naruse replied and didn't say anything more.

"Spring Sea ......"

Returning to his attention, Naoko was entangled in the topic he had to think about for a while.

"I can't see the idea of solving the problem at a glance."

"It's okay, this question is difficult, and Morimi can't even see it at a glance."

“……”

Morimi, who was teaching Takakikawa Hikaru grammar, glanced at him.

Naoko smiled.

"It's a bit complicated, and it's not easy to explain...... I'll do it first, and then I'll explain it to Naoko. ”

"Uh-huh, okay."

Outside the house, it was freezing and the wind and snow were howling.

In the warm kotatsu in the house, two people tutored three people, busy but not nervous, and everyone had their own fun.

Time flowed silently, and at one point, Hikaru Takikawa's phone vibrate.

"Whose message...... Wow, is it all this time? Mom asked me when I was going back. ”

Naruse also glanced at the time, only to realize that it was almost eleven o'clock in the evening.

The five of them sat motionless in the kotatsu for three or four hours.

"Hmm—are you going back?" Morimi stretched out restrainedly.

"It's not too early......

Hikaru Takikawa pulled out his legs with some difficulty, and as soon as he climbed out of the kotatsu, he immediately got into it.

"Wow, it's cold! …… Let's stay a little longer. ”

"The longer you stay in the kotatsu, the more you don't want to leave."

"Hmm......"

She lay down, "Just for a moment." ”

When he came back to his senses, Starfish couldn't sit still and reluctantly crawled out of the kotatsu.

"Starfish?"

"I'll go for a while...... Over there. ”

She pointed in the direction of the toilet.

The kotatsu was a little empty, and Naruse was able to move his legs, and his upper body was stretched.

After he settled down, Naoko leaned over again, "Are you hungry?" ”

"A little."

"Do you want to eat balls?"

"Eat."

Naoko climbed out of the kotatsu, and Morimi followed, "It's been so long, the rice balls have become cold, and there is a microwave in the kitchen." ”

"Great, let's warm it up."

The two left the living room, and only Naruse and Hikaru Takikawa were left in the kotatsu.

She drilled down again, revealing only her head.

"It's so comfortable......"

"Don't fall asleep."

"I don't want to go home anymore. Chunhai, let's sleep here at night. ”

“……”

Naruse looked at the lattice door, the wind and snow were howling outside, and he really didn't want to leave this warm place.

But you can only think about it.

"Don't fall asleep."

"Got it."

After a while, Starfish returned to the living room, and his steps suddenly stopped.

“…… What about them? ”

"I'm going to the kitchen to warm up the rice balls." Naruse said.

"Oh......"

Her steps were slow, grinding, and it took her half a day to come.

It's not alone......

Naruse was thinking in his heart, when the starfish who returned to the kotatsu suddenly let out a low cry.

"Ahh

"Hahaha......"

There was a burst of laughter from the kotatsu.

Boom!

The table suddenly went up, and the laughter stopped abruptly.

"—what's wrong?"

Hearing the movement here, Morimi hurried back to the living room, only to see Hikaru Takikawa covering his head and moaning, while Starfish stood aside, a little overwhelmed.

"Pain Pain Pain ......"

She looked at Naruse, and his face was full of helplessness.

"Leave her alone...... Retribution. ”

(End of chapter)