Thursday, the morning of the first day of final exams.

Waking up from Matsu Chiaki's embrace, Naoko was stunned for a while.

Last night, at the request of Matsu Qianqiu, she stayed here for the night.

It wasn't the first time she'd slept in this room, she had stayed here on a previous typhoon-ravaged night.

And this isn't the first time she's slept with Harumi's mother.

When she didn't have the current ability to take care of herself, and her adoptive parents were busy with the work of the research institute, she often lived in the Naruse house, so naturally she slept with Matsu Chiaki.

It's been years since then......

Lying in the warm quilt and smelling the familiar smell, Naoko misses it a little.

Until she suddenly realized the problem of time.

There was no alarm clock in Matsu Qianqiu's room, so Naoko touched the bedside, picked up the phone and glanced at it, and her breath stagnated.

“……”

Carefully getting out of the bed, Naoko hurried to change her clothes.

As soon as she stepped out of the room, she heard movement from the kitchen.

"Are you awake?"

Naruse looked back at her, "Take your time, breakfast is almost ready." ”

Naoko walked over and looked at the sizzling bacon in the frying pan, then at him again, "Sorry, I overslept......"

"It's still early."

Naruse turned her head to look at her slightly messy hair, "Did you sleep well last night?" ”

Naoko nodded, smiling.

"Let's go wash up first."

"Okay."

When the two started to eat breakfast, Matsu Chiaki got up.

She was wearing pajamas and lay on Naoko from behind, "The breakfast is so rich, Naoko is amazing." ”

Naoko smiled, "Breakfast was prepared by Harumi. ”

"Haruhi is also very powerful." Song Qianqiu smiled at his son, "Give me a slice of bacon, ah-"

Naoko picked up the bacon and fed it to her, Matsu Chiaki opened her mouth to bite it, turned around and went back to the room.

"I'm going to sleep a little longer, so you don't have to say hello when you go out."

"Got it."

After breakfast, Naruse and Naoko went out on time, met up with their companions at the platform, and then squeezed the bus to school together.

At the door of the E class classroom, Naruse looked at the two people who went in and said, "Come on for the exam."

Starfish looked at him, unsure if he had said it to himself, and Morimi smiled.

"Aren't you afraid that I'll steal the first place in your grade?"

"Probably not this time."

She snorted.

Naruse looked at the starfish again, "Be serious, be careful." ”

“…… I know. ”

Naoko and Hikaru Takikawa also said cheers to the two, and then followed Naruse to Class C.

The student on duty arrived early and had already written today's exam information on the blackboard.

There are two exams in the morning, the first in biology and the second in English, starting at nine o'clock.

"I hope it doesn't get too hard......" Hikaru Takikawa prayed.

After a long wait, the invigilator finally arrived.

Jingle Bell Bell –

The bell rings and the exam officially begins.

Naruse picked up the test paper and scanned it from beginning to end.

And in the classroom next door and next door, Morimi made the same move and came to the same conclusion as him.

"It's not too difficult......"

The test papers are not too difficult, but they are more dangerous, and the high score is easy to test, and a little negligence will make her final ranking drop a lot.

"Focus."

Holding the academic omamori hanging tightly against her underwear, she took a deep breath and began to answer.

Unlike usual, the final exam schedule of Tsu High School is relatively tight, with four exams in one day.

By half past two in the afternoon, the exam was still underway.

After writing the answer to the last brief question, Naruse breathed a sigh of relief and stretched out on his desk.

After a moment of relaxation, he flipped back to the first page of the test paper and checked it from the beginning.

The low difficulty means that there are many people who can get a high score, and a small mistake may be four or five in the ranking.

And since he has occupied his current position, he will not let it out again.

After checking it all without distractions, and waiting for a while, the bell rang for the end of the exam.

Pass the test papers, and that's the end of today's exam.

Hikaru Takikawa cheered, and Naruse turned around, and she made a shot at him.

"Today's exam is easy for me."

"It's not too hard."

"Now you can have a good year with peace of mind."

Naruse smiled, "Have you ever failed?" ”

"A few times it was dangerous."

Having said that, no matter how dangerous the situation was, she successfully passed it and has never retaken the exam so far.

After a while, Zhongyuan Xue came over for an evening shift meeting, said a few words that didn't hurt, and announced the end of school.

The ban on club activities is still in effect, and a relaxed Takikawa Hikaru is calling friends, while Naruse and Naoko prepare to go straight home.

After all, there is one more very important thing to do after going back.

Morimi and Starfish leave the school with them.

On the way, Morimi asked how Naruse felt on the first day of the exam, "How was it?" ”

He thought for a moment, "The competition for the top 10 in the grade should be fierce." ”

She felt the same way, and said, "The first grade is also the same." ”

Naruse smiled.

"Don't be squeezed out of the top ten."

"I'll give it back to you."

Naoko and Starfish have not yet been able to set foot in their field, and at this time they are only glad that the exam is easy.

"Will the starfish come home with us later?" Naoko asked.

“……”

The two were a few steps behind, and Starfish looked at her, and then at Naruse in front of him, "Did he tell you?" ”

"Hmm."

She nodded her head in response to her previous question.

Naoko didn't say much, just told her to relax.

Starfish hesitated, "Naoko, when you get to his house, can you ......?"

"I understand."

Naoko smiled at her, "I'll always be in Harumi's room, too." ”

"Thank you."

After Haixing thanked him, his eyes fell on Naruse again, and he said in a low voice:

"I was going to look for her while you're away...... You don't have to bother like you do now. ”

"But Harumi can't rest assured."

"Hmm...... It's all my fault. ”

There is a lot of overlap in each other's pasts, and when it comes to Song Qianqiu, Starfish knows that he is very protective of himself.

Therefore, it is also difficult for her to let go of his sudden change of attitude.

"Naoko, there's one more thing ......"

Starfish leaned into her ear, "Don't let him eavesdrop." ”

Although she just wanted to apologize to Song Qianqiu, she still didn't want her apology to fall into the ears of a third person, especially when the third person was him.

"Chunhai wouldn't do such a thing."

Naoko laughed, then nodded to her again, "I know, even if Harumi wants to eavesdrop, I'll hold him." ”

Starfish looked at her and couldn't help but say, "You have a really good relationship with him. ”

"Yes, Spring Sea is everything to me."

“……”

The two looked at each other, and Naoko's expression remained unchanged, as if she had just said something ordinary.

"So the matter of Chunhai is also my business. Of course, the same is true for Sister Harumi. ”

“…… I'm not his sister anymore. Starfish looked away, "I don't want to be his sister either." ”

Naoko grabbed her arm and stared at her.

"No, in Chunhai's heart, the starfish is still the role of a sister."

“……”

"It doesn't matter how long it takes." Naoko emphasized, "It won't change. ”

The starfish couldn't avoid her gaze, so she could only nod her head, but she didn't think so.

What kind of sister's role, he obviously wished that she would be as far away as possible......

As they spoke, several people came to the bus stop.

And after standing together, Naoko didn't say anything more.

Waiting for the bus to arrive, the four of them got on the bus and went home together, and separated from Morimi in front of the path that led to Naruse's house.

She knew about Starfish's plans last night, and at this time she simply said "Come on".

"Hmm...... Bye. ”

Waving goodbye to Morimi, the starfish followed Naruse and Naoko, stepping on the deep snow all the way, and walked towards Naruse's house.

As she got closer, her heart beat faster, and her breathing became heavy unconsciously, even more so when she reached his door.

Looking at the starfish that seemed to be artificially fogging, Naruse took a step forward, stood in front of her, and took out the key to open the door.

"Don't be too nervous, calm down, my mom is old, don't scare her."

The door suddenly opened.

"—Naruse, Haru, Hai, who do you say is old?"

It's hard to say a word when you go to work...... Recent updates may have to make some adjustments before getting used to the job.

It may be less or nothing.

Will adapt as soon as possible.

(End of chapter)