In the midst of the hectic and cold, two more days passed.

At the end of the second semester, preparations for the Christmas party in the gymnasium are also in the final stage.

One year class C, evening class meeting.

Naruse waited for the teacher to announce the end of the evening class meeting, and hurried to the gymnasium to complete the final work, but Nakahara Xue had a lot of things to explain today.

"Tomorrow is the last day of the semester, so today's evening shift will talk a little more about things, everyone wait a little longer."

Naruse had no choice but to listen, but he wasn't too anxious, after all, there was not much left to prepare for today.

The evening shift will be carried out, and outside the classroom of Class C, starfish will slowly pass by from front to back.

After a while, she walked from the back to the front again, and pretended to look inside casually.

Repeating this a few times, Hikaru Takikawa noticed her first, and then Naruse noticed it too.

Buzz –

Starfish stopped wandering for the fourth time and pulled out his phone to take a look.

Chunhai: You go over first, the evening shift will not end in a while.

“……”

Starfish: Oh.

Seeing that she finally stopped wandering in the hallway, Naruse put away her phone and muttered in her heart.

"The evening shift meeting of Class E, is it over so soon......

There was no one else in the hallway, and there wasn't much to hear.

After another five or six minutes, the evening shift was finally over, and the other classes on the same floor were getting a little more noisy.

"Chunhai, I'll go to the department first, and come over immediately."

"Well, take your time."

Naoko left the classroom first, Naruse lowered her head and sorted out her things, and Hikaru Takikawa came over and said, "Can you finish today?" ”

"Pretty much." He lifted the school bag, "If it weren't for the fact that several senior sisters have been optimizing it, our work would have ended a long time ago." ”

She laughed, "The first time I had a Christmas party, everyone wanted to keep improving. ”

"Hmm. Are you coming over today? ”

"It's the last minute, and I'm not going to be okay."

"As long as you don't pull people around and talk."

"I can't help it."

“……”

Naruse turned his head to look at her.

"Alright." Hikaru Takikawa smiled and hooked his shoulder, "I'll go somewhere else first, and I'll see the situation later." ”

"Whatever you want."

As soon as the two of them walked out of the classroom, they ran into Morimi walking towards them.

"Are you going to the gym today?"

Looking at the two of them hooking shoulders, she pushed her glasses, "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and the preparations over there are not over yet?" ”

"It's going to be done today." Naruse said, glancing at the other students who came out of Class E one after another, "Did the evening class just end?" ”

"yes. There's a lot to explain today, don't you? ”

"Then why did the starfish run out just now?"

"Starfish...... she was a little helpless, "just now the teacher said that people who want to help prepare for the Christmas party can go there early, so she ran out alone." ”

It turned out that I didn't want to go alone......

Naruse smiled and didn't say much.

Hikaru Takikawa let go of Naruse and went over to hug her, "Kazuha is going to study in a school?" ”

"Not today."

Morimi looked at her, "Is Hikari also helping?" ”

"I'm making trouble."

"You're still getting proud." Naruse glared at her from the other side.

She smiled, and then said, "Don't you go and take a look, I'm almost ready." ”

Morimi thought about it for a while, and went to sit in the store when he went back early, so he didn't refuse.

"OK~ Then I'll come to you later." Hikaru Takikawa let go of her and went the other way.

"Let's go over." Naruse greeted.

Morimi followed.

"What are you going to be busy with today?"

"Our restoration department is mainly responsible for decorating the Christmas tree, and it's almost there, and we only have a little finishing touches left."

"Yes. I think you've been having a lot of fun these days, and so are the starfish. ”

"Envious?"

She just chuckled and didn't answer.

"That's right." Naruse thought of one thing, "Tomorrow's Christmas party, do you want to attend Morimi?" ”

"The starfish came to me and signed up first. As for whether to go or not, it depends on the situation. ”

"What's the situation?"

She looked over, "What do you think?" ”

"I think it's better to relax without thinking about anything." Naruse said.

She looked at him again and let out a breath.

"That's easy to say."

Coming to the gymnasium, the huge changes in the interior compared to a few days ago are already a little unrecognizable, at least for Morimi, who last came here for a regular gathering on Monday.

"It's too dense with Christmas elements......"

She looked left and right, and the stadium was surrounded by decorations like socks, Santa hats, and snowflakes, and there was even a reindeer cart hanging overhead.

"Because it's a Christmas party." Naruse said.

"But...... It's also a little too dense. ”

"Because it's the first Christmas party."

She looked and pointed to something hanging overhead, "Wouldn't that be too dangerous?" ”

"Looks like the real thing, right?"

Naruse glanced up, a subtle smile on his face.

"The reindeer is made entirely of cardboard, and it's so light that it's almost impossible to fall off – if it does, it's scary at best."

“……”

Morimi raised his head again and squinted his eyes to look at it carefully for a moment.

"That's amazing."

The two continued to walk inside, coming to the place where the Christmas tree was placed.

After a few days of decoration, the whole Christmas tree has a new look and is gorgeous.

The green pine branches are thick and dense, wrapped from top to bottom with colorful strings of lights, and the branches and leaves are covered with various trinkets carefully made by the members of the restoration department.

Morimi circled around the Christmas tree twice, "Can you touch it?" ”

"Hmm."

She touched the pine branches, then picked up a pocket Santa puppet and pinched it gently.

"That's what Naoko did."

Naruse nodded.

"Well done."

"Of course."

"I'm not complimenting you."

"One leaf." The starfish, who came first, also saw the two of them, "You're here too." ”

Morimi also greeted, and seeing her holding a cardboard box in her hand, Naruse sighed helplessly, "What are you going to hang up, you should consider the bearing capacity of this tree." ”

Starfish looked at him, a little innocent, "It's the senior sister who said she wanted to hang up......"

Naruse leaned over, "Let me see what it is." ”

Looking at the two of them, Morimi looked at the gorgeous Christmas tree in front of him, and between the branches and leaves, it was full of enthusiasm.

"That's amazing." She muttered again.

She walked around the gymnasium and returned to the Christmas tree, where Naruse and Starfish squatted together, picking through the contents of the cardboard box.

"There are enough snowflakes on the branches that you don't need to;

The bells of this metal are the heaviest, and if they hang too much, they will pull the branches off;

These puppets ...... Hmm, hang a few of them. ”

Starfish pursed her lips and took out a few of the puppets made by Naoko individually.

Naruse stood up, "Starfish come and hang it, I'll send these back to the warehouse." ”

Except for the puppets, the rest of the things were all selected by a few senior sisters from the materials on the other side of the warehouse.

"Oh."

He left with the cardboard box, and the starfish took the puppet and circled around the Christmas tree.

"Need help?" Morimi said.

"Hmm...... Good. Starfish handed her a little Santa Claus, "It's full of hanging down there, hang it on top of that." ”

Morimi is tall and can go to higher places, while she has some difficulty.

Taking the puppet, Morimi pinched it twice, it was soft and elastic, and it felt very good.

Looking at the Christmas tree, there are many similar Santa Claus puppets.

"It's only been a few days, and you've made so many delicate puppets...... Naoko's efficiency is also a little too high. ”

Starfish shook her head, "Naoko said that only some of it was new, and she had been preparing it before. ”

"Before?"

"He seems to have planned to prepare a Christmas party at home."

"Naruse?"

"yes."

Morimi was slightly surprised, "I can't see it." ”

Approaching the Christmas tree, smelling the faint smell of pine branches, she carefully tied the puppet to one of the branches and reached for another puppet.

After a short turn, she hung up several puppets, she patted the broken bark on her hands, and was about to say something, when a branch suddenly slipped and fell to the ground.

"I didn't touch this one......"

Starfish picked up the branch and looked at the end, "It's okay, it's too much to hang on, and I can't bear it here." ”

"Isn't it fixed?"

"Well, there are a lot of small holes in the barbed wire inside, just stuff it in."

Glancing at the not-so-thick branches, Morimi took a closer look at the barbed wire entwined inside the Christmas tree.

"If it's not fixed, it's completely attached by friction?"

"Ah...... Well. ”

Starfish looked at her with some blankness.

"Then this one can't hang anymore." Morimi pointed to the part of the bark that had fallen off at the end of the branch, "It's too smooth." ”

"Ah...... Then just change the string, last time I dragged a lot of pine branches over, and the excess was put in the warehouse. ”

Morimi turned his head to look at the warehouse in the gymnasium, "Naruse is still over there, I'll go over and take a look." ”

When I came to the warehouse, the sporting goods that were originally stacked here were all sorted aside, and at this time they were all piled up with some materials related to the Christmas party.

In front of one of the rows of cardboard boxes, Naruse was half-squatting on the ground, and opposite were four or five second-grade seniors who were eyeing each other.

“…… It's really hard to hang up. ”

He took out the ornaments from the starfish earlier and put them back in their places.

"I understand the feelings of the seniors, but this is the first Christmas party, and it is not the last."

"Who's to guarantee a Christmas party next year?"

"This year's party was fine, and it will continue next year."

"It's hard to say...... After Naruse is promoted to the second grade, will he be able to run for student council? ”

"Don't make a fuss, senior sister......"

Naruse coped helplessly, and Yuguang caught a glimpse of Morimi standing not far away, turned his head and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

She walked over, looked at the second-year seniors, and then at him, with a calm expression on her face.

"There are too many things hanging on the branches, and they can't hang up, and they fall off and can't hang up, and the starfish say there are still unused pine branches here."

The seniors were stunned for a moment, and one of them hurriedly asked, "There is nothing wrong with it, right?" ”

"No, only one branch has fallen so far, but the other branches look heavy, I don't know how long they can last."

"No, I'll take a look!"

Several people immediately gave up their plans to hang things on the trees again.

"Ah, by the way—Naruse, remember to pick a nice bunch of pine branches."

"Okay."

Seeing a few people leave the warehouse, Naruse breathed a sigh of relief, "You came at a really good time." ”

Morimi smiled, "I didn't expect Naruse to have times when he couldn't handle it. ”

"After all, they are all seniors in the club."

"Naruse doesn't look like a person who will respect his predecessors."

"I have a lot of respect for my seniors who deserve respect."

"Are you talking about tongue twisters?"

Naruse smiled, put the last thing in the carton back, and got up and moved his legs, which were a little numb.

"After all, the task given to us is just a Christmas tree, and watching the other people in the gymnasium busy - especially the reindeer car made by the craft club, Morimi also saw it just now - it is only natural that he wants to do more for the party."

"But there's also a saying that 'too much.'"

"yes. Hopefully this afternoon will be a smooth finish. ”

All the decorations that he had taken had been put back in their place, and Naruse walked back to the depths of the warehouse, "The pine branches are all in there, I'll go get them." ”

There was nothing to do left and right, and Morimi followed.

He glanced at her, "It's all dust. ”

"I'm just looking, and I'm not going to help."

"There's no place where you need help, just pick a bunch of pine branches."

Because there is no other use for the time being, and it was bought with the money of the student union, it cannot be thrown away, and the excess pine branches are piled up in the corners of the deep warehouse.

Naruse bent down to pick and choose for a while, and pulled out a bunch of pine branches that were not too long and had a relatively beautiful shape.

"How's this bunch of pine branches?"

"It's pretty thick." Morimi glanced at it and gave a simple evaluation.

"Well, it won't be too heavy......"

Naruse weighed it twice, but decided to change to a lighter one. And the branches pressed against the branches, it is not so easy to find.

Seeing that he seemed to have to pick for a while, Morimi asked for the thick pine branches just now, dusted off the sponge mat that would be used in physical education class, and then sat down.

Gently waving the pine branch in her hand, she stared at somewhere on the wall of the warehouse, her expression gradually becoming trance-like.

While picking, Naruse looked at her twice and didn't say anything.

After a few minutes of flipping, he finally picked out a bunch of pine branches that were relatively beautiful and relatively light, and when he turned back, Morimi looked at him too.

"Have you picked it?"

"Hmm."

"Then get out. If you stay any longer, strange rumors will start to circulate again. ”

Naruse was stunned, looked over her, and sure enough, he saw some people who had come to the warehouse to look for something.

He didn't say anything, he went out with a pine branch, and Morimi followed.

"After decorating the Christmas tree, do you have anything else to do?" She asked.

"Probably gone."

"Home?"

"That shouldn't be that early."

"yes, then I'll go back first." Morimi said.

Naruse looked at her.

"How?"

"Nothing. Be careful on the road. ”

Back at the Christmas tree, Naoko had already come from the ministry.

"Kazuha is here today, too."

"Well, I'm ready to go back now."

Naoko took the pine branch from Naruse's hand and glanced at him by the way, "Why don't you stay a little longer?" ”

"Nope." Morimi told the truth, "The results will be released tomorrow, and I am anxious now." ”

Naoko smiled.

"Be careful on the road."

Saying goodbye to them and the starfish, Morimi looked at the Christmas tree again and left the gym alone.

"Replace this bunch of branches."

"Hmm."

After replacing the tree with new branches and checking the connections in other parts, the tree was finally completely decorated.

"So be it." Naruse said, "If you keep striving for perfection, there is no end. ”

Although several seniors in the restoration department had regrets, they didn't say anything after all, and nodded and accepted.

"Is the Christmas tree here?"

"There's a closing ceremony tomorrow morning, so let's move it into the warehouse."

Naoko went to borrow a cart and came over, and Naruse grabbed the heavy base with both hands and took a deep breath.

"Wow......"

At the sound of the girls' exclamations, the Christmas tree shook a little, and then placed it safely on the cart.

"—are you already going to put it away?"

Hikaru Takikawa only rushed over at this time.

"Well, that's no problem anymore."

"I'll push it." She came over and grabbed the handle of the cart and took the tree to the warehouse with Naruse.

Parked, she patted the ash off her hand and smiled at Naoko and Starfish who came with her.

"I'm looking forward to it."

[The run was unsuccessful, and I will change it today]

(End of chapter)