There is an observation deck next to the parking lot of Lake Miyama Dam.

From the high observation deck, you can see the entire dam. The distance is shortened, and the jade Meishan Lake is more like embedded in the mountains, which makes people unable to take their eyes off it.

"You can see Mt. Iwaki from here." Starfish said suddenly.

Takigawa looked at the past, and the majestic Iwaki Mountain, at this time, only a little white snow top was exposed. If the trees on the mountain in front of you were more lush, it would probably be obscured.

"It's kind of like ice cream."

"Aha......"

The two looked down again, and the white water continued to surge out of the flood outlet, making bursts of roar.

The white waves enter the blue waves, and the water surface surges, but the tolerance of the deep pool under the dam seems to be endless, and all the turbulence blends into it, and it will return to calm.

After the noise ended, the Iwaki River flowed into the sea for more than 100 kilometers, and it set off calmly here.

Hikaru Takikawa leaned on the guardrail, looking down, and the memory of the last time he went down the river came to his mind.

After a pause, she shook her head, getting rid of her indescribable emotions, and in a blink of an eye, she saw that the starfish next to her was also in a daze.

Looking at Naruse and Morimi, who were still standing on the dam, they were in a daze.

Only she and Starfish came over, and both of them expressed no interest in ascending.

As for whether they are really not interested, or if they have something to talk about privately, only they know.

The clouds pressed a little low, and seemed to hang on the top of the mountain. The sunshine on the west slope was a little hazy through the clouds, and the distant mountains were shrouded in fog.

"Let's go somewhere else." Hikaru Takikawa said to the starfish.

"Huh? …… Good. ”

Seeing the two people leaning against the guardrail of the observation deck from a distance, he turned around and disappeared, and Naruse looked at the way they came down again, but he didn't see the two for a long time.

Is there any other way over there......

He hadn't been up and didn't know.

"They're the people."

Morimi, who had never spoken, also noticed the disappearance of the two.

"Out of sight."

Morimi stared at that side for a while.

The breeze came across the lake, constantly blowing on her face, driving her long hair to fly.

"Let's go over there."

After taking a few steps forward, she raised her hand and pointed to the other side of the dam, "Go over there, walk back again, you're almost ready to go back." ”

She understood that what he was thinking about now was to go back as soon as possible, and the reluctance and resistance she had shown when she heard the first half of the sentence had become less determined after she said the second half of the sentence.

"It's only a few minutes to go back and forth." She strikes while the iron is hot.

Naruse didn't speak, but he didn't object either.

Morimi didn't say much, turned around and walked to the other side of the dam.

After taking a few steps, she heard footsteps behind her follow, and she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

She doesn't really have much self-confidence.

Naruse's footsteps were already faster than her, and he quickly followed to the side and walked to the front again.

"Don't go that fast."

He slowed down a little and walked inside, looking out at Lake Miyama, which he couldn't get any closer.

Morimi followed and walked beside him.

"It seems like the dam has only been built for a few years."

"It was completed in the twenty-eighth year of Heisei." Naruse said, remembering the data he saw when he looked up the information before, "Younger than us." ”

"Yes."

Morimi looked at the freshly washed asphalt road under his feet, "It seems that no one usually comes." ”

"It's a bit remote for the countryside."

"It's only more than 20 minutes by bike."

Naruse shook his head and didn't say much.

The two of them walked forward, and when the giant dam across the canyon was seen as a road, it was just a straight road of less than two hundred meters, and soon came to an end.

The other side of the dam is also connected to the road, which goes around the mountains and finally connects to the county road where they came, so they can go back later.

Walking to the end of the dam, Morimi stopped to look at it for a while, then turned around, leaned his back against the guardrail, and raised his hand to brush his hair.

"Take a picture for me, it's a memento of my visit."

Taking out his phone, Naruse took a few steps back and pressed the shutter.

Click!

"Filmed so quickly? You're not trying to fool me. ”

"It's just right, and there's nothing to adjust."

Mori didn't believe it, "Show me." ”

Naruse handed out her phone, she took it and looked at it, and a somewhat complicated smile quickly appeared on her face.

"It was a great shot...... The photos taken by others for their girlfriends are probably to this extent. ”

"Whatever you shoot, it's all the same. The album also has pictures I took of my girlfriend, you can compare them. ”

"Is it easy to see, are they all clothed?"

“…… I don't have that hobby. ”

She didn't want to look at it either, fiddled with it, and quickly gave him the phone back.

Naruse casually retreated to the desktop, only to find that she had set the photo as a wallpaper.

“……”

"What's wrong?"

"What do you think?"

She poked her head out, "Found it so soon." ”

He ignored her and quickly found a photo of Naoko and replaced it.

"It wasn't Naoko's picture." Morimi said, remembering that his previous wallpaper was one of the several native wallpapers that came with the phone, and it was so simple that it couldn't be done.

"Well, I just happened to be reminded by you."

"Do you need to be reminded of this kind of thing?"

"After all, Naoko and I are by our side every day when we open our eyes, and we don't need to show affection in this way."

“…… So what are you going to do now? ”

"It's a decent reminder that I already have a girlfriend."

He turned his screen off, put away his phone, and turned his head to look at the lake.

"If I'm going to get closer, I'm going to say something unseemly, or unpleasant...... I'm not as gentle as Naoko. ”

“……”

She pursed her lips suddenly, and Naruse had already turned and walked back.

"Let's go back."

At the other end of the dam, Hikaru Takikawa and Starfish also reappeared, the former waving at them.

He waved his hand in response.

After taking a few steps, he didn't hear her footsteps, and he looked back again.

With just one glance, he couldn't go any further.

Holding the guardrail in her hand, she turned her head to look at the lake, tears streaming silently from her calm face.

“……”

Naruse took a deep breath and turned around, not knowing what to say.

Instead of climbing the observatory with Hikaru Takikawa and Starfish, she stayed at the dam, and he had a hunch that she had stayed to say something.

For example, she was interrupted by a starfish before, about last night, her mood changed.

Just alone for a long time, she either looked at the mountain in a daze, or looked at the water and wandered, he only thought that she retreated sensibly again.

When anyone wanted to go back, it suddenly became like this......

Calm down.

Naruse reminds herself not to be corrupted by her tears.

It was nothing more than her going further, and he pushed her away.

He had practiced this several times with the reckless ex-stepsister on the other side of the dam.

And she's smarter than her, and more sane than her, so she shouldn't make it too ugly......

Without warning, he suddenly remembered the embarrassing appearance of her cheeks flushed at the izakaya last night.

“……”

Naruse felt a thorn in his heart, and then hardened again.

It would be a mistake to continue.

He was ready for those nasty words.

Lying on the guardrail, looking at the deep lake below, the starfish was a little frightened for no reason, but they still couldn't help but keep staring at the wave-filled and bottomless blue.

After staring at it for a while, the waves were the same, there were no floating foreign objects, and there were no open blood basin mouths.

She looked up and saw that the two men on the other side of the dam seemed to be standing in their same positions, not moving.

They've been waiting here for a long time.

"What's wrong?" Starfish asked.

Hikaru Takikawa also looked over there and squinted, but there were more than a hundred meters between them, and no matter how thin her eyes were, she couldn't see the expressions on their faces clearly.

"I don't know ......"

"Shall we go over then?"

She didn't speak, and after a while she shook her head again.

Kazuha was probably talking to Harumi about something.

She's approaching Harumi in her own way, and of course, it's possible that she's just trying to save face for the loss she made last night.

Even though they slept in the same bed last night and talked until late at night, she still couldn't see through her plans.

Kazuha is smarter than her, but also seems to be more unscrupulous, and she can't imagine which way she will choose to change the status quo in the end.

Either way, though, it was more positive than the active avoidance of her current fear of trade-offs......

It's annoying.

There is still a long way to go, so why did she make this choice?

She hopes that everyone will always be friends, not just Kazuha, and now even herself is one of the unstable factors that destroy this relationship.

Hikaru Takikawa couldn't help but fantasize about the ridiculous possibility that everyone was a boy, or that he would become a girl.

Haruhi finally came back from Tokyo, and she didn't want her companion who had never left to be split by him - even because Haruhi came back, everyone who had grown up could really play together again as before.

Although at first, except for her, it seems that everyone got together for the purpose of getting Haruhae.

And now, nearly a year later, she thinks everyone should have understood that it is impossible for Harumi to leave Naoko.

So this time, Kazuha will only hit a wall.

She just hoped she wouldn't hit it too hard.

But Kazuha is also a stubborn person.

People who are too smart are like this, always convinced of their choices.

Just don't make a fuss to the point where you can't end it......

Hikaru Takikawa closed his eyes and sighed inwardly, ready to clean up the mess.

"Wait a little longer." She spoke.

"Oh."

Starfish pushed down his glasses, looked at the two figures standing opposite each other, and stayed on the person facing him for a few more seconds.

Can't see clearly.

It was so far away that she couldn't see the expression on her face even with glasses.

If you don't come over for half a day, is Yiye going to confess to him?

The thoughts that suddenly flashed through her mind made her nervous all of a sudden.

It's not unfounded to think like this, and when I met her and him in front of the bookstore, the atmosphere between the two was very delicate.

Although she didn't understand it.

It's just that now she has already seen her mind clearly.

Kazuha also likes the spring sea, there's no doubt about it.

I don't remember when, she suddenly noticed this.

In other words, Kazuha didn't seem to intend to hide it in front of her, even when she said that she was going to support her.

Is it because she feels that she is completely hopeless?

But it doesn't necessarily mean that Yiye himself will have much hope.

Because it was impossible for him to give up Naoko.

If you confess, you will fail.

Just like her before her.

If you get close once, you'll be pushed away once.

She had been honest for so long, and she hadn't really thought about giving up, but she really didn't know how to keep getting closer.

Maybe today's Yiye can allow her to enrich the experience of being rejected by him from the perspective of a bystander......

Starfish pursed her lower lip, and she couldn't gloat at all in her heart, only hoping that everything just now was just her own cranky thoughts.

She didn't want her to fail, she didn't want her to succeed, she just wanted her to do nothing.

On the other side of the dam, the two people who were watching were just standing there.

After a few tears, Morimi raised his hand to wipe it, then turned around again, facing the lake, both hands grasping the guardrail.

Naruse immediately took a few steps back.

"What, do you think I'm going to jump?" She spoke, her voice a little hoarse.

"It's best if not."

She looked over, "What if it is." ”

"Then I will regret the loss of a childhood sweetheart for a while."

"Hehe......"

She smiled without any ups and downs, and turned her head to look at the green hills on the other side.

When her emotions calmed down a little, she spoke, "I won't seek death." Even in the same situation last night, I didn't think about dying like that. ”

Naruse didn't speak.

"It's just that I'm really desperate......"

Morimi muttered, his voice gradually lowering, "It's time to make a decision." ”

He looked up, and she turned around, and behind the newly bought pair of glasses was a pair of reddened eyes.

Is it really cornered?

Naruse asked inwardly.

All she had to do was get around him, and there were roads everywhere.

"Even if it doesn't work out, at least until it's over, I want you to hear my mind clearly." She continued.

He tilted his head slightly and glanced at the other side of the dam.

"Do you have to be at this time, you just said you were just going out for a ride."

"I can also go home with you, say it in front of Naoko. Which side do you think is better? ”

“……”

Naruse was a little annoyed, but he just dissipated in an instant, "Let's talk about it here." ”

Morimi looked at him, but was silent for a long time.

"It's funny...... Obviously you know what I'm trying to say, and I know that you already knew, and now you're still shy. ”

Naruse didn't speak, and she couldn't make eye contact with the pair of eyes behind the lenses, so she could only focus on the green mountains behind her.

"Look at me." Her voice choked.

“……”

He looked back, and as soon as they looked at each other, she lowered her head slightly.

When I raised my eyes again, a complicated smile bloomed on that face that I had never seen before.

Gentle, shy.

Firm and absolute.

Desperate and full of anticipation.

"I love Harumi since a long, long time ago. I like you the most. ”

Speak up.

There is no cover-up, no borrowing, no beating around the bush.

Only straightforward confiding.

She liked him.

Kazuha Morimi likes Harumi Naruse.

"Well, thank you."

They already know each other, and that's all he can say.

"I want to be in a relationship with you."

"I already have a girlfriend."

"Is this a refusal?"

"It's a refusal."

She looked at him, "I still want to know what you think of me. ”

Naruse also looked at her, "Best friend." ”

Morimi didn't take his eyes off it: "Is it perfunctory?" ”

"It's not."

Naruse took a deep breath.

He also wants to get each other's footsteps back on track today, in this place.

Or say goodbye without regrets or misunderstandings.

"There is probably no second person like you who can read through my thoughts and speak them without scruples.

To be honest, I love your not-so-nice words.

I like the feeling when I talk to Kazuba...... I mean, as friends. ”

She burst out laughing, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Because I can read minds."

Naruse also squeezed out a smile, "Hmm." ”

She took off her glasses, held them in her hands, wiped them under her eyes, and sniffed.

"Is that all?"

"That's it."

"Couldn't there be a better word?"

"I've never said anything nice."

Morimi took a step forward, without glasses, and looked him straight in the eye.

"And did you like me?"

Naruse's heart jumped, his face kept as calm as possible, and he shook his head.

"Nope."

"Don't like it, or can't you like it?"

"I don't like it, and I can't like it."

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"When you're alone, do you deceive yourself like that?"

“…… What are you talking about. ”

She looked at him: "If you don't like it, you just need to 'don't like it'." ”

“……”

Naruse opened his mouth and fell silent.

If you really don't like it, you don't need to emphasize to her that you can't like it...... Is there a trap here?

Then he saw a genuinely relieved smile on her face.

He was stunned for a moment, and then his heart sank.

The previous words were all to dispel his guard and vigilance.

That last sentence is the real temptation.

If he didn't like her, he wouldn't care.

And his silence and hesitation are answers that he cannot refute.

"Great......"

The tears that had just stopped welled up again.

She crouched down and sat on the ground, her hands over her face, her shoulders shaking.

Naruse looked down at her, feeling a little numb in the back of his head and hands.

He opened his mouth, unable to say anything, and turned his head to look at the two people waiting on the other side of the dam.

A hundred meters away, they couldn't give him any response.

The only response came from behind.

"That way, I have no reason to give up."

“……”

Naruse took a deep breath and forced himself to compose.

"Don't make me hate you."

"I'm not going to do anything."

"Even if it is...... What? ”

Wiping away her tears and putting on her glasses, she looked up and smiled like she had ever been.

"I said, I'm not going to do anything right now."

“……”

Naruse stared at her, feeling more and more uneasy.

"As long as I know that Harumi likes me too, I feel at ease."

"I don't like you."

"Does it make sense to say such things now?"

“…… What exactly do you want to do? ”

Morimi sat on the ground and held out his hand to him.

"I want to go home."

Grand Chapter.

It's almost a million words in the blink of an eye, ha

(End of chapter)