In the gymnasium, the lights were all dimmed.

Only the projection screen in the middle of the stage is lit up, and the sweat and efforts of all the students in the past ten days to prepare for the Tsutaka Festival are being played.

Morimi stood at the bottom of the stage, looking up, her face appearing several times on the screen as one of the people who had spent the longest time in the activity room on the second floor.

Sometimes she sits alone in front of the computer, sometimes she stays with the group, and more often, in the swept camera, only she and Naruse are discussing something......

She looked down at the screen, in the dark with all the lights out, and he tilted his head to look at the video above that witnessed everyone's efforts.

Her work was almost over, at least for now, so she could stand from the audience and watch while he was busy for three more days.

After a few moments, the video ends and the lights come on just in time.

Amid the long-lasting applause from the audience, Mr. Principal, who continued to speak, once again thanked everyone for their sweat for this grand ceremony, and then returned the stage to the people who organized the event.

The chairman of the executive committee walked up to the microphone, looked left and right, and officially announced the 150th anniversary of the Tsutaka Festival, which began.

“Oh——”

Amid louder applause and cheers, Naruse bowed slightly, and then retreated backstage.

On the first day of the Tsutaka Festival, the focus is on the lantern parade that starts in the evening, and after the festival during the day, there is basically nothing to do.

This is for most of the students who have already turned into participants, and for the organizers, the real hectic time is just beginning.

“…… Next up is the parade group, and you now go and check the situation of each class.

One is the condition of the lanterns, whether they can be on the road normally;

The second is the situation of the students participating in the parade, whether there are any absences. If so, what position is in charge, and can someone replace it?

If there is a problem, we will help solve it, and if it cannot be solved, we will report it. Remember, solve the problem first, then find the cause. ”

"Yes!"

Returning to the activity room and explaining the next tasks, Naruse didn't have time to stay, so he followed downstairs and came to the back of the teaching building to make lanterns and also to park lanterns.

The production of all the lanterns was completed yesterday, and the three grades of thirty cars paraded the lanterns, waiting for night to fall for their only but eternal appearance.

The members of the parade group were checking the situation of each class, and Naruse watched as he walked, and stopped in front of the shed of the second-year class A.

He is the chairman of the executive committee and the executive committee member of Class A in the second year.

"No problem, right?"

Looking at the lanterns that were being installed on the frame of the parade, Naruse asked Morimi, who had come first.

"There was a little accident...... But there shouldn't be any problem. ”

"What accident?"

She was a little helpless, "When I assembled it just now, Kan's head didn't fix it and fell off. ”

Naruse suddenly became nervous, "You didn't break it, did you?" ”

"No, you think you're a first-grade."

Morimi motioned for him to look at the lantern being assembled, "Look for yourself." ”

Walking around the lantern, he paid special attention to Sugawara Michizane's head, but fortunately he didn't see anything wrong.

"The head fell off...... Is this some bad omen. He muttered.

"Well, Thor gets angry, and then it rains or something."

"Don't crow's mouth."

Morimi just laughed.

The drill buzzed, and through screws, the wooden structure at the bottom of the lantern was connected to the wooden frame used to support it.

Naruse watched from the side for a while, and said to Morimi, "I'll leave it to you here, I'll go take a look elsewhere." ”

"Well, I'll take care of our crystals."

“……”

He ignored her, left the greenhouse of Class A, and stopped for a while passing by Class C.

"It suddenly occurred to me that Chunhai had been staying on the executive committee's side all along, and he still didn't know anything about making lanterns."

"Really...... It seems that I will have to continue to help the executive committee next year. ”

"Do you want to continue to be the chairman?" Naoko smiled.

"That's too tiring, let's go to the external coordination team, and go outside to play in the name of investigation and visit."

"Just say that I've been working hard all the time."

"If you ask her if she's playing, she won't deny it."

Naruse said, looking at the starfish again, she was also a member of the Class C lantern parade team, and she was also the one in charge of shouting slogans.

"What's wrong......" she looked over as well.

"It's nothing, just prepare." Naruse said, "If you want to shout all the way, you can prepare some throat lozenges or something." ”

The starfish was stunned, and Naoko said, "I'll prepare it for the starfish." ”

Naruse nodded, "I'm going somewhere else." ”

After the second grade, he came to the third grade, and after all the way to the end, he came to the atrium, where he was also preparing.

A few people held up a taiko drum, put it on the rack, and beat it twice to test the sound.

Knock, knock!

During the parade, the lanterns of each class are followed by a band playing the transverse flute and taiko drums, and the musicians are naturally composed of students from each class.

In fact, counting the people who pushed the class mascot to open the way, the atmosphere group who shouted slogans, the people who pulled the floats, and the band that followed behind, every class was basically full of participants - even if nothing happened, just stuff the atmosphere group.

After the parade began, he himself could not stay in the team of Class A in the second year - the three lanterns specially built by the handicraft club commissioned by the student union also needed to be towed, and he was the "driver" of the lantern at the head.

"Chairman!"

Someone next to him came to him, "There is a shelf with a broken beam, and the drum can't be put down." ”

Naruse raised his eyes, didn't say anything, and asked him to take him over.

"This way!"

When he came to the broken taiko drum frame, he flicked it, and a large cloud of dust immediately fell from the red strap on the wooden frame.

"It looks like it was broken last year."

Naruse thought for a moment, "Go borrow two pieces of wood, borrow a few more nails, and re-nail a bracket next to it for temporary use, you won't be able to see it if you wrap a circle of red cloth." ”

"Okay...... Uh, where are you going to borrow it? ”

"It's not something you can borrow from any class you can borrow......

Naruse paused and gave more definite instructions: "You go to the second year class A to borrow it, just say it's what I mean." ”

"Okay!"

The man quickly went to borrow something.

The taiko drums in the warehouse are being lifted out one after another, and this thing can be knocked with hands, as long as the monotonous rhythm is repeated, so it doesn't take much practice.

"When you're practicing, let's rub it off."

"Okay, Chairman."

The transverse flute in the band requires more skill, and the practice began two weeks ago, and he selected several pipers in Class A.

Naruse took a turn and returned to the activity room to listen to the reports of the members of the parade group who were returning one after another.

"The diesel generator of Class A could not be started in one year, and the supplier has been contacted."

"The generator of the one-year C class also broke down."

"When the E class was assembling the lantern one year, the lamp surface was accidentally punctured and is being repaired."

"There are two people in class F who take a leave of absence one year."

"The head of the second-year class A lantern fell ......"

There were a lot of questions, especially in the first grade, Naruse was more concerned about the results of the treatment, asked a few words, and asked them to continue to stare at or help.

The lantern is the top priority of today's parade, and other aspects can actually be adjusted temporarily, such as the broken taiko drum set just now, which is really not repaired, and can even be removed directly.

After that, he didn't run around, except for some special circumstances, he basically sat in the activity room.

It was an activity for the whole school to participate in, and there were no problems that had to be solved by his presence, and he stayed honest and saved the other executive committee members from having trouble finding no one when they had questions.

At around eleven o'clock in the morning, Morimi also dragged his body back to the activity room.

"No problem?"

"Hmm. It's perfectly assembled, the sound and lighting are fine, and it doesn't look like it's going to fall apart. ”

"Can't you be more sure?"

"Well, even if there is an earthquake, it will not fall apart."

Morimi took off his glasses and lay down on the table, looking a little tired.

"Good work."

She took off her glasses and buried her face in the crook of her arm, "I'd be happier if you could come down and help me." ”

Naruse was just about to speak, when an executive member hurriedly ran into the activity room.

"Chairman, the lantern of Class G of the year has overturned, and Yukichi Fukuzawa's head has been trampled flat!"

Naruse was shocked, ran to the window to take a few looks, and then went down with the man.

“……”

Morimi turned his head to look in the direction he had left, and closed his blurred eyes again.

"Okay."

The sound of drums, noise, and faint flutes kept drifting into the activity room on the second floor.

She lay on her stomach for a while, then came to the window again, but she couldn't see him.

It was almost twelve o'clock when he returned.

"Is it solved?"

"Pretty much...... The skeleton was finally repaired, and there were still a few footprints on Fukuzawa's face, but they couldn't be seen if they didn't get closer. I can only be glad that the lamp surface has not been trampled on. ”

Naruse said, leaning back, eyes up.

"I now know why I started the parade at 6 p.m. and had to start preparing at 9 a.m......."

Morimi smiled, "Good work. ”

He glanced at her and suddenly asked, "Have you eaten it?" ”

"Not yet, I'm waiting for you."

"Then let's eat."

Because I was very busy today, I didn't eat together as usual.

Taking out the bento, Naruse didn't have the heart to chat, and ate quickly, because he didn't know when the problem would come to the door.

Morimi dragged a chair and sat next to him, which was much more leisurely.

"You haven't seen me in a yukata yet."

"The yukata at the inn counts?"

"What do you think?" She glanced at him, then quickly smiled again, "Looking forward to it?" ”

"Hmm."

"Really?"

"If I say no, you're probably going to have to say a bunch of meaningless things again."

"Just swallow these extra words with the bento."

Naruse didn't speak, and ate a bite of bento.

Morimi didn't say much, after all, no matter how much he said, it was better to change into a yukata to show him.

And when it was time to change into a yukata, he couldn't hide even if he wanted to.

"What time does Naoko wake up in the morning, and there is still time to make this kind of delicate bento at this time...... Give me a piece of beef. ”

"It was prepared last night."

After eating the bento first, Naruse cleaned up and continued to be busy.

Mori saw that it was not interesting to eat alone, and he finished it in three or two bites.

In the afternoon, Naruse was still dealing with all kinds of imaginary and unexpected problems.

One or two points, the problems that will affect the lantern parade have been solved first.

"Year 1 is all done."

"Second grade confirmed."

"There is no problem with third grade."

At three o'clock and four o'clock, all the lanterns were transferred to the passage from the school building to the school gate, and they were arranged in order, and the lighting and other problems continued to be adjusted.

"The lights can't come on, is there a problem with the generator again?"

"Check the line first."

At half past five, Naruse took time out to go to the locker room and change into a dark blue yukata for today.

Back in the activity room, Morimi immediately looked over.

"It's so simple."

She had also changed into her own yukata, which was also dark in color, but the patterns on it were slightly more gorgeous than his.

"If it's too fancy, it's not stable enough."

"Do you care about that, too?"

"It's advice from the school."

"That's a lot."

There wasn't much time for small talk, and the parade was about to begin, and Naruse came downstairs, where the students of each class had already gathered around their respective lanterns.

At 5:45, Naruse issued an order as planned:

"Line up, get ready to go."

The executive committee members scattered along the passage immediately waved the flags in their hands, received the signal, and the procession of lantern parades began to line up in an orderly manner.

While patrolling and reorganizing the team, he walked from the end of the line to the beginning of the line, and then back from the other side, and so on twice, before he hurried back to the school gate and got into the frame of the lantern at the front.

On the floats, a large text panel indicates the nature of this procession.

[Wish: 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Tsugaraka Festival! ] 】

There were two people already waiting inside, one of them was Morimi and the other was ......

"Naoko?"

Naruse couldn't hide his surprise, "Why are you here, the student council president?" ”

According to the previous arrangement, the three people who led the lantern should be the student president, the chairman of the executive committee, and a handsome man or a beautiful woman.

The third candidate, Naruse, had planned to let Takikawa Mitsuri come, but she gave this opportunity to Morimi.

He didn't know what kind of communication there was between the two, but even if she suddenly repented, he wouldn't be surprised, but he never expected that it was Naoko who replaced the student president.

"Yoshioka-sani changed to the car in the back." Naoko said.

At this time, the school gate was already full of people, and all kinds of photographic equipment with long guns and short guns were also aimed at them standing at the front, and Naruse asked quietly, "What is the reason?" ”

"I wanted to be with Haruhi, so I changed with her." Naoko smiled, "Senior sister also gave me face, and I quickly agreed." ”

The student president is willing to give up this opportunity to be in the limelight......

"I see."

Naruse was surprised, his face did not show it, and he looked at Morimi who was standing on the other side.

She hasn't said anything since he came.

She was probably just as surprised as he was, Naruse thought, and quickly cleared her distractions and concentrated on the lantern parade that was about to begin.

At six o'clock in the evening, a middle-aged man standing at the front of the procession shouted, and two students holding the lantern of [Aomori Prefectural Tsuzen High School] stepped along, and the parade officially began.

Naruse held the handlebars, Naoko and Morimi followed suit, and the three of them dragged the first car and took their first steps in the continuous flashing lights at the school gate.

The lantern is hollow, so although it is large, it is very light, and the weight basically comes from the two diesel generators powered by the bottom, Naruse clenched the handlebars and said, "I'll just drag the car." ”

"Are we going to put our hands down?" Morimi finally spoke.

"I mean you don't need to force it."

"It's okay." Naoko also spoke, "I can pull it." ”

"It's going to take two hours, and you can't go too fast...... After walking for so long, I feel like I can drag the lantern back to Aoyagi. ”

Naoko smiled.

Knock, knock!

Walking out of the school gate, the drum sound followed, full of rhythm.

Naruse took a breath and swept his gaze over the onlookers on either side, trying to keep his face as calm as possible.

Click......

The sound of taking pictures was heard everywhere.

He looked ahead, and it was actually the police car of the Aomori Prefectural Police that was really responsible for opening the way ahead.

Suddenly there was applause from behind.

Naruse couldn't see it, but he clearly remembered every arrangement of the parade.

Now it should be the principal and his entourage who came out with the lanterns, bowing at the school gate......

And after them, there are lanterns for each class from the first grade to the third grade.

The drums from behind grew louder and louder, but they couldn't completely drown out the calls from the side of the road.

"One leaf!"

Naruse followed the prestige, and Morimi and his wife waved at them on the side of the road, while Hikaru Takikawa's parents and Starfish's father were also nearby.

Morimi didn't react.

He glanced at her, and she was clearly distracted, not knowing what she was thinking.

Or maybe I'm too nervous......

Naruse touched her arm.

"One leaf!"

When she came back to her senses, she immediately noticed her parents on the side of the road, waved at them, and then exhaled again.

He glanced at her, "Are you nervous?" ”

"Well, I didn't expect to be at the forefront of the way, it scared me."

She said half-truthfully, but there was no response. Turning his head, he was pressing Naoko's hand on the handlebar.

"Is Naoko nervous?"

"I'm not nervous with Chunhai."

“……”

In the end, there were parents watching, and there were shots on both sides of the road, and Morimi resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Although she wanted to say the same thing......

"Auntie may be watching the live broadcast now."

"Perhaps."

Naruse looked ahead, then raised his eyes to look at the sky, only hearing the sound of the helicopter being photographed, but not seeing where the helicopter was.

All he could see was left and right and ahead.

This was the most powerless time for him in more than ten days, but it was also the most relaxing moment.

He didn't have to care about anything, just dragged the lantern behind him and kept moving forward, and even the direction was decided by the police car opening the road in front.

He suddenly understood Hikaru Takikawa's mood during this time.

Although his relaxation was only for two hours.

He decided to enjoy the moment first.

"It's so much fun."

"Uh-huh."

"Yes."

Grand Chapter

(End of chapter)