Even after a good rest during the meal, Naruse and the others didn't regain much strength, and after filling their stomachs, they didn't want to go far, so they walked to the edge of the river beach at the back of the stream pavilion, and they didn't bother to move anymore.

There are some seats with parasols by the river, and the text on the umbrella seems to be provided by a nearby hotel, which is generally not open to the public, but there are no people around, and a few people just sit on it.

The water is turbulent, and the Oirase Stream joins another stream not far upstream, and the channel suddenly widens a lot.

It's not the rainy season, the water isn't abundant, and the river is full of rocks and the sun is white.

"I'm still tired...... When you get in the car, you'll be able to fall asleep soon. ”

The starfish lay under the parasol and turned its head to look at the stream next to it, and wanted to go down and soak for a while.

Playing in the water wasn't a shameful thing, but no one had acted, and she wasn't too embarrassed to be the first to speak, not to mention that there were other second-year students wandering around.

"When I go back to school, do I still want to go to the craft club?" Naruse asks Naoko.

"Hmm...... It depends. She thought for a moment, "If you're not too tired when you get back to school, you can go there for a while." ”

"Hmm." He nodded, not saying more.

After eating a meal, I sat down again until now, and there were more than twenty minutes left in the rest time.

The breeze blew down the river, taking away the heat, and they didn't bother to go anywhere else, ready to stay here until the time of the assembly.

"I'll go down and have a look."

Naruse got up under the gaze of several people, lifted his legs, climbed over the improvised guardrail, and jumped steadily onto the river below.

He didn't stop until he reached the water's edge, looked at the raging white waves at his feet, and the opposite shore just a few meters away, then bent down to pick up a rock and threw it into the water.

Thump.

The small splash of water caused by the stones was swallowed up by the raging rapids in an instant.

He took a few steps down and picked up another stone.

Thump!

Looking at the few people who were still sitting, the starfish also got up and went down.

"Don't fall into the water." Morimi reminded.

"No, it won't."

Looking at the starfish bouncing in the river, Hikaru Takikawa looked at Naruse again, and he was bent over and crouched by the water's edge, not knowing what he was looking at.

She didn't know what he was thinking right now.

At the end of the day, the time spent with each other was very short, and she didn't even understand what kind of relationship they were now.

She said nothing, but she didn't say no again.

“……”

Taking a deep breath, Hikaru Takikawa also retracted his thoughts and quietly glanced at Naoko who was sitting opposite.

She was lying on the table with her head on her arm, looking intently at her boyfriend at the water's edge.

Her chest became dull again, and she couldn't sit still, so she jumped over the guardrail and jumped to the bottom in the sight of Naoko and Mori.

She didn't get close to Naruse and the starfish, walked to the water's edge, and stood alone.

"Is Naoko going down?" Morimi, who was still on the shore, asked.

Looking at the three people below, Naoko still got up.

"Let's go down and have a look."

The two also followed down the river, and Naoko walked to Naruse and stood beside him for a while, "Are there any small fish in this mountain stream?" ”

"Yes, after all, it's Lake Towada upstream, although I haven't seen a single fish until now...... But there is this. ”

Naruse lifts up a rock, and underneath it are two crabs the size of fingernails. Suddenly, they lost their cover, and they immediately fled to the side.

"Ah, little crab......"

Naoko also squatted down, and Naruse stretched out her hand, held down one of the small crabs, and carefully grabbed it.

"Although the pliers look very small, it is estimated that it still hurts when it is clamped." He brought the little crab to her, "Do you want to take it?" ”

"I'll just take a look......"

She stared at the little crab in his hand that kept waving its tongs, and it was cute and a little fierce, so she didn't dare to do it.

"I remember a long time ago when I was playing in the water in Nanmu River, the starfish was still just coming, and I was caught by a crab."

"It's light...... Hmm, wait, it looks like a starfish. ”

Naruse wasn't quite sure, so he looked back at the two people standing on the other side and called them over.

He pinched the little crab and dipped it in the river, and when the two approached, he suddenly picked it up and showed them.

"Wow!"

Starfish immediately jumped back and almost bumped into Morimi, who was following him.

Naruse smiled and looked at Naoko, "It seems to be her." ”

Naoko also smiled and comforted the starfish: "It's just a little crab, be careful not to get caught." ”

The crab was small, but it was in Naruse's hand, and Starfish was suspicious that he would suddenly do something like throwing the little crab at her.

She spoke out her concerns, and before Naruse retorted, she couldn't help but think back to whether she had done this before.

The conclusion seems to be no.

"Then let the light hold it."

Hikaru Takikawa was also a little hesitant, but seeing that Naoko was also looking at him, he still took it carefully.

"I'll see if there are any other baby crabs."

Naruse continued to rummage, and Hikaru Takikawa pinched the small crab and looked at the starfish and Morimi who came over again.

"I remember Hikari getting caught by a crab before." Morimi said.

Hikaru Takikawa nodded.

"Me too." Starfish said.

“……”

Naoko looked at the two of them, then at her boyfriend, and noticed that he was also looking at this side.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Naruse continued to rummage for a while, but he didn't find any other crabs for half a day.

"Don't spoil other people's habitats." Morimi said.

He raised his gaze and found that Hikaru Takikawa was empty-handed, and the little crab was not in the hands of the other three.

"Did you let it go?"

"Hmm." Hikaru Takikawa's gaze touched him and left, "I feel like I'm dying." ”

"It's not that fragile." Naruse smiled, washed his hands with stream water, and stopped rummaging.

Walking down the river again, the five of them returned to the shore, and it was almost time to assemble and go back.

When they came to the parking lot in front of the Keiryukan, they were temporarily separated and returned to their respective buses.

"I'm finally going back...... Morimi didn't want to move when he sat down, and leaned back on his head.

Naruse responded, but he couldn't lift too much spirit.

Almost all the students in Class A had already returned to the bus, and after another ten minutes or so, Yanagisawa got on the bus and began to roll call.

"Morimi."

"Here ......"

I only heard her voice and didn't see anyone, and the teacher looked over, and Naruse grabbed her wrist and waved it.

After the roll call, the bus started.

The engine roared, and a few minutes later, several buses, led by the second-year A bus, left the parking lot one after another and sped away in the direction of Jinmae.

On the way back, Morimi didn't have much flirtatious strength, so he took off his glasses early and fell asleep holding his boyfriend's arm.

The same goes for Naruse, and the two arrive and sleep until the bus returns to school.

When he woke up, the bus was slowing down into the school gate.

Morimi next to him woke up earlier, holding the curtain and squinting outside, as if he had forgotten that he still had glasses.

"Wake up."

"Hmm."

She lowered the curtains, "It's almost five o'clock, do you still want to go to the department?" ”

"Go sit down, wait for Naoko to go around the handicraft club and go back."

Glancing at the two girls who were still asleep in the seats next to her, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

"Then I'm not going to go."

Naruse licked his lips, "Go home directly." ”

"Hmm...... Go to the bookstore and buy a few exercises to work on. ”

Naruse was silent for a moment, thoughtful.

She looked at him, "What's wrong?" ”

"Nothing...... I was just thinking that after the festival was over, I should get serious too. ”

“……”

Morimi looked at him for a while.

The bus quickly stopped at the school and opened the door.

"Don't rush home, everyone, I have one more thing to say-"

The teacher stood up and told the students to go back to the classroom and wait for him.

"Do you have any plans outside of Tsudai?" Morimi asked as he got out of the car.

"Hmm."

"Where?"

"It's not decided yet, the upper limit is Dongda."

“……”

She took a deep breath and didn't know what to say for a long time.

Back in the classroom, Yanagisawa had just stepped up to the podium when Morimi turned around.

"That's what you said to Hikari yesterday, to apply for the Faculty of Education and become a teacher?"

"Hmm."

"Didn't you decide too hastily?"

"Not in a hurry." Naruse shook his head, "Ever since Hikari mentioned this to me before, I've been thinking about it consciously or unconsciously. ”

"That's what your heart wants?"

"It's a non-nasty option I see when I can't find any other target."

Naruse looked at the teacher on the podium, and then at her.

"In a year and a half, this goal will become a beacon that illuminates my future path, or helps me find the path I really want, or more unshakablely, becomes my future choice."

(End of chapter)