The morning light is slightly dewed, and a new day begins, and Hikaru Takikawa naturally wakes up before the alarm clock goes off, and then gets up too.

Walking to the window and pulling back the curtains, she squinted and looked out, breathing in the morning air for a moment.

Yesterday's distant hike was like a dream, and the memories and even anything else had faded away with sleep, and only a little soreness in her leg was still there, reminding her that she had indeed hiked more than ten kilometers in the mountains yesterday.

"It's uncomfortable......"

Taking a breath, Hikaru Takikawa bent down and pinched her calf.

After a pause, she realized that she seemed to have woken up a little too early. Looking at the time again, it had been so long since she woke up, and it was still half an hour before the alarm clock went off.

She had no intention of going back to sleep.

When I went downstairs, my parents had just gotten up.

"Just woke up so early today."

"Can't sleep......"

She looked outside, the sun had just risen, and everything in the early morning seemed different than usual.

"I'll go out for a walk."

"Huh?"

"Just hang out and come back soon."

"The milk at home is gone, so when you come back, remember to bring a carton of milk."

"Got it." Hikaru Takikawa put on his shoes, got up and went out.

The path in front of the house runs from one side of the prefectural road to the other side of the farmland, and if you go all the way, you can go to either the prefectural road leading to Morimi's house or the Naruse house.

It's just that after all, it's a small road, less than half of the section is paved with cement, and some places are not easy to walk, and she rarely walks this way.

After a slight hesitation, she turned and walked in the direction of the farmland.

If you turn a corner and get closer, you can smell the unique smell of the rice that is about to ripen.

It is now the middle of September, and the rice in the fields is gradually turning from dark green to golden yellow, and it will be ready for harvest in a while.

Hikaru Takikawa walked to the side of the farmland and stopped, looking at the large patches of connected rice in front of him, and the scene of the harvester harvesting back and forth also came to mind.

Because she had to go to school during the day, it had been a long time since she had seen the nearby fields as they were harvested. It is often only when I suddenly come back to my senses that there is only one stubble of straw left in the farmland.

There are both orchards and farmland nearby, and a large area in the middle stretches from her feet to the Nangi River. Heavy ears of rice swayed slightly in the morning breeze, accompanied by the occasional sound of insects, and on the other side, there was the Morimi family.

The courtyard of the Morimi house is really large, and it stands out like a castle in the countryside of Tsumae, where there are no large buildings.

Especially in the vicinity, there is an open area, and there are no other houses.

Hikaru Takikawa glanced at it a few times, withdrew his gaze, and continued along the path of the field.

Rounding around a few places that are not easy to walk, the path splits in two, leading to the prefectural road, and turning to the right-hand side, there is a connection between the Naruse family and the house of the Hana family.

Hikaru Takikawa walked to the right-hand side and soon arrived at the door of Naruse's house.

She just didn't want to take the road too far ahead, and she didn't plan to stop here, so she walked fast.

Until someone stopped her.

"Light."

“……”

She looked up, and Naruse was standing by the window on the second floor, looking at her below with a little surprise.

"You're coming for me?"

“…… Just passing through. ”

"Passing by?" The magnitude of his leaning out of the window made her look a little frightened when she looked down, "From over there?" ”

"Hmm."

"Walking?"

"Hmmm......"

Naruse nodded, as if he wanted to say something, but stopped.

The two looked up and down for a while, but neither spoke again.

His gaze circled around his face, and Hikaru Takikawa waved his hand and continued to move forward.

Coming out of the path of Naruse's house, she didn't continue to wander around, went to the convenience store to buy a large carton of milk, and then went home.

"I'm back."

"After a spin, do you feel a little more energetic?"

"Pretty much...... My leg is still a little sore. ”

"I walked too much yesterday, and it won't last long."

Sending the milk to the refrigerator and washing up, Hikaru Takikawa stared at himself in the mirror for a while.

Fiddling with her bangs, she pursed her lips again, looking at her face from various angles.

“……”

At one point, she suddenly sighed.

She lowered her head and splashed water on her face, she closed her eyes and let the cold water run down her cheeks and drip down again.

After washing up, breakfast was almost ready.

After breakfast, she waited for the appointed time before she rode out of the car slowly, but as soon as she got on the road, she saw Morimi and starfish in front of her.

She followed for a while, and when she reached the intersection, she still picked up her speed to keep up.

"Good morning."

"Good morning." Morimi looked at her, then turned his head to look further behind him, but he didn't see Naruse.

"Is your leg okay?" Hikaru Takikawa asked.

"Not at all."

Mori saw a little more helplessness on his face, "I slept all night, and I woke up in the morning with soreness and pain, and I was so uncomfortable that I was going to die." When you get to school, you'll have to help me upstairs, or I'll have to climb up the stairs. ”

“……”

Where the hell is this obscene?

Hikaru Takikawa didn't bother to ask, but he agreed.

"Where's the starfish?"

"I'm okay...... Although the leg is still a little sore. ”

"After all, starfish used to ride bicycles a lot, so I'm almost used to it."

"It's a lot more tiring than riding a bike...... More than a dozen kilometers. ”

As they spoke, the red light turned green, and the three of them continued to walk, stopping again to reach the school's carport.

The car was parked, and on the way to the school building, Morimi hung on Hikaru Takikawa.

In this state, don't expect her to be able to stand and change her shoes by herself.

Hikaru Takikawa could only continue to support her, first changed her shoes, and then helped her all the way up to the fourth floor and sent her to the classroom.

"Thanks, great help." Morimi sat down and grinned when he moved his legs slightly.

"Kazuha's body is too weak."

"There's no way, I'm like this, and I can't change it if I want to."

"A little exercise every day will also improve a lot." Hikaru Takikawa said.

"How can I have time to exercise."

"The stretch from the bookstore to my home, running back and forth every day, is also considered exercise."

Morimi glared, "Then my original driver's license wasn't taken in vain?" ”

"I rode my bike when I went to school."

She smiled, "Okay, I'll think about it." ”

Hikaru Takikawa also smiled, understanding that she still didn't take it seriously, "I'll go up." ”

"It's still early, don't you wait for him to come?"

“……”

She glanced at the seat behind her, "No wait. ”

Morimi didn't say much, and watched Hikaru Takikawa leave the classroom in Class A, and then took out a book of exercises and started to do it.

After about ten minutes, she felt someone stop beside her.

She looked up, and Naruse was still staring at a question in the workbook, frowning slightly, as if thinking.

"Don't look at it, if you just look at it a few times, you can make it without using a pen......"

He looked at her, "How's it going?" ”

Morimi bowed his head to the window next to him, "I'll jump from here." ”

Naruse smiled, he really hadn't made it yet.

Although the idea of solving the problem has been clear, the operation on paper is still indispensable, and he can't calculate it just by staring.

"You can't climb up now." He lifted his foot and touched her calf lightly.

"Shhh......hhh ”

Naruse easily avoided it and returned to his seat and sat down.

"Does your leg still hurt?"

She turned her head and glared at him, but replied, "It's fine if you don't move." ”

"It's still lazy and a lot of walking, if you walk down the whole way, you'll have to break your leg today."

"You think too much, go all the way down, I was dead yesterday."

Naruse sighed, "Then how do you go downstairs?" ”

She glared: "I won't go downstairs for a day today." Last night, I slept in my downstairs room. ”

"It's hard." He shook his head, "You'd better work out a little." ”

"That's what one guy just said."

He raised an eyebrow, "Light? ”

Morimi held his head in one hand and looked at him with two eyes, "She made me run back and forth between my home and the bookstore. ”

"Isn't that right for you?"

"It's still a little too intense for me...... I still prefer passive workouts that lie still. ”

“……”

"Look at you, all the nasty thoughts in your head are written on your face."

Naruse really didn't want to pay attention to her, knowing that Hikaru Takikawa had also said the same thing, so he didn't bother to persuade again, "Do your question, let me be quiet for a while." ”

Morimi snorted and turned around.

Seeing that she quickly focused on the topic at hand, he didn't bother, and turned his head to look out the window.

The morning wind was still blowing, just as it was in the morning when he opened the window and saw Hikaru Takigawa.

(End of chapter)