Bang Dang!

After stuffing a few coins and pressing them twice, two cans of hot coffee fell from the vending machine, and Naruse bent down to take it out and handed one of the cans to Hikaru Takikawa.

"Thank you~"

She smiled, opened the coffee and took a sip, "I always feel that today's coffee tastes better than what I usually drink." ”

"If you get cheap, you can sell well."

"Then I did win."

Naruse stopped talking, opened his coffee, and drank most of it in one go.

Standing at the door of the arcade hall, the two looked at the darker sky, drank coffee one after another, and chatted without saying a word.

"Keep playing." Hikaru Takikawa asked.

"I'll do it all."

"Let's play a little longer."

After drinking coffee, the two went back to the arcade and found another game to continue playing.

Escaping doesn't make the problem go away, but immersing yourself in another world can really make you relax for a while.

Naruse was very engaged, and Hikaru Takikawa accompanied him into it, and the two played until it was dark before leaving.

"It's not snowing."

"Weather forecasts are not so unreliable."

Hikaru Takikawa smiled and turned his head to look at him, "Let's go back." ”

"Let's have a meal outside and go back." Naruse said.

"Nope." She refused, "I'm going back to eat today, didn't I say it was okay before?" ”

Naruse didn't say anything, "Then let's go back." ”

The two of them got on their motorbikes and rode all the way back to Aoyagi in the night breeze that was even colder after dark.

"It's cold!"

Hikaru Takikawa stomped his feet in the cold wind, and when Naruse also stopped the car, he pulled him into the supermarket quickly.

"What do you want to eat at night?"

"Everything."

"Then I'll just pick what I like."

"Hmm."

"Be positive." She dragged him to the ingredients section and let him pick some of the ingredients himself.

"Hmm...... After buying so much, why don't you just make a pot at night? ”

"Okay."

"Beef pot? Or a chicken pot? ”

Naruse thought for a moment, "Chicken pot." ”

"OK, then I'll go get two more pieces of tofu."

Hikaru Takikawa was very positive about the dinner of the two, and used various small questions such as cauliflower or lettuce, konjac shreds or potato flour to make him passively active.

Pick a little in the east, pick a little in the west, and when you check out, the shopping basket in Naruse's hand is almost full.

The cashier's aunt smiled when she saw him, "Ah, Chunhai, I haven't been here for a long time." Why didn't Naoko come today? ”

“……”

Naruse paused, and continued to hold the contents of the shopping basket out, when he didn't hear it.

Naoko's departure involved too many personal affairs, and there are not many people nearby who know that she has left Aoyagi.

Hikaru Takikawa squeezed in front of him and started talking to the clerk, "It's so cold today." ”

"Yes, it's already winter."

She used a smile to attract the other party's attention to her side, "You can't just deal with dinner, and if you don't eat something hot, you always feel that your body can't be warm." ”

"Buy these things, do you want to make a pot at night?"

"Yes~"

"Are you all together again, you children really have a good relationship...... But it's time for Harumi's beard to be shaved. ”

Naruse handed the money out and nodded at the same time, "Okay." ”

After paying, carrying two large bags of ingredients, the two left the supermarket together.

"Let's go back."

"Hmm."

After securing the bag, Naruse got on his motorcycle and rode back.

Passing by the Maki Hotel, he saw the original motorcycle of the starfish parked outside, and he glanced inside.

She's not in the shop down there.

And Seiichiro Maki at the counter was looking outside, and the moment they passed, the two briefly glanced at each other.

“……”

Because some time ago, the Hua couple was actively looking for various clues about their daughter's whereabouts, and during the inquiry, several of their parents also became one of the few insiders.

Although the level of disappointment is not as high as that of Naoko's parents, their trust in him has probably fallen to the bottom......

Naruse didn't stop and continued to move on.

Back in his yard, he stopped the car, and when Hikaru Takikawa stopped, the first thing he asked was if she had told her parents about having dinner at his house.

"I'll talk about that later." She also pushed the car into his garage, "Don't worry, they can't control me." ”

“……”

Naruse opened his mouth, "Let's say hello early." ”

"I know." Hikaru Takikawa smiled at him, took a bag from his hand, and entered the house through the garage door.

She walked straight to the kitchen, "It's already dark, let's start preparing dinner now?" ”

"Okay."

Naruse turned on the floor heating in the living room.

During this time, he stayed in the room, and he couldn't remember whether he had turned on the floor heating this winter.

Then he came to the kitchen, left some of the ingredients, put the rest in the refrigerator, washed the vegetables, cut the vegetables, processed the chicken he bought, put it aside for the time being, and cut the tofu into small pieces, poured oil and stirred the pot.

"Do you want to fry the tofu?"

"Hmm."

"Fry the chicken too."

"Hmm."

"Then fry the chicken directly first, and use the oil from the chicken to fry the tofu."

“……”

Naruse paused, "I forgot." ”

He looked at Hikaru Takigawa again, "Hikari is a little more experienced in cooking than I thought. ”

She laughed, "I'm still a girl." ”

It had nothing to do with gender, he just hadn't seen her cook. He also quickly figured out the reason: when Naoko was still there, she didn't have a chance to show it.

"Spring Sea?"

He came back to his senses, "It's fine. ”

The oil has been poured into the pan, and it can't be discarded, so when the pan is hot, Naruse fried the tofu cubes slightly, took them out and put them aside, and then put the boneless raw chicken thighs into the pan, and fried them until the chicken skin became browned, and then turned them over and fried them slightly on the other side.

"Fry the green onion too, it will be more fragrant."

"Hmm."

While he was frying the chicken here, Hikaru Takikawa also neatly arranged the cut vegetables in the soup pot that he used to cook.

"Tofu ~ green onion ~ and then chicken."

Slightly browned tofu and green onions on both sides were placed in a soup pot that was almost full, followed by chicken pieces, and finally she topped them with two more shiitake mushrooms, and all that was left was the soup.

"What flavor do you want to make the soup?" She asked Naruse.

"Everything."

"Then I'll tune it to the kind of flavor my mother taught me."

"Hmm."

Hikaru Takikawa took both miso and soy sauce, mixed it himself, and finally fished out the bonito flakes that had been soaked in boiling water at the beginning, mixed the two parts of the soup together, stirred for a while, and poured it into the soup pot.

"Haruhai went to prepare the gas stove."

"Hmm."

Naruse looked for it, took out the gas stove that had not been used for a long time, tried it, and it still worked, and put it on the dining table.

Hikaru Takikawa brought the full soup pot, put it on the stove, and lit the fire.

"Wait for the pot to boil and you can eat it."

"Hmm."

The fire was turned on to its maximum, and the flames that spewed upwards kept licking the bottom of the pot and making a whirring sound.

"It's pretty easy to prepare the pot." Hikaru Takikawa said.

"Hmm." Naruse nodded, and Yuguang caught a glimpse of her looking at herself, and turned her head to look at her.

"When Chunhai is alone, he can't eat instant noodles anymore." She looked at him and said.

“……”

Taking a deep breath, he reached out and took her hand.

"Well, I promise."

Hikaru Takikawa smiled.

"I'll go get the chopsticks."

"I'll go."

Naruse went to the kitchen and brought two dishes and chopsticks, and she was on the phone.

"Well, I'm at Harumi's house...... Why? Because Haruhi can't eat properly alone, and Naoko isn't there, so I came over...... I don't know when I'll be back...... Well, probably not back today. ”

He put down the dishes and chopsticks and took the phone from her.

"Eh......" Hikaru Takikawa was unprepared and looked at him with both eyes.

"After dinner, I'll go back." Naruse said to the person on the other end of the phone.

“…… yes, I see. ”

After a brief silence, Mrs. Takigawa responded.

(End of chapter)