Staying at Naruse's house until dark, Starfish and Hikaru Takikawa went home first.

Although Naruse said that she didn't need anyone to stay and take care of her, especially Morimi, she stayed.

"I've brought back today's notes and homework to you."

"I feel like I need to rest......"

"Aren't you almost recovered?"

"Suddenly it's uncomfortable again."

She walked over to the bed, leaned over and pressed her forehead against his.

"The fever has subsided."

He sighed, "Let it go, I'll see when I get up." ”

She was not reluctant, and looked at him, as if thinking about something.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about how many times I can do it in this state."

“……”

"Just kidding, I'm thinking about getting some food at your house, or I'll go home and come back after dinner."

"Let's go home and eat." "There's basically nothing in the fridge left. ”

"That's ......," she picked up her coat again and stood up, "then I'll buy some ingredients and bring them with me." ”

"Can you carry it?"

"Don't underestimate people." She shook her fist at him and went back first.

It was already dark, and Naruse sat on the bed for a while, but got up and came down.

Morimi left his bag here, he took out his notes, looked through them for a while, and then looked at the homework left today.

When I put it down again, it was still very early, and it was not even seven o'clock.

Naruse walked to the window and looked outside.

It was already dark, and the snow on the ground still showed a little dim brightness in the reflection of the light.

When he came back from the airport at ten o'clock last night, it was already like this outside.

When I opened the window, the cold air hit my face.

He shrunk and wrapped himself in a few thick layers of clothing before he opened the window completely, and turned off the air conditioner to prepare for the wind to come up later.

Downstairs to the living room, he turned on the TV, sat on the sofa, and found a random program to watch.

It was about eight o'clock when Morimi came over again.

She was carrying two bags, which were full of ingredients, and Naruse went over to catch them, and found that the portion was not light, and it was not easy for him to carry.

"How did you buy so much?"

"Only the meat is bought, and most of the vegetables are picked at home."

"Eh......"

"Mom and Dad asked me to bring it over, I hope you won't pester their daughter after you accept these things."

"That's not enough."

"Another bookstore?"

"Okay."

"You want to be beautiful."

Morimi snorted, took the bag from him again, and sent it to the kitchen.

Naruse followed in and opened the refrigerator.

"I planted too much before, and I couldn't eat it all, so I brought it here." Morimi said as he cleaned up.

"They know you're coming to my house?" Naruse asked.

"Hmm."

She glanced at him, "Do you think you can hide it?" ”

"There's no hope."

"That's it."

"Then their attitude ......"

"I don't know. Except for the first few days when this matter was exposed, they haven't taken the initiative to mention it to me since then, and I haven't asked them what they think now. ”

Naruse was silent for a moment.

"How do you feel about yourself?"

Putting a large portion of beef in the refrigerator, Morimi thought for a moment and said, "If it were just me, they would still agree to me continuing to associate with you." ”

"It's your own idea."

"We're one family."

Naruse shook his head and bent down to pick up the vegetables on the ground.

"I'll just come, can you hold it up?"

"If you just clean up the vegetables, you can still hold it."

"A little bit more effort."

"Then it won't work." Naruse didn't bother to ask what the thing was about "putting a little more effort".

After the two cleaned up, they returned to the living room and sat down.

"Will they come back at night?"

"I haven't come here yet, so I probably won't come." Naruse said, "And you said you were going to stay." ”

Morimi leaned back on the sofa and stared at the TV program that was playing for a while, and suddenly asked, "Do you want to take a bath?" ”

"I just had a fever that didn't go away for long, so I'd better get up tomorrow morning and wash it again."

"Then I'll wash it myself."

"Hmm."

She got up to take a shower, and Naruse curled up on the couch and continued to watch TV.

When she came out wrapped in a bathrobe, she threw him a towel.

"I'm a patient."

"A little bit of activity, a little sweat, helps the body recover."

He could only pick up a towel and wipe her hair.

Morimi squinted, enjoying his service, "What did you do in the two days you went to Takayama. ”

"What else can I do, find someone, I've been looking for someone."

"How?"

Naruse looked at the TV, "First I went to Miyagawa Asaki City, where we went the most before, but because it had been raining for the past two days, there were basically no people outside. I took Naoko's picture again and asked about the supermarket, convenience store, train stop, hospital, and Kakuban over there. ”

He paused, "Empty rejoicing one after another. ”

Morimi looked back at him, "Did you recognize the wrong person?" ”

"Hmm...... A few old people said that they had seen it, and they also said that they knew it, but when they asked their names, they had nothing to do with Naoko. ”

"Is it possible that Naoko changed her name and lived in seclusion?"

He shook his head.

"I thought about it too, so I asked them to take me to see it...... The result is neither, at best, some of the characteristics are somewhat similar to Shangzi. ”

"For two days, you've been confirming these fake news."

"Pretty much."

She leaned back and squeezed into his arms, warming his chest with her back.

"Two days is too short...... Naruse continued to wipe her hair, "I've only run a few streets, and I can't find it far away." ”

"If you think so, you can't find it all."

He was silent for a few seconds.

"It's better to hold on to a little hope and tell yourself that you just didn't find it than to accept that Naoko wasn't there, but somewhere I didn't know it was all."

"No need to wipe it." She held his hand, set the towel aside, and leaned back against him.

"What was your mood at this time yesterday?"

Naruse glanced at the time, "Regret it." ”

She turned her head to look at him.

"Yesterday around this time, I had just taken the train from Takayama City to Nagoya, and I was about to take a flight back to the airport...... I was thinking that I should look for a little longer before leaving. ”

Morimi turned around and hugged him.

He lowered his head, rubbed her face, and hugged her tightly.

"Now that I think about it, it's good that you said those ugly things before you left, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to accept this feeling of being full of expectations and falling out of the field."

"What's so bad...... she buried her head in his shoulder.

Naruse stroked her back and didn't say much.

The snow fell silently outside, and the night time flowed quietly.

Morimi proposed to watch a movie to change his mood, so the two sat on the sofa and watched the movie until it was close to midnight.

"Why is this movie so long......"

"Classic, right?"

"Other classics aren't that long."

"It's better to say that this kind of time is just right, and you can go to sleep after reading it."

The two washed up and went upstairs and lay down on the bed, and Morimi suddenly asked, "Then do you still want to go over there on the weekend of this week to continue looking?" ”

After a brief silence, Naruse nodded.

"Until you find her."

(End of chapter)