When the room was warmer, Naoko picked up the puppet again and continued to sew.

Naruse sat next to him and didn't bother, just watched.

By the time she finished the puppet in her hand, it was ninety o'clock in the evening.

It's dark and quiet outside the window facing the river, and after dark, it's not much different from the countryside in Tsuzen.

"Is it done?"

"Hmm."

"Do you want to continue today?"

Naoko shook her head.

"Then let's rest." Naruse said.

"Hmm."

The two of them went downstairs to wash, and as soon as they left the room, they felt the cold hit their faces, which was intimidating.

"It's so cold......"

"Because it's been baking in front of the heater for too long."

Naoko also shrunk her body, still plunging headlong into the darkness and cold, "The night here is still warmer than that of Aomori. ”

Naruse followed, forcing himself to get used to the cold when he was away from the electric heater.

"The restaurant is open until what time it is in the evening."

"It's going to close around nine, and it's half past nine at the latest."

"When Naoko helps, will she be busy until this time?"

"Occasionally."

"Ms. Kodako, they live upstairs over there?"

"Hmm."

When he got downstairs, he saw that the light in the bathroom was not turned off, and Naoko turned his head to look at him, but when he saw that he was shrinking his neck and freezing to death, he swallowed his words.

"This is the house they used to live in, but then they built a new house next to it, and they lived there, and they ran a restaurant by the way, but it was always empty...... I passed by, and while I was eating, I asked where I could rent a house nearby, and Ms. Eda let me stay. ”

"Lady Ereko is such a nice person."

"Hmm."

The two had already taken a shower at night, and after a brief wash, they returned to the warm room upstairs.

Naoko cleaned up the things on the ground, and Naruse took out the futon and laid it out on the tatami mats.

"What a thick quilt ......"

"Because there's no air conditioning."

The futon was so thick that it was even a little heavy, and Naruse got into the quilt, and Naoko looked at the electric heater that was still working, and didn't do anything for the time being, so she followed in.

"The lights haven't been turned off yet...... he just wanted to lie in and feel the weight of the quilt first.

"I'll close it later." Naoko said, wrapping the quilt tightly and squeezing it towards him again, "Is it cold?" ”

"It's fine." The quilt was a little cold, but her body was close to it, soft and warm, completely eliminating the chill behind her.

Naoko was still adjusting her posture, and suddenly there was an empty body behind her, she turned her head, and he crawled out of the bed and turned off the light with a click.

"Do you want the heater to be on?" He asked in the dark.

Naoko tugged at the quilt, "Turn it off." ”

The fiery red light faded, and he slipped back into the quilt, tugged at the quilt, and hugged her again.

Before the electric heater was completely dimmed, Naoko also turned over and hugged him tightly.

"Is it cold?" He asked the same question this time.

She pressed against his chest, "It's fine. ”

"What about when Naoko slept alone?"

“…… It's okay too. ”

Naruse hugged her tighter and stroked her back.

"This time yesterday, I had almost just arrived in Takayama City."

"You're from Tokyo?"

"Well, Tokyo the night before yesterday."

Naoko was silent for a while, and before he could speak, he took the initiative to explain the whole process of discovering this clue.

"At the beginning, I didn't expect Naoko to sell on Amazon......"

Hearing that he followed the address of the package all the way to Tokyo, she was silent for a longer time, and then said:

"If you weren't seen coming out of the post office that day......"

"Let me know what Naoko is doing, and it will be a matter of time before I think of the post office." Naruse said.

She pursed her lower lip, "Hmm." ”

"And here in Takayama City, it's not the second time I've been here."

He bowed his head slightly and kissed her on the forehead.

"I stayed here for two days last weekend, but I didn't find Naoko's side...... So even if I don't have this clue, I will continue to come and look for it, because I remember that Naoko said before that she wanted to live here. ”

“……”

She lowered her head, and Naruse quickly noticed the wetness on her chest.

He stroked her back, her sobs quickly uncontained, and the tremor of her shoulders became more pronounced.

"It's all my fault."

Tears wet her pajamas, and Naruse breathed deeply, letting her vent her long-stored emotions.

"I was the one who ruined everything for us."

In the darkness, time flowed silently, and I don't know how long it took, Naoko slowly calmed down.

Raising her hand to stroke the large wetness on his chest, she rolled over and turned her back to him.

"I want to sleep."

"Hmm." Naruse put his arm around her waist and pulled her to her side, but she didn't resist and fit each other more closely.

"Good night."

Naoko closed her eyes, "Good night." ”

Returning to the state of sleeping together more than a month ago, she thought that she would not be able to adapt and it would be difficult to fall asleep, but from closing her eyes to falling asleep, it was so fast that she didn't react at all.

The sense of security she wanted to resist didn't give her a chance to resist at all.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already dawn.

She didn't know when she turned over and faced him, and he was still asleep with his eyes closed.

“……”

Staring at his face, Naoko slowly raised her hand and stroked his cheek.

I haven't seen her for more than half a month, she has cut off the long hair that represents the past, and his hair has become much longer than before, almost covering his eyes, and obviously has not been trimmed.

What has he been doing in the past half month?

Have you been looking for her.

Still is......

The faces of the other three girls came to mind, and Naoko took a breath and banished them all again.

She glanced at her phone next to her pillow.

His cell phone hadn't rang once since he found her yesterday, and it seemed like he, like her, had discarded all his past contacts.

This is clearly unlikely.

After two glances, Naoko didn't touch his phone, and moved to him again, snuggling up to his chest with a slight movement.

His hand came up suddenly.

“……”

"What time is it?" He asked, closing his eyes.

"I don't know." Naoko didn't move, slowly pulling away.

"Hmm......"

Holding her closer, Naruse picked up the phone, looked at it, and put it down again.

"It's only past seven o'clock."

"Hmm."

"It's Friday......" he closed his eyes again, mentally counting the days.

Naoko didn't think too much about the date, and lay down against him for a while, then sat up from the bed.

It was already dawn, and she looked out the window, her body shrinking unconsciously.

Outside the bed, it's still a little cold.

"Do you want to get up?" Naruse looked at her as he lay on his pillow.

"Ms. Edako may have to go to the market to buy ingredients." Naoko said, "You go back to sleep, I'll help." ”

He yawned and sat up.

"Then let's go together, I want to go to Asahi too."

Naoko didn't say anything, they both got up, he went down to wash first, she put away the bedding, and opened the window again.

The morning breath wafted in through the window, cold and crisp, and it also made people quickly wake up.

Naruse quickly washed up, "Do you want to go over after breakfast?" ”

"No, that's a little late."

Naoko also went downstairs to wash, and when he came out of the bathroom, he was standing in the doorway, chatting and laughing with Lady Edako.

"Good morning, Ms. Edako."

"Good morning, Miss Shinonome."

She lowered her head, "Just call me Naoko." ”

"Okay, Naoko."

Lady Edako laughed, looking happy, and then said, "Naruse-kun said he wanted to go to the Asahi market with us." ”

"Yes."

"Then go ahead."

Ms. Edako's husband, Mr. Sakahara, was in charge of driving the car and took the three of them to Asahio, and the pickup truck drove along the river for a while and crossed the river over the bridge.

"Huh?" Naruse looked out the window, slightly surprised.

"It's going to the morning market in front of the Jinya."

Naoko understood what he was unexpected, and explained, "Locals prefer to go there rather than Miyagawa Chao City. ”

"I see."

Ms. Edako, a local, also turned around and explained, and after crossing the bridge, the morning market in front of Takayama Jinya was not far away.

Whether it's here or in the Miyagawa Asahi market by the river, there are a lot of fresh and affordable agricultural products for sale every day, and the Sakahara couple came to buy the ingredients for the restaurant, and Naoko said that they basically come every morning for the freshness of the ingredients.

The menu of the restaurant is not completely fixed, and the decision is what they buy in the morning at the morning market.

Naoko and Naruse followed behind with baskets, while Lady Edako and her husband picked and chose the ingredients, and the two of them were in charge of carrying the things.

As Naoko said, there are more locals wandering around the morning market, and there are hardly any outsiders like him looking around.

"Tourists from outside prefer to go to the river." Naoko said, "There are basically only stalls for agricultural products here, unlike over there, there are also sushi restaurants and other shops. ”

Naruse nodded, a few months ago, they were among the tourists who liked to go to the riverside morning market early in the morning.

Seeing him staring at the yellowed old pumpkin at one of the stalls, Naoko stopped and pointed to the pumpkin and asked for the price.

Naruse also stopped, "Do you want to buy it?" ”

"Well, you can buy it back and steam it."

The pumpkin was not small, and Naoko's hand sank when she took it, and Naruse took it again and put it in the basket on his side.

Ahead, Ms. Edako and her husband also stopped in front of another stall full of red apples.

Naruse looked around, "There are a lot of fruit stalls over here, too." ”

"Hmm." Naoko walked to the front, "Do you want to buy apples?" ”

Lady Koreko smiled at her, "You can make apple pie." ”

Naoko smiled as well.

"Do you want to buy some of Naoko, the apples in Takayama City taste good."

She looked down, then at Naruse, who was following her, and he picked up an apple and spun it around in his hand, looking at it with a scrutinizing gaze.

"It's okay."

I don't understand anything......

They had only been separated for more than half a month, and she knew very well that he didn't really know much about Apple.

"Do you want to buy some?"

"Then buy some."

After buying some "ok" apples, the two continued to shop.

The morning market in front of Takayama Jinya is not as large as Miyagawa Asahi Market, but the stalls are more concentrated, and there are many things to choose from all the way through the aisles under the tents.

【Exquisite!】 The strongest miso! 】

Naruse stopped in front of a stall full of condiments, picked up one of the boxed misos and looked at it.

"You can taste it." The stall owner inside pointed to a box of miso that had been opened next to him, and there were small cups and spoons for tasting them.

Naruse dug a little into the small cup and tasted it.

"Hmm......"

Naoko stopped when he stopped, looking at him with two eyes, "How is it." ”

He scooped up a little more and put it to her mouth.

She opened her mouth, took the small spoon in her mouth, and sipped it slightly.

"How is Naoko feeling?"

She nodded.

"There are several flavors, all of which are the same price." The stall owner enthusiastically introduced.

"Then take a copy of everything." Naruse said.

"Okay!"

"No, you don't." Naoko glanced at him, then at the stall owner, "One serving is enough, you can't eat too much." ”

The stall owner is enthusiastic, waiting for her to choose the flavor and pay the bill.

Homemade miso for 250 yen a piece, in a palm-sized transparent box, Naruse took it and looked at it twice, "Not much in a box." ”

"Enough." Naoko said.

"Okay." He didn't say much, put away the miso, and followed her on.

Stalls are connected to stalls, and the morning market, which doesn't occupy a lot of land, can be strolled for a while, but Naruse's stomach doesn't recommend him to just go on like this.

Goo –

Naoko looked back at him, and Naruse touched his stomach, "Actually, it's okay, I'm not that hungry." ”

She didn't say anything, and pulled him through the gap between the two stalls and outside.

There was a stall selling steamed buns not far away, and the two of them went over, and Naoko asked for three steamed buns, two of which were for him.

"Hmm......"

Naruse took a bite, and the rich aroma overflowed his mouth with the gravy, "It tastes really good." ”

Naoko answered and took a bite as well.

"Is one enough?"

"That's enough."

After eating the bun in his hand in three or two bites, Naruse divided the remaining one in two and gave half to her.

"If only there were such a steamed bun shop in the countryside, you wouldn't have to get up in the morning to prepare breakfast."

Naoko glanced at him, but still took the half of the bun.

"It tastes really good, and the portion is quite sufficient, just one and a half."

"Hmm."

After eating the steamed buns, the two returned to the morning market, found the Sakahara couple, and continued shopping.

"Wait, is this the same Pu Ye that made Pu Ye Yai?"

"Hmm."

"Buy some and try it back."

"Hmm."

After walking around for half an hour, Mr. Sakahara and Ms. Eda bought a lot of vegetables, and Naruse also carried a lot of alpine souvenirs that he wanted to try.

"Naoko has gained a lot today, too." Lady Kodea smiled at the two of them, "Let's go back." ”

"Okay."

Back in the car, and then back to the restaurant, the old couple began to prepare for today's business, and Naruse and Naoko returned to the next residence, sorting and sorting the things they had bought.

"Do you want to eat more?" Naoko asked.

"I'm almost full."

She nodded, not saying more.

It was only eight o'clock in the morning, and after tidying up their things, the two of them didn't go to school, and suddenly there was nothing to do, so Naoko went back to the room and sewed the puppet.

Naruse still sat and watched, without bothering.

Buzz –

The phone vibrated for a moment, Naoko picked it up and looked at it twice, put it down and got up to look for it, took out a puppet that had been made, carefully checked it up and down, left and right, and then took a transparent bag and put it in, and then put it in a cardboard box.

"Are there any new orders?"

"Hmm."

She fills out the shipping slip she has prepared in advance and pastes it onto the cardboard box.

Naruse watched from the side, "Why don't you send it now?" ”

"I'll go back at noon." Naoko said, "Go once at noon and once in the evening, if there are still packages to send." ”

After processing an order, she continued to sew the puppets at hand.

By noon, she had received two more orders, one of which was a reservation, and she was going to make a medium-sized puppet in the 30,000 yen class.

Naruse came up from downstairs and looked at the contents of the order.

"The bigger puppets don't use much more materials, but they can make one or two times as much money."

"Hmm."

"How long does it take to make that order from scratch?"

"It's a whole day, and the next day it's going to take a little time to tweak the details."

"...... like this"

Naruse nodded and smiled at her again, "It's noon, let's eat first, it's ready." ”

Only then did Naoko know where he had gone when he disappeared for half a day.

"You don't have to prepare."

"If I'm cooking, Naoko will be able to spend more time making puppets, won't she?"

Is the point here?

She looked at him, but after all, she didn't say anything, and went downstairs to eat together.

"Originally, I wanted to go to Ms. Konda to eat, but after buying so many ingredients, I can't keep them in the refrigerator all the time."

"Hmm."

"How's it taste?"

Naoko took a bite of his meal and looked at the few dishes he had prepared on the table, "Very good." ”

Naruse smiled, "That's good." ”

After lunch, he insisted on washing the dishes by himself, and Naoko didn't insist.

She went upstairs to take down the two packages she had packed, and she said she was going to the post office.

"Wait a minute, I'll go too."

"Hmm."

After washing the dishes and chopsticks, Naruse wiped his hands and went out with her.

Soon arrived at the post office, Naoko sent the things out, and the two walked back again, and when they reached the intersection, Naruse stopped.

"I almost forgot, I still have to go to the hotel to check out and get my luggage."

“……”

"It's the hotel we stayed in when we came over the summer, over there at the station, a bit far away. Naoko will go back first, and I'll go over by myself. ”

She didn't speak.

Naruse turned a corner at the intersection and walked in the direction of the hotel, and she followed.

He smiled and took her hand.

After walking for half an hour, back to the hotel, the two also sat down in the room to rest for a while.

"How many days was booked?"

"By tomorrow morning."

Naoko sat on the edge of the bed and looked out the window, "How long are you going to stay here?" ”

"Until Naoko is willing to go back with me." Naruse said.

“……”

She closed her eyes.

He sat down, she opened her eyes to look at him, and the two of them collapsed on the bed together.

Grand Chapter

(End of chapter)