Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 343
Sitting on a bench in the park, after eating the bento, Naruse packed the bento box, took the tissue from Hikari Takikawa, and wiped his mouth.

"There seems to be a bathroom over there, I'll go wash my hands." She got up and said.

"Ah."

After packing up his things, he sent a message to Shangzi that he was about to continue riding. Naruse got up, turned around, and stretched himself.

He had already arrived at Goshogawara, and there was still half of the journey left. The first half of the journey took a little more time than he expected.

He already doubted whether he would be able to reach Thirteen Lakes at one o'clock in the afternoon.

"If you go back, take the county road all the way, it shouldn't take too long..."

Naruse opened the phone map again, and chose among several routes recommended by the navigation.

When they were about to go back, they had already arrived at the mouth of the sea along the Iwaki River, and Hikari Takikawa probably wouldn't want to go back along the same road—even if she really thought so, he wouldn't agree.

"It's okay, the farthest way is only an hour and a half."

He raised his head again and looked at the slightly gray sky.

If it's not raining.

"Harukai." Hikaru Takikawa came over after washing his hands, "Let's go."

"Ah."

As soon as he walked out of the park, Naruse saw two policemen in reflective vests standing in front of his and Hikaru Takikawa's motorcycle, taking pictures of something.

"..."

He was still in a daze, and Takikawa Hikari next to him had already rushed out.

"Wait a moment--"

She yelled and ran to the two policemen, "We are ready to leave! Let's go now! Chun Hai, come here!"

"..."

Naruse walked over quickly and glanced at the writing on the reflective vest.

【Aomori Prefectural Police Parking Watch】

That is, the police who specialize in patrolling illegal parking in the jurisdiction.

Right now they are shooting and writing, and they are collecting evidence on the spot.

If the driver returns in time before the parking ticket is issued, the penalty can be waived.

Sure enough, seeing them coming back, the two policemen also stopped what they were doing.

"You can't park here."

"Okay, we will pay attention next time." Takikawa responded with familiarity.

Looking at the faces of the two, one of the policemen suddenly asked them to show their driver's licenses.

After all, their faces looked a little younger.

Naruse took out his wallet and took out his driver's license, and Takikawa Hikari did the same.

"Narase Harumi."

"Yes."

"High school student?"

"Yes."

"The predecessor of Jin?"

"Yes."

"Why did you come here?" The policeman, who looked a little older, muttered casually, but Naruse just smiled and didn't say much.

"Well……"

After comparing the photo with Naruse's face back and forth for a while, he suddenly leaned towards his colleague next to him.

"Do you think he looks like a star?"

"Ah, it's a little... Who is it?"

"The more you look at it, the more familiar it looks...but I can't remember the name."

Hikaru Takikawa looked at Naruse with a smile, and he raised his eyebrows to signal her not to speak.

After thinking about it for a long time, there was no result, so the two policemen didn't bother with this matter much.

"Look at the time, you just got your driver's license not long ago, so be careful when riding a bike." One of them said to Naruse.

"Ok."

"Girlfriend too."

Hikaru Takikawa was taken aback for a moment, then smiled again.

"Ok."

After confirming that they were correct, the police returned the driver's licenses to the two, urged them to leave as soon as possible, then returned to their police motorcycles and rode away.

"It's dangerous. I think they are already preparing to print the ticket...it's the little machine hanging on their waist."

Hikaru Takikawa rode on his car, "A few minutes later, we will have to pay a fine."

"Yeah." Naruse inserted the car keys and put on the helmet, "I didn't expect the first violation to come so quickly."

"Haha, I violated the rules on the first day I got the motorcycle."

"You're still proud."

Leaving the park, the two rode back along the road they came from, and soon returned to the river.

After riding along the path for more than ten minutes, Takikawa stopped again on a river beach.

"You can park here."

The four fields are barren, with only green grass and no human figure.

Naruse also slowed down and stopped, "Who would come here to issue a ticket."

The road under the wheels had come to an end, she rode on the grass, and rode forward for a while, and stopped when she could see the river.

"What a wide river beach, it can be used as a baseball field."

"Yes."

Between the grassland and the river is a thick bush, but it is not high, at most two or three meters, and it looks like it was artificially planted.

Naruse got off the car, walked into the bushes, and leaned over to look at the river on the other side.

The Yanmu River has flowed into many tributaries here, and the water volume is abundant, which is no longer comparable to that in the former section of Tianjin.

This section of the river is also relatively narrow, and the river flows silently, so deep that the bottom cannot be seen.

"The river is so narrow, I don't know if it will overflow when the water rises in summer..."

No one responded.

He looked back, and Takikawa Hikari's car was still parked in place, but no one was there.

Naruse walked out of the bushes, searched again, and saw a figure squatting in the bushes on the other side.

"..."

He immediately looked away, took a few steps to the side, and looked at the sky again.

No wonder it suddenly stopped here...

After a while, Takikawa Hikaru got up and came out.

"I was in the park just now, so why not settle it by the way."

"I didn't feel it at that time, probably because I drank too much water... Has Chunhai solved it?"

"I do not need."

"Then Chunhai got in just now..."

"Just look at the river."

Takikawa Hikaru also got into the bushes and looked at the silent river.

"The water has gotten a lot deeper."

"Well, be careful."

"When you get here, you don't have to worry about hitting your head on a rock while drifting."

"..."

Naruse opened his mouth and said quickly:
"Yeah, but you get stuck in the roots of trees, and you get stuck and get bitten by water snakes, leeches, and caterpillars that fall from the tree."

Takikawa Hikaru suddenly got goosebumps on his arms.

Rubbing her arms, she smiled and glared at him.

"Let's go!"

The two got on the motorcycle again.

Crossing the river beach grass and returning to the road, Naruse said, "Let's go to the next bridge, let's cross the river, otherwise we will be trapped in the delta where the two rivers meet again like before."

"Is there another tributary flowing in from the front?"

"Well, it seems to be called Odagawa."

"OK."

The two rode forward for more than 20 minutes before seeing the next bridge.

"It feels like the further downstream, the harder it is to see the bridge across the river." Takikawa said as he crossed the bridge.

Naruse stopped at the end of the bridge where no one was in front of him, and looked into the distance.

"There are very few people living here. If you look at the two sides, it's basically farmland."

The fields are connected with fields, and large tracts of farmland are one after another, green and neat.

"Ok?"

Looking into the distance, Takikawa Hikaru suddenly narrowed his eyes.

"In the field over there, the ones stuck... are they branches?"

"If it were a branch, you wouldn't be able to see it." Naruse smiled, "That's a wind turbine."

"Ah..." Takigawa Hikari suddenly realized.

Naruse went over the map in his mind.

"When we go back, we will pass by there, and then you can take a closer look underneath."

"Really? Okay~"

After a short stay, the two continued to set off.

After riding forward for more than ten minutes, I arrived at the confluence of the two rivers that Naruse mentioned before.

And the two looked at the county road 50 meters away from the river, and there were waist-deep weeds underneath, not to mention the path, and they couldn't even get close.

"After the intersection, the river has become wider."

"Ah."

Hikaru Takikawa looked to the other side of the county road, and the houses were all under the road.

"The road here is so high."

"Before it was poured into the asphalt road, it was a riverbank embankment. When the Iwaki River flooded and raged, it was all to hold back the raging river."

"Ah... Every summer, I still hear news that the Iwaki River is flooding."

"The river channels in some river basins are a bit narrow."

Continue riding for a while, and a bridge appears ahead.

The two waited for the red light for more than half a minute, and the passing vehicles could be counted with one hand.

"Coming here, there is a feeling of sparsely populated land."

"We're in the country of the country of the country."

"How many 'countries' are there?" Hikaru Takikawa couldn't help laughing.

After crossing the road, there is a sign at the head of the bridge, with three big characters [Yan Muchuan] written on it, and the distance to the mouth of the sea is on the side.

[Thirteen Lakes: 14KM]

Naruse took a breath, and after riding for a long time, he finally arrived at his destination.

"Is it still fourteen kilometers away?"

"Ah."

Hikaru Takigawa looked forward, his eyes became far-reaching, "Go ahead."

Accompanied by the sound of the humming engine, the two galloped on the deserted road.

After riding at this speed for nearly 10 minutes, the river became wider and wider, and the two banks became more and more deserted and uninhabited.

Takikawa Hikaru suddenly slowed down.

Naruse in the front glanced at the rearview mirror, saw that she was falling farther and farther, and slowed down accordingly.

When she came up and walked side by side with him, he said, "What's wrong?"

She just shook her head and looked at the river.

It was already the end of May, but the riverside was covered with withered grass, mixed with a little new greenery during the period.

"You don't want to ride down the bike, do you?"

"..."

She smiled briefly, and finally said, "No."

"When you get to the front, there will be a place where you can see the mouth of the sea at close range... No, it's where the rivers and lakes meet."

"Ah."

At such a moderate speed, the two rode forward for a while, and when they reached a narrow and deserted bridge, Naruse stopped again.

Looking downstream, he said, "This is the last bridge over the Iwaki River."

Hikaru Takikawa was startled, turned the front of the car, rode directly on the bridge, and stopped in the middle.

The sky is dim, the clouds are very low, and I can't see the long-lost Yanmu Mountain when I look back;

Looking forward, the river course is not straight, and the great lake at the end cannot be seen.

Only the silent banks, the silent river.

"Such a lonely bridge is too lonely."

"No one but us." Naruse stopped beside her.

After getting out of the car, she stood by the guardrail and looked at the river below.

The river water is deep and unspeakably clear, and the turbid waves keep beating against the bridge piers.

The wind blows in gusts, and it is clear that summer is coming, but it is wrapped in a damp chill.

She hugged her arm involuntarily.

Looking around, the world is misty and the wilderness is vast.

She had never had such a hesitant moment.

Obviously nothing changed.

He is obviously by her side now...

She looked over, and Naruse's gaze also turned.

Looking at each other, he was taken aback.

"...It's almost the end, let's go."

Takikawa nodded.

The two rode back on the bike, turned around on the bridge again, and rode back to the original road.

To the Thirteen Lakes, there are only the last few kilometers left.

Under the wheel, there is only one road.

The road is so straight that people can't help but turn back frequently.

The wind blowing from the side became more and more humid and stronger, pushing down the dry grass by the river and wet their helmets.

Clouds are also lower.

It's going to rain, Naruse thought.

But even if it rains now, it is not the time to look back.

Leaving the last bridge over the Iwaki River, the field of vision becomes wider and wider, but there is no building in front, back, left, or half of a person in sight.

This place seems to be abandoned by civilization.

He looked at the figure riding in front of him.

She didn't know when she rode to the front, her body kept moving forward with the motorcycle, but her eyes kept looking at the vast grass on the side.

He wanted to remind her to look ahead, but there was nothing ahead but a straight road.

Two minutes later, the two stopped at the end of the road.

Stopped the car, climbed over the guardrail with only a little symbolic meaning on the side of the road, and the two stood side by side on the bank, looking at the rolling river in front of them.

"Thirteen Lakes..."

"Well, here we are, this is the end of the Iwaki River."

After staring at the mouth of the river for a while, Takikawa Hikari turned his head to look at the vast lake in front of him.

The wind kept blowing, and the lake water was rippling and slapping on the shore.Thick clouds billowed in mid-air, pressing down low, covering the shore of the lake, seeming to be connected with the lake surface in a very far away place.

This is the end of the river that watched her grow up.

"It's so big..." she murmured.

Naruse glanced at her, and the wind blew her short hair all over her face, blurring her face.

Looking into the distance, she took a step forward, and he immediately grabbed her arm.

She stopped, turned her head and asked:

"What does the mouth of the sea look like?"

"I haven't been there either..."

Before Naruse finished speaking, she turned around and climbed over the guardrail, returning to the motorcycle.

"Let's go."

"..."

Naruse looked up at the gloomy sky again.

"Go."

Riding on the motorcycle, Naruse twisted the accelerator and rode to the front to lead the way.

One in front and one in the back, the two were galloping by the lake.

After making a big circle, they left the peninsula-like wilderness by the lake, crossed another river that also flowed into the Thirteen Lakes, and the two came to the west shore of the Thirteen Lakes, and continued to ride towards the mouth of the sea.

When we got here, we could see many connected houses on the other side of the field.

Naruse looked at the map carefully, and at this moment he still remembered the way they would go back later, which was between the houses over there.

After riding forward for a while, the road by the lake came to an end. Naruse turned around and returned to the area where humans lived.

He glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that Hikari Takikawa was following up, so he increased his speed.

The county road is wide, and the two of them rode for a while. They saw many oncoming cars on the road, but they didn't dare to ride too fast.

Riding and riding, when he saw another small road on the right, Naruse turned on the turn signal, slowed down and turned and rode in.

The Thirteenth Lake, which was blocked by the forest, reappeared in the field of vision of the two of them, and the color of the clouds pressing down on the sky became deeper and lower.

There are several houses on the shore of the lake, and people live here.

Naruse had just ridden for a while when an old man appeared on the side of the road and beckoned them to stop.

He spoke in a heavy Jinqing accent, Rao Naruse, it took him a long time to understand what he meant:
It's going to rain heavily, and it's dangerous to ride by the lake, turn around quickly, don't take this road.

Then, go home as soon as possible.

"OK……"

Naruse responded, and Takikawa Hikari behind him had already ridden out first.

When the old man saw it, he immediately shouted at her back.

"..."

Naruse sighed, apologized to himself, then twisted the accelerator, and chased after him.

drop--

drop--

On this kind of road, Naruse didn't dare to ride too fast, he blew his flute a few times before Takikawa Hikaru slowed down.

After catching up with her, he didn't say anything, just rode ahead.

There were some white cruise ships floating on the lake. The weather was bad at this time, and the cruise ships were also heading to the port ahead.

Looking at a cruise ship in front of him, Naruse's speed remained the same, but he and Hikari Takikawa came to the port first.

Slowing down briefly to avoid tourists who disembarked and returned to the shore, the two passed through the port and rode forward along the county road for a minute or two before arriving at the real entrance to the sea, the Thirteen Lakes Bridge.

The wheels touched the edge, and he rode the bike onto the sidewalk. Naruse looked at the gloomy sea, and then turned his head to look at Hikari Takikawa who was also riding up.

"This is the mouth of Thirteen Lakes, and there is the Tower of Jinbo."

"..."

Looking at the section of jetty extending into the sea, when she spoke again, she still said the same words.

"Let's go."

"It's going to rain heavily soon, and it's dangerous to get closer."

"I won't go to a dangerous place."

After that, she rode off the sidewalk and went straight across the Shisanhu Bridge.

Naruse didn't have time to stop him, so he had no choice but to ride his bicycle and catch up.

After crossing the bridge and passing through a section of woods, Hikari Takikawa turned into the path leading to the sea at the intersection, followed by Naruse.

Along the way, he met several middle-aged men and women in uniform with surprised faces. They should be the management staff here. He could only pretend that he didn't see him and continued to chase Takikawa Hikaru ahead.

After passing under the Shisanhu Bridge and riding a few hundred meters further, the road finally came to an end.

The tweeter standing not far away is constantly repeating the announcement that the weather is bad and leave here as soon as possible, but at this time the only two people here ignore it.

Hikaru Takikawa stopped at the middle of the jetty, got out of the car, and stood there motionless looking at the sea.

Further forward, the sea has flooded up.

The sea and the sky are wide, the clouds are dense, and the wind is blowing.

Raging waves kept beating against the breakwater.

Naruse stopped the car and turned around, got out of the car and walked to her side.

"..."

She opened her eyes wide, looking at the boundless sea.

At the end of the river is the sea.

There is no answer, no road, only boundless expanse.

The sea and the sky were connected, her eyes couldn't find a place to fall, and tears suddenly flowed down.

"Light……"

"Chunhai, why is the sea so wide that you can't see the edge?"

"The sea..."

"If I really drift down the Iwaki River, where will I drift?"

"..."

"Where should I go?"

Tears flowed more and more, she seemed unconscious, just murmured while looking at the sea.

"What should I do, what can I do, why do I have to make a choice... When will the future where goals and meanings will appear by themselves... Sister, Harumi... I don't know what to do anymore."

"..."

Naruse opened his mouth, but couldn't answer, but his face suddenly turned cold.

He raised his head, and the heavy rain that had been brewing for a long time still fell.

woohoo-

The rainy season in Aomori has begun.

·
【Second year students · end】

(End of this chapter)