Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 596
Staying at Naruse's house until dark, Haisei and Takikawa Hikaru went home first.

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

"I have brought you today's notes and homework."

"I think I need a rest..."

"You've almost recovered, haven't you?"

"Suddenly I feel uncomfortable again."

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

"The fever has subsided."

He sighed, "Leave it alone, I'll take a look when I get up later."

She didn't force it and looked at him, seeming to be thinking about something.

"What are you thinking."

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

"..."

"You're kidding, I was thinking of getting some food at your house, or go home and have dinner before coming back."

"Let's go home and eat." Naruse said, "There is basically nothing in the refrigerator."

"Well..." She picked up her coat again and stood up, "Then I'll buy some ingredients and bring them over later."

"Can you carry it?"

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

It was getting dark, and Naruse sat on the bed for a while, dazed, but finally got up and got down.

Morijian left his schoolbag 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, not even seven o'clock.

Naruse walked to the window and looked outside.

The sky has darkened, but the snow on the ground reflects the light, still showing a bit of dim brightness.

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

Opening the window, the cold air hit my face.

He shrank and wrapped himself in a few thick clothes before fully opening the window and turning off the air conditioner, ready to let the air flow for a while before turning it back on.

Going downstairs to the living room, he turned on the TV, sat on the sofa, and randomly found a program to watch.

Around eight o'clock, Morimi came over again.

She was carrying two bags, filled with ingredients. Naruse went over to catch them and found that the portions were not light, and it was not easy for him to carry them.

"Why did you buy so many?"

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

"Eh……"

"My parents asked me to bring them here. I hope you won't pester their daughter after accepting these things."

"Then this is not enough."

"Build another bookstore?"

"Okay."

"You think beautiful."

Morimi hummed, took the bag from his hand again, and sent it to the kitchen.

Naruse also followed in and opened the refrigerator.

"I planted too much before and couldn't eat it all, so I asked me to bring it here." Morimi said while cleaning up.

"They knew you were coming to my house?" Naruse asked.

"Ah."

She glanced at him and said, "Do you really think you can hide it?"

"No hope."

"That's it."

"Then their attitude..."

"I don't know. Except for the few days when this matter was first exposed, they never mentioned it to me again. I never asked them what they think now."

Naruse was silent for a while.

"What about your own feelings?"

Putting a large portion of beef in the refrigerator, Morimi thought for a moment and said, "If I were the only one, they would probably allow me to continue our relationship with you."

"This is your own idea."

"We are one family."

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

"I'll do it. Can your body hold it?" "If you're just picking up vegetables, you can still hold it."

"Just put in a little more effort."

"That won't work." Naruse didn't even bother to ask what "putting in a little more effort" was.

After finishing cleaning up, the two returned to the living room and sat down.

"Will they come again at night?"

"I haven't come 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 being played for a while, then suddenly asked: "Do you want to take a shower?"

"My fever has just subsided, so I'd better take a shower tomorrow morning."

"Then I'll wash it myself."

"Ah."

She got up to take a shower, while Naruse huddled on the sofa and continued watching TV.

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

"I'm a patient."

"Moving a little bit and sweating a little can help your body recover."

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

Morimi narrowed his eyes, enjoying his service, "What did you do during the two days you went to Takayama?"

"What else can I do? Find someone. I'm always looking for someone."

"How did you find it?"

Naruse watched the TV, "First we went to Miyagawa, which we visited most before, and walked around the city, but because it had been raining for the past two days, there were basically no people outside. I took Naoko's photo again, and there I asked around the supermarkets, convenience stores, tram stations, hospitals, and other places around."

He paused and said, "Happiness comes one after another."

Morijian looked back at him, "Did you admit the wrong person?"

"Well... there were a few old people who said they had seen her before, and even said they knew her. But when I asked her name, they had nothing to do with Shangzi."

"Is it possible that Shangzi changed his name and lived in seclusion?"

He shook his head.

"I also thought about it, so I asked them to take me to have a look... It turned out that it was not the case. At best, some of the features are similar to Shangzi."

"Have you been confirming these false news for two days?"

"more or less."

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

"Two days is too short..." Naruse continued to wipe her hair, "I only ran a few streets and couldn't find her from a distance."

"If you think so, you'll never run out of things to find."

He was silent for a few seconds.

"It's better to hold on to a little hope and tell myself that I just haven't found it completely than to accept that Shangzi is not there, but in a place I don't know at all."

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

"How were you feeling at this time yesterday?"

Naruse looked at the time and said, "Repent."

She turned to look at him.

"At this time yesterday, I had just taken the train from Takayama City to Nagoya, and was about to go to the airport to fly back...I was thinking that I should look for it for a while before leaving."

Morimi turned around and hugged him.

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

"Thinking about it now, it's a good thing you said those ugly words before we set off, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to accept the feeling of being full of expectations but ending up in vain."

"What's wrong with that..." She buried her head on his shoulder.

Naruse stroked her back and didn't say much.

The snow outside falls silently, and the night time flows quietly.

Morimi suggested watching a movie to change his mood, so the two of them sat on the sofa and watched the movie until it was almost midnight.

"Why is this movie so long..."

"Classic."

"Other classics are not as long."

"It's better to say that this length is just right. You can go to bed after reading it."

The two of them washed up and went upstairs and lay down on the bed. Morimi suddenly asked: "So, are you still going there to continue searching this weekend?"

After a brief silence, Naruse nodded.

"Until we find her."

(End of this chapter)