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Chapter 9 After Winter Comes Autumn

Chapter 9 9. After winter comes autumn

The huge car broke through the light mist, crossed the not-too-long bridge across the river, and drove from Kitasaku County to Miyota Town.

The scenery of the north has become a thing of the past. Looking up, the late autumn sunshine penetrates the clouds and shines on the earth.

The mountains and fields lit up, and the mountains in the distance appeared a vague dark green, with their outlines not very clear.

The silver-gray power station seems to be floating in the ears of rice fields, moving away little by little as time passes.

On the black cables that seemed to connect the entire world, crows, magpies, and small brown-feathered birds of unknown species were all resting with their wings folded.

As we got closer, glittering green leaves flashed past the car window, and the square residential buildings were embedded in the flat land like some kind of candy.

When the car window was opened, the scent of fresh river water and rapeseed flowers diffused into the blowing air.

"Let me test you."

"Ok?"

"'The autumn wind is whiter than the stone mountain.'" In the carriage, Makimura Taku asked her, "Where is the stone mountain?"

"How would I know?" Hoshino Ai closed his copy of The Great Gatsby and said with a pout.

"It's the rock of Nakoji Temple in Natani-cho, Komatsu City."

"Oh~" She looked up at the roof of the car, then rested her arm on the table, touched the rabbit hairpin on her head, and smiled at him, "I haven't been there, so I don't know!"

That smile reminded Taku Makimura of the daffodil in the tall glass vase in the coffee shop.

Being stared at by her, Makimura Taku suddenly felt a warm current flowing into his body.

When he vaguely noticed the deep green scenery passing by and slipping away from his peripheral vision, Makimura Taku asked her casually:

"Ms. Hoshino, what color do you think autumn is?"

"autumn?"

"Now."

"Now..." Hoshino Ai supported her face and turned to the window.

The maple trees along the way passed by her eyes like dragonflies dipping into the calm water.

After leaving Echigo-Yuzawa, the autumn scenery gradually began to emerge.

What appear in the field of vision are green grass, wild flowers, wheat awns, plowing cows, staggering pedestrians, the lake reflecting the blue sky, and drifting fallen leaves.

All kinds of things seemed to remind her quietly: it was only November.

It turns out that after winter comes autumn.

An incredible idea flashed through Hoshino Ai's mind and then disappeared suddenly.

She turned her head and asked back: "What do you think?"

"Didn't I ask you first?"

"Let me copy your answer." She put her hands on the table, supporting her face, and there was no trace of impurities in her eyes when she smiled.

"well."

"Please go ahead~"

"Spring is green, summer is red, autumn is white, and winter is black."

"Oh!"

As if she was looking at a precious treasure, Hoshino Ai's eyes seemed to jump up from her seat, but in fact her hands and body did not move.

She was a little surprised and said, "That's amazing. You talked about every season at once."

"I'm not that great," Makimura explained. "It's a saying derived from a haiku."

"The haiku just now?"

"Yes."

"Spring is green, summer is red, autumn is white, and winter is black..." She thought for a moment, "The first two are fine, but how come the latter two, autumn and winter, are white and black?"

“Maybe the autumn wind is white and the snow is black.”

“Black snow?” She smiled and waved her hands, “How is that possible? We just saw it, and the snow was whiter than your face!”

"That's true," Makimura Taku nodded, "but why are you comparing me?"

"Just say whatever comes to mind."

"Am I the first one you thought of?"

"You're the first one I thought of."

"Well, I thought of daffodils."

"Daffodils?" Hoshino Ai thought for half a second, "That's right."

A train going in the opposite direction rumbled past the window, and the view turned black and white.

Hoshino Ai looked outside and found that there were more fiery red maple trees along the road.

The cool breeze that blew into the car blew her long hair up behind her neck.

Without the scarf, the skin on her collarbone was so white that it reminded people of the pale blue sky.

She looked away: "So, Makimura, you haven't said what you think yet."

“Dark green and bright red.”

“Why these two?”

"I just happened to see the green mountains and red leaves, so I said it."

"I see." Hoshino Ai nodded.

Makimura Taku looked at her and said, "Isn't it time to tell me about your story?"

She licked one of her upper right teeth with her tongue and said after a moment's hesitation, "Colorful!"

"color?"

"What a mess of colors," said Hoshino Ai. "There are all kinds of colors! Just think... pink sun, bright red lake, golden leaves!"

"Permutations and combinations?" Makimura Taku sighed.

She smiled cutely, "Snow can be black anyway, right?"

"Too."

"whee."

As the train passed through the tunnel, even the darkness itself seemed to be tinged with a color, and the silence was making sound.

"Listen to music?" When the car body came out of the mountain and the view became bright again, Makimura Taku took out his headphones, connected his phone and asked her.

"Listen." Hoshino Ai did not refuse.

They each wore an earphone and used the free trial music player to play an instrumental song "Date" by the Japanese rock band RADWIMPS.

The phone was placed horizontally in the middle of the table and the screen was not turned off.

A gorgeous meteor streaked across the starry sky covered with thin clouds, and it turned out to be just the album cover.

While listening to the song, the two of them felt the gradually warming bright light.

Occasionally, a dark shadow cast by an upright telephone pole would flash across their profile, but they were completely unaware.

After one song is finished, the next one starts playing. The song is "If You Can Shine" by Goose house.

Listening to the song, they looked into the distance and saw the flowers blooming majestically and the leaves drifting alone.

The November autumn breeze swept across the lake with warmth, leaving visible traces.

The poet is indeed pretentious: the autumn wind is neither white nor bleak.

At least the wind that day was colorful, and wherever it blew, that place became bright.

"It was you, it was you, who taught me that if I could shine in the darkness, I could become the starry sky..."

"..."

"Ok?"

“Isn’t this a good song?”

"..." Hoshino Ai took off her headphones and stared at him, "Did I sing?"

"I guess so."

"Wow, I accidentally..."

"pretty good."

The train stopped at the station and they walked out of the carriage with their luggage. They then made several detours to the bus stop and boarded the next bus, which arrived in six minutes.

The car drove towards the direction of a forest hotel they had booked.

The car body swayed as it crossed the Usui Ridge, passed by golf courses and tennis courts, and went into Karuizawa, which is surrounded by Mount Asama, Mount Ryufu, Mount Ri and Mount Nobi.

This is northwest of Tokyo and located in the southeast of Nagano Prefecture.

All year round, mist fills the mountains and forests, and larch and birch trees display their lush dark green branches and leaves.

Not far away, the maple trees flapped their wings like burning birds.

The ground is covered with sycamore trees, even the ground is colorful, the scenery is like a fairyland.

They got off the bus at the terminal, but still had to walk a few hundred meters to the hotel.

Fortunately, the road was flat and there was nothing much in the suitcase.