I push the kid!

"I love it here!" Hoshino Ai shouted again.

Shan replied: "I love it here!"

"Please let me..." She took a deep breath and used all her strength, "Fall in love with the autumn in Karuizawa!"

The voice was so loud that even the setting sun could hear it, and the valleys and streams repeated her words for her.

Makimura Taku told her: "Just like it."

They stood in a row, the red light staining their cheeks.

Hoshino Ai turned her head and smiled at him, that smile was so cute, just like when they first met.

"Before the sun sets," Hoshino Ai said, "I want to play hide-and-seek with you."

"hide and seek?"

"hide and seek."

"How do we play?"

"You stand behind that swing, close your eyes and face the tree, um... count to sixty, and then you come find me."

"There's nothing around here, so you can spot it right away, right?"

"You look down on me?" she pouted.

"No." Makimura Taku denied.

Hoshino Ai smiled and asked, "Is it okay?"

"it is good."

After saying that, he went under a tree, closed his eyes, and counted one by one. Hoshino Ai hid while he was counting.

Those sixty seconds were quite long, long enough for dusk to disappear once.

When I opened my eyes, the sky had turned a dark blue.

Taku Makimura moved away, and oak leaves fell before his eyes. He took two steps forward and went behind the oak tree. The wind blew his clothes and bangs. He turned his head and saw dazzling star-like spots looming in the darkness.

It’s a pair of eyes. Who is copying such eyes?

"You found me." Standing in the blue and black sky, Hoshino Ai stared at him steadily.

The darkness enveloped them, and the two of them faced each other, and they both lowered their voices unconsciously.

"Why don't you hide?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't be able to find me."

"How could that be? It's completely bare here."

"If you can't find me, will you leave alone?"

"Then I can't afford to have fun."

"Really not?"

"absolute."

She looked slightly satisfied: "What are you thinking about now?"

“Daffodils.”

“Why daffodils?”

"I just thought of it. There's no reason."

"Guess what I'm thinking about?"

"do not know."

"It's okay to take a guess."

"I have no idea."

"Then don't talk about it." She said angrily.

The two left together.

At around ten o'clock in the evening, they passed the white church they had seen before and walked into Ginza Street. There were surprisingly few people on the street and very little noise.

The road was empty, with only two silver-gray bicycles leaning against the right side of the electric pole. It seemed that no one had ridden them for a long time, and there was dust on the seats. The manager of the pet shop pulled down the rolling shutter to close the shop, and drove away in the white SUV.

"Are you thirsty?" Hoshino Ai asked him as they walked side by side.

"Kind of."

"Then I'll go get some water."

"I'll go now." said Taku Makimura.

"Thank you." Hoshino Ai was very happy, "Then I'll wait for you over there."

She pointed to a wooden bench not far away. There was a street lamp next to the bench and another street lamp a long way away.

"No problem." Makimura Taku said and turned back.

There were lights on in several houses nearby, but the doors were tightly closed. Most of the shops had stopped operating. He walked for five minutes before he saw a vending machine. Two white bugs were flying around in the light.

He couldn't find Suntory, so he had to buy Pocari Sweat mineral water.

I put the coin in, pressed the button, and the water bottle fell out from the bottom with two clangs.

He took the water and walked back. At the last turn, a white truck slowly drove out from the right, and its headlights were so bright that they seemed to come from another world.

After the car passed, he turned into the intersection. When he looked forward, a bench appeared not far away.

Hoshino Ai sat there alone, the street lights illuminating a small, narrow cone-shaped area, like a spotlight used in a drama.

She was like a solitary white flower blooming on the chair, petite and beautiful.

When Taku Makimura approached with the water bottle in his hand, he found that Hoshino Ai was sitting with her legs together and her hands under her skirt.

She lowered her head so low that her hair fell completely down, covering her face. Her body seemed to be twitching like a white heart.

"Ms. Hoshino?"

Hoshino Ai raised her head and looked at him. A Toyota Corolla passed by and its headlights flashed across her profile.

The street lights above his head flickered with two hissing sounds, as if there was a line failure, but Makimura Taku could still see clearly - there was a distinct tear mark on the girl's face, and the tears in the corners of her eyes seemed to be glowing.

It was a scene he had never seen before.

How could this always smiling, kind, enthusiastic, pure girl suddenly start crying? He couldn't understand and was stunned for a long time.

The bottle of mineral water in my hand seemed to be getting heavier, and the weight of the sunflower was becoming more and more obvious.

The frequency of the flashing street lights seemed to increase, yet it also seemed to remain the same. Perhaps it was because I had kept my eyes open.

At that time, Makimura Taku suddenly had an illusion: it seemed that the tiny twitching of the girl's body was transferred to his own heart.

Was it an illusion? He still couldn't figure it out, because his heartbeat was so noisy, how could he calm down and think?

The only thing I can do is to feel sad.

"I'm sorry." Hoshino Ai said.

"What's the matter?" He handed over the water and sat down next to Hoshino Ai.

"I'm sorry." Hoshino Ai repeated, trying hard to wipe away her tears.

The street lights were still flashing, but there were no stars in the sky. The moon hid in the clouds, there was too little light, the surroundings were so quiet, and my body was so noisy.

"I'm sorry..." The voice was heartbreaking.

Thanks to [book friend 20190715120749813][Yan Mo Q][Long Yi] for the reward.

Thanks to [Ye Xiaoxian] [The Demonic Eyes That Cannot Be Looked At Directly] for their monthly tickets.

Thank you everyone for your recommendation votes.

Chapter 14 Starting Tomorrow

Chapter 14. Starting from Tomorrow

They sat in their chairs in silence for a long time.

No one spoke, as if they were all observing the passage of time, afraid to break the silence.

There was no one passing by on the road. Only a few cars working the night shift could be seen driving by every few minutes with the sound of their engines.

The car lights would flash by from time to time, illuminating their faces and bodies, and then fade away quietly like waves hitting the shore, leaving only the slight noise of tires rolling over the ground.

The clouds at night were like a layer of delicate black gauze, covering the sky.

Although I couldn't feel the wind, the moon still emerged from behind the clouds little by little, revealing a half crescent shape and then turning into a round pancake.

The streetlight above my head made two final crackling sounds, and then it stopped flickering as if it had been suddenly repaired.

Small insects similar to fireflies were flying around randomly in the field of vision, with no regular pattern at all.

"Sorry." Hoshino Ai said in a somewhat dry voice, probably after she had sorted out her emotions.

"Drink some water?"

"Ah."

She unscrewed the cap and took just a small sip, like a cat.

After she finished drinking the water, she coughed twice, held the bottle and the sunflower in her hands, hid her hands between her legs, turned her face towards Makimura Taku, and said, "Did I scare you?"

"No."

"That's good."

"What's wrong with you?" Makimura Taku just asked her this question out of concern.

Her heart skipped a beat: "I'm sorry... I'm just too happy."

"I don't apologize when I'm happy."

"That's right."

She smiled, and then kept staring at a certain spot on the ground, giving people the feeling that she was sighing, but in fact, her smile was too shallow, as if it was floating on the water.