I push the kid!

The next morning, January 1st, after breakfast, Taku Makimura went to the bookstore as usual. Although it was New Year's Day, fortunately this bookstore was private and opened at 8:30.

When he walked into the bookstore, the clerk in his twenties greeted him enthusiastically and he nodded in response.

There were few people in the store, and it was almost impossible to see four figures at the same time. He found Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment", which he had not finished reading yesterday, at the bottom of the third row of bookshelves near the main aisle, and found an empty seat where he could get some sunlight and sat down.

Ten minutes later, someone came to see him. It was Tomoki Ogura.

"I knew you were here." She sat down at the seat opposite.

She was wearing a green V-neck sweater today, with a white base shirt underneath, and her legs were covered with warm and slim black tights.

"It would be strange if you didn't know, right?" said Makimura Taku as he poured the book on the table.

"What's today?"

“Crime and Punishment.”

“When is a comic strip pornographic?”

"Next time."

"Next time," she propped up her head, "When is next time?"

"So what's the matter?"

"Can't I come to you if I have nothing to do?"

"can."

She smiled and produced a small square aqua blue box from somewhere. The box sparkled in the sun as if it were inlaid with diamonds.

She pushed the box over: "Happy New Year~"

"Happy New Year." Makimura Taku said, "What is this?"

"Gift!"

"I'm not prepared, so I won't accept it."

"I wanted to give it to you."

Makimura Taku looked at the gift box, then looked up at her. Her eyes were filled with a special clarity, as if she was lying on the roof of a small building in summer, looking up at the starry night sky.

"Thank you."

"Open it now."

"What is it?"

"What is it?" She kept it a secret. "You'll know when you open it."

Taku Makimura closed the book and opened the box. A gleaming bracelet lay inside. It wasn't very gorgeous, but it definitely didn't look cheap.

"Do you like it?" Ogura Yuki asked expectantly.

"To be honest," Makimura Taku replied, "I don't think I can use it."

"what?"

"It's a bracelet after all."

"That's right!" She seemed to have just realized this. "I'm such a fool. I should have bought a fountain pen earlier!"

"Thank you anyway."

"Yeah. I can't use it," Ogura Yuki said, "but do you like it?"

"it's OK."

"Fool."

"what happened again?"

She acted as if she understood everything: "At this time, you should say you like it the most. The most, understand?"

"My favorite." Makimura Taku agreed.

The sunlight came in at an incredible angle, casting the shadows of two people on the table, the floor, and the bookshelf, facing each other, just like their current state.

Ogurayou looked at him, sizing up his hair, eyes, nose, lips, and Adam's apple, wishing he could get closer to take a closer look.

She couldn't help but swallow her saliva. The sound was heavy inside her body and she didn't know if it could be heard outside. She felt her heart beating very fast.

"Say it again."

"what?"

"'Favorite'"

Makimura Taku didn't respond, just looked at her.

Ogura Tomoki didn't dare to look at him anymore.

She murmured in a voice that only she could hear clearly: "You idiot, how can you lie so beautifully? Really, really."

They arrived at the station at around five in the evening. Originally, Tomoki Ogura should have gone back earlier, but she insisted on being sent here. Taku Makimura couldn't refuse, so he had to let her come with him.

"Have you brought everything?"

"It's just a little bit of stuff I can't forget."

"Don't forget me either."

She lowered her head and suddenly squatted down, as if checking the zipper of her suitcase, and she was reluctant to stand up.

That evening, she changed her clothes. She was wearing a little too little, her skirt looked very thin, and she didn't wear a scarf. Her neck was smooth and white, like a piece of natural white jade.

Makimura Taku looked at her as if he was looking at the sea from the top of a mountain.

Two names were blown to him by the wind, one was Ogura Tomoki and the other was Hoshino Ai, he couldn't forget them.

When the car left the station, Tomoki Ogura waved at him through the window.

She was so dignified that she looked different from usual. Instead, she looked like a rich lady. Which one was the real her? Makimura Taku thought and raised his hand to say goodbye.

The figure in the skirt gradually went away, just like a telephone pole left behind on the road when coming, disappearing silently, and just like a certain smile that once appeared frequently in front of him, it would never come back.

The train arrived at the station a little after nine o'clock, and Tokyo was still bustling at night.

The giant billboards on the tall buildings change their images, and the neon lights in the streets are always in sight.

Some people were playing music and singing in the square, while others were drinking in the tavern.

Some people enjoy the late night, some people are busy making a living, but these have nothing to do with Taku Makimura.

At 10:02, Taku Makimura returned to his residence dragging his suitcase. At 11:58, he took a shower and went to bed.

On January 5th, he found a job as a librarian at a bookstore on the streets of Shibuya.

The store manager offered him a fairly good salary, and he was quite satisfied with the job, so he worked there for more than two months.

During work, many girls of similar age asked him if he was a star in a certain agency, and whether they could get his autograph, take a photo with him, or ask for his contact information.

He was afraid of receiving harassing phone calls and personal information being leaked, so he politely declined all requests. Apart from work, he spent his days reading and exercising, leading a very leisurely life.

At the end of March, he resigned from his job at the library. The manager tried to keep him, but he said apologetically that he might come back if he had the chance.

After returning home, Tomoki Ogura called him a second time.

The first call was before she quit her job. She asked him how he was doing, whether he missed her, and whether he had found a job. He answered truthfully: I'm doing fine, I don't miss her much, and I've found a job.

Tomoki Ogura asked him about his salary again, and he answered truthfully.

"It's too low." That was the first call, and Tomoki Ogura's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"It's not low anymore." said Taku Makimura.

"How about coming to work at my Starbucks? It's in Shibuya."

"Shibuya?" Makimura Taku repeated. He lived not far from Shibuya, about 20 minutes by train.

"That's settled. I'll give them a call and tell them."

"Nothing is said."

"Come on." Ogura Yuki said, "I will definitely not treat you unfairly. You are so handsome, maybe you can increase the sales of the store. If you want, I can even replace the huge advertisement outside the store with your photo!"

"That's not necessary."

"It's a deal!" she said.

The phone beeped three times and then I hung up.

After he quit his job, Ogura Yuki called for the second time.

"how are things?"

"good."

"did you miss me?"

"I didn't think so."

"It's okay to tell a lie."

"I'm going to work at your house." Makimura Taku changed the subject.

"It should have been done a long time ago."

"Go tomorrow."

"Okay," two cat meows came from the other end of the phone, "I'll make it clear with them. When the time comes, just say my name. There's no need for an interview or anything like that!"

"Thank you." said Taku Makimura.

They talked about other things, such as weddings were often held in the Stone Church, a wild boar ran into the street and was caught by the police, and a new coffee shop opened next to the pet shop.

There were many topics, but most of them were talked by Tomoki Ogura and listened by Taku Makimura. However, the other party did not mind and talked happily.

Before hanging up the phone, Ogura Tomoki said that next time he came, they could go to that coffee shop and sit together, and they wouldn't have to drink the awful coffee he made himself. Makimura Taku smiled and said yes.

On April 1st, Taku Makimura left home at 7:30, took the train, swayed in the carriage for about twenty minutes, and got off at Shibuya Station with the crowd.

The spring sunshine is brighter and gentler than expected. The sky is clear blue. Birds with gray and white feathers sing loudly overhead, flying over the treetops and through the residential buildings.

Two female students in high school uniforms walked hand in hand, an office worker was walking hurriedly with a black briefcase, and a boy disappeared around the corner on a bicycle, the sound of his bicycle bell still seemed to echo in his ears.

A warm breeze blew from behind, blowing the shiny leaves and the corners of Taku Makimura's clothes.