[Black Basket] Star Trail

"In Tom's Adventures, Mark Twain successfully created a typical image of a naughty boy. The story is so successful because he can represent most of Americans, and American culture has rapidly and widely spread in the past few decades. Spreading to the whole world, of course, can also be regarded as a kind of cultural invasion──”

The English spoken by the teacher is inevitably mixed with a Japanese accent. Although Norie Kanzawa can understand it, it is only limited to what she can understand.The girl looked away from the blackboard and looked down at the textbook in her hand.She could feel the man's gaze coming from behind, and she could even imagine what kind of posture that man was looking at her with what kind of eyes.It seemed that there was a burst of current flowing upstream from the root of the spine, and stopped abruptly at the protruding bone at the back of the neck.The girl slightly puffed out her chest and drew in her belly, rubbing her cheeks with the long sleeves of the sweater, as if the next step was to stick out her tongue and lick her paws.

The novel Tom's Adventures was not only a pastime that girls often read when they were young, but also a bedside book that their mother read gently.To Kanzawa Norie, attending this class before the meaningful end of the semester is a blessing hidden under the hurt.It's almost like a mother's blessing above heaven.

The girl picked up a pencil and began to draw randomly beside the text.Use a few strokes to trace the shape of the eyebrows, then the eyes below, draw out the small sharp corners of the eyes, and draw the outline of the eyes along the way──

When Kanzawa Norie realized what she was drawing, the simple drawing under the pen had already taken shape, clearly showing its owner: the red-haired boy sitting behind her side.

The girl was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly picked up the eraser and wiped it off, her ears gradually turned red.

"Hey Kamizawa," Shimizu walked over with a notebook in hand, "Are you free on Saturday night? We're planning to hold a celebration banquet for the Teiko Matsuri. It's about six to ten o'clock. If you're interested, write it down." ?”

Anyway, she had nothing important to do on the weekend, and Kanzawa Norie readily agreed.Shimizu ticked the notebook and handed it to her, "Then write your phone number on it. Please."

Kanzawa Norie glanced at the notebook casually, and Akashi Seijuro's name was impressively on it.The girl's eyes scanned his phone twice, and while it was memorized, she wrote her own. "Trouble."

After returning the notebook, Shimizu went to the cafeteria to eat.Kanzawa Norie took out the cake and milk from her schoolbag. Those who ate had already walked out of the classroom, and those who had club activities also went to the corresponding places. There was only one girl in the huge classroom.Kanzawa Norie opened the milk and took a sip, lowered his eyes, looking at the slightly bulging pockets.

Then she took out her mobile phone, hesitated for a moment, and pressed the button anyway.

"Add Contact: Akashi Seijuro"

If you want to hold a class reunion, there are not many choices of venues. The most popular choices are of course barbecue and hot pot. Judging from the size of Group A in the second year, barbecue seems to be a better choice.

"I said, you really don't need me to take you there?" Kanzawa Jizheng poked his head out of the sofa and asked.The girl put the handbag on the shoe cabinet, then picked up a pair of high-heeled sandals, as if thinking of something, put it down again, and chose another pair of strappy wedge sandals that were not so high.Kanzawa Norie fastened the silk button on the side ankle, then tied a double bow near the eye of the foot, and did not look up when she answered.

"No need, I can take the car by myself." After she finished speaking, she looked at the time, it was because she was too indecisive, and she spent half an hour choosing clothes, but the time to go out was delayed.

"It's already this time and I might be late... Hey, I'll go out first and see you later!"

Kanzawa Norie opened the door and walked out. The black-haired boy lazily adjusted his body sunken in the sofa, raised his hand and waved, "Well, goodbye──have fun──"

When Norie Kanzawa arrived in Shinjuku, it was already close to 06:30.It was a busy time, and the destination was such a densely populated place. The girl was getting impatient with the traffic jam, and the car finally arrived.

But someone was later than her.

The girl pushed open the glass door of the restaurant, but the red-haired boy was still gone.Qing was the first person to see Kanazawa Norie, she stood up, greeted the girl, and arranged for her to sit in the outermost position.Kanzawa Norie sat down quietly, next to her was Amiya, who looked like he was about to fall asleep.Someone sent a menu to ask her to order drinks first, and the other food had already been ordered, and she was ordered to start serving only after everyone arrived.

Kanzawa Norie is wearing a white vest with a beige knitted jacket today, and a dark blue skirt on her lower body.She also braided her hair specially, and now it was hanging down on her left shoulder, like some kind of animal's tail.

The girl ordered the drink and was about to pass the menu back when Akashi Seijuro finally pushed the door open.

Kanzawa Norie immediately retracted her hand.

Because the table is close to the corner of the restaurant, the latecomers will be seated outside.After Akashi Seijuro came, all the people present today were present, that is to say, he and Kanzawa Norie were the ones sitting on the outermost side——face to face.The red-haired boy looked around, put his sports bag on the chair opposite Kanazawa Norie, and explained the reason for being late to everyone. "Sorry, the road is too congested."

The girl handed the menu card to Akashi Seijuro, who looked up at her, took it and thanked her.

"Iced black tea." The red-haired boy called the waiter, and after ordering, he gestured to the girl opposite. Kanzawa Norie pursed his lips and ordered his own.The waiter took away the menu, and Akashi Seijuro turned his face towards the speaker in the crowd, seemingly listening to their conversation seriously, but because he had no expression, he always seemed absent-minded.

Kanzawa Norie also imitated his example and listened attentively. Most of the conversations were about the right and wrong of other classes, or the private situation of the teacher, neither of which could arouse the girl's interest.Most of the class reunions will talk about this kind of topic, especially after graduation.Kanzawa Norie got acquainted with them very late, and she didn't have a big impression of them, whether they were classmates at the same level or the teacher.Even the names and appearances of the students in the same class are just getting acquainted. At this time, it will never go wrong to talk less and listen more.

When the drinks were brought up, Norie Kanzawa instructed the waiter to put the iced tea in front of Akashi, smiled at the waiter, and cast his eyes on the street outside the window.

Akashi quickly noticed the girl's boredom.

Kanzawa Norie picked up a small spoon and gently stirred the drink in the glass, the movement was very light, and almost never touched the wall of the glass.Because he was sitting opposite her, all Akashi could see was her side face, the eyes under the bangs were as bright as stars, and the skin was smooth and delicate.Girls with good skin always make people feel temperamental, and she is no exception. This kind of picturesque outline must look good in photos.Akashi's eyes rolled around her lips. The girl seemed to have applied a little lipstick, which was very light and very light in color, and the pearlescent effect was not ostentatious.

He couldn't tell if she wore makeup, but even if she did, it was very light.

The main food started to be served, and Kanzawa Norie stepped back a little, giving way to the waiter to serve the food.

The girl skillfully picked up two pieces of beef brisket with raw meat tongs and placed them on the stove.The sauce was already oily, and it sizzled when it came into contact with the heat. The temperature of the oven made Kanzawa Norie a little dry, and she blinked her eyes.

Akashi Seijuro didn't move, he was still listening to others.

The beef was cooked quickly, and Norie Kanzawa changed the tongs, and put one of them on Akashi's plate, with a natural and skillful movement.The red-haired boy was a little surprised, and Kanzawa Norie seemed to be intimidated after meeting his gaze, showing a slightly embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry, I'm used to barbecue with people. Please use it if you don't mind it."

Akashi originally thought that Kanzawa Norie was not good at this kind of thing, but the girl's skills were surprisingly good.The temperature at the entrance of the beef is a bit high, and the degree of cookedness is controlled very precisely, which he really did not expect.

For the girl herself, the meat seemed too hot, she could neither swallow it nor spit it out, so she just covered her mouth and took small bites.After finally swallowing it down, Kanzawa Norie took a big sip of the drink, and at this time Akashi Seijuro had already started to play with the other two pieces of meat politely.

Akashi himself has a bit of a cat's tongue, but apparently Kanzawa Norie's situation is a little more serious.

After the girl made a mistake, the delicate atmosphere between the two seemed to be broken by something, and they finally found a balance that was most useful to both of them.The boy turned the cow over and asked casually, "Cat tongue?"

"Well, it's been like this since I was a child...thank you." Norie Kanzawa raised the plate to ask Akashi to put down the meat slices. It seemed that it was to have a chat, and it seemed that it was just to stir up the atmosphere. The girl talked more.

"When I was a child, I was even more stubborn. I had to wait for the food to be cold before eating, which made my stomach upset."

Akashi Seijuro has no way of knowing the girl's childhood experience, but he still knows a thing or two about her poor health.Originally, she felt that she might not be able to accept this kind of greasy food in her situation, but fortunately, she didn't seem to have much reaction so far. If she alarmed other people at this time, she would definitely not be able to stop it.

At the other end of the long table, other people talked about the topics they were interested in, but in the corner, the two of them seemed to be guests who borrowed seats, creating a small piece of peace for themselves amidst the noise of others .

The celebration banquet lasted until past ten o'clock.

The time I told Kanazawa Jizheng was to return home around 10:30, so he really turned on the phone at 22:30, and it seemed that he was really bored.From this point, it can be deduced that Kanzawa Jiyu has not arrived home yet, and now there is only a black-haired boy, a cat and a dog in the house.Kanzawa Jihui ran outside the store to answer the phone, and as twins, Ji Zheng could tell that she was in a good mood, so he decided to test how good she was.

"I want to eat McDonald's."

"What do you want to eat? I'll see if there's anything nearby." Kanazawa Jihui is a person who hates fast food. If it was normal, she would definitely say, "What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you when I get home. I need to wash the dishes", and now she agrees straight away, which shows that something happy happened to her.

The boy casually made an excuse that he didn't need it, urged her to go home early, and then hung up.When the girl returned to the restaurant, it was time to pay the bill. After the girl gave herself the money, she picked up the handbag. Akashi Seijuro also pushed the chair back to its original position. It's loud, but it doesn't prevent Kanzawa Norie from hearing his words clearly. "Shall we go back together?"

The girl tilted her head, and suddenly remembered where Akashi Seijuro's house was. It was indeed not far from her house, and it was not too much to go home together, so she nodded, "Okay."

The people in group A walked out of the restaurant, said goodbye to each other, and then scattered away in twos and threes according to the means of transportation they wanted to take.After all it was late, Kanazawa Norie suggested that we should take a taxi, but Akashi didn't care, so he nodded and agreed.It is not difficult to catch a taxi in the bustling Shinjuku. Two people are sitting in the back seat, with two bags of different styles in the middle, an intimate and distant distance.After they told the driver the address, they fell silent. They had no plans to go home together before, and the two of them couldn't find a suitable topic for a while.

Strangely, none of them felt the need to speak.

The girl looked at the night scene outside the car window, unaware that she had also become a part of the scene.The distance from Shinjuku, where the lights are as bright as day, to her home is not too long. The girl's home is a little closer than Akashi's. After blocking Akashi's stop, the girl took out her wallet and paid the fare, smiling a little tired and satisfied. "Good night, Akashi-kun."

Saying so, she got out of the car and went around to the back of the car to take a photo.Akashi raised his eyebrows, and the moment he understood Kanazawa Norie's intentions, the warmth in his chest almost overflowed—yes, he understood.The girl was afraid that something would happen to him on the next journey, so she took a photo of the license plate and Akashi in advance. Although the probability was very small, if something happened, the effect of this photo would be beyond imagination.

To be honest, this kind of thoughtfulness may not be a bit unfounded, but Akashi Seijuro doesn't hate it.Kanzawa Norie's reliability is like a heavy weight at this moment, weighing heavily on his shoulders, making the red-haired boy's breathing stagnate—in his short life, he has never been treated like this before.The girl is indeed a person who is used to taking care of others. What she shows is not so much the demeanor of an elder sister, but a kind of tenderness beyond age.

Akashi Seijuro's good mood lasted until Monday, before stepping into the classroom. w, until that happened, Kanzawa Norie suspected him for the first time