"What if I say the person I like is you, Nanamin."

Fukawa originally thought that Hashimoto would be more surprised. She expected many situations in which Hashimoto would be speechless or turn away angrily, but she only changed her face slightly, and then looked at Fukawa overjoyed.

.

"Maimai, stop joking."

"...I'm not kidding."

"You said you weren't kidding?"

Hashimoto came close to her and poked Fukawa's cheek with his finger, "Look, your face is red. You are not very good at lying, right?"

Fukawa was indeed not good at lying, but Hashimoto's words were so conclusive that it aroused Fukawa's antagonism.

Hashimoto was still laughing, but Fukagawa pulled her hard with his arm and pulled her back to the seat next to her. Maybe the force was a little too strong, or maybe Hashimoto didn't expect her to act so suddenly. He stared at her with a very surprised expression.

Fukawa turned over, placed his right hand on the wall behind Hashimoto, and slowly approached her. His left hand reached to the back of the neck and gently held the back of her head.

"Maimai?"

Fukawa didn't see a trace of fear in Hashimoto's eyes, only confusion about the current situation.

Because the target is me, is that why you are so defenseless...

On the contrary, she was a little unwilling.

Fukawa and Shiraishi's foreheads touched, and they whispered like whispers:

"Then you should think I'm joking next time."

Amidst the roar of the subway as it entered the station and the sound of the metal wheels engaging the track, Fukawa leaned over and lowered his head without hesitation.

At that moment, it was like immersing one's head in water. The world lost part of its reality and was blocked by some medium. Hashimoto could hear the station announcer's voice, "Nogizaka Station has arrived, Nogizaka Station has arrived", but that was all.

The sound outside turned into a repetitive buzzing noise.

Her brain was spinning, and all the information that her senses could collect was more like the outside world was forced into her head. Until Fukawa's lips and teeth left with a slight hesitation, she was still a little confused about the situation. She felt that she was missing a certain piece.

memory.

She had never been so helpless and panicked as now.

She has worked in various places, including sushi restaurants, izakayas, bookstores, fast food restaurants, and parks and amusement parks. She has met many people and encountered many situations. No matter how difficult the customer is, she has a suitable way to deal with it.

Originally, this is how it should be...

"Maimai...you are..."

No, no. This shouldn't be the reaction.

Hashimoto looked at Fukawa, who straightened up but still had eager eyes, and his eyes stopped on her thin but full lips.

She subconsciously touched her lips with her fingers. The deep river had left, but she still felt something remained. It was not the touch of her body, but something hot and scalding, and the place she touched seemed to be burned by flames.

, Hashimoto's cheeks instantly turned red.

But she was not burned.

"So you also have such an expression, Nanamin." Fukawa smiled, but the hand on the back of Hashimoto's neck trembled slightly, hinting that her heart was not at peace.

"...This joke is not funny at all, Mai Mai."

Hashimoto didn't know what kind of expression she should put on, so she could only bite her lip and look angrily into Fukawa's eyes. She hoped that Fukawa would apologize and say sorry, the joke was a bit too much. In this way, even if Hashimoto's inner thoughts were already in chaos.

Tuan will still forgive her with a smile.

But even though Fukawa was aware of the expectations in Hashimoto's eyes, he still stubbornly refused to look back.

"Nanamin, do you really think I'm kidding?"

Fukawa's eyes didn't avoid her at all. Her words at this time were far less solid and powerful than her actions. She was about to repeat the previous action. Hashimoto noticed it and took the initiative to look away, turning his head not to look at her.

"Don't make me hate you, Mai Mai."

Fukawa hesitated, retracted her arms, and stood in front of the bridge. She lowered her head, her eyes were covered by the shadow of her fallen hair, and her expression could not be clearly seen.

Hashimoto took the bag placed aside, and when he turned around to leave in a hurry, Fukawa grabbed his wrist.

She didn't look back to see Fukawa's reaction, but pressed the bag firmly against her chest.

"open."

"...don't let go."

"Let go." Hashimoto emphasized slightly.

Fukawa was silent for a while.

"...don't let go."

Hashimoto angrily wanted to take her hand off, but Fukawa's words made her hesitate.

"The first solution that comes to mind when encountering a problem is to run away, Nanamin, we are no longer children."

"..."

Hashimoto gradually used force on his hand to break Fukawa's hand apart.

"As you said, we are not children anymore." Hashimoto did not leave in a hurry, but turned his back to Fukawa.

"Maimai, do you know what you are doing?"

After saying this, she hurriedly hid in the door of the subway at the station.

The subway door slowly closed, and Hashimoto turned back to look at Fukawa, who was still there.

She didn't chase him.

This made Hashimoto relieved.

The subway started slowly and gradually accelerated, as if it was about to drop something in a hurry.

Hashimoto sat down on an empty row of seats, at the far edge, with his bag placed close to his side.

Passing through the dark and deep tunnel on the subway, it felt like her heart was sinking infinitely as if she were sinking into a deep cave. She would feel at ease if she could just land on the other side of the earth.

The subway car was empty. Normally, it would be as crowded as a sardine can when commuting, but now it was so empty that Hashimoto felt flustered.

Only then did she realize that most of the emotions in people's hearts were determined by the gap between contrast. Movement and stillness, crowding and emptiness. If she had not had the irreplaceable time together with Fukawa, how would she have done it?

Such an act of escaping from battle.

They are no longer children, but the things they do are no different from those of children.

Fukawa suddenly confessed like he was angry, and Hashimoto took refuge as if he was running away.

Nana Hashimoto and Mai Fukawa, one is 21 years old and the other is 23 years old.

Two grown adults, the way they deal with this kind of problem is surprisingly consistent. Haha. Don’t you think it’s funny?

Hashimoto bent down and curled up her body as much as possible. The slight and continuous ups and downs of the subway might only be magnified a hundred times or a thousand times to be close to her current state of mind.

For the first time in all these years in Tokyo, she felt like she was about to be knocked down by a huge problem, the kind of one-punch KO. This kind of problem in an intimate relationship, the damage that cannot be repaired with material, is much worse than what she actually encounters in life.

Difficulties come unexpectedly and without clues.

The mobile phone in the bag vibrated, and Hashimoto mechanically put it to his ear.

"……Hello."

"Hey, Nanamin? Are you, Mai and the others still at the barbecue restaurant?"

Hashimoto pursed his lips, "No, we...I'm ready to go back."

"Oh, I have found Sayuri and everything is fine. It's just that her mood is not very stable. She will spend the night at my house tonight. Nanamin, please talk to them. Don't worry about the situation here."

"Well, I understand."

After hanging up the phone, Hashimoto still didn't call Fukawa's cell phone.

She raised her head and looked at the top of the car. The hand holding the mobile phone was hanging on the seat. She thought that it would be great if this subway could take her to infinite places.

But she knew in her heart that the furthest she could go was to get off at the terminal station.

——

On the other side, downstairs of Matsumura's house.

Weito folded her arms, stamped her feet impatiently under the streetlight, and looked around on both sides of the road. She had been standing here waiting for a while, but no one had contacted her to report the situation.

Could it be that Sayuri really encountered something? Thinking about it, I felt even more anxious.

"If you can't find it, I'll send you a message... Ah Zhi."
Chapter completed!