Waiting for the train at Atami Station, Dubian Che wondered whether he should buy some souvenirs.
When he had arrived, he had noticed a "Peace Street" shopping district nearby.
This shopping street was built on a gentle slope, and perhaps because he had to climb a slope every day for school, Dubian Che felt a strange affinity for it, even though he had never felt this way about the slope in front of Goda's gate.
There were many stores selling souvenirs, with many merchants simply stacking boxes of local specialties right at the entrance.
Dubian Che didn't rush to buy anything, just walked slowly down the hill, planning to finish strolling along the street.
He had forgotten his mask and book at the station on the way here, but fortunately, with the saying that "outside of Tokyo, the whole Island Country is the countryside," in this "countryside" town named Atami, no one approached him.
It was just the gazes from shop assistants and tourists that kept coming his way.
He walked on with an expression that was neither cold nor warm, just a hint of 'don't bother me'—it was unclear to outsiders if he bore the distinguished air of Jiutiao Meiji or the aloofness of Kiyono Lin.
Midway, he saw a store called "White Leaf Academy."
A bookstore at the shopping street by the station?
Standing in front of the store, Dubian Che wasn't sure if it really was a bookstore; it could be a hot pot restaurant that used calligraphy brushes to apply sauces.
He took out his phone and snapped a photo.
"Even in Atami, a hundred kilometers from Tokyo, I still subconsciously pay attention to bookstores, you have no idea how..."
Dubian Che looked at the phone screen, then deleted the line.
The end of the shopping street was not far, yet he had lost the interest to keep exploring.
He put away his phone and leisurely walked back, casually buying three boxes of strawberry daifuku on the way.
Back at the station, with some time to spare before departure, Dubian Che simply went to the station's free hot spring foot bath.
There were quite a few people sitting there, mostly tourists with suitcases—locals were probably tired of these hot springs.
The corner seats were taken, so Dubian Che sat in the middle, took off his shoes, and soaked his feet.
The slightly high water temperature and the frightened exclamations of a female tourist who was afraid of being scalded reminded Dubian Che of Jiutiao Meiji.
The last time the two of them took a trip to Izu, at a hot spring foot bath by the Hejin beach, she also dared not put her feet in for being scalded, so he slowly poured hot spring water over her feet.
He took out his phone, snapped a photo of his feet in the hot spring, and sent it to her.
"Tonight, I'll show you what true sexiness is," came the reply, along with a photo of a thigh with the skirt slightly lifted.
"No ambition," followed by another message from Jiutiao Meiji, "Where are you soaking your feet?"
"Atami. (Obedient.jpg)"
"Don't be angry now, I bought you a souvenir. (Strawberry daifuku.jpg)"
"If I can't see you tonight, never come back."
"The ticket's already bought. (Ticket.jpg)"
"So you're unwanted and got kicked back here?"
"Send me a voice message, I miss you."
From Meiji came the voice message: "Scram."
"Sounds great, way too great! I'm a lifelong fan of Big Sister Meiji! (Waving glow stick.jpg)"
Big Sister Meiji did not bother with her distant fan in Atami.
On the return train, he didn't encounter those two female voice actors.
Since he hadn't had lunch, he bought a station bento which tasted average, but with the view of the passing scenery, it was quite pleasant.
A hint of spontaneity in the adventure.
After Dubian Che returned to Tokyo, the rainy season followed closely, raining for a week straight.
On the drizzly Saturday, Dubian Che, holding an umbrella that would never let him get wet, went to school to instruct the Wind Instrument Club's practice.
On the slope, he ran into Kiyono Lin.
"Good morning, Kiyono," Dubian Che approached.
"Good morning," Kiyono Lin replied, holding an ordinary clear umbrella.
The transparent umbrella, wet from rain, suited her well, that clean and transparent feeling.
"If it rains for another day, it will have been a whole week. By the way, do you know the cause of the rainy season? It's because..."
"You told me last year," Kiyono Lin said coldly, her voice even more pleasing than the sound of rain falling on the umbrella.
"Can you forget what I said? I'd like to say it again."
The two walked up the slope and into the campus, there was a small dry spot under an oak tree.
On the wet field, without the members of the sports clubs, the sound of trumpets was heard from the direction of the clubhouse.
"Who did you go to Atami with last time for the strawberry daifuku?" Kiyono Lin asked naturally.
"I didn't go with anyone. Mr. Xiaoquan went on a trip first, and as I was returning home from Shinbashi, I suddenly thought of finding her at 'Shi Valley' transfer, so I went, but only stayed for an hour."
Dubian Che took out his phone and showed her the message from Jiutiao Meiji, "So you were unwanted and got kicked back."
"Anything you want to say?" he asked.
"You two talk a lot," Kiyono Lin said, tilting her umbrella and leaning in to look at the screen.
"If I don't reach out to you, you'll just ignore me?" Kiyono Lin raised her eyes, her crystal-like gaze meeting Dubian Che's.
"How to put this..." Dubian Che stored his phone, "everyone knows that you're the one I like the most."
"Yeah," Kiyono Lin nodded lightly with a smile.
"That's why I can't reach out to you."
"The longer the contact with me, the harder it is to restrain yourself? Can't control your feelings of love?"
"That used to be the case, now, I couldn't possibly give up Meiji and the others."
"Is that so." Her long hair swayed gently, Kiyono Lin turned her head away and walked into the school building.
At the shoe cabinet, there were many wet umbrellas, and with over a hundred in the Wind Instrument Club, the athletes training indoors had no days off before the end of summer. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ N0v3l.Fiɾe.net