Chapter 330 Mine Shiori's Cautious Feelings
Early morning two days later.
Tokyo seems to be getting colder day by day, not only because it is the end of the year, but also because the cold waves in recent years have become more and more severe.
At this time of year every year, you can see so-called climate experts on TV programs, solemnly declaring that this may be the island nation’s coldest winter in recent years, and in fact it is indeed as they say.
However, this season will not have much impact on Sawayama Haruno for the time being, but it will be a bit difficult for other girls.
For example, Mine Shiori, who was riding with him on the bus back to the countryside, was a petite girl wearing something a bit "bulky". The thick black and white winter clothes made her look like a cute little panda, which made Sawayama Haruno couldn't help laughing.
"We're finally setting off."
At this moment, Mine Shiori, who was sitting by the window, was looking at the scenery slowly passing by outside, in a daze.
Today is the day they set off to return to their hometown. To be honest, she still has an incredible feeling until now, because Sawayama Haruno actually agreed to her request so easily.
When he thought about taking Haruno back to visit the grave later, an inexplicable emotion kept surging in his heart.
I don't know what the other person is thinking now.
Mine Shiori clutched her pants tightly, turned around nervously, and happened to meet Sawayama Haruno's eyes.
"Maybe we'll be there this afternoon?"
Sawayama Haruno took the initiative to say, "Fortunately, Gunma Prefecture isn't very far away."
Shiori Mine's hometown is in Gunma Prefecture. Talking about this city will give people a rather stereotyped impression, as if everyone living in Gunma Prefecture is a speed legend, either running fast or driving fast.
Of course, Sawayama Haruno has his reasons for thinking this way.
In addition to the fact that the hometown of the well-known comic character Fujiwara Takumi is Gunma Prefecture, there are other different reasons. For example, the famous Fuwa Seikai in the Hakone Ekiden competition also comes from Gunma Prefecture.
It is precisely because this small city has produced so many people related to racing that it left such an impression on Sawayama Haruno.
"The hotel has been booked."
Mine Shiori whispered, "I'll live with Haruno then."
"Hey, isn't Shiori's home in Gunma Prefecture? You can just go back home and live there when the time comes. It's okay for me to stay in a hotel alone." Sawayama Haruno said casually.
"Forget it. I don't think it's a good idea to leave Haruno alone in the hotel, and my dad hasn't returned home yet."
Mine Shiori paused, smiled and said, "Besides, I haven't been home for such a long time, my house must not have been cleaned yet. Anyway, I'll only be staying for one night, so it's more convenient to stay in a hotel."
Her father works in other places all year round, mainly to repay the cost of her mother's medical treatment and part of his own tuition for schooling in Tokyo.
Throughout the year, the father and daughter only have a short period of time to interact with each other.
Of course, Shiori Mine could also understand the other party's choice. Since her mother passed away, her father has focused all his attention on work to escape the sadness.
She also avoided it in the past, but it was only because of Haruno's novel that she finally untied that knot in her heart.
“Hasn’t it been cleaned up?”
Sawayama Haruno noticed that Mine Shiori's expression was lost for a moment, and couldn't help but ask, "Shiori has no other relatives living in Gunma Prefecture?"
"Yes, I do, but I haven't contacted some of my relatives for a long time. I haven't seen them since I came to Tokyo to study."
Mine Shiori shook her head and said softly, "I am embarrassed to bother them."
"That's true," Zeshan Haruno stroked his chin and smiled, "I have a lot of relatives in my hometown, but most of them are people I don't know very well. Sometimes I don't even know how to address them accurately."
"With such a relationship, it would be somewhat awkward to meet again. If the elders in the family were present, it might be okay. But if I have to face them alone, please spare me." He said with a smile.
The Sawayama family has quite a lot of connections in Osaka. At least when Haruno was young, he would see quite a few relatives coming back every year during the holidays, and they would greet each other.
Of course, this is also inseparable from his grandfather of the Zeyama family. As early as the last century, the Zeyama family was a very prestigious member of their local town committee. Although it is a small place, there are quite a few people who know their Zeyama family.
I don’t know what my hometown is like now, thought Zeshan Haruno.
The last time he went back was during the golden week of his senior year in high school. If you think about it carefully, it was almost two years ago. He wondered what changes had taken place in his hometown.
This time when I go back to my hometown, I might as well stay a few more days and come back when the annual meeting starts.
Thinking of this, Sawayama Haruno asked casually: "Shiori, did Ms. Morikawa tell you when the annual meeting will be held?"
"I said it would be in mid-December."
Mine Shiori nodded and explained calmly, "But the annual meeting doesn't seem to be held in Tokyo. I heard that the company will arrange a trip to Canada for the meeting."
"Canada. Never mind. It's within our expectations anyway."
Sawayama Haruno rubbed his brows and asked curiously, "By the way, hasn't Ms. Morikawa been promoted yet?"
"I've moved to an independent office, but the promotion hasn't been finalized yet. I guess it will be confirmed before the annual meeting."
Mine Shiori paused and added, "But this is basically a done deal. I was able to get a permanent job ahead of schedule because of Ms. Morikawa and your relationship with Haruno."
"Eh, did you get the job right away? But you still have to go to school, right?"
"Ms. Morikawa said it didn't matter. She could make the decision on such a small matter anyway. So she let me come in early to be on the safe side."
"That guy"
Zeshan Haruno held his face and said casually: "She abused her power right after she got promoted, right? She didn't even treat us to a meal."
Although this is not the first time he has seen Morikawa Riho use the "little caprice of power", he still feels an inexplicable emotion every time he sees it.
Next time we meet, I must give this guy a good beating again. At least he should treat me to a meal at a high-end restaurant in Ginza, right?
"Shouldn't it be Haruno's treat?"
Mine Shiori turned around and said coquettishly, "Haruno's sales have nearly tripled over the second place recently. He will definitely win the bestseller award next year, right?"
"Is there any other award like this? But next year I plan to participate in other literary awards."
Sawayama Haruno stretched and muttered to himself, "It would be best if I could submit the second book for evaluation as well."
His second book, Kafka on the Shore, has almost finished drafting the opening story. Although this book is not as easy to write as the previous one, he still has the memory and system reward plug-in here, so he will not stagnate because of the deviation of the literary sense, at most the progress is a little slow.
Fortunately, this year's tasks have been basically completed, so there is still plenty of time for Sawayama Haruno.
Besides, he would have plenty of time to continue writing novels after returning to Osaka.
"Haruno's second book?"
Mine Shiori couldn't help but turn around and look at Sawayama Haruno.
She also wanted to see the other party's new work as soon as possible, and heard that some magical elements would be added.
I just don't know how long I have to wait.
For the next period of time, neither of them spoke again, but closed their eyes and began to rest.
Only when the Shinkansen finally arrived in Gunma Prefecture did they get up, pick up their luggage and prepare to get off the train.
Compared to Tokyo, Gunma Prefecture, which has more mountainous terrain, has a greater temperature difference.
Sawayama Haruno, who had just got off the car, hadn't noticed anything yet, but Mine Shiori next to her silently took off her scarf.
She looked outside the station and suggested, "Let's go to the hotel and put our things away first."
"sure."
Sawayama Haruno said without thinking: "Why don't we go directly to the cemetery after we put the things there?"
Their trip only lasted a day and a half in total. After all, Mine Shiori had already taken several days off from the company and school, and she had to report back to the company the day after tomorrow, so the tomb-sweeping seemed inexplicably urgent to her.
Fortunately, things went on in an orderly manner. The two of them first went to the booked hotel to put down their luggage, and then went downstairs and took a taxi to the cemetery.
By the time Sawayama Haruno and Mine Shiori arrived at their destination, it was almost afternoon, the warmest time of the year in this cold winter.
Since most Japanese people visit their ancestors' graves during the Obon Festival, the number of people in the cemetery is pitifully small.
After Mine Shiori showed her identity to the security guard of the cemetery and explained which grave she wanted to sweep, the two were quickly allowed to pass.
After walking along the upward road for a long time, they finally stopped at a larger public cemetery, and the tombstone of Mine Shiori's mother was located at the edge.
A small stone tablet was erected here. There was no photo on it, only a few simple lines of words recording her identity.
If you only look at this point, it is somewhat similar to the tomb-sweeping ceremony in previous lives.
"I just didn't take any banknotes or anything like that." Sawayama Haruno couldn't help but mutter.
He always felt that visiting the graves without burning something would lack the sense of ritual, but since Mine Shiori said it didn't matter, he decided to just ignore it for now.
"Mother."
Mine Shiori squatted carefully in front of the tombstone and whispered, "I'm back."
It was so quiet all around that apart from the petite girl's words floating in the air and gradually being blown away, it was hard to hear any other sounds.
Sawayama Haruno just stood behind her silently, listening to what the other person said.
"I brought a friend with me this time." Mine Shiori looked at the tombstone in front of her and said in a calmer voice, "But mom should know him, the Sawayama classmate I mentioned before."
"We are now studying in the same university, and we have joined the same company, so we invited him to come and visit the grave this time."
"Even though I said that, there must be a lot of things that mom doesn't understand. I suddenly went to work directly, and suddenly my relationship with Zeshan-san became so good."
It was difficult to tell what Mine Shiori's mood was at the moment from her voice, but standing behind her and listening to her talking more and more, Sawayama Haruno couldn't help but feel a ripple in his heart.
Sure enough, sadness is the most common thing, he thought.
I feel like I don't know what to say.
Sawayama Haruno took a deep breath and tried hard to suppress the emotions surging in his heart.
Mine Shiori has already started talking about their university life, which is nothing more than some academic trivia, and there is actually not much to say. Fortunately, Mine Shiori soon talked about her joining Kodansha, and the name of Sawayama Haruno began to appear more and more frequently in her story.
This is normal, after all, her job content is mainly related to Sawayama Haruno.
I wonder what kind of expression Mine Shiori's mother would have when she heard what her daughter said.
After all, Mine Shiori's mother wanted to encourage her daughter to pursue her own love.
Although it ended up with a not-so-good ending, it has been almost two years since the incident. No matter how many worrying things there are, we should learn to let go.
At least that's what Sawayama Haruno thinks.
“It really feels like a dream.”
Mine Shiori drooped her eyes and murmured softly, "I broke my promise to my mother, but after going through so many twists and turns, I was able to bring Haruno here. It was like a dream."
"I'm sorry, Mom. I broke my promise at that time. I had promised to confess my feelings to him, but I couldn't express my feelings because I knew he was already in a relationship, and it ended up like that."
"But now I understand that I brought him here because of my feelings. Although I know it's still wrong, compared to that time, I don't want to see anything happen that I will regret."
“I think my mother will understand me.”
Mine Shiori's tone gradually became a little light.
Standing behind her, all Sawayama Haruno could see was her slowly twitching shoulders.
Mine Shiori still has such feelings for me.
Sawayama Haruno suddenly felt mixed emotions.
Although this matter has no direct relationship with me, but seeing the other person showing such a vulnerable look, I don't know why I feel very sorry for him.
Until now, he has never responded directly to Shiori Mine's feelings for him. After all, it involves the other party's lingering knot, which makes him subconsciously treat the other party with caution. Therefore, there is still no clear answer until now.
However, standing here, he suddenly had an inexplicable feeling.
Maybe I should think carefully about what Morikawa Riho said back then.
(End of this chapter)
