[bright] time

(bright side)

After rubbing the foamy sponge, my mother and I scrubbed the empty dishes.

"Mum can just wash the dishes, Ryo. Why don't you continue chatting with everyone?"

"It's okay. There are a lot of dishes today, and Mom will wash them for a long time by herself."

"Ryo is so considerate, hehe~. But Jinto-kun has come to our house after a long time. After the work of the chess academy is over, you probably don't have much chance to meet recently, right? Isn't Ryo lonely?"

"..."

"If you can't follow Fuji-kun in your chess game."

From the time my mother said the word "Shinto", I have been holding my breath and listening, suppressing the violently beating heart, trying not to let myself leak any unnatural reactions, desperately listening Searching for the most suitable answer in his head.

"...Now I can play chess with my dad every day, just like back in the past, I feel very satisfied."

"Is that so..."

My father and mother are often like this, and when they suddenly thought of it, they asked me about Shinto,

"I heard that Shinto-kun wants to buy a car recently? 』

"I heard that Shindo-kun voluntarily participated in the LG Cup free trial, is it true?" 』

"Did you follow up with Fuji-kun recently to play any interesting chess records in private?" 』

Even simple questions always make me nervous...

As long as I think of the relationship I have with Fuji, and the secrets I have hidden from my parents... I don't know what expression to use to face them.

Concealment is not lying... This statement is right or wrong, because the confession I faced with them in my heart is not redeemed at all by changing the statement.

I know that as long as I still like the day of Jinto, this feeling will never disappear... But as long as I can be with Jinto, even if I have to carry this feeling of guilt for the rest of my life, I am willing.

It's just... really don't want to lie to them, don't want to deceive them with words anyway.I can only meditate desperately in my heart: don't ask about Jindo, please...don't ask anything, don't ask....

"Excuse me…,"

At this moment, Jinto suddenly appeared in the kitchen with the dishes in his hand.

"I brought all the remaining dishes. Where should I put them?" Looking at the dishes on the table, Shindo looked a little at a loss.

"Oh, why did Shinto-kun bring it here? Auntie will clean it up later. Thank you, just put it on the table!" Mother smiled and pointed at the table.

"No way." After putting away the dishes, Shindo asked his mother,

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Hehe~ No need! Into-kun, go back to your room? Go chat and drink with everyone! How can you ask the guests to help!"

"Please don't say that. I'm not Taya's disciple. Auntie invited me here. If I don't do something, it seems like I'm here for free. I'm sorry. And to be honest... Ogata-sensei has already I'm [-]% drunk, staying there now is a bit..." Shinto scratched his head, and smiled wryly twice.

"Huh? It was only seven points when Ryo and I came out! No wonder Shinto-kun came out to take refuge?"

"Hey, if you don't run away, you'll be entangled before it's too late."

"That's right, Liang's father escaped the fastest! Shut up and went back to the room to play chess without making a sound. There is no way."

"Ha~ So the teacher also knows?"

Part of the reason why I voluntarily hid in the kitchen to help my mother wash the dishes was actually because Mr. Ogata was there.Although he is not a person who talks nonsense after drinking, he is a person who deliberately teases people.

I used to pretend to be crazy a few times before, and told me a bunch of things that I didn't want to know at all... It was nothing more than what great achievements Shindo had made in Lianyou, and what about the previous n girlfriends people or something...

Makes me wonder, is it really that fun to play tricks on me?Besides, where did he get these news...

"How about this, Shinto-kun? Can I trouble you to wash the dishes with Ryo? I'll help Ryo's father fill the bath water, and it's almost time for him to take a bath."

"Ah... yes."

"Ryo, can I trouble you too?"

"…Oh, good."

After turning off the water in the faucet and taking off the gloves, my mother left the kitchen like this, and I was the only one left to follow the rattan and look at each other.Shinto rolled up his sleeves, smiled and said to me,

"Shall we start washing?"

"Yeah." Turned around, brushing the bowl.

I didn't expect Shinto to come to my house, let alone the opportunity to be alone.

I think I'm a little happy... to be able to meet Shinto on Christmas Eve today.

Picking up the plate that was placed on the table just now, Jin Teng walked over, put all the bowls in the sink, turned on the water from the faucet to rinse it, picked up another sponge, stood next to me, and brushed with me with a bowl.

It has been nearly a year since we dated, and I have had a lot of intimate contact experiences, kissing, hugging... etc., the distance is even closer than now, but at this moment, the seemingly invisible contact like this still makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable. ...indescribably embarrassed.

snap──

The moment Shinto's arm touched my shoulder, I seemed to hear a sound, and my heart beat faster involuntarily.

It's Shinto's hand... I haven't felt his touch for several days, I miss it so much, I can't help but want to close my eyes and concentrate on feeling it.I miss this person so much...

"Recently..." He was washing the bowl in his hands, and he asked me, "How are you doing?"

"...Yeah." I nodded and put the washed bowl in the empty space of the sink.

"...What about you? Okay?"

"Ah, good. Nothing wrong. I just miss you a little bit."

"..."

During the period when my parents came back, we could only exchange emails on our mobile phones. It is not impossible to detour to Shindo’s house after work or find an excuse to meet him secretly, but I don’t want to do such opportunistic things...

"...you didn't tell me you were coming to my house today."

"I only received the invitation from Aunt Akiko in the afternoon.... Wouldn't it be better not to come?"

I shook my head: "It's better to come. I... glad to see you." I said something that my normal self would never say.

"Oh,... that's good." As he said, he looked down at my expression while washing the dishes. Of course, I kept my head away, not wanting him to see it.

Small dishes and small dishes are particularly easy to brush, and they are cleaned after a few swipes.The kitchen was quiet save for the small knocking of dishes being stacked.

"Will today's trip go well?"

In yesterday's email, he told me that he had an appointment with the organizers of the Innoshima Honinbo Go Conference today, and he wanted to confirm the related matters of next year's conference.

"Ah, it's not bad. Mrs. Peony is also here. She has been arranging the affairs of the conference all along. I just need to be by the side. I don't need to say anything."

Shinto disliked dealing with such high-ranking people.He said that he didn't know how to use honorifics, because he was afraid of offending people for no reason.But in my opinion, his diction has improved a lot, and it is really much better than when I first met him.When I talked to my father just now, I felt pretty good, although I could tell that he was a little nervous, heh.

"I see. Are you sure Kuwahara-sensei won't be participating this year?"

"That's right, the teacher said, 'The kid should be able to stand on his own, don't keep alarming me', so this year it's just me and Mrs. Peony."

"Sensei Kuwahara trusts you, right?"

"Maybe."

"By the way, didn't you say in the email yesterday that you will be cleaning soon? Do you have time?"

"Ah. I got up early today and spent the whole morning cleaning. It's clean inside and out. I was almost late for a meeting."

"...one morning?"

Can I call for cleaning in one morning...?We often have to clean our house for three or four days.Thinking in my heart, I squinted at him next to me.

"What?" Feeling my questioning eyes, he asked me back.

"Did you sweep the balcony?"

"Swept it. Didn't you say you swept it inside and out?"

"What about the glass door outside the balcony?"

"!?" A look of being struck by lightning.It seemed that this place was completely out of his mind....This inevitably made me have to start worrying.

"Did you wash the curtains? Wiped the range hood? Where's the top of the bookcase?"

"Uh……"

"Has the sofa been pulled out and cleaned? The clothes in the closet have been tidied up? The shoe cabinet has been wiped? Where's the bathroom wall?"

"ㄟ..."

I was really defeated by him...

"How can you call it a general cleaning? It's just a general cleaning! The general cleaning is to clean up these corners that are usually overlooked! You dare to take a chest print to promise me how clean it will be!

By the way, what about the tatami mats in the Japanese room?Have you checked it out?Is there mold?What about the shade of the chandelier?Did you wipe it?What about the cupboard for the bowls? ──」

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"

Speaking of this, Shinto suddenly stopped talking, with a face of regret for saying the wrong thing, and I fell silent, still wiping the dirty dishes, and the clang and clang sound resounded between us.

Shinto sighed at this moment,

"Sorry... just pretend I didn't say what you just said, forget it."

"..."

"You can stay at home with peace of mind. ... You haven't seen the teacher and aunt for a long time. Spend more time with them, and act like a baby to them.

I will clean it again, turn every corner out and sweep, don't worry.

I'm sure you'll be taken aback when you come back.Ah, I think the air vent should be wiped too? "

Listening to Shinto's relaxed tone, I just turned on the faucet without saying a word, adjusted the water temperature, poured warm water on my hands, wiped it along the water flow, and wiped away the foam on the dishes. All flushed down the drain.

...If possible...I also want to go back and have a look....

Seeing that I have been silent, Shinto asked me:

"Isn't the water cold?"

"...No ice is fine, burning too much gas is not good."

We often washed dishes together when I was living at Shinto’s house. He knew what kind of water temperature was just right for me in this season, but the temperature is indeed a bit cold now, and my body that has finally warmed up is about to start to cool down again.

"You are really a good friend of the earth. Global warming is not your responsibility alone."

"It's the responsibility of all human beings, so we should do something about it too."

"Wow, you are really hard-headed. Yes~, you are right~. It seems that my house is all electrified. It is great. You can use the waste heat of the electric heater to boil water, so you don't have to endure the half-cold water."

"Um…,"

The bathroom in Shinto’s house is only half the size of my house, and it’s very small, but the steam can easily fill the entire space, and you can feel warm quickly;

The floor is a stove floor, and you will not feel cold when you step on the floor with bare feet;

You can use hot water to wash dishes, so you don’t have to worry about wasting gas;

The quilt is always warm, and I never wake up in the morning because I am afraid of the cold...

"Yeah... your house is very good, always warm..." Gently wiped off the foam on the plate with his hand, and blurted out what he wanted to say in his heart.

As a result, Shinto heard it...

Turn the faucet in front of me to my direction, take off the towel hanging on the wall and hand it to me,

"...I'll just wash it up, you can wipe the bowl dry."

"..."

Seeing that I didn't move, I spread out a towel and dried my hands: "Don't have such a face....I'm still very envious that you can play chess with the teacher every day, and you can also eat meals made by your aunt every day."

Shindo wants me to cherish the time I spend with my parents, right?

Of course I know this, and I also want to spend time with my parents and the others. I am very happy that they can come back,...but even if I want to see Shinto, I can't help it.

By the way... I still have my parents with me, and he has to stay alone in the house we live together.He should be feeling more uncomfortable these days...That's why he said that... "I just miss you a little bit".

I have to cheer myself up too.

"…Ok."

He took the towel, dried the dishes that Shinto had washed, and put them back in the cupboard.

"What about you? What did you do today?"

"After playing chess with my father in the morning, I will go to Yaesu for class, and then come back to participate in the seminar."

"Speaking of which, today is Christmas Eve. Are there many people present? Today's handout."

"I don't think there are too many. Everyone likes Go to participate. How could it be possible not to come just because it is the day before Christmas?"

"That's right, children and the Ogissans don't need to prepare for Christmas Eve."

"That's not the problem. There are a lot of young people here, and they all have faces I haven't seen before."

"They're all women, right? Hehe..." Shinto laughed a few times as he said,

Then he said in a somewhat hateful tone:

"Nine times out of ten, I took your guidance as a Christmas present. Santa Claus~."

It is obvious that they are entertaining me.

"Christmas Eve is not Santa's holiday.

Besides, I am not a Christian, so it has nothing to do with this kind of festival. "

"ㄟ～Your head is really hard.... Hang on and look! Socks. Maybe Santa Claus will come today."

"I haven't believed in such lies to children for a long time."

"Aha? So you believed it when you were a child? You're so cute! Taya!"

Glaring at Shinto, he snatched the plate in his hand that he didn't know how long it would take to wash, "Shut up! Wash it quickly!"

***

I thought that the topic of Santa Claus was just something he brought up to laugh at me, but I never thought that I would see a brown paper bag with "Santa Claus's participation" written in ugly characters on the desk in the room...

After the year-end party was over, I went to my room to take a bath after I followed Fuji at the entrance with my mother to say goodbye. At this moment, I found the gift that Shinto gave me.I really don't know when he released it....

Open it, and inside is a blue and gray cashmere scarf, which is a little thinner than ordinary scarves, giving it a clean and neat feeling.I took it out and unfolded it, and found that the other side of the scarf was actually dark blue and dark brown.

Looking at it,... suddenly I couldn't wait to look around, and I didn't care if I was indoors, it wasn't cold enough to need a scarf.I folded the scarf in my hand towards my neck and tied it in a knot. The soft wool felt very comfortable and warm on my skin...

What should I do... After I grew up, I didn't have the habit of celebrating Christmas. I didn't prepare any gifts at all, and I didn't even say thank you to him...

"Bright!"

The half-opened paper door, mother suddenly poked her head in,

"Um!?"

"Oh? Is it cold?"

Seeing the scarf around my neck, my mother seemed to think that I would be cold...

"Uh..., um..." He hid the paper bag on the table behind his back, placed it on the chair,

"What's wrong? Mom seems a little anxious."

"Ah, that's right! Shinto-kun forgot about this!" Mother was holding an orange scarf in her hand, it was indeed Shinto's...

"...I don't know if he got on the train? Ryo, you use your cellphone──"

"I'll go after it!" Before my mother finished speaking, I hurriedly took the scarf in my mother's hand and ran to the station without looking back.

When chasing to the station,

From a distance, I saw Shindo was about to swipe off Suica and go to the other side of the ticket gate──

"Shinto!" Called his name and stopped him.

He finally turned his head after hearing my voice, "Taya?"

Stepping aside, following his breath, he handed the scarf in front of his eyes, and scolded him by the way: "Idiot!"

Shinto looked at the scarf in my hand and thumped his palm:

"I feel like I forgot something! So it's this!"

"Forget everything! What about a cold?"

"Idiots don't catch colds." He smiled again with a smirk.

"Don't say such unfounded things!"

"Yes~, yes~." I took the scarf in my hand, wrapped it around my neck twice and tied it in a flat knot at the back, "But now, in my opinion, it's you who catches the cold, not me."

"…what?"

"I said you, you just chased it out, where's the coat!?"

I looked at myself, I really didn't have a coat.I don't know if it has something to do with Shinto's words, but compared to the outside, this place at the subway ticket gate makes me feel colder.It's incredible that I didn't find it cold at all on the way I ran all the way.

Just as I was thinking blankly, the coat that Shinto was wearing just now was draped over himself.

"!? There's no need for Shinoto. I...have a scarf to keep me warm."

"Stop talking nonsense! How can a scarf be enough?"

"Even so, I don't want you to get sick!" She took off her coat and returned it to him.

"Tsk, otherwise it's fine,... you wear it for now, and you will return it to me later when I am leaving? I beg you, please? One minute less cold counts as one minute."

"..." He actually begged me for such a thing... I really don't know what to say about him.

And just like that, the coat was put back on me...

Help me zip up my coat and ask me, "Why don't you come out after putting on your coat?"

"Once you wear it, it's too late. You've already reached the ticket gate."

"Otherwise, you can call the phone and tell me to turn around and get it?"

"If you hit me... I can't help it... I can talk to you alone..." I replied, looking at the floor,

"Scarf..., thank you.... And, I'm sorry.... I didn't prepare anything."

"No need. I just saw it too, and I bought it when I thought it was suitable for you....Do you still like it?"

"…Yes, I like it."

"That's good." He opened his mouth and smiled, stretched out his hand to help me pull out the hair that was under the scarf, and adjusted the knot of the scarf. His cool hands kept moving around the neck and jaw... a little itchy...

"Taya,...your neck is so hot..."

"...The scarf is very warm..."

"I see... But to be honest,... Your body temperature will automatically activate my delusional device."

/////! ?

This sentence came without warning, making me frown and glaring at him,

"Don't blame me for your bad head!///" I really can't stand him....

"Hey, my head is so bad, you don't know, why are you reacting so badly? That's fine." After tying up the scarf, Shinto took a step back to look,

"Yeah, it's pretty. My eyesight is so good!"

"Stop boasting."

After listening to my ruthless speech, Shinto suddenly said nothing but looked at me intently, then quickly touched my cheek... quickly retracted his hand, and then smiled, as if the prank succeeded..., really I don't understand him...

"That's it!" Shinto said, took out the suica and put it on the sensor of the IC ticket card, walked to the other side of the ticket gate, and raised his hand to say to me: "Goodbye."

With a weird smile on his face...

Um! ?

"Shinto! Your coat!!"

"Oh? Oops! Forgot again! Look at my head?" He patted himself on the head pretendingly.

"You deliberately!!"

"Hey~ yeah!"

There is no expression of introspection at all... how can there be such an angry person in this world! ?

"Anyway, you're wearing it. There is heating in the train so it won't be cold, and I'll run back at the station, so I won't catch a cold. But you, just walk back. Falling in winter will hurt until you cry .Break it!"

As soon as I turned around, I ran to the underground platform...I didn't even think about it, I didn't even have time to say goodbye to him, I just left like this, what a person who can do whatever he wants...

Wearing a futuristic coat, smelling the sun-like scent on his body, walking on the way home alone.I take this road almost every day, but today was very different….

"I am back."

The door of the porch opened and clicked, and the mother who heard the sound came out,

"Welcome back! Have you caught up?──Ah? This coat is on Ryo..."

"!?..."

what to do! ?Why is Shinto's coat on me?Mom will definitely think so! ...how to answer! ?

When my head was running through various answers at an unprecedented speed,

Mother just smiled and said:

"Why did you put back his coat? Remember to thank Shinto-kun when you return it! Now, go take a shower, Ryo! Only you are left!"

"Yes."

Mother...doesn't seem to think there's anything strange about it,... Anyway, it finally made me feel relieved, but at the same time I feel a little guilty, I can only think in my heart...

I'm sorry... Mom.

But one day I'll tell you, tell you everything...without hiding.