Chapter 324: Karuizawa in August (End)
The day after the rain, the band had lunch and left Karuizawa on the school bus.
With their departure, the number of tourists in Karuizawa began to decrease, and they gradually returned to the place that originally belonged to them.
The villas in the forest are closing one after another, and autumn in Nagano Prefecture is just around the corner.
On August 25th, Watanabe Toru and his colleagues moved chairs, pulled the extension cord, and cut hair under the shade of the trees in front of the villa.
"Miji has never been to a beauty salon since she was a child, and I have always been the one cutting her hair." Mrs. Kujo took a pair of scissors and a comb and trimmed the bangs of Miji Kujo who was sitting on the chair.
"What I admire most during this vacation is Aunt Yuko's cooking skills, and now I have to add your hairdressing talent." Toru Watanabe sat backwards in a reclining chair.
"I've always noticed that Watanabe-kun seems to be particularly good at saying sweet words?" Mrs. Kujo asked everyone.
"I don't know how many girls he has deceived." Yuko Kiyono looked up from a hair magazine and glanced at Toru Watanabe with a smile.
"Is that so?" Miki Kujo looked at Toru Watanabe with her beautiful eyes without moving her head.
"Of course not, you are my first love." Watanabe Toru said, "And what I just said was not a love talk, but a compliment."
"Look!" Mrs. Kiyono said as if she had discovered something, "Not only is he good at saying sweet words, but he is also good at making excuses. No wonder he can attack several girls at the same time."
Ever since the shower, Mrs. Kiyono has been making things difficult for Toru Watanabe.
In the hammock between the chestnut trees, Kiyono Rin was not reading a book, she was listening to music with headphones on.
"Aunt Yuko, you can't wrongly accuse me of this." Watanabe Toru explained, "My first kiss was with Miki, my first time was also with Miki, and the only girl I actually pursued was Miki."
"Where are your two lovers?" Mrs. Kiyono was not going to let Watanabe Toru go easily.
"That is..."
"You don't have to explain everything to others." Kujo Miki said with a smile, "Aunt Yuko, I know his situation."
Kiyono Yuko flipped through the magazine with her fingers: "Meiji, don't be fooled."
"Just save yourself the worry!" Kujo Maki, who was concentrating on cutting hair, took the time to say this.
"It's not a lie." Kujo Miki said happily with her rosy and attractive lips, "I think compliments and sweet words are essential things between men and women. They make people happy and promote harmony."
"Of course -" She changed the subject and looked at Watanabe Toru and said, "Only for me."
"Okay!" Kujo Maki stopped cutting hair, brushed away the broken hair for Kujo Miki, and untied the apron.
"How was the haircut?" Mrs. Kujo asked Toru Watanabe with a little pride.
Watanabe Toru looked at Kujo Miki, then looked at the large amount of hair on the ground: "Where did you get this cut from? It feels the same as before the cut."
"This is the level." Kujo Maki smiled and admired her daughter.
As she watched, she suddenly said, "Looking closely, Meiji is more radiant and more beautiful than before."
"It's all my credit." Toru Watanabe put his hands on the back of the chair and pointed at himself proudly.
"Your contribution." Kujo Miki stood up and extended her right hand to Watanabe Toru, "Take it."
If it was a bedroom for only two people, she would offer her beautiful legs.
"Thank you for your reward, Princess." Toru Watanabe kissed the back of her snow-white and smooth hand.
"Okay, stop performing your husband-and-wife crosstalk and come sit over here." Kujo Maki tapped the scissors on the comb.
Watanabe Toru stood up and sat over.
"What kind of hairstyle do you want?" Kujo Maki tied an apron around him.
"As long as it's not ugly." Watanabe Toru shook the apron to hide his legs inside.
"It's too easy. With a face like yours, you won't look ugly even if you shave your head."
"Hello, ma'am!"
"Call me Mother."
"…Should I let Meiji cut my hair? I belong to her, and she has a share of my beauty and ugliness. And as long as she cuts my hair, even if it's a little ugly, I can't blame her."
"Do you mean you're going to blame me?" Kujo Maki asked with a hint of blame in her tone.
"After all, they are mother and son. It's okay ."
"You are the only one who can talk. Miki, cut his hair a little uglier." Mrs. Kujo handed the tools to Miki Kujo.
Miki Kujo walked up to Toru Watanabe with a comb in her left hand and a pair of scissors in her right hand, smiling.
"Miji," Toru Watanabe looked at the scissors glittering in the sun, "I love you."
"Honey, I love you too." Kujo Miki's smile deepened.
"Whether I look good or not, it's not just me, you know, K-san? My K-san?"
"You don't believe me?"
"I believe it, but I'm worried that someone might mistake soy sauce for broth and put half a bottle in at once."
The two ladies burst into laughter.
"I'll cut you to death with one knife!" Kujo Miki said sternly with a cold face.
Joking aside, when it came to actually starting, Miki Kujo was very careful and trimmed meticulously bit by bit.
She also trims her bangs and hair ends occasionally, so she is not completely inexperienced.
Watanabe Toru sat there, looking at her serious and moving eyes and her delicate little face that was almost touching his own.
In my ears I could hear the two ladies chatting and the pages of magazines being flipped, and the treetops swaying in the wind, sparkling.
The softness in his heart seemed to be touched, and he felt very comfortable.
After cutting Watanabe Toru's hair, it was Mrs. Kiyono's turn.
"Let's go for a walk around the neighborhood," said Miki Kujo.
"There are two more people. You come back in an hour." Mrs. Kujo instructed, "Let's go to Qingtai for coffee and lunch later."
"Got it." Toru Watanabe picked up the coat on the chair and put it around his wrist.
Miki Kujo naturally hooked her arm around his.
Leaving the villa, the two walked along the forest path lined with acacias.
This path, which is called "Whispering Alley" on tourist maps and more generally "Sanatorium Road," is known as the best path for couples to take a stroll.
Because it is full of acacia trees, it is loved by Hori Tatsuo, the author of "The Wind Rises", so it is also called "Acacia Alley".
Unfortunately, it is August now and the acacia season has passed. All we can hear is the gurgling sound of the "Yazaki River" on the roadside.
It is a beautiful sunny day.
"When I was cutting my hair, I felt like the summer vacation was over." Toru Watanabe looked at the scattered sunlight on the path.
"If you like Karuizawa, we'll come here every year." After saying that, Kujo Miki asked, "How's the progress with Kiyono Rin recently?"
"What's going on?"
"You're asking even though you already know the answer. With my permission, I don't believe you won't take any action."
"I didn't say that."
"No?"
"To be precise, I was rejected before I even had the chance to say it." Toru Watanabe recalled the afternoon shower.
"I thought you were so good at chasing girls," Kujo Miki sneered, "I deliberately gave you a chance, but you still failed."
"Except for you, when have I ever actively pursued someone? Where do I get the experience?"
"Your pursuit of me was fake." Kujo Miki said bitterly, releasing her hand that was hooked around Watanabe Toru's wrist, "From now on, you must pursue me again sincerely."
"The weather is nice today," said Toru Watanabe.
"Yeah." Miki Kujo crossed her arms and responded nonchalantly.
"Miss Kujo, if you have time, would you like to go for a walk together?"
“No time.”
"Then let's go meet Qingtai for coffee later?"
"I'm not free later either."
"Isn't your strategy too difficult?" Watanabe Toru said with a smile.
"Do you think I'm the kind of woman who can't walk and throws herself into your arms when she sees your appearance?" Kujo Miki raised her chin contemptuously, "If I hadn't kissed you at Ochanomizu, you wouldn't have had a chance."
Toru Watanabe thought about the 200,000 points the system rewarded him after he started dating Kujo Miki.
"I earned it." He nodded in acknowledgement.
"Fool." Kujo Miki smiled. "Don't you think about it? You didn't like me at the time, but I almost killed you twice. What's the point? Be smart."
"It's all because you're too beautiful and I love you too much. Otherwise, with my intelligence, how could I be a fool?"
"Oh, I'm tired." Kujo Miki stopped and sighed.
When she said this, Watanabe Toru immediately understood.
"Come on, my Meiji." After making sure that the coat would not fall off at his wrists, he bent down in front of her.
"Mr. Watanabe, I am not such a frivolous person. Please jump into Tokyo Bay and swim all the way to the Kamogawa River to prove your love for me before you come and talk to me."
“There’s no way to swim to the Kamogawa River in Tokyo Bay!”
"So we can't."
"Wait a minute! Think about it carefully. All rivers flow into the sea. As long as it's flowing water, we'll eventually get there! There's still a chance for the two of us!"
Miki Kujo couldn't help laughing and was very happy.
She reached out her hand and patted Watanabe Toru's shoulder briskly: "Shorter."
Toru Watanabe lowered his body, and instead of falling on his back, Miki Kujo spread her beautiful legs and rode on his neck.
"Okay, get up."
"Ms. Kujo, this is something that only frivolous people would do."
"Let's go back." Kujo Miki made a move to go down, but at this moment, Watanabe Toru grabbed her calf and stood up directly.
"Ah!" The sudden higher perspective made her let out a soft cry.
"So, we are dating again, right?" Toru Watanabe looked up and asked with a smile.
"You wish!" Kujo Miki said disdainfully, then laughed melodiously, "Wait until you come back from your swim over the Kamo River!"
"I've already boarded the Shinkansen from Kyoto back to Tokyo."
"Then go back."
"Will the ticket be reimbursed?"
"You don't use the money from your part-time job to pursue me? Mr. Watanabe, I regret to inform you that you have been demoted one position on my candidate list."
"There is a problem."
"Um."
"How many people are there on the candidate list?"
"Just you."
"Why are you so troublesome? Just marry me."
"Wait until I'm eighteen."
The two of them talked and laughed, quarreled, and kept walking forward.
"Don't move!" Miki Kujo suddenly patted Toru Watanabe on the head.
"What's wrong?"
Kujo Miki pulled the leaves of the elm tree with her hands and broke off a branch: "Let's go."
"Are you treating me like a horse?"
"Anyway, you are the king of the world, and your horse should also be called 'King of the World.'" Kujo Miki, riding on Watanabe Toru's neck, waved a branch like a little girl.
"The King of the World and our great mother."
"I'll tell her this."
"Don't do that! I'm the only one on your candidate list. What if your mother knows that I said bad things about her and doesn't allow you to marry me?"
"Then let's elope and die together in the water from Tokyo Bay to Kamogawa."
"That was a suicide for love, not a private one..."
"Stop." Miki Kujo treated Toru Watanabe as a voice-controlled horse.
Toru Watanabe stopped, took out her cell phone, and took a picture of the two people in the wide-angle camera on the side of the road.
As they continued walking forward, Kujo Miki asked, "How did Kiyono Rin reject you?"
"She said there are too many people in this world, and no matter what others say, she will always be herself."
Two girls in their twenties passed the two men on bicycles and looked back at them.
"She doesn't care even if she loses everything in order to stick to her will," Watanabe Toru continued.
"What was your answer then?"
"I said, no matter what , I will always support her."
Kujo Miki smiled.
"When I say support, I mean her unfading ideals, not her feelings," explained Toru Watanabe.
"I'm not laughing at this."
"What are you laughing at?" Watanabe Toru asked puzzledly.
"From our understanding of her, she is indeed such a ruthless person, but as a girl... forget it, she probably wouldn't have such thoughts. If it continues like this, are you willing?"
"What does it matter whether she is willing or not? She has already made her decision. All I can do is live on tenaciously and make you two reconcile as planned."
"Don't you plan to give up everything for her?" asked Kujo Miki with interest.
"If I hadn't met you, Meiji."
"Mr. Watanabe, I am pleased to inform you that you have moved up the list of candidates and can kiss me now."
Toru Watanabe took Kujo Miki to the forest, put a coat on her, and pushed her against the trunk of a fir tree.
Miki Kujo hugged Toru Watanabe's neck, and Toru Watanabe put his arms around her tight waist.
The two kissed and sucked each other passionately in the shade of the tree.
A gentle breeze blew through the forest, and in the distance came the sound of a stream washing over rocks.
The sunlight shines through the leaves, casting mottled shadows; the air is filtered by the woods, leaving behind a sweet smell.
A kind of tranquility that is isolated from the world but not lonely.
After returning to the villa, the five of them went to the "Jianqing Terrace" together.
"Miharadai" is an observation park located at the top of Usui Pass, 1,200 meters above sea level.
It was a nice day, and Toru Watanabe sat on the terrace, looking out at the border between Gunma and Nagano prefectures, the Southern Alps and Mount Yatsugatake.
After eating the Rikumoku at the Yamanaka Tea House, we returned to the villa.
The next day, August 26th, Kaori came to say goodbye, saying that she was going back to Tokyo with her parents.
"Lian-chan, see you next year!" Kaori stood at the end of the path to the villa and waved vigorously.
"See you next year!" Xiaolian shouted loudly at the door of the villa.
“See you next year!”
“See you next year!”
The two said goodbye reluctantly.
Jiazhi got on her bike and Xiaolian rushed out. She ran to the end of the path and stood on the road.
"Kaori, see you next year--" she shouted at Kaori who was walking away.
Kaori waved hard towards this side until she disappeared.
Xiaolian just stood there, staring into the distance stupidly.
Toru Watanabe walked over, stroked her little head, and looked with her in the direction where Kaori disappeared.
"Xiao Lian, remember the anticipation of reuniting with Jiazhi at this moment. When you leave your hometown next year, remember that someone is waiting for you in Tokyo."
"……Um."
"We will return to Tokyo the day after tomorrow, and you will be able to see mom and dad soon."
Xiaolian finally raised her head, looked at Watanabe Toru and said, "Toru, we still want to play with Kaori."
"When you get back, how about writing a letter to Kaori, just like you wrote to Mom and Dad?"
"Yeah!" Xiaolian's expression was serious and solemn, with a hint of loss and sadness.
After Kaori left, Xiaolian never rode her children's bicycle .
On August 28, the six people left Karuizawa, where they had lived for 28 days.
