In Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 300 meters west of the Jimbocho intersection, there is a Bunseido used bookstore.

Opposite is an ice cream shop that starts with the letter Q. It is very popular and there are often long queues, mostly girls from nearby junior high schools. The dark blue school uniform and the slightly less pure pleated skirt, the low end stays at the middle of the thigh.

The knees were red from the cold. They gathered in small groups, rubbing their hands in the cold wind from time to time and chatting enthusiastically.

At five o'clock, he was on the other side of the street. His upper body was wrapped in a large white down jacket, his lower body was in loose maroon trousers, and he was wearing warm trousers underneath. The scarf was wrapped around his head in circles, covering his nose and ears, leaving only his twinkling eyes exposed.

, her short hair hung down on her scarf, occasionally blowing to her cheeks in the cold wind, and she raised her hand to brush it away.

At five o'clock in the morning, he looked quietly at the young girl opposite him who was full of youthful aura.

"What's wrong?"

Hashimoto leaned out of the store: "Come in, what are you doing standing outside?"

At five o'clock in the morning, she turned around and walked into the bookstore. The glass sliding door opened and closed to isolate the cold outside the store. She rubbed her frozen hands, and the blood returned to her senses.

“I found this used bookstore when I was working part-time in Chiyoda.”

Hashimoto carefully took off the blue-gray scarf from his shoulders and put it into the black shoulder bag he carried with him.

The old man at the counter has small patches of gray hair neatly combed back. He looks to be over fifty. Behind the silver metal-framed spectacles, there are shrewd eyes that belie his age, revealing a calm and calm attitude that understands the world.

At this moment, he was reading the newspaper in his hand. He seemed to know Hashimoto. He nodded, then lowered his head and continued reading.

"This is the shop owner." Hashimoto did not introduce much else.

Her attitude was too natural, so she didn't ask too many questions at the end of the night.

The temperature in the store is suitable, the space is not large, and it has a double-layer structure. There is a wooden staircase on the right side leading to the second floor. On the left side, there are five rows of bookshelves.

The air is filled with the unique smell of old books that has been fermented by time. The light is dim, and it perfectly balances with the sunlight coming in from the window.

"Before I joined the group, I often came here to pick out books. Sometimes I would lose track of time and stay there until dark without realizing it."

Hashimoto's slender fingers brushed the spines of the neatly arranged books on the bookshelf.

"There is a very strange atmosphere here," she pulled out a hardcover book, "Rashomon" by Ryunosuke, "the flow of time becomes subtle."

"I feel it." Wu Geng looked around.

There are no clocks or other timekeeping equipment here. It is very quiet. Nat King Cole is singing "South of the South". The sound is not loud and flows slowly in the limited space. The air in the room seems to have returned five times.

decade.

The atmosphere here is indeed very intoxicating, and has the magic power to make people temporarily forget the pain of reality. But in fact, there are not many people in the store.

"There are a lot of used bookstores in Chiyoda, at least three or four on this street alone," Hashimoto seemed to notice Wu Geng's confusion, explained, "Besides, the books here are slightly more expensive than other places.

.”

"Then why did Hashimoto-san recommend me to come here?"

"Although it is more expensive, it is still cheaper than new books, not to mention that most of them that can be placed on the bookshelf are in good condition."

(ex){}&/"It's such a cold day, if I hadn't forced you to make an appointment, I'm afraid you wouldn't have gone out at all."

"That's true."

However, discovering this second-hand bookstore with a great atmosphere can be considered a gain today.

"Where is Nanase? I'm not with you today?"

"ha?"

Unexpectedly, the other party would suddenly mention Nishino, Wu Geng was stunned for a moment.

"Because you are always together, I thought it would be the same on days off."

"No, occasionally, I don't like to go out very much, and Nanase should be the same."

"Have you never gone out to play together? Xiaoxiao and Nanase probably haven't had much fun walking around Tokyo, right?"

Indeed, after all, Wu Geng has never gone out with Nishino, but mostly with Ikoma Takayama. But why did he suddenly bring up this topic?

Seemingly sensing Wu Geng's confusion, Hashimoto closed the book in his hand and said with a smile: "Actually, I had a feeling about you from the first moment I saw you."

"Me and Nanase?"

"Yes, remember, on the day of the final selection meeting, I was number one in front of you."

Wu Geng tried hard to recall, her consciousness searched in the dusty memory, but it was all in vain. She shook her head.

"We chatted for a while while waiting to go on stage."

"The three of us?"

"Yes," Hashimoto nodded, "Me, you, Nanase, it seems you really forgot."

Fortunately, Hashimoto didn't care. She brushed her hair on her temples and continued: "At that time, I felt that you two were very similar."

"Me? And Nanase?"

Apart from gender, Wu Geng really didn't expect the two of them to have anything in common, but Hashimoto didn't look like he was joking.

"Maybe it's intuition or something like that, but that's how I feel anyway."

I don't know how to continue the conversation.

"odor?"

She smiled and shook her head, then asked, "You like Nanase, right?" She seemed to have noticed the ambiguity in her words, and added: "Friends."

"Nanase is a good girl," Hashimoto said to himself. "She has a soft personality. She doesn't express her opinions and suggestions easily, and she doesn't get into arguments with others. In the last show, her painting was rejected by Shitara-san.

Although she was a little unwilling to show it on her face, she has never complained to you since then, right?"

This is true, Xi Ye is kind-hearted and would never say anything bad about her, at least not in front of Wu Geng.

"That child never expresses her negative emotions clearly. No, I haven't heard her say anything like "hateful" once. The members have never had a bad comment about her."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

"This is a good thing, but..." Hashimoto paused, as if hesitating on how to express his next words more appropriately.

It was the first time in Wu Geng that I saw Hashimoto showing such an unspeakable expression.

She thought for a long time and finally spoke:
Chapter completed!