She didn't call Iwahashi Shinichi, but his call came unexpectedly.
Akina Nakamori left the living room and stood in front of the phone. When she pressed the number, she couldn't explain how she felt.
I was happy that he called me, but I was also troubled by having to call him back.
A new possibility unfolded in front of her. However, when she realized this new possibility, she was confused, but she also realized another thing again.
After discovering some new possibility, it was difficult to maintain the same mood as before. And she herself still didn't know how she should feel about contacting him.
I dialed the phone and after three rings, I was picked up.
"Happy New Year, Akina-san." Shinichi Iwahashi said.
Akina Nakamori held the microphone, followed his rhythm, and replied, "Happy New Year."
"I just went downstairs to get a New Year's postcard." Shinichi Iwahashi told her, "I read what you sent. So, I wanted to give you a New Year's call."
On the phone, Iwahashi Shinichi's voice was kind and cheerful, no different from every meeting and every phone call in the past. But Nakamori Akina listened to such a tone without any haze, and the feeling that she was the only one who was troubled became clearer.
.
Iwahashi Shinichi doesn't know anything, and he may not have a similar mood to her...
When Nakamori Akina thought of this, she felt uncomfortable and didn't know what to do.
"I think the New Year's greetings postcard I sent you probably arrived in your mailbox at about the same time." When Iwahashi Shinichi said this, he changed the subject and asked, "Has Akina-san returned to her hometown?"
Akina Nakamori said "Yeah", "I'm still in my hometown now."
After she finished speaking, she regretted her harsh tone and asked instead: "Where is Shen Yi-kun? Didn't you go back to your hometown this year?"
Iwahashi Shinichi didn't pay attention, "I've decided to go to Osaka on five days this year, and I need to discuss some official matters with Kansai TV. When I return from Osaka, I can also go to Shizuoka in the middle."
Akina Nakamori listened silently.
On the other end of the phone, Iwahashi Shinichi also noticed that she was not in a high mood and asked, "What happened?" After saying that, he laughed first and said, "Sorry, I am asking such a question on the first day of the new year."
After all, it’s the first day of the Lunar New Year, and there are many people who can’t speak.
When Akina Nakamori heard what he said, she realized that she was too listless and quickly cheered up, "That's not the case."
On the phone, the absent-minded Akina Nakamori that Iwahashi Shinichi had just felt disappeared, replaced by an energetic Nakamori Akina who cracked jokes and made witty remarks.
The atmosphere became lively, but the phone calls became more and more strange. Even Nakamori Akina herself, although she was talking happily, felt that it was too deliberate.
A phone call cannot be said to be pleasant.
It was Shinichi Iwahashi who couldn't bear to hear her force herself any more, so he changed the subject and told her about peacock origami, "Just now, I was helpless with that peacock, and I was just waiting for you to teach me how to fold it.
"
He guessed that maybe something bad happened to Akina Nakamori when she returned to her hometown. She taught origami and met her. If there was anything she wanted to say, he could listen to what she had to say.
Just like it is not convenient to teach origami on the phone, some things are not convenient to say on the phone.
But Nakamori Akina was vague and did not give an exact time, "After Shinichi-kun returns from Osaka..."
The two agreed on the phone to make an appointment later. Iwahashi Shin, half joking and half serious, said: "You might be stumped this time."
What he said reminded Akina Nakamori of her desire to stump him when she was learning origami.
What was the reason for that feeling of wanting to stump him?
After hanging up the phone, Akina Nakamori stood in front of the phone, thinking about the conversation she had just had with Shinichi Iwahashi, feeling regretful and uncomfortable. The way she looked just now was as if she was trying to push Shinichi Iwahashi away.
However, even though what he did was push him away, he was thinking in his heart that he was obviously so far away from him... and he didn't know anything.
She said she was pushing him away, but she was using all her strength. In fact, she didn't even touch the corner of his clothes. She was just waving her fists and feet in the air. However, she was obviously pushing him hard, but every time she pushed, she actually regretted it.
once.
What on earth is she doing?
Iwahashi Shinichi didn't know anything about it, but she felt jealous and unhappy at first. Now, because of his ignorance, she wanted to push him away, but she regretted it at the same time.
I am attracted to him, so I want to get closer to him. I am afraid of getting hurt, so I want to push him away. I am worried that I will lose my current status once I tell the truth, so I want to maintain the status quo.
When one party is unaware, the other party has to bear the responsibility of making a choice.
Should you take a step back and gradually stay away from him? Or bury this possibility and maintain the status quo with him.
Or, even if she is the only one who discovers this possibility unilaterally, she chooses to take a step towards him. Even if it is in vain, she really reaches out her hand.
Nakamori Akina was at a loss as she didn't know the answer to the question, and she didn't know how to face Shinichi Iwahashi. She even felt a little timid because she had to make a choice.
At this time, she heard a noise at the entrance. Akina Nakamori raised her head and saw her sister Akiho standing there. She didn't know when she came back.
She subconsciously said "ah".
Akiho Nakamori looked at his sister, but showed no reaction to her surprise. He said, "I'm back." He walked around her and walked inside.
Then, Nakamori Akina heard Akiho talking to her mother.
After dinner at home, Akina Nakamori said goodbye to her family and returned to her apartment.
Before getting off the car, remembering Shinichi Iwahashi's phone call about receiving a postcard from her, Akina Nakamori also checked the mailbox and took out a thin stack of postcards.
New Year's greetings postcards from people with whom she interacts on official business are all sent to the office, and not many people exchange New Year's greetings postcards with her in private. In previous years, there would only be thirty or forty postcards sent to her in the entire first month of the year.
It will be sent within one day, only a dozen of them.
Entering the elevator, Akina Nakamori flipped through the postcards in her hand and found the one of Shinichi Iwahashi. The familiar handwriting and the exact same wording habits as in the letter.
Nakamori Akina looked at the postcard and remembered that there were letters in the drawer from him that she had not replied to, as well as a new origami study that was half-way through.
I want to stump Iwahashi Shinichi... I haven't seen him in trouble yet.
He said on the phone that he might be stumped this time.
Next time we meet...but when will it be next time? Can she make a choice before next time? She still can't make up her mind.
This time, no one was around to tell her which was the best choice, and no one encouraged her what to do. She didn't even know what Shinichi Iwahashi thought.
Shinichi Iwahashi, who knew nothing about these things, was there now, unchanged at all.
Now, whether to approach him or push him away, it all depends on her, she has to make her own choice.
Akina Nakamori felt as if she had gained a wonderful freedom.
It's a freedom I've never had before...but it's also a kind of responsibility I've never had before.
…
In the afternoon of the second day, Kanda and Yoko walked out of the apartment together and headed to Shibuya. Small record stores may not be open normally, so if you want to buy records, you still have to go to a large record store in the center.
The first month of every year is an important battlefield for TV stations to compete for ratings.
During the New Year period, various special programs take turns to take place, even though there is a self-restraint order hanging above their heads. However, TV stations with the highest ratings still find ways to keep the programs broadcast normally.
The TV station’s battle for ratings in the first month of the year actually started on New Year’s Eve of the previous year.
In addition to NHK's Red and White Song Festival, each TV station is preparing its own New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve programs. The reason why the Red and White Song Festival works so hard for ratings and topicality is simply because competitors are also eyeing it.
On New Year's Eve, after watching the Red and White Song Concert, Kanda and Yoko began to exercise their rights as viewers and switched to TBS TV station. Midway through the program, commercials began to cut.
Kanda picked up the remote control and was about to change the channel, but he heard that the background music of this advertisement was "Future Vision II" that he had heard at the Kohaku Uta Music Festival not long ago.
I already like this song, and I just heard it not long ago, and I feel particularly familiar with it.
What kind of advertisement is this? His hand paused while pressing the button on the remote control.
The protagonists of the advertisement are a couple in love, about the same age as Kanda and Yoko. In the background music of "Future Vision II", the element of "Five Strikes" always runs through it.
And this background music seemed to annotate their repeated small movements related to the "five strokes".
Until the hero drove the heroine home, watched her go to the corner, and flashed the brake lights five times, the entire commercial lasted about twenty seconds.
Kanda doesn't know what foreign TV advertisements are like, but in Japan, super long advertisements and series advertisements are common.
However, Kanda could never guess what product this was an advertisement for.
It wasn't until the brake lights flashed five times that an album cover appeared on the TV screen.
It's Dreams e True's new album, it's called "love goes on...", and it also has a release date, which was December 26th last year.
December 26 last year? Kanda didn’t pay any attention to it.
Before "Future Vision II", he had no interest in this band. After falling in love with this song, he also wanted a single containing this song.
As a result, looking at this advertisement, this song is an album song?
Kanda watched the advertisement for instant miso that switched to the TV screen, and belatedly realized that this long advertisement was a promotional advertisement for a band.
""love goes on...", isn't the name of this album very good?"
At this time, I heard Yoko speak like this.
On the third day, Kanda was taking Yoko back to his hometown. So on the afternoon of the second day, the two went to the record store together, planning to buy an album and listen to it while driving.
As a result, when I arrived at the store, I found that there were more people looking for this album than I thought.
