10 10

◎Things an adult should do◎

10

The message was quickly marked as read, but Dazai Osamu did not reply.

However, Ruoyi didn't pay much attention to this. After all, she had heard that some jobs require strict confidentiality, and no matter how many questions you ask, you can't say anything.

It wasn't until near the end of spring break that Dazai Osamu sent a few simple words:

【Thanks. 】

[Kawakami Wakai:? 】

Dazai Osamu, once again, has stopped replying.

"Strange guy." After waiting a while and seeing that Dazai Osamu hadn't replied, Kawakami Wakana put down her phone and started preparing the things she needed for the start of school tomorrow.

In April, Kawakami Wakai officially entered her senior year of high school.

Given Ruoyi's current somewhat unbalanced academic performance, a recommendation for admission is unlikely. She has no choice but to focus her attention on the entrance exams for a few schools offering sports medicine programs. Her days are now devoted to practicing questions, and she's even stopped communicating with her online friend Lucia as much.

Although Hinata Natsu decided which university to attend shortly after entering her senior year of high school through a sports recommendation, she, as the captain of the volleyball club, also focused some of her energy on the last tournament of her high school years.

Sometimes, Ruoyi would envy the volleyball team members who could enjoy their youth on the court, but once she focused her attention on the college entrance exams, she didn't seem so sad anymore.

Days passed by, and as the weather got warmer, Hinata Natsu received good news.

The school's volleyball team successfully qualified for the national tournament.

When Xia excitedly told Ruoyi the good news that day, Ruoyi thought that as long as she continued to work hard, she would win. Until…

Due to the recent severe flu outbreak, the national tournament has been cancelled as a countermeasure against infectious diseases.

That day, after school, Ruoyi specially took Xia to eat parfaits at a dessert shop near the school. When Xia finally couldn't hold back her tears that day, Ruoyi simply patted her back gently to comfort her.

"I shouldn't have cried," Hinata Natsu sniffled, "You didn't cry back then..."

"..."

Ruoyi didn't say anything, but gently patted Hinata Natsu's back.

She thought that their youth might end just like this, with this national tournament ticket that they would never use in their lives...

night.

For some reason, listening to Xia's words, Ruoyi suddenly felt a strong urge to chat with her friend Lucia for a while.

Anyway, she had planned to take a day off today anyway.

So, once home, Ruoyi immediately took out her phone, opened that app she hadn't used in a long time, and sent a routine greeting to the Lucia:

The flu is pretty bad here lately. How are things where you are?

The Lucias did not reply directly, but instead sent a picture of a thermometer.

39 degrees.

Kawakami Wakai:! ! !

You know, the highest fever she's ever had in her life was just over 38 degrees Celsius!

"Are you...are you alright?" she asked慌张地.

It's okay, I'm used to getting fevers.

"..."

How can anyone get used to having a fever!

The Lucia man continued, "However, this can be used as an excuse to skip school and practice the piano at home."

"..."

Kawakami Wakana initially thought the other party was just joking. After all, when she had a fever as a child, she felt like she was going to die, let alone play the cello. But to her surprise, a while later, she actually received a new video message.

The person in the video was wearing pajamas. Although her face was not shown, she still had the pale, thin skin that I knew so well. However, the archery movements she made were very powerful, as if such slender arms could not possibly do it.

Kawakami Wakana wasn't exactly an expert in music. But as soon as she heard the stirring prelude, she immediately recognized it as "The March of Destiny".

It's common knowledge that the composer of this piece suffered from deafness in his later years...

Could it be that he was encouraging her?

Sitting in the small room, listening to the melodious cello music, Ruoyi felt as if, besides the sound of the cello, she could also faintly hear... her own heartbeat.

"...!"

Startled, she immediately turned off the video, hurriedly picked up the reference book, and began reading.

For some reason, she always had a feeling that the sound of the Lucia cello was like a tempting wine, and if she continued to listen, she would be unable to extricate herself.

but……

Her mother had promised her that as long as she graduated smoothly, she would give her a graduation gift, whether she went on to further studies or got a job.

Ruoyi hadn't decided what to get as a graduation gift. After all, she didn't play games or collect anime merchandise, and she wasn't particularly interested in the latest mobile phones. But the idea of ​​"whether her mother should get her a set of cosmetics" suddenly popped into her head.

…………

Not knowing if she was running away from something, after that, Kawakami Wakana devoted herself even more to her studies and interacted with the Lucia people even less.

Finally, in April of the following year, she successfully received her admission letter to the Faculty of Medical Technology at Midori University, and together with Hinata Natsu, who was in Tokyo but not at the same school, they took the Shinkansen to Tokyo to study.

Moving to a new place alone is quite tiring. Kawakami Wakana spent the whole night tidying up, and it wasn't until the next morning that she felt her rented 1DK apartment finally looked somewhat habitable.

Looking at the brand-new and tidy room, and then thinking that I did all of this myself, I suddenly felt a great sense of accomplishment.

So much so that, as a reward for herself, she simply picked up her phone and ordered a pizza delivery.

Hinata Natsu arrived at this time.

Seeing that it was a friend, Kawakami Wakana jokingly invited her inside: "Natsu-chan, you didn't know I ordered pizza and came by the smell, did you?"

Hinata Natsu immediately huffed and puffed, waving the plastic bag in front of Wakana: "Do you think I'm that kind of person in Nyan-chan's eyes? I don't know anything about pizza! I bought snacks to play with!"

Ruoyi couldn't help but laugh: "Haha, just kidding."

“Speaking of which,” Hinata Natsu put down the plastic bag and stared at Wakana’s face, “so, we’re both freshmen now.”

"Um."

"In another year or two, I can attend the coming-of-age ceremony held in the city."

"Um."

Hinata Natsumi's eyes immediately lit up: "Doesn't this mean we can do some things that adults do?!"

"...?"

Seeing Ruoyi's expression frozen on her face, and how she even lost her grip on the cola bottle, which rolled onto the tatami mat, Hinata Natsu raised her hand and pinched her cheek.

"Seriously, what are you thinking!"

"Don't worry, I don't smoke or drink, and I certainly won't wear revealing clothes to go clubbing in Kabukicho at night. I'm just talking about makeup, makeup!"

make up--?

Kawakami Wakana then remembered that her mother had indeed bought her a full set of cosmetics and skincare products when she left for Tokyo. However, Wakana's mother wasn't someone who wore makeup often, so she hadn't asked her mother for advice.

"Ta-da—" Hinata Natsu rummaged through her canvas bag and pulled out a small makeup bag. "Actually, I asked my mom to buy one for me before I left."

So the two girls ran to the bathroom and awkwardly started applying skincare products to their faces in front of the mirror. But when they looked at their own faces in the mirror and then at each other's faces, they couldn't help but laugh.

"Natsu-chan, what is this?! Kabuki?"

"You're not like that yourself. With such exaggerated makeup, if you went out in the middle of the night, you'd definitely scare a child to tears!"

"It looks awful!" Kawakami Wakai turned on the tap. "Wash it off, wash it off!"

She should at least go to university without makeup until she learns how to use these cosmetics.

Before she could even get water to wash her face, Hinata Natsuki grabbed her arm and snapped a selfie with her phone.

"It's a bit ugly, but I'll still keep it as a memento!" Hinata Natsumi said confidently.

"..."

After removing her makeup, they ate pizza together, and it wasn't until after 3 PM that Hinata Natsumi left for home. The picture commemorating her "first time wearing makeup" was posted on her messaging app as soon as she stepped out the door.

"Really..." Ruoyi smiled and then took pictures of the entire room.

She originally intended to send these photos to her parents. But after returning to the home screen, she suddenly noticed the Jinjiang (a Chinese online literature platform) icon.

Speaking of which...

She was the one who took the initiative to ask the Lucia if they could be friends, but later she stopped contacting them as much. Ruoyi suddenly felt that she had let them down.

"Never mind," she sighed.

Anyway, her photos only showed the interior of the room and didn't capture any view that could be pinpointed to her new address. Besides, she's abroad, so sending them to her shouldn't be a problem, right?

So, Ruoyi opened Jinjiang and sent all the photos she had just taken over, then didn't think about it anymore and talked to her mother on the phone for a while. But it wasn't until she hung up the phone and reopened the app that she discovered that the selfie she had saved on her phone, featuring Hinata Natsumi after she had put on makeup, had also been sent over.

Moreover, because she discovered it quite late, even if she wanted to back down, it was already too late.

Kawakami Wakai:! ! !

On the other side.

Fyodor was intrigued when he suddenly received photos from the kitten. He looked at the pictures of the room with a bit of interest, but then he discovered that the cat had a strong sense of self-preservation. In all the photos, not a single one showed the view outside the window.

It really is a difficult cat... He thought to himself as he swiped forward to another picture.

Immediately, Fyodor stopped scrolling on his phone.

He stared at the selfie in front of him—

What's this?

[Author's Note]

Things adults should do—put on makeup

Don't get the wrong idea from this title, haha.