Chapter 17 first quarter

Taking an English practice class from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening is Xiaozhi's schedule on Wednesday.From the cram school to home, it takes 20 minutes on foot.Therefore, at the latest, I should be home around 8:30, but in the past few days, I have been home about ten minutes later than usual.On this day, the pointer on the clock has passed eight forty. "What's going on?" Mother Yoshiko asked looking at the clock on the wall. "It's been quite late to go home lately." "Well," Xiao Zhi replied, stepping on the stairs with one foot, without looking at his mother, "The get out of class of the second year of junior high school has become more difficult, and some students pester the teacher to ask questions after class."

"Hmm... Endo-kun?" Yoshiko mentioned the names of Takashi's classmates.That was the boy who often competed with Takashi for the first place. "more or less." "Really... Then you have to work hard." Before I know it, my mother's words have turned into encouragement.Originally, she didn't worry about going home later.She felt in her heart that since the cram school was willing to teach, it would be pretty good.Turning his back, listening to his mother's words of encouragement, Takashi went up the stairs. Back in his own room, Xiaozhi put the bag on the table, and then lay down on the bed all at once.On the ceiling, there are large photos of his favorite idol stars and American movie posters.No matter which one, it is a treasure that is hard to get.But at this moment, his gaze did not stop at any of them.

There is still a slight excitement left in my heart, which is always the case on Wednesday nights. It was just a lie to say that the cram school was delayed, but it was actually delayed for a while on the road.But that was hardly a delay on the road at all. From a long time ago, Takashi knew that on the way to the cram school, there was a girls' high school called S Gakuen.It was a good private high school. In the junior high school where Takashi attended, several girls with excellent grades would go there to go to school every year.It was a church school with strict school rules and a long-standing reputation as a "ladies' school".Inside the brick wall stands a school building made of red bricks, and the bell tower floating in the moonlight is quite old. Every building in the school tells its long history.But when Xiaozhi passed by, the school had already passed the closing time, so it was a pity that he never had the chance to see the students in that school.

The day I saw her was on a Wednesday night. On that day, Takashi, as usual, hurried across the gate of S Academy and headed home.Since the nearby roads are dark and there are few pedestrians, his mother told him to be careful on the road from the day he started going to cram school.From then on, hurried footsteps became a habit of his. The sound of the piano from the academy made him stop.His mother Yoshiko also taught piano, and the music made Takashi feel both nostalgic and warm, and it is that feeling now. ——It's so late, who is still playing the piano? Looking at the school building, Takashi walked slowly again.The sound of the piano is fine, but Takashi is very interested in who stayed so late.

After a while, he found a wooden door in the brick wall still slightly ajar.Probably behind it, Xiaozhi hadn't noticed it before. He turned his head to confirm that there was no one else around, so he opened the wooden door with a worried heart.There was a lock on the door, but the lock was broken and useless.He stuck his head through the door and watched what was going on around him.In the building in front of me, there was a window with a light on.The building had many flat windows, and Takashi guessed it might be a gymnasium. The sound of the piano continued for a long time, as if the sound was luring him into the garden. In the past, he would never have had the courage, but today, he did not have the slightest hesitation in his heart.

Only part of the lights were on in the gymnasium, and the light from each window was different.Takashi's eyes swept over the windows one by one, and then he approached a window that was slightly darker.He was afraid that the people in the house would find him. Walking under the window, he heard the sound of the piano being stepped on the floor mixed with it.Xiao Zhi slowly looked in with his head, and saw a young girl dancing alone in the room.The long colored ribbon held in the hand kept flipping up and down in mid-air.In the girl's hands, the ribbon seemed to be alive, dancing endlessly.

——New gymnastics... Recently, it has been broadcast frequently on TV, and Takashi has also seen it.He knew there were other items that used thin sticks and balls.However, this was the first time he had witnessed it with his own eyes. What the girl is wearing is not the kind of tights that often appear on TV, but a T-shirt on the upper body and jeans on the lower body.His long hair was pulled back casually.The figure is well-proportioned and well-proportioned, just like the ribbon in her hand, flexible and agile. The sound of the piano stopped abruptly, and the girl's movements also stopped.She approached the window a little further away from where Takashi was, and operated the tape recorder placed there.The piano sound came from the tape recorder.After a while, the same melody sounded again with the same volume.She squatted on the ground and stood up with a satisfied face.

At this moment, Xiaozhi saw the girl's appearance clearly. The girl's skin was fair and translucent, delicate and compact, and the light was faintly reflected on her cheeks, reminding Takashi of a doll made of ceramics, but she didn't feel cold at all.The teeth that are slightly exposed under the pale pink lips are whiter than the skin on the face.Even from Xiao Zhi's position, one can clearly see a trace of sweat flowing down her forehead to her neck.Where the sweat seeps through the red T-shirt, the color is even darker. The girl began to practice again, and the figure was running and dancing in Takashi's vision.

Xiaozhi felt that the music in his ears was so beautiful, it was touching and intoxicating.Whenever he hears a beautiful piece, even if it is the first time he hears it, he will fall into the illusion of deja vu, which instinctively stimulates somewhere in his heart.At this moment, seeing the girl's dancing posture, the feeling in his heart is the same as that time.I have encountered such a scene before... No, I feel as if I have seen her before. The nervousness when sneaking into the girls' high school has already flown to the sky, and Takashi stared at the girl for a long time.It wasn't until a motorcycle whizzed by on the road that he came back to his senses, but fifteen minutes had passed.

At the same time the next day, Takashi made up a random excuse to leave the house and came to the vicinity of the girls' high school.Same as day one.He circled around to the back door again.But today he did not hear the piano, and the lights in the gymnasium were not on. On the following day, he also failed to see the girl.Finally, on Wednesday of the second week, the day he went to cram school, he finally saw her again.Xiaozhi finally understood that every Wednesday is her practice day. Since then, Xiaozhi has a secretly happy secret. Xiaozhi told himself that there was nothing wrong with doing this, and he was just watching the girls' high school players practice new gymnastics.Just ten minutes of happiness, when thinking of it, Xiaozhi wished that Wednesday would come soon, and the pace of going to the cram school became brisk.