Chapter 105

Not long after, Yukimura Suzune also noticed Natsume Chikage’s sleeping face.

The action of turning the page paused slightly.

Just at this moment—

Natsume Chikage’s hand, which was originally supporting his head, slipped because of sleepiness.

His head swayed gently, and he actually woke up directly.

The two who noticed this were stunned for a moment, then quickly looked away, continuing to do their own things as if nothing had happened.

Natsume Chikage didn’t seem to notice anything.

He simply lay flat on the sofa, took a book and covered his face to block the light, and fell into a deep sleep again.

The two caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of their eyes, and both fell into a moment of silence.

Time flowed quietly in the tranquility.

After a while, someone broke this tranquility.

Fujiwara Aoi pushed the door open in a hurry and laughed energetically:

“I, Fujiwara Aoi, have returned!!”

Her voice successfully woke Natsume Chikage from his dream.

Natsume Chikage sat up, although his expression was still a bit hazy, his brain was exceptionally clear—it was a rare, high-quality nap.

Saionji Nanase put down the magnifying glass and strange stones in her hand and smiled.

“Since everyone is here, let’s start acting!”

“Natsume-kun and Fujiwara-san in a group, go to the teacher’s office to ask the teachers.”

“Suzune and I will go to the library to ask the management teacher there, and by the way, check relevant materials.”

“One hour later, we will meet in the clubroom!”

After speaking, no one had any objections, so they grouped into two and left the clubroom.

Natsume Chikage and Fujiwara Aoi were on the way to the teacher’s office.

Fujiwara Aoi was secretly happy—it was good that she proposed to be in a group with Natsume Chikage just now.

This way there would be more time to deepen their relationship.

Soon, the two arrived at the teacher’s office.

In the office at this time, there were both teachers and students.

Most teachers had finished their lunch break and were busy dealing with work.

Fujiwara Aoi looked at this situation, couldn’t help but want to retreat, and whispered:

“Natsume-kun, which teacher should we ask?”

Natsume Chikage thought for a moment, feeling that the most efficient way was to find the person who knew the situation best.

And the one who knew the teachers best here was naturally the teachers themselves.

So he went directly to his class teacher, Sakai Shion, intending to ask her who knew the most about the hundred-year-old cherry blossom tree.

“I see, you want to find someone to ask about the hundred-year-old cherry blossom tree, and prepare to write an article...” Sakai Shion pondered for a moment and suggested, “Then you go directly to ask the history teacher. He has been teaching here for more than thirty years, he must know a lot.”

“But the history teacher doesn’t seem to be here... where is he?” Fujiwara Aoi looked left and right, but didn’t see anyone.

“I don’t know about this either.” Sakai Shion explained, “But he definitely hasn’t gone back at this time. When he’s not busy, he likes to walk around the school. You should be able to find him in the school.”

“Thank you, teacher!” The two thanked her in unison and set off to find the history teacher.

They searched the school once but couldn’t find him, and asked many people for this.

Hanyu Masaki: “...You’re asking where Teacher Otsuka is? I sometimes see him chatting with the guard near the main gate. Maybe he’s there now.”

Guard: “Ah? Teacher Otsuka? He’s not here. Maybe he’s at the Shogi Club? I sometimes see him playing chess there.”

Yasui Ryouto: “Teacher Otsuka didn’t come here today. Maybe he’s in the library, I sometimes see him reading there?”

Yukimura Suzune: “(*￣—￣*) Teacher Otsuka was just here, but now I don’t know where he went.”

Saionji Nanase: “(?°?°?) Just now I heard him say he seemed to be going to the backyard.”

Fujiwara Aoi: “(。-`ω?-) Great, finally know where he is...”

Finally.

The two came to the school backyard.

Natsume Chikage looked over and found that on the bench next to the hundred-year-old cherry blossom tree sat an old teacher of about sixty with all-white hair—history teacher Otsuka Takuyuki.

Teacher Otsuka was looking at the hundred-year-old cherry blossom tree in a daze, his eyes filled with deep nostalgia, not knowing what he was thinking.

“It’s the history teacher! Natsume-kun, we finally found him, let’s go over quickly!” Fujiwara Aoi found the target and pointed forward excitedly.

“Mm, let’s go.” Natsume Chikage nodded.

The two approached.

“Teacher Otsuka, are you free now? Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Mm-hmm! Just a few questions!”

Otsuka Takuyuki was slightly surprised, but still nodded and smiled kindly.

“Sure, ask.”

Before asking, Fujiwara Aoi quickly took out her phone and asked:

“Our club needs to record, can I take pictures?”

“Sure.” Otsuka Takuyuki didn’t mind this.

“It’s like this...” Natsume Chikage briefly narrated the cause and effect.

Otsuka Takuyuki heard this and laughed dumbfoundedly.

“So you want to ask about the hundred-year-old cherry blossom tree.”

“It’s rare, young people today are still interested in the ‘rumors’ that circulated in our era.”

Natsume Chikage was confused:

“The rumors that circulated in your era?”

“But I heard that this statement has been circulating since even earlier?”

Otsuka Takuyuki shook his head and smiled:

“Rumors, as time ferments, will always become unrecognizable.”

Natsume Chikage pondered:

“Then, why are you sure it circulated from the era you were in?”

Otsuka Takuyuki’s eyes gradually drifted away, falling into memories.

“Because... this rumor was originally spread by one of my students back then.”

Fujiwara Aoi was surprised:

“Is it your student?”

“Is it a boy or a girl?”

Otsuka Takuyuki smiled.

“It’s a girl.”

Natsume Chikage asked:

“Can you tell me in detail about this girl?”

Otsuka Takuyuki nodded slightly.

When recalling this girl, an expression of mixed feelings couldn’t help but appear on his face.

“Before talking about her, let me talk about some of my past.”

“Actually, more than thirty years ago when I just graduated from university and started working, I was still a new teacher who didn’t understand anything, and was inexplicably pulled by students to be the advisor for the Broadcasting Club.”

“And that girl was the head of the Broadcasting Club at that time.”

“Although she was the head, she was actually just a first-year high school student. If it weren’t for a big conflict in the Broadcasting Club at that time, which led to many members quitting, she wouldn’t have been elected as the head just after joining the club.”

“Also because the Broadcasting Club at that time was almost no one willing to take over this ‘mess’ because of that storm.”

“If the number of club members didn’t reach four, the Broadcasting Club would be disbanded... she was really worried at that time.”

Fujiwara Aoi interjected at the right time and smiled:

“So she thought of some ‘ghost ideas’ to recruit new members?”

Otsuka Takuyuki smiled:

“Haha, you guessed it.”

“In that era, time passed very slowly, there were no entertainment like mobile phones today.”