Sato quite liked bamboo.
Its graceful stalks rose section by section toward the sky. Both the stalks and leaves stayed green throughout the year. The bamboo leaves were long, emerald green, and shaped like swimming fish, giving them a unique beauty. Whenever a breeze passed through, they rustled softly, producing a wonderfully pleasant sound.
He remembered that back in the countryside where he had grown up, nearly every house within sight had a bamboo grove beside it.
One may go without meat, but one cannot live without bamboo.
It was a line from Su Shi, but it truly captured the scene.
While everyone else busied themselves searching for bamboo shoots, Sato and Fujimiya Konomi strolled leisurely beneath the bamboo grove. Their footsteps made soft rustling sounds as they walked across the thick carpet of dry yellow bamboo leaves covering the ground.
There were actually plenty of spring bamboo shoots around. All across the leaf-covered ground, the pointed tips of young shoots poked through the surface.
The bamboo shoots here, however, were the large variety rather than the slender kind. A tiny sprout sticking just above the ground was no good. They had to look for ones that had emerged much farther, otherwise they could not dig them out.
It was not that they were impossible to dig up, but they would have to dig very deep around them, making the job much more difficult.
"Wahaha! What a huge bamboo shoot!"
Koshigaya Natsumi excitedly swung her little hoe. Like a mole enthusiastically digging a tunnel, she shoveled up dirt and tossed it behind her without the slightest concern for what was happening back there.
Koshigaya Komari was originally squatting beside Ichijou Hotaru, watching her dig up a bamboo shoot. Compared to Koshigaya Natsumi and Miyauchi Hikage, the two of them were undoubtedly much more ladylike, or rather, more like proper girls.
Holding a little hoe, Ichijou Hotaru carefully loosened the soil around the bamboo shoot bit by bit. Since she had grown up in the city and had never done anything like this before, she found even digging bamboo shoots thoroughly enjoyable.
Koshigaya Komari crouched beside her, offering instructions. If a stranger came by, they probably would not be able to tell which of the two was the older one.
Compared to the well-developed Ichijou Hotaru, Koshigaya Komari looked especially petite sitting beside her.
Her brown hair was tied into twin tails with cute pink hair ties, making her look like a lower elementary school student.
Suddenly, she felt something hit her back. Turning around, she saw the excited Koshigaya Natsumi and clumps of dirt flying through the air one after another.
"Natsumi, be more careful!"
She quickly stood up to dodge, brushed the dirt off her back, and complained loudly.
But Koshigaya Natsumi was completely absorbed in the moment and did not hear a word she said.
Seeing that Natsumi paid her no attention at all, Koshigaya Komari could only move somewhere else with an unhappy expression, muttering to Ichijou Hotaru in front of her.
"Natsumi is becoming less and less like a girl."
"She learned it all from Hikage-oneesan."
"..."
After talking for quite a while, there was still no response from Ichijou Hotaru. Looking closely, Koshigaya Komari realized she was carefully digging around the bamboo shoot in front of her. Her bright eyes and cautious movements looked almost as though she were performing a sacred ritual.
Koshigaya Komari opened her mouth, then let out a powerless sigh.
"Hey, Natsumi! I've already dug up a huge one!"
Miyauchi Hikage's triumphant voice echoed through the bamboo grove.
Everyone turned to look and saw the enormous bamboo shoot she was holding. It was about the size of a newborn baby.
"Hmph hmph! Mine's about to come out too! Hikage-oneesan, you can't just dig up half of it. That doesn't count!"
Without even looking up, Koshigaya Natsumi continued digging with all her strength as she shouted back.
"Idiot! We're going to eat these. Why would I only dig up half of one just because it's a competition?"
Holding the bamboo shoot in the distance, Miyauchi Hikage replied speechlessly.
"Hehe! I got mine out too!"
Just then, Koshigaya Natsumi suddenly stood up with a grin, holding a freshly dug bamboo shoot of her own.
Not far away, Miyauchi Hikage froze in shock, staring blankly at the bamboo shoot in Natsumi's arms.
"You were stalling just now? Since when did you become this sneaky, Natsumi?!"
Koshigaya Natsumi hurriedly placed the freshly dug bamboo shoot into her basket, then quickly dashed toward another one while answering over her shoulder.
"You're just too dumb, Hikage-oneesan!"
"Damn it!"
Seeing Natsumi's movements, alarm bells immediately rang in Miyauchi Hikage's mind. She quickly put her own bamboo shoot into her basket and rushed off to find another target.
I've actually fallen behind!
Miyauchi Hikage became even more alert.
She could lose to anyone, but she absolutely could not lose to Natsumi. Otherwise, that brat would definitely laugh at her for an entire year!
Beneath another patch of bamboo, the two little girls withdrew their gazes.
Miyauchi Renge sighed, her little face filled with worry.
Kanna looked at her with wide blue eyes and asked blankly, "What's wrong, Ren-chan?"
Miyauchi Renge looked like a little adult as she worriedly said, "Hikage-oneesan seems kind of dumb. She even got tricked by Natsumi. I wonder how she manages to survive in Tokyo."
"I heard there are lots of people in the city, and the roads are really complicated. If you're dumb, it's easy to get lost, and people might trick you too."
Kanna fell silent after hearing that, feeling that the topic had gone beyond what she could understand.
By coincidence, Sato and the leisurely wandering Fujimiya Konomi happened to pass by just then and heard everything Miyauchi Renge had said.
Fujimiya Konomi immediately moved closer to Sato. After glancing toward Miyauchi Hikage, she whispered with a smile,
"Hikage really did get lost all the time when she first moved there. She called me so many times asking for help. Even though I don't live in Tokyo, how was I supposed to know what to do? She got so anxious after getting lost that she nearly cried..."
Their bodies were close together.
Sato could feel the girl's soft, fragrant body beside him, making it rather difficult to keep his thoughts from wandering.
"How come Hikage never called me?"
"Because that idiot was too embarrassed! She said you both moved to the city at the same time, and being the only one who kept getting lost was just too humiliating!"
Sato could not help laughing.
He had to admit, that really did sound pretty embarrassing.