Invitations and New Hobbies

Lunchtime in the music classroom has become the most anticipated moment of the day for the two of them.

The bento boxes were laid out side by side on the piano lid. On one side was coconut milk chicken and pink octopus made by Asuka's mother, and on the other side was thick omelet and salted radish made by Xia Mo herself.

Sunlight streamed in at an angle through the window, turning the wispy hair on their heads a light chestnut brown.

Xia Mo ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, then paused with her chopsticks.

He stared at the thick omelet in the bento box, hesitated for a while, and then spoke.

"Um... there's a fireworks festival at the end of July. You've heard of it, right?"

The bird was staring at a little octopus—she always saved the little octopus for last. Hearing this, she looked up and blinked.

"Yes, I've been there," she said, with a hint of nonchalance. "It happens every year in Katsushika Ward. My mom and I have been there many times."

Xia Mo paused for a moment.

"Oh...I see." He lowered his head, poking at the rice with his chopsticks. "I've never been there."

With a small octopus in its mouth, Asuka asked indistinctly, "You haven't been there even once since you moved in?"

"No." Xia Mo's voice was muffled, carrying a hint of resentment that she couldn't quite explain. "It was my first year here, and I didn't know anything. Last year... no one invited me to come along either."

He spoke very softly, as if he were talking about something unimportant.

But Asuka understood what was hidden beneath those words—just like not having a team in gym class, just like eating lunch alone, just like all the moments of being "left behind".

She put down her chopsticks and looked at him seriously.

"The fireworks display is really beautiful," she said, her tone as serious as if she were giving a geography presentation. "The fireworks in Katsushika Ward aren't the biggest, but the last part is especially long. They come up from Shibamata, and you can see the whole sky is lit up."

Xia Mo looked up at her.

Feiniao felt a little embarrassed by his gaze, picked up her chopsticks again, took a piece of thick omelet, chewed it, and then continued, "And there are many food stalls, fried noodles, takoyaki, candied apples, chocolate bananas... They also have goldfish scooping, but you can never catch any."

"Have you ever fished like that?"

"I've tried. It always breaks." Asuka said this with a calm expression.

Like a general who has repeatedly failed but never given up, recounting his victories, there's a feeling that the fault lies not with me, but with the world.

Looking at her like that, Xia Mo's lips unconsciously curved into a smile. He hesitated for a moment, then gently tapped the edge of the lunchbox with his chopsticks, as if keeping time for himself.

"Um..." Xia Mo tried to keep her tone calm, "My piano teacher's senior, Erika Ikuta, is a year older than me. She's quite noisy—oh no, I mean, she's really nice. She said she wants to get to know you and asked if the three of us want to go to the fireworks festival together."

After saying this, Xia Mo trembled slightly, as if he had finally accomplished some arduous task. But he didn't lower his head; instead, he looked at her, waiting for her answer.

Asuka froze. She was still holding the last little octopus in her hand, poised to put it in her mouth, as if she had been put on pause.

Three people. Together.

I want to go see the fireworks festival with her at the end of summer.

No, it was Xia Mo and his senior, the three of them together.

But it's still "going to see the fireworks together." It's the kind of "together" where you make a promise with someone, on a summer evening, whether you're wearing a yukata or casual clothes, standing by the river and looking up at the fireworks.

She had only ever seen such things on TV and in comics.

The bird lowered its head, put the little octopus into its mouth, and chewed for a long time.

"I..." she swallowed, her voice muffled, "I don't know."

Xia Mo didn't press him further. He hummed in agreement and took another bite of rice.

The two remained silent for a while, with only the rustling of leaves outside the window and the laughter and shouts of students playing and joking on the playground in the distance.

After a while, the bird suddenly spoke.

"After school," her voice was soft, as if testing the waters, "are you... free?"

Xia Mo glanced at her, somewhat surprised: "You're free. What's up?"

"I'm thinking of going to the shopping mall in front of the station. There's a newly opened beverage shop there. Do you want to come along?"

As soon as she finished speaking, her face turned red, which was quite embarrassing.

She clearly wanted to change the subject and answer the question about the fireworks festival once she was ready. But after the words left her mouth, she realized—

The idea of ​​"going to a beverage shop together after school" doesn't seem much better than "going to see a fireworks display together."

Xia Mo looked at her flushed face, remained silent for a second, and then smiled slightly.

"it is good."

--------

The school bell at four o'clock in the afternoon seemed to ring just for the two of them.

The crowd in the corridor surged toward the school gate, chatting, laughing, and joking in twos and threes.

Feiniao and Xiamo walked in the crowd, half a step apart. Neither of them spoke, nor did they walk faster or slower, like two boats being pushed forward by the same current.

After leaving the school gate, crossing a traffic light, and then walking along a slope lined with cherry blossom trees, you will arrive at the small shopping mall in front of the station.

The newly opened beverage shop is located on the first floor at a corner. Its signboard is bright pink and white, and there is a small blackboard at the entrance that says "Limited Time Offer".

The bird stood at the doorway, took a deep breath, as if it had entered some sacred place.

"What would you like to drink?" she asked Xia Mo.

"I don't know, you can recommend one." Xia Mo looked at the colorful names on the menu board, some of which he couldn't even pronounce—"Matcha Latte", "Caramel Macchiato", "Strawberry Frappuccino".

He has been in Japan for two years, and the water he drinks most often is from the school's water dispenser and barley tea from home.

Asuka's eyes swept across the menu, and without hesitation, she pointed to the top row: "Strawberry milk. You absolutely have to order the strawberry milk. This place has the best strawberry milk around here. It's made with fresh strawberries, not the powdered kind, and it has cream and strawberry pieces on top—"

She rarely speaks such a long sentence in one breath. Perhaps realizing it halfway through, her voice gradually softened, but the earnest light in her eyes remained undiminished.

Xia Mo couldn't help but smile at her serious expression.

"Okay, strawberry milk it is then."

The two of them each ordered a strawberry milk and sat down on a high stool by the window.

The cup is a transparent glass with pink strawberry puree at the bottom, milky white milk in the middle, a ring of cream on top, a few bright red strawberry pieces sprinkled on top, and a colorful straw inserted.

It looks like a small work of art.

Asuka held the cup with both hands, took a careful sip, and then squinted her eyes—her expression looked as blissful as a cat that had basked in the sun.

"Is it good?" Xia Mo asked.

Asuka nodded vigorously, a little cream smearing her lips, which she didn't even notice.

Xia Mo also took a sip. The sweet and sour taste of strawberries and the richness of milk melted in her mouth, and the creamy texture was as smooth as a cloud.

He had to admit that it was indeed much better than the water from the school's water dispenser.

"It's delicious," he said.

Asuka's expression grew even more smug, her chin slightly raised, as if she had made the strawberry milk herself.

Xia Mo took a few sips and began to look around the store. The menu board was huge, hanging from the ceiling to the counter, and it was covered with writing.

His gaze swept over the strawberry milk, matcha latte, and caramel macchiato, before settling on something else.

"What's that?" He pointed with his chin to a line of text in the far corner of the menu board.

Feiniao followed his gaze and looked over—"Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea".

"Milk tea," she said, "you've never had it?"

Xia Mo shook his head. Since coming to Japan, he had only tried a handful of different kinds of drinks.

He had heard of milk tea back in China, but had never tried it.

"Is it good?" he asked.

Asuka thought for a moment: "It's alright, just a bit sweet. The pearls are quite interesting to chew."

Xia Mo stared at the line of text for two seconds, then turned to look at the counter.

"Would you like to order another drink?" he asked.

Asuka blinked: "Don't you already have strawberry milk?"

"I want to try milk tea."

"Finish your strawberry milk first, it's such a waste—"

Before she could finish speaking, Xia Mo jumped down from the bar stool, walked to the counter, pointed to the "Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea" on the menu board, and said a few words to the clerk.

Asuka sat by the window, watching him intently as the shop assistant made the milk tea. She sighed helplessly, then lowered her head and continued drinking her own strawberry milk.

Summer is coming back with a cup of milk tea.

That milk tea was completely different from the strawberry milk tea—it was a dark brown color, with a ring of brown sugar syrup on the cup wall, and round black tapioca pearls at the bottom. The straw it came with was also much thicker than the one for the strawberry milk tea, probably for sucking up the tapioca pearls.

Xia Mo placed the milk tea on the table and stared at it for several seconds, as if it were an object from outer space.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Xia Mo inserted the straw and took a sip.

Then... his expression changed.

It was a very complex expression—eyes slightly widened, eyebrows raised slightly, and the corners of the mouth had an uncertain curve.

It's like they want to say something, but don't know what to say.

"...How is it?" Asuka asked curiously.

Xia Mo chewed the pearl in her mouth, swallowed it, and said seriously, "Very..."

"What's so special about it?"

"It's...not bad." Xia Mo was a little embarrassed. Milk tea, which he had never drunk before, seemed to have opened the door to a new world for him. For a moment, he couldn't find the right words to describe it.

Asuka paused for a moment, then burst out laughing: "Your Japanese is really weird. What kind of adjective is 'very'?"

Although Xia Mo was embarrassed, her expression remained serious: "It's really good. It's delicious, wonderful, and very different. I've never had this kind of brown sugar flavor before, and the pearls have a texture similar to rice cake but with a chewy texture—"

He took a second sip.

Then came the third bite.

Feiniao's smile slowly froze as she noticed something terrible—Xia Mo was devouring the milk tea at an alarming rate.

He drank the strawberry milk very slowly, taking small sips, like he was savoring tea.

But he sipped the milk tea almost nonstop, sucking the pearls one after another into his mouth, chewing them with a crunching sound, his expression becoming more and more intoxicated.

"Wait a minute," Asuka finally couldn't hold back anymore, "you haven't finished your strawberry milk yet."

Xia Mo glanced down at her barely touched strawberry milk, then at the nearly empty milk tea in her hand, and gave a rather insincere apologetic look.

"Strawberry milk is good too," he said, "but milk tea is even better."

Feiniao's eyebrow twitched.

"You just said strawberry milk is delicious."

"It tastes good."

"Then which one do you think tastes better?"

Xia Mo hesitated for a fraction of a second.

"……milk tea."

Asuka shoved the cup of strawberry milk heavily in front of him, and a little cream spilled out of the cup and dripped onto the table.

"Then finish your strawberry milk before you decide!" Her voice rose a little, and a thin layer of annoyance appeared on her face, like a cat whose dried fish had been stolen.

Xia Mo looked at the puddle of cream on the table, then at Fei Niao's flushed face, and finally realized that she might have said something wrong.

He picked up the strawberry milk and obediently took a big gulp.

"Strawberry milk is also delicious." He raised his voice.

"Too late." Asuka jumped off the bar stool and slung her schoolbag over her shoulder.

"What are you going to do?"

"go home."

"No, you haven't finished your strawberry milk yet—"

Asuka glanced down at her half-full glass of strawberry milk, hesitated for a second, then quickly grabbed it, tilted her head back, gulped down several mouthfuls, wiped her mouth, and slammed the glass down on the table.

"I'm done drinking! I'm leaving!"

"Wait a minute, I didn't explain clearly—I meant milk tea is good too, not strawberry milk is bad—"

Feiniao walked out of the store without looking back, her schoolbag bouncing on her back.

She walked very fast, so fast that Xia Mo didn't even have time to pack her schoolbag before chasing after her.

"Saito-kun! Asuka! Wait a minute!"

The bird walked ahead, its cheeks puffed out, like a squirrel that had hidden a lot of nuts.

She wasn't really that angry, but the statement that "milk tea tastes better than strawberry milk" made her feel very wronged.

She was the one who enthusiastically recommended the best strawberry milk tea and even brought him to her favorite shop, but after just two sips, he fell for something else and even said in front of her that the regular milk tea was better.

Is that reasonable?

Is this even acceptable?!

"Flying Bird!" Summer caught up with her, panting as they walked side by side. "I'm sorry, strawberry milk is the best, milk tea is the second best, okay?"

The bird remained silent, its eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"Strawberry milk is the best, and milk tea is the hundredth best, okay?"

Asuka paused for a moment, her lips twitching slightly, but she held back.

"Milk tea doesn't taste good, milk tea is the worst, milk tea is the worst in the world—" Xia Mo was so embarrassed that she couldn't finish her sentence.

Feiniao finally couldn't help but burst out laughing. Then she immediately put on a serious face, but the laughter was already impossible to hide, like light leaking through her fingers.

Xia Mo saw her smile and breathed a sigh of relief. The tension from running all the way finally eased. She tidied her messy hair and adjusted her breathing.

"Are you not angry anymore?" he asked cautiously.

Asuka turned her face away, her voice muffled: "...She's not alive."

"Then why did you run just now?"

The bird opened its mouth, as if to say something, but found that it couldn't quite explain why it ran away.

Was it because of milk tea? Was it because he said milk tea tasted better? Or was it because...?

She looked down at the toes of her sneakers.

"...Because strawberry milk is my favorite." Her voice suddenly became very soft, as if afraid the wind would hear it. "I recommended it to you because I thought...you would like it as much as I do."

Xia Mo paused for a moment.

Seeing the bird's aggrieved expression, Xia Mo knew why she had run away.

Then he stopped and turned to run back.

"What are you doing?!" Asuka turned around and shouted.

"Wait me a moment!"

Summer ended and he ran back. Feiniao stood by the roadside, watching his figure grow farther and farther away, turn the corner, and disappear in the direction of the beverage shop.

After waiting for about two minutes, she was hesitating whether to walk back herself when that familiar school uniform reappeared at the street corner, and she ran back breathlessly.

He was holding a fresh glass of strawberry milk, the cream wobbling precariously at the rim, almost spilling out.

A thin layer of sweat glistened on his forehead, and his breathing was rapid, as if he had just run 800 meters, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, as if he were protecting something important.

He ran up to the bird, removed the straw, tilted his head back, and downed half of the strawberry milk in one gulp.

"This one," he said, panting, "I'll drink it seriously. No more milk tea."

Feiniao stared at the cup of strawberry milk, then at his panting face, and remained stunned for several seconds.

"...Idiot," she said.

The sound was muffled and soft, like the sweet fruit puree at the bottom of strawberry milk, wrapped with a few uncrushed strawberry pieces. You had to chew carefully to taste the slight tartness inside.

Xia Mo stood to the side, scratched his head, and pointed to the glass of strawberry milk.

"How about I finish the rest in one go?"

Feiniao looked up and glared at him, then clutched the cup to her chest as if it were some precious treasure.

"Wait a bit before drinking it, or Strawberry Milk will cry!"

She turned around and continued walking forward, this time very slowly, so slowly that Xia Mo could catch up in just two steps.

The setting sun cast long, crooked shadows of the two people onto the asphalt road, like two close letters learning to walk.

When they reached the entrance of a coffee shop, the bird suddenly stopped.

"About the fireworks festival..." she said.

Xia Mo looked at her.

Asuka took a sip of strawberry milk, chewed on the strawberry pieces at the bottom of the cup, and thought for a while with her cheeks puffed out.

"I've been there many times," she said softly, "but... I don't think I've ever been there with my senior."

My heart skipped a beat as summer drew to a close.

"My senior," he said, his voice unconsciously softening, "really wants to get to know you. She's noisy, but not a bad person."

The bird lowered its head, looking at the little pink liquid left in the cup.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell on that pink hue, turning the entire glass of milk into a gradient of orange and pink, like a small painting.

"Let me think about it some more," she said softly.

This time she did not refuse.

Moreover, she said, "If I'm with my senior, it seems like I haven't been there yet"—his statement contains a very small but real "him".

Xia Mo looked at her slightly flushed profile and didn't ask any further questions.

He simply noted the answer down in his mind—not "no," but "think about it some more."

"Think about it again" means that it might turn out to be "good".

He glanced at the sun slowly setting on the horizon and suddenly felt that July seemed a little closer than last week.

The two were walking home, each holding an empty cup in their hands.

Feiniao drank her strawberry milk completely clean, leaving not a single strawberry piece at the bottom of the glass.

The cup at the end of summer was also completely empty—to make amends, Xia Mo bought another cup for Fei Niao.

As they passed a trash can, the two of them stopped at the same time and threw their cups in simultaneously.

"You're copying me," said the bird.

"You copied me."

"I threw it first."

"I finished my drink first."

Feiniao's lips twitched, but she held it back. She quickened her pace and walked ahead, her back to him, her voice broken and intermittent in the evening breeze.

"See you tomorrow."

As summer faded, I stood under the streetlight, watching her silhouette gradually shrink until it became a pale pink dot, melting into the twilight.

"See you tomorrow," he said softly, gazing at the setting sun.