It had been a long time since he was last here.
Practicing instruments, studying music theory, preparing for performances with Nijika and her friends, and improving the school atmosphere.
His days were packed, with no time to come here for recreation.
But, today, he brought someone here after a long while.
And a cute, timid pretty girl at that.
Hayato took out a tarp from his messenger bag, spread it on the ground, and then sat down casually.
Then he patted the empty spot beside him.
"Bocchi, come, sit here."
Bocchi shuffled over in small steps, slowly bent down and sat, then placed her cloth bag beside her, quickly glanced at Hayato, and then turned her gaze to the distance.
But at the same time, her peripheral vision was still secretly observing her surroundings.
"It's very beautiful here, isn't it?"
Hayato gazed at the Vague (blurred) horizon in the distance.
Far away, layers of thin, cotton-like clouds continuously stacked up, covering the sea and blurring the horizon.
But Bocchi looked into the distance, and before her gaze even reached the horizon, she immediately pulled it back, looking uneasily behind her.
A sparrow flew past the edge of her vision.
Hayato noticed her actions and said to her.
"Very few people come here. This road is an old path to a village. I occasionally only see some uncles and aunties strolling here."
Seeing her relax a little, Hayato felt that if he didn't make things clear beforehand, she probably wouldn't completely relax.
After a moment of silence, letting all sounds cease.
With some curiosity in his heart, wondering what cute reaction she would have, he said.
"I quite like Bocchi. She's like a hamster, wary of her surroundings, and cute, yet timid. But because of this, I don't dare to approach casually, for fear of scaring her."
He said, while secretly glancing at Bocchi.
After surprise, panic, and shyness, Bocchi showed a beaming smile, and then tried hard to compose her expression.
But feeling unable to compose herself, she raised her bent leg, which was on the grass, hugged her calf, and buried her head in her knees.
Hayato stopped talking.
Bocchi paused for a moment, then suddenly looked up uneasily again.
She thought for a while and said.
"Th-thank you..."
Hayato could feel that as she spoke, what she was conveying in her heart was, "I'm not as cute as you say."
"Bocchi, do you know what I like about you?"
Bocchi's eyes widened in panic at his sudden words, and she looked at Hayato with wavering gaze, shaking her head blankly.
Hayato looked at her shoulders, at the grass behind, and at the sky.
He said slowly.
"Bocchi's eyes are very clear, and she's always carefully paying attention to others. While being wary of others, she also cares about them. I've said before that Bocchi is very gentle."
"Bocchi's gentleness is that if someone falls behind you, you will try to reach out."
"Also, Bocchi is pink and soft, and feels very comfortable to hug."
"And Bocchi seems very easy to take care of, satisfied with just a little bit of care."
"Bocchi plays the Guitar very well; that solo the other day was cool."
After Hayato finished speaking, he looked at her dazed expression, stood up, and took two steps back.
He asked her.
"Bocchi, do you know why I like it here?"
Bocchi shook her head blankly.
Hayato raised one hand, as if supporting the sky.
"It's very spacious here, spacious enough to accommodate me."
"There's a vast ocean here, an endless sky. I can face a huge and infinite existence here."
"It gradually gives me the courage to face everything."
Bocchi quietly watched this towering presence.
Hayato... Hayato... a falcon is a bird of prey that can hunt creatures several times its own size. It is brave and tenacious, and its flight speed is extremely fast, ranking among the top birds.
It is at the top of the avian food chain.
And Hayato... this young man in front of her, is probably no different.
"Bocchi, it's your turn, what do you like?"
Bocchi hesitated. She lowered her gaze slightly, her eyes, imprinted with the young man's figure, fell to the ground.
"I... I like..."
...On the way back, Bocchi sat on the back of the bicycle as before.
She regretted not being able to speak at that moment.
She had things she liked, but nothing she could bring out to compare with the gems the young man had presented.
And she still had things she liked, but to say them out loud would just be a distant extravagance.
So she couldn't say anything.
When Hayato went back, he didn't ride as fast as he did when they came; he was slow and leisurely.
But Bocchi wished he would go faster, to get back sooner.
She hung her head, feeling ashamed and not daring to stay by his side anymore.
"Bocchi."
Hayato's voice came from the front, carried by the wind.
"Ah, what?" Bocchi responded quickly.
"That day, I wasn't lying. If Bocchi ever feels life is difficult in the future, I'll support you."
Is he teasing her again?
If only it were true.
Bocchi felt her eyes getting a little warm.
"A Pervert like me probably won't find a wife, so it's fine for Bocchi to stay at my house, and it won't make me feel lonely."
Really?
Bocchi looked up at the figure in front.
But before she could speak, it was as if Hayato had read her thoughts.
He said softly, "It's true."
"However, if you don't work hard because of this, I'll be disappointed, which is why I said what I did at the end that day."
Reason organizes all fragments clearly, paving a path, and human hearts can communicate on it.
In the sound of the wind, the doubts and barriers in her heart were broken.
Blocked passages were connected.
After Hayato finished speaking, he waited for Bocchi, who had been silent for a long time, to speak.
Bicycle wheels crunched on the firm dirt road; the concrete highway was not far ahead.
Before they reached the highway, a faint, slightly tearful voice came from behind.
"I... I will try my best."
"Good."
Hayato smiled contentedly, reaching his hand back and feeling around the area of Bocchi's head.
Then two small hands grabbed his arm, and a small head with soft, fine hair leaned against him by itself.
He happily stroked it, then withdrew his hand.
And just then.
"Hey, you two over there!"
Hayato, riding his bicycle, immediately felt a bad premonition when he heard that voice. He looked over.
He saw a traffic policeman on a motorcycle, leaning by the roadside, shouting at them.
"Bocchi, hold on tight to me."
Hayato quickly yelled to Bocchi, who was sitting on the back seat.
Bocchi's panicked voice came from behind.
"Eh, eh?"
"Quickly." Hayato emphasized his voice.
Bocchi hesitated, then hugged him. Her two hands wrapped around Hayato's waist, cautiously holding him loosely.
Hayato glanced back. Although she wasn't holding him tightly, her hands were already clasped together.
He ignored the traffic policeman's shouts of "Wait for me!" coming from behind.
He gradually accelerated.
At the same time, the roar of the motorcycle behind him gradually drew closer.
"Hold on tight!"
Hayato reminded Pochi behind him, then looked up and shouted proudly.
"Want to catch a Pervert? Wait another hundred thousand years~! Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh!"
In an instant, the pedals under his feet spun into a blur, and the bicycle suddenly accelerated as if it had been injected with oil, soaring forward and transforming into a shadow that shot out.
Only Pochi's surprised cry was left in the air.
"Ah ah ah—"
Bofu Ji Huo hadn't seen a child riding a bicycle with someone so openly in many years.
In the past, he occasionally lamented that young people today couldn't experience the romance of their era, but seeing it today… he still couldn't ignore it.
He had originally planned to tell them to stop and just give them a stern lecture.
But they actually ran!
And what did that boy call him? A Pervert?
That girl was in danger! He twisted the throttle to the maximum.
His heart to protect citizens was ignited.
Justice executed!
The motorcycle also roared, fiercely chasing after the small bicycle in front, as if to completely devour the little thing!
H… 70km/h… 80km/h… 90km/h
A bicycle and a motorcycle began a fierce chase on the highway, while the cars beside them stared blankly at the two shadows speeding past them.
"Bastard, stop it right now!"
Amidst the whistling wind, Bofu Ji Huo shouted at the gradually approaching bicycle.
His voice was blurred by the extreme speed, but he still desperately shouted.
Hayato heard the sound getting closer, looked back, and the black and white motorcycle was particularly dazzling in the sunlight.
"Pochi, hold on tight!"
He reminded Pochi behind him.
Feeling Pochi hold on even tighter, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and suddenly opened them.
It was as if a light exploded in his eyes.
"Fastest Shadow, Hayato! Now, full power!"
He shouted with great momentum, his legs instantly tensing into rock-like muscles, pushing down hard.
The pedals beneath his feet made a terrible sound, and the bike chain shrieked like it was sawing through iron.
Bofu Ji Huo heard that shout from ahead, felt a bad premonition, and twisted the throttle a bit more.
But...
"What?!"
Bofu Ji Huo was startled; his throttle was already at its limit, and the young man in front was still accelerating!
And at a visibly fast speed, he was riding a lady's bicycle and shaking off his police motorcycle, which was at full throttle.
He was currently going 98km/h!
He looked on with a sigh as the fluttering pink shadow pulled away; the motorcycle's limit was like a dead wall, blocking his path forward.
"Ooh ooh ora!"
Amidst the young man's loud shout, the gap between them widened at an extremely fast pace.
From a distance, the bicycle was like a rocket shedding its useless fuel tanks, leaving the motorcycle behind and speeding forward.
That figure broke through everything, soaring straight into the sky.
On this day, Hayato re-entered the peak of Pervert… "Phew, it's been a while since I went all out, that felt good."
By the roadside in a small town, Hayato propped up his bicycle and ordered a bottle of mineral water from a vending machine, along with a bottle of cola.
"Pochi, take this."
He held the mineral water and turned to hand Pochi the cola that had just dropped from the machine.
However, Pochi was staring intently at him, looking as if she had been stunned.
Hayato waved his hand in front of her eyes.
Still no reaction.
But the next moment, he saw a soul, seemingly crying, chasing after them from not far away, and returning to Pochi's body.