"The rut doesn't seem to have shifted to the side," Chiba said hesitantly as he walked with Fujiwara to the broken wooden bridge. "And it hasn't stopped in terms of depth?"

"Hmm," Chiba nodded. "Considering that the racer didn't give us any warning, it definitely wasn't the case that he was chased and eventually escaped, which means that it was probably he who destroyed the wooden bridge."

"What is the purpose?" Chiba turned her gaze to the other end of the bridge. "It shouldn't be a dead end over there, that is to say, it's unrealistic to want to trap someone over there by destroying the bridge, and the more normal purpose should be to block someone over there in this way to prevent the other party from chasing after you, right?"

"But it's not normal anymore." Fujiwara nodded. "It's so abnormal, if I don't really have time, I'll go over and take a look."

If it were really out of normal circumstances, who would cut down a bridge? But Qianyu and the others are not in a position to track down the whole thing now, because it would be too much time to walk over.

……

"Well, that should be fine." Takeda gently spread two tissues on a flat tree root.

"Thanks," Hotaru nodded, and then sat down gently on the root of the tree with Yuma's support. But then, suddenly, she let out a mournful sound. "Woo-" It turned out that when she was trying to lift her injured foot, her shoe accidentally rubbed against her jeans, causing her already broken foot to be touched again.

"Be careful!" Yuma looked worried, and then gently held Hotaru's calves with both hands. "Come on, take off your shoes."

"Woo-" Hotaru was about to take off her shoes, but suddenly her eyes were fixed on the two hands that Yuma was holding on her calves.

"You can help me take it off," Hotaru said word-for-word to Yuma as he grabbed his calf. "Help me take off my shoes and socks."

"Huh?" Yuma was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Good...... Good. ”

Yuma knelt one leg on a small tree root next to him and adjusted his body to Hotaru's shoes in such a position. "Okay, first of all, pull up the pant legs."

Yuma confirmed that her hands were very steady and did not make any rash contact, but as soon as she gently touched Hotaru's short black stockings in order to pull up the leg of Hotaru's jeans, she immediately felt something strange - she could clearly feel a tremor coming from the other side of the velvet. "Ah, did it hurt you?"

"It's not!" As Hotaru's justification and trembling stopped, Yuma could feel Hotaru seem to tense her calves. "You go on......"

"Oh," Yuma gently rolled Hotaru's pant leg above the top of the stockings, then pinched the back of Hotaru's sneakers with one hand, and then gently untied the laces of the sneakers with the other. "It might hurt a little, be patient a little."

"Don't worry." With that, Hotaru just stared straight at Yuma's focused face. "Your hand...... Very gentle. ”

After untying his shoelaces, Yuma gently removed Yuma's sneakers, and then looked at Hotaru's ankles. "Ah, it looks like it's already swollen!"

With that, Yuma put his hand on the top of the stockings, gently pulled the cuff open, and carefully peeled off the delicate velvet fabric.

As Yuzhen's hand rubbed lightly against Hotaru's skin, Hotaru's already suppressed breathing became rapid again, and the two hands that were originally just lightly resting on the root of the tree suddenly grabbed the protruding bark.

"Alright," after stripping the last part of the stockings from Hotaru's toes, Yuma took the wet handkerchief that had been cooled by the cold drinking water he had replenished from Takeda, who was also crouching next to him, presumably waiting for him to be able to help. "All you need to do is put it on with a wet handkerchief."

With that, Yuma gently put the wet handkerchief on Hotaru's ankle.

It's cool and cool, and the unforgettable touch gently conveys to the skin through the handkerchief, making Hotaru feel like her heart is being gently teased by something. She could even clearly feel that the emotions that had been desperately suppressed by her and sealed in the iron coffin of time were spreading and growing again, and began to grow out of the cracks in the iron coffin, shaking the cage that held this emotion.

Hotaru's hands that were holding her calves suddenly let go, causing her injured foot to fall down.

"Ahh Yuma was startled and hurriedly supported Hotaru's calves with his own hands. "Hotaru, why are you suddenly-"

"......" Hotaru didn't answer her, but just reached out her hand stupidly, trembling and reaching out to Yuma's cheek.

"Huh?" Yuma was startled, but there was no way to avoid it because his hands were holding Hotaru's injured foot. "Hotaru You ......"

Hotaru suddenly laughed, and the hand that was slowly reaching out to Yuzhen suddenly accelerated, and then gently rubbed Yuzhen's cheek-

Then he held Fujiwara's hand, who didn't know when he had come behind Yuzhen and Takeda, frowning slightly.

"Fujiwara, you're back, did you find any clues?" The hesitation in Hotaru's original expression disappeared almost instantly, and she turned back into the quiet girl she was before.

"There are only traces of wanting to cover up," Fujiwara shook his head. "He's cut the bridge over there, and the fool knows he has intentions, but it's just limited to his search ability, and we can't be sure what he's trying to hide."

"So what do we do now, do we leave?" Hotaru asked.

"Hmm." Fujiwara nodded.

……

Walking on the way down the mountain, Fujiwara walked in front with Hotaru who had taken off one of her shoes.

"What were you going to do?" Fujiwara said lightly. "Do you touch Yuma's face?"

"Hmm......" Hotaru nodded helplessly against Fujiwara's tough attitude after being questioned by Fujiwara when she was just discovered about the relationship between her and Yuzhen. Yes, I couldn't hold back, I'm sorry......"

"You should understand what Takeda and Yuma expect from each other," Fujiwara continued. "Don't hinder them."

"I'll do my best to restrain myself," Hotaru nodded, but suddenly remembered something, "By the way, how about having some drinks with me tonight?" ”

"Drinking?" Fujiwara raised his eyebrows slightly. "What do you want to do?"

"It's very comfortable to do it with you, but no matter how big you are, you can't fill my heart with this kind of thing~" Hotaru suddenly laughed, and said with a slightly sly look. "How about drinking with me, chatting, and filling my heart before filling my body?"

"Okay, I don't mind a little more foreplay anyway." The corners of Fujiwara's mouth also hooked slightly.