Volume 1 - CH 2.3

When I left the hair salon and looked at the clock, it was just past 12:30 in the afternoon.

Since the afternoon is the peak time for these places, the mall was more crowded with more customers than when I entered the hair salon.

“Shall we go home then?”

“Okay, even if we missed something, we can come back again and buy it.”

“If that’s the case, then we can also order online.”

“That’s right. We can do so too.”

On the one hand, I would like to have lunch first then go home, but on the other, it would be dangerous to relax with so many people. I wanted to get home before I ran into someone.

Thinking of that, I started walking toward the entrance.

“Ah! Akira-kun is on a date with a girl!”

A familiar, cheery voice pricked my ears, and I stopped dead in my tracks, frozen.

The voice was so loud that I could hardly fathom it being me mishearing someone, but please… Please let it be a misunderstanding.

I turned around in cold sweat. And to my dismay, I saw a familiar face.

There was Izumi, the person who had raised their voice, and Eiji, next to her.

“Why are you guys here…?”

Impatience, doubt, regret and despair…

I felt the rush of various emotions that could be roughly described as negative all at once.

“This is a standard date spot for couples. It’s no surprise we’re here.”

“Akira-kun, you should have told me if you have such a pretty girlfriend. You don’t have to be so reserved~♪”

Eiji smiled calmly as usual while Izumi poked me in the side with her elbow as she smiled teasingly. It hurt, but I couldn’t afford to flinch.

After a few pokes, she was satisfied and stood in front of Aoi-san and held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you! I am Izumi Asamiya, Akira’s classmate, and this is Akira’s best friend and my boyfriend, Eiji Sazarashi. I’d be happy to know your name if you like.”

Hmm?

Izumi, perhaps you didn’t realize it was Aoi-san?

For a moment, I was almost pleased, but Izumi immediately raised her eyebrows.

“Hm? Huh? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before, but where…?”

Please! Don’t notice!

If they don’t find out she was Aoi-san, we could still fool them.

“I see you changed your hair colour. As I thought, you look better with dark hair.”

“Eh? Could it be… Aoi-san? You’re Aoi-san, right?”

“… Yeah.”

They found out…

It’s all over…

“I didn’t notice because you looked so beautiful♪. But I think you look better now! What can I say? You’re like a legitimately beautiful girl! You’ve got more heroine power!”

In contrast to Izumi’s wink and sticking out her thumb, I was in a terrible mood.

“So why are you two together?”

Please. Don’t ask.

I beg you to overlook this.

I wished they would leave me alone, but there was no way they would.

“I’ll listen to the details slowly. In the meantime, let’s go to a coffee shop.”

“… Yeah, sure.”

At Eiji’s urging, we moved to a coffee shop in the mall.

I felt like a criminal voluntarily being escorted by a police officer.

We moved to the coffee shop, ordered whatever we wanted, and took seats in the back.

I wasn’t going to order anything, as I didn’t think I’d be able to get anything down my throat, but Izumi pushed me to try a new drink and let me know what I thought of it, so I had to order something fancy that I didn’t understand.

*mumbling* What’s this passionate chino? I don’t even know what language it is anymore. [ED: I’m guessing it’s quinoa, but I have no clue.]

Don’t use me as a test subject.

I didn’t know what it tasted like, so it didn’t matter what I ordered. Damn it.

Aoi-san and I were sitting side by side at the table of four, and Eiji and Izumi were across from us.

Eiji smiled, and Izumi leaned forward on the table, looking very curious. She was so excited that I wanted to tell her that she looked like a puppy looking at food.

I let out the biggest damn sigh ever, and Eiji interjected soothingly.

“Don’t worry. We’re not trying to take anything and eat it.”

“I know…”

I felt too heavy at the thought that the interrogation was about to begin.

Nevertheless, how much should I tell…?

Now that they knew, we would eventually be exposed, even if I tried to mislead.

Well, in a way, it may be fortunate that the first two people to be exposed to were these two.

At least, compared to a situation where someone else found out and spread rumours without my knowledge, I was grateful that the two people who did are good friends of mine willing to listen to me.

However, if I were to talk, I would need Aoi-san’s agreement.

“…”

I took a look at Aoi-san.

Naturally, she was anxious.

Even if we could fool them out of this situation, Aoi-san would be tormented by anxiety every time anyone is about to find out about us like this. Even if it were just a matter of uncertainty about the future, it would only cause more unnecessary worry.

If so, it would be better to have as many allies as possible.

These two would not make it look bad if they knew what was going on.

“Aoi-san, is it okay if I tell the duo the whole story?”

“Eh…?”

No wonder she was surprised.

Still, I continued to carefully explain so that she understood.

“I’m good friends with these two, so I believe I know exactly what kind of people they are. Even if they knew about our situation, they wouldn’t tell anyone about it. I can assure you of that. Besides, if these two are willing to cooperate with us, I think it will be of great help to us in the future.”

Aoi-san casts her eyes down as if she is thinking.

After a while, she looked me in the eye and nodded slightly.

“If it’s okay with Akira-kun, it’s okay with me.”

“Thank you.”

After confirming her intention, I turned to face them.

“Please don’t tell anyone else what I’m about to tell you.”

“All right.”

“I got it, too!”

“Also, I’d like you two to help me out if you can.”

“Whether or not I can help depends on the details, but I promise not to tell anyone.”

“I’m okay with that. You can trust me there!”

Believing their words, I slowly began to tell them what had happened.

A few days ago, I met Aoi-san at a neighbourhood park on a rainy night.

Aoi-san’s mother had disappeared with a man, and she had to move out of her apartment because she hadn’t paid the rent, so she had nowhere to go. Thus she had started living with me in my house.

The reason why she was skipping school was to help her family finances. And how her blond hair wasn’t her choice.

Aoi-san was neither a delinquent nor a gal but a normal girl who was a little shy.

By the time I had finished explaining everything, the ice in the drink at hand had melted.

“I see.”

Eiji’s expression was more complicated than surprising.

“I was surprised because it wasn’t for the reasons I thought it would be.”

‘”The reason you thought? What do you mean?”

“No, it’s nothing. So, what is Akira going to do now?”

Since I told them everything, I knew they would ask. And I had already decided what I was going to do.

“I’m hoping to fix Aoi-san’s situation before the start of my second year.”

I spoke my mind and realized once again that I should do so.

“I’d like to get rid of all the rumours about Aoi-san’s whereabouts at school and so on. I haven’t figured out what to do for that yet, but I’d like to.”

“Akira-kun…”

Aoi-san let out a small voice next to me.

“Knowing the two of you, you might be wondering why I’m doing such a thing for someone who I never even talked to before. You may also be concerned. I know I don’t have the responsibility to help that much. Still, that’s what I wanted to do, and I’ve already made up my mind.”

I was aware that I was doing something out of character.

I didn’t want any trouble, and I didn’t have any pretense of being able to help anyone. But when I found out all about Aoi-san’s situation, the first thing that came to my mind was to help her before anything. Of course, one of the reasons was that I saw the face of the girl I first loved in Aoi-san, but I kept it in my heart.

That was enough reason to want to help someone.

“Please. Will you help me?”

“Of course, if that’s the situation, I’ll help.”

When I bowed my head, Eiji answered immediately without hesitation.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Just as I thought of you, Akira, who can’t leave things alone.”

“As expected of me? What? Why is that?”

It didn’t ring a bell when you said it like that.

Eiji then smiled meaningfully.

“I don’t have a fancy for helping anyone in trouble as Izumi does, but…”

“You never know what you’re getting yourself into. Akira, you don’t reach out half-heartedly, but when the time comes, you’re the kind of guy who won’t hesitate to lend a hand.”

Have I ever done that before?

I have no idea, but if Eiji said so, it must have happened.

Perhaps it is because I had been repeatedly transferred from one school to another, accompanying my father on his job transfers, since before I could even remember, that my memories of my childhood are particularly hazy.

To be more precise, my memories are often jumbled.

For example, when I look back at my memories about something, I may mistake an event that happened before I changed schools for one afterwards or confuse someone’s name or house location with someone else’s.

Perhaps Eiji saw this side of me when we were in kindergarten together.

Well, anything to help me out.

“What about you, Izumi… Eh… Ehh?”

When I looked at Izumi to ask her, she was crying like a baby.

She was crying so hard that I was a bit taken back.

“I’ll help too… uuu…”

Although I’m glad you’re willing to do this, I’ve never seen Izumi cry so much.

I was sure she was crying because of Aoi’s situation, but I think she’s overreacting to everything… But right now, I’m honestly grateful for that feeling.

“Can I just ask you one question?”

Eiji approached Izumi, offering her a handkerchief.

“What is it?”

“Why do you set the time limit to the second year?”

“Well, it’s…”

In fact, I had not yet told Eiji and the others about my transfer. I couldn’t bear to say it when I thought about parting with the two of them.

I knew I had to tell them someday, but I didn’t want to change schools if possible.

I knew that if I put it into words, I would have to accept that I would have to say goodbye to Eiji and the others, a kind of mandatory separation that I would not be able to escape.

I thought I was used to changing schools, yet, I didn’t want to part with these two if I could.

But this is probably a good time to break my silence.

“I’m going to transfer schools at the start of our second year of high school.”

“”Transfer?””

Their surprised voices overlap.

“My dad is getting another job transfer, so my mom, my sister Hiyori, the three of them moved out this spring. I had already enrolled in our high school, so I will be continuing here for now and then will transfer to a new school at the start of next year. So I only have until next March.”

“Hiyori-chan has already left?”

Izumi was the first to express her surprise.

“Yeah. Hiyori decided that it would be better for her to change schools early on to prepare for the high school entrance exam than to change schools later on like me, so she changed schools as she entered her third year of junior high school.”

“She could have told me if it was such…”

As you could guess from this feeling, Izumi and my sister Hiyori were extremely close.

Hiyori was one grade below us, and Izumi was not only her senior at the same high school, but also had a close friendship with her. The two were even closer than Izumi and I.

Moreover, she knew Izumi before I did, and Izumi even came to my house to visit Hiyori.

I was really surprised when Izumi later introduced herself as Eiji’s girlfriend.

“It was completely my fault that Hiyori didn’t tell Izumi. I told her I hadn’t told Eiji and the others yet, so I think she was just being considerate.”

“I see…”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but please be as friendly with Hiyori as you have always been.”

“Yeah. Of course, I will.”

Izumi’s shoulders slumped in shock.

“But yeah… I’m sad to hear that.”

Eiji consoled Izumi and closed his eyes as if regretting the goodbye that would eventually come.

“That’s about all I have to say. Let me discuss specifics with you again in the near future.”

“Okay. We’ll always be ready, so talk to us when you’re both ready.”

“Yeah. Shall we go, Aoi-san?”

“Yeah. Ah… but…”

Aoi-san spoke as if she had just remembered.

“I have a place I want to stop by, so you go home first, Akira-kun.”

“A place you want to stop by?”

Ah. I remember her reacting as if she had just remembered something she forgot to buy earlier.

I guess she was thinking of buying it before going home.

“I can go with you.”

“I-it’s okay…”

“But if you’re going to buy something, it’s going to be in your luggage.”

“Um… That…”

Aoi-san awkwardly slurred her words as she turned her head down.

What is it? You didn’t want me to follow you on your shopping spree, did you?

“I see! Well then, Aoi-san, let’s go shopping with me!”

For some reason, Izumi volunteered.

It was like her crying earlier was a lie when she stood up with great energy.

I thought she would refuse her offer anyway.

“Is it… okay with you?”

“Of course♪”

Seriously.

“Well, you two, that’s it for today’s date! See you later, Eiji-kun! Love you♪”

“I love you too. See you later.”

Aoi-san was taken by Izumi’s hand and left the coffee shop in a flurry.

The two men left behind in the coffee shop, and the atmosphere became sort of iffy.

“Why…”

“It must be a hard place to go with a guy.”

“Where’s that?”

“It’s not worth asking.”

… Well, fine then.

I’m worried about leaving her alone, but with Izumi, I feel safe.

But still,

“You guys say things like I love you in public.”

“Yeah. What does it matter when a couple talks about love?”

“No, I feel like you should be a little more considerate of the place…”

I’m used to it by now, but it’s more embarrassing for those around me to hear it.

The lady sitting next to us was so surprised that she spewed out her tea.

“Besides, don’t couples communicate with each other without having to say a single word?”

“I’m sure there are lovers like that. But I basically believe that people, especially men and women, cannot understand each other. That’s why I think it’s important to put your thoughts into words.”

“I have a feeling you’re being gutsy… What do you mean?”

When I asked with the intention of a mild tease, Eiji continued with a straight face.

“It is impossible to understand each other without words. Even family members don’t understand each other, and it is impossible to expect a stranger, even a lover of the opposite s*x, to understand you.”

“Well, I understand what you’re trying to say, but I don’t know if that’s how it works.”

“That’s just the way it is. In fact, Akira had no idea what Aoi-san wanted to buy, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t trying. You were trying to understand but couldn’t, and that’s why it’s important to talk about things.”

Eiji added, “Well, it depends on whether they are willing to talk about it or not.”

“It sounds kind of philosophical to me…”

But it certainly could be.

I proposed the idea of living together for Aoi-san’s sake, but I didn’t know how Aoi-san really felt about it.

She might be happy, or she might be grateful.

Maybe she really didn’t want to, but she had no place to go back anymore.

There was also a possibility that I might have forced my good intentions on her.

Eiji was right. I didn’t know what was in Aoi-san’s mind.

“Of course, there is no need to discuss everything. It is important to try to understand the other person’s feelings, and it is also important to be considerate enough to leave it alone without asking. However, we should not mistake consideration for discretion. If you want to be with the person you love forever, you need to talk about what you need to talk about.”

“I see.”

Somehow, though, I don’t know if I understand it completely.

I knew it was something different from what a person with a girlfriend would say.

“So I think it is important for Akira not to think that you understand Aoi’s feelings without her permission. Since she’s a person with whom you did not talk until recently, you should not miss the dialogue with Aoi-san, right?”

“That’s for sure.”

“Especially since Aoi-san is the type of person who doesn’t talk about her true feelings, you have to be good in that area.”

“You talk about Aoi-san as if you know her.”

“I know more than Akira, who has been out of town for a long time.”

Well, that’s right.

Eiji drank the rest of the coffee in his glass and got up from his seat.

“Shall we go then?”

“… Yeah.”

I followed Eiji out of the coffee shop.

At any rate, I am glad that the two of them decided to cooperate with me.

I will do everything I can to make Aoi-san’s living conditions better by the time I transfer to a new school.

I promised myself to do so again.

＊

TN: Wow, thanks to foxu here’s an early release. Expect the next release by the end of next week. Thanks For Reading.