CH 45

I see.

Translated by Dawn

Edited by Dawn

I see.

A silence fell over the place.

A silence that was different and grim from the time when Mizutani and I were alone together.

Mizutani’s mother was the first to break the silence.

“Aizawa-kun, wasn’t it?”

Mizutani’s mother turned to me and asked.

But it wasn’t the kind of voice I heard the other day.

There was no smiling expression on her face.

“Yes, but…”

Mizutani’s mother’s face was still stern, even though I answered cautiously.

“…What is that hand? Why are you holding Karin’s hand?”

“Huh? Oh, no, this is that…”

I quickly looked at Mizutani.

I was getting a little tense myself, but Mizutani seemed to be in even more trouble than I was.

…It seemed that I had no choice but to deceive her.

“Mizutani, no, Karin-san injured her leg, so…”

“Hmm, I see…”

Mizutani’s mother looked at me carefully, as if she was inspecting me.

Then she moved her eyes to Mizutani.

“He says this, but what about you? Karin. I heard from you that you are going to the summer festival today with your friend….He is your friend, isn’t he?”

Mizutani’s mother’s use of the word “friend” clearly had an implication.

It was as if she suspected that our relationship was not what it seemed.

“He is. So it shouldn’t be a problem.”

This time Mizutani said carefully.

But “no problem” was a strange way of putting it.

It sounded as if it would be bad if I was her boyfriend.

…No, but is that what it is?

From what I had heard about Mizutani so far, and from what I saw in person at the recital the other day, I would guess.

Mizutani’s mother was apparently educating Mizutani in a suitably strict manner.

“If you have time to be distracted by your love life, practice the piano!”

There was definitely an atmosphere in which he might have said something like that.

“Really?”

Mizutani’s mother seemed to have completely shifted her target from me to Mizutani.

She continued to ask more questions.

Mizutani’s appearance under questioning was like a frog being stared at by a snake.

“Really.”

“Well, maybe I should change my question. …Can you say that you have never been conscious of him in that sense?”

“…I can tell you that.”

After glancing at me, Mizutani answered.

I didn’t know if she was trying to be considerate of me, but there was a short pause before she answered.

“…I see.”

Mizutani’s mother nodded as if she was somehow satisfied.

She walked over to us and stood in front of Mizutani.

She took Mizutani’s hand.

She glanced at me and said as if it was nothing.

“I’m sorry, Aizawa-kun. I won’t let you see my daughter for a while.”

“!? Wh-why!? If we were just friends, there would be no problem, right!”

Before I could say anything, Mizutani reacted.

She tried to force her way out of her mother’s hands.

But Mizutani’s mother never let go of her hand.

“If he’s just a friend to you, I don’t see a problem with you not meeting him. But if he’s really just a friend, you don’t need to be so particular about it in the first place. You have other friends besides him.”

“That’s…it’s, true that he is just a friend, but Aizawa is one of my closest friends, so…”

Mizutani’s words were getting weaker and weaker as if she felt she was saying them herself and not convincing enough.

…This is not good. I wonder if there’s anything I can do.

“Well, it’s usually hard not to see your friends for a while, even if they’re just friends—”

“You should keep your mouth shut. This is the Mizutani family’s problem. You at least know you’re an outsider, right?”

“That’s…”

Frankly, I was pretty annoyed with the way Mizutani’s mother phrased it.

But it was also true that it was hard for me to interject any further if she said it was a family matter.

After all, I was only one high school student.

Seeing my silence, she must have thought she had done what she had to do.

Mizutani’s mother pulled her along, as he hung helplessly.

“I think you should concentrate on piano for a while, at least during the summer vacation. Your recent performances have been really bad. You’re not going to be a very good pianist if you continue like this.”

“…………”

It was probably an act of resistance at the very least.

Mizutani did not react to her own mother’s words.

As she was being taken home, she raised her head and looked at me.

I was standing there helplessly, and Mizutani was being pulled away by her mother.

Our gazes crossed. Mizutani’s blue eyes were tired, but to my surprise…they showed no signs of resignation.

I nodded to Mizutani.

Mizutani’s eyes relaxed for a moment.

But the next moment, she turned her back completely.

I think as I stared at the hydrangea pattern on the back of Mizutani’s yukata.

It was true that Mizutani and I were both just high school students.

Adults thought that we were not capable of taking responsibility when we intervene in other people’s lives, and that was probably true.

But there must be something that even we could do.

At least that was what Mizutani thought.

Then, if I didn’t believe in her, who will…?

But I never thought that something like that would happen later…

I couldn’t have predicted it at the time.