CH 16

Ch 16. Unexpected Promise

The early summer rain hits the asphalt on my way to school.

Looking around, I saw colorful umbrellas. Many of them were nice to look at.

Himeko, who was using a plain, black folding umbrella for practicality, muttered, [Damn, this umbrella has no girl power…] and headed for her school sullenly.

After seeing my sister off, I walked through the school gate, admiring the paved road that, unlike the countryside, was free of mud and puddles. Then, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the garden.

It’s been a few days since I last watered the zucchini, and the ones from back then should be fruiting soon. As I thought about it, I became more and more curious about the condition of the flower bed.

And so, I went over to the garden, I saw a girl with curly hair, tending to the vegetables despite the rain.

[Oh, they seem to be growing nicely! I think I’ll harvest some.]

[Eep!]

[How are they?]

[Good, just look at them! The zucchini have grown well, and the tomatoes and eggplants I pruned are…well…]

[Ah, could I borrow your pruning shears? Let’s harvest some of these…though I wish I had a bag or something.]

[Yes, I have plastic bags!]

In addition to the zucchini, there were some fruits growing. Some of them were overripe. I guess she had missed the opportunity due to her lack of knowledge in harvesting.

With a pair of borrowed pruning shears in hand, I explained to her the appropriate time to harvest each of the plants.

I was already familiar with this kind of work. However, since it was the first time for her, she took it very seriously.

The flower bed was quite large. But compared to a field, it wasn’t much more than a mere vegetable garden, so the harvest was over in a matter of minutes. Even so, we ended up with a lot of products in the plastic bags.

The female student from the gardening club held the contents of the bag with an emotional look in her eyes.

It was her first ‘gem’ that she had ever grown, so she must be very impressed.

[Ah, uhm…half! You can take half!]

[Eh, are you sure? I’m grateful for it, thank you.]

[You’re the reason that I was able to harvest these plants.]

[It’s not a big deal, honestly. But, thank you.]

[My pleasure!]

She replied with a very big smile on her face.

Seeing the joy that was radiating out of her, I couldn’t help but feel happy as well.

She took a deep breath as she finished packing the vegetables into spare plastic bags.

And then, she looked up at me with a somewhat nervous and desperate expression.

[A-Ah, excuse me!]

[H-How can I help?]

I was nervous because I rarely talked to girls of my age. There was no girl for me to talk to anyways

That’s why, it was hard not to get nervous when she, who was squirming, looked up at me due to our height differences. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the determined look in her eyes.

[U-Uhm, c-can you give me your email address… or LINE ID? I mean, I don’t have anyone else I can talk to and I also have a lot of questions that I want to ask you… I know that you might be surprised by something like this out of the blue. But if you don’t mind, I’ll make sure that I won’t do anything that can cause you trouble…]

[Ah…]

It was a pretty extreme request.

She had a serious expression on her blushing face, and her phone was clenched tightly so that her hands turned red. I could see that she was desperately hoping for something,  and her expression hurt my heart. It must’ve taken her a lot of courage to ask me that question.

But, I already had a response for her.

[Well, I’m sorry….]

[O-oh…I… understand…]

[No, you’re wrong. It’s not like I don’t want to!]

[Huh?]

[I don’t have a smartphone… I’m a transfer student from the countryside with no signal…]

This time, inevitably, I had to make an excuse to answer her. I was hoping that she’d understand my circumstances.

Fortunately, it seems like the reason was conveyed properly to her. Though she was taken aback at first, gradually, she began to giggle and let out a laugh. Awkwardly, I scratched my head.

[My name is Minami Mitake from class C. Please call me Mitake!]

[I’m Hayato Kirishima from class A. Could you teach me about smartphones when I get one?]

[ I’ll be waiting. It’s a promise, okay?]

[Uh huh… yeah… I promise…]

I didn’t expect the word “Promise” to come out of my mouth. The thought of it made me freeze for a moment.

For some reason, the word “Promise” had a somewhat special feeling.

That’s why I hesitated for a moment before answering her honestly.

I couldn’t help but think about Haruki’s face in my mind.

However, it would be unnatural to reject her offer at this point.

The only thing she wanted was to exchange contact information, right?

[It shouldn’t be a big deal.] I told that to myself and accepted the vegetables from her hands.

[Well then, see you around.]

[Yep!]

The early summer rain at the end of June. 

The vegetables and flowers blooming in the flowerbed became witnesses to an unexpected promise.

TL: Hyou

Editor: Ucali && Nov