CH 35

“Just kidding.”

Haruki’s voice was cheerful, a complete change from the air she had just been earlier.

“…O-Okay.”

In response. Hayato squeezed his words.

Perhaps he was distracted, but his hands were loosened from their connection.

“We walked a lot back then. I’ve seen this area from the train, but I’ve never walked here before… It’s kind of like exploring.”

“I’m completely new to this whole thing… So are we back on the right track?”

“Oh, if you get lost, you can just check the map. Isn’t there an app on your phone for that?”

“…Found it, but it looks more of a maze than a map though.”

“Compared to Tsukinose… what’s that place?”

“Is that a bakery called ‘Don’t Stop!’? Two loaves of bread for 980 yen, I don’t know what’s up with that, and it’s expensive!”

And just as they talked and talked, she regained her usual tone.

Just as they used to go into the mountains to explore new places, they would find unexpected stores and signs in the buildings instead of the trees, and they would have a lively conversation. It’s all business as usual.

But it was clearly Haruki’s deception.

It was a wall of reticence, created by the seven-year gap between him and Haruki, that refused to let him step further into the weakness she had shown earlier.

When he looked right next to her, he saw Haruki smiling as usual.

This disturbed Hayato’s heart even more.

Just how long had they been walking around talking?

And before they knew it, they’ve reached the nearest station where Hayato’s house was located.

“Oh, we’re at our station.”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm, isn’t it too early for dinner? I’m worried about the hem of my skirt, so I’ll just go home and–“

“No!”

“Hayato…? I’m just going to change my clothes. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Hime gets her regular clothes.”

“No.”

“Oh, um…”

“No.”

He was too pushy. He didn’t listen.

He pulled Haruki, who had a troubled look of dismay on her face, without uttering a word.

That was Hayato’s intention. So there was nothing logical about his actions.

So he twisted out of his mouth the excuses he’d been trying so hard to come up with.

“…You see, I still haven’t played with Haruki enough.”

“Oh, okay.”

He didn’t want to send Haruki back to her house. He just took Haruki to his house without looking back.

That’s why Hayato is unaware of how he’s saying something so risqué, and doesn’t notice the expression on Haruki’s face as he pulls away.

◇◇◇

It was just before four o’clock in the summer, when the sun was still too high to be called evening. The time is indescribably halfway.

At the end of the afternoon, it’s natural to want to loosen up and stretch your wings.

“Ah.”

“Himeko…”

When Hayato and Haruki returned home, they were greeted by Himeko who looked back at them as if she was making a giggling sound.

A ring-shaped controller was in Himeko’s hand, and the TV screen showed a game she was playing. There were some notebooks and problem books spread out on the table, indicating that she had been studying.

“You see, muscles are.. your lifelong companion.”

Hayato made a dumbfounded face at Himeko, who made bitter excuses with the incendiary phrases in the game.

“Education and knowledge too.”

“I’ve been studying a lot, and I think I need to relax, and I also think I shouldn’t be too lazy to exercise, you know?”

“Haaa~…”

Although she had been studying properly, it seemed that they had come back home at the wrong time.

The Kirishima siblings looked at each other with weird faces.

When Haruki saw her childhood friends, she felt strange and shook her shoulders, due to the gap in the atmosphere.

“Hahaha, Hime-chan is taking her high school exams this year? Yes, yes, it’s necessary to take a break, isn’t it?”

“Yes, of course! I’ve been studying hard all this time!”

“Uh, is that the one where you move your body? I’m also interested in that. I’ll teach you how to study later, and we can do it together.”

“Haru-chan understands me! It’s fine, right, Onii?”

“…Jeez, fine.”

Thanks to the interaction with Himeko, the somewhat tense atmosphere that existed between Hayato and Haruki until then had dissipated.

Haruki, as well as Hayato, became actively involved in the game.

Although they could only play one at a time, it was a good way to exercise the whole body, and the three of them taking turns was just the right style. Haruki’s excitement was especially great. [PRN: They were probably playing Ring Fit.]

“Yeah, here, take that!”

As she shouted, she moved her whole body excessively. At first glance, it may seem futile, but it is a movement that earns points and is fascinating to watch. And occasionally, she would look at Hayato or Himeko with a look of pride on her face. It was clear that she was conscious of her ability to charm.

However, Haruki is dressed in a white one-piece summer dress that is still neat and clean, but has a lot of skin tone area around the shoulders and thighs.

If you do some kind of strenuous exercise, you would be able to see and couldn’t hide your sensitive parts in this kind of outfit. And she probably doesn’t even know it.

“Fufu, Haru-chan, your glances are so erotic.”

“Himeko, you sound and smell like an old man.”

“So, what do you think? How do you like your outfit today, Haru-chan?”

“Isn’t she pretty to look at…? Well, it’s Haruki, though.”

“Oho~, I see, I see.”

“W-What did you just say!?”

From Hayato’s objective point of view, Haruki is certainly a kind of beautiful girl. There are times when she feels a bit awkward. In fact, even now, she was showing her agitated appearance.

However, Hayato sees her with a disappointing feeling, similar to his sister Himeko. That should be it.

“Hey! Did you see that? Now I have the highest score!”

“Aaah! Next time I’m going to…!”

“Just take it easy, okay? I don’t know if you’ll get some sore muscles tomorrow.”

Himeko responded to Haruki’s agitation, and the place became more exciting.

They had curry and a pork cutlet for dinner.

He cuts into the muscle and fats of the pork and season it thoroughly with salt, pepper and grated ginger. At first, he fries it slowly at a low temperature and then crisply at a high temperature to make the batter more crispy and the meat more juicy.

The pork cutlet goes well with all kinds of sauces, but it also goes relatively well with the leftover summer vegetable curry. Thanks to this, everyone ate well, and Haruki and Himeko complained once again that they were going to get fat after eating all the curry. They both said “I’m gonna get fat” in unison.

Himeko tried to get back into the game, saying that she had eaten too much and needed to exercise more, but as expected, she was not allowed to do so and studied under Haruki’s guidance as promised.

“So we just have to substitute 4 for y.”

“Wait a minute, Haru-chan, where did that 4 come from? There’s no 4 anywhere in the text!”

“You have x+y=12 at the beginning, is that where you start?”

“How do you know that without calculating, or rather, it’s actually correct!?”

Haruki’s method of studying was intuitive, and it was difficult to say that she was making any progress, but even so, she proceeded in a friendly manner despite Himeko’s comments.

Hayato watched the two of them in the background, washing the dishes and staring at the instruction manual for the phone he had just bought, thinking about what had happened today.

If we cut the air out of this moment, we can say that they’ve returned to their daily lives.

But for sure, a lot had happened today.

(I can’t just pretend that I didn’t see it… Right?)

That’s how intense Haruki’s face was at that moment.

“Hmm, It’s about time. I have to go home.”

“It’s past nine. Onii, send her off.”

“Ah…”

Something was tugging at his heart.

There’s something similar to the feeling of having brought someone here by force, but not having said what needed to be said.

But Hayato doesn’t know what to do, so he follows Himeko to the door.

“Wow, heavy rain!”

“It’s really pouring hard.”

The moment they opened the door, they were greeted by a sound that seemed to hit their earlobes like a static.

Hayato didn’t notice it when he was in his room, but it was already raining quite heavily outside.

It’s a perfect example of turning the bucket upside down, and it makes him wonder how much sense an umbrella would make.

Walking in this rain might ruin the summer dress Haruki had just unloaded today.

“Can’t help it, can you lend me an umbrella?”

“Hmm. Oh sure…”

Passing through the common corridor, they boarded the elevator and headed for the entrance.

“…”

“…”

They were silent.

The air she had felt earlier when she was at Hayato’s house was nowhere to be found, and something mysterious was flowing in the air.

But there was nothing to talk about, the atmosphere was like the end of a festival, and it continued until Haruki was about to run outside in the pouring rain.

“Haha, maybe I don’t need this umbrella. I’ll just run.”

“Wait!”

“Eh?”

Hayato found himself grabbing Haruki’s arm as she tried to run away. Her face was as serious as could be.

“Don’t leave. Stay overnight.”

“…Huh?”

Haruki’s expression hardened at the sudden offer.

Her surprise was drowned out by the sound of the heavy midnight rain simply 

pounding the ground and roof.

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Translator’s Afterword:

Hi, I’m Galado, the new translator intern.

I’m new to the translation group. The reason why I took this kind of job (technically not a job) is because I want to improvise my Japanese learning skills since I’m having a hard time on their writing system.

Yoroshiku minna~

Proofreader’s Afterword:

AJ here, also the former translator for this series (after Hyou, that is).

I stepped down as the translator for the series and made way for Galado to take over it. I’m starting to get busy with a lot of irl stuff so I need to lessen my workload/backlogs for a bit. I’m helping him out on his first days to try and keep the same momentum/consistency I had. Needless to say, I hope you guys will also help Galado in his future work in our group! Please help me in my Ko-Fi goal by clicking the button below. More infos about it would be there, thanks in advance!

Editor’s Afterword:

Hai hai, it’s your sleep deprived and overworked Editor-san desu. Welcum to the fam Kaylie! Hope you have fun translating this series and hopefully improve your Japanese further. Without further ado, let’s welcome and give Galado-san a warm hug and welcome to NeoSekai Translation! Welcome aboard!