CH 16

Chapter 16 – Haruko’s Wish and Himeka’s Murderous Intent

“I’m sorry for the suddenness! I really wanted to talk to Himeka-san about something.”

“Yes, it’s okay. You can tell me anything.”

“Well, we’re going to have lunch, so I’ll be quick.”

“It’s about my brother, and as you can see, he’s distanced himself from everyone around him of his own volition, he doesn’t try to interact with anyone and avoids any kind of trouble at all.”

“Yes, Moriyama-kun himself said that he was afraid of standing out and being seen by others.”

“It used to be quite the opposite. So I wanted Himeka-san to hear the cause for the change.”

“Eh? The cause?”

“Yes. There’s a girl the same age as my brother who lives next door to us, and we’ve known each other since we were little. I used to play with her a lot, too. My brother had always liked her since he was little, and he would do things for her, like looking after her and helping her when she was in trouble.”

“And my brother took care of not only his childhood friend, but also me, his younger sister. He took care of me a lot, and he was willing to do a lot of things for his friends and classmates. I guess it’s easier to understand if I say he’s the kind of person who will willingly do things that people don’t like instead, in short, he’s a good-natured person.”

“Then, in the second year of junior high school, my brother suddenly changed his attitude. He started to distance himself from everyone around him, he stopped hanging out with his childhood friend, and when I asked him for help or advice, he refused.”

“And it was his childhood friend who was the cause of that. The childhood friend was annoyed with my brother. She also told me that he was a pushover when it comes to kindness. I think she said the same thing to my brother.”

“W-Wait a minute! Did that person just call Moriyama-kun a pushover of kindness?”

“Yes, Kasumi-chan said that. Ah, Kasumi-chan is the name of my brother’s childhood friend.”

“That’s terrible… Generally speaking, you don’t do something because it’s demanded of you, do you? Kindness is voluntary, isn’t it? Whether it’s done out of the goodness of one’s heart or forced upon someone is just a matter of perspective, isn’t it? You can’t just one-sidedly dismiss it as a nuisance… That childhood friend doesn’t know anything about Moriyama-kun! Moriyama-kun is too good for someone like that! Moriyama-kun is a very considerate and wonderful person!”

“Ah… I knew it… Himeka-san is exactly the person I thought she was.”

“Eh? Me?”

“Yes. Now he doesn’t think he has anyone on his side. He thinks he’s annoying to everyone around him. So he tries to keep a low profile and be quiet.”

“Himeka-san, will you take my brother’s side? Please, I beg you.”

Haruko-chan then bowed her head to me.

I took Haruko-chan’s hand.

“Haruko-chan! Don’t bow down to me! I’m on Moriyama-kun’s side, even if you didn’t tell me! Last time, I asked him to be my friend! Moriyama-kun said that I’m his second friend after Dozle-chan, you know?”

“Thank you very much, Himeka-san… Also, since Dozle is a male, ‘-kun’ is better than ‘-chan.’”

“Ah, yeah, you’re right, it should be Dozle-kun then. Ahaha~”

Afterwards, we were called as lunch was ready, so I shook hands firmly with Haruko-chan and went back to the living room.

The special sushi was wonderfully tasty.

All I ate was chutoro (medium fatty tuna), and Mama scowled at me.

But Moriyama-kun also ate nothing but eggs, which I thought was kind of funny and cute.

After dinner, Moriyama-kun’s mother started fussing again.

“Urushibara-san! This dorayaki…!!!”

“Eh!? Is it not to your liking!?”

“No, that’s not it! This is a high-end dorayaki from Kijirian, isn’t it!?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Mom, what’s all the fuss? You’re embarrassing me.”

“Ichiro, calm down and listen to me. Kijirian dorayaki are expensive sweets, costing 730 yen each, and only 100 are sold every day. There are 10 of these in the pack…”

“W-Wow…”

“Let’s have this for dessert after dinner! Urushibara-san and Himeka-chan will of course eat it too, right?”

Woah!

I can have it too!!! (T/N: HImeka so cute~~~)

“I’ll take your word for it, then.”

The five of us ate the dorayaki. Each of us ate two.

All five were smiling and happy, and it was such a pleasant dessert time that everyone seemed to forget that today was an occasion for apologies.

This is Moriyama-kun’s house.

In the Moriyama household, the air is filled with so much light and joy.

When I thought about it, the gap between Moriyama-kun at school and what Haruko-chan told me earlier made me feel very sad and angry.

Moriyama-kun’s mother asked us to have dinner together as well, but we refused and got ready to leave.

When I left, Moriyama-kun and Haruko-chan walked me out of the house.

“Thank you so much for today. We came here to apologize, but you treated us to lunch. Please come and visit us next time.”

“Yes, my mother said a lot of rude things, I’m sorry.”

As Mama and Moriyama-kun were chatting, Haruko-chan was looking in a strange direction, and when I looked where she was looking, I saw a woman looking at me from the window on the second floor of the house next door.

I tapped Haruko-chan’s shoulder and brought my mouth close to her ear and whispered, “Is that person the childhood friend?” and Haruko-chan silently nodded.

I looked at the woman again and gave her a look that was more deadly than I would have given an opponent even in a match.

After about ten seconds, I was tapped on the shoulder by Mama, and when I stopped my stare and turned to look, I saw Moriyama-kun with a frightened expression on his face, and I hurriedly said to him, “W-Wait! There was a bug that looked like a Peruvian giant centipede just now, and I tried to get rid of it because it was dangerous, but it got away!” I desperately tried to cover it up.

As expected of Moriyama-kun, he sensed my murderous intent right away.

From now on, I have to be careful in front of Moriyama-kun, I thought to myself.

“EH!? Peruvian Giant Centipede is a poisonous centipede that lives in the Amazon of South America! If there were one like that here, it would be a big problem! I wonder if the health department is the right place to call for this kind of thing! Or should I go to the city hall!?”

Why does Moriyama-kun know about the Peruvian giant centipede…?

Instead of covering it up, I’ve made it more complicated than it was…