《Chikasugiru Karera no, Juunanasai no Tooi Kankei》


 Volume 1 - CH 1.1

    Arriving at the station where we were to meet, I walked quickly through the crowd, then leaned my back against a large pillar in front of the ticket gate, and looked at the time on the electric signboard.


    It was 4:12 p.m., three minutes before her train arrived. Relieved that I was just in time, I put the back of my head against the pillar and let out a small breath amid the hustle and bustle of the evening station.


    It was a month ago that my mother told me that a relative of ours was going to move into our house. Since then, I had hurriedly cleaned up the room on the second floor, which had been a storage room until yesterday, and put an unused old desk and extra futon in the closet to make it ready for people to live in.


    I had never met her, nor did her name ring a bell. I had never had much contact with my relatives. Once when I was in elementary school, I was taken to the funeral of my grandmother''s sister, whose face I did not even know.


    Today, it had been raining since this morning. The sky was a heavy gray of the rainy season, and there were many droplets of water on the windowpanes. The air smelled a little fishy. The wet umbrellas and shoes of people walking in the station soaked the tiled floor.


    As I gazed at the station at dusk, with people busily coming and going, the time display on the electric board showed 4:15 p.m. An announcement announcing the arrival of the train could be heard outside the ticket gate, and the metal clang of the train''s stop rang out. Suddenly, the cell phone in my pocket shook. On the screen was an unknown number. But the timing was right: it was definitely her. Perhaps her mother had given her my number.


    I felt my breath catch in my throat, but I couldn''t ignore it. I let out a slow breath, touched the call icon, and held it to my ear.


    "Yes."


    The speakers were filled with a motley mixture of footsteps and announcements. Then, as I expected, a soft girl''s voice announced her name.


    "I''m Izumi. I just arrived. Um, where are you?"


    When asked, I hurriedly looked around. A number of office workers and high school students in school uniforms were walking quickly past me.


    "---I''m at the pillar in front of the ticket machine. I''m wearing jeans and a gray shirt."


    "Got it. I''m sorry to have kept you waiting."


    The phone hung up after the words "excuse me,". There was an electronic beep, and I pulled the phone away from my ear and tucked it into my pocket.


    I looked up and saw the passengers who had just gotten off the train coming through the ticket gates one after another. Of course, there was no way I could tell which one was Izumi Rina, who I would be living with from now on, but I somehow found myself staring at the flow of people.


    Then my eyes met those of a dark-haired girl with a small brown backpack and a red carry case, who had just left the ticket gate.


    As soon as our eyes met, her face lit up, she bowed her head and walked straight to me. I knew from the look on her face that this was the girl I was looking for.


    Her medium-length hair was straight, down to her collarbone, and the top of her ears is slightly peeking out. Her relaxed cheeks and eyes were soft, and her white blouse, pale beige cardigan, and long navy blue skirt gave her a neat impression.


    She bowed her head in front of me and asked, "You are Sakamoto Kenichi-kun, aren''t you?


    "Yes, I am."


    When I answered, she smiled and began to speak in a friendly manner.


    "I''m sorry, I had you come all the way to the station. I''ll be indebted to you from now on."


    My shy nature came out and I could only reply vaguely, "Hello". After my mother told me about her move, it was a strange feeling to actually see the person I had imagined from the mere sound of her name, "Izumi Rina," appear in front of me.


    I looked at the clock at the ticket gate and turned my body toward the exit of the station, saying, "It''s almost time for the bus to leave,". Izumi nodded and started walking ahead of me, trailing behind me with her carry case in tow.


    We got off the escalator and went out to the station roundabout. The bus was already at the stop, doors open, waiting for passengers. The city was dark and wet from the continuous rain falling from the deep gray clouds. Outside, the sound of the rain was even louder than inside the building.


    There was no roof over the fifty-meter distance to the bus stops. Under the concrete roof at the entrance of the station, Izumi unbuckled the shoulder strap of her backpack and pulled out a red folding umbrella from inside.


    I also open the shabby plastic umbrella in one hand, and we start walking to the bus stop. The sound of the rain tapping on the umbrella and the sound of Izumi''s pumps on the brick sidewalk echoed around us. On a dimly raining evening, the people walking in front of the station were all taciturn, as if shadows were walking by.


    There were some vacant seats on the bus for two people. I walked to one of them and motioned to Izumi, who hurriedly followed behind me, to take a seat by the window. Perhaps noticing my signal, she bowed her head, lifted her heavy carrying case, and carried it over the steps with her knees. Then she sat down and put her backpack on her lap.


    "...... The rain hasn''t stopped, has it? The forecast said it would stop in the evening."


    Izumi said as I sat down next to her.


    I said, "Yes, that''s right,". Izumi was looking up at the sky through the water-drop-stained window. The inside of the window was slightly fogged up, probably due to the warm air in the bus.


    As we sat side by side in a space where our elbows touched each other, the air in the dusty bus was filled with a faintly sweet smell wafting from her. I wondered if it was her own scent or cologne.


    She sits with her hands neatly on her lap. On her left wrist, she wore a small wristwatch. Her belongings looked a little more expensive than those of an ordinary high school student. Izumi attends a well-known private all-girls school, with an integrated middle and high school. The atmosphere she was giving off earlier gave me a sense of her upbringing, which made me, a student at an ordinary public high school, feel a little self-conscious.


    Soon the engine started, the car shuddered, and an announcement was made in an unobtrusive manner, telling the driver where the car would stop. Suddenly, Izumi turned to me and asked, "How far is it from here?"


    "About... 20 minutes."


    "I see."


    The conversation was cut short at that, and silence fell. At the same time, the bus closed its doors and drove off into the rainy city.


    Izumi smiled and turned her head toward me for a moment as if still trying to find a clue to the conversation. I tried to find something to continue, but couldn''t think of anything to say. As the silence dragged on, I could sense that an aura of awkwardness was seeping out from behind her pleasant smile, and I began to feel sorry for her.


    This girl is nervous, after all. It''s only natural when you think about it. Even though it is a relative''s house, she is going to live with someone she has never met before for a while. She will be away from her parents, and she may be feeling a bit lonely.


    Umm, Izumi said, her voice coming out of a smile that almost made me break out in a cold sweat.


    "How far is it from the bus stop to your house?"


    "...... About five minutes."


    "Oh, is that so ..."


    The conversation was cut off again in an instant, and Izumi casts her eyes down. I was impatiently trying to think of something to say to Izumi, and I managed to come up with an unrelated question.


    "Are you doing any club activities?"


    She raised her face and then gave a bright expression to my low voice, which seemed to blend in with the sound of the bus engine.


    "I''m in the badminton club. It''s not a very active club, just a light workout a couple of times a week. ---What about you, Sakamoto-kun?


    "I play soccer."


    When I replied, she sounded a little excited.


    "I like watching soccer. I don''t really know the rules, though. I know players like Honda. ---How long have you been playing?"


    "Since I was in elementary school."


    "That''s great. So you''ve been doing this a long time."


    She then started asking me some questions and talking about her school. Although I still felt uncomfortable talking to her, I kept on responding to her, trying not to act as if I was refusing to have a conversation with her.


    While we were repeating the conversation in such a way that we could gauge the distance between each other, the nearest bus stop was approaching.


    "Next is our stops."


    When I told her so, she said, "Yes," and hit the switch with the "Get off" sign on it.


    The bus slows down and stops. I walked down the aisle ahead of her and looked back at Izumi, who was carrying large baggage at the exit.


    "I''ll take your luggage."


    The steps are narrow and slippery from the rain. I held out my hand, knowing that it would be dangerous with a heavy carrying case in her hand. If I don''t cover for my inability to speak well in places like this, I will really just be perceived as a guy with a bad attitude.


    "Ah...... Yeah, thanks."


    Izumi looked reserved for a moment, then smiled and handed me the handle of her carrying case.


    I lifted it up to see what was in it, and it was quite heavy. It was a good suggestion because it was surprisingly difficult to avoid bumping the narrow landing and the case.


    I got off first and opened my plastic umbrella. Izumi, who came down after me, also opened a red folding umbrella, said, "Thank you," and received the case.


    The rain continues to fall in a quiet, rainy season-like manner, and it continues to sprinkle without seeming to stop. The bus started to drive away when the flow of traffic died down.


    "All we have to do now is walk straight."


    "Yeah."


    Izumi nodded and walked beside me at a distance where our umbrellas would not collide. This time, the subtle distance and the sound of the rain filled the silence.


    The streets, drenched with rainy season rain, have large puddles of water in some places. The rain was pouring down there incessantly, creating several circular crests. I looked at Izumi from the side and saw that she was a head shorter than me. Her soft, fine hair seemed to absorb moisture and have a moist weight to it.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 1.2

    "Here."


    We stopped in front of an ordinary two-story house that had almost the same design as the surrounding houses, which I moved to when I was in elementary school.


    Izumi was next to me and looked up at my house where she is going to live from now on.


    I opened the chest-high outer gate and motioned for Izumi to come inside. She gave a small nod and stepped onto our property.


    In the narrow garden between the gate and the front door were hydrangeas and roses that my mother had planted. Their flowers and green leaves were wet from the raindrops.


    I take the key out of my pocket and unlock the door. Amidst the sound of the pouring rain, the sound of the lock opening with a clank echoed with a strange heaviness.


    I open the door and go inside. Perhaps it was because I had walked in the fishy air of the rainy season, I could feel the smell of home, which I rarely feel in my daily life. I took off my shoes, pressed the switch at the Agari kamachi and turned on the front door light.


    TN : The Agari kamachi is a kind of step to enter the living space from an entrance in the Japanese houses.


    "E-Excuse me  for disturbing you..."


    Izumi said so and followed me into the front door. Then she opened her mouth and said, "Ah,"


    "I''m sorry, I have so much stuff......"


    Ahead of Izumi''s eyes, there were several cardboard boxes piled up by the front door. They were Izumi''s packages that had arrived by courier yesterday. I thought to myself, "You don''t have to apologize for that," but I replied, "No, it''s okay."


    Then she took off her shoes and arranged them neatly.


    I said, "Wait a minute," and headed for the bathroom near the front door to get a large towel and a cleaning rag.


    "Here, use this."


    "Ah, yeah. Thank you."


    Izumi took it, lightly wiped her hand that was holding the umbrella and her hair, and then used the rag to wipe the bottom of her case.


    "Izumi''s room is on the second floor."


    I shove the used towels into the laundry basket and walk up the stairs facing the front door. Izumi followed with her luggage. When we reached the second floor, we found a short hallway with three doors in a row.


    The far-right is my room, and next to it is my brother''s room, who has already left home. The one on the left is the spare room for Izumi.


    When I opened the door, she gazed gingerly inside.


    After clearing out the room to empty, I just set up an old desk and chest of drawers that my brother used to use in the past, for now, and it was a bleak room.


    "You can arrange it as you want."


    I said what my mother had said. Izumi went inside and looked around the room. The wooden floor, the electric light with its translucent plastic cover, the red curtains......clustered by the window.


    "Let''s carry the luggage at the entrance to the room."


    I called out to Izumi''s back as she looked around the room. At any rate, my role today would be complete if I carried in the eight cardboard boxes piled up in that doorway.


    She replied "yes" to my voice, put her backpack and case by the wall, and followed me.


    We went downstairs and together we carried the cardboard boxes one by one to Izumi''s room. Each cardboard box was labeled "books" or "clothes" in oil-based pen, and one of them was strangely lightweight and labeled "underwear". When I noticed the label, my heart skipped a beat.


    I unconsciously looked up and saw Izumi holding the other side. She casts her eyes down slightly. Sweat began to form on my forehead due to the awkwardness of the situation, but I thought it would be deliberate to pull my hand away now, so I pretended not to notice anything. I walked up the stairs, facing Izumi, and put it down in her room as if nothing had happened.


    After about ten minutes of carrying all the cardboard boxes, we both let out a big breath. I asked Izumi, "This is all of them, right?"


    "Yes. Thank you."


    Izumi bowed her head in a small gesture, brushing her bangs out of her eyes to the side.


    With this, the moving process was over for the time being. From now on, she will live in this room for the next six months. Thinking of this, I felt as if I had no place to stay even though it was my house.


    "....... Okay, I''m going back to my room..."


    "Ah, yeah...."


    Just as I was about to turn around, I heard the front door open, followed by the rustling of a plastic bag.


    "Kenichi, are you home already?" my mother''s voice echoed from downstairs.


    I looked at Izumi and said, "I think my parents are back,". She nodded her head. I knew that, by the way things were going, I would have to take Izumi downstairs with me, so we went down the stairs together.


    I opened the door to the living room and kitchen. There is a living room with a three-person brown sofa, a wooden rosette table, and an LCD TV, and a dining room and kitchen. In front of the kitchen was a table for four, and my mother wearing a cream-colored cardigan stood beside it.


    "I went to pick her up," I said to my mother''s back.


    My mother looked back at me and said, "Thank you."


    My mother was supposed to pick Izumi up by a car, but last night, a neighbor suddenly asked my mother to substitute for her at a neighborhood association meeting, so I went to the station to pick her up instead. Judging from the shopping bags now on the table, she probably went shopping after she finished her errands.


    "Hello, Auntie. I''ll be indebted to you from now on."


    Izumi came out from behind me and bowed politely.


    "Welcome, Rina-chan. It''s been raining, and you must be tired after your trip."


    "No, I''m fine."


    Izumi shook her head and chuckled amiably.


    "I''m sorry, I had a sudden appointment and couldn''t pick you up.---I''m sure this guy was not very sociable."


    My mother, while taking a carton of milk out of the shopping bag and putting it in the refrigerator, looked at me and said with a wry smile. My mother had already met Izumi several times.


    "No. I had my luggage carried. It was very helpful."


    "Is that so? Then that''s good.---Kenichi may be unfriendly, but he''s not angry. He''s just not very good at talking. So don''t worry if he''s a bit brusque."


    Izumi is smiling and listening to my mother. My mother had a sociable personality, and Izumi seemed to be much more open than she was to me.


    "Um, I''m going back to my room."


    I said so and headed for my room. I thought that since they were both women, Izumi would be more comfortable talking with my mother alone.


    "Oh, yeah. Thanks for your help."


    Just before leaving the living room, my mother said so to me, and Izumi gave a small bow.


    The house was filled with the sound of rain hitting the roof and the bouncy conversation between Izumi and my mother. I went up the stairs, walked down the short corridor on the second floor, and saw Izumi''s room with the door open.


    On the dark brown wooden floor, the cardboard boxes we had just carried were lined up, and in the corner lay the brown backpack and red case she had brought with her.

 Volume 1 - CH 1.3

    I lay down on my bed and read a book in the dimness of a rainy day. At this time of year, it is still bright outside even when it is nearly 6:00 p.m. Even on a day like today, when the sky is covered with gray clouds, if the curtains are open, there is a vague brightness.


    About 30 minutes after I returned to my room, there was a light knock at my door.


    I got up, tucking a bookmark into my book. The tapping sound was a bit new to me because my mother always called out loudly when she needed me, without knocking.


    "What?"


    I said so and turned to the door and heard Izumi''s voice saying, "It''s dinner time, come downstairs."


    "OK, I''m going now."


    I got up and opened the door. Then I went down the stairs with Izumi who came to call me and entered the living room. On the table were prepared foods that my mother had bought. The menu was much more luxurious than usual. My mother likes to make things lively, so she must have been very excited about Izumi''s arrival.


    Izumi and my mother sat facing each other at the table for four, and I sat beside her. The TV was playing the evening news. A fresh-looking male announcer with waxed hair was reading the news, but I could hardly hear his voice because it was drowned out by the conversation between my mother and Izumi.


    "Tomoko is really sudden, isn''t she? I can''t believe she''s going to Brazil. She''s always like that. Even when we were a student, all of our friends were so busy being pushed around by her."


    "My mother is a workaholic."


    "That said, I wonder if I would leave my high schooler child and go to the other side of the world normally."


    "Apparently, it was a huge business opportunity."


    "New coffee beans, huh? I wonder if it is really profitable to import them.


    "My mother says it tastes very good."


    They exchanged such conversations at a high tempo. My mother seemed to get along well with Izumi, perhaps because she was a relative and the daughter of her best friend. They talked about Izumi''s parents and her school, and kept getting into a lively conversation throughout the meal.


    I was quietly eating my meal besides them, listening to their conversation from right to left.


    After finishing my meal in about 10 minutes, I poured myself a cup of barley tea and was drinking it when I felt a vibration in my pocket. When I took out my phone and saw an incoming message on SNS. It was from my brother.


    ¡¶I''m sure you''ve already finished with that girl''s moving, right? Come over to my place and tell me all about it.¡·


    As usual, the message was written in a crude Japanese that one would not expect from a graduate student in the humanities. And although I thought to myself, "I wish you could just come over here yourself," I quickly responded, ¡¶Okay. I''ll be there later,¡·.


    "Thanks for the food."


    I sat up and washed my own dishes in the sink. Then I was about to leave the living room to go back to my room, thinking I would just take my wallet. Then,


    "Kenichi, are you going somewhere?" my mother asked.


    "Ryuu''s place. I got called out for something."


    I stopped and answered.


    "It''s not for something strange, isn''t it?"


    My mother said with a wary look on her face.


    "It''s not like that. ''Come and play with me, you''re not busy, are you?'' he said."


    My mother let out a deliberate sigh.


    "Tell Ryuichi that I''ve already accepted his offer to go to graduate school and that he should come home once in a while."


    "Okay."


    Izumi listened to our conversation with a puzzled expression on her face. Then, perhaps sensing that I was about to leave the house, she stopped me and said, "Kenichi-kun,"


    What? I reacted naturally, and then, after a pause, I felt uncomfortable.


    ---Kenichi-kun?.


    When I was puzzled by the fact that she called me by my name,


    "Oh, um, there''s aunty, too, and I thought it would be weird to call you Sakamoto-kun."


    Izumi said as if in excuse. I said, "Yeah, well, it''s true," and throw appropriate words.


    "Thank you for today. You helped me a lot."


    Sitting in her chair, bowing as if folding her upper body, Izumi said. Even though she was a relative, being called by name by a girl I had almost never met before made me feel embarrassed or perhaps strangely fidgety.


    "No, it''s nothing, I didn''t have anything more to do today anyway..."


    Saying this, I gave a small nod back to Izumi. Izumi kept her lips closed and laughed, lifting her cheek softly.

 Volume 1 - CH 1.4

    The rain had stopped before I knew it. The sky was still entirely covered with clouds, but there were some gaps in the clouds, through which I could see a portion of the white moon.


    The dark wet asphalt reflected the light of the streetlamps as if it had been sprinkled with glass powder. There are not many cars on this residential street, and it is very quiet at night.


    My brother''s apartment in the same town is about 15 minutes away by bicycle.


    My brother is a graduate student in the humanities, and he started living alone while working part-time during his third year of college. The university was in Tokyo, it seems that he could have lived near there, but he rented a room in this Tokyo suburb because of the rent and because he felt at home in this characterless place.


    In one of the few districts in the town, where there aren''t many street lights, there was a two-story, long rectangular apartment where my brother lived. In front of the building, there is a small parking lot with gravel, and a large number of leaflets are stuck in the mailbox of an empty room. The lights attached to the building and the white-painted walls were yellowed, and the metal parts were rusted reddish brown and not very clean.


    I got off my bike, parked it in the corner of the gravel parking lot, and stood in front of my brother''s room on the leftmost side of the first floor. A piece of tape with the name "Sakamoto" printed on it was taped to an aluminum plate with a number of scuffed lines next to the door.


    When I pressed the intercom, I could hear the muffled sound of a person moving behind the poorly soundproofed door.


    "Yo. I''ve been waiting for you."


    The door opened and my brother, with long hair, dyed dark brown, wearing dark jeans and a slim, open-chested, three-quarter sleeve shirt, appeared with a wry smile on his face.


    In contrast to the shabby exterior and the flamboyance of the residents,  my brother''s room was neat and tidy, and the furniture was uniformly black and brown. The large bookcase was filled with books, which blended naturally with the simple interior and gave the room an intellectual impression.


    "If you''re curious about Izumi, why don''t you just come yourself?"


    I sat down on the sofa in my brother''s room, saying what I had just thought, and in the small 1DK room, this sofa and my brother''s desk chair were the only places where I could sit calmly. On the desk was a desktop computer, a stack of some books, and a stack of A4-size papers of printed materials and papers.


    My brother sat in his desk chair, spun his chair around to face me, and crossed his legs.


    "You know, it''s hard to talk about someone when mom and the person in question are around. ---So, what was this Rina-chan like?"


    He asks me with a flirtatious smile.


    This man had always been extremely popular. Moreover, he is not only popular with the ladies, but he is also the type to go out on his own, and he has been in relationships with several people. I can''t believe that we are siblings because of his impressive communication skills. I think that all the qualities in that area were taken by my brother. Also, he is very smart. When I had an excellent person like this person as my brother, I often wondered what I was.


    "Just a normal girl."


    I answered shortly, just as I felt.


    "So she''s cute."


    "Huh?"


    I think I didn''t say anything like that, and I tilted my head in doubt.


    "Normal is basically a pretty good impression, you know."


    At my brother''s words, I angled my tilted head even deeper and pictured Izumi''s face, which I had just learned. She was not extremely pretty, but her bearing and clothes were girlish, and she had a gentle manner. I don''t think she is not cute at all.


    "Kenichi, do you know what a good-looking man or a beautiful woman looks like?"


    My brother began to talk as if he was going to tell me something interesting.


    "---Like big eyes or a small face?"


    When I replied, "No," my brother shook his head.


    "No, I mean that they don''t have any features. I heard it''s technically called ''averageness'' of the face. A person''s face is often rated as attractive if it is close to the average face of the group to which he or she belongs."


    "...... So?"


    "If you call that girl normal, it means that subconsciously you likely got a good impression of her."


    "......it''s sound like a sophism."


    When I said this, my brother laughed dryly, as if he had meant it as a joke.


    "It was written in a book I read recently. I''ve been thinking for a while now that if I could connect this with the recent character theory, I''ll be able to write interesting criticisms. I think it could be related to the "Stamp" and so on. What do you think?"


    "I don''t know."


    I think he is still a serious person, as he immediately went to that side of the conversation. As if he had just thought of something, he got up from his seat and headed for the cramped kitchen, which is located near the entrance.


    "You want something to drink?"


    "Yeah," I replied and he came back with two glasses of Coke and handed me one of them. I said, "Thank you," and took a sip.


    "Well, I''m glad you didn''t get a bad impression of her. Since it''s you, I thought you''d have a lot of trouble with a girl your age."


    "I think it must be more difficult for her than for me because of the change in environment and her school has gotten much further away."


    "Where does she go?"


    "Tomigaoka Girls."


    "Heh. She''s going to a good place, isn''t she? There is a girl from there in my seminar. Indeed, it''s a bit far from here. It must be tough since you have to be up early in the morning every day."


    "That''s right," I nodded.


    After some small talk, my brother put his glass on the desk and tapped both knees with his hands.


    "Kenichi," he said in formal tone.


    I looked up and suddenly there was silence, and then I heard the sound of the soda popping in the glass in my hand.


    "I''m warning you, don''t put your hand on her. If that''s the case, I''ll introduce you to another pretty girl. She''s probably older than you."


    As expected, it will be like this, I thought


    I quickly looked at my brother. He had a very serious expression on his face.


    "I would never do that. I''m not you, Ryuu-kun."


    When I said this, my brother also lost his good looks and said, "Hey, what do you mean by that?" in a joking, teasing tone.


    Judging from the way he was so formal earlier, I think he probably wanted to say this more than he wanted to ask about Izumi.


    "But, well, even if you don''t want to talk about that, if you ever feel uncomfortable, you can always come over here."


    "Mhm. Understood."


    Then, the conversation came to a halt. I glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was almost ten o''clock. In the gap in the conversation, I slipped in a message from my mother.


    "---Oh, by the way, Mom said she''s allowed you to go to school, so you should show up once in a while."


    My brother raised his face, the shadow of a smile still on it, and looked at me.


    "Yeah. I''d like to meet that relative of ours, so I''ll come out in a while."


    Last year, when my brother was a senior in college, he had one big fight at home when he told mom about his plans for higher education and she objected. I was quite surprised at that time that my brother, who was so good at dealing with things but flashy, got really angry. But that''s how strong he must have felt about his career path. He seems to be playing around, but he has been saving his part-time job money since he was an undergraduate student to prepare for higher education, and has even obtained a scholarship for graduate students that he does not have to pay back, so he seems to be in good financial shape.


    It has been a year since the fight, but I wonder if my brother still has some resentment toward mom. Even after he started living alone, he often came to our house to visit, but after that day, his visits to our house became much less frequent.


    It has been a year since the fight, but I wonder if my brother still feels some resentment toward my mother. After he started living alone, he often came over to our house, but after that day, his visits to our house had become much less frequent.


    "Are you still angry at mom for being against you that time?"


    I boldly asked him.


    "No, it''s not like that. I know that mom''s objection was for my sake. It''s only natural, considering our father''s situation... Somehow, I''m just embarrassed."


    My brother replied with a slight smile as if it was nothing. That being said, there was no way for me to ask anything more. I see, I said. Then I drank the last of my remaining Coke and sat up from the couch.


    "I''d better get back."


    "Yeah," My brother nodded and sat up.


    "Say hello to them for me."


    "Yes, I understand."


    I put on my shoes in the dimly lit foyer, opened the heavy, poorly-furnished apartment door, and stepped outside.


    Instantly, I smelled the damp air after the rain. The gravel parking lot was covered with muddy puddles in places.


    The residential area was even quieter at this late hour of the night. From somewhere came the breezy sound of early summer winged insects.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 1.5

    I parked my bike in the front yard and opened the door to my house. I muttered, "I''m home," and tossed my bike key into the key case at the entrance.


    As I was taking off my shoes, I heard the door open with clang as I thought about how I would go to bed early because I have club activities in the morning tomorrow.


    I looked up and saw Izumi, dressed in a thin T-shirt and shorts that seemed only to cover her butt, coming out of the door of the dressing room.


    Our eyes meet. She stops moving with a snap, looking at me with round eyes like a startled rabbit.


    "Ah, w-welcome home."


    She said awkwardly, like a poorly made robot from an old comic book.


    "I-I''m home..."


    Izumi and I remained rigid with each other for a few seconds. Her skin was glistening, her hair was freshly dried, and steam was rising from her hair. She was wearing only a T-shirt, and the bulge around her chest looked rather vivid. The neck of her shirt was a little loose, and the skin around her collarbone peeked out in white.


    "O-Oh, um..."


    Izumi said in a gasp and in a slurred voice,


    "U-Um, auntie told me to take a shower first......Um, i-it was nice hot water..."


    "I-Is that so. That''s good to know..."


    Silence.


    A hint of awkwardness oozed from each other. I was in a hurry to find out what to do about the atmosphere.


    "Kenichi, are you back?"


    My mother''s voice came from the living room. It brought me back to my senses.


    "I''m back! I''m going to my room!"


    Well then, take your time! I said to Izumi, and I walked up the stairs with a thud, entered my room, closed the door behind me, and let out a deep breath. What do you mean, "take your time"? Am I an employee of an inn or what?


    I walked quietly to the bed and sat down.


    The room was quiet and I could even hear my own heartbeat. My heart beats faster, even if only for a moment.


    If it is just normal shorts, it probably does not bother me so much. In the summer, there are many girls in school who wear a revealing skirts, and I also see girls in rhythmic gymnastics clubs and swimming clubs wearing revealing outfits. If you open the Internet, you will find an abundance of erotic images, and that level of stimulation is nothing nowadays.


    But that vividness is dangerous. I mean, it was the first time I had ever seen a girl up close and personal after taking a bath.


    I wondered if she was upset, I thought. I tried not to be concerned about it, but the image of Izumi from earlier came back to me vaguely.


    The realization that I now had a new roommate, someone my own age, something I hadn''t felt much of before, became a reality when I saw Izumi''s defenseless figure earlier.

 Volume 1 - CH 1.6

    The next day, the sky was again covered with the gray clouds of the rainy season.


    The rain that had fallen all day the day before had not yet dried up by morning, and the soil on the ground, which had absorbed water, was black.


    I did not sleep well last night. Even though I turned off the light and closed my eyes, the thought of Izumi sleeping nearby made me feel restless. The quietness of the house late at night bothered me, and in the midnight darkness, I felt as if I could feel Izumi''s presence on the same floor through the walls.


    I was tired from lack of sleep, and my feet were muddy after the rain, so today''s club activities were tougher than usual.


    During break time, as I was staggering toward the luggage area, wiping sweat from my sleeve, someone bumped into me lightly from behind.


    I stumbled down and turned around to see the manager, Mori Yuriko. Her lightly wavy hair was tied up into a ponytail, and she was wearing the same blue pants and soccer socks that were common to all club members, with a white short-sleeved outfit over them.


    "What is it, Yuriko? What are you doing?"


    Yuriko, who had succeeded in catching me off guard, smiled a deliberate smile, paced me, and said, "You''re even less enthusiastic than usual today," with her hands lightly folded behind her back.


    "It''s not like that."


    "In the shooting practice, most of your shots didn''t hit the target. Even if the ground was wet, that was terrible."


    Yuriko said as she walked beside me.


    "Somehow, I''m not feeling well. I haven''t been sleeping well."


    "Hmm."


    It was nearing noon, the temperature was rising, and the wet field was getting much hotter and humid. A ball was lying at my feet. I exhaled once, focused on my form, and kicked it into the goal about 20 meters away. The ball, aimed at the top corner of the goal, curled gently and fell, then hit the bar, creating a popping sound on the ground.


    When I saw the shot that was hated by the goal and moaned lightly while clicking my tongue, Yuriko giggled, saying, "Looks like today you didn''t score at all till the end."


    "Is something bothering you?"


    My heart skipped a beat when I recalled Izumi''s tense face after taking a bath on her face as she looked into my face.


    "---Why do you think so?"


    I replied, trying to look nonchalant. But Yuriko''s face turned doubtful.


    "Well, because you said you didn''t get enough sleep. Normally, you would think something was wrong."


    "......Nothing in particular."


    I thought for a moment about telling her that a relative of mine had moved in, and then these words came out. Yuriko must have guessed what was going on, because she turned her head toward me and said,


    "What''s with the pause? Something fishy."


    She said again in a teasing tone.


    I am not good at hiding things. Yuriko, in particular, has a good instinct and has known me for a long time. If I show even the slightest hint of weakness, she will immediately know that I am hiding something from her.


    "Tell me, Onee-san will give you a consultation."


    "I''m fine. There''s nothing wrong."


    "Are you sure?"


    Yuriko, perhaps enjoying herself, pursued the matter in a half-joking, insistent manner. Then, she asked.


    "Mori-senpai~ I brought this from the club room. What should I do with it?"


    Tachibana Akari, the first-year manager, came shouting from the bench at the side of the pitch, carrying a bag of bibs. Tachibana was also wearing blue club pants, a gym uniform with her name on the chest, and her shoulder-length hair tied up in two.


    "Thank you, Akari, leave it there. I''ll give it out before the match!"


    Yuriko gave her instructions, "Okay!" Tachibana replied.


    "It can''t be helped. I''ll let you go for now. It''s okay to worry, but don''t hurt yourself."


    After saying this, Yuriko ran toward the bench where Tachibana was standing.


    After seeing her back off, I returned to the luggage area where the other club members were, drank a sweet sports drink from a plastic bottle, and wiped the sweat off my face with a towel.


    After all the members had completed the entire practice menu, we all tidied up the field, and the club activities ended when the advisor and English teacher, Nakata-sensei, gathered all the members and gave a dismissal speech.


    The twenty or so members of the club were leaving the field in droves. I was heading to the luggage area, chatting with Nagai, who was in the same class as me. Then Yuriko, who was walking a little further away, came up to us.


    "Hey, Nagai. Has Kenichi asked you for any advice?"


    "Eh? What''s that?


    Nagai replied with a puzzled look on his face.


    "Kenichi seems to be having some trouble. I thought Nagai would be the only person in this club that Kenichi could talk to about something, so I thought you might know something about it."


    I said, "What do you mean by that."


    Yuriko replied with a twinge, "Because there is no one else in this club that Kenichi gets along with," Nagai laughed at Yuriko''s words.


    "No, that''s not true."


    "You''re very kind, Nagai. If you follow up so much, it won''t be good for this guy who has a communication problem."


    ""That''s terrible,"" We were so shocked at the way she said it that my voice and Nagai''s voice overlapped.


    Then Tachibana came from the side and took Yuriko''s arm, incidentally taking away the flow of the conversation.


    "Senpai, do you have time after this today?"


    "Hmm. What is it?"


    "Well, it''s been a while since we''ve had tea. Oh, how about you, Nagai-senpai and Sakamoto-senpai? Would you like to have tea with us?"


    Tachibana took Yuriko''s arm and turned her head to us and asked us a question.


    When I shook my head and said, "No, thanks," Nagai continued, "I''ll pass, too."


    When we both refused, Tachibana mockingly puffed out her cheeks, saying, "Mooo, even though I went to the trouble of asking you out," Yuriko, a realist, stared at such a sweet gesture like an anime character with cold eyes. Yuriko had previously described Tachibana as a calculating girl. However, the relationship between the two is not bad. She works hard as a manager, and Yuriko takes good care of her. Tachibana also seemed to adore Yuriko.


    "Okey, let''s go by the Irisawa Mall after a while."


    When Yuriko answered her while placing her hand on Tachibana''s shoulder, Tachibana loosened her cheeks, which had been puffed up with a "moo", and said cheerfully, "Yeay!"


    After that, we returned to the luggage area near the morning assembly table, and Yuriko and Tachibana went back to the classroom. The soccer club members change outside for club activities on their days off, while the girls change in the classroom.


    The luggage area was filled with the sticky-sweet smell of antiperspirant spray being sprayed on the bodies of naked men in their upper bodies. We, too, took off our clothes, wiped ourselves off, and changed into our uniforms.


    As I walked to the bicycle parking lot, greeting Nagai and the other club members, I saw Yuriko and Tachibana coming out of the entrance. Both of them were dressed in their summer uniforms of navy blue skirts, blouses, and purple ribbons. Yuriko was wearing short sleeves and Tachibana was wearing long sleeves rolled up to her elbows.


    Yuriko, who commutes to school by bicycle like me, walked to the bicycle parking lot. As we were unlocking our bicycles under the tin-roofed parking lot, Yuriko called out, "Kenichi."


    "What?"


    I raised my gaze. Yuriko had inserted a key with a cat keyring into the keyhole of her bicycle. Then she suddenly turned her head toward me and gave me a serious look.


    "If you don''t want to tell me, I won''t force you. But, if you have a problem, you can talk to me about it."


    I shook my head vaguely, feeling sorry for making her feel uncomfortable, and at the same time feeling the trouble of telling her about living with Izumi right here and now.


    "Really, I''m fine. It''s not like I''m in any trouble."


    "Hmmm."


    Yuriko''s bicycle key unlocks with a light thud.


    "I hope so. Well, I''ll see you tomorrow at school."


    Yeah, I replied.


    She shoved her bag in the front basket, pushed her bicycle, and walked toward Tachibana, who was waiting for her on the paved road connecting the school gate and the entrance to the school. Her slightly tanned legs, navy blue high socks, and black loafers, which stretched out from her above-the-knee skirt, walked on the fresh asphalt and slowly moved away from me.

 Volume 1 - CH 1.7

    I went home, took a shower, ate lunch with my mother and Izumi, who was still unpacking from yesterday, and then went to my room to lie down.


    My legs felt a little tired, probably from running around on the muddy ground. My thighs, calves, and soles of my feet were hot.


    Slumbering in exhaustion in the dimness of the rainy season''s patchy weather, I was dozing off for a while when I heard a noise from outside my room. Then, "Kenichi," my mother called through the door.


    "What?" I replied, rousing my sleepy body from the bed.


    "We''re going shopping now, so you''re coming with us too."


    "Why?"


    "We''re going to buy Rina-chan''s daily necessities, but it might be a lot of luggage. Help me carry it. You can buy your favorite food, too."


    "... Okay. I''ll be there. I''ll be ready in a minute."


    I got dressed, grabbed my wallet and cell phone, and went downstairs.


    When I entered the living room, I found my mother sitting on the sofa and Izumi in a chair at the dining table. Izumi was wearing a red plaid short-sleeved shirt and a long navy blue skirt that she had also worn yesterday. A brown leather pouch rested on her lap.


    "Finally. Shall we go then?" said my mother, and Izumi bowed to me with a smile on her face.


    "I''m sorry. You must be tired from club activities."


    "No, I''m fine."


    I replied so while returning a bow to Izumi.


    "So, where are we going?"


    When I questioned my mother''s back as she slung her bag over her shoulder, she replied, "Irisawa Mall."


    Seriously, I thought. The remnants of my afternoon sleep had blown away. That''s where Yuriko and Tachibana had said they were going to play earlier.


    "That''s where you can get everything you need."


    "Ah, yeah."


    As I responded, I looked at the clock hanging on the wall in the living room. It had been nearly three hours since club activities had ended.


    ---I guessed that they would be home by now.


    With that in mind, I left the house with my mother and Izumi and got into the car.


    Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at a large three-story shopping center that sold everything from furniture to groceries.


    We first headed upstairs to the interior design store. Izumi was going to buy pillows and cushions here first. I learned from our conversation on the way that Izumi''s mother had given her enough money for her immediate needs, and that she also gave my mother a monthly allowance for Izumi''s living expenses.


    Already in my basket were a low rebound pillow, a red and white checkered pillowcase, a red bedsheet, and a desk clock in the shape of a cat.


    Izumi and my mother were walking slowly through the store, looking at the items as if they were friends. I stood one step behind them, hanging a plastic basket, and waited for Izumi and my mother to select their items.


    There was a fan set up in the store in mid-June, and environmental sounds mixed with the chirping of cicadas and wind chimes were also playing. Products for the coming summer season were on display everywhere in a summery atmosphere, such as toweling beds that provide a cool and refreshing feeling.


    After a few minutes of agonizing over cushions of various colors and shapes on display, Izumi chose a red round cushion---Izumi apparently likes red things---and we left the interior design store.


    "Kenichi. Please."


    With that, my mother handed me a plastic bag filled with cushions and other things from the store. It was bulky and a little hard to carry, but it wasn''t that heavy.


    "I''m sorry, Kenichi-kun."


    Izumi apologized in a timid manner.


    It''s okay, I replied.


    "I''m here for this."


    "Yes, yes. Don''t worry about it. It''s good for Kenichi''s muscle training."


    My mother added, and Izumi smiled as if she were troubled.


    We then moved to the floor where food and household goods were sold, and Izumi put the laundry net and air freshener into a plastic basket that she carried herself.


    I was sort of following my mother and Izumi with my large luggage, but when it looked like we were about to enter the sanitary napkin section, I indeed felt awkward and stopped.


    "Um. I''m going to leave this in the car," I said to them as I walked ahead, borrowed the car keys from my mother, and casually left the place.


    I hoped she would understand, but my mother, handing me the keys, looked doubtful about my sudden offer. Maybe she thought it was nothing, but I knew it would be too awkward to walk in there with those two.


    Leaving the sales floor, I took the down escalator to the underground parking lot.


    The background music, which had been drowned out by the noise in the store, was clearly audible in the relatively quiet underground parking lot. I walked slowly to my car, unlocked it, and placed a large shopping bag in the back seat.


    It was hot and humid in the non-air-conditioned underground parking lot, and a bead of sweat trickled down my neck.


    I exhaled heavily. Cars passed intermittently in the fluorescent-lit basement, and a child who almost ran out of the car was being warned by a parent.


    After I dropped my stuff off, I locked my car and went back inside the store. The sweat I had worked up during the short time I was in the basement cooled my skin in the air-conditioned interior.


    The ground floor also contains a food court and caf¨¦. The area is separated by glass, and I can see some of it from where I am now.


    If Yuriko and Tachibana were there, it would probably be around here, so I casually looked at the food court on Sunday afternoon, mixed with the flow of a large number of shoppers.


    --I looked casually in the direction of the food court and saw a familiar figure in a uniform.


    No way, I thought.


    It has been three hours since club activities had ended. What on earth do these girls have to talk about? Yuriko and Tachibana were sitting side by side at the counter of the donut store, talking about something.


    Next to Tachibana, who is busily moving her mouth toward Yuriko while gesturing with her hands, Yuriko is drinking something through a straw, nodding her head occasionally or shaking her head in a small way with an absentminded expression as if she is taking it in stride.


    As I was staring at them, Yuriko suddenly looked up and turned her eyes toward me.


    Our eyes met. She opened her mouth with a small ''ah'' and then raised her hand. And then,


    "Kenichi-kun, what''s wrong?


    Suddenly, a voice called out to me from behind. I turned around and saw Izumi and my mother there, holding a shopping bag.


    "Ah, no, it''s just someone I know..."


    I replied with a stutter.


    "Is that so? Do you want to go say hi?"


    "No, no. I just accidentally saw her---"


    I glanced at Yuriko.


    Yuriko was staring at us. My mother and Yuriko knew each other. If it had been just me and my mother here, it would not have seemed unnatural. But,


    ---Who is that girl?


    That''s what Yuriko''s gaze said as she looked at Izumi suspiciously while going through Tachibana who was talking beside her.


    "Hey Kenichi," my mother spoke up.


    I tried to shrug off Yuriko''s attention and said, "What?" I replied.


    "I just got a call from someone at work asking me to have dinner with him. I''m sorry, but could you and Rina buy dinner here and take a taxi home? I''ll drive from here to his place."


    Tln : I don''t know if it''s ''he'' or ''she'', so I just go with ''he'' right now


    "Uh, yeah, okay."


    Even as I replied, I kept feeling Yuriko''s gaze on me from behind my mother, about 20 meters away.


    "I''m sorry, Rina-chan, for seeming to throw you out so suddenly. I''ll take your luggage home."


    My mother said so and received the luggage from Izumi, and Izumi bowed, saying "I''m sorry."


    As she handed me our dinner and taxi money and walked toward the escalators leading to the underground parking lot, Izumi thanked my mother for bringing her there, "Thank you for bringing me, Auntie," she said, to which my mother responded by raising one hand.


    As my mother disappeared into the crowd, Izumi suspiciously urged me, who was standing still, saying, "Let''s go, Kenichi-kun,"


    I nodded and we started walking together. I glanced back one last time and saw Yuriko still staring at me suspiciously.

 Volume 1 - CH 2.1

    Two days have passed since Izumi moved in, and the week has begun.


    I woke up to the alarm on my phone set for 6:30 a.m., changed into my school uniform, went to the bathroom to straighten my sleeping habits, and went to the living room where Izumi and my mother were already sitting facing each other at the dining table having breakfast. Izumi was sitting across from my mother, facing the door, and her eyes met mine immediately as I walked into the living room.


    She was wearing her school uniform, which consisted of a navy blue skirt with red checks, a cream-colored vest, and a red ribbon.


    Izumi greeted me with a "good morning" while giving a brief nod.


    "Good morning."


    Biting back the drowsiness that still lingered dully in the back of my head, I answered, and my mother turned to me as well.


    "Rina-chan and I will leave first, so Kenichi, you take care of the cleanup."


    I nodded, "Okay," I said.


    The time now was a little before seven o''clock. I commute to school in 20 minutes by bicycle, so if I leave home at 8:00 a.m., I can make it in time for the 8:30 a.m. start of school, but Izumi, who commutes to Tokyo, must be about to leave home by now.


    "Thank you for the meal," Izumi said, putting the dishes in the sink. She rolled up the sleeves of her long-sleeved blouse and started running water from the faucet with a sponge.


    "I''ll take care of the cleanup, Izumi."


    When I said this, Izumi turned her troubled face to me and mouthed, "Yes, but......". All through yesterday, she had been helping me with the dishes and other household chores.


    "You might miss the train, so you better leave early. You might have to make a transit or something......It''s the first time you''ve been to school since you moved here, right?"


    Izumi put the sponge in her hand back in place with a plop.


    "If Kenichi-kun says so."


    "That''s right, Rina-chan. You can use this guy without hesitation."


    Izumi nodded with a wry smile at my mother''s words and then picked up her school bag that was hanging on the chair.


    "I''m off then."


    She slung his bag over her shoulder and headed for the front door, flapping his slippers. The house suddenly became quiet after the sound of shoes being put on and the door opening and closing at the front door.


    I picked up one of the sandwiches that had been wrapped and placed on the table.


    "Rina-chan, she helped me make breakfast and lunch earlier. I hope she didn''t push herself too hard."


    My mother looked at the cloth-wrapped lunch box on the table and muttered to herself. I had a vague feeling that Izumi was still concerned about the situation.


    After all, it had only been two days since she moved in.


    "......Maybe she''ll get used to it after a while."


    "You should help out at home more than you have in the past. If you help her, she will be less burdened."


    "I know," I replied.


    Then she finished her coffee, said, "Well, I have to go to work," and left the room.


    In the living room in the morning when I was alone, I munched on a sandwich while watching the weather forecast.

 Volume 1 - CH 2.2

    It''s been relatively sunny today, as it has been for the past few days.


    The clouds covering the sky were gray, close to white, and a little sunlight was leaking through the gaps. The concrete of the paved road is also almost dry.


    After riding my bicycle for about 20 minutes straight along the wide national highway between large stores, I see Irisawa High School, the high school I attended. Although it was supposed to be a preparatory school, it was an ordinary public high school where only a few students could pass the entrance exam to prestigious universities and medical schools. There were no strong clubs, including the soccer club I belonged to.


    Passing the school gate with a bronze sculpture of a woman holding a ball in one hand and holding it up to the sky, I got off my bicycle and joined the crowd of people on the paved road with cherry blossom trees planted along the side. I park my bicycle at the prefabricated, roofed bicycle parking lot and head toward the entrance to the school.


    I change my shoes in front of the shoe box, walked up the stairs into the classroom, and sat down on my seat by the window. It was about ten minutes before homeroom started. The classroom was crowded with the chattering voices of students who had arrived at school one after another.


    Since this is not a school where only the talented or those with poor grades gather, there are many different types of people in the classroom, from serious-looking students who wear their uniforms properly to the more flamboyant ones who are dressed down and lightly dye their hair. The groups were usually divided by fashion trends.


    The boys had formed three particularly close-knit groups. But I am not in any of them. Nagai, who is in the same club, is in my class, so I spend most of my free time with him. I have never had any inconvenience because of this.


    When I look at the type of people who try their best to create a character or constantly stay connected and communicate with each other, even online, I think it''s amazing in both an honest and twisted way. I didn''t have the ability or the motivation to participate in the tedious classroom communication game of choosing friends and groups to hang out with and tuning myself to them.


    After sitting down, and a short time later, Nagai came to school with an enamel bag slung over his shoulder. Sitting diagonally in front of me, he said lightly, "Yoo,". I responded in a small voice.


    After that, the homeroom teacher came to the classroom to check attendance, and after about ten minutes of homeroom, the first-period class began.


    It''s obvious, but just because Izumi moved in doesn''t mean my school life will change. I was in the same class and followed the same timetable that I had repeated over and over again. For some reason, I felt at ease in this familiar routine. I had never felt such a thing before, so I thought that maybe I had been a little tense after all because I had a new roommate for the past two days.


    Then, at lunchtime after four hours of morning classes, a female student with a short skirt, a short-sleeved blouse, and medium black hair with a few waves appeared at the classroom door.


    "Kenichi, hey."


    I was about to put away my study materials and was about to open my lunch box. Yuriko entered the classroom and approached me. The boy in the seat in front of me had gone away, so she sat down in that seat and rested her cheek on my desk. A white scrunchie, which she sometimes uses during club activities, was wrapped around her wrist.


    "You know, I saw you at the Irisawa Mall yesterday afternoon."


    I let out a small breath. I knew you were going to talk about that, I thought. I stopped unwrapping my lunch box.


    "There was Oba-san and a girl, right? Who was that girl?"


    I pondered for a while what to say, but finally, I answered shortly, "A relative,". Yuriko''s eyes narrowed and she continued her question, still looking doubtful.


    "Did she has some business to do at your home?"


    "No, well,......"


    It''s hard to tell her when it comes to something like this. However even if I hid it, Yuriko, who lives nearby, would surely find out someday, and if I continued to hide it and she did find out, she would misunderstand me. I thought it would be a good time to tell Yuriko what had happened, so I whispered to her.


    "Actually, we''re going to take care of that girl for the next six months."


    "Haa!?"


    With her voice, Yuriko''s narrowed eyes widened, she lifted her hips, and let out a loud voice, loud enough to quiet the hustle and bustle of the lunch break.


    Yuriko noticed that she was attracting stares, and then she sat down in her chair, smiling wryly at those around her.


    "But, she looked about the same age as us. Is she a cousin or something?"


    "No... I think our parents were second cousins or something."


    Yuriko raised her eyebrows when I answered.


    "Isn''t that mean you two are a stranger?"


    To these words, I immediately replied, "No, we''re relatives,". I tried to shake off the image of Izumi in her light clothing that I had seen the other day and continued with my explanation.


    "Our mothers are relatives and good friends from long ago. Her name is Izumi Rina, and her mother had to be away from home for a long time for work, so she decided to come to our house. All the other relatives were in the countryside, and apparently, we were the only house within commuting distance of Izumi''s high school, so she came to our house two days ago. That''s all."


    "... Hmm. But, you seemed to be getting along pretty well, though. She seemed to get along well with Oba-san also."


    "It seems that my mother has met her several times."


    "How about you?"


    "I met her for the first time two days ago."


    Yuriko gave me a suspicious look with her steady eyes. I don''t understand. I''m sure I have nothing to hide.


    "Is it okay to do that even if you''re a relative?"


    "I don''t know what to say, but I''m not the one who made the decision. At the moment, Izumi and I hardly interfere with each other. We just have meals together."


    "Hee."


    Yuriko looked at me with mean eyes.


    Then Nagai, who had gone to the school canteen to buy something, came back. He was holding a juice box in one hand and a bag of bread in the other.


    "Huh? Mori, what''s wrong?"


    Nagai said to Yuriko as he sat in his seat diagonally in front of me. Yuriko also turned to Nagai and said, "Hey, listen, Nagai."


    "Wait a minute, don''t tell everyone what''s going on in my house!"


    I said impatiently, and Yuriko''s lips twitched.


    "What? If you''re going to keep quiet about it, you must have a guilty conscience."


    "I''m not!"


    "I can''t believe it."


    Nagai, who was watching our exchange with a blank expression on his face, said,


    "I don''t know what''s going on, but you guys are as close as ever."


    He said that and smiled bitterly.


    Yuriko groaned.


    "How can you look at this situation and think that we are getting along?"


    "It looks like a lover''s quarrel to me."


    Nagai said teasingly to Yuriko. Yuriko was about to say something in response, but I impatiently nailed him.


    "Hey, seriously, don''t say it. I don''t want any weird rumors to come out about us."


    She bent her mouth into the "¤Ø" character, groaned for a moment, and then said,


    "Well, let''s just say I''ve got one new weakness. It can''t be helped. So, buy me a drink next time as hush money," she said to me with a doubtful expression on her face. She looked like she still didn''t have enough explanation, but it seemed that Yuriko had read the atmosphere of the situation.


    "Okey okey, I know."


    "Looks like you were talking about something I wasn''t supposed to hear."


    With that, Nagai brought his chair closer to my desk, opened the bread package, and inserted a straw into the juice box.


    After we had managed to get through our conversation, I opened my bento box as well.


    The menu was almost the same as usual, with Karaage and egg rolls.


    Then Yuriko, who was about to leave her seat, saw it and,


    "Ah, your bento is a little different from usual," she said. I was caught off guard and was taken aback.


    "Huh?"


    "It''s different from Oba-san''s bento. She always put nori on top of her rice."


    What the h*ll is this girl. So you pay attention to such things, huh. But it is true. If you look closely, you can see that the bento Izumi made for me has the same menu as usual, but the way it is arranged is a little different from usual.


    Nagai, who did not understand the context of the conversation, tilted his head, but perhaps thinking it was none of his business, took a bite of the yakisoba bread and sipped his orange juice through a straw.


    Yuriko looked at me and the lunch box alternately and said, "Hmmm," meaningfully.


    "What is it?" I said.


    "Nothing at all."


    And with that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the classroom.


    After Yuriko was out of sight, Nagai asked me.


    "So, what happened? Did you get in a fight?"


    "No, we didn''t."


    We didn''t, I guess. I didn''t explain myself clearly, and I may have made her a little annoyed, but I don''t think it was anything to the extent of a fight.


    "So that''s it. However, she seems to be in a bad mood."


    "Yuriko is always like that."


    "That''s true, But if Mori gets really mad, we will get in trouble during club activities, so do something for us. If she doesn''t do her job, our practice will be less efficient."


    I don''t know what he meant by ''do something for us'' but I nodded my head and said, "Yeah."

 Volume 1 - CH 2.3

    In the afternoon, the clouds of the rainy season had parted and the early summer red evening sun was illuminating the ground during the club''s evening activities. The school building, painted with cream-colored paint, was stained red, and the red of the setting sun and the white light from the lights installed on the roof of the school building stretched the shadows of the students of the soccer and track clubs standing on the field.


    After the red-and-white game, the last practice session of the day was over, and the club members immediately began cleaning up. The freshmen went to work on field maintenance, and the guys nearby kicked the ball, which was scattered around the field, toward the benches. Tachibana went after the ball as it rolled by, picked it up with her hand, and popped it into the ball basket. Yuriko, who was with her by the bench, walked toward the pitch and collected the players'' bibs.


    I took off my orange bib too and brought it to Yuriko.


    When Yuriko looked at me, she turned away with a ''Hmph'' and snatched away only the bib.


    I said, "What was that?" and Yuriko immediately replied, "What?" with a blank expression on her face.


    For a moment I was miffed, but then I let out a sigh and apologized, saying, "Lunchtime, I''m sorry."


    Since then, throughout the afternoon classes, I had felt that I had responded to Yuriko in a strange way, as if I had been making excuses or hiding something, as if there was something fishy going on during lunch break. If she had spoken to me like that, I would have thought she was acting strangely.


    "I don''t think there was anything to hide from you about that matter."


    Yuriko returned her gaze to me, looked me in the eye, and then gave me a somewhat sarcastic, wry smile, as if to say, "It can''t be helped."


    "I''m fine with that. You''ve been honest with me in your own way. I don''t think there''s anything strange about you. I know you''re far from that kind of thing."


    "What''s that?"


    "Just like what I said."


    Yuriko said with a wry smile as she walked beside me, gathering up the bibs she had collected.


    "But, I''d like to meet her once, too, if possible. We live in the same neighborhood, and we might be able to get along."


    "Understood. I''ll introduce you when I get a chance."


    "Yeah. Please do it as soon as possible."


    Yuriko said in a cheerful tone of voice and ran toward the equipment shed with a bunch of bibs.


    After the party broke up a little after 7:00 p.m., I went home with Yuriko and a few other soccer club members who were commuting by bicycle to school in the same direction and arrived home around 8:00 p.m. when the sun had completely set. The front door was locked. No lights were on in any of the rooms, so I guessed that no one had returned home yet.


    I took the key out of my bag, opened the front door, and entered the darkened house. I turned on the light switch, took off my shoes, went into my room, prepared a change of clothes, and headed for the bathroom to wash off my sweat.


    After taking a quick shower, cleaning the bathtub, and changing into shorts and a T-shirt, I sat down at the desk in my room.


    Then, I picked up a magazine to which my brother had contributed a review, which I had left on my desk, and flipped through it.


    This magazine for young people, which collected articles on fashion, movies, and music, had a section for film and book reviews, where young critics and intellectuals published their reviews every week. My brother wrote one review a month on a new novel.


    When it was decided that his article would be published in this magazine, he said something like, "It''s Oyaji no Nanahikari,". However, I think it must be a great achievement for a student to be able to publish such a piece of writing in a magazine. Also, it seemed that the reviews written by my brother were the most popular in this section, and I, his younger brother, found them interesting to read.


    I read the magazine until it was time to start cooking dinner and then left the room to go to the kitchen.


    Just as I started down the stairs, the front door opened. Still unfamiliar, a uniform with a cream-colored vest. It was Izumi. She had a school bag slung over her shoulder and was taking off her brown leather shoes at the entrance.


    Izumi noticed me coming down the stairs and, "Oh, Kenichi-kun. I''m home," she said, looking up at me and smiling.


    "Welcome home," I replied. I went straight into the living room. Izumi put on her slippers and went up the stairs.

 Volume 1 - CH 2.4

    In the Sakamoto household, the division of roles was that my mother cooked breakfast and lunch on weekdays and I cooked dinner.


    I washed the rice and put it in the rice cooker, peeled the potatoes and carrots, and cut them into bite-size pieces. In the middle of the cooking, Izumi came downstairs in her loungewear, a loose-fitting T-shirt with a red border on a white background, and a pair of soft, navy blue, three-quarter-length pants.


    "Are you making dinner?" she asked me as she came to the kitchen.


    When I answered "yeah,", Izumi said, "If you like, I''ll help you." Izumi began to tie her hair into a single bun with a pink hair elastic wrapped around her wrist.


    When she lifted her hair, a soft smell wafted through the air, and I leaned away from Izumi and looked away from her.


    "---Then, can I ask you to cut up the rest of the vegetables and meat? I''m making curry and salad."


    "Okey," Izumi nodded, washed her hands in the sink, picked up a knife, and began to chop the carrots. I took the cooking utensils and seasonings out of the cabinet and put oil in a deep pan to fry the meat.


    As we stood side by side in the small kitchen, our arms occasionally touched each other. Each time, we would stop working and give each other space.


    "Does auntie always come home late?"


    Izumi asked as she cut the vegetables in an experienced manner.


    "Not really, but I think it''s most often around 10 p.m. Sometimes she comes back around 6 p.m."


    "I see. I guess you must be very busy if you are head of a department. Here, I have cut the vegetables and meat."


    My mother works for a medium-sized food manufacturer, and she told me that she had recently been promoted to head of the department. She is not a workaholic, but she often hangs out with people from the company and her life seems to be fulfilling in her own way.


    I put the meat Izumi had cut up in a pot over the fire and stir-fry it with chopsticks. The kitchen is filled with whitish smoke and the savory smell of roasting meat.


    "Kenichi-kun, do you cook as often as you do today?"


    "I''m in charge of weekday dinners. Cause I don''t know when mom will be home."


    "I see," Izumi said.


    After frying the meat and adding the vegetables and simmering for about twenty minutes, the curry powder is added. I took out a plate from the cupboard with a glass door on the side of the kitchen and served rice, then poured the curry on top of it. I put the cabbage and other vegetables Izumi had cut up on another plate, and dinner was ready.


    I filled two cups with barley tea and put them on the table. Izumi untied her tied hair, and we sat down at the dining table facing each other.


    The living room was quiet because the TV was still off during the meal. The sounds of people walking outside and passing cars echoed through the house. We ate in silence for a while, and halfway through the meal, Izumi looked at the deep pot containing a large amount of leftover curry and said, "Looks like we made a little too much."


    "We can have it for breakfast tomorrow. It will save you the trouble of cooking."


    "is it okay, with that?"


    "Yeah. We always did that on the days when we had leftover curry."


    "I see."


    We didn''t talk much while we ate, but the silence didn''t bother me as much as it did when we first met. I was a little surprised to find myself already getting used to Izumi''s presence in my home.


    When I finished my curry, I spoke to Izumi, "I heard you made lunch for me today."


    She stopped moving and looked at me with only her eyes.


    "Ah, that''s right...How was it?"


    Feeling embarrassed, I replied, "It was delicious." Izumi''s cheeks softly relaxed and she looked relieved.


    "But isn''t Izumi busy early in the morning? You don''t have to worry too much."


    "No. If you make it together, the amount of work will not increase. Auntie and I share the cooking task. We seem to wake up at about the same time."


    I put my own dishes in the sink, put the salad on a plate, covered it with plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator to prepare my mother''s dinner.


    "What kind of work does Izumi''s mother do?"


    I filled my glass with water, returned to my seat, and asked Izumi.


    "She told me she was working for a trading company and was currently importing coffee beans."


    "That''s why she went overseas, huh."


    "Yes. She said she is going to work in South America for a while."


    "Hee."


    I sipped my glass of water while listening to her words. Then Izumi asked me about my family.


    "Kenichi-kun''s brother is a graduate student, right? I heard from auntie that he writes book reviews for a magazine, is that true?"


    "Yeah. He has frequently been writing for magazines for about two years now. He said it was our father''s influence, our father''s fault, or something like that. A friend of Dad''s at the publishing company gave him a chance to try it out, and it turned out to be so good that he got it published in a magazine.


    "......Uncle, he was an instructor, wasn''t he?"


    Knowing my father''s situation, Izumi lowered his tone a little.


    "Yes, he was a teacher in the philosophy department. I heard he specialized in French thought, but he died before I could find out what exactly he did, so I have no idea what kind of reputation my father''s work had."


    "I see," Izumi said. Another silence fell. Izumi spooned the rest of the curry and ate it, then clasped her hands together and said, "Thanks for the food,". Then she put the dishes back in the sink, sat down again, and opened her mouth.


    "I don''t know what kind of man my father is either."


    I had never heard about Izumi''s family situation. However, I had a vague idea that there might be something about her father since she came to our house only because her mother was away from home.


    I thought it was going to be a bit heavy, but Izumi surprisingly began to talk about it without hesitation.


    "I heard that they had a quarrel and broke up. It was when I was very young, so I don''t remember anything about it. I think it''s because my mom very strong-willed."


    "Is that so?"


    "Yeah. She is very active and likes to keep herself busy with work. The other day she said, ''My boyfriend is my work.''"


    Izumi talked about such things with a smiling face. There was nothing shadow in her tone of voice or atmosphere.


    "She''s amazing."


    "Yes. She''s the complete opposite of me in personality."


    Today, we had something to talk about. After finishing dinner, Izumi and I chatted for a while at the dining room table.


    In the middle of talking with Izumi, my mother came home, and then they started talking lively, so I went back to my room. I took a shower when I got home, so I decided to leave the first bath to Izumi, and decided to kill some time in my room reading a book.


    Lying on my bed, I slowly turned the pages in the quiet night.


    When I read, I can tell whether my mental state is in a good or bad mood. When I am worried or depressed about something, it is difficult for me to follow the words. Perhaps it was because I had just had a lively conversation with Izumi, but I was feeling very good today.


    After about 30 minutes of reading in this manner, I soon heard the sound of someone''s footsteps coming up the stairs. Following that, I heard a door open and close nearby. Thinking that Izumi had gotten out of the bath, I took a change of clothes from the wardrobe in my room and headed for the bathroom.


    As I was taking off my clothes in the changing room with its rubber-like flooring, and putting them in the washing machine, I suddenly noticed a strangely soft-looking white cloth in the changing basket. At first, I couldn''t quite make out what the soft, curled-up cloth was, but then I recognized that it had something like lace on it and realized, along with a sensation of electricity coursing through my brain.


    My heart jumped loudly and I reflexively looked away. The zipper of the laundry net was halfway open, and Izumi''s, well,...panties were out.


    Emptying my mind of the image of Izumi that floated in and out of my consciousness, I reached up, careful not to look directly at it, picked up the curled up cloth, was surprised at the shocking softness of the women''s underwear, placed it in a real lightweight laundry net that I assumed contained her complete set of undergarments, and firmly I zipped them up and threw them in the washing machine.


    Then I exhaled loudly, as if I was letting out all the air in my chest, took off my clothes, and went into the bathroom.


    I washed my body and got into the bathtub with a splash. Drops dripped from my wet bangs. My heart was still beating a little strongly.


    The more I tried not to think about it, the more the image of Izumi''s face and the underwear I had just seen came to my mind, and my head felt dizzy. The soft sensation of the white underwear still lingered on my fingertips. Picking up a pair of panties of a girl my age and putting them in the laundry net, I felt like I had acted in a perverted way, thinking back on it.


    I had no ulterior motive, I told myself, but as if to symbolize what I was feeling, a part of my body was honestly showing that example of physiological reaction.


    "Don''t put your hand on her."


    My brother''s words refrained in my head, "I ain''t touching her," I muttered. It echoed vaguely in the steamy bathroom.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 2.5

    The next morning, I went into the living room, passing each other with Izumi. She had already put her bag over her shoulder and was leaving the house in her school uniform, which consisted of a skirt just above the knee and navy blue high socks.


    "Good morning," Izumi said as she slipped on her leather shoes at the door.


    "It looks like it''s going to be hot today. It''s going to be over 30 degrees in the afternoon."


    The front door of the house had a slit in the polished glass. The light coming through the slit was brighter and whiter than it had been the past few days when the sky had been overcast.


    I said to Izumi as she put on her shoes and reached for the door, "Have a good day," and she said, "I''m off," and left the house with a smile on her face.


    In the living room, my mother was also getting ready to go to work, and on the desk was my breakfast and lunch box. I guessed that Izumi and my mother had shared the cooking task again.


    After my mother left for work, I finished breakfast by myself, washed the dishes for the three of us, locked the door, and left the house.


    The weather forecast on TV said that it was a sunny day during the rainy season. The clouds in the sky were not gray as they had been until yesterday, but pure white and as thick as cotton candy, giving me a strong feeling that summer was just around the corner.


    On this day, I took the day''s classes in a lighthearted manner, had lunch with Nagai, and after school, changed into my soccer wear and went out to the field.


    Today, two of the twenty-three members of the club were absent, except for the manager (the third-year student had retired after the inter-high qualifying round earlier this month), so when it came time to practice the game, we were short one player to play eleven-on-eleven.


    When it came time to divide up the members, we decided that it was okay to play with one person short, and when we were about to start the game with eleven against ten, Yuriko raised her hand and said, "I will join to the team that is short of players."


    "Oh, okay. Well then, thank you," Nagai, who was in charge of dividing the members, said to Yuriko.


    At her suggestion, the first-year students, including Tachibana, were taken aback.


    "Mori-senpai, you can play soccer?"


    Tachibana, who was standing next to Yuriko, said in surprise.


    "I played with boys until the sixth grade."


    Yuriko replied and took one of the bibs from her bib case.


    "Is that so!?"


    Tachibana looked at Yuriko with an amazed expression. Yuriko half smiled and annoyingly dismissed Tachibana, who said, "Wow, that''s great."


    In the past, Yuriko had participated in club practices when there were members absent like this, but this was the first time since Tachibana and the others joined the club at the beginning of the school year.


    When Yuriko was in elementary school, she played on the same boys'' soccer team as I did, from first grade through sixth grade. She still occasionally participates in a local women''s soccer club. It is said that basic soccer technique is acquired by the age of 12, so her skills are solid. She was also knowledgeable enough to be able to plan practice menus in her place when the advisor teacher isn''t around, so she was definitely more of an asset than the inexperienced boys.


    After re-braided her hair, which was tied up in one piece with a scrunchie, Yuriko took white plastic leg guards from her own small handbag on the bench and began to get ready.


    The club members, having finished their preparations, scatter onto the field. The sound of the track team''s starter pistol popping could be heard, as could the sound of the tennis team hitting the ball. After 6 p.m., the sun was setting and it gradually became dim, and the lights on the roof were lit. The western sky, where the sun was setting, was tinged with dark reds and purples, the colors of a summer evening.


    Our advisor, Nakata-sensei, was away at a staff meeting, so when the thirty minutes were up, Tachibana, on the bench, puffed out her reliance and blew a badly played whistle.


    After thirty minutes of running around on the field at dusk, we were all sweaty. Yuriko also had a bunch of bangs stuck to her forehead. Sweat was dripping from the tip of her chin as well, and she was wiping her cheeks with her sleeve.


    "Good work," I said to her as I stood nearby.


    Yuriko exhaled heavily and said, "Ah, it''s so tiring."


    "Mori-senpai, it''s amazing!" said Tachibana, who had been collecting the players'' bibs, and came running up to Yuriko.


    "I didn''t know senpai could play soccer like that. It felt like you were better than a first-year reserve! No one can even take the ball from you!"


    Yuriko laughed, "It''s not good for a defender to be taken off the ball, is it?"


    "Why don''t you just become a player already?"


    "As you can expect, if you participate in a serious competition with boys, you will get injured. There''s too much of a difference in our physiques, so it''s dangerous."


    Hearing Yuriko and Tachibana''s conversation beside me, we returned to the front of the bench. After a short break and cleanup, today''s club activities are over. The club members all sit on the ground, stretching their legs, massaging in pairs, and cooling down.


    I sat down, loosened my spike laces, slipped off my soccer socks, and removed my leg guards. Yuriko sat down near me and did the same, pulling her socks down to her ankles.


    With my hands on the sides of my body, I exhaled into the purple-tinged evening sky. The sand on the field was scorching hot after a day of sharp sunlight, but the tender breeze was pleasant. A few black shadows of birds slowly crossed the darkening sky.


    The track and field club, who were using the same field--- by the way, the baseball club is using a baseball field that is shared with the softball club--- began to put away their hurdles and other equipment, and the sound of the wind instruments is echoing from the school building.


    I turn my head lightly, then fold my knees and stretch my thigh muscles. Then, a piece of gravel flew in from the side and hit me on the leg.


    "What?"


    I said to Yuriko, who was diagonally behind me, and she said, "Push my back."


    She put her legs together and stretched them out in front of her, stretching her calves. I sat up, moved behind Yuriko, and lightly pressed her shoulder.


    "So weak. A little harder."


    As such an order flew in, I pushed her body. Perhaps the force was right, Yuriko let out an "oooh" sound like an old man soaked in a hot spring.


    I suddenly remembered that we used to stretch like this when we were in elementary school. Back then, we touched each other''s bodies in a more sticky way, but now, as I expected, we were a little more conscious of each other. I was a little embarrassed to look at her curled up back, the shape of the strings of her underwear clearly visible through her sweat-soaked wear.


    Even though she was a better soccer player than the boys, the shoulder I was holding was much slenderer than those of the boys I usually help stretch.


    Then Yuriko said, "Thank you," and stopped stretching and stood up.


    "I''ll do it for you too. Sit down."


    I did as I was told, sitting on the ground and stretching my legs. She grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me forward. At first, she was gentle, but then she began to push harder and harder.


    "Hey, that''s too hard!"


    I screamed in protest as Yuriko pushed me with her weight even though I resisted, and she giggled as I fell to the side to escape her hands.


    "Gzz.."


    I said as I brushed the sand from my arm when I fell, then, "Well, I''ve got to clean up," she blurted out and scurried over to Tachibana, who was gathering up the scattered balls.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 2.6

    It was after 7:00 p.m. and Yuriko and I was cycling side by side on our way back to the same neighborhood. We were often accompanied by two or three other members of the soccer club on the way home, but once we entered the residential area where we lived, it was usually just Yuriko and me.


    We stopped at a red light. It was the time of day when people were going home, and many cars were on the road.


    Yuriko said to herself, "I haven''t kicked a ball for a while, so my legs feel heavy."


    "When was the last time you kicked a ball?"


    "I think it''s been about two months. I haven''t played women''s soccer in a while."


    "It will be myalgia you know, probably."


    "I think so," she rubbed her thighs over her skirt. Then she turned her head toward me.


    "Kenichi, you''ve gotten so much better, haven''t you?"


    "What''s with you all of a sudden? When you praise me like this, I want to read what is the meaning behind it."


    "You don''t have to read it. I felt it when we played together for the first time in a long time. When you had the ball, you were very calm. And you will also observe your surroundings"


    "Thanks," I said honestly.


    "You used to kick the ball out as soon as you got pressure. It looks like you''ve gotten over that."


    When I was on the same team as her, I did indeed try to kick the ball forward as soon as I was about to get the ball. If I passed the ball to the back of the opponent, even if they couldn''t reach it, we wouldn''t be directly pinched. Besides, we had a fast FW who could pick up even a slightly loose ball.


    "My dad also said that I made you run too much. If you put it that way, it''s true that it''s been a habit of mine for a long time."


    Yuriko laughed but was a little proud of herself.


    "It was fairly difficult. We had to sprint again and again, and we sometimes collided with the enemy in the middle of chasing. I was probably the hardest worker on that team."


    "Maybe," I nodded in nostalgia, thinking back to my elementary school days.


    As our conversation trailed off, I let out a single breath, as if to exhale the day''s exhaustion. I looked up at the pale blue sky with barely a trace of sunlight remaining in the west. Thin gray clouds were floating in the dark gradient of the evening sky, and white stars were appearing in the gaps between them. As I gazed at it in a daze, Yuriko muttered something.


    "...... Come to think of it, next month will be three years since Oji-san passed away."


    A truck drove in front of us, making a loud noise. The smell of exhaust fumes lingered around for a while.


    Yuriko stared straight ahead at the traffic light. When I turned my head to the side, I saw a slender curve from her chin to her throat and her eyelashes curled slightly upward. Yuriko''s face looked familiar, but when I stared at her profile again, I felt as if it belonged to someone I didn''t know. Like earlier when we were stretching, I suddenly felt Yuriko''s feminine side strongly again. I don''t know why.---I don''t know why, but somewhere in my heart, I had the feeling that it was because of Izumi.


    "Oji-san, he wasn''t very good at playing soccer, but he was very good at teaching."


    Yuriko turned her face toward me and said with a somewhat mischievous expression on her face. My father, who had been a volunteer to coach the boys'' team in elementary school, had taught us the basics of soccer when we were both in elementary school.


    "He was a college teacher, so I guess he was used to teaching others."


    When I said this, Yuriko nodded with a smile and said, "Maybe."


    Then, the traffic light turned green.


    With the chain clanking, we started pedaling our bicycles. A little later, we arrived at Yuriko''s house. It is a house with a small garden, just like mine. The house is surrounded by brick blocks.


    "Bye."


    Yuriko waved one hand as she got off her bicycle.


    "Okay. See you tomorrow."


    I said that to Yuriko and cycled on for a while. It took me about five minutes to get from Yuriko''s house to mine by bicycle.


    When I arrived at the street where my house is located, I saw two figures in front of the house.


    At first, it was too dark to see them clearly, but when I got closer, I saw that the figures were Izumi. Beside her was a short, serious-looking girl in the same uniform, wearing glasses and with her hair tied back in two.


    "Oh, Kenichi-kun," Izumi said to me as I got off my bicycle.


    "Izumi... Did you just get home?"


    "Yes," she nodded.


    The girl beside her, perhaps shy, squirmed and hid behind Izumi as we exchanged words. The girl is wearing the same uniform as Izumi. I didn''t recognize her, but the fact that she was with Izumi on her way home at this time of the day suggested that she also lived in this area.


    "......Um, Rina-chan, do you know each other?"


    "Oh, yeah. His name is  Sakamoto Kenichi......."


    Izumi started to introduce me to the girl. Without thinking, I reflexively opened my mouth.


    "I''m a relative of Izumi''s. I live near here."


    Eh? Izumi''s mouth dropped open.


    "I-I see."


    The girl said, still fidgeting. Then, "My name is Hoshino Aiko. Nice to meet you," She bowed her head as if to escape my gaze.


    "Oh, hello...," I said, scratching my head. I''m a shy person myself, so I understand the uncomfortable feeling that Hoshino-san must be feeling right now.


    "See you later, Izumi."


    Then I got on my bike and started riding again.


    "Eh, ah, yeah."


    Izumi looked at me with a confused and troubled expression.


    I rode around the residential area for a while, circled the house, and then parked my bicycle in the front yard, making sure that Izumi''s friends were gone.


    At that moment, I was sure that Izumi was going to tell her friend, Hoshino-san, that she was living with me. For some reason, I felt like she shouldn''t do that and had reacted that way instantly. On second thought, it''s possible that she had already told her friend that there were boys her age at the place she was moving to. I wondered if I had done anything unnecessary.


    "I''m home."


    When I took off my shoes and entered the living room, Izumi, who was sitting at the table, gave me a troubled look and immediately spoke to me.


    "I''m sorry, Kenichi-kun. I feel like I made you feel uncomfortable."


    "No... Me too. I was acting out of reflex. I thought that if we explained to that person that we were living together, it might be a hassle....... But if she was a good friend of Izumi''s, we might as well have told her."


    I remembered Yuriko. I was hiding Izumi from her at first, but that had gotten me into a bit of trouble later on. If that girl was a trusted friend of Izumi''s, it might not have been a good idea for me to pretend to be someone else.


    When I said this, Izumi shook her head.


    "I''ll explain everything to her next time we have an opportunity like this, don''t worry. She''s not the type of girl who''s going to go around talking about that kind of stuff in a weird way."


    "I see."


    Izumi nodded. Then, as if to change the atmosphere,


    "What are you going to make for dinner tonight?" She said cheerfully.


    "Ah, let me see. We had minced meat in the fridge, I was thinking of making a hamburg steak or something..."


    "I understand. I''ll help you then. I''m going to get dressed, so just wait for me."


    Izumi said this and left the living room. It was already dark outside, and the surface of the window glass reflected the lighted living room like a mirror. I closed the curtains and went back to my room to get dressed too.


    End of Chapter 2

 Volume 1 - CH 3.1

    The next day after club activities, I headed to the bicycle parking lot and found Yuriko and Tachibana there. It seemed that the two of them were standing around talking, looking toward the field.


    "Oh, Kenichi. Are you free now?"


    Yuriko, who was wearing a short-sleeved school uniform and had a school bag slung over her shoulder, said to me as I was about to walk past them. Tachibana was carrying a backpack with the straps stretched out, and her hair, which had been tied up in two during club activities, was down. When her eyes met mine, she smiled and made a small bow.


    "Why?"


    "Akari asked me if I wanted to stop by a family restaurant in front of the station on my way home. Oh, Nagai. Nagai, come here for a minute."


    Yuriko did not wait for my answer but called out to Nagai, who was walking with an enamel bag slung over his shoulder and his hands shoved into his pants and beckoned him over.


    Nagai looked up, approached us, and asked Yuriko, "What?"


    "Why don''t we stop by the station together? Kenichi''s coming too."


    "What kind of gathering is this?"


    He looked at the three of us and asked suspiciously. Leaving aside if it was just me and Yuriko, but the three of us, including Tachibana, rarely hang out together.


    "Nothing in particular. I just felt like it."


    Yuriko answered with a smile as she folded her arms under her chest.


    "Um. I''m on dinner duty..."


    As I stood next to Yuriko and started to say this, she quickly moved her face to my ear. The sudden whisper tickled my ear and gave me goosebumps.


    "It''s okay if it''s just for a while, right? I don''t mind if you leave halfway through. Just help me invite Nagai."


    "Well..."


    I guessed from Yuriko''s words that she was asked by Tachibana to invite Nagai to play together with her. I was either bait to catch Nagai or camouflage to appear natural.


    The station is the opposite of the way home, so it''s a hassle. When I was mumbling, Yuriko gave a small, frustrated click of her tongue, and quickly pulled her face away from mine.


    "Somehow, I feel like I want to say something to myself."


    She said, looking into the distance and trying to sound heard.


    "Hey, stop it, you."


    I said hurriedly, and Tachibana asked Yuriko happily.


    "Mori-senpai, do you have some kind of a weakness for Sakamoto-senpai?"


    "Fufufu," Yuriko laughed unnaturally as she looked at me.


    "Please tell me too."


    "What should I do. It depends on my mood whether my soliloquy will come out of my mouth or not..."


    "Alright, I''ll go.......Nagai, come with me."


    I pondered, pushed Nagai''s back with my palm, and walked away from the two girls. Nagai looked back at Yuriko.


    "What the h*ll do you have on Sakamoto?"


    "What are you talking about?"


    Fufu, Yuriko said, tilting her head slightly, with a nonchalant expression on her face. ---I knew I should have hidden Izumi from her at the time.


    space 3


    Yuriko and I were pushing our bicycles as the four of us walked toward the station nearest our high school. Dark brown clouds were floating in the dark sky, and an old street lamp on the edge of the road was casting a slightly yellowish light.


    Nagai and Tachibana were walking ahead of me, side by side, while Yuriko and I, pushing our bicycles, were walking a bit away from them. As we looked at Nagai and Tachibana, who was two heads apart, Yuriko asked, "Are you cooking the dinner?" Yuriko asked.


    "Yes, I am."


    "Really? I didn''t expect that. Do your relatives who have moved in help you too?"


    "Izumi is in charge of breakfast. But when she has time, she also helps with dinner."


    "I see. I see."


    Yuriko mumbled as she looked ahead.


    The road from the high school to the station was quiet with only a few students from the same school walking along. I could hear the sound of the bicycle chain we were pushing and Nagai and Tachibana talking.


    After walking for about ten minutes, we arrived at a family restaurant on the street in front of the station. We entered the restaurant and sat down at a table for four, separated into men and women.


    Perhaps because it was a weekday, the restaurant was not so crowded. In the non-smoking section, there were lone customers operating laptops and tablets, young men who seemed to have come to chat, and a group of girls wearing different high school uniforms.


    Yuriko and Tachibana chose a parfait and drink bar, while Nagai and I ordered French fries and a drink bar. After we finished ordering, Yuriko got up from her seat and said, "I''ll go get you your drinks." Tachibana tried to follow her, but she said, "It''s fine," and went off by herself.


    Tachibana and Nagai were somehow having a warm conversation that was typical of high school students. I decided to read the news on my phone so as not to disturb them. I ignored the conversation that came into my ears and followed the words in my phone.


    On the news site I connected to, there was news of a scandal at a major company, with pictures of men with their heads bowed.


    ¡°Nagai-senpai, you are very popular among first-year girls, you know.¡±


    "That''s just a flattery, right."


    "It''s not flattery. You''re in the top three in the soccer club."


    I looked at a column about the health benefits of a soy-based diet.


    "Is there such a ranking..."


    "To be more precise, Mori-senpai is in the first place, and Nagai-senpai is in second."


    "Mori is number one?"


    "Yes. She can lead the boys even though she is a girl, it''s dignified and cool."


    The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that this year''s rainy season has been rainy throughout the country and that there seems to be no concern about water shortages.


    "Hee. How about Sakamoto?"


    As I was about to touch an article about this summer''s featured movie, my name came up and my attention turned to Nagai''s conversation.


    "Sakamoto-senpai is..."


    Tachibana turned her mischievous, cat-like eyes on me. I looked up from my phone and said shortly, "You don''t have to tell me."


    "Ah...," Tachibana smiled with a bitter smile and then continued.


    "To be honest, Sakamoto-senpai''s popularity is not so great, but some people thought he was dating Mori-senpai."


    "Huh?"


    "You often go home with her. Because of that, I''ve been asked several times who is with Mori-senpai."


    "That''s a misunderstanding."


    As I said this, Nagai continued to ask questions.


    "But you guys really don''t have that kind of relationship?"


    "No, absolutely not."


    I answered immediately. When we first joined the club, the club members had many ill feelings toward us because we called each other by our first names, and some of the senior members looked at me with annoyed eyes. There were times when I worried about it, but after half a year, they understood that our relationship was a natural progression. Nagai must have known that we were not in that kind of relationship.


    At that moment, Yuriko returned, saying, "Sorry to keep you waiting," and put four glasses on the table. The conversation flowed on, and I sat down on the sofa with a deep sigh of relief and sipped the glass of Coke that Yuriko had brought.


    The drink was already in my mouth when I noticed that I smelled something strange.


    There was something mixed in the cola, and slowly, over time, the surface of my tongue began to heat up. I almost coughed at the smell, which was so pungent that it stung the back of my ears, and I hastily swallowed the liquid in my mouth.


    "Yuriko, you put Tabasco or something in there, didn''t you?"


    "Did it not suit your taste?"


    I could see Yuriko unnaturally putting her hand over her mouth in an elegant gesture in my tear-stained vision as if to say, "Oh my," she said nonchalantly.


    "Seriously, stop doing that!"


    I said, drinking the water Nagai handed me with a laugh. D*mn, the cold water is making my tongue numb.


    "I was just trying to make it taste good. I mean, in another way."


    "That''s not good! No matter how you think about it, tabasco in cola is definitely wrong."


    "it''s delicious, Sakamoto-senpai."


    Tachibana interrupted from the side.


    "No, it''s not!"


    Yuriko said to Tachibana, "It''s delicious, isn''t it?" and the two of them said to each other, "that''s right~". What a suffocating reaction. I''m starting to feel like I''m being bullied.


    Nagai said, impressed, "Only Mori can mess with Sakamoto this much."


    "Sakamoto-senpai is saved by Mori-senpai. Characteristically."


    For some reason, Tachibana, too, had a satisfied look on her face.


    "What do you mean by that? I mean, Yuriko, do something about this. I don''t want to drink anymore. My throat hurts."


    It seemed that I had poured down a surprisingly large amount of the Tabasco cola, although the amount of cola with Tabasco was reduced, there was still about half a cup left to go.


    Yuriko said, "It can''t be helped," and Yuriko took a moment to prepare herself, then gulped down the Tabasco cola in one gulp.


    I said, "It tastes like s*it, right," and Yuriko sucked in her breath and smiled, "I guess it''s not that bad," But her hands were shaking. She immediately started drinking water, though she kept her expression relaxed.


    "I''ll drink it too, senpai."


    Tachibana, whether she read the atmosphere or something, gulped down the rest of the drink. There was no time to stop her. She placed the glass, rather carefully, on the table amidst the attention of the other three.


    "...................................................................."


    "Hey, it''s getting quiet. Is she all right?"


    Nagai asked Yuriko. Yuriko, looking at Tachibana with her mouth half-open as if to say, "I did it,". She was bent down, and from the front, I couldn''t see her expression because it was hidden by her bangs.


    I was a little worried and asked her, "Hey, are you sure you''re okay?", Yuriko also asked, "Akari? Are you okay?". Eventually, Tachibana raised her face and nodded with her lips tied. Then, after a few more seconds, she opened her mouth, breathed in, and said with a red face.


    "Sakamoto-senpai is exaggerating, isn''t he~"


    "You''re not convincing at all!"


    Yuriko laughed when I retorted reflexively. Tachibana, perhaps having reached the limit of her endurance, seized the melon soda with teary eyes.

 Volume 1 - CH 3.2

    We talked for about an hour and then left the family restaurant. Yuriko and I got on our bicycles and Nagai and Tachibana walked toward the station. It was already dark, and the road along the national highway was filled with streetlights.


    "Does Tachibana like Nagai?"


    As I cycled along, I asked Yuriko beside me. I had never talked about this topic with anyone before, though I had suspected it might be so for some time.


    "I guess he''s in the position of a senior she''s interested in."


    "What''s that?"


    "She''s not serious enough yet, so that''s about it."


    "I see."


    I don''t know whether I understand it or not. I was too lazy to ask for more details and I wasn''t interested in Tachibana''s love life, so I let the conversation slide.


    We drove as usual for about 20 minutes. Cars drove noisily, and our shadows, bathed in numerous streetlights, swayed unsteadily, like algae drifting in the sea.


    I parted from Yuriko on my way home, and when I arrived home, the light was on at the front door. Izumi''s brown loafers were also placed there, neatly aligned. The light was also leaking from the living room door. When I entered, I found Izumi sitting in the dining chair.


    "Welcome home."


    "Oh, I''m home..."


    She was still in her school uniform. It was just the time when Izumi was coming home.


    "I''m sorry. I had to go out with a friend today and I''m running late."


    I put my bag down on the floor and apologized.


    "No, It''s okay..."


    "For dinner, I think we could rely on pizza, but is that okay?"


    "I''m fine. But is auntie okay with it?"


    "Yeah. I''ve been ordering it from time to time when I don''t have time to cook dinner. But there is a limit of three deliveries a month."


    "Oh, wait a minute. I think there is a..."


    Izumi flipped through the pamphlet that had been set aside on the side of the table and pulled out one, saying, "There it is."


    "A discount pamphlet."


    "Ooh. As expected."


    It was a discount coupon for ten percent off several kinds of pizzas.


    We decided on the discounted Margherita and texted my mother, "Can we have pizza for dinner?". She immediately responded with a short "OK,". So we decided to order a large portion for three and a salad and made the call.


    A few minutes passed while Izumi and I took turns taking showers and changing into loungewear. Just as I got out of the bath, changed into shorts and a T-shirt, and entered the living room, the intercom rang.


    "Yes," Izumi got up and headed for the front door, wearing a gray hoodie over her loungewear, even though no one outside could hear her.


    The sound of Izumi''s exchange with the overly friendly delivery man could be heard all the way to the living room. When Izumi returned, she put a large flat box on the table and opened it. Seeing a small bag of Tabasco inside, I remembered Yuriko''s prank.


    "Geez. Tabasco..."


    "You don''t like it?"


    "No, I rather like it when it''s used appropriately."


    "Appropriately?"


    "I''ve been around people who use it inappropriately..."


    "?"


    Izumi tilted her head. When I said, "Sorry, it was nothing," Izumi gave a small smile, took off her hoodie, and pulled out a knife. First, she cut it into a Y shape and then further divided it into two equal pieces. The cheese on the knife dripped thickly and clouded the surface of the stainless steel knife.


    "Thank you."


    "No problem."


    I looked at the TV, which had been left on, and saw that a movie was playing. It had just started, and I knew the movie.


    "Oh, this movie."


    "What''s wrong?"


    "My brother was raving about it the other day. I think he even posted a review of it on some website."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah."


    I sat down on the sofa with a plate of pizza. As I was watching the movie, I noticed that Izumi was also looking at the TV with interest.


    "Isn''t it hard to see there? You can sit on the sofa."


    "Eh, but it''s not good manners..."


    "That''s okay, don''t worry about it too much. You must be tired if you have to be so careful at home."


    When I said this, Izumi said, "Then," with a smile on her face, and moved from the table to the sofa with her plate. Even though I was the one who said it, my concentration on watching the movie was taken away by my concern for Izumi sitting beside me. She had her hair, tucked around her chest. Her arms were terribly slender, extending out from the rather short sleeves of her short-sleeved T-shirt.


    From the way she was staring at the screen, she didn''t seem to be as nervous as I felt. This made me feel relieved, but also somewhat disappointed.

 Volume 1 - CH 3.3

    On Saturday morning, exactly one week after Izumi''s move-in day, I woke up to the sound of the vacuum cleaner.


    When I got up from bed, the sun was already high in the sky and the room was bright with sharp rays of sunlight coming through the gap between the curtains. It was very hot. My body was slightly sweaty, and sweat trickled down from my sideburns to my neck.


    I looked at the clock on my bedside table and saw that it was past eleven o''clock.


    I had slept well last night, not waking up until this time, probably because I had stayed up late reading a book and fell asleep late, and also because I was tired from the week''s work.


    I stretched out my upper body on the bed. My thighs, calves, and abs were mildly sore. I yawned and exhaled thinly in a daze when there was a knock at the door.


    In a daze, I replied in a sleepy voice and heard Izumi''s voice through the door, "Kenichi-kun, auntie says you have to get up now."


    "... Okay."


    I put my slippers that I had taken off under the bed and opened the door to my room, with the bed hair on my head. And there was Izumi with a vacuum cleaner.


    She was wearing a sleeveless blue shirt, brown shorts, and red slippers on her bare feet.


    "Cleaning your room?


    I asked, my head still a little fuzzy, and Izumi nodded.


    "Yeah. I was cleaning my room and around the stairs."


    "I see."


    Even when I stood up, my drowsiness didn''t go away and I started yawning. I stretched my shoulders and noticed Izumi staring blankly into my room, which I had left open.


    "Izumi?"


    When I questioned her, she reacted with a jolt, as if she had come to her senses.


    "I''m sorry! I just thought it was a big bookshelf."


    "Oh, that?"


    I opened the door to my room wide and looked at the bookshelves that filled one wall. I casually asked, "Do you want to take a look?" Izumi said, "Is it okay?" Izumi said.


    I nodded, and Izumi put the vacuum cleaner down in the hallway and walked into my room, saying in a low voice, "Excuse me...". The room was tidy enough that I was not embarrassed to be seen, but the blanket on the bed was crumpled, and that was the only thing that bothered me a little. Come to think of it, this is the first time Izumi has entered my room. Suddenly I became aware of it and left the door open. Somehow, it seemed easier than being alone in a closed room.


    Izumi stood in front of the bookshelf and looked at the books lined up in a row.


    "It''s a huge amount of books."


    "Yeah. Most of them were taken by my brother. But there were still many of them, so I kept them in this room. Some of them were precious books.


    I said as I pulled out one of Michel Foucault''s books, which was placed within easy reach. When I flipped it open, I couldn''t tell whether it belonged to my father or my brother, but there were Japanese characters and notes scribbled in a messy script.


    "Whose book is that?"


    Izumi asked with a puzzled look on her face.


    "A philosopher from the past."


    "Kenichi-kun, do you often read such books?"


    "I don''t read such serious books very often. I like reading, so I sometimes read simple books, just the parts I''m interested in. Most of the specialized books are just for interior decoration," I answered as I put the book back.


    "Hee," Izumi said.


    "But, as expected of a lecturer''s son."


    "Why?"


    "Because I don''t think ordinary high school students are interested in that kind of thing."


    "...I don''t like to think I''m influenced by him."


    I said that because I didn''t want to think that I was living the same kind of life as my brother and father, who were very talented. I don''t think I could live the same way as them and be like them. Thinking about it that way, I felt like I was a degraded copy of them, and it made me feel bad.


    "I think you''ve been influenced by him to the fullest."


    But, strangely Izumi said that.


    "......Is that so?"


    She nodded in a terribly honest tone, "Yes," and I let out a sigh.


    Izumi then left my room and began vacuuming the upstairs hallway again. I followed her out of my room and down into the living room.

 Volume 1 - CH 3.4

    The weather remained clear throughout the rest of the day. In the afternoon, the temperature rose and it became quite hot. However, since we had a practice match scheduled for the following day, today''s practice was light and we were not too tired.


    On the way home, Yuriko approached me at the bicycle parking lot.


    "Hey, can we go by Ichishou for a minute?"


    Ichishou stands for Irisawa Municipal First Elementary School, where Yuriko and I attend to.


    Tln : Irisawa Shiritsu Dai Ichi Shougakkou


    "Why?"


    "Today, my cousin is having a soccer match. She''s only in the fourth grade. Would you like to watch?"


    Since I had no plans for the evening, I said, "Okay,". Although alumni from junior high, senior high, or college occasionally came to my former team to coach, I myself had never shown up after graduating from elementary school.


    As we entered the elementary school grounds, we parked our bicycles in the parking lot, just as we used to do. All around us were small bicycles of elementary school students.


    It had been a long time since I had been on an elementary school ground, but it felt terribly small. On the soccer court, there are kids running around in the same uniforms we used to wear. I recognized the other team''s uniform. It was a local club team. The narrow elementary school field was filled with the sound of children''s voices, footsteps chasing the ball, and whistles.


    Leaning against the bars in the corner of the field, we turned our attention to the field where the match was being played. The evening sun was strong and hot.


    "Which one is Yuriko''s cousin?" I asked.


    "That girl. Her name is Miyuki-chan."


    The girl on the other end of Yuriko''s finger, with a short bob, gave a small and cute impression. From the looks of it, her position is the right side of the midfield. The match is a typical situation in elementary school games, where several central players from both teams, who are either physically large or technically skilled, are crowded together in a small space kicking the ball at each other. Miyuki-chan is moving around in the corner of the court, whether she wants to be involved in the game or not.


    "Her mother told me that she started playing soccer because of my influence."


    Yuriko said proudly as she watched her cousin and her juniors in action.


    "Hee. How long has she been doing this?"


    "Two years."


    "I see. Then, I guess it can''t be helped if it''s still that way..."


    "Yeah, she''s a quiet girl from the start. But she''s got a good muscle. I''ve taught her a few times, and she''s very dexterous and quick to learn."


    "I see."


    "Well, the big barrier is that she is a little too kind and doesn''t want to be actively involved in the game."


    As we were talking about this, the ball rolled toward Miyuki, as if it had burst out of the center group. She was momentarily jumpy, but the ball came to her feet and she kicked it back into the middle. It was a beautiful kick. The ball went up softly, the central group swarmed again, and when it hit someone''s head and spilled, the opposing keeper held it.


    "Surely, it''s a beautiful kick."


    "Right?"


    "She looks like a passer."


    Tln : I don''t know much about soccer, but the passer here might be like a setter/set-upper/tosser in volleyball


    "Well, I think so. I also think that if Miyuki is going to play on that side, it would be better for her to develop in that direction. She doesn''t seem like an attacker in terms of personality."


    Yuriko was watching the gameplay of her cousin completely from the perspective of a mentor. And I suddenly wondered if this is how my father used to watch us in elementary school.


    After about ten minutes, the game was over. Miyuki-chan came running to us from among the elementary school students who had finished greeting each other.


    "Good work," Yuriko put her hand on Miyuki''s head.


    "Yuriko-chan, did you come to see me?"


    "Yeah. You did your best."


    --- Uwah. Yuriko, who always says harsh words, is saying kind words. This is not like Yuriko who is always yelling at the bench during games.


    Yuriko removed her hand from Miyuki and turned her body toward me.


    "This is my friend. A graduate of this school."


    Miyuki looks at me. Our eyes meet.


    "..."


    "..."


    I had never talked to a girl this age before. When I was at a loss as to how I should treat her, "Hey. Say hello," Yuriko said to me as if she were disgusted.


    "H-Hello ..."


    I said just a few words, but Miyuki was clearly scared, perhaps because of the strange pause. Her eyes were swimming.


    "Kenichi, your smile is stiff."


    I know that without being told. But this was the kindest smile I could muster. Miyuki-chan bowed and said, "Hello!" in a nervous voice to me, and then she run toward the field. The kids were all forming a circle. It seemed like they were going to do some stretching.


    "Ah~. You scared the elementary school girls. That''s Kenichi for you."


    Yuriko looked at me coldly.


    After that, Yuriko and I approached the bench to say hello to a coach we both knew. His name is Ishida-san, an old man who works for the municipal office, wearing a jersey and a cap. Many of the coaches on this team are parents of children on the team or alumni of the elementary school who volunteer their time, but Ishida-san had stayed on to coach the team long after his own children had graduated.


    "Oh, Kenichi!"


    Ishida-san noticed me before I could call out to him. I was a little surprised by that.


    "Hello. It''s been a while."


    I bowed my head and greeted him. Ishida-san smiles on his tanned red face and asks me questions like, "You''ve grown taller," and "Are you still playing soccer?". In the middle of this conversation, he shifts his gaze to Yuriko, who is standing beside me, and asks,


    "Your girlfriend?" he asked in a low voice. Yuriko reacted by lifting her shoulders.


    "I''m Mori. I''m Kenichi''s classmate. Did you forget? I''m not his girlfriend."


    Yuriko smiled cheerfully, but with an intensity that seemed to bring out a vein on her head, Yuriko said her name.


    "Ah! Yuriko, is that you!? I didn''t recognize you, you look so different! If I look closely, you''re indeed Yuriko!"


    "What do you mean by look closely."


    Yuriko was grumbling. "Sorry," Ishida-san said to Yuriko with a laugh, and then asked,


    "How is Coach Sakamoto?"


    He asked me.


    For a moment, I was at a loss for an answer. I hadn''t told the people in this club that my father had died.


    "....... My father passed away. Three years ago."


    "Eh?" the coach said, and for a moment, he was speechless. I felt the atmosphere of our friendly reunion froze. Yuriko, too, cast her eyes down beside me.


    "Why?"


    "He was suddenly ill. It was so sudden."


    "So that''s it...... I''m sorry. I didn''t know that happened."


    "---No. It''s I who should say so, I''m sorry I didn''t report it to the club. Even though I indebted you a lot."


    "No no, It''s okay. I''m sorry to hear that."


    Dad, he would show up after finishing his college work and often sat on the bench in his jacket. His intellectual appearance, which was out of place on an elementary school field, reminded me of the manager of a European professional club, and the other coaches would joked that he was the Mourinho of our club. As I was near the bench, the image of my father, dressed in a strange combination of jacket and flashy colored soccer spikes, came to mind.


    After talking for a while about my dad, we told each other what we had been up to. Yuriko also spoke in a cheerful tone, and gradually, the cold air began to thaw again.


    When the conversation settled down, Yuriko and I said, "We will come again," and went back to the corner of the field so as not to disturb the stretching and meeting.


    I thought she was just going to leave, but Yuriko said, "I''m going back with Miyuki-chan, can you wait for me?" Yuriko said. I nodded my head.


    While we were waiting, Yuriko picked up a soccer ball that was lying nearby and kicked it to me. The name of our elementary school is written in an oil-based pen on that ball for elementary school students. We were both in loafers and somehow kicked that ball to each other.


    The soil of the field and the surrounding scenery had hardly changed since we were here, and I was struck by a strange sensation as if time had rewound.


    Yuriko kicked the ball in front of me in exactly the same way, but the only thing that didn''t overlap was the image of Yuriko in her old short hair and the image of Yuriko in her current school uniform. She tried not to lift her legs too much, but I couldn''t help but notice that Yuriko''s skirt swayed as she kicked the ball, almost revealing her pure white thighs that weren''t sunburned. It was impossible back then to think about such things while exchanging passes with Yuriko.


    Yuriko raised her foot lightly as she trapped the ball, which hit a pebble and bounced a little, and that''s when the wind suddenly blew. She quickly held down her skirt with her hand.


    Yuriko looked up and our eyes met, and I looked down in a hurry.


    "Don''t look, stupid."


    "...... You shouldn''t be kicking a ball while dressed like that..."


    As I looked at the ground, a strong ball flew. I couldn''t react fast enough and the ball hit me just below my knees.


    "Ouch!"


    My voice came out unconsciously. When I looked up, Yuriko stared at me and clicked her tongue.


    Scary woman, I thought, and that was the only impression I had of Yuriko that had not changed.


    Soon, Miyuki-chan and the others had finished stretching and cleaning up their equipment. The three of us left the elementary school together.


    Yuriko and I walked along the streets of a residential area in the evening, pushing our bicycles. The red sky was almost dark, and clouds were drifting in the sky, which had turned pale purple in the dusk.


    At first, Miyuki looked at me warily as she talked with Yuriko, but gradually she seemed to stop worrying about it and exchanged a few words with me as well. She told me about elementary school and her current team.


    Miyuki said to me at a corner of a residential area, "See you later, Kenichi-kun". Yuriko had called me by my name, so Miyuki seemed to have imitated her.


    "S-See you later."


    Yuriko stared at me as I replied in a gentle tone of voice, as if looking at a suspicious person.


    Yuriko then gently waved her hand and said, "See you later, say hi to Oba-san too."


    Miyuki replied, "Okay," and went into a house just around the corner.


    "Then. Let''s go home too. You should go to bed early today so that you can run properly tomorrow."


    "Yeah."


    We exchanged such words on the street corner where it was getting dark and the shadows were beginning to be covered by the evening twilight, and we went back to our own houses.

 Volume 1 - CH 3.5

    The next day was a joint practice match between the three schools at our school field. After a short period of hot, sunny days that felt like midsummer, today the rainy season had returned and gray clouds covered the sky, making it humid but not too hot, which was nice as we were playing 40-minute matches.


    After preparing for the match by drawing lines and adjusting the position of the goal, I checked my bag at the baggage area to see if I had forgotten anything and noticed that my lunch box was missing. At the same time, I noticed that the light on my smartphone was blinking. I looked and saw that it was an incoming call from Izumi. Come to think of it, we haven''t given each other our e-mail addresses or SNS yet. The only way to contact each other is to call each other directly.


    I called Izumi back. She picked up immediately.


    ¡ºAh, Kenichi-kun. You forgot your lunch box.¡»


    "Yeah, I just noticed."


    ¡ºDo you want me to bring it?¡»


    "No, I''m sorry. I''m thinking of buying something at a convenience store or something, so I''m fine."


    ¡ºDon''t worry about it. I''m in the mood to walk outside too, so I''ll bring it with me.¡»


    It felt strange to be reserved to Izumi who said so, so I decided to ask her to bring it to me.


    "........ I''m sorry, but can I ask you to do that for me? Do you know the way? There''s a bus that goes to our high school. If you get off there, you shouldn''t get lost. It''s called "Irizawa High School."


    ¡ºThen, I''ll go with that.¡»


    "Yeah. I''m sorry, even though it''s your day off. You don''t have to come in a hurry."


    ¡ºUnderstood. I''ll call you when I get there,¡» Izumi said, and hung up the phone.


    On the field, the other two teams were just beginning to warm up for their match.


    While many of the club members were gathering at the field to watch the game, I remained in the baggage area by the school building to wait for Izumi to call me.


    With my cell phone in my hand and my back leaning against the wall, I sat in a gym-like position and watched the match that had started on the field in the distance. The wild coaching voices, like angry shouts and curses, which are characteristic of soccer games, echoed up to here.


    About halfway through the second half of the first match, I received a call from Izumi.


    ¡ºI just arrived in front of the school.¡»


    "Thank you. I''m on my way there in a minute."


    After exchanging such words on the phone, I sat up and started walking toward the school gate when Yuriko, who was washing the water tank at the water tap near the baggage area, gave me a look.


    "Hmm? Kenichi, are you going somewhere?"


    "Well. I forgot my lunch box today. I asked her to bring it for me."


    "Is it that relative of yours, by any chance?"


    "...... Yeah."


    "Is she here right now?"


    When I nodded, Yuriko said, "Can I go with you?"


    "Why?"


    "The other day you said you would introduce me. I want to meet her too."


    Yuriko put the water tank under the tap after washing and took a handkerchief towel out of her shorts to wipe her hands.


    "...... okay."


    I replied so, thinking it was a good opportunity. Together with Yuriko, I walked to the school gate where Izumi was. Under cloudy skies, a humid breeze was blowing, and the leaves on the trees on both sides of the paved road leading to the school gate were rustling and swaying.


    Izumi was standing outside the grounds near the school gate with her hands clasped behind her back. She seemed to arrange her hair according to her mood, but today her hair was pulled back behind one ear in a small bun.


    "That girl?"


    Yuriko looked at Izumi.


    "Yeah."


    "Hmm."


    Yuriko looked at Izumi in the distance, as if she was evaluating. She was dressed in a short-sleeved T-shirt and a long skirt. Izumi may have noticed us, too, and smiled and waved her hand at us.


    "Sorry, for making you come here."


    When I approached her, Izumi took down her bag, pulled out my lunch box wrapped in a cloth, and handed it to me, saying, "Here, something you forgot."


    "Thank you."


    "It''s okay."


    Yuriko, who had been watching this exchange from a couple of steps away, then came and,


    "Hello."


    She greeted Izumi with a smile.


    Tln : Pardon my intrusion but, Yuriko is so adorable


    For a moment, Izumi looked puzzled, but even so, she returned Yuriko''s greeting, saying, "Oh, hello...". I felt I had to introduce her, and was about to open my mouth when Yuriko began to introduce herself.


    "Nice to meet you. I''m Mori Yuriko, Kenichi''s friend. You must be Izumi Rina-san, right? Kenichi told me about you. I went to the same elementary school, junior high school, and high school as Kenichi, and I live near where you live."


    "Oh, I see....... I''m Izumi Rina, nice to meet you."


    Izumi bowed her head timidly. It somehow reminded me of when we first met. I could feel the same stiffness in Izumi now as she greeted Yuriko. I don''t think she is the type of person who is extremely shy, but from what I''ve seen so far, she''s a nervous girl when she meets new people.


    "Sorry to bother you on your day off. Thank you."


    I interrupted from the side. Izumi raised her bowed head, turned her face to me, and shook her head.


    "It''s okay. I had no club activities today, so I didn''t have anything to do.---Then, I''m going to go. Do your best in club activities."


    As Izumi said this, Yuriko stepped forward with a smile still on her face.


    "Hey, Izumi-san. Would you like to watch the match? It''s about to start soon. After all, you''ve come all the way here."


    Having said that, Izumi stayed still, as if reserved.


    "Eh, But ........Is that okay?"


    "Yeah. Parents and others usually come to see the match. It''s totally fine."


    Izumi glanced at me. I didn''t say anything, but she replied to Yuriko with a smile, "Then, just a few minutes."


    "Okay. I''ll show you where the parents and the others'' seats are."


    Yuriko led Izumi and walked toward the field. As I saw them off, I returned to the baggage area with the lunch box that Izumi had brought for me.

 Volume 1 - CH 3.6

    Before long, the first match between the two schools we had invited was over. I took my blue and white school uniform and went out to the field to warm up.


    Izumi was sitting in a pipe chair in the corner of the parents'' tent, looking at me. When our eyes met, she gave me a small hand wave.


    I somehow raised my hand up in return as I stretched. Then I noticed that the other members around me were looking at me. "Who is that? Sakamoto''s acquaintance?" one of them asked, and I replied that she was a relative of mine. Since he was not a guy I talked to very often, he did not pursue the matter further, but they looked at me and Izumi alternately for a while with suspicion, which made me feel uncomfortable.


    When it''s time to start the match, the starter players line up by the side of the field and have the first-year players, who will act as referees, check their equipment before entering the field.


    The two teams faced each other across the centerline, greeted each other, formed a circle, and then spread out on the field. As I took my position as a defensive midfielder and waited for the opponents to kick off, I glanced at Izumi.


    Then I was surprised by an unexpected sight.


    Yuriko, who was supposed to be on the bench earlier, is sitting next to Izumi, who is sitting on a pipe chair amongst the parents. The two seemed to be exchanging some words. Yuriko was smiling and moving her mouth, and Izumi was in a posture with her hands on her knees, her face turned toward Yuriko, listening to what she was saying with a consoling smile.


    ---I wondered what they were talking about.


    For a moment, all of my attention was focused on the two of them when the whistle sounded, signaling the start of the game.


    All at once, the players around me started to move, and I came to myself and returned my gaze to the ball.


    They follow the ball''s path, look around the entire field, and take their positions in anticipation of what is coming next.


    I tried to put the two of them out of my mind and concentrate on soccer. I tried to keep abreast of the constantly changing situation on the field, and when I received the ball, I would pass it to where the opponent''s defense was weak, then, when I saw an opportunity, I would attack up, get into a supporting position to create a path for my teammates to pass, and run to cover for a defender who had just moved up. I continued to play the same defensive midfielder-style play that has become so ingrained in my body.


    Even so, when the ball crossed the field, I couldn''t help but notice Izumi and Yuriko out of the corner of my eye.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 3.7

    One goal was scored by a striker and the ball I kicked went straight into the goal, and the game ended with a score of 2 to 0.


    Even though it was cloudy, it was late June, and everyone was sweating after running around for more than an hour. The players from the two schools, both drenched in sweat and dirt, greeted each other after the match and returned to their benches.


    Yuriko has already returned from the spectator seats and was handing paper cups filled with drinks to the players as they came up from the field, along with Tachibana and the other first-year students on the bench.


    "Here. Good work."


    Still breathing roughly right after the match, I gulped down the lukewarm sports drink in the paper cup that Yuriko had given me in one go and exhaled heavily.


    I sat down on a bench and threw the paper cups into a nearby garbage bag. Then I pulled down my socks, removed my legs guard, and stretched my legs as I sat down. From now on, we will have a one-hour break. After that, we will play one more match, and that will be the end of our practice schedule for the day.


    "Congratulations on scoring a goal."


    I heard a voice like a boss praising his subordinate. I looked to the side and saw Yuriko about to sit down next to me.


    "It''s been a long time since you took a free-kick. When was the last time?"


    "......It''s been about half a year."


    "It was a good shot. Even if Neuer had been the keeper, I think the ball still would have gone in."


    Yuriko said jokingly. I chuckled bitterly and replied, " As expected, that''s not going to happen."


    We talked about it casually as we looked at the empty field. The wind blew and the dust swirled in the middle of the field. There was a moist rainy season breeze blowing, which was pleasant to my sweaty body. Yuriko sat next to me and took a sip from a paper cup of sports drink. Then she opened her mouth to say, "Oh, that''s right."


    "By the way, Izumi-san said she''s going home after this match."


    "Ah, I see."


    I looked at Izumi. She had just gotten out of her pipe chair with her bags. Perhaps sensing our eyes on her, Izumi looked at ours, smiled, and waved her hand.


    I raised my hand in return, and beside me, Yuriko was also waving her hand in a small gesture. Somehow, seeing this, I felt that Yuriko had become close to Izumi. Izumi then walked toward the school gate.


    "---Izumi-san, she enjoyed the match, you know. It was the first time she had seen a live soccer match."


    "Hmm," I chimed in. Then I asked her something that had been bothering me for a while.


    "What were you and Izumi talking about earlier?


    Yuriko kept staring straight at Izumi''s back as she walked away and did not answer.


    "Hey."


    "...... It''s a secret."


    When I urged her, Yuriko said so.


    "What?"


    "It''s a secret. It has nothing to do with Kenichi."


    "What''s that?"


    "I''m not bad-mouthing Kenichi or talking about anything embarrassing."


    Saying this, Yuriko stood up from the bench.


    "I''m hungry. I''m going to eat my lunch."


    She strode steadily toward the baggage area.


    "What is it?"


    I muttered to myself, felt a bit fuzzy by the secret, and after stretching, I headed for the baggage area.


    The soccer club is a large club with more than twenty members, thus there are several groups of members, just like in a class.


    I, along with Nagai, a few other club members with whom I had some conversation to some extent, and Tachibana, who had her eye on Nagai, settled down in the shade of the school building balcony to eat the bento that Izumi had brought to me. Yuriko is eating her lunch with another group of sophomores a short distance away.


    On the way there, Nagai spoke to me, "Hey."


    "The girl that was sitting in the tent, is she your girlfriend?"


    The surrounding boys and Tachibana, who was standing next to Nagai, reacted with a twitch as they were listening.


    "---- No. She is my relative."


    I replied, thinking, that relatives are very convenient relationship in some way.


    "Heh. She''s cute."


    "Yeah. ........"


    Indeed, Izumi''s hair, clothes, and appearance gave a dainty impression, so I thought that even from a distance, there was something about her that made her stand out from the crowd.


    "Muu," Tachibana, who likes Nagai, frowned as she heard our conversation. Perhaps she didn''t like the fact that he praised another girl.


    "Why did Sakamoto-senpai''s relative come to watch the match? She seemed to be talking with Mori-senpai as well. What kind of relationship do you all have?"


    Tachibana asked me in a sullen tone.


    "As I said before, we are relatives. She just met Yuriko for the first time a while ago. Maybe they were talking about something related to me."


    Tachibana stared at me.


    "Senpai, you seem to be a plain guy, but you seem to be more flashy in your relationships with girls than I expected. I''m getting a little suspicious about you and Mori-senpai."


    "Not suspicious. Not at all."


    "Are you sure?"


    Tachibana looked unconvinced and narrowed her eyes.


    I ignored her words and ate the rest of my lunch.


    "Does that girl live around here?"


    Nagai said, and the rice stuck in his throat.


    He coughed, drank water from his bottle in a hurry, and swept up the grains of rice.


    "Eh? You mean Izumi?"


    "Hmmm. So her name is Izumi-san," Nagai said.


    Yeah, I nodded my head and let the conversation drift away, saying only, "nearby," as to where Izumi lived.


    I thought it would be troublesome if he asked for her contact information or something, but Nagai did not go that far. I guess it was just a casual conversation, like "I saw a cute girl on the roadside."


    I finished my lunch, wrapped it in a cloth, and put it in my bag.


    One more match to go. I don''t feel that fatigued. Maybe I can run until the end. I stretched lightly and let the fresh air fill my lungs.


    Suddenly, I felt a dazzling light, and casually looked up at the sky to find a gap in the clouds that had covered the sky. The sun was shining from there, and on the ground, a strip of light was forming.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 3.8

    The second match of the day ended around 3:00 p.m. as the sun began to set.


    As expected, after two matches in a row, both teams moved slowly and played defensively against each other, and the match ended in a scoreless draw.


    I played the second game as well, and after the match, my legs felt heavy like lead, and my feet were sore from wearing spikes for so long.


    I massaged my feet by the bench after the match, thinking, my legs are going to be heavy for the rest of the night.


    After that, we cooled down and maintained the field. After the club activities were ended, I changed into my school uniform and rode home on my bicycle with Yuriko. I was too tired to pedal my bike, and Yuriko laughed at me, saying, "Kenichi, you''re slow."


    "I played two matches."


    "You look very weak."


    Yuriko said in a playful tone. As we cycled slowly side by side, a car passed by us, and Yuriko''s school uniform skirt swayed in the breeze.


    We eventually parted ways, and I finally returned home late in the afternoon.


    "Welcome home."


    When I entered the living room, Izumi, who was sitting alone reading a paperback book, looked up.


    "I''m home. Where''s Mom?"


    "She''s out having tea with a friend from the neighborhood."


    Is that so?, I said, putting down my club enamel bag, unfastening the second button of my shirt, and sitting down in the chair across from Izumi.


    After two matches, my body was still very tired. My joints ached, my legs were sore, and I felt drowsy as if my consciousness was blurring.


    "Kenichi, would you like something to drink?"


    "Ah, yeah."


    Izumi got up from her seat, took an orange juice from the refrigerator, filled a glass with ice, and handed it to me.


    I thanked her, took the glass, and drank the sweet, cold juice with a slurp. The sound of ice hitting the glass echoed faintly in the living room, which was starting to become dark in the evening.


    "I''m so grateful that you brought my lunch today. Thank you."


    When I said this, Izumi smiled and gently shook her head.


    "No problem. And I enjoyed watching the match, too. Kenichi-kun, you scored a goal, didn''t you?"


    "Ah. That was after a while since I could kick a ball well."


    After saying that, I drank the orange juice again. The sourness of the juice was soothing to my tired body. I let out a breath and asked Izumi about that matter.


    "What were you and Yuriko talking about today when the match was going on?"


    Then Izumi gave me a complicated look and chuckled.


    "It''s a secret."


    This again, I thought, and I let out a sigh.


    "Yuriko told me that too."


    When I told her, Izumi smiled playfully and said, "Girls have their own secrets."


    While we were talking, I finished my orange juice and got up to take a shower. Izumi also went back to her room to prepare dinner.


    I went into the bathroom and took a cold shower on my head. The cold water flowed from my head and spiraled down my legs, cooling my fatigued heated muscles.


    ---However, I wonder what they were talking about at that time.


    I was still curious. They seemed to talk for a long time during the match, but I wondered if they shared the same interest. I have no idea what they were talking about, but since I was the only connection between the two girls, they were probably talking about something related to me.


    I took a shower from the head and closed my eyes, and the image of those two in the tent talking about something came to my mind.


    Sweat and dirt had been washed away by the cold water, and my body felt much refreshed, but a vague, indefinable feeling seemed to be building up in my chest.


    Even after living together and even after more than a decade of being together, understandably I only know a part of what these girls are thinking and what kind of personalities they have, both about Izumi and about Yuriko.


    That thought made me feel lonely and empty. As I turned off the water, I could faintly hear the sounds of the city echoing in the distance.

 Volume 1 - CH 4.1

    On this day, a few days after the practice match, I came home from school, and a short while later the intercom rang. I went down from my room to the living room on the first floor and looked at the monitor to see my brother, a flashy and intellectual guy, wearing jeans, a black polo shirt, and a silver bangle on his arm.


    I opened the door and let my brother in, remembering that he had said something about "Coming to visit us once in a while."


    "Where''s Rina-chan?"


    My brother asked me as he entered the living room. I replied, " She'' s not home yet," and he looked disappointed, so I guessed that his main purpose today was to see Izumi.


    My brother was holding a plastic bag in his hand. When I asked him, "What''s that?" he replied, "Foodstuffs."


    "I haven''t cooked for you in a while. I picked out some expensive ingredients for you, you know."


    The plastic bag my brother placed on the table contained pasta and canned tomatoes. He had worked part-time at an Italian restaurant when he was an undergraduate student, and Italian cooking seemed to be his forte.


    My brother washed his hands and immediately started making salad and tomato sauce in the kitchen. The sound of moving knives and frying minced meat echoed through the living room. After a while, when all that was left to do was boil the pasta, Izumi still hadn''t come home, so we sat on the sofa and started playing soccer games on TV to kill time.


    My brother, like me, played soccer under my dad''s influence. He wasn''t that good at playing in real life, but he continued to play in the club until his senior year of high school and still played futsal for fun.


    Then, just after nine o''clock, I heard the front door open with a clank. There was no sound of a car, so it was probably Izumi.


    Sure enough, from the front door, I heard Izumi''s now-familiar, slightly tired voice saying, "I''m home."


    Following the sound of slippers, the living room door opened. Izumi, dressed in her school uniform, a cream-colored vest, and a red checked skirt on a navy blue background, walks into the living room.


    She looked at me and my brother sitting on the sofa, opened her mouth for an, "Ah," and stiffened.


    My brother stopped his hands and grinned at her.


    "Nice to meet you. I''m Ryuichi, Kenichi''s older brother."


    When he introduced himself, Izumi bowed her head, though she seemed a little stiff.


    "Nice to meet you, I''m Izumi Rina. I''ve heard a lot about you from Kenichi-kun."


    "Is that so?"


    While smiling and conversing with Izumi, my brother gave me a sidelong glance and said in a teasing whisper, "Kenichi-kun, isn''t it?". I ignore him, as I find it annoying that he seems to be thinking something evil.


    "Rina-chan, you''re going to have dinner, right? I''m cooking today. Wait here for a minute."


    "Yes, I thought something smelled good. What are you making?"


    "Bolognese and Caesar salad. I make my own pasta sauce. You can count on it."


    As I expected, my brother has this amazing communication skills. Izumi, who had been nervous when they first met, had already softened her expression after exchanging a few words. As I sat on the sofa, I watched my brother in the kitchen showing her a dish he was about to make, and Izumi''s back in her school uniform. Seeing my brother and Izumi side by side, I somehow felt something unpleasant growing deep in my chest.


    While I still call her "Izumi", Ryou-kun calls her "Rina-chan" from the first shot. Something about that doesn''t sit well with me either.


    ---Could it be jealousy? I thought to myself, That''s ridiculous, and hastily dismissed the thought myself.


    As I was trying to calm the faint buzzing in my heart, I heard my brother''s frivolous voice in my ear.


    "Hey, Rina-chan, can you try calling me ''Onii-chan''"


    "E-Ehh!"


    What are you talking about all of a sudden, you flashy guy.


    Izumi was also surprised and put her hand on her face, looking troubled. If Yuriko saw this gesture, she would say "burikko" or something like that. But in Izumi''s case, unlike Tachibana, I don''t think she is aiming for something, but probably just naturally like this.


    T/N : Burikko, a woman or girl who acts cute by playing innocent and helpless.


    "Izumi, just ignore him. This guy can tell jokes like that."


    I turned to Izumi, who was in trouble and said that.


    "Eh, h-he''s joking?"


    Izumi said, still flustered, as she looked repeatedly toward me and my brother. If he really meant it, it would be very scary, I replied to Izumi inwardly.


    My brother smiled at that, apologizing, sorry sorry.


    "I didn''t mean to trouble you. I haven''t had any younger girls close to me, and I was interested in that kind of play for once."


    P-Pure? said Izumi, tilting her head in confusion as she said it in her mouth. When he behaves and says things like this, it makes me want to destroy the respect I have for my excellent brother. If the brain and the lower half of the body are separate, I think Ryou-kun is really an idiot.


    "Ryou-kun, don''t tell Izumi those kinds of things."


    I said, staring at my brother in disgust, and Izumi smiled in a bewildered way, "Aaha......".


    "U-Umm, I''ve been doing club activities today, and I''m sweating....... Can I go change my clothes?"


    "Oh, sure. I''ll wait for you. I''m sorry for teasing you."


    Izumi replied, "No," with a reassuring smile, and left the living room as if to escape from the living room.


    With a thud, the living room door closed and silence descended. Now, I said, throwing a voice at my brother''s back as he turned to the kitchen.


    "Izumi is a serious girl, so you shouldn''t tease her too much."


    "Well, when I see a girl like that, it makes me want to tease her. Her reactions are so cute, you know."


    He lit the stove and said in a happy tone of voice again. I buried my back deep in the sofa, saying to myself, "This is not good."


    The sound of boiling water echoed through the living room. My brother put a bunch of pasta in the pot. After a few minutes, the warm, somewhat sweet smell of boiling pasta wafted into the living room.


    Izumi, dressed in her loungewear and slightly emitting a soapy scent, saw it and raised her voice.


    "Wow. It looks delicious."


    "Right? Let''s eat now. Kenichi, take a seat."


    I sat down alongside Izumi, and my brother sat across from me at the seat where our mother usually sat.


    My brother''s food was still good, as he was so confident. Izumi also said how delicious it was, and he smiled and said, "Thank you very much,"


    My brother had been talking with Izumi for a while after he started eating, and when he ran out of conversation, he asked, "Is mom coming home late these days?" He asked in a casual tone.


    "It''s usually around ten o''clock. Though it is often past twelve these days."


    "I see."


    He replied, pouring water into his cup and taking a sip.


    "I guess she''s busy at work."


    "I guess so. But she seems to be enjoying life. She never complains, and she never looks tired. She also seems to be enjoying herself when she talks with Izumi."


    "Hmmm."


    I noticed after the conversation was over that my flashy brother, who always had a frivolous smile on his face, had until just now kept a straight face when he was talking about our mother.


    I had been replying in a casual manner, but then I realized what had happened and suddenly turned my attention back to his face again. But now he was already smiling at Izumi and asking her if she had any hobbies, talking in a lighthearted tone.


    After dinner, we cleaned up the dishes, wrapped my mother''s portion in plastic wrap, and then resumed our game while drinking barley tea.


    "Oh, you were playing a game?"


    Izumi said so as my brother and I sat side by side on the sofa and picked up the controllers.


    "Yeah. Soccer game. Do you want to try it, Rina-chan?"


    "Is that okay?"


    When my brother suggested it, Izumi said excitedly.


    "I''ve never played a video game before."


    "Hee. That''s unusual. Is your family strict?"


    When my brother asked, Izumi shook her head briskly.


    "It''s not like that, but I wasn''t really interested in it. I''ve played puzzle games on my cell phone for a little while."


    "Hmmm," said my brother, operating the controller and returning it to the team select screen.


    "Then, Rina-chan and I are going to play. Kenichi, teach Rina-chan how to operate the controller."


    "Okay," I replied, handing Izumi the controller. My brother sat down on the floor so that Izumi could sit on the sofa, and Izumi and I sat side by side on the sofa.


    I gave a simple tutorial on how to operate it, and Izumi listened to it with an "uh-huh.".


    I chose a strong team for her, and decided on a formation, trying to gather players who were in good condition. And the game that began was still a complete recreation play for Izumi.


    "Wow, Rina-chan, you''re good!"


    My brother was completely intent on keeping the defender away from going to the ball.


    A single path is formed toward the goal, and one player dribbles through a long-distance that even Maradona would be amazed at.


    "Ah, ah, Kenichi, which button is to shoot?"


    A player operated by Izumi stopped suddenly in the penalty area as she asked me in a hasty tone. Izumi''s voice tickled my ears as she sat right next to me.


    The opposing players, who were moving automatically, were gathering around the player who had the ball, but my brother, who was controlling them all, was doing his best to manipulate them and keep them away from there.


    When I replied, "The ¡õ button,",


    Izumi looked away from the screen, "Umm," she said, searching for the button for a moment, then,


    "Ei!"


    She said, pressing the button clumsily.


    Her free shot from a close range of the goal naturally shook the net. The live commentator shouted, "Gooooooooooal!",  and Izumi, too, was happy and unexpectedly high-spirited, saying "Yay!" and extending her hand as if to ask me for a high five.


    I could see her armpits and the white fabric of her underwear through the gap in her short-sleeved T-shirt, and while I was startled at her defenselessness, I raised my hand and exchanged a high five with Izumi.


    "Uwaa, you beat me!"


    I stared at my overreacting brother with blank eyes. I thought again that if we weren''t siblings, he would never be the type of guy I would associate with.

 Volume 1 - CH 4.2

    The three of us played games for about 30 minutes, and then Izumi said she would call her mother and went back to her room. I, along with my brother, headed upstairs to my room.


    "I''m tired."


    When we entered my room, my brother sat down on the bed and said so. I sat down in the desk chair positioned facing him.


    I muttered, "I think it was the first time I had ever seen Izumi so excited," to which my brother replied in surprise, "Is that so?".


    "I think she is still shy. Compared to when we first started, she seems to be getting used to it these days."


    "I see. But it''s great that she''s trying to adapt to the sudden change of environment."


    "Yeah," I nodded, and my brother looked at me and said,


    "But it looks like you did pretty well, too."


    "Eh?"


    "Because you were able to get along with that girl a lot. You''re pretty shy. I was worried that if you ignored Rina-chan, things would get awkward at home, but I''m glad to see that you were able to communicate well with her."


    "...... I didn''t actively talk to her or anything. Rather, Izumi often talked to me."


    "I see. Well, I''m glad to hear you guys are doing well. ---But seriously, don''t you ever get h*rny? I''m being rather serious."


    He asked me with a really serious face. I wonder what in the world is serious to this person.


    "No, never."


    "......I''m worried in a different way when you answer me that immediately. Are you okay as a man?"


    "Not all men are like you, Ryou-kun."


    I tried to cover it up with a wry smile, but to be honest, it''s not like there were never any moments like that. At first, it was hard to suppress my bad fantasies, especially when I was taking a bath after Izumi had entered the bathtub.


    Trying to avoid continuing to talk about Izumi, I sat back in my chair and changed the topic.


    "By the way, mom said we''re going to visit dad''s grave, so if you want to come, you should clear your schedule."


    When I said this, my brother nodded his head and muttered, "Is it that time already?"


    My father died three years ago in August when I was in the second year of junior high school. It was due to a sudden stroke while he was on a plane to attend a conference.


    My father had published several technical books and occasionally wrote commentaries in newspapers, but he was not so famous as a so-called "public speaker" and was a professor at a private university.


    However, one time he appeared on TV and made a statement about a social issue that was hot at the time, and was temporarily bashed severely by people with different arguments. According to my mother, there was nothing too extreme and no real damage, but at the time he seemed to be under a lot of stress, both physically and mentally.


    Although we do not know the consequence clearly now, I think it must have had some influence on my father''s health condition, which had always been high blood pressure.


    On the day my parents returned to this house in the provincial city where they were born, after a funeral service attended by relatives and friends of my father''s when he was young, and after his ashes were placed in the grave of my father''s family, my brother carried the books in my father''s reading room, which is now my mother''s workroom, like ants to his own room. Most of the books that now make up the interior of my room are part of that collection.


    For the next year, until he left home, my brother spent all the time at home reading books. It was as if he was taking books from my father''s library into his own head. Even while we were eating, he had a book in his hand, and as a junior high school student, I was worried that he had lost his mind. Almost every day, he carried a different book. In addition to Japanese and English, there was even a book in French (my brother was in the department of French literature at the time). At a terrifying pace, he was chipping away at the wall-like piles of books my father had left behind. I had always thought he was quite a brilliant man, but his concentration at that moment was overwhelming.


    Two years later, my brother, who had left home, suddenly told mom about his plans to go on to higher education, along with a report that he had passed the graduate school exam.


    From my mother''s point of view, she probably had a strong desire to stop her son from choosing the same direction in life as my father. My mother told him that going on to graduate school in the humanities was not a wise choice unless he was very talented and that she wanted him to go straight to work for a general company, but he refused to listen and forcefully decided on his own career path.


    "After all, did dad influence you to decide to go on to higher education and do philosophy?"


    When I asked him, he laughed briefly.


    "I''d like to say no, but I guess it''s impossible to say that he didn''t influence me at all. But I have always been interested in philosophy. Even in high school, I would read books like Karatani Koujin and Yoshimoto Takaaki behind his back."


    T/N : both are Japanese philosophers and literary critics.


    "Why did you hide...."


    "I was embarrassed. I thought people would say, ''Student from how many decades ago were you.'' I liked to read books by myself, so I didn''t want to be bothered by someone who knows it all."


    "Hee-- I didn''t expect that. I didn''t know you had that side of you."


    "......You, what do you think I am..."


    "Flashy guy."


    When I said this, my brother laughed brightly and said, "You idiot," Even when he uses abusive language, the way he says it is frank and his smile is refreshing, so it doesn''t give a bad impression. I thought that this kind of feeling must be what makes people like him. And then, just a moment ago, the part where he was talking with Izumi in a friendly manner came back to my mind, and I felt that unidentifiable heartache again.


    Before long, my brother got up from the bed where he was sitting.


    "Then I'' m going to go home. I have a book I have to read this week."


    "Ah, yeah. Okay."


    We left the room and headed downstairs. As we went downstairs, Izumi also came out of her room.


    "Ryuichi-san, are you leaving?"


    Izumi hurried down the stairs and called out to my brother, who was putting on his shoes in front of the entrance. He replied with his usual cheerful, flashy guy-like expression, as if he had nothing profound on his mind, "Yes."


    "I''ll come to visit you again. Let''s all go somewhere together during the summer break. I have a driver''s license, so I can take you anywhere you want to go."


    "Really? I''m looking forward to it."


    Izumi replied happily to my brother''s suggestion. During this night, Izumi had also become completely let her guard down.


    We stood side by side and watched my brother put on his shoes at the entrance.


    "See you then, Rina-chan, Kenichi."


    "Yeah."


    Izumi gave a small wave across her face and I also raised one hand. Just before he walked out the door, my brother looked at me and sent me a frivolous smile, "See you later."


    With a slam, the door closed and silence descended. Our hands, which had been raised, also fall.


    "....... Somehow, it''s getting lonely in the house," Izumi said, staring at the front door.


    "Is that so?" Izumi turned her eyes toward me as if she were peeping at me.


    "Hey Kenichi, I want to play the game again."


    "Then, let''s do that."


    I nodded and Izumi and I headed for the living room. We turned on the game console and sat down on the sofa side by side. The quiet house began to echo with the lively sound of the game.


    I taught Izumi how to operate the console. Izumi, holding the controller, was as excited as a child who has been given a new toy. It was her first time playing a video game, and she seemed to be quite addicted to it. I was a little worried that my crude living environment might have a bad influence on Izumi, who apparently grew up in a nice all-girls school.

 Volume 1 - CH 4.3

    After that, when my mother came home, I tidied up the game console and Izumi put the food my brother had cooked in the microwave.


    "Ryuu-kun was here a while ago."


    "Is that so."


    When I told her about my brother''s visit, my mother responded half-heartedly as she placed her luggage on the sofa. For someone who is always so concerned about him, her response was surprisingly cold.


    "He also made that dinner."


    With a "hmmm," my mother sat at the dining room table and drank the tea Izumi had brewed.


    Before long, Izumi took a plate out of the microwave and held it out in front of my mother.


    "Thanks, Rina-chan," my mother replied with a pleasant smile that she showed only to Izumi among our family, and then she ate the dinner that my brother had prepared nonchalantly. She didn''t seem to think it tasted particularly good or bad.


    After that, Izumi went back to her room and I turned on the TV and watched a news program that was on. Then my mother talked to me, "Kenichi, just a minute."


    "What were you talking about with him?"


    My mother had finished her dinner, she put her fork on an empty plate, took a cup of tea, and turned her head toward me.


    "What were we talking about... well, many things. It seems that Ryuu-kun objective was to meet Izumi."


    "He didn''t say anything weird, did he?"


    "It was relatively all right......"


    I said, remembering what my brother had said and done earlier. He hadn''t said anything harsh or vulgar, so there shouldn''t be anything wrong with what he said.


    "Relatively, huh."


    My mother let out a sigh that sounded both relieved and dismayed. I then briefly explained what had happened since his arrival.


    "We also talked a bit about Ryuu-kun. Why he went to graduate school and what he''s studying now."


    Then she said, "Hmm," and my mother began to speak with a serious face.


    "When Ryuuichi said he would go on to higher education, I was indeed against it quite strongly....... but since Ryuuichi is smart even though he is an idiot, I think he has enough potential to become a scholar...... Recently, there are not many positions available at universities, and it seems to be a difficult world, but I am sure he will do well, including the option of working for a company."


    "But," my mother continued after taking a sip of the tea she was holding in her hand.


    "Ryuuichi was a boy who often bumped into people. I''m worried about that."


    "............ you mean, like quarreling?"


    "Not that, but physically. When we went shopping or to the library together when he was younger, he would wander around, blocking other people''s way and causing trouble. In short, he was unable to look at his surroundings. He only thought about the world as he saw it, and never considered the possibility that someone might come up behind or beside him. There were many times when he would bump into an adult and burst into tears."


    My mother looked somewhat nostalgic as she said this, and a faint wry smile crossed her face. Imagining that scene, I thought to myself, "That was very Ryuu-kun-like." I don''t know what my brother was like when he was younger because we are so far apart in age, but he certainly seemed to be pretty active.


    "Maybe that''s why Ryuu-kun was so bad at playing soccer. That sport requires not only technique and physical strength, but also a sense of how people will move next."


    When I half-jokingly said, " Perhaps," my mother nodded her head.


    "When I look at Ryuuichi now, I see that the spirit of the triplets has not changed at all. When he was little, he was always going out somewhere where people would gather, so I was always a little worried. In the future, I hope he doesn''t bump into someone somewhere and end up upset."


    "Indeed, he looks like he has a terrible relationship with women."


    When I somehow said this, my mother put her hand to her forehead and let out a deep sigh.


    "What''s the difference with you?"


    The words came back to me harshly, and I could only give a vague reaction, "Hmmm.


    "---Well, in that aspect, Kenichi was a boy who looked at his surroundings properly and put himself in a position not to bother others. Although he was shy, he was quiet and easier to take care of than Ryuuichi."


    It had been a long time since I had had such a long talk with my mother. Since Izumi''s arrival, I felt that even the environment, which should have had nothing to do with her presence, had begun to change in subtle ways.


    When the conversation was all settled, I got up from my seat.


    "I''m going back to my room. You can leave the dishes as they are. I''ll wash them later."


    "Okay. Then, please. I''m going to take a bath and go to bed."


    "Good night."


    I said that and left the living room.


    I turn on the light on the staircase that Izumi had so diligently turned off. Warm light filled the room. As I reached the top of the stairs, I heard a low sound from behind the door of Izumi''s dark brown room, as if a closet was being opened. It was the time when the date was about to change. It takes her an hour and a half to get to school, and her morning comes early. She has laid out the futon and is probably going to bed. A cool breeze blew weakly through the screen door in the upstairs hallway.

 Volume 1 - CH 4.4

    It was Sunday, a few days after my brother''s visit to our house.


    I was going home alone after club activities from 1pm to 4pm. Yuriko, who usually comes home with me, was absent from club activities today due to family business.


    At this time of the year when the days are long, the sky was still bright after 4pm, and the sharp hot sunlight was shining down on the city.


    As I left the school, running along the national highway and approaching a park at the edge of a residential area, a girl with her hair in a single ponytail came running in front of me. She was wearing pink running clothes and black shorts.


    When I thought she looked familiar, I realized it was Izumi. I didn''t recognize her at first glance because she had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, which was different from her usual style.


    "Kenichi-kun."


    Perhaps Izumi noticed me, too, and stopped there and called out to me. I grabbed the brake of my bicycle and stopped near Izumi.


    "Are you just getting home? Thank you for your hard work."


    She asked me with a small gasp. I nodded and got off the bicycle.


    Looking closer, the pink training shirt Izumi was wearing was a rather slim compression type, clearly emphasizing the lines of her surprisingly well-defined body. " Were you working out, Izumi?" I asked,


    "Yeah. I just had some free time, so I decided to go for a walk. I thought I''d take a walk around this area."


    Izumi replied as she pulled a handkerchief towel from her pocket and wiped the sweat from her forehead.


    "Is that so?" as I replied, Izumi looked behind me and opened her mouth, "Ah."


    "It''s Aiko-chan."


    As I looked back, I saw a girl I had seen the other day, Hoshino-san, walking down the concrete sidewalk with a brown dog. It was a small dog with short legs that walked in quick little steps.


    Izumi waved her hand and called for Hoshino-san. She was wearing a miniskirt of jeans fabric, a white T-shirt, and a knapsack of cloth fabric on her back.


    Hoshino-san, who was walking in a daze, looked up and, perhaps noticing Izumi, her expression brightened, and soon after, her eyes met mine, who was standing next to Izumi, and she fidgeted.


    She looked up at me as she approached us and said, "Um, we met the other day, didn''t we? Um......"


    It seemed she had forgotten my name, so I said, "I''m Sakamoto," and I introduced myself again.


    "I-I-I''m sorry."


    With such a brief greeting, it would have been more difficult to remember my name, but Hoshino-san bowed her head in panic.


    "No, no, it''s all right."


    I felt like I had somehow troubled her, so I put my hand on the back of my head. I''ve often been told that I''m unsociable in the way I speak and look, so I tried to soften my tone as much as possible, thinking I might be scaring her.


    Watching this with a wry smile, Izumi folded her knees and squatted down beside the dog, which was sitting quietly at his feet.


    The dog looked at Izumi with a "Who is this?" look, but did not seem to be barking or acting out of control. The dog seemed to be well trained and smart.


    "Is it okay if I touch him?"


    When Izumi asked, yes, Hoshino-san nodded her head.


    She slowly reached out her hand and patted the dog''s head. The dog seemed to be friendly and was very accustomed to being petted.


    "What''s his name?


    Izumi asked while patting the dog.


    "Stella. He is a male dog, three years old."


    "Stella-kun. That''s kind of a stylish name, isn''t it?"


    Stella''s eyes gradually began to narrow, as if he was comfortable being patted by Izumi.


    "Why Stella?"


    I could only think of a minicar with the same name, so I asked her.


    "Um, it means ''star'' in Italian, my family name is Hoshino."


    T/N : ÐÇ/Hoshi means star


    "Oh, I see."


    When I responded, "Were you just out for a walk?" Izumi asked, patting Stella''s head as she squatted down.


    "Yes. He likes this park."


    Hoshino-san said, looking toward the park. The park is quite large and well maintained, and many people use it for running and walking.


    "Hey, can I come with you for a walk? I''ve never been in this park."


    Izumi stood up and said so. As if attracted by her movement, Stella turned his long and narrow nose upward.


    "Ah, yeah. It''s okay," Hoshino-san nodded.


    I had never seen how Izumi behaved when she was with her friends. So I was a little curious to see how they would talk to each other.


    "Um, can I come with you too?"


    Hoshino-san nodded her head, though she remained still and looked a bit puzzled.

 Volume 1 - CH 4.5

    I parked my bicycle in the bicycle parking lot and entered the park with the girls.


    The structure of the park is a bit unusual, with a grassy field and a pond side by side. The two are surrounded by a paved road in the shape of figure eight. The sidewalk was flanked by large sakura and ginkgo trees, and at this time of year, when the leaves are in full growth, the sidewalk is flooded with a slightly green-tinted light that shines through the foliage.


    The three of us walked along that paved sidewalk, and every time Stella went to smell the plants on the side, we stopped and waited for him to start walking again.


    There were a few other people running on the sidewalk beside us. A few birds were pecking at something at the roots of the surrounding trees.


    While walking, Hoshino-san and Izumi were talking about school. The names of people I don''t know, whether they are friends or teachers of the girls, were flying around. Izumi''s tone of voice was almost the same as when she talked to me and my mother at home.


    As I walked behind them, Stella would occasionally look back at me and give me curious eyes. As if to say, "Why is this guy following me?" I smiled bitterly every time I saw his eyes. Then, with ''pui'', Stella turned her head forward in a cute way.


    There are several gazebos around the pond at the back of the park. We took a break in one of them.


    A sign was attached to the wooden railing facing the pond that said, "Do not feed the Koi." But as I approached the pond, a large number of Koi, obviously expecting to be fed, gathered around, making a lot of splashing noises, and peeked out of the water.


    "They looked like zombies."


    Izumi, who came next to me, looked down at the Koi and said so. Indeed, the Koi were gathering like zombies. There were also several water birds and turtles swimming in the pond.


    Hoshino-san sat down on a large, square, wooden bench, pulled out a water bottle from the knapsack she was carrying, and began to drink. Stella, perhaps tired from his stroll, lay at his feet, flat on the ground up to his chin, in a perfect resting position.


    When the wind blew, the sound of the leaves on the surrounding trees rustling could be heard loudly. The surface of the pond in early summer, which looked slightly greenish with clusters of aquatic plants, reflected the sky like a mirror.


    Izumi and I leaned against the railing for a while and watched the raging Koi silently, and then we sat down on the bench where Hoshino-san was sitting, side by side.


    For a while, we could hear the noisy sound of the Koi splashing around in the water, but after Izumi and I were out of sight, the area became quiet.


    "How long have you been Izumi''s friend, Hoshino-san?"


    I coughed to dispel the silence and asked her this, and she closed the lid of her water bottle. Then, she replied to my question, though her tone was still nervous.


    "We had known each other since middle school, but last year we were in the same class for the first time. Then we became good friends."


    I said, "I see," and nodded my head. As I thought, Hoshino-san had been attending the same private school as Izumi for a long time.


    Then, "What is Izumi like at school?" I asked her what I was most curious about. Hoshino-san smiled softly.


    "She'' s reliable, stylish, and popular with the other students in her class."


    "That''s not true."


    Hearing Hoshino-san''s answer, Izumi smiled bitterly and was modest, but if she is as diligent as she shows at school and at home, I am sure it must be true.


    Then we fell silent again and sat on the bench for a while, listening to the rustling of leaves. Suddenly, damp wind blew. Then the sun went down and the area suddenly became dark.


    "Oh, it''s raining."


    A waterfowl flew out of the pond, as Izumi muttered.


    The rain drizzled down and made a black stain around where we were. I thought it might be an evening shower, but the rain was not that heavy. Stella reacted to the sound of the rain by twitching his ears and lifting his head from where he was lying.


    "Did they say it was going to rain today?"


    Izumi said as she looked up at the gray sky. Looking at the weather website, it looked like rain clouds were moving into the area where we were. It''s not that big of a cloud, so it will stop soon.


    "Maybe it''s just temporary. A small rain cloud is moving in," I replied.


    "I see."


    Izumi stood up and looked at the sky, then sat down on a bench. The wooden roof and the sound of rain falling on the pond echoed around us. Raindrops were falling on the surface of the pond, creating an intricate ripple pattern of countless round patterns that interfered with each other. We sat and stared at the scene. The sound of the park''s trees catching the rain filled the area.


    "Sakamoto-san, you are a relative of Rina-chan, aren''t you?"


    Then, Hoshino-san opened her mouth and asked me, who was sitting beside her.


    "Ah, yes."


    I nodded, and she continued her question in a casual tone.


    "In which area is your home?"


    Izumi, who had been quietly staring at the pond, suddenly looked up.


    "Well..."


    As I was mumbling how to reply, Izumi interrupted from beside me, "You know,"


    "---The house I moved into is Kenichi-kun''s house."


    "Eh?" Hoshino-san''s voice seemed to leak out spontaneously.


    "But, the other day......"


    Then she looked at me. I felt a little guilty at her gaze, which contained a hint of doubt. It seemed that Izumi had not yet told Hoshino-san that we were living together. I felt I had to tell her, so I opened my mouth.


    "I misled you. I thought it would be too much trouble to explain the situation to you. ............... Sorry."


    The truth is, it wasn''t just that. Without knowing what kind of person Hoshino-san is or what kind of relationship she has with Izumi, I had a lot of selfish assumptions that Hoshino-san might have bad thoughts about us.


    "......So you two live together?"


    Hoshino asked, looking at the two of us.


    Izumi nodded her head in a firm manner.


    "......Relatives, right?"


    "Yeah. Relatives. I''m going to be staying with them for a while from now on."


    Hoshino-san remained silent for a few moments, holding the water bottle on his lap with both hands, and then smiled, "Geez,"


    "Why didn''t you tell me earlier?"


    Her tone was not angry, but light, as if she was trying to end this conversation.


    "I''m sorry. It was a little hard to say," Izumi said with a smile on her face. "I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have done that," I said, apologizing from the side.


    "But living with a boy your age is like something out of a manga, isn''t it? I like that kind of situation. Ah, but I''m not imagining anything weird about Rina-chan and you."


    Hoshino-san, who was a bit excited, said so, and Izumi bitterly laughed.


    "Do you like manga?"


    When I asked, Hoshino-san nodded, a bit embarrassed.


    "She likes it very much. Aiko-chan has a bookshelf in her room that is as big as Kenichi-kun''s, and it is lined with manga. Especially stories about boys and boys in love......"


    As Izumi continued her story, Hoshino shouted, " Waah--!". Startled, Stella raised her head.


    "You can''t talk about that---"


    "Eh? Why not? You said before that this is literature. Kenichi-kun, he''s a book lover, so maybe we can talk about it. Err, what''s it called again? Bi-el......?"


    "Stop it!!"


    Hoshino-san turned bright red, and Izumi, perhaps not understanding what was going on, looked puzzled, but still feeling overwhelmed by her desperation, apologized and stopped talking, saying, "S-Sorry......,". I had generally figured out Hoshino-san''s hobbies as we talked, but Izumi seemed to have no knowledge of that side of the world.


    I pretended not to have heard anything, and while scratching my head, I muttered, "I hope the rain stops soon," and looked at the pond.


    A private all-girls junior and senior high school is a completely different world to me, and I had no idea what it was like to live there, but this exchange gave me a glimpse of how Izumi and Hoshino-san were spending their time at school.


    After about ten minutes, the rain began to drizzle and then stopped. The sky was still covered with thin clouds, but the surroundings were becoming brighter, and the slight red of the setting sun was beginning to mix with the sunlight.


    When the rain stopped, we left the gazebo, walked along the pavement, and headed for the park exit. The smell of fresh air was rising from the rain-soaked plants, along with the humid heat.


    After leaving the park, Hoshino-san''s house seemed to be in the same direction as ours, so we walked together along a residential street.


    Although many of the buildings in this area are relatively new, the street near the park is lined with several old-fashioned private stores. A barbershop with a red, blue, and white spiraling sign, a butcher shop with a cash register on a glass case in front of the store, a ramen shop with an old sign with faded letters and reddish-brown rust on it, a bakery with flowers in a planter in front of the store, an Izakaya with their red noren curtains, stained with grease. All of them are small stores that seem to have blended into the daily life of the neighborhood over a long period of time.


    T/N : noren, sign curtain hung at shop entrance, Izakaya is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks.


    As we passed through these streets and eventually came to a crossroads, Hoshino-san stopped with Stella and said, "We''re going this way."


    The road pointed out by Hoshino-san was a steep slope. At the top of the hill was a tall steel tower with long, bending power lines stretching in two directions. Under the setting sun, the steel material looked like a dull copper color.


    "See you later, Rina-chan."


    "Yeah. See you at school."


    Izumi replied, then folded her knees and gave him a pat on the head, "See you later, Stella-kun." Stella''s tail wagged from side to side as if to say, "Bye-bye," with a clear expression on his face.


    I also raised my hand in a small gesture, saying "goodbye," and Hoshino-san bowed in return. Then she took Stella''s leash and headed up the hill.


    "Shall we go home, too?"


    "Yeah," Izumi nodded her head as she watched Hoshino-san walking up the hill.


    It is only a few minutes from this crossroads to our house.


    As we walked together down a street lined with similar-looking houses, somehow Izumi was taking more distance from me than usual. The rain from earlier had left the concrete black and wet, and the weeds on the roadside were covered with numerous droplets of water, reflecting the surrounding scenery on their transparent spherical surfaces.


    "I''m sorry. It was better to explain at that time after all."


    I opened my mouth as the house was in sight.


    "It''s all right. Besides, it''s not only Kenichi-kun, but also I was hesitant to say anything about it and kept silent.


    Izumi looked down slightly and said so.


    "I see."


    I wondered if she felt the same embarrassment about living with me as I did, even though she seems to be simple, full of holes, and not very good at relationships with the opposite sex. Thinking of this, for some reason, a small feeling similar to happiness spread like a ripple in my chest.


    Finally, we arrived at the house, twisted the doorknob, which reflected the setting sun, and entered the house. As soon as the door was closed, the unlit entranceway suddenly became dim.


    "I''m home," Izumi said, perhaps to my mother in her downstairs room. She changed from her running shoes to slippers and gave me a diffident look.


    "Umm, I''m sweating a lot, Can I use the shower first?"


    "Yeah," I nodded as I took off my leather shoes.


    "Thank you. Then,"


    Izumi went straight to the bathroom and I went into my room. I turned on the light and put my enamel bag on the bed.


    When I sat in my desk chair, a mild feeling of drowsiness overcame me. As I closed my eyes in slumber, I heard the faint sound of a shower in the silence.

 Volume 1 - CH 4.6

    When I entered the living room the next morning, I found Izumi sitting on the sofa, still in her pajamas. She was wearing a thin, long-sleeved hoodie over her shirt. My mother was standing in front of Izumi, bending down a bit to talk with her about something.


    I immediately felt uncomfortable when I saw her. At this time before school, Izumi was usually already dressed in her school uniform and eating breakfast with her bag by her side.


    "What''s wrong?"


    When I asked both of them, I heard a small electronic sound. Izumi put one hand on the chest of her T-shirt and took something out of her clothes. It was a thermometer.


    "I think I caught a cold......," Izumi said, looking at it.


    "Oh no, you have a fever, too. You should take a rest today. I''ll call your school."


    My mother said, looking at the thermometer she had received from Izumi. "I''m sorry," Izumi replied.


    "Are you all right?" I asked her.


    "Yes. When I woke up in the morning, my body felt heavy. I was fine until last night......I was sweating a lot last night, so maybe that wasn''t a good thing......."


    She replied with a small cough. Her throat did not seem to be in good condition, and her voice sounded a bit wetter than usual. The cheeks were also somewhat reddish.


    "I''m sorry if I''m passing on my cold......"


    "No, I''m probably fine......"


    I''m not feeling sick anywhere, and I''ve never been sick this time of year before.


    "Rina-chan, give me your school phone number."


    Our conversation was interrupted when my mother, holding the telephone, asked Izumi from beside me. When Izumi looked at her cell phone and gave her the number, my mother informed them of her absence from school.


    Izumi then ate only half a loaf of bread with honey and hot milk and took some cold medicine we had at home. Then she walked back to her room with a staggering gait. When I called out to her back, "Get well soon," she coughed a few times, holding her mouth with a hand that pulled her sleeve down to her fingertips, and said, "Thanks. Do your best in school," lifting her reddened cheeks gently and forming a smile.


    A little later than usual, my mother went to work, and I cleaned up the dishes and went outside. It was cloudy and dark outside. I put my bicycle out on the street and straddle it. When I looked back at the window of Izumi''s room, I saw that the thick curtains were closed.


    The gray clouds gradually became darker and darker, and by midday, it began to rain. Looking out from the fluorescent-lit classroom, it looked terribly dim. Even after six classes, the rain showed no sign of stopping.


    Since the club could not use the field because of the rain, we had to do muscle training in the hallway, as is customary in the event of rainy weather. We formed a line and did push-ups, sit-ups, back-ups, and squats for three sets of 20 times, with the first person who finished reporting back to Yuriko.


    I changed into my soccer wear and took my breaks in the fifth-floor hallway on the top floor of the school building, where there were few students around. While the other members of the club were moving their bodies languidly in single file, Yuriko was the only one with a nonchalant look on her face, holding a ballpoint pen and clipboard in her hand and looking at us as if she were a watcher.


    The temperature was not so high, rather chilly in short sleeves, but the humidity was high and I started to sweat lightly after the second set.


    After finishing push-ups and sit-ups, I sat with my back leaning against the wall. Next to me, for some reason, Tachibana was doing muscle training with me. She was currently doing sit-ups, but her arm holding the back of her head had been trembling since a while ago, and there was no movement at all. This state continued for a while, and then, "Guu," I heard a groan.


    "I''m giving up......"


    Tachibana muttered to herself, broke her posture, and leaned against the wall just as I did.


    "Sigh. I''m tired."


    "Why are you doing muscle training too?"


    When I asked her, Tachibana replied, "I want to be slimmer for the summer."


    She was not fat by any means, but perhaps because she looked like a little girl, her stomach seemed rather pudgy.


    "I feel like my stomach is getting slightly smaller."


    She said as she patted her belly over her gym clothes.


    "Hmmm. That''s great."


    "Ah, it went badly. Thinking about it normally, there is no way it would have had an effect in such a short period of time, right? Even though I made it easy for you to respond to my words. Sakamoto-senpai, as usual, you don''t seem to care about other people."


    "That''s not true."


    I said and moved my body to start back-ups. Then Tachibana let out a dumbfounded voice.


    "Muu. That''s what makes you seem cold. Let''s go with a more friendly character."


    Unconsciously, my body stopped moving. Tachibana''s murmur echoed slightly.


    "......Do I look cold to you?"


    "A bit."


    I got an immediate answer. It was unexpected, but I felt less tense when she affirmed it.


    And I felt uncomfortable with myself.


    I had been told the same thing by Yuriko many times before. But this was the first time I had felt so bothered by something like this. Before I knew it, I felt that something was slowly changing in me.


    "Hey, don''t talk among yourselves in there!"


    Yuriko, wearing a blue jersey underneath and a gym shirt on top, called out to us.


    "Mori-senpai, I''m going back to work as a manager."


    After saying this, Tachibana stood up and walked to Yuriko''s side.


    sp3


    After club activities, I went home with Yuriko and the other club members. It was raining, so we left our bicycle and took the bus.


    It was already dark because the sky was covered with rain clouds, and the cars on the street had their lights on. As I sat in my seat and looked out the raindrop-stained window at the gray, wet city, I somehow remembered the day I first met Izumi. Looking back, I was quite nervous at the time, but now I feel that Izumi''s presence in our home has become a normal part of my life. Neither of us talks that much in the house, but the silence hardly bothers me these days.


    But what about Izumi''s? I have no experience of living in a relative''s house for a long period of time, so I don''t know what that would actually be like. It''s hard to imagine.


    Suddenly, Tachibana''s voice echoed in my head, "That''s what makes you seem cold,"


    It was the same when she said it directly to me, but for some reason, it made me feel a little uneasy. The way Tachibana said it was obviously just a casual remark.


    The bus soon approached the residential area where we lived and I got off at the same stop as Yuriko. Yuriko opened her umbrella and took a step forward, and I called out to her back.


    "Hmm. What?" she looked back.


    "I''m going to stop by the supermarket. You can go home first."


    "Ah, then I''ll go with you. I was just about to run out of loose-leaf paper."


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    Yuriko replied, and together we went to a medium-sized, two-story supermarket on the outskirts of the residential area.


    Thinking that porridge would be good for Izumi, who had a cold, for dinner tonight, I went into the store and bought some eggs, chicken, and other ingredients that I thought would be useful. At this time of the evening, there were many ladies in the store. Yuriko and I went around the store, did some quick shopping, and then headed for the drugstore that was attached to the store.


    "What? Are you still going to buy something?" Yuriko, who was walking beside me, asked.


    "Cold medicine."


    When I replied as I walked over to the shelf by the doorway, she gave me a puzzled look.


    "Are you getting a cold?"


    "No, it wasn''t me. It was Izumi......"


    "Eh, Izumi-san? Is she all right?"


    "Probably. She had a fever in the morning and was absent from school. It didn''t seem that bad, so I think she will be okay, but.......The medicine we have at home was almost out, so I thought I''d take it."


    "I see."


    As I picked up a few boxes and was comparing prices and efficacy, a man in a lab coat approached me.


    "Can I help you?" said the young man, who appeared to be a pharmacist. I told him about Izumi''s symptoms, remembering how she had looked this morning. In the middle of the conversation, Yuriko walked away, as if she wanted to buy something.


    The pharmacist recommended one medicine. I took the box to the cashier and paid the bill. I put the medicine in my enamel bag and left the drugstore, where I found Yuriko waiting for me outside.


    "Here. I brought this for her. When you have a fever, it drains your energy."


    Saying this, she gave me a nutritional supplement drink with store tape on it.


    "Oh, Thank you."


    It had a pink label, and the illustrations and font of the written text were designed for women, with a tender impression. It also says that it is good for dry skin.


    "Get well soon, tell her that for me."


    "Yeah. Thank you."


    I thanked her, took it, and put it away in my bag. Then,


    "......By the way, you''ve changed, Kenichi."


    The unexpected words continued.


    I had been focused on my hand, but I looked up and said, "Eh? What do you mean?" She smiled for a moment and said, "It''s nothing," and then started to walk out. I took a step behind her and started walking.


    It was raining outside, and in the short time we had been in the store, it had gotten even darker.

 Volume 1 - CH 4.7

    When I opened the front door, the house was completely dark. Izumi was supposed to be there, but there was no sound. I wondered if she was still sleeping in her room.


    I took off my shoes, went into the living room, put the cold medicine in the medicine box, and put the ingredients and the nutritional supplement drink that Yuriko had given me in the refrigerator. The light from the refrigerator spread into the dark kitchen.


    After that, I went upstairs and noticed that light was leaking through a crack in the door of Izumi''s room.


    I tried to listen carefully to check if she was awake, but all I could hear was the sound of rain hitting the roof.


    "Izumi, are you awake?"


    I asked so while knocking softly. But there was no answer. My voice and the sound of knocking soon faded away into the quietness of the surroundings.


    After some hesitation, I put my hand on the doorknob. It was unlocked. I opened the door slightly. I was about to call out from here but stopped myself immediately.


    The futon in the middle of the room, and a blanket curled up on top of it, came into my sight. Her dark hair was spread out around her pillow. I could also see that the curled-up blanket was moving up and down just slightly.


    ......Let''s just turn off the light.


    Thinking that she would not be able to rest if the light was left on, I opened the slightly opened door and took a step into her room.


    The smell in Izumi''s room was different from when it was a storage room. There was a pink air freshener on the desk. There were still few things in the room, and a uniform hanging on the wall stood out.


    When I pressed the switch on the wall and turned off the light, the entire room was suddenly plunged into darkness.


    Although I had lived in the house for about ten years, I did not feel that the dark, dimly lit Izumi''s room, with the echoing sound of rain, was my home.


    I was standing near Izumi''s feet. Izumi''s sleeping face was almost hidden by her hair.


    ---I guess she must be tired.


    Although we don''t spend much time together in a day, I know she has been working hard every day. She doesn''t look that strong, and with such a change in environment, it would be strange if she didn''t get sick.


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    "Good work," I muttered to myself. As I was about to leave the room, Izumi suddenly shifted in the blanket and turned over on her back. The hair covering her profile fell gently, and her sleeping face was reflected in my monochrome, dimly-lit vision.


    My gaze was unconsciously drawn to her soft cheeks and smooth lips that were slightly open, and my pulse thumped. Her black hair was sticking to her ears and forehead due to sweat from her sleep, which made her look rather charming. Moreover, I think her shirt got pulled when she turned over in her sleep, and the area below her collarbone, where it is starting to softly bulge out, is also......


    ---I shouldn''t be here, I felt in the depths of my consciousness, which had melted into the darkness and somewhat blurred my sense of reality. I took my eyes off Izumi, walked out of her room, and slowly closed the door.


    The hallway, with no lights on, was just as dark as her room. I exhaled the tepid breath that had built up inside me and then inhaled. The air outside felt nice and cold, and my chest got chilly.


    I entered my room, turned on the light, and lay down on my bed. In my mind, I keep picturing Izumi''s sleeping face, which I saw in the darkness. Whenever I think of her face, my heart heats up and starts to beat loudly. The sound of the rain neither became stronger nor weaker, but kept echoing, in the same way, all the time.


    When I lay down, I suddenly felt exhausted. As if drawn in by the darkness behind my eyelids, my consciousness gradually blurred.......

 Volume 1 - CH 4.8

    "I''m home," My mother''s voice woke me up.


    The moment I opened my eyes, the fluorescent light whitened out my vision. I felt pain and closed my eyes tightly. When I slowly opened my eyelids again, the familiar ceiling of my room was there.


    My whole body feels hot and sweaty. I move my eyes down and see my uniform and bed.


    I took the clock by my bedside. The two hands on the clock showed that it was past 9:00 p.m.


    It was about 6:00 p.m. when I got home, meaning I had slept almost three hours.


    The center of my head was numb and I felt lazy. I lay in a daze for a while, but then I remembered that I hadn''t cooked dinner, and I got up in a hurry. I took off my uniform and changed into my loungewear.


    I shoved the shirt I had been wearing all day into the washing machine and opened the living room door.


    "Oh. Kenichi-kun," Izumi, who had apparently been having a conversation with my mother, said, looking at me. When my mother looked back at me, she complained, "You''re on duty for dinner now, aren''t you?"


    "Sorry, I fell asleep."


    "What should I do now that you''ve fallen asleep?"


    "I''m sorry. I''ll make it right away."


    I took the ingredients I had bought out of the refrigerator. Then my mother said to Izumi gently, "You look much better," and left the living room. I guessed she was going to her room to change her clothes.


    Izumi and I were left alone. Izumi was dressed in pajamas and a hoodie, the same as this morning. In the bright light, her expression was much clearer than it had been this morning when the fever had blurred it. My pulse thumped once more, remembering the alluring look of the sleeping Izumi I had seen earlier.


    When I asked her, "Are you feeling okay?" She replied, "Yes, my cough has stopped, and I think I will be able to go to school tomorrow."


    Seeing Izumi''s usual soft appearance, I felt a pain in my chest again.


    ---Not good. I felt that she was so cute.


    I immediately turned my head away from Izumi, took out a nutritional drink I had stored in the refrigerator, and handed it to Izumi.


    "This is from Yuriko. I stopped by the drugstore on my way home. She said, ''Get well soon,''"


    "Thank you," Izumi said, accepting it with girlish tension.


    "Tell her thank you," Izumi said.


    "Yeah. Got it."


    I replied quickly, trying not to look at Izumi''s face too much, and stood in the kitchen to cook dinner. My mom and I are fine with porridge now. If I made a special menu just for her, she would be concerned about me again.


    "What''s wrong? Your face looks a bit off."


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    Izumi stood next to me and tilted her head as if to look into my face.


    "Could it be that you''ve caught a cold after all?"


    "Don''t worry, it''s not like that!"


    She tilted her head even more when I said strongly.


    "I-Is that so? Then I''m glad to hear that......Oh, do you want me to help you cook dinner?


    "It''s okay. Just take a seat. You just got better."


    I said so, and sent Izumi back to the living room.


    When I was alone in the kitchen, I felt a brief moment of relief. Washing my hands with cold water seemed to cool my flushing heart, and I finally began to feel calm.


    But what was that suffocating feeling as if my heart was burning in my chest earlier?

 Volume 1 - CH 5.1

    The month changed and it was July.


    That day, after the fourth period, Yuriko came to my classroom with a bundle of printouts.


    "Here. Please check it. Circle whether you will or will not participate by the summer vacation and submit it to me or Nakata-sensei. Akari is also fine."


    As we were about to open our lunch boxes, we stopped and looked at the printout we had received. The sheet of paper, titled "Information on Summer Training Camp," began with a greeting to parents, followed by the schedule of training camps during this summer vacation, with a "participate/not participate" option and a signature line for parents below the cut line.


    As I was looking through it, Yuriko pulled out a nearby chair and placed a mini bag with a handle on the desk where Nagai and I were sitting together.


    "What''s that?"


    When I asked, Yuriko replied, "lunchbox."


    "Are you going to eat here, too?"


    "Is it bad?"


    Yuriko narrowed her eyes and replied with a pout.


    "No, not at all."


    Nagai and I put our prints in our own bags, and then we started eating together with Yuriko. Yuriko took out a small thermos and a lunch box wrapped in a dark blue cloth, smaller than mine and Nagai''s, and began to bring the lunch to her mouth with plastic chopsticks. Her tone of voice was a little rough, perhaps because she played soccer with the boys, but her eating manners were surprisingly neat, even from when she was a child.


    Like our classmates around us, we chatted and ate, talking about club activities and tests.


    "How are your studies going?"


    Yuriko asked as she poured barley tea (presumably because of its color) into a cup from her thermos.


    "So-so," I replied.


    "Whenever I have a break from club activities, I have too much time on my hands, but my pace of studying slows down."


    "It''s the opposite of what happened to me. How come your grades don''t drop?"


    When I said that, Yuriko sullenly said,


    "I study every day, even when I have club activities---How about Nagai?"


    When Yuriko asked him about it, he looked a little gloomy, which was unusual for Nagai, who always has a poker face.


    "...If I don''t do my best this time, I''m going to be sent to a summer course at a prep school."


    "Seriously? Nagai, your grades aren''t that bad."


    "My parents only allow me to go to national universities, so if I can''t make the top ten in our grade at this school, I should start preparing. But I will still participate in club activities. I heard there is a course that starts from the evening."


    "That'' s tough."


    I said, feeling sorry for him losing his vacation time.


    "Ah, I don''t feel like being on summer vacation at all," Nagai said, as if complaining. Then he said,


    "Can I come over to your place the next weekend? Let''s study together. Studying for exams by myself is getting a little boring. I need some stimulation."


    "Eh, my house?"


    I was shaken by the unexpected suggestion. Reflexively looking for a good excuse to refuse, I looked at Yuriko for help. But she immediately followed him up.


    "Can I come too? The more people there are, the more we can teach each other. Isn''t that good? Kenichi, please ask person at your home."


    The person at home. Although she did not mention the name, this was clearly Izumi. Yuriko had called my mother "auntie" since she was in elementary school.


    "Why not Nagai''s house?"


    When I said that, Yuriko acted in a manner that was unusual for her, saying, "Kenichi''s house is closer, so I''d rather go there."


    "Then why don''t we just go to your place? You don''t have to move."


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    "No, not at my place. My father would be angry if I let a boy in my room. For some reason, he''s been very strict about it lately."


    Here comes the girlish excuse......Da*n, what should I do? If Nagai is coming to my house, I''ll have to explain about Izumi.


    "Err, a relative is over at my place right now......"


    "Oh, do we bother you?"


    When I said this, Nagai became reserved.


    "I mean, it''s not like it bothers me, it''s more like......"


    As I clumsily mumbled, "It''s okay. Kenichi''s relative is a kid I know too, right, Kenichi?" Yuriko interrupted from the side.


    "Kid?" Nagai said.


    "Is she a child?"


    "Yes, well, yeah."


    I''m not lying, because she''s not an adult.


    Even after what had happened with Hoshino-san the other day, I could not tell him that the relative was the girl who had come to the practice match the other day.


    Nagai took it as if I was taking care of a little child, and he was like,


    "Well, I won''t force you to."


    I replied in a small voice, "Yeah."


    Yuriko was staring at me with pouted lips as I repeated my vague response.

 Volume 1 - CH 5.2

    After school that day, I went down to the entrance early and waited for Yuriko. It was already the period to prepare for the test, and there were no club activities.


    There was a somewhat relaxed air in the school building after a long day. Outside the window, thick white clouds were drifting low in the sky. For a while, I leaned my back against a nearby wall and looked toward the stairs where the students were coming down.


    After waiting about ten minutes, Yuriko came down to the entrance with two other girls.


    "Yuriko."


    I approached the girls and called out to her. Yuriko, with her bag, slung over her shoulder, looked up in puzzlement when she noticed me.


    "Oh, it''s Kenichi. Do you have business with me?"


    "I wouldn''t talk to you if I didn''t have business with you."


    "What''s that."


    During our brief exchange, the two friends who had stopped with Yuriko glanced at me as if they were peeking at me.


    "Is this about club activities? Will it be quick?"


    "Well......if possible, can we talk about it on the way home......"


    Despite my reluctance to say so, I looked at Yuriko''s two friends as I said this, and they chuckled and then waved mischievously at Yuriko saying, "Take your time, Mori-san," as if they were trying to be considerate, and went out the entrance first.


    "Oh, wait, Sacchan, Katou-san."


    Yuriko called out to the backs of the two girls, but they only smiled at us, as if they had some mischievous idea of what we were up to.


    "Muu. I was about to stop by with my friends. Read the air."


    As I listened to Yuriko''s complaints, we walked to the bicycle parking lot, and then we both got on our bicycles side by side and rode along the school route, just as we do when returning home from club activities.


    The sky was still bright, unlike the usual time after club activities. There were many overlapping clouds covering the house, but there were gaps here and there, and many shafts of light were falling on the city in the afternoon.


    We had been riding our bicycles for a while without talking to each other because of the noise of cars on the national highway, but when we stopped at a traffic light, I started talking.


    "What was that at lunch today?"


    "And what''s that?"


    "About my place. You know Izumi is there, right?"


    "I know. But you don''t have anything to be guilty of, do you? You didn''t want him to come to your house? Then why didn''t you just say no?"


    "It''s not like that."


    "Then that''s fine, right? I also wanted to go to Kenichi''s house after a while."


    The traffic light turns green. We started pedaling our bicycles side by side again.


    "Why are you so secretive about Izumi-san? I''m sure Nagai is not the kind of guy who would just go around telling everyone about it for fun, and if you explain it properly it won''t cause any misunderstandings."


    When Yuriko told me, I kept my mouth shut. That''s true, I think so, too. Nagai is not that kind of guy. Whenever I hear something that has to do with Izumi, I always become strangely flustered.


    "Kenichi, maybe you don''t want other boys to know about Izumi-san? It''s not just that it''s too much trouble to explain?"


    I was startled.


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    When I looked at Yuriko, she was looking straight ahead. Her hair was fluffy and blowing in the wind.


    "......that''s not true."


    "Really?"


    "---Yeah."


    Although I replied, the small, downcast tone in my voice showed that I wasn''t sure.


    Yuriko glanced at me with her big and beautiful eyes. For a moment, our gazes met. She immediately returned her gaze forward. Then, perhaps intending to change the subject, Yuriko suddenly said,


    "It seems the rainy season is ending early this year."


    In response to her words, I looked up at the sky. Although there was light shining here and there, most of the sky was covered with gray clouds.


    "......So?"


    "Nothing. That''s all. If we''re going to have a study session, make sure you invite Izumi-san, too. We promised the other day that we would meet again."


    We soon entered the residential area where we grew up and where the smell of daily life wafted through the air. It is a town that could be anywhere, lined with characterless houses and parks, national chain convenience stores and supermarkets, and small, desolate private stores. Perhaps the wind was strong in the sky above, and the clouds moved every second, accompanied by a change in the appearance of the belt-shaped light. The city was dimming and brightening repeatedly in a short period of time. Even the visible colors seemed to change slightly as the light shone in different ways.

 Volume 1 - CH 5.3

    "So that''s what happened."


    I explained the situation to Izumi at dinner.


    I was going to refuse the suggestion if she gave me a reaction that she was bothered, but her eyes lit up when she heard that Yuriko and another friend were coming to study with us.


    "Then, I have to prepare."


    "Eh? Prepare for what?"


    "Making snacks and other things."


    Surprisingly, Izumi was eager to participate. She looked as if she was looking forward to it.


    "I don''t think you have to go that far. I mean, aren''t we bothering Izumi''s study?"


    When I said this, Izumi shook her head.


    "I also want to see Mori-san again. I also want to thank her for the gifts she brought me the other day. "


    "I see......You guys were getting along so well."


    Izumi nodded, carefully pouring the tea into my mother''s empty teacup. On this day, my mother came home early after a while, and the three of us had dinner together.


    My mother sipped the tea Izumi had poured for her and quietly placed the teacup on the table.


    "Yuriko-chan, she''s gonna come?"


    "Apparently."


    "It has been a long time since I''ve seen her. I saw her at the supermarket the other day, and she looked so cute with her hair styled up."


    "Yeah, well, I guess so," I replied.


    Yuriko hadn''t been to my house since we were in the sixth grade.


    She used to come over to my house a lot. Most of the time, it was just a gathering to play video games with the boys of the same grade who were on the same soccer team and my big brother who played with us, but my mother, who said she wanted a daughter, was so happy when Yuriko came. They used to talk in the living room, leaving me, my big brother, and other friends to play video games and have tea together, and they used to make snacks at home together. Many years have passed since then.


    "Kenichi-kun, I''m totally fine, so please tell Mori-san and your friends so."


    Izumi said this as she finished her meal and put down her chopsticks. She had only met Yuriko once, and it was her first time meeting Nagai, but she didn''t seem to have any particular hesitation.


    What''s that, I thought. Maybe I''m the only one who''s think it too much.


    "Thanks for the food."


    I sat up, cleaned my own tableware, and went back to my room. As I lay on my bed, I contacted Yuriko on the SNS app.


    ¡¶Izumi, she said you can come. She said she wanted to see you too.¡·


    I lay on my back with the phone still in my hand and stared at the ceiling. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs from downstairs. Izumi, I thought. The sound of my mother and Izumi going up the stairs was slightly different. Izumi''s footsteps were calmer, and whether it was because of her lighter weight or her calm personality, the sounds were more subdued. It had only been less than a month, but I had already become so used to having Izumi at home that I was able to discern such a thing.


    The phone vibrated briefly in my hand.


    The screen of the SNS application I displayed said, ¡¶Got it. Give my regards to Izumi-san,¡· was all that was written on the screen.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


    At lunchtime the next day, as if trying to blend in with the hustle and bustle, I said to Nagai in a slightly quieter voice, "You know,". "Hm?" he asked as he sat down across from me and stuck a straw in his juice pack.


    "The relative I mentioned yesterday is the girl who came to watch our practice match the other day."


    Nagai stopped moving for a moment and then looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.


    "For real?"


    I nodded. Then Nagai, too, lowered his voice and asked,


    "Do you live with her?"


    I nodded again in response to his questions.


    "......Since last month. It''s kind of hard to say."


    For a moment, Nagai opened his mouth slightly, as if to say something, but after a pause, as if swallowing his words,


    "--- I bet," He said, with a sympathetic nuance. I felt a bit relieved at his words. Nagai is not that kind of guy, but I wondered what I would do if he were to make fun of me or tease me.


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    "But, are you sure? I''m going to your place under those circumstances. Doesn''t she also have to study for a test or something?"


    "Yeah. We talked about it yesterday. She said she''s totally fine with it. Besides, she went to a prestigious school that sends a lot of students to Tokyo University every year, so she can probably teach you even the hard parts. She will be a great help."


    "Really? That would be very helpful."


    Nagai laughed as he said that.


    "Besides, I was a little curious about her."


    Nagai''s words and cheerful expression made my heart ache a little.


    "Can I ask you how it happened, what''s going on? I don''t want to step on any landmines when I go to your place."


    "Her parents are away on a long business trip."


    When I replied shortly, Nagai was taken aback.


    "Eh? Is that all?"


    Yeah, I nodded my head.


    "She came to my house because we were the only place within her school zone where she could be taken care of. There were no landmines or anything."


    "I see. But you must be getting along well with her since she comes to see your club activities. I also have some relatives close to my age, but I don''t talk to them much because I don''t have much of a relationship with them."


    "No. That time I forgot my lunch box, so she brought it to me. It was Yuriko who invited her to watch the game."


    "I see. I was surprised at that time because I thought she was Sakamoto''s girlfriend, you know."


    I couldn''t respond well to that remark. I just smiled bitterly and replied, " Of course not,". Nagai, and the words I said, brought up some mysterious and complicated feelings.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 5.4

    The day before Yuriko and Nagai arrived at my house, Izumi had been in the kitchen making cookies since the evening. When I went down from my room to the living room, I could smell the sweet, savory aroma wafting through the room.


    "Kenichi-kun, try these."


    Saying that, Izumi handed me a plate filled with cookies. They were star-shaped, heart-shaped, diamond-shaped, and other shapes and sizes that all looked familiar to me. Perhaps she had used the molds we have at home. My mother had made the same shape for me and my brother a long time ago.


    I picked up one of the cookies offered to me and took a bite. It was slightly sweeter than the one I remembered, but I thought it was cooked well.


    "It''s good, isn''t it?"


    "Really? I''m glad to hear that. Then, I''ll make more like these."


    Although I thought it was an appropriate impression, Izumi said happily.


    "I''m sorry. Sorry for making you do this."


    "It''s okay. It didn''t take that much time, and it''s a nice relaxation, so don''t worry about it."


    Saying that, she returned to the kitchen, where bowls, stirrers, and aluminum foil had been set out.


    "Then, I''ll go buy drinks for tomorrow."


    I suggested, since I didn''t want Izumi to be the only one preparing for tomorrow. She turned her face and said with a smile, "Thank you."


    The next day''s study session was scheduled for 1 p.m. Five minutes before that time, the intercom rang. Izumi, who was sitting on the sofa reading a textbook in a red checkered short-sleeved shirt and three-quarter-length jeans, stopped herself as I stood up and approached the monitor in the living room. Yuriko is shown standing in a blue knit shirt and white shorts. Nagai is still nowhere to be seen.


    After a formal exchange with Yuriko over the intercom, I opened the front door. As usual, it was a cloudy day in the rainy season, and the air was sultry and humid. Yuriko was standing in front of the gate at the end of the front yard, a white tote bag slung over her shoulder.


    T/N : the left one


    When I stepped outside, "Hi," Yuriko said.


    I let her in, and Izumi also came down to the front door.


    "Hello, Mori-san. Thank you for your kindness the other day," she said with a soft smile and a small bow.


    "Yeah. Excuse me. How are you feeling now?"


    "I''m fine."


    Yuriko, too, was showing a formal behavior and pleasant expression that she rarely shows to me. Then my mother came out of her room on the first floor, her footsteps clattering.


    "Yuriko-chan, it''s been a while. Are you well?"


    She returned the bow politely to my mother as well.


    "Auntie, it''s been a while. I''m sorry to bother you."


    The three of them started a kind of standing around talking, and I waited in the corner for it to settle down.


    Their conversation went on for a few minutes, then my mother said, "Well, take your time," and went back to her room.


    Then we went up the stairs to my room. I had cleaned up my room in the morning, set up two folding desks, and prepared a cushion. It was a little hot and humid, so I turned on the air conditioner as I entered the room.


    "Oh. It looks more mature."


    Yuriko said as she entered the room.


    "When you were in elementary school, there were anime posters and stuff like that all over the place. Where did they go?"


    Izumi, who had gone to her room to pick up her study materials and came in a little later, was tilting her head while clutching her textbooks to her chest, as if she had heard a snippet of the conversation.


    "It doesn''t matter what happened in the past."


    "What? Are you embarrassed? Do you want me to say more?"


    "Are you a sadistic?"


    I ended the conversation before Yuriko could say anything about my past and took out my notebook and writing materials from my study desk.


    Izumi and Yuriko sat down facing each other at one of the two desks, and I laid out my study materials at the other desk.


    "Hmm, that was uncle''s, wasn''t it? So it was given to you, Kenichi."


    Yuriko looked at the bookshelf by the wall and said.


    "That''s right."


    "You read books like that?"


    "No way. I barely read them."


    "I guess so," Yuriko said, sitting down on the cushion and taking a notebook out of her bag.


    Before long, Nagai also arrived at my house. When I went outside to pick him up, I was told that the train had been delayed. He was wearing brown shorts and a dark blue polo shirt. His hair smelled of wax or something. He looked a little more stylish than when we play with the other boys.


    When I went up to the room again with him, "It''s Nagai," Yuriko, who was sitting and spreading out her study materials, responded.


    "Sorry, I''m late."


    He replied so to Yuriko. Then Izumi, who had been staring at Nagai like a vigilant rabbit, stood up and opened her mouth, "Um."


    "I''m Izumi Rina. I''m a relative of Kenichi-kun---"


    "Ah, I''ve heard about you. I''m Nagai, from the same club as Sakamoto."


    He said, " Hello," and bowed his head slightly. Izumi said politely, " Nice to meet you."


    "Nagai''s position, right there."


    When they had finished greeting each other, I interrupted them and said to Nagai. "OK," Nagai said and put down his luggage, and sat down.  He was next to Yuriko and in front of me.


    "Kenichi-kun, I''ll bring the cookies."


    "Oh, then I''ll go with you. I''ll bring the drinks."


    As Izumi and I sat up, we went downstairs together. Unlike my room, which was now crowded with the four of us, the first floor was quiet. My mother was probably on the phone at work in her room, and her voice, which sounded like she was reprimanding someone, was leaking into the living room.


    "My mom''s pissed."


    As I said this, Izumi wryly smiled as she took a large plate of cookies that had been covered with plastic wrap and said, " It must be tough work, isn''t it?" Then she turned to me.


    "Mori-san, she knows Kenichi-kun pretty well, doesn''t she?"


    "Eh? Why?"


    "She seemed to know Kenichi-kun''s father very well."


    "Yeah. That girl was on the same soccer team as me in elementary school, and my dad used to teach us there. She had been a soccer fan since she was young. She came over here frequently with our teammates, so she''s close with my family. She knows Ryou-kun, too."


    "I see."


    Izumi said, looking at the plate of cookies she had made. She took off the plastic wrap, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the non-burnable trash.


    "But why?"


    Izumi looked up and said, "No. It''s nothing. It''s just something that came to mind," she said, and then smiled.


    "Hmmm," I replied, opening the refrigerator and pulling out bottles of drinks. Then I put four glasses, a bottle of tea, and a bottle of cola on a stainless steel tray. I walked up the stairs with Izumi and returned to my room.


    "I made these yesterday. Please enjoy them while you study."


    As Yuriko and Nagai were chatting, Izumi placed a plate of cookies on the table.


    "Oh, perhaps you don''t like sweets?"


    As Izumi asked in a rushed tone of voice, Yuriko smiled.


    "No, it''s okay. Thank you, Izumi-san. Can I try one?"


    "Of course. I hope it suits your taste.---What do you think?"


    Izumi asked Yuriko, as she bit into a cookie.


    "It''s delicious," Yuriko complimented. Izumi looked pleased to be told so.


    I held the glasses out in front of the four of them and said, " Have a drink as you like," and placed the plastic bottles on the desk with a thud.


    Nagai and I poured cola into the glasses, while Yuriko and Izumi poured tea.


    "Then, for the next two hours, talk about anything other than study-related topics is prohibited. We will have two sets of two hours with a break in between, and finish around 6:00 p.m., okay?"


    Once the preparations were complete, Yuriko showed her management skills and suggested the day''s menu.


    "Okay," Izumi said, and I - and maybe Nagai, too - replied, "Yes," feeling as if we were in charge of the practice in the club, and Yuriko activated the timer app on her phone.


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    Thus began the day''s study session.


    I wonder why I can concentrate better when there are people around me than when I am studying alone. Everyone was busy running their pens over their notebooks, the atmosphere was nice, and I made more progress than I would have if I had been studying alone.


    After about 30 minutes, Nagai asked me, "Hey," he said.


    "How do you translate this?"


    Nagai underlined the English sentences in the exercise book with a pen. I stopped my studies and looked at them. It was a long, complex sentence with a number of relative pronouns in it.


    "Let''s see, this whole second half of the sentence depends on this ''Woman'', so it would be better to translate it from here....... But what does this ''one'' mean?"


    "It''s not simply "one person," is it?"


    "I don''t know?"


    Hmm, when we both groaned, confused by the long sentence and stuck on a small part, Izumi looked up and asked in a whisper, "What''s wrong?"


    "Izumi, can you translate this?"


    I took Nagai''s exercise book, placed it at an angle so that Izumi could see it, and pointed to the part in question.


    Then, without thinking or stammering, she smoothly translated the English sentence.


    "Oh. Thank you, Izumi-san."


    Nagai, who was listening beside me, raised his voice.


    I was a bit surprised, too, and said, " You''re amazing, Izumi."


    "You''re welcome," Izumi said with a smile.


    She doesn''t look like the hardworking type, but it seems that attending a well-known preparatory school is no joke. When I looked closely, I noticed that Izumi''s English textbook was different from ours in that it contained less Japanese and more English sentences in small letters, giving it a somewhat more prestigious look.


    Then we would ask Izumi whenever we ran into a difficult problem. She was immediately able to tell us what we wanted to know.


    While the three of us worked together, or rather Izumi taught us most of the time, Yuriko spent the entire time highlighting in her textbook, running her pen through her notebook, and studying on her own.


    "Thank you, Izumi."


    "You''re welcome."


    I had approached Izumi to ask her to teach me, but when I moved away from her and sat back down on the cushion, my eyes suddenly met Yuriko''s, who was sitting diagonally in front of me.


    Yuriko looked at me as she held the cookie in her hand. She took a bite of the pointed part of the star-shaped cookie Izumi had made.


    A few moments later, the alarm Yuriko had set rang. She reached over and immediately stopped it. We studied for a little while longer before putting our pens down.


    Nagai and I breathed heavily. The air rapidly loosened. Izumi, too, took a sip of her tea, putting her pen in a cylinder-shaped pen case. Then, next to her, Yuriko said, "I have a warning."


    "Kenichi and Nagai, don''t ask too many questions to Izumi-san"


    "Eh, why?"


    When Nagai and I raised our voices,


    "Because it will decrease Izumi-san''s study time. You should only do that when you can''t really figure it out until the very last minute."


    "Hmm, surely."


    Nagai mumbled so.


    I didn''t think we were taking up that much of her time, but we apologized to Izumi, thinking it would have been a burden on her.


    But she smiled wryly and replied, "Don''t worry, teaching is also a good way to learn." Even so, Yuriko was still slightly pouting.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 5.5

    Time passed, and the sunlight that shone through the window of the room gradually changed its color, and by nearly 6 pm, at the end of the second set of two hours, the sun had turned into a setting sun.


    When Yuriko''s timer rang, I let out a big breath. Even though we had a short break, as expected, my head was tired after four hours of work.


    "Ah, I''m tired."


    Yuriko crossed her arms and stretched them out in front of her as if to stretch. In front of her, Izumi gently closed her notebook and Nagai rubbed her temple with his hand.


    Everyone was tired in their own way, after all, and they spent some time drinking tea and munching on Izumi''s cookies, of which there were only a few left.


    Before long, Yuriko straightened her back and then asked, "How did it go, guys? Have you made progress?"


    "Greatly," Nagai replied.


    "Izumi-san taught me a lot. Thank you."


    "Not at all."


    When Nagai thanked her, Izumi shook her head in a small way with her usual nice demeanor.


    Yuriko finished the rest of the tea in her glass and asked, "What are we going to do after this? We''ve already done everything we were supposed to do, should we break up?" She asked the others.


    "Since we''re here, I think I''d like to continue the session a little longer. If it''s all right with Sakamoto and the others."


    Nagai looked at me and said, "What do you think?"


    "I''m fine. Our dinner time is around 8 p.m. or so. What about Izumi?"


    "I''m totally fine with it."


    I received a frank answer that made me wonder where she had learned it. She looked a little tired, but she was still smiling, and I could sense that she had plenty of time to spare.


    "Then, let''s take a break and have a little extra time."


    As Yuriko summed up the conversation, I heard the shaking of the cell phone on my desk. I got up and looked at the screen and saw my brother''s name on it.


    "Yes. What''s up?"


    When I picked up the phone, I heard my brother''s flashy voice saying,  ¡ºHey, are you free right now?" ¡»


    "I''m studying for the test."


    ¡ºYou''re doing something boring.¡»


    "Thanks to you."


    I said, and my brother laughed briefly.


    ¡ºWell, whatever. If you have time after this, why don''t we go out for dinner? With Rina-chan too.¡»


    I looked at everyone. Yuriko was looking at me, perhaps curious about the call I had received, and Nagai was talking to Izumi about something.


    ¡º......Yuriko and one other friend from my club are here too.¡»


    ¡ºWhat, you''re having a study group? I don''t mind if it''s just about four or so people. Invite everyone. I''m making a lot of extra money right now.¡»


    "Did you get a new job?"


    ¡ºNo, I was on a radio program the other day.¡»


    I was about to respond with something like, "Hmmm," when he said it so casually, but then I thought about it and realized that was pretty amazing. I was surprised after a beat and said,


    "Really? You never said anything about that."


    ¡ºI was embarrassed, so I kept quiet. Besides, mom might be worried.¡»


    "......Well, I guess so. But what kind of program was it?"


    Although not as major as television, radio is still mass media. For a moment, I thought of what happened to my father, and my heart pulsed strongly with a bad feeling.


    ¡ºDon''t worry, it''s not the same story as with dad. I mean, a master''s degree student like me doesn''t have that kind of influence. I was invited to be a guest commentator for a one-shot segment on an information program about youth culture. We just talked a little bit about literature and arts that are popular among young people, from pure literature to subculture content. The broadcasting area is also part of the Kanto region.¡»


    I see, I replied, relieved to hear my brother''s casual tone.


    ¡ºWell, we''ll talk about it another time. If you want to go to dinner, call me back in 30 minutes. I want to be there around 7.¡»


    "Got it. I''ll ask the other."


    I tap the End of Talk icon and place the phone on the desk.


    "Ryouichi-kun?" Yuriko quickly asked.


    "You know very well, don''t you?" I replied.


    "I could tell by your tone of voice. What are you talking about?"


    "He asked me if I wanted to go out for dinner. I told him I had a friend coming, and he said I could bring you, and he''d treat all of us."


    "Really? Is it okay?"


    "I heard he got some extra money. Do you want to go?"


    I asked Yuriko, and then I asked Izumi and Nagai, who seemed to have been listening to the conversation from the middle of it, that same question.


    Yuriko and Izumi replied that they wanted to go although they were slightly reserved, Nagai clearly declined, saying, "No, it''s bad for Sakamoto''s brother, so no thanks."


    "No need to be reserved. My brother is a very communicative person, and eating with strangers is nothing to him."


    "That''s right, Nagai. Kenichi''s brother is a good man," added Yuriko, who was acquainted with my brother. But, "No, not this time. My family is probably preparing the meal at home," he replied. Since I didn''t want to force him, I said, "Okay," and we cut the conversation short.


    "Then I''ll tell him that Yuriko and Izumi will be coming."


    I grabbed my phone again and called my brother.


    After that, we each studied for about 30 minutes, and that was the end of the study session for the day.


    "Then, I''m going home. Thank you for today, Sakamoto and Izumi-san. And Mori, too. I made a lot of progress. I''m glad we were able to study together."


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    Yeah, I replied, and Izumi said, "Same here,". Izumi, after all, had a certain amount of social skills, and after spending half a day together, she seemed to open her heart to Nagai to a certain extent.


    He started to pack up his stuff, and in the middle of doing so, he said, "Oh, right," and shoved his hands in his pockets. Then, as if peeking out,


    "Izumi-san, if you don''t mind, can I have your contact information?" He asked Izumi


    Perhaps sensing something, Yuriko looked at Nagai with a "ho".


    "Eh, ah, yeah. Sure"


    Izumi pulled out her own cell phone, though she seemed slightly bewildered.


    After exchanging contact information, Nagai thanked Izumi with a smile and said, "Thank you."


    "You''re welcome," Izumi replied pleasantly.


    Watching the two of them exchange contact information, I again felt something like the discomfort feeling I''ve felt a few times before. It was itchy, some kind of indefinable feeling.


    Then I went to the entrance to see Nagai off as he left the room with his luggage.


    The clouds that had covered the sky until noon had already drifted away, and the evening sky, which had just turned July, was stained red by the setting sun.


    "See you later, Sakamoto."


    "Yeah, See you later. I hope your grades get better."


    I replied and waved my hand.


    Nagai walked out the gate of my house and walked toward the bus stop.


    He was the closest friend I had in high school. He''s a good soccer player and a good student, but he doesn''t boast about it. He''s a good guy.


    But as I watched his back move away from me, the strange feelings that had just sprouted inside me seemed to subside, and I felt like a total idiot to myself.


    I haven''t exchanged direct contact information with Izumi. We only know each other''s phone numbers. We have never texted each other, nor do we know each other''s SNS accounts. Since we live together, it was enough if we could just call each other.


    I felt somewhat uncomfortable that he knew a part of Izumi that I didn''t.


    I can see it clearly now.


    Yuriko''s remark the other day about not wanting other boys to know about Izumi was right.


    A sigh leaked out spontaneously at the unreasonable thought that even I could not understand.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 5.6

    Just before 7 p.m., my brother came to our house riding the moped he uses to get around the neighborhood. I knew immediately from the sound of the engine that he had arrived. I went downstairs and opened the front door just as the intercom rang.


    "Yo, Kenichi."


    My brother was wearing a black V-neck shirt and slim jeans. He was a bit more modest than usual, but the silver accessory peeking out from his open chest made him look like a flashy guy.


    "Wanna go in?"


    When I asked him,


    "No, I''m fine right here."


    He said, scratching the back of his head.


    "Mom''s home right now. Should I call her?"


    "Hmm, well, either way."


    I suggested that, given the way the conversation had been going the other day, but he gave me a vague answer for an older brother who always speaks clearly.


    I thought, "Well, whatever," and was about to turn on my heel to call Izumi and the others when our mother came out of the house wearing a pair of slippers. Ack, my brother saw this and frowned.


    My mother put her both hands on her hips and suddenly said in a sharp tone.


    "Ryuuichi, what have you been doing for six months without showing your face? I tried to call you, but you weren''t answering your phone. I visited you, but you weren''t there."


    "Ah, mom, i-it''s been a while......"


    As the red evening sun shone through and the plants swayed in the breeze in the cool evening garden, my mother and brother began to talk for the first time in about half a year. I stayed there, curious to see what kind of conversation would take place. I mean, mom, you went to Ryuu-kun''s house?


    "I was thinking of going out for dinner with Kenichi today, and that''s why I came to pick him up. ...... Oh, if you don''t mind, can I borrow the car? I''ll bring Rina-chan and Yuriko-chan with me. ...... Or rather, would you rather come with us, mom? I''ll treat you."


    My mother didn''t reply, but looked my brother in the face from top to bottom and said,


    "You''re still dressed so flamboyantly. Is your school going well?"


    "Yeah. I''m going to a domestic academic conference in the summer, so I''m preparing for that."


    "I see. Do you have enough money?"


    "Somehow. The university will pay for me to go to the conference, including travel expenses, and I''ll be teaching at a prep school from the summer vacation."


    "Really?"


    "It''s true. At least I can earn enough money to live on my own. I make a balance every month from my part-time job and my manuscript fees. I have no problem at all."


    "Well, if everything is going well, it''s okay."


    Then my mother stared at my brother.


    "Kenichi has told me a lot about you. I don''t want to become a grandma yet, so I don''t really want to hear about those things."


    Ugh, for a moment he was at a loss for words.


    "---Well. I always have several levels of countermeasures in place.......so......."


    When my brother replied with a chuckle, as if he were joking or making some sort of apologetic comment about a scandalous company, my mother shuddered.


    "You idiot! Why are you like this, you womanizer. Stop getting carried away!"


    When he was shouted at, my brother''s frivolous smile turned into a bitter smile that said, "Yikes, she''s mad,". It is probably only our mother who can make my brother, who was always so composed, be cornered like this.


    "Kenichi, don''t just stand there like a fool, get the two of them here now."


    As if to escape, he urged me to do so.


    Hmm, I replied half-heartedly, and headed back to the front door.


    Izumi and Yuriko had packed their bags and were both sitting on the living room sofa. Yuriko was carrying a white tote bag that she had packed with her study materials, and Izumi was wearing a small brown pouch that she hung over her shoulder. The lights were not on, and in the dim light, the red evening sun was shining through the window, reflecting the light in various directions on the surface of the jugs and glasses on the table.


    While they were waiting, they were talking about something again. But when I opened the living room door, they were both sitting side by side in silence.


    "Ryuu-kun, he said come on."


    When I said this, Yuriko and Izumi nodded and stood up at the same time. They both quickly tidied themselves up, stretching the hems of their clothes and combing their hair with their hands.


    "What did you two talk about?"


    When I asked them, Yuriko replied in a blunt tone.


    "......I was listening to Kenichi''s embarrassing stories at home."


    I couldn''t help but say, "What!?"


    "Izumi, really?"


    When I asked her, she looked quickly at Yuriko for a moment, then replied with a mischievous smile at me.


    "Yeah."


    "No way. I didn''t think I was doing anything that weird."


    When I said this, fufufu, Izumi laughed.


    "Like, you taught me how to play games. Or the way you took care of me at home."


    "What? That''s nothing to be embarrassed about, is it?"


    When I said it, Yuriko didn''t change her expression, but ignored my words with a straight face and said in a businesslike tone.


    "Ryuuichi-kun, he''s waiting for us, right? Let''s get out of here."


    As it was, Yuriko left the living room and put on a pair of blue pumps at the entrance. Izumi sat down beside her and put her feet into summery laced sandals.


    When the three of us went outside, my brother was still talking to my mother about something.


    "Oh, hello, Yuriko-chan, Rina-chan."


    My brother turned his gaze toward us as if to escape from my mother''s speech.


    Izumi bowed her head and Yuriko said to my brother in a friendly manner, "Ryuuichi-kun, it''s been a long time,". When we appeared, my mother closed her mouth and stepped back from my brother. Then she crossed her arms as if holding both elbows and said to my brother, "Show your face once in a while."


    He nodded, " Got it." Then my mother turned her face toward us.


    "Yuriko-chan and Rina-chan, be careful with this man."


    My brother impatiently interrupted my mother''s words, saying, "Wait a minute."


    "Do you really think I''d lay my hands on a high-schooler?"


    "If it was you, you''d do it."


    "That''s terrible. I''m not that kind of immoral person."


    "You don''t know anything about morals."


    "Just in case, I''m studying public philosophy, you know."


    Yuriko and Izumi were puzzled by the contentious conversation between my brother and mother.


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    "Mom, Ryuu-kun, I think such a thing is......"


    When I intervened, my mother pulled back, though her cheeks puffed up slightly. Then she walked toward the front door and came right back out again, handing the car keys to my brother.


    She then walked to the front door and quickly came out again and handed the car keys to my brother.


    "Be careful on your way."


    My brother took it, saying, "Thank you."


    Mother stood in the doorway,


    "Well then, see you, Yuriko-chan. Rina-chan, see you later, too," she said to Yuriko and Izumi.


    Yuriko bowed politely, "Yes, I''m sorry to bother you today," Yuriko said, "I''m off," Izumi said with a smile and an excited look on her face.


    After that, my mother went back inside the house and I heard my brother say, "Phew," in a depressed tone of voice.


    "How was your first conversation with mom after such a long time?"


    "I haven''t seen her in six months, so it''s hard for me to talk to her."


    My brother said, as if biting down on something bitter. It is often easier to communicate with strangers who only have a superficial relationship with you than with your family members. Surprisingly, I thought my brother''s weakness might be his family members. In fact, he''s not very good around our mom.


    "Now," he said, as he turned to face us, his expression changing to its usual smiling one


    "What are we going to eat? Rina-chan, what do you want?"


    Izumi smiled, but shook her head in a reserved manner.


    "Anything. I don''t have any preferences."


    "What about you, Yuriko?"


    "......Meat."


    Yuriko, who for some reason had been looking down from earlier, replied in an inarticulate voice.


    "What?"


    When I asked Yuriko back, she looked up.


    "Meat! I want to eat meat!"


    At the sudden loud voice, my brother''s expression turned into a blank stare. I, who was standing right next to her, was also startled. Did this girl really want to eat meat that badly?


    "Then, let''s go to a yakiniku restaurant."


    At the suggestion, yakiniku, Izumi''s eyes lit up.


    "I''ve never been to a yakiniku restaurant."


    "No problem. I remember there was a restaurant in front of the station. Let''s go there."


    We decided where to go and got into our minicar.

 Volume 1 - CH 5.7

    My brother parked the car in the parking lot of a yakiniku restaurant located in front of station street. It was after 7 p.m., and the town was wrapped in the dimness of evening. However, perhaps because it was also time to go home, there were many cars, the streets were brightly lit with headlights and red taillights, and there were many people on the sidewalks. High school students on bicycles rode by with their lights on, and businessmen with business bags slung over their shoulders walked down the street at a brisk pace.


    "Let''s go."


    My brother, who had neatly parked the car in the back, pulled out the ignition key and said so. The two girls in the back seat opened the door and I, sitting in the passenger seat, got out. It was a hot and humid evening outside, with heat rising from the asphalt.


    The clouds in the upper layers of the sky turned to sunset colors some time after the sun had set. The city was dim, but there was still a faint blue tinge in the sky, and the clouds that had been drifting high in the sky had turned to a dark red.


    The four of us entered the restaurant and were shown to a booth in the non-smoking area by the waitress. My brother and I sat side by side with Yuriko and Izumi in front of us. It was dinner time and there were many customers, and the restaurant was filled with the sound of cooking meat and the savory smell of cooking meat.


    The air in the restaurant was slightly smoky. The beer posters on the wall and the menu list had a slight brown grease-like stain on them.


    In the middle of the table, a round net is draped over it, with charcoal lying beneath it. Various kinds of sauce, seasonings, small plates, and splittable chopsticks were lined up on the side, and the evening city could be seen through the window.


    Izumi let out a small " whoa" as she looked around the yakiniku restaurant, which was the first time she had ever been here. A waitress wearing an apron placed four glasses of water and hand towels on the table and lit the charcoal under the grill in the center of the table. The heat from the charcoal fire was slowly rising. Izumi silently gazed at the reddening coals with interest.


    "What shall we have?"


    My brother asked, placing the menu next to the grill.


    With that, Izumi, who had been admiring the lit coals, came to himself and replied, " Ah, I''ll leave it to you," as she pulled herself away.


    Yuriko was also fine with anything as long as she could eat meat, so we ordered the "family set," a menu with various meats and vegetables for four people, and a drink bar.


    "Kenichi, go get us a drink. Cola for me."


    After finishing the order, my brother immediately said so. I nodded my head in agreement, since I was the one who was getting treated for the meal. Besides, if Yuriko gets a part in this, she might do something stupid to me again.


    "OK. What do Yuriko and Izumi want?"


    "I''ll have a cola, too."


    "Oh, then, I''ll have some kind of tea......"


    Yuriko, who had somehow become a bit quiet since the evening, replied modestly, and Izumi, as usual, was reserved.


    "Got it."


    I left my seat and walked through the smoky restaurant to the drink bar area. I poured drinks for four into glasses, placed them on trays, and returned to my seat.


    Yuriko, who had been quiet up to that point, fiercely grilled the meat that was eventually brought to her, and then ate it. She ate the meat with sweet sauce and rice in large portions.


    Izumi, who was experiencing yakiniku for the first time, was at first timidly placing the meat on the net with tongs, and was truly surprised whenever the grease fell onto the charcoal and the fire rose, saying "Kyaaa!" My brother found this interesting and said, "Rina-chan, you''re too scared," Izumi replied with a laugh, " But," and she seemed to be enjoying her first yakiniku quite a bit.


    I looked at Yuriko, the realist girl, thinking bitterly that she might take this kind of thing from Izumi as "flirtatious" or something. But she didn''t change her expression and concentrated on grilling the meat. I received the tongs, of which there was only one, from Izumi, the beginner, while the other three grabbed the meat with chopsticks and flipped it on the net.


    When the meat was about half eaten, Yuriko said, "I''ll have another bowl of rice," and pressed the button to call the waiter. This restaurant offered free extra rice.


    "Yuriko-chan, you eat quite a lot."


    Yuriko was a bit embarrassed and put her hand over her mouth when my brother said, as if he was impressed.


    "I studied a lot today and I''m starving."


    "Meat and carbs are a fattening combo."


    I blurted out, and she looked annoyed.


    "Shut up! After the test, I''ll kick a ball in the club too!"


    "Okay."


    While we were exchanging such words, Izumi was smiling, holding a bowl of rice and chewing it.


    After an hour or so, we ate all the meat that had been heaped on the platter. There was nothing left on the plate but grease and vegetable scraps.


    My brother and I ordered mini bibimbap at the end of the dinner, and Izumi ordered small ice cream for dessert. Then Yuriko asked,


    T/N : bibimbab, korean rice dish


    "Can I have some extra meat?"


    "You still want to eat meat?" I said, feeling astonished, or perhaps amazed in a certain way, at Yuriko, who was being a carnivore in the very sense of the word.


    Yuriko replied, "Because I like meat," and looked at Ryuu-kun. He seemed amused and laughed, saying, "Oh, sure, eat up, eat up."


    "Thanks, Ryuuichi-kun,". Yuriko, looking as if she had no fatigue on her face, pressed the button to call the waiter and added a portion of kalbi, along with her third bowl of rice.


    After we finished our meal, we left the restaurant. A cool night breeze was blowing, with a faint scent of plants in the humidity. The night air of early summer was pleasant to my body, which was burning from the yakiniku.


    Yuriko and Izumi said to my brother, "Thanks for the food."


    "You are welcome. It was more fun than going with Kenichi alone."


    Saying that, my brother unlocked the car door.


    "Yuriko-chan, do you want me to drive you home?"


    "Ah, yes. Thank you. I''d be happy if you would."


    "Okay."


    I sat in the passenger seat and the two girls sat in the back seat, just as we had come. My brother started the engine, turned on the headlights, and pulled the car out into the driveway.


    After passing through the streets in front of the station, which was bustling with lights leaking from illuminated billboards, stores, and restaurants, we entered a quiet residential area with only a few streetlights, and when we arrived in front of Yuriko''s house, my brother stopped the car.


    "Here we are."


    When my brother looked back at her, Yuriko said, "Yes," and slung the tote bag that was on her lap over her shoulder and opened the car door.


    "Thank you, Ryuuichi-kun."


    Saying that, she went down outside. Izumi opened the window and said,


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    "Thank you for today, Mori-san. See you later."


    Yuriko gave a graceful smile, which was unusual for her, and waved her hand to Izumi.


    It is a short drive from Yuriko''s house to ours. My brother drove slowly down the narrow road and entered the car in our roofless parking lot next to the front yard.


    "Well, I guess we''re breaking up here. Kenichi, give the car keys back to Mom."


    When I got out of the car, my brother handed me the car keys with the leather key chain. Beside me, Izumi bowed her head slightly.


    "Ryuuichi-san, thank you for the food. It was fun."


    "Yeah. Let''s go out together again. Do your best in studying for the test."


    My brother replied smilingly and waved his hand lightly.


    Izumi bowed one last time before entering the house, and I was about to follow her when my brother called out from behind me, "Kenichi."


    "What?"


    I looked back and my brother sat down on the seat of his moped with his helmet in his hand. Then he looked at me with a serious expression on his face and said,


    "You should pay more attention to Yuriko."


    "Huh?"


    "An advice from big brother. That girl is no longer the girl you played soccer with."


    "I know that."


    We''ve been together since elementary school. I have spent much more time with her than my brother. I''ve noticed that she''s changed over the years.


    "I hope so. But do you really understand?"


    "I''ve been with her longer than you have."


    "......Well, that''s true. But there are things you can''t see when you''re in close proximity. Think about it."


    He put on the helmet in his hand. I was about to ask what he meant, but my brother turned the engine of the moped. The lights illuminated the plants in the garden, creating an intricate pattern of shadows on the white walls of the house.


    "I''m leaving, then. I''ll come back."


    With these words, my brother lightly tapped me on the shoulder and walked out onto a narrow residential street. The cheesy exhaust sound of the cheap-looking moped echoed around the area, then moved away and quickly disappeared.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 5.8

    Posted by: MayLa7-8 minutes


    A week passed, and it was the day before the first-semester final exam.


    After returning home, I cooked dinner, ate it with Izumi, and began studying for the next day''s exam subjects.


    It had not rained today, and it was hot and humid all day. The thermometer on the radio-controlled clock on my desk read over 30 degrees Celsius, so I turned on the air conditioner. A breeze blew with the sound of the outdoor unit running, and the curtains under the air conditioner swayed slightly.


    After spending three hours reviewing the next day''s three exam subjects, the date changed. Taking a break, I put down my pen and got up from my seat, thinking that I should work hard one more time. I went down the stairs, careful not to disturb my mother or Izumi with my footsteps.


    When I went to the living room in the middle of the night, only the kitchen light was on, cutting the darkness in the living room with its white light. At the dining room table sat Izumi, dressed in her loungewear, a thin T-shirt, and soft fabric shorts, drinking water.


    "Izumi. You''re here?"


    She nodded and replied, "I''m taking a break."


    I took a glass from the cupboard, too, and poured mineral water from the refrigerator.


    "Your test starts tomorrow, right?"


    Izumi called out to my back. Yeah, I nodded, sat down across from her, and took a sip from my glass of water.


    "Izumi''s started today, right? ---How was it?


    When I asked her about it, she smiled.


    "I did quite well. Kenichi-kun, how about you?"


    "Well. I made a lot of progress at the study session the other day."


    "It was fun, wasn''t it? And the yakiniku afterward was delicious."


    Yeah, I nodded, and then I remembered the day of the study session. The first thing that came to mind was Izumi and Nagai exchanging contact information.


    "---So, did you hear from Nagai after that?"


    When I asked, Izumi nodded without changing her expression.


    "Just once. I got an email thanking me for that day."


    "I see."


    As I replied, I reached into the pocket of my shorts. The hard feel of my phone, which I had left inside, touched my fingertips.


    "...... Izumi, can I ask you for your contact information too? Come to think of it, I didn''t ask you directly, so......"


    "Yeah. Sure. I''ll go get my cell phone, just wait a minute."


    Without the slightest awkwardness, Izumi nodded, sat up, and left the living room.


    I could hear her subtle footsteps, going up the stairs, and even the sound of her room door opening and closing.


    The room where I sleep and get up every day and her room is only a few meters apart. But I know nothing about how Izumi spends her daily time there. The only thing I can feel is that she is always nearby.


    I remembered my brother''s advice the other day about not being able to see when you are close. I was sure he was referring to Yuriko, but I was vividly aware of the meaning of his words with regard to Izumi. Even now, I still don''t know myself why I asked for Izumi''s contact information, and I didn''t have a clear reason for it. I just felt bothered by the fact that Nagai knew and I didn''t, and I think that''s why I acted on it. It''s not that I wanted to know.


    Huh, I exhaled, a slightly hot breath.


    Soon, a firm sound fell. It was the sound of Izumi coming down the stairs. She opened the door to the living room, and in her hand was a smartphone with a red cover case.


    "Sorry to keep you waiting," Izumi said, and sat down in her seat.


    At the desk, we exchanged profile data, including each other''s email addresses. Once that was done, the conversation was somewhat halted and silence descended.


    For the past month, since Izumi moved in, we have seen each other every day in this place. I even feel at ease now when I spend time with her in the living room, even if we don''t talk.


    "Oh, that''s right."


    When I suddenly thought of a topic and spoke up, Izumi tilted her head and said, "What''s up?"


    "My brother was on a radio program the other day."


    "Really? I''ve never heard of it before."


    "Yeah. He was embarrassed to be listened to. --Here."


    I picked up my phone again, played a radio program on a video site that was being hosted by a cultured-looking comedian who also writes novels, and put it on my desk. My brother was on one of the longer segments of the program, so I skipped forward in time to that point by moving the seek bar.


    Just as I took my finger off the screen, I heard my brother''s refreshing voice.


    ¡ºHello, I''m Sakamoto Ryuuichi, a literary critic.¡»


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    "Wow. It''s true," Izumi smiled and raised her voice in surprise.


    ¡ºSakamoto-san is currently studying philosophy at a graduate school and also publishes book reviews and critiques in magazines and other publications......,¡» the host, who spoke in a high-pitched tone, introduced my brother. He did not mention our father.


    My brother''s talk was based on the idea that there are many works of literature these days that manipulate the reader, and he nimbly developed his own theory on the current state of literature and art, including subcultural terms such as character consumption and loops.


    "It''s amazing. It''s totally different from what we learn at school. Kenichi-kun, can you understand what Ryuuichi-san said?"


    "About half of it, somehow. I''ve read his book reviews."


    "Hmm."


    After about ten minutes of playback, I touched the screen and stopped the video, saying, "This is about what it looks like."


    "You can search for Ryuu-kun''s name if you want to know more," I said.


    "Understood. Thanks. It was fun," Izumi replied.


    "Somehow, I feel more motivated to study. I''m going back now."


    "Yeah."


    Izumi left the living room, her red slippers clacking against the floor. Alone, I tipped my glass and slowly drank the rest of the water.


    Then I took my phone and looked at her profile data that she had just sent me. I touched the URL of the SNS site written there, and found several pictures of Izumi on the page. There were people I didn''t know, and Izumi had a kind of expression on her face that I didn''t know.


    Looking at them, I felt that she was a distant person.


    But, perhaps that distance is the true distance between Izumi and me. We have never met in 17 years, and although it is more likely that we might have spent the rest of our lives without knowing each other, our lives suddenly crossed paths one month ago.


    In the past month, I have become quite comfortable with her. I''ve never gotten to close to anyone at such a rapid pace before. However, I know nothing about where Izumi has been, with what kind of people, or how she has spent her seventeen years before coming to our house.


    There is a long distance between me and her under the same roof that cannot be filled anytime soon.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î

 Volume 1 - CH 5.9

    The chime rang.


    A feeling of relief and freedom immediately began to fill the classroom as the person in the back of the room collected the exam answers, following the instructions of the teacher.


    With this, the three-day test schedule was over. I let out a sigh of relief and lightly rolled my shoulders, which had been stiffened by studying and tension.


    Club activities would resume on this day. It was cloudy outside, but no rain was falling. It hadn''t rained yesterday either, so the ground should be in good condition.


    "Let''s go, Sakamoto."


    Nagai, carrying a gray enamel bag slung over his shoulder, came to my desk. I nod and quickly pack my bags.


    We left the school building after the test and headed outdoors to the baggage area traditionally occupied by the soccer team. I change into my soccer shorts, take off my shirt, and change into my training wear. Then I put my feet into my spikes.


    The club members were already out on the field kicking the ball. Tachibana was also there, carrying a stack of red cones from the equipment bin. Yuriko was still nowhere to be seen.


    "Izumi-san, did she say anything about how the test went?"


    Nagai, who had changed into a white uniform, asked me this as he pulled out a pair of spikes from his bag. I turned my head toward Nagai. He looked the same as usual. I guessed that he had brought it up as a casual topic of conversation.


    "Yeah. She said she did it well," I replied.


    "I see. I was a little concerned that I might have bothered her studies."


    The feeling of jealousy that I had felt the other day, though I couldn''t clearly identify it, began to smolder in my chest again. I tried to suppress it and said,


    "I don''t think she was bothered at all. She said she enjoyed it."


    "Good, then," he said, sounding relieved.


    When I looked at the ground, I saw that Tachibana had put the cone down on the ground once, perhaps because she was tired. The first-year students around her were so engrossed in playing the passing game that they did not notice Tachibana.


    "Nagai, let''s help Tachibana with the preparations."


    When he looked at Tachibana, who was heavily carrying a cone by herself, he said, "Yeah," and he looked up and nodded his head. After waiting for Nagai to tie his spikes, we went out to the field and ran to Tachibana.


    "I''ll help you."


    Nagai took the four stacked cones from Tachibana as if to lend a hand. Tachibana looked very happy and said, "Oh, Nagai-senpai. Thank you very much."


    "The first-year guys didn''t help me out. As expected of Nagai-senpai, you are very kind."


    "No, Sakamoto was the first one who suggested it."


    Tachibana looked at me with a dubious look and said, "Sakamoto-senpai?" She looked at me.


    "Are you eating something strange, senpai? Maybe you''ve been studying too much and you''re going crazy?"


    "Is it so weird that I''m the one who''s being considerate?"


    "I mean, Sakamoto-senpai was always giving off an aura of ''I''m not going to talk to anyone''. The other day, when we were on the bus for a tour, you were listening to music in your earphones while everyone else was in high spirits."


    "I don''t give off that kind of aura."


    Nagai gave a small wry smile at the exchange between Tachibana and me.


    "But Sakamoto has been getting better lately."


    "With this?" Tachibana said with exaggerated surprise.


    I was trying to be considerate to Tachibana and said, "I''m going to get the rest of the cones and markers from the equipment shed," and headed for the shed where the soccer team kept the balls and cones.


    We went through our usual practice routine, and in a corner of the field, Yuriko was kicking a ball with Tachibana. Tachibana was kicking the ball poorly and getting excited, while Yuriko was mostly silent.


    An hour or so later, when everyone was sweating in the July heat. Black rain clouds drifted in with a damp wind.


    Soon the rain began to fall in drops. It was a big drop of rain that looked like it was going to be a heavy downpour. We were in the middle of shooting practice, so we decided to stop our club activities immediately, put away our equipment, and return to the roofed luggage area.


    I gathered up the ball with a few other members of the club who were nearby, grabbed it in both hands, and ran to the equipment shed. Meanwhile, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and thunder rumbled in the distance. "Gee!", Tachibana, who was carrying the bib, freaked out, looking like she had just blown her usual burikko attitude, and Yuriko snatched it away and said, "Akari, go back first,". "I''m sorry!" Tachibana replied and ran toward the school building.


    T/N : burikko, woman or girl who acts cute by playing innocent and helpless


    Several boys, including myself, collected and put away the balls scattered all over the field, and Yuriko also put away the bibs and markers on the shelves. After cleaning up, the club members left the equipment shed and ran joyfully and happily in the heavy rain, which was blurring their vision. I stood at the entrance and looked up at the sky, thinking that it would be better to stay here if it was raining like this.


    Covered by thick clouds, the ground is as dark as night. In addition to the sound of rain hitting the ground, there were occasional rumbles of thunder that shook my stomach. The weather forecast didn''t say it would rain like this. It must be temporary. Maybe this downpour would stop soon.


    With that thought, I returned my gaze from the sky to the ground and noticed Yuriko standing right next to me. She was looking up at the sky too. Her hair and clothes were soaking wet from the rain. The white fabric of her clothes was tightly clinging to her shoulders, revealing the color of her skin. Furthermore, the color of her pale blue underwear also rose to the surface, along with the bulge in her chest, and I reflexively looked away.


    "This, maybe we better stay here for a while."


    When I said that, Yuriko didn''t reply, only moved her eyes to look at me. Then she stepped one step forward and grabbed the handle of the sliding door of the shed.


    Yuriko moved the badly-placed door noisily and forcefully, and closed it with a slam. The shed, which had no electricity, was completely dark. I could barely see Yuriko with only the faint dim light leaking through the narrow gap between the roof and the wall. She looked back, crossed her arms, and stared at me from the front.


    "What''s wrong?"


    Pressured by her unusual atmosphere, I asked her.


    "......Kenichi, you are so kind to Izumi, but so strict with me. Why?"


    I was terribly perplexed when she suddenly started talking about Izumi, as if to ask me a question. I heard a loud noise like a rumble of the earth, as if lightning had struck somewhere.


    Novel ini diterjemahkan oleh Musubi Novel


    This novel was translated by Musubi Novel


    "What? What do you mean, "strict"?"


    I said in a loud voice, trying not to be drowned out by the sound of the rain echoing inside the shed.


    "You call me ''you''. And when I eat meat, you say things that piss me off, like I''m getting fat.


    T/N : Kenichi calls Yuriko "omae", while he calls Izumi by her name


    "Because that''s......"


    "That''s, what? Why do you always so kind to that girl?"


    "It''s not like that."


    As if ignoring my words, Yuriko took a step forward. Then, she laid both her hands on my chest. She suddenly put her weight on me, and I almost stumbled backward.


    "Hey, don''t push me."


    "Quiet, shut up."


    Yuriko put more weight on me. Just as I was about to shout, "That'' s enough," Yuriko straightened up and raised her face to the same position as mine.


    At that moment, the taste of rain and sweat spread in my mouth, along with a warm sensation.


    Our wet lips touched, and Yuriko''s lukewarm breath entered my half-open mouth. Our tongues touched each other slightly. Yuriko''s tongue was surprisingly soft inside my mouth.


    Time stopped. Only the sound of the rain, pounding hard against the roof of the shed, continued to echo through the air.


    How long had we remained in the same position? Was it a moment or was it seconds?


    Then, with a thud, I felt a strong push on my chest. I staggered, my whole body drained, and slammed my back hard against the shelf behind me. I choked and coughed a few times, and Yuriko looked at me angrily.


    "Because that''s how it is."


    Then she turned on her heel, untying her hair, which was tied in one knot. She opened the door and ran out under the rainy sky, which had become somewhat lighter. Her wet hair fluttered heavily, dropping drops of water like raindrops on the concrete floor.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.1

    Three hours had passed since club activities began. The afternoon sun was setting in the western sky. As the evening sunlight weakened and a cool breeze finally began to blow, I felt much more refreshed physically, but the club members practicing in a game format were already moving quite sluggishly. Everyone seemed to be considerably exhausted by the heat.


    The rainy season has ended and the temperature has been over 30 degrees Celsius every day. The ground was white and pasty as if it had been baked, and dry dust was flying up on the ground, and the distance seemed to be shaking due to the heat.


    The sound of the whistle echoed for a long time. Yuriko was sitting on a bench with a whistle in her mouth. When I looked at the clock in the school building, I saw that it was precisely 6 pm.


    With this, the practice menu for this day came to an end. Since we are supposed to do our own stretching after practice, many of the club members sat down on the spot and began to stretch their legs. I, too, stood still for a while with my hands on my hips, settling my rough breathing. A drop of sweat fell from the tip of my chin and made a small black stain on the sand of the ground. After a few moments of standing still, I noticed a heavy feeling of fatigue in my calves and thighs, as if they were about to cramp up.


    "Hey, take those off soon."


    Suddenly, I heard Yuriko''s voice mixed in with the chirping of cicadas.


    When I looked back, I saw her standing there with a bag of bibs in one hand. The sleeves of her white wear were rolled up to her shoulders, and a whistle hung from her neck. Her socks were pulled down around her ankles and the laces of the white spikes she was wearing were loosened. The back of his hair, which was tied back, was wet with sweat and stuck to her neck.


    "......Ah. Sorry."


    I took off my bib and handed it to her. As I handed it to her, I felt the sweat stain on the bib, which bothered me a little, but Yuriko grabbed it nonchalantly and shoved it into the bag. Just as I was about to turn on my heel, she opened her mouth and said, "Hey,"


    "......What?"


    When I replied, Yuriko coughed once and continued talking.


    "Today, I have something to talk about with you. Don''t go home without me. Wait for me at the bicycle parking lot."


    Unintentionally, I couldn''t help but notice Yuriko''s face. It was expressionless. There was a short pause in the conversation, but she met my gaze without moving her expression.


    "......Is now not a good time?"


    "Yeah. It''s nothing strange."


    Yuriko nodded and then walked briskly away to the rest of the members of the club.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


    The air around me swayed with the heat rising from the asphalt that had been receiving heat all day long. The sky was still red even after 6 p.m., and the noisy chirping of the cicadas was echoing around us.


    From the end of the rainy season until today, Yuriko and I had barely spoken to each other. We haven''t even gone home together. And yet, on our way home that day, Yuriko was acting just as casually as before. She talked about her summer vacation, grades, and other things in a lighthearted tone that made me think that the awkwardness that had been in the air for the past week was just my imagination.


    As we came into the residential area where we lived, Yuriko suddenly said, "Wait a minute," and stopped her bicycle in front of a small butcher store. She took her wallet out of her bag, entered the store, and began talking with the lady behind the counter, who seemed to know her. During the whole time, Yuriko was smiling as brightly as she used to.


    Before long, she returned with a plain white, top-folded paper bag.


    "Sorry to keep you waiting."


    "......Yeah. Did you buy something?"


    "Ingredients for today''s dinner. Mama called me earlier and asked me to buy something for her. That, and this."


    Saying that, she took one croquette out of the bag with a rustling sound. The bottom half was covered with white paper.


    "They''re delicious here. I just found out about it recently, though."


    Yuriko took a bite of it and said,


    "Kenichi, would you like to try some?"


    Yuriko offered me a croquette that she was already half-eating.


    "No, I''m fine."


    "Don''t be shy. Take a bite," Yuriko said, pushing the croquette toward me forcefully.


    "What''s wrong? It''s delicious, you know."


    Here, here, she said, shaking it in front of me like she was feeding a dog or a cat.


    I look at her expression. Yuriko had a mischievous smile on her face.


    Too much consciousness is not good, I thought.


    In the past, when I had a couple of fights with her and things got awkward, we always made up before I knew it, just like this.


    So I took it and bit into it. It was freshly fried, crispy and so hot that I had to roll it around in my mouth. The meat juices overflowed with each bite.


    "It is indeed delicious."


    Yuriko looked satisfied as I swallowed the croquette and said, "Right?"


    "For this, it''s only fifty yen."


    "Cheap."


    "I know, right?"


    While we were having this conversation, Yuriko munched on the rest of her croquette, put the paper bag away in her bag, and climbed back on the saddle.


    "Let''s go."


    "Yeah."


    I nodded and we started down the road again. The words felt like they were caught in my throat, but with determination, I said, "So,"


    "You said earlier, what are you going to talk about?"


    Then Yuriko said, "Oh," in a distracted way, as if she had suddenly remembered something she had forgotten.


    "I might be staying at your house next time. Is that okay?"


    She was saying it smoothly. I felt a sense of relief that the atmosphere between us had returned to what it had been before, and Yuriko''s tone was so natural that I almost said, "It''s okay," unintentionally. However, I swallowed it down and asked back with a feeling of surprise that came a little late.


    "Huh? What are you saying?"


    Then Yuriko clicked her tongue.


    "I''m going to play with Izumi. I''ll sleep in her room at night, too, of course. Why are you flustered?"


    Saying that, Yuriko looked at me as if she were dumbfounded.


    "......Did you have such an appointment with Izumi?"


    "Yeah, when I called her the other day, she said as long as Kenichi and Auntie were okay with it."


    "......I see."


    "So, what do you think? Is there anything you don''t want me to come?"


    "Nothing."


    "Then I''ll call Auntie next time. Please take care of me."


    Soon we were approaching Yuriko''s house. "See you later," she said as she got off her bicycle and entered her house. Her lightly wavy hair was swaying softly.


    I used to think I knew everything about her like a sibling. Since my actual brother is six years older than me, I felt that Yuriko, who is the same age as me, was closer to me. But since that day, I now have no idea what on earth she is thinking.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.2

    The door to the house was still locked. It seemed that Izumi had not returned home yet. I unlocked the door, entered the house, and went upstairs to my room.


    I put my luggage on the floor and fell into my own bed. While feeling the cool sensation of the sheets, I strangely noticed that I would not have classes for more than a month from now. Starting tomorrow, I won''t have to get up early every morning. With untouched summer vacation now before me, a month from now, when the second semester begins, seems like an eternity away. Suddenly, I felt as if I had been thrown into boundless space.


    I rolled over on my bed, stretched out my hand, took a file from the bag under the bed, and looked again at the report card tucked in it. On a scale of one to ten, the columns were mostly occupied by sevens and eights. Not bad, but my school is not a high-level preparatory school, so if I wanted to go on to college, I would have to study harder. I hear that the summer of the second year of high school is very precious, and thinking about my career path makes me feel a little melancholy.


    I put the report card back in the file and let out a sigh. Then, my cell phone shakes in my pocket. When I picked it up and looked at the screen, I saw that it was a text message from my mother (she uses e-mail, not SNS, to contact me).


    When I read it, it asked me to attend the neighborhood association meeting at 7:30 p.m. as a representative. I thought to myself, That''s troublesome......, but she said all I had to do was attend the meeting, listen to what was being said, and bring back the handout, so I replied, "Okay." When I looked at my watch, it was already past 7:00 p.m. I had no time to waste. I got off the bed, changed out of my uniform into chino pants and a T-shirt, and went outside. It took me only five minutes to get to my destination, the community center, by bicycle.


    Today was a very clear day. The sun''s rays were still lingering, dyeing the heavy-looking cumulonimbus clouds in the sky with a pale red color.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


    As my mother had said, it was fine to just sit through the meeting. The neighborhood head explained the preparations for the summer festival by reading from a handout that was mixed with chitchat, and after an hour or so, the meeting was dismissed.


    It was only that long, but it was hard to stay because there were hardly any people I knew.


    I got up from my seat, thinking I could finally leave, and walked briskly toward the doorway of the community center, where the voices of elderly people chatting and laughing echoed. There was a protected forest nearby, and as I stepped outside, the smell of summer grass wafted through the air. The sun was already setting and it was dark.


    As I pedaled my bicycle toward home, I spotted Izumi walking down the dimly lit street.


    She was dressed in her school uniform, with a bag slung over her shoulder and a supermarket bag in one hand. Her legs stretched out slenderly, and they looked even whiter than usual in the darkness of the night, bathed in the light of the nearby street lamps.


    "Izumi."


    I called out to her from behind. "Ah," She looked up and gave me a small smile.


    "I''m back."


    "Welcome back. Did you stop by somewhere?"


    "Shopping for dinner. Aunty emailed me the list a while ago."


    Izumi replied, lifting the plastic bag a little.


    "---I''ll carry the luggage."


    When I said so, Izumi held still and said, "Eh, but...," and showed a sign of hesitation.


    "I''ll put it in the basket," I said. "Oh, I see," she said, and with that, she handed me the plastic bag. I slowly put it in the front basket.


    "Kenichi-kun, are you on your way back?"


    "Yeah. Mom asked me to attend the neighborhood association meeting in her place. ---It seems we were divided up to help her. I went to the meeting, and Izumi did the shopping."


    "As expected from a manager," Izumi said, not quite understanding what she meant.


    "What were you doing at the meeting?"


    "Here''s the description. Do you want to read it?"


    I handed Izumi the handout I had received.


    "---Summer festival?"


    Izumi said as she dropped her gaze to the paper.


    "Yeah. It looks like we''re going to have to help with the preparations or cleanup, too,"


    When I said this in a tired mood, Izumi blurted out, "Sounds like fun."


    "No, it sounds like a hassle. It''s also hot."


    When I told her so, she smiled, "Why?" with a girlish tension, as if she was joking around. A month has passed, and I no longer feel the awkwardness I felt when she moved in. The distance that had separated us like strangers, even though we were relatives, became much closer.


    We turned one corner and entered the street where our house was located. Then a cat crossed the street. "Oh, a cat," Izumi muttered to herself, and followed the cat''s path with her eyes until she could no longer see it. Nearby, moths danced around an old electric light that had not yet been replaced with an LED one.


    We walked in silence for a while. I could hear the chain of the bicycle I was pushing by hand making a soft clinking sound. Then, suddenly, "Umm," Izumi started talking to me in a reserved tone.


    "That reminds me, Mori-san said she''d like to come over next time......"


    When Yuriko''s name came up, I was a little startled. But I replied, trying not to let my uneasiness show.


    "......Yeah. Yuriko also told me about it today."


    When I said so, Izumi smiled softly and said, "I see."


    "You and Yuriko have gotten along very well, haven''t you?"


    "Yeah. We''ve had a few phone calls and LINE.---But I''m sorry, things got that way......"


    "No, it''s nothing. Don''t worry about it. Yuriko is the one who suggested it."


    When I said it, after a short pause, Izumi said a single word, yes, and nodded.


    I was surprised to realize that now that Yuriko and I had a complicated relationship, I felt more comfortable talking to Izumi.


    ---I had only known her for a little more than a month.


    After returning home, I cooked a simple dinner and ate it with Izumi. Then she took a bath and I went back to my room.


    During dinner, the topic of Yuriko''s visit was still being talked about. Izumi asked me what kind of food Yuriko liked, whether she had many friends at school, and so on.


    Even when I am alone in my room, my consciousness keeps dragging me back to Yuriko, and I think about that girl all the time. I lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling.


    ---Because that''s how it is.


    That''s what Yuriko said at the time.


    When did that girl start looking at me in that way? We never had that kind of relationship, but since when did it change?


    I don''t hate Yuriko. Or rather, I never thought that I liked or hated her. But---


    When I was in junior high school, I was once interested in a girl in the same class as Yuriko, but not Yuriko. If that was a romantic feeling, I have never been conscious of such a thing about Yuriko. I never had any strange imaginations about Yuriko, and I felt that such a thing was something different from what I was used to.


    I could not imagine having a relationship with Yuriko as a man and a woman. Even if I did, I didn''t know what I should do. Should I hold her hand and walk with her? Have lunch together, or do something like that?


    As I thought about this, I was overcome by a feeling of embarrassment that I did not know the reason for, and I wanted to wriggle around on the bed.


    Then, my cell phone vibrated briefly. For some reason, I reflexively thought it might be from Yuriko and jolted, but it was Izumi.


    On the talk screen of the SNS app, it said only, ¡¶This is Rina,¡·I looked up. I could see the white wall of my room. Izumi was just a few meters away. If she walked a few steps, she could talk to me right away, but I wondered what was going on.


    ¡¶What''s wrong?¡·


    ¡¶I''ve never sent you a message since we exchanged contact information, so I tried to send you one. I just finished my bath, so please take a bath. I put in the bathtub a bathing powder I bought at the aroma store when I went shopping with aunty the other day.¡·


    ¡¶Got it,¡·I replied. Immediately, the phone shakes again.


    When I saw the screen, my heart jumped. I had been caught off guard. This time, it was Yuriko.


    ¡¶I''m thinking of going to Kenichi''s house on the 28th. Please confirm with Izumi-san and auntie.¡·


    I looked at the calendar hanging on the wall.


    From that day, there were no club activities until the 30th. The next day, the 29th, was the summer festival of the neighborhood association. That probably meant that Yuriko would be going with us.


    ¡¶Okay,¡·was all I wrote, and put down my phone.


    Then I headed to the bathroom and the changing room was filled with the soft smell of bathing powder.


    I take off my clothes, wash my body with soap, and soak in the bathtub. Softly, the warmth of the water and the soft fragrance envelop my body and mind. It feels gentle and soothing. This fragrance was the scent of Izumi. It was the same as the smell that wafted over me when I got close to her, and when I entered her room, there was a soft-smelling aromatic fragrance in the room.


    I felt, her fragrance permeate my body along with the warmth of the water.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.3

    Summer vacation began the next day.


    When I went down to the living room before 9:00 a.m., although it was her day off, Izumi was already fully dressed up. She was wearing a white T-shirt with short sleeves, black shorts, and her hair tied up on the side. Her backpack, which she had been carrying when she first came to our house, was propped up at her feet, as if she planned to go somewhere.


    "Are you going somewhere?


    When I asked, Yeah, Izumi nodded her head.


    "I''m going to the library."


    "Are you going to read books?"


    "Rather, I was thinking of studying. If I don''t set a good pace on the first day, I''ll be lazy."


    For some reason, Izumi said in an apologetic tone, as if it was difficult to reply. I was a little surprised by her answer. As one would expect from a prestigious school. I don''t think there are many people at my school who have such a high level of consciousness.


    "That''s admirable."


    When I said that without thinking, Izumi shook her head and said, "No, no."


    "Whenever I get tired of studying, I sometimes listen to music, so I''m not that serious."


    "But there is no one like that around me. That''s amazing."


    "I''m not very good at the main points. If I don''t do things slowly and gradually, I''ll be left behind by the more capable students."


    As Izumi said so, she got up from her seat.


    "I''d better get going. Oh, by the way, Kenichi-kun, what are you going to do for lunch?"


    "I wasn''t thinking about it, but.......I have club activities starting in the afternoon, so I''ll eat something at home."


    "Then, shall I get something for you? There is a good bakery. Aiko-chan told me about it the other day."


    "Is that so?"


    "Yeah. How about it?"


    "Then, can I ask you a favor? I''ll give you the money later."


    "Understood," Izumi said, and carrying her backpack, she said, "I''m off," and walked out of the living room. I heard the sound of shoes being put on and the door opening and closing.


    During the summer vacation, club activities are practiced three to four days a week.


    Today, too, I have club activities in the afternoon, and I will see Yuriko later today.


    The clear sunlight shines in through the window. I felt as if the lukewarm morning air was being warmed by that light.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


    That afternoon, I was out on the field before practice, juggling alone, when Yuriko tapped me on the back with a "Hi," The impact was so off that the ball fell to the ground.


    "That startled me."


    When I looked back, fufu, Yuriko giggled. Tachibana was next to her, and with her usual cheerful expression, she bowed to me.


    When Yuriko picked up the ball I dropped, she juggled it, let it loiter under my feet, and stood in front of me. I poked the ball a few times, thinking that she wanted me to join her, and then gave it back to Yuriko. She, too, juggled the ball about five times, then passed it to Tachibana, who was standing beside her, saying, "Akari''s turn."


    "Eh, me?"


    Tachibana stretched out her foot for the ball, but missed trapping it. The ball hit her around the ankle and rolled away.


    "Gezz. I can''t do this yet," Tachibana said and went after the ball. As I watched her, Yuriko said to me,


    "Akari, she has been practicing soccer recently. Recently, she has been able to juggle the ball more than ten times steadily."


    "Oh, really? I didn''t know that."


    "It''s still difficult for her to catch the ball in the air as she did before, but I''m sure she''ll be able to do something soon. Like passing the ball during shooting practice."


    "Really? Tachibana?"


    "Yeah. But since she''s going to this trouble, don''t you want her to be able to play soccer? If she learns basic skills, she will be able to enjoy futsal and other games. That''s why I''m starting to teach her little by little."


    "I see."


    Then Yuriko was called by our advisor from the bench. Yuriko replied loudly, "Yes," and ran that way. As I watched her back, Tachibana came back, kicking the ball.


    "Did you just say something about me?"


    "Yeah. About you''re getting better at juggling."


    "Yes. My best record so far is 18."


    "That much already?" I said. Even for boys, it takes a little while for a beginner to get over ten times. Ehehe, Tachibana smiled shyly. Then she glanced at Yuriko, who was running toward the bench, and said, "It looks like you two have made up."


    "Eh?"


    Without thinking, I looked at Tachibana. For some reason, she looked happy and was smiling.


    "Mori-senpai has been in low spirits lately, and Sakamoto-senpai has been acting more suspicious than usual, so I wondered if something was wrong."


    "......It''s not a big deal."


    It was a bigger deal than a fight, but there was no way I could tell Tachibana right here and now that Yuriko had kissed me.


    "You know, after all, Mori-senpai loves Sakamoto-senpai."


    Tachibana said. When she said that, my heart shook again.


    "Normally, she wouldn''t hit or kick a boy like that. The only boy that Mori-senpai has been touching is Sakamoto-senpai. Anyway, I''m glad you guys made up."


    Tachibana chuckled, as if she was joking. When I was unable to say anything, she said, "Well then," and went toward the equipment shed.


    I continued warming up by myself until the practice session started. The sun was baking the ground scorchingly. It was terribly hot. I had put on sunscreen, but the heat made my skin ache.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.4

    On the way home that day, I was also with Yuriko. As I was walking with the other club members, Yuriko and Tachibana, who were changing in the school building, came out of the entrance and we ran into each other, then we left school together. When I told her I was going to stop by a bookstore, she followed me.


    On the way home, we entered a bookstore with a CD/DVD store attached, and went to the reference book section. Then Yuriko said in a surprised tone of voice, "Oh, Kenichi, do you study?"


    "Yeah. We''re already second-year high school student. Lately, I''ve been thinking about entrance exams."


    "I haven''t bought a reference book since I was in the third grade of junior high school. Maybe I should begin to study something too."


    During the break, we decided to work through a thin workbook, and looked for a book of a reasonable level that would help us strengthen our basics. After we had been choosing books in silence for a while, Yuriko suddenly said.


    "Kenichi, you''ve smelled good lately, haven''t you?


    "Huh?"


    She looked at me with a sidelong glance. The usual, wide-eyed, strong-willed gaze. Suddenly being told such a thing, I couldn''t help but sniff my sleeves.


    I used antiperspirant spray when I changed my clothes, but after being so sweaty, I don''t think I smelled good. I wondered if she had a unique sense of smell, or if she was just being sarcastic about the sweaty smell, or perhaps she had some special proclivities, and when I took a step back, Yuriko suddenly had an impatient look on her face and hit me on the shoulder.


    "Ouch."


    It wasn''t that hurt, but when I reflexively held my shoulder and said so, Yuriko looked at me and said, "You were thinking something rude, weren''t you?"


    "No, not really......."


    When I replied, she gave me a sulky look.


    "You smell sweaty right now. I''m not talking about now, I''m talking about the time before the final exam, when your uniform smelled really nice. I was just wondering if auntie changed the detergent or something."


    Yuriko took out another new English reference book from the shelf and began to flip through it.


    I had an idea. I had read somewhere that women have a sharper sense of smell than men, but I had never thought that they would be aware of such details.


    "---Izumi sometimes put aroma oil or bath bombs? in the bathtub. Maybe it''s because we use the leftover water for washing clothes. Mom likes that kind of thing, too, so lately we''ve both gotten into it, and she buys all kinds of bathing powder."


    "---I see."


    Yuriko responded in a disinterested manner as she rolled up the pages of the reference book. But as for me, I felt awkward again.


    ---You were so kind to Izumi-san.


    How could I talk about Izumi without feeling awkward after what she said to me that day?


    "She''s got good taste. That girl."


    Yuriko said, looking down at the reference book.


    "......Yeah."


    "I guess it''s different when you grow up in the center of the city. The way she speaks is a little different from ours."


    "But, it''s normal."


    "Yeah. I also think Izumi is a good girl. I thought I might not like her at first, to be honest, because many of those types of girls are very Haraguro-ish."


    T/N : Haraguro characters are characters who are good at displaying their appearance of being friendly, approachable, kind and refreshing in public; however, this is a front to hide their darker, sadistic, and twisted personality.


    Yuriko continued to speak in a monotone tone of voice. I could not understand what she was trying to say. She was not saying anything bad about Izumi, in fact, she was praising her, but I felt that her words contained some kind of thorn.


    "I''ll go buy these."


    I decided to buy one thin English and one thin math workbook, and headed for the cashier. Yuriko followed me, saying, "Yeah,". While I was paying, she was looking at a cookbook near the counter. I was surprised to see that Yuriko also read such books.


    We left the store, got back on our bicycles, and continued down a residential street with few pedestrians. We didn''t talk much, but when we reached Yuriko''s house a short time later, we both slowed down. "Then, see you," she got off the bicycle, flipped up her skirt, and gave me a small wave across the side of my face.


    I nodded and started to head home again, alone.


    Even after the sun had set, there was still a tenacious heat in the air. As I pedaled my bicycle, I began to sweat, my shirt sticking to my skin, which was uncomfortable.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


    Then came July 28.


    Looking at the shopping list I wrote down on my phone, I put the vegetables and meat in my basket. It was terribly hot outside in late July, so the cool air flowing from the supermarket''s refrigerated shelves was cool. Before heading to the cashier, I check the items one more time with the contents of my memo to make sure there are no mistakes. Onions, chicken, potatoes, minced meat---Perhaps because it was an afternoon on a weekday, there were not many shoppers, and the place was quiet.


    As promised, Yuriko came to my house at 2 pm this afternoon. It is Friday, so my mother is at work. Izumi and Yuriko were going to cook dinner together. So I was sent to go shopping for it.


    With two shopping bags worth of luggage, I pedaled my bicycle back to my house in the intense sunlight of the hottest part of the afternoon. It was so hot that I felt out of breath just pedaling my bicycle normally.


    When I opened the front door, I heard the sound of a lively conversation between two girls. Izumi and Yuriko''s sandals were placed neatly aligned on the shoe rack.


    As I entered the living room, feeling the coolness of the air conditioner, Izumi said, "Welcome home," and beside her, Yuriko continued, "Good work,". They were sitting on the sofa watching a movie. The screen was dark. Eerie background music was playing. It looked like a horror movie.


    "I bought the groceries."


    When I put two plastic bags on the dining room table and said so, Izumi stopped the movie with the remote control.


    "Thank you. Sorry, even though it''s hot outside."


    "No. It''s okay."


    Izumi had suggested that the three of us go together, but I thought it would be awkward for the three of us to walk down the street together, so I decided to go alone.


    "What''s this?"


    When I asked that,


    "A horror movie that was talked about a lot last year. I rented it before I came here and it''s pretty interesting. Do you want to watch it, Kenichi?"


    Yuriko looked at me and said. Yuriko was wearing blue shorts and a white T-shirt today. Izumi was wearing a sleeveless white one-piece with a red plaid pattern that she often wears at home.


    "No......"


    They were both sitting side by side on the sofa, slippers off, barefoot. Izumi''s toenails were a pale cherry color, as if she had painted them with something. Yuriko''s toenails were clear and shiny, though she did not seem to have painted them with anything.


    "I''m going back to my room."


    When I said this, "You just scared," Yuriko said, squinting her eyes slightly, and then she wriggled around, lifted her legs, and sat down on the sofa with her knees on her arms.


    "Shut up."


    After stating that, I went up the stairs and returned to my room. When I opened the door, I could feel the heat wafting in.


    So hot.


    When I looked at the digital clock with a thermometer function, the displayed room temperature was 33 degrees Celsius. The sultry air had become so stuffy that it felt as if more sweat would ooze out of me rather than outdoors. Before turning on the air conditioner, I opened the window to let the air in for the time being.


    Instantly, the chirping of cicadas jumps into the air in a mass. Huge white clouds are overlapping each other. The sun was shining so strongly that the shadows of the telephone poles were excessively deep. The wind had a temperature that could be described as hot, but being blown by it was much better than being in a still, windless room.


    I stood by the window for a while, soaking up the summer wind. As I closed my eyes, sweat trickled down my face and down my neck, a bead of it reaching the corner of my mouth, where it tasted salty and sour.


    Even with my eyelids closed, my vision was reddish-black as the light shone through my skin. Suddenly, I thought I heard thunder in the distance, but I soon realized it was just my imagination. The taste of sweat stimulated me and brought back the sensation I had felt when I kissed Yuriko. I could vividly feel the warm sensation of her lips on mine. I opened my eyes. The strong sunlight made my vision go blank for a moment.


    I exhaled slowly. Then I closed the windows and turned on the air conditioner. I sat down in my chair, pulled my phone out of my pocket,


    ¡¶Can I go to your''s apartment today?¡·


    I wrote a message and sent it to my big brother. He immediately replied.


    ¡¶I''ll be home late tonight. Is it urgent?¡·


    From downstairs came Izumi''s voice, "Kya---" and Yuriko''s voice, "Wa---". Screams, if you can call them that, have a lot of joyful nuance to them. I let out another deep sigh. My only escape route was gone. I moved my fingers and replied, ¡¶It''s not like that, it''s okay.¡· I don''t even have a duplicate key to my brother''s room, so if that''s the case, I had no choice.


    I thought about working on the workbook I had bought the other day, but the voices of Yuriko and Izumi that I could hear from time to time bothered me, and I didn''t think I could concentrate at all. I put on my headphones and played music at a loud volume.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.5

    When I went downstairs to get a drink a little later, Yuriko was just coming out the door.


    "Oh. You came down?"


    "Yeah. I came to get water."


    I see, Yuriko said.


    "What about you?"


    "I was just going to use the toilet. Hey, by the way, do you have any video games? The movie''s over."


    "I have a soccer game."


    "Oh. that''s good. Then let''s do it with the three of us."


    Thinking for a moment, I nodded. While I had been upstairs earlier, I was still curious about what kind of atmosphere and what kind of conversation Yuriko and Izumi were having together after all.


    Yuriko said, "Then, please." and rattled open the bathroom door.


    I went into the living room. Then, "What''s wrong?" Izumi, who had been sitting quietly on the sofa, looked back at me and said,


    "Yuriko wants to play soccer with us."


    "Oh, I want to play too. Come to think of it, we haven''t played since the test was over."


    "Now that you mention it, yeah."


    I took the game console out from under the TV stand and turned it on. While the game was running, Yuriko came back into the living room and sat down next to Izumi again. I sat down in a dining chair a short distance away from the sofa, put the game in versus mode, and handed the two controllers to Izumi and Yuriko.


    "Thank you."


    "Thanks."


    Yuriko looked fearless and Izumi looked excited as they accepted the controller. I had played this game with Izumi several times since we first played it when my brother came to visit.


    So she was able to operate the game without looking at her hand every single time, for now. As for Yuriko, she had often played the same series of games with our teammates when we were in elementary school, so she should be able to play without any problems.


    At the team selection screen, Izumi chose Argentina. She liked Argentina because of its "cute white and light blue uniforms." Not knowing anything about soccer tactics or anything like that, Izumi left the formation as the default. Her form of attack consisted of burly dribble penetration using powerful front-line players and shots released at unpredictable times that only an amateur soccer player could predict.


    As for Yuriko, she chose Germany. They have always been her favorite national team.


    ---This girl is serious.


    Yuriko was fiddling around with the formation, even down to the distance between the defensive line and the front line. Her eyes were serious.


    Izumi''s arms are slender as she holds the controller. The difference between them is obvious when they are side by side with Yuriko, who has a brownish tan. I couldn''t help but think, "White."


    As the game began, Yuriko quickly scored on the first play, breaking down the defense with an exchange of passes between the forwards. The shot roughly hit the net. "Wow, you''re good, Mori-san," Izumi said carefreely, while Yuriko gave a small triumphant pose.


    A somewhat unrest atmosphere was beginning to emerge.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.6

    "Ugh-. I''m no match for her at all."


    Yuriko was still holding back. In a game that lasted only ten minutes, the margin was as large as 7 vs 0 points.


    Almost always, Yuriko had a point on one play, and her ball possession was over seventy percent. Izumi was disappointed, perhaps because she couldn''t do anything more than she expected. In contrast, Yuriko was in a very good mood, saying, "Fufufuu~n."


    "You. She''s a beginner, so take it easy on her."


    Yuriko''s lips twitched slightly, saying, "What?". Izumi was calm and quiet, so I was sure she would be fine, but if I messed up, the atmosphere could have been very bad.


    Suddenly, I thought to myself, "This was the opposite of the way it was supposed to be,". Yuriko usually warned me about my lack of social skills and my inability to read the atmosphere.


    "Ugh-. Kenichi-kun, pass."


    With that, Izumi offered me the controller. It seemed that Yuriko and I would play next. Yuriko stayed with Germany, I chose Spain, and we started the game.


    Perhaps she heard my warning, or perhaps she felt better after winning one game, but the next time she and Izumi played, Yuriko began to go easy on her. So the three of us continued to play the game, and soon it was around 5:00 p.m.


    "Ah. It''s almost 5:00 p.m. Let''s get ready for dinner," Yuriko said.


    "Right," Izumi stood up as well, smiling, and they walked to the kitchen.


    Izumi put on the sakura-colored apron that hung on the back of the dining chair, and Yuriko pulled out a yellow apron from a tote bag that was propped up next to the sofa. Yuriko quickly tied the strings behind her back and tied her hair up in one bundle, as she did during club activities. Wearing shorts and an apron, Yuriko looked like someone I didn''t know at all.


    Yuriko looked back at me and said, "What''s wrong?" I was startled and shook my head.


    "No, nothing. I''m going back to my room. I don''t want to bother you."


    "Okay. I''ll call you when everything is ready."


    Izumi said as she fixed her hair with an elastic band.


    Yuriko and Izumi cooked dinner, which consisted of a hamburger steak, tomato and lettuce salad, and consomme soup.


    My mother was coming home much earlier than usual that day, a little after 7:00 p.m., so the four of us ate dinner together.


    Read only at Musubi Novel


    Yuriko and Izumi sat down across from me and my mother. We said, "Itadakimasu," and the four of us began to eat. The voluminous hamburger steak was topped with a sweet sauce, and I had a feeling that this menu was more to Yuriko''s meat-loving liking than to Izumi''s.


    "What do you think?"


    Yuriko asked.


    "Delicious," I replied.


    Then, "Fufufu. How is it?" she said proudly.


    "Did Yuriko-chan cook these?" my mother asked, and she nodded with a smile.


    "I do the meat and Izumi-san does the rest."


    "Hee~. Kenichi, do you realize how lucky you are right now?"


    My mother gave me a mischievous gaze. Even I could tell what she was trying to say. I knew, but I didn''t know how to respond, so I just replied, "I know," and let the conversation drift away.


    Then, as I was about to eat my salad, I looked for the dressing that I always keep on the table when I eat. The other three had already put on what I assumed was Caesar dressing, so I figured it would be nearby. Then, "Oh," Izumi said, getting up from her seat and opening the refrigerator.


    "Here. Sorry, I put it away when we used it."


    "Thanks. I was just looking for it." When I received it, I suddenly felt Yuriko''s eyes on me.


    Yuriko was looking at me. Our eyes met for a split second, and then we both looked away from each other. Then she immediately brightened her expression and began talking with my mother.


    During the meal, I wondered how the atmosphere at the dining table would change with just one Yuriko. I was uncomfortable because I did not fit in with the atmosphere, but the three women chatted happily without seeming to have any reservations. Even with my mother, myself, and Izumi all together, it was usually quieter. Today, however, they were very lively.


    "Thank you for the food."


    After we finished eating, we clasped our hands.


    When I got up to wash my own dishes and return to my room, "Kenichi," my mother called out to me.


    "What?"


    "Preparations for tomorrow''s festival begin at 1:00 p.m., don''t forget."


    "Yeah. Got it."


    Yuriko joined the conversation when I replied.


    "Is Kenichi going to help them?"


    "Yeah. We were in charge of the preparations. Kenichi is going to help set up the tent. Are you going to the festival too, Yuriko-chan?"


    "Yes. I was planning to go with my friends. That reminds me, Kenichi, it looks like Akari and Nagai will be there tomorrow. Let''s go over there and have some fun."


    "Nagai is coming too?"


    "Yeah, that''s what I''m saying."


    "Got it," I replied and washed my dishes in the sink. Izumi and Yuriko were to take the bath first. When it came time to decide the order of the baths, Izumi walked up and down the stairs with a clatter of her slippers and brought some bathing salts with her. The three of them started talking right then and there about which bathing salts they wanted to take. I went back to my room as if I had been thrown off by the atmosphere.


    I pressed the switch on the wall and turned on the light. I sat down on the chair and took a breath of fresh air at the quietness of my room.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.7

    It was after 10:00 p.m., and I could hear faint sounds of people talking and the TV coming from downstairs. I took a change of clothes from the wardrobe and went downstairs to see if the bath was empty by now. I hear Yuriko and my mother''s voices. I opened the door to the living room, just to make sure the bathroom was empty.


    "Oh, Kenichi."


    Yuriko, who was sitting where the door was in sight, immediately noticed me and turned to look at me.


    Yuriko was sitting at the table facing my mother, and they were talking about something, while Izumi was sitting on the sofa, drying her hair with a hair dryer. Izumi was wearing a white and red striped T-shirt and fluffy shorts, while Yuriko was wearing a light purple shirt and white nylon pants that could have been used as workout wear.


    Looking at her appearance, made me again think, who is this girl? Yuriko''s hair was still half-dried, and she had an unfolded towel draped over her shoulders. I felt the same allure I had felt for Izumi when she had just arrived.


    "Are the baths empty now?" When I asked,


    "Yes," Izumi, who was sitting on the sofa watching TV, replied.


    "I''ll go in then."


    "Okay."


    Hearing Izumi''s carefree answer over my back, I undressed in the changing room and entered the bathroom, where a soft, sweet aroma wafted through the air. As I soaked in the bathtub, I felt my exhaustion dissolve into the hot water.


    The bathroom mirror was cloudy white, as if someone had just left. The shampoo and body soap bottles in front of the mirror were covered with droplets of water. Although I had not been thinking about it recently, the thought of Izumi and Yuriko soaking in this hot water made me feel uneasy and gave me strange palpitations. I hurriedly dismissed the thought.


    ---What a long day.


    It had only been half a day since Yuriko came to visit, but now I felt as if I was far away from the daily routine that my mother, Izumi, and I used to spend together.


    After soaking in the hot water, I got out of the bath. I wiped myself off with a bath towel and changed into shorts and a T-shirt, which I use as my pajamas.


    I dried my hair with a hair dryer, brushed my teeth, and when I left the changing room, it was already dark on the first floor. All three of them must have gone back to their rooms by now.


    I, too, went upstairs. The staircase was tinted a faint orange because of the warm light bulbs.


    The window facing the stairs was open, and a night breeze drifted in through it. It was a lukewarm breeze, but it felt comfortable to my body, which was burning and sweating after the bath.


    Then the sound of Izumi and Yuriko talking leaked out, and I stopped dead in my tracks.


    As I approach the door to Izumi''s room, the vague outline of their conversation becomes clearer. Behind the wood-grained door, the presence of the two girls and their lowered voices leak out. Both of them were speaking in low voices, and I couldn''t quite make out what they were talking about. I almost feel drawn to the door.


    I took a few steps closer to the door, trying not to make a sound. I heard the sound of my own spit being swallowed.


    And then,


    ---What the heck am I doing.


    Suddenly feeling like an idiot, I turned my back to the door of Izumi''s room and let out a thin, exhausted breath.


    I went into my room. I set the alarm on my phone for 7:00 a.m., placed it near my bedside, and immediately turned off the light.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.8

    Sharp, clear sunlight illuminated the ground. Low in the sky, a heavy-looking, pure white cumulonimbus was floating in the sky.


    The summer festival takes place from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at a park in our residential neighborhood and on the grounds of the shrine next to it. After lunch, Yuriko and I helped set up the tents at the park, while Izumi and my mother went to the shrine to help set up the administration head office.


    Yuriko had returned home once and changed from her sandals to sneakers. She was now wearing shorts that looked like white mini-skirts and a blue top.


    After an hour or so, when I finished setting up the three tents with the other uncles, I was sweating quite a bit. I took a towel out of my own backpack and wiped the sweat off my neck and face.


    I looked around and saw a few benches in the shade of the trees, so I walked over to one of them and sat down. It was a sunny day, and a high-temperature warning had been broadcast by the city in the morning. The sun was shining brightly and the cicadas were chirping so loudly that they seemed to press down on my ears. The sun was shining through the trees, creating a speckled pattern on the ground.


    "So hot!"


    While fanning her face with her hands, Yuriko came up to me and sat down beside me. She, too, was dripping with sweat. A towel was hanging around her neck, and her cheeks were flaming red. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, probably because of the heat.


    "I''m sorry, I even made you help me."


    "I don''t mind. You, Izumi-san, and auntie are working, and I''m lonely if I go home alone."


    So Yuriko said. Then she folded her hands and stretched, saying, hmm. I looked away as I saw her breasts bulge out from under her clothes.


    "Last night, were you able to sleep?"


    "Yeah. I thought we would talk until late, but Izumi-san fell asleep rather quickly. I mean, she surprisingly has a bad sleep position, isn''t she?"


    "What?"


    "We slept together in two futons. But, her clothes were rolled up at midnight, and I could see many things. It was heaven for the eyes."


    Yuriko said this as she looked at me.


    ---Many things? What do you mean? But, couldn''t you see much in the dark if the lights were off?


    I couldn''t help but think about that. Then Yuriko shook her head and looked at me as if peering into my face.


    "Hey......you were flying to a different world just now, weren''t you?"


    I couldn''t reply. She was right on target. Yuriko''s eyes narrowed.


    "That''s a lie. Males are stupid."


    I let out a sigh, as if I had really made a fool of myself. I was so shaken up that I couldn''t say anything back immediately.


    I kept my mouth shut and looked straight ahead. There was a turret in the middle of a grassy park about the size of a soccer court, with food stalls lined up around the perimeter. Many people were preparing for the event in their stalls. Colorful lanterns were decorated with strings tied around trees, telephone poles, and poles.


    "Hey, Kenichi. Do you......."


    Yuriko was about to say something like that when suddenly we heard Izumi''s voice saying, "Kenichi-kun~"


    When I looked toward where the voice was coming from, I saw Izumi walking toward us, wearing a light blue, sleeveless one-piece dress with shorts underneath. Her hair was parted in two and braided so that it was neat around her ears, making her look more refreshing than her usually straight hair.


    "What''s wrong?" Yuriko said to Izumi, who had come to her side.


    "I''m done with my work, so I came over here. Aunty seems to be staying over there with her friends for a while. I also greeted Mori-san''s mother just now."


    Izumi also went into the shade, pulled a handkerchief out of her shorts, and wiped the sweat from her face.


    "My mom was here?"


    "Yes. She brought refreshments for the people working at the shrine. Kenichi-kun''s mom introduced me to her at that time."


    "I see," Yuriko said and got up from her seat.


    "Well, Izumi-san is here, too, so why don''t we go visit and pray? I''m sure there aren''t many people there yet."


    "Yes. You''re right," said Izumi, who had been at the shrine up to now.


    We left the park and headed for the shrine next to the park. The streets around the shrine were also busy with several food stalls selling shaved ice and potato butter.


    As soon as we passed through the shrine''s torii gate, there were stone steps leading up to a water fountain and a hall of worship. Around the shrine, there are food stalls and tents of the neighborhood association. The shrine is surrounded by many trees, making it look like it was in a forest, so there was plenty of shade and it was much cooler than in the park. When the wind blew, the rustling of leaves was loud enough to drown out the cicadas'' chirps for a moment. As we climbed the stone steps, the sun glinting through the trees, I suddenly thought of something to say to Izumi, who was standing beside me.


    "Izumi, by the way......"


    "What?" She looked at me and tilted her head.


    "I wonder if Hoshino-san will come today. She probably knows that this festival is going to be held."


    "Oh, I see. Now that you mention it."


    Izumi took her phone out of her pocket and sent some messages. Then, shortly thereafter.


    "She said she''s coming! She invited me to go around with her," she said happily.


    "Who is this Hoshino-san?"


    Yuriko, who was walking in front of us, looked back and asked.


    "A friend of Izumi''s from school. It seems she lives around here. "


    "Heh. So we''ll have to split up?"


    "Uhh.......I guess so......"


    "Don''t worry about us. Call me if you need anything."


    Yuriko said with a friendly smile.


    After climbing the stone steps, I could smell the savory aroma of baking and frying food from the many food stalls around the shrine. The sound of the adults in the tent of the neighborhood association was also in the air. I stood in a short line in front of the shrine, and as I finished praying, I heard the sound of taiko drums echoing from the park, shaking the air.

 Volume 2 - CH 1.9

    Several groups were playing taiko drums and Japanese instruments on a turret in the middle of the park. The sun was still high in the sky and the sunlight had not diminished at all. It was terribly hot, but more and more people were coming.


    We were walking back to the park from the shrine, looking at the surrounding stalls. Then suddenly Yuriko slowed her pace and pulled out her phone from her pocket.


    "Ah, Akari and Nagai are here. I''m going to pick them up. I''ll be right back, so wait for me near the turret."


    I replied, "Okay," and Yuriko said, " Well, then," and disappeared into the back of the crowd. I asked Izumi,


    "---That''s what she said, but what would you do, Izumi?"


    "Aiko-chan will be here soon, so I''ll just say hello."


    Izumi said with a smile.


    "Then let''s wait together."


    Then, when we started walking, near a yakisoba stall, a voice called out to me.


    "Hey, you boy, want to buy some yakisoba?"


    When I turned around to find such a flirtatious voice, I saw a young brown-haired man wearing white soccer wear and a hand towel around his neck. I almost ignored him, thinking he was just an ordinary yankee, but when I looked closer, I saw that it was my big brother.


    "Oh, Ryuuichi-san?" At the same time, Izumi also seemed to have noticed that it was my brother.


    "It''s been a long time, Rina-chan. It''s been about two weeks. Your braids are so cute. It looks really good on you."


    Immediately, he started talking flirtatiously, and Izumi smiled in a troubled and embarrassed manner.


    "Ahaha.......Thank you."


    "What are you doing here?"


    I said, looking at my brother who was becoming a stall-keeper.


    "I''m grilling yakisoba. You can tell by looking at it. A friend of mine from junior high school was in charge of this place. It looked like fun, so I decided to help out."


    "Right?" my brother said familiarly to the muscular man with blond hair and a dark tan beside him.


    "Is that Ryuuichi''s brother?" the stern man said, glancing at me.


    His eyebrows were as thin as lines drawn with a ballpoint pen and his eyes were sharp. He had the look of someone you would never want to make eye contact with on the street.


    "Yeah. My brother and the girl next to him are my sister," my big brother said, looking at us.


    ""What?"" Izumi and my voice overlapped.


    "Let''s put it that way. In my mind, that''s the position Rina-chan is in."


    My brother leaned toward us and said in a small voice.


    "Y-Yes......hello......" Izumi said with a troubled smile. My brother''s friend looked less interested (and definitely didn''t believe him), said, "Hmmm," looked at us, and then started doing some manual work.


    "Well, we''re off now. I''m meeting up with Yuriko."


    When I said this, my brother looked surprised.


    "Oh, are you three going to play together?"


    "No, with other friends."


    "I see. I was a little surprised to see you alone with Rina-chan. So that''s how it is."


    "Mori-san stayed at our house yesterday," Izumi said after me. "really?" My brother had a surprised look on his face.


    "I didn''t expect that. So that''s what Kenichi''s message from yesterday was about."


    Then he looked at me with a complacent smile on his face.


    "Kenichi, you tried to run away?"


    I could see Izumi tilting her head next to me. I looked at the ground, unable to say anything. I looked at the ground, which was cracked and scorched by the intense sunlight, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Izumi''s laced-up sandals and cherry-red toenails.


    "Well, it''s okay. We''re open till night, so come on over when you''re hungry. I''ll treat you to yakisoba."


    "Really?" Izumi said happily.


    "Yeah. Hey, if you have a meet-up, don''t be late, get there early."


    "Yes. I''ll be back again," Izumi replied with a high-spirited smile.


    I then stood by the turret with Izumi and waited, and within a few minutes, Yuriko returned. Nagai was dressed simply in brown chinos and a white shirt, while Tachibana was wearing a yukata with a white and pink morning glory pattern on a purple background. She was also wearing makeup, her cheeks and lips were red, and her atmosphere was a little different from usual.


    Nagai greeted me with a "Yo,". I raised one hand in a small gesture, and Nagai called out to Izumi, who was standing beside me.


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    "It''s been a long time, Izumi-san."


    Izumi put on her usual pleasant expression and said, "It''s been a while. Thank you for the other day," she said, bowing her head. Following that, Yuriko introduced Tachibana.


    "Izumi-san, this is Tachibana Akari, my junior."


    "Hello. Sakamoto-senpai has been taking care of me."


    Tachibana, who was introduced to Izumi, put on a formal manner, and bowed to Izumi.


    "No, no, it''s my pleasure. It''s nice to meet you, I''m Izumi Rina. Your yukata has a cute pattern."


    "Ehehe. Thank you."


    It was kind of strange to see Tachibana and Izumi talking. When the three girls started talking and Nagai and I stood there beside them, he asked me, "Are the five of us going around together today?"


    "No," I shook my head.


    "Izumi has a meet-up with a friend already. She just came to say hello."


    "Yes, that''s right. I have to go," Izumi continued, perhaps having heard our conversation.


    "I see. Too bad."


    "I''m sorry. I''ll see you later when the time is right," Izumi said with a smile. Yuriko then took a step closer to Izumi.


    "Thank you, Izumi-san, for what you did yesterday. Can I see you again before you go home tonight?"


    "Yes. I will call you later."


    After saying that, Izumi went to the meeting place to meet Hoshino-san.


    When she was out of sight, Tachibana turned to me and Yuriko.


    "Senpai, isn''t that dangerous? She has long black hair and a short one-piece dress that looks really good on her. I was kind of nervous when I talked to her."


    "You''re annoying, and I know what you''re talking about."


    I don''t know what Yuriko understood, but anyway, she became a little grumpy.


    "I mean, why aren''t you wearing a yukata, senpai? I''m the only one wearing a yukata among the four of us, and that makes me look out of place."


    "It''s too hot and it''s too much work."


    "You have to put your courage into it," Tachibana said firmly. I wondered if it took courage to put on a yukata, but it was true that the sleeves were long and it looked hot. Yuriko replied in a tiresome manner, "Ah, yeah."


    "So what are we going to do after this?" I said.


    "Hmm. Let''s walk around and find a place where we can sit down. Then let''s get something to eat."


    Yuriko replied and we started walking. As time passed, more and more people came. Colorful lanterns were hung, the sound of taiko drums echoed, and the space had been transformed into a park festival space where few people are usually found. Yuriko and Tachibana walked a little ahead of us together, while I walked and talked with Nagai.


    He had previously told me that he would be sent to a summer course if he did not finish in the top ten of our grade in the first semester''s final exam. I heard that he had cleared it, but that he had been sent to a short-term course only for the first half of the summer vacation.


    As we approached the entrance to the park, Yuriko and Tachibana entered a stall where they were displaying accessories. While I was waiting outside waiting for them, Nagai started talking about Izumi.


    "I think the atmosphere Izumi-san wears is cute after all. I haven''t seen her in a while, though." Nagai said.


    "......Yeah," when I replied vaguely, "If the guys in our club find out that you''re living with her, they''re going to kill you."


    Nagai said this in a joking tone of voice, and I laughed a little.


    "---Have you been in contact with Izumi recently?" I asked, lowering my voice a little.


    "Yeah. I wanted to be friends with her, so I thought I''d send her a couple of messages, but we''ve only exchanged one."


    After saying that, he muttered, "Oh, right," as if he had just remembered something.


    "Speaking of contacts, can I talk to you about something?"


    "...... What?"


    I was inwardly horrified, wondering what I would do if it were about Izumi, but his counsel was different.


    "I''ve been in touch with Tachibana recently. We haven''t stopped chatting since the summer break."


    "---Is that so?"


    As I reacted back, I was just relieved. My feelings of jealousy were suddenly overshadowed by the fact that I was looking at Tachibana in her yukata, who was looking at accessories with Yuriko in the store, and I said, "You should go out with her now," in a joking manner. Then Nagai laughed and said, "You say that lightly."


    "We''re in the same club, so if things get weird, what are we going to do afterward? If I go out with her lightly and then break up, it will be difficult for both of us to stay in that club."


    For a while, I couldn''t say anything. I regretted having said such a frivolous thing, even though I should have been well aware of it myself.


    "Sorry," I apologized. It''s not the kind of banter I''m used to, I thought.


    "No. Well, I don''t even know if Tachibana is really that way or not. I''m sorry that I talked to you as if I was conceited. If I''m wrong about this, I''m pretty creepy."


    He said the last part in a slightly playful tone.


    "No, it''s not like that."


    So I replied. At that moment, the two of them returned from the stall. We naturally stopped talking about it.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.1

    Izumi''s mother is going back to Japan. A few days after the summer festival, my mother told me about it. Izumi''s mother was going to stay in Tokyo for a week during the Obon season for a vacation, and she and Izumi were going to travel together during that time, but before that, she was going to come to our house to say hello and stay overnight.


    The week leading up to that day passed peacefully and quickly. I went to club activities, and Izumi followed her daily routine exactly: studying in the library in the morning, eating lunch in the living room, spending the afternoon in her room (she said she was making her own accessories), and going for a walk in the evening around 4 pm.


    Then, as planned, Izumi''s mother came to our house on the evening of August 8. I was studying in my room when my mother, who had gone to the station to pick her up, and Izumi returned, and I suddenly felt a noise at the front door.


    I thought I should at least say hello, so when the tone of the conversation coming from downstairs had calmed down, I went downstairs to find a slender woman sitting in the living room with my mother and Izumi.


    The three of them were having tea. Tea utensils and a tray of sweets were placed on the table. When I entered the living room, my eyes immediately met Izumi''s mother''s. "Oh," Izumi''s mother murmured, as if she were trying to bow to me. I bowed lightly, too.


    My mother noticed me, too,


    "This is my younger son, Kenichi," she said, introducing me to Izumi''s mother.


    "Nice to meet you. I am Sakamoto Kenichi."


    When I said that, she looked at me fixedly and said, "Oh my, oh my, oh my."


    "You must be the Kenichi I''ve heard so much about. I am Izumi Tomoko. Nice to meet you."


    She spoke a little too quickly. I bowed my head again.


    Aunt Tomoko had a face similar to Izumi''s, but the atmosphere was quite different. Her hair was light brown with a loose perm at the ends. She was dressed in white three-quarter-length pants and a sleeveless yellow shirt, which gave her a clean, active look and a very youthful impression.


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    "I''m sorry, this time we suddenly got into this kind of conversation. Rina, did she give you any trouble?"


    Aunt said with a friendly smile.


    "No, not at all."


    When I shook my head,


    "She was a very nice girl. I''d like to have her in this house," my mother interjected from the side.


    "Really? She''s like a wolf in sheep''s clothing. It seems you haven''t exposed your true colors yet, Rina?"


    When Izumi''s mother said that, "Hey, that''s not true," Izumi said, annoyed.


    "Rina is actually quite selfish. Whenever there is a movie she wants to see or an outfit she wants, she takes me shopping as if she''s dragging me along."


    "What''s that? I''m so jealous!" said my mother, who seems to be quite fond of Izumi, saying that she was seriously envious.


    Nevertheless, I was a little surprised to hear that Izumi was selfish. I could not imagine her like that at all. As I thought, the real Izumi might be a little different from Izumi in my home. I felt lonely when I thought so, and I felt bad for making her feel uncomfortable.


    As I was watching Izumi''s profile as she protested to aunt, imagining her being selfish, she suddenly looked at me and our eyes met. She was a little bit sullen.


    "Mom''s stories are always exaggerated. Don''t listen to them too much."


    "Oh my, you say that," aunt said, and Izumi continued with a pout.


    "It''s true that mom is exaggerating."


    Whether Izumi was wearing sheep''s clothing or not, I could tell that she and aunt were getting along very well anyway. I was afraid to sit at the table where the three of them were sitting, and I felt somewhat out of place, so I decided to go back to my room.


    "Umm, I''m going back to my room. I just wanted to say hello."


    As I turned on my heel saying that, my mother stopped me.


    "Ah, wait a minute. I''ll prepare the meal soon, so you should help me."


    "I bought some side dishes on the way home."


    Saying that, Izumi glanced at the refrigerator.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.2

    We heated up pizza, karaage, and french fries from the refrigerator in the microwave and put them on the table. There were several cans of beer in the refrigerator. My mother rarely drank alcohol at home, but Aunt Tomoko seemed to be a heavy drinker.


    "Mmm, I knew Japanese beer tasted good!"


    As soon as the meal was served, Aunt downed one can of beer and opened the second one.


    "I feel like I''m finally home. As I thought, the food here is better suited to my palate than the food over there."


    "But anyway, I''m glad you''re all right. I hear it''s dangerous over there," said my mother, taking a sip of the beer she had poured into her glass.


    "I live in a relatively safe neighborhood, so I''m fine. And there was good security. Well, I didn''t feel like going out at night, though."


    "Really, you have to be careful. You have Rina-chan here, too."


    She said, "I know. Between the company and Rina, I would choose Rina." and then, "My daughter," she said abruptly, hugging Izumi, who was sitting beside her. Aunt Tomoko''s face was slightly red. She might have been drunk already. "Kya, mom, it''s dangerous!" Izumi, who was about to put her chopsticks to the karaage, lost her balance and screamed.


    After playing with Izumi for a while, she talked with my mother happily for a while, and then she asked me about something like this.


    "Kenichi-kun, you play soccer, right?"


    "Yes," I nodded.


    "Is that because of your father''s influence?"


    "Yes, I think so. He put me in soccer lessons when I was in kindergarten, and before I knew it, I was already playing soccer."


    "I see," Izumi, who was sitting next to me, said that.


    She looked at me for a moment and said, "I see," and then turned to my mother and said, "He looks a little like Junichi, after all."


    "Really? I didn''t think either of my sons looked like their father."


    "I think they somehow have the same vibe."


    Junichi was my father''s name. "Did you know my father?" I asked almost subconsciously. Aunt nodded.


    "Yes, since I was in college. Your father played soccer from then on, and we used to go to watch the matches together."


    When I said "I see," Izumi continued, "Mom had her youth, too, huh."


    "Right," Aunt laughed. Then, with a slightly mysterious expression on her face, she said, "I wanted to visit Junichi''s grave once, too. But I haven''t had a chance to do so. I''m sorry," she said to my mother.


    "It''s okay. After a week, you won''t see us again for a few months, so you should spend more time with Rina-chan."


    "Tomorrow, I will give you money for flowers, from Rina and me. Tell Junichi I said hi when you visit his grave."


    "Yeah. Thank you," my mother replied.


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    After a festive meal, my mother and Izumi''s went into my mother''s room. Izumi and I were left alone in the living room.


    "Izumi''s mother is a lively person, isn''t she?" I said.


    "Yes. Very much so. She said she doesn''t mind not sleeping for three days if she''s having fun."


    "Really?" I said, and Izumi laughed, "It''s like she wants me to tell her to go to bed."


    Through the door, I could hear my mother and Izumi''s mother talking incessantly.


    "It felt like it wasn''t as I had imagined it. I had heard that aunt was the complete opposite of Izumi, but I couldn''t imagine what she was like."


    Fufufu, Izumi laughed.


    "Maybe she''s my role model, in negative mean."


    "What do you mean?"


    "I started to feel that I shouldn''t be like that when I was in the third grade of elementary school. After drinking alcohol, she would sleep with her stomach exposed. She was not very good at folding laundry, and would make the clothes crumple up. I was the kind of kid who cared about that kind of thing."


    "Ah......"


    Indeed, Izumi was that kind of kid.


    "My mom is very good at what she does, unlike me. She does everything quickly and efficiently."


    "Yeah. I felt that way. I thought she seemed dependable."


    "Really?" Izumi said and laughed. I drank the rest of the tea in my cup. A quiz show was playing on the TV, which I had left on, and Izumi began to think seriously about a world history quiz on "What economic role did the Nile River play in the prosperity of the Egyptian civilization?"


    "You''re going to Hakone tomorrow, aren''t you?" I took another sip of my tea and turned to Izumi, who was deep in thought. She came back to herself and replied,


    "Yes. I''m going to be separated from Kenichi and the others for a while."


    "Take care."


    "Thank you. You too, Kenichi-kun."


    The next morning, my mother is going to drop them off at the train station. After two nights at a hot spring hotel in Hakone with aunt, Izumi will temporarily return to her home in Tokyo.


    I have club activities tomorrow morning, so I can''t see them off. When I told Izumi that, she said, "Don''t worry."


    "I''ll be back in a week."


    "Yeah, you''re right."


    Izumi nodded. And a little later, she mumbled, "Oh, I see,". The TV showed the answer to the quiz, "River Traffic Routes."


    The voices of aunt and my mother were still leaking out through the door. I sat up from the dining chair.


    "I''m going back to my room."


    "Then, me too."


    We turned off the TV and the lights in the living room and went back to our own rooms.


    Then, after noon the next day, when I returned home from club activities, the house was quiet. Even though I was in my room, Izumi''s presence had disappeared from the house. Until two months ago, it had been like this every day, but the feeling that something was missing soaked my heart.


    ---This is not good, I thought.


    Izumi is not staying at this house permanently. If I felt so lonely now, I wondered what would happen next year when Izumi left this house.


    I thought about how much her presence had grown inside me. Not long ago, I never thought that Izumi''s absence would make me feel lonely.


    But this time, the timing was better. The day after tomorrow, I will be going to my paternal grandparent''s house to visit my family''s grave, too. As long as I''m away from this house, I''m sure I won''t feel this loneliness. I would be able to forget this feeling while I was busy. That''s what I thought.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.3

    My grandparents'' house was in a town at the foot of a mountain in the Shikoku region. It was a town near the airport, so even though the distance was far, it did not seem that far if you took a plane. I took a bus from the airport to the city and walked a short distance to my grandparents'' house.


    When I rang the intercom, my brother, who had arrived earlier, opened the sliding door and came out.


    Wearing brown shorts and a slim T-shirt, my brother said flirtatiously, "Uisu,". Apparently, he had attended a conference at a university in Kyushu and was headed straight to my grandparents'' house.


    My grandparents'' house was larger than mine, but much older. The hallway and stairs creaked as we walked. "Excuse me," I said with my mother as we walked up to the living room on the tatami mats. My grandparents were sitting on chairs in the living room. The LCD TV, the only thing that stood out from the rest of the old furniture, was on, showing the summer Koshien baseball game. A brass band and a man''s voice were on the screen.


    My grandfather said something like, "Oh, welcome," and we were seated at a low table. "Thank you for taking care of us," my mother said, and I said to my grandparents, "It''s been a long time."


    Since I was a small child, I had always met my grandparents only once or twice a year, so we didn''t really talk to each other intimately, and I felt like a bit of a stranger. My brother and mother talked mostly with my grandparents, and I only responded occasionally when the topic was broached.


    After a brief conversation about saying hello to my aunt and uncle who lived nearby, my brother and I went upstairs to an empty room. Ever since I was a little kid, my brother and I had always stayed in the room my father used to sleep in when we stayed at this house. My mother seemed to have an empty room next door, and we would carry our belongings there.


    The air in my father''s room was lukewarm. There was an air conditioner, but it had been broken for a long time and was not working.


    I lay down on the tatami mats. It smelled dusty. I guessed that this room was hardly used anymore. In the corner of the room, I could see some gray cotton dust. As I remained quiet, I could hear the faint sound of a high school baseball game being broadcast from downstairs.


    My father''s room was simple, with only a wooden desk and a bookshelf. The bookshelf was not particularly large, but it was crammed with complete works of literature, paperbacks, and old comic books. My brother sat at a wooden desk by the window, booted up a laptop computer he had apparently brought with him, and began to work on something.


    "Are you writing something?"


    When I asked, my brother replied, still staring at the screen.


    "A report for an academic conference. I have to write two reports, one for my professor and one for the university. Also, I''m going to talk about my presentation in next week''s seminar, so I thought I''d make some slides for it."


    "Sounds like you''re busy."


    "Well, I''m not that busy. It''s not that much to write about."


    The light sound of the keyboard''s keystrokes was pleasant to my drowsy consciousness.


    "How was your presentation?"


    "I did well. There were a lot of students who turned blue because they couldn''t reply to questions, but I didn''t get any difficult questions, so it was easier than I thought it would be."


    "I see. As expected."


    "Yeah. I got to meet some professors from other universities I wanted to talk to, and it was fun."


    I stopped talking there, partly because I was getting sleepy from the long-distance travel and partly because I didn''t want to interrupt him. Soon the sound of my brother''s tapping on the keyboard began again.


    There were convenience stores and video rental stores nearby, which are common in the Tokyo metropolitan area, so this town was not so different from the one I live in. However, the cicadas were much louder here. Even as my head began to grow fuzzy with sleepiness, the wrinkled sound of the cicadas lingered on the surface of my consciousness for a long time.


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    "Kenichi, wake up. Dinner''s ready. We''re going to greet uncle and others."


    I woke up to the sound of my brother''s voice. I had dozed off and fallen asleep before I knew it. As soon as I regained consciousness, the high-pitched chirping of a cicada filled my ears. It took a little time for my foggy, sleep-wake brain to recognize the meaning of what my brother had said, but I said, "Yeah," and sat up. I was sweating all over because I had been sleeping in a hot and humid room with no air conditioner.


    The sunlight shining through the polished glass window was red. The glittering, fine dust was dancing in a golden color. I looked at my watch and saw that it was already past five o''clock in the afternoon. I stood up, picked up the chest of my T-shirt, and moved it around, letting the air hit my skin a few times. There were red tatami mat marks on my arms.


    I walked down the stairs, which were vibrating and creaking finely and making me a little nervous that it might break, to the living room, where my grandparents, my mother, and my aunt and uncle were sitting around the table.


    My uncle was a businessman working for a machine manufacturer, and my aunt was a welfare worker. An elementary school boy and girl, who were my and my brother''s cousins, were sitting away from the circle of adults with a portable game console in their hands. They glanced at me as I entered the living room and said, "Hello," I replied, "Hello," too. They immediately began playing quietly with their handhelds again.


    "I woke him up."


    My brother glanced at me, then said to no one in particular and sat cross-legged on the tatami mat. I sat down beside him.


    on the tatami mat. I sat down beside him.


    When my grandfather asked me, "Are you tired?" I answered, "No, I''m fine,". I also exchanged a few words of greeting with my aunts and uncles. On the table were several plates of food.


    "Ryuuichi, you want a drink?" My uncle said and offered a can of beer to my brother.


    "Thank you, Uncle."


    My brother smiled, raised his glass, and took a gulp of the beer he had just poured. On the other side of the table, my mother and aunt were discussing the education of their children, including whether or not they should start cram school in the first grade, while my grandparents were watching a live professional baseball game that had switched from the Koshien Stadium.


    I sat there and took a sip of water with some ice floating in it.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.4

    Chapter 2 - End Of Summer


    "Ryuuichi, are you studying the same things as my brother?"


    Asked by uncle, who was red-faced after a couple of drinks, my brother replied, " Generally, it''s the same, but a little bit different. My father''s research was more on political philosophy, but I''m studying something closer to literature. I''ve been reading a lot of Roland Barthes recently,".


    "Ah, I know him. I bought one of his books when I was a student. Although I didn''t read it all the way through. I have a friend who likes that kind of stuff, and he told me to read it."


    "Oh. I see."


    "Yeah. I wasn''t really interested in it. Unlike my brother, I didn''t read a lot of books. Are you planning to go on to a doctor''s degree, Ryuuichi?"


    "At the moment, that''s my plan, but I haven''t given up on the idea of finding a job yet. I have a lot of things on my mind."


    Then, "If there is something you want to do, you should do it to the fullest. When you are young, you can make up for it," said my grandfather, who was listening to the conversation between them. He had been told by his doctor not to drink too much, and my grandmother had gently stopped him, but he had started drinking sake and occasionally joined in on the conversation.


    My uncle said, "But I guess it must have been nice for my brother that Ryuuichi went down the same path."


    "I don''t know. I think he probably did everything he could to stop me. Mom still doesn''t seem to think well of it either."


    When my brother said that, my mother, who had been quieter than usual today, perhaps because we were at our grandparents'' house, also opened her mouth.


    "I''ve already agreed upon pursuing a master''s degree, but I still think it''s better to get a job than to become a scholar. There are really only a handful of people who can become professors, and if you want to get a regular job in the humanities, it doesn''t really matter if you have a college degree or higher."


    "Here we go again. How could you date dad with that?"


    When my brother said that, my mother put her hands to her temples as if her head hurt.


    "I say this because I know how hard it is. When I was younger, I really worried about my future. I still remember how happy I was when he got a regular job at the university."


    My mother said that and the people in the room laughed. Then uncle asked my mother, "So, how long are you going to stay here?".


    "We will be back on the noon flight the day after tomorrow. I don''t want to stay too long because I don''t want to bother Father-in-law and others, and I and Kenichi have our own schedules."


    "I see," my uncle said.


    We had already called my grandparents about our plans, and they didn''t particularly respond. ''Come again,'' my grandfather said, addressing me.


    "Yeah," I nodded.


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    After dinner, I took a bath, and around 10 p.m., my brother and I returned to my father''s room, laid out the futon on the tatami mats, lit mosquito coils on the windowsill, and lay down. Immediately I felt heavy again, tired from the long trip.


    "Hey, Kenichi. By the way, I just heard that Rina-chan''s mother came over."


    As I closed my eyes, I suddenly heard my brother''s voice. I opened my eyes and saw that my brother was lying face down, reading an e-book or something on his mobile device. A faint light shone on his face.


    "---Yeah. Just for a day. She stayed in mom''s room."


    "What was she like?"


    "She is the complete opposite of Izumi. She was very easygoing. She''s the type of person that seemed to get along well with you."


    "I see."


    He ran his finger over the screen and swiped it sideways. I turned over so that I was facing away from my brother, and then I closed my eyes again for a while.


    Then, dozing, I fell asleep. At first, I thought the old pillow smelled dusty, but then I began to feel nostalgic. It was my father''s smell, I thought in my vague consciousness as I was pulled into sleep. Along with this sense of nostalgia, several past memories, including the time my father taught me how to play soccer with Yuriko, flashed through my mind like a dream. And then, following that,


    ---You should pay more attention to Yuriko-chan.


    ---You have to answer me, okay?


    The words my brother and Yuriko had said to me some time ago came back to me. And so, I awoke again, as if my consciousness was rising to the water''s surface.


    "......Ryuu-kun, can I ask you something?"


    I whispered saying that with my eyes closed.


    And then, at that point, I was at a loss for the right words to say.


    "......Never mind, It''s nothing."


    When I opened my eyes, my brother was still reading his e-book. The light was dim and weak, and the room was in total darkness.


    "Is it about Yuriko-chan?"


    I knew I shouldn''t have said anything. How could he know? I couldn''t deny it, so I kept silent. "I''m sorry if I''m wrong," my brother said, putting up a preface.


    "You shouldn''t do what I do."


    "I don''t......and I can''t."


    "Fine then. Forget it."


    There was a small cough and the sound of something hard being placed on the floor.


    "It''s surprisingly cool here at night."


    Indeed, unlike when the sun was shining, it was much cooler now with the night breeze. "Yeah," I replied. The smell of mosquito coils, which had bothered me at first, became less and less noticeable as time went on. I could hear the croaking of frogs mixed in with the sound of cars on the nearby road.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.5

    The next morning, we headed to visit the cemetery.


    On the way to the temple by cab, we stopped at a flower shop and my mother bought a bouquet of chrysanthemums. When she returned to the cab, my mother said, "These are for Tomoko and Rina-chan''s part," When we arrived at the temple and stepped out of the cab, a flicker of sunlight so strong that it hurt my eyes momentarily tinted my vision white.


    "It''s too hot," my brother, carrying a backpack, said, squinting and ruffling his brown hair.


    "Let''s go."


    My mother, dressed in jeans and a blouse, strode ahead, carrying a bouquet of flowers.


    The walk from the temple to the cemetery was about 100 meters through a bamboo grove. After borrowing a bucket and ladle from the temple at the outside waterworks, we headed for the path through the bamboo grove. The path was shaded and cool, but I was almost choked by the strong smell of summer grass. The deafening cicadas seemed to be coming down from the lush foliage all around us. The light through the leaves was tinged green.


    We entered the cemetery and stopped in front of my father''s family grave. I put the bucket on the ground and filled the water pot with water with a ladle. My mother put the flowers she had bought on the flower stand. Then we put incense sticks, which my brother had lit with a lighter he had taken out of his pocket, into the incense burner and stood side by side, hands clasped together.


    I closed my eyes, gave him a report on my recent activities, and reminded him that I was going to start studying for the entrance examination and that I would do my best from now on, and then opened my eyes. My brother, who was beside me, was no longer clasping his hands together and was standing there, but my mother was still clasping hers.


    Suddenly my eyes met my brother''s. My brother scratched the back of his head with his hand, a little embarrassed for some reason.


    Eventually, my mother also stopped clasping her hands and said, "I''m going to go. See you later," she said at the grave and turned on her heels. I picked up the ladle and bucket that I had left on the ground.


    As I was returning the bucket and other things we had borrowed to their original location after washing them in the water supply outside, I saw a Shiba Inu, a dog owned by the temple, sitting in front of its kennel, staring at me. I had been told by a monk at a Buddhist memorial service that the dog was a very popular signboard dog among parishioners. He was a friendly dog, and his eyes were shining as if he was expecting something. When my brother sat down beside him and patted his head, his tail wagged happily from side to side. The clouds had covered the sun, and the brightness of the sun, which had been so intense, eased a little.


    Then we left the temple and walked back to the main street where the cabs were passing. My mother was going to go shopping for souvenirs in the city center after this, so we were separated from her. She got into a cab by herself, saying, "I''ll see you later,".


    "Maybe I won''t be coming here much anymore."


    And after we both saw our mother off, my brother muttered.


    "Here?"


    "Yeah. It''s already been three years, and next year you''ll be studying for the entrance examinations. Speaking of which, are you thinking about your future?"


    "---I didn''t expect you to bring up such a subject, Ryuu-kun."


    "No, well, it''s not that I''m not interested in what you''re going to do."


    "I haven''t decided for sure, but I''m interested in sociology, so I''m thinking about going into that department. Maybe I''ll get a job in that field."


    "That''s solid."


    "Unlike you, Ryuu-kun, I''ll have to work hard to survive in this world."


    "You have a surprisingly good sense of balance. I think you''ll do better than me."


    "......Ryuu-kun, you use too much energy in a flashy way. I get nervous sometimes."


    When I said that, my brother laughed. Then, in a casual tone of voice, he suddenly said something like this.


    "I''m going to be on a TV debate show.


    "What?"


    I couldn''t immediately understand what he was talking about, so I asked back in a dumb voice.


    "It''s a late-night commercial TV show. I''ll tell my mom about it this time. Though it''s going to be troublesome."


    "But why so suddenly?"


    "Cause I got a call suddenly."


    My brother replied, and turned his gaze away from the shimmering road. Then, "When dad died," he began to talk.


    "I was not only sad, but I felt that it was a waste. I had always been aware of the tremendous amount of knowledge he possessed. I wondered what he was thinking, and where his ceased thoughts had originally led him. When I thought about that, I became more and more frustrated. I still feel that way."


    "---I can kind of understand," I said. I had felt it during the days when I was living in my room surrounded by the many books I had taken in. I wondered how much time I had spent reading all these books and accumulating knowledge.


    "Of course, I have my own interests and things I want to do, so I have no desire to follow in the footsteps of what dad was trying to do. But if I have a chance to know what kind of place that person was working in, I want to experience it and know."


    Listening to him talk like that, I suddenly felt sad about the fact that I would not be able to see my father anymore, a fact that had been in the shadows recently.


    If my father were still alive, I wonder what our life would be like now, living with Izumi and the four of us in that house. I wonder if Yuriko and my elementary school teammates and I would have kicked a ball together sometimes.


    When I imagined such a world that could have been, I felt a cold, hot, tingling pain in my chest.


    The sound of cicadas is falling. The air is hot, as if melting time and space. The distant landscape was shimmering in the sun, which was rising from the asphalt.


    Later, after taking a bus to the city center with my brother, I parted ways and looked around the city by myself. Even if I did nothing, it was fun to look around an unfamiliar city. The houses and stores were older than those in my city. But there, I felt the signs of the lives of strangers and the accumulation of time. It was strange to feel nostalgic in this old townscape, even though I had not spent much time in this place and had no memories of it. After spending the afternoon in this way, I returned to my grandparents'' house just as the sky turned red and the shadows grew darker.


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    The next day, while waiting for the plane to leave, I went into a store at the airport to buy some souvenirs. I first chose a souvenir for Izumi, then looked for a while for something for Yuriko as well, and chose a small box with an illustration of a cute cat, which contained several cookies from a popular local store. I also bought two larger boxes of sweets for the club members, as they would soon be attending a club camp.


    After returning to Haneda, I parted from my brother and mother, who were going shopping in Tokyo, and I took the train straight home.


    When I arrived at the local station, the sun was already setting, but it was still very hot. I walked from the bus stop to my house in the pale blue dusk, unlocked the front door, and entered. The air was warm and clammy, and for the first time in a long time, I felt the smell of my own home.


    I left my luggage at the front door and opened the windows in the living room, the window in the middle of the stairs, and the window in my room to change the air in the house. It was pleasant to hear the faint sound of the wind standing still and the evening breeze passing through.


    Then I lay down on the sofa in the living room. Somewhere, a lone evening cicada was singing. It was terribly quieter than the one I had heard in my grandfather''s town at the foot of the mountains.


    When I was in the quiet house, I had a strange sense of time. It must have been only two days since I left for my grandparents'' house, but it felt as if much more time had passed.


    Izumi, too, would return to this house in three days. Until that day, I was at a club camp. My schedule for the first half of August was unusually busy, but it would soon be over.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.6

    This year, our camp consisted of two nights and three days at the school''s boarding house. The boarding house is a two-story building, with first-year students staying on the first floor and second-year students staying on the second floor, each in two separate rooms. There are two buildings, one for boys and one for girls, and the two managers sleep in the building utilized by the girls'' club.


    On the first night, during dinner in the cafeteria, I handed out souvenir sweets to the club members and our advisor. I gave Tachibana a box, telling her to divide it among the first-year students, and I asked my fellow club members to take one. There were several other club members who had been on the trip besides me, and they followed the same trend and started handing out souvenir snacks as well.


    "It was unexpected. I didn''t know Kenichi could be so thoughtful."


    Yuriko said as she sat down in the pipe chair in front of me after getting a paper cup of cold water from the water dispenser in the cafeteria. Like the other members of the club, Yuriko, the manager, was dressed in training wear. She had her shirt sleeves rolled up to her shoulders and her hair tied in a ponytail, as she always did during club activities.


    "This is the first time you''ve brought a souvenir or something. Did something good happen to you?" Yuriko continued.


    I replied, "Not really," Yuriko opened the bag of baked sweets I had given her and took a bite. "It''s good," she muttered.


    The cafeteria has three rows of long tables. It had been about ten minutes since we had finished eating, and many of the club members had already started to return to their rooms. Some people around me got up from their seats, passing Yuriko. The ladies working in the cafeteria were also starting to clean up. I could hear Tachibana talking with the other first-year club members a short distance away. I thought they wouldn''t hear me if I talked now, so I lowered the volume of my voice a little and said.


    "......I''m buying some gifts for Yuriko, too."


    When I said that, "No way," she said, her eyes widening a little as if surprised.


    "I was going to give it to you earlier, but I couldn''t find the time. I''ll give it to you on the way back from the camp. It should be fine, since it''s something that will last a long time."


    Yuriko looked surprised and muttered, "Thanks," moving only her mouth.


    She then drank from the paper cup of water that was still in her hand,


    "Did you give Izumi-san anything?" She asked me.


    "Izumi is not home right now. Her mother is back in Japan for vacation and she''s temporarily back at home in Tokyo."


    "Oh, I didn''t know that. But you bought something for her, too, didn''t you?"


    "Yeah. She seems to like western sweets, so I decided to buy her the madeleines that the store we shopped at recommended, and Yuriko''s is......"


    "Oh, you don''t have to tell me. I''ll be looking forward to it."


    She said so with a smile. It was only about 500 yen for a cookie, so I didn''t want her to get her hopes up too high, but I nodded my head and said, "Okay,".


    "It''s time to get back," our advisor, who had been fiddling with his tablet the whole time, shouted. The analog clock on the white wall of the counter showed five minutes before eight pm. After that, we had until 10:00 p.m. to bathe, the lights would be turned off at 11:00 p.m., and we would be up at 6:00 a.m.


    The remaining members of the club sat up and left the cafeteria, saying "thanks for the food" and "thank you" to the ladies who had stayed late to prepare our meal.


    The night breeze felt good on my tired, exercised body as I walked outside. Yuriko''s ponytail swished fluffy as she walked in front of me, talking about something with the second-year club members. The school grounds were quiet and the pitch-black school building loomed like a giant shadow.


    The next day, the second day of morning practice, Tachibana kept rubbing her eyes sleepily. When we took a break, I asked her, "Are you okay?" She replied, "I''m a little sleep-deprived."


    "I''m really scared of just the two of us in a big building. Moreover, Mori-senpai was playing scary story videos on her phone."


    Then Yuriko, who was with us, said.


    "I''m sorry. I didn''t think Akari was that scared. But you weren''t trying to be cute, were you?"


    "It''s just you and me, senpai, so there''s no point in showing off like that!"


    When Tachibana said that, Yuriko giggled.


    "You seem to be in a good mood, senpai. It''s true that this is like a school trip, and makes you feel excited, but."


    "Fufu. The break is almost over, so I''m going to the field."


    Yuriko said in a good mood and walked from the shade of the tree toward the field.


    During the red-and-white match in the afternoon practice, Yuriko joined the other team and for the first time in a long time we were playing against each other (there were some members who did not participate in the game, so we asked Yuriko to join us because we could not play with the same number of players).


    We both went into the defensive midfielder position and even faced each other a few times. When my side attacked, I supported a player on the side and when I received the ball, Yuriko pressed me straight forward. I feinted and then shifted the ball to the side. Yuriko, whose center of gravity was tilted to one side, was slow to react. Before she could pressure me again, I turned the ball back to the center with my left foot. The keeper failed to handle the crossing, and a player on my team pushed the rebound ball in and the point was scored.


    "Da*n. Kenichi could pass me with one shot," Yuriko said with a cluck of her tongue.


    "It''s so obvious that you only cut vertically."


    When I said that, Yuriko looked miffed and said, "Ugh, shut up," while clapping her hands and then, "I''ll get it back," Oh, here comes the daring reply. The club members return to their positions to resume the game.


    A little while later, I suddenly felt a strange sensation in my right calf. It was while I was dashing back to my position after a counterattack. I immediately thought, "Oh no," and I stopped running and collapsed in place. The moment I fell, the discomfort turned to pain, and I winced. Fearfully, I touched my calf and saw that the muscles were twitching.


    The player holding the ball noticed my fall and immediately stopped playing. The other players around me also gathered around me and asked, "Are you okay?" I nodded, feeling embarrassed.


    "I think I just cramped up."


    When I said that, the people surrounding me looked relieved. Beyond the crowd, "Akari, get the first aid kit ready!" I could see Yuriko giving instructions.


    It had been a long time since my legs had cramped up during practice. I was worried that it was a flesh cramp, something I had done once before, but on the spot, a nearby member of the club helped me stretch my leg, which immediately relieved the pain and the cramp subsided, so it should be nothing serious. However, our advisor, Nakata-sensei, once lowered me to the bench.


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    "Are you okay, senpai?"


    Tachibana took out a cooling spray from the first-aid kit and sprayed it on my leg over my socks, asking me that. I nodded and gently touched the white frozen fibers with my fingers. The ice cracked under my fingers.


    "Was it really just a cramp? If the pain is too severe, I''ll take you to the hospital."


    Nakata-sensei asked me that, too.


    I said, "It doesn''t hurt anymore, so I should be fine," intending to go right back to practice, even though I still felt some discomfort, as if my muscles were still tight and stiff. I figured that as long as I didn''t kick or run as hard as I could, there was no reason I couldn''t play. But the sensei shook his head.


    "But just to be safe, let''s call it a day. See how it goes overnight, and if it looks okay, join us again tomorrow."


    Saying that, I replied, "Okay," and pulled my socks down to my ankles and loosened the laces of my spikes.


    Then Tachibana asked me, "Senpai, do you want me to put a compress on it?" while putting away the cooling spray, and I nodded my head.


    "Ah, yeah. Then, just in case."


    Tachibana wiped the dirt off my calves with a wet towel, then she placed a large compress on the affected area. It felt good to have the hot muscles cooled down.


    "Thank you."


    I thanked her, and turned my attention back to the field. The trees lined the back of the benches, and at this time of the day, sitting on them would allow me to get into the shade. It was cool and helpful, but I felt somewhat sorry for Yuriko and the others who were still running around on the ground in the direct sunlight.


    After a while, Nakata-sensei suddenly pulled out his phone from the pocket of his training wear and began to talk about something.


    "Tachibana, Sakamoto, I''m going to the staff room for a while, so when the time comes, please finish practice and start cleaning up like you usually do."


    After saying that, he walked toward the school building. I wonder if he had something to do. Tachibana and I replied "yes" and sat on the bench side by side and watched the game.


    Yuriko was the starting point of the attack, skillfully dodging the press and scattering the ball from a low position. She had been a scorer in elementary school, so it was very refreshing to see Yuriko playing a style of play that controlled the game. I realized again that Yuriko had been changing all along without my knowledge.


    Yuriko made a soft long pass, and Nagai, as a forward, controlled it with one touch, then calmly shot it and scored a goal. Seeing this, Tachibana clasped her hands in a gesture of joy and said, "Yay!"


    I couldn''t help but mutter to myself, "You really like Nagai, don''t you?" Then Tachibana stopped moving with a snap.


    "Ugh, why did you say that, senpai......"


    "I could tell by the way you look at him. I mean, did you think you were hiding it?"


    "...... Well, it''s okay if it''s Sakamoto-senpai. Please don''t tell the other club members."


    "I won''t."


    I nodded. I''m sure most of the soccer club members know that.


    Then the conversation was cut short and Tachibana stretched out with her hands folded. It was a sunny, peaceful afternoon. The ground was filled with the sounds of footsteps, bouncing balls, and instructions from the soccer game, but there were not many cars driving around the school and it was quiet. The sky was filled with numerous overlapping clouds, forming an intricate curve.


    "Nagai-senpai, has he said anything about me? Especially after the summer festival the other day."


    I glanced to the side. Tachibana was looking straight toward the ground. I remembered that Tachibana was holding Nagai''s hand at the summer festival. I don''t really know what was going on in the air there, as I was watching from a distance. I had been occupied with my own affairs during this summer, but come to think of it, I wonder what had happened to Tachibana and the others.


    "......I''ve never heard that guy say anything bad about Tachibana, even though he talks a lot."


    Saying that, she turned her head toward me and put on a soft, relieved expression.


    "I''m glad to hear that."


    In the school on a summer vacation afternoon, it was as if the flow of time had stopped. The only people on the field were the soccer team, who were currently practicing a game except for me and Tachibana, so no matter what we were talking about, we did not have to worry about being overheard. Perhaps because of this atmosphere, Tachibana began to talk about something like this.


    "When I was observing the club activities, I thought it would be nice. That''s how I decided to join this club."


    "So you decided to join the club because you fell in love with Nagai at first sight?"


    I was stunned at how simple it was, or rather, how dynamic she was.


    "You''re awesome."


    "Ah, but of course, I was interested in soccer, too. I had been hesitant to join because I had no experience, but then I saw a cool guy, so I decided to join. But now, even without that, I''m glad I joined," Tachibana added hurriedly.


    "After all, you want to go out with him, don''t you?"


    "At first, I thought it would be nice if we could become friends somehow, but I really like him these days. As we spend more and more time together, I feel more and more attached to him. So, if anything happens in the future, please help me out."


    "I''ve been trying to do it up until now. Yuriko told me so, too."


    When I said that, Tachibana smiled brightly and said, "Then please continue as you have been doing."


    Even though I was talking about Tachibana and Nagai''s relationship, my mind at that time was thinking about Izumi.


    As far as I knew, Nagai was the only man with whom Izumi was in contact. He was hoping to get close to Tachibana, not only for Tachibana''s sake, but perhaps also because of an unexplainable possessive desire for Izumi. I have tried to suppress this negative feeling many times, but it still comes up in my mind.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.7

    The foot injury was nothing serious after all. After a night''s sleep with a new compress, I was back to almost no pain or discomfort, so I decided to attend practice again on the third day.


    On the first night, the club members were in high spirits, and the room was noisy until late, with members having pants-off fights and playing weird videos on their phones. On the second day, however, everyone was tired and soon fell asleep. I slept well and was feeling good on the morning of the third day.


    In the morning, before practice, Yuriko and Tachibana wrapped tape around my injured area yesterday while looking up how to do taping on their phones. It was painful to have the tape removed after a few failed attempts, but after that, I was able to get through the morning practice and the practice game against a nearby high school in the afternoon without hurting my leg again.


    The practice game consisted of three 30-minute games with a break in between, followed by a 20-minute half-game with mostly first-year players. I only played in one of the 30-minute games and the second half of the 20-minute game.


    Then finally, at 6:30 that afternoon, the camp was over. After we had cleaned up the grounds, we changed into our uniforms and went home. After all, the tension peaked on the first night, and by the time we broke up, everyone was exhausted, with little to say.


    We drove through the dusk-red streets, and when we reached the residential area where Yuriko and I lived, we stopped at a convenience store. There I was finally able to give her a souvenir.


    I took out the plastic bag in which I had put it so that it would not be crushed by other luggage and handed it to Yuriko, who sat down on the bench.


    "Here. I know it''s late."


    "Oh. It''s quite cute. Maybe you have good taste, Kenichi."


    Yuriko held the box in her hand and looked at the illustration on the front.


    "How was your visit to the cemetery?"


    "I visited the cemetery without delay. I was only in front of the grave for about ten minutes, so I felt more like I was visiting my father''s relatives than visiting his grave."


    "What was the town like?"


    "The atmosphere of that town is not so different from ours. The atmosphere of the town is not so different from ours. Also, the cicadas are very loud because of the proximity to the mountains."


    "Hm," Yuriko said.


    "I was very grateful to him in the past, and I would like to visit uncle''s grave someday," she continued.


    "Yeah......"


    I nodded vaguely, unable to say either "you should come" or "let''s visit there."


    I suddenly remembered that three years ago, when my father had just died and I was having a hard time emotionally, Yuriko and I had talked here. In the early fall of my second year of junior high school, Yuriko approached me at this place and asked me to go out with her for the first time, just the two of us. It had been a little while since the hectic funeral, and although the shock had worn off, I was still feeling depressed.


    We just wandered around the shopping center and walked slowly through the city, but I could really feel Yuriko''s concern for me. Looking back, Yuriko helped me a lot at that time.


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    "Thank you for this," Yuriko said, and put it in her black backpack, which she had been holding on her lap. Then she turned her head toward me and asked,


    "And by the way, let me ask you, this is not meant to be your answer, right?"


    I felt an uneasy color in Yuriko''s expression. I tried to suppress the emotions that were shaking deep in my chest, and said,


    "Please wait a little longer."


    Saying that, Yuriko looked away from me, nodded her head, and said, "Okay," and then stepped over to her bicycle parked nearby.


    "I''ll take that as a sign that you''re thinking in the best direction. Then, see you."


    With these words, she headed home. I couldn''t see her face clearly because of the hair covering her profile.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


    When I returned home, I noticed that the atmosphere in the house had changed from before I went to the camp. Izumi''s sandals were neatly arranged in the entrance hallway, and her voice was leaking through the living room door.


    Izumi, wearing a long navy blue skirt and a white T-shirt, was sitting at the dining table.


    When our eyes met, Izumi smiled and said, "Welcome home," It had only been a week, but I felt as if I had not heard her voice for a long time.


    "Welcome back," I said.


    "I bought some souvenirs."


    It seemed that Izumi and my mother had laid out various souvenirs for each other on the spot. There were quite a lot of them, including some from my aunt. I was somehow looking at that table full of sweets.


    Then Izumi took something out of her backpack that was under the table.


    "Kenichi-kun, here," she said, handing it to me. It was a book cover with a Japanese pattern and leaves.


    "I thought it was cute. I found it at a general store in Hakone."


    I was a little touched that Izumi had bought me something. When I thanked her, she smiled at me and said, "No problem."


    "I bought something for you too, Izumi. Although it''s only sweets."


    Saying that, I handed Izumi a small box of madeleines I had stashed away on the kitchen shelf. I was a little discouraged by the fact that the ones she had bought for me looked more expensive than the ones I had bought for her, but,


    "Thank you, for going out of your way to buy this for me."


    She said that happily.


    Afterward, after the three of us had dinner together for the first time in a while, when Izumi came back upstairs, I started talking to my mother.


    "Did you hear that Ryuu-kun is going to be on a debate show?"


    Then, she let out a long sigh.


    "Yeah. I got a call while you were at camp."


    "Did you have a fight?"


    "I was a little angry with him, not to the point of a fight, but a little bit. Well, I don''t think he listens to others, though."


    I thought it was going to be something more serious, but my mother was cooler than I thought.


    "I''m starting to feel like just go ahead and do whatever you want. I don''t think he''ll end up like your father. He won''t be a child forever. I don''t care if he gets hurt or becomes rich. Ah, but it would be nice to be rich. I''ll have to renovate this house sooner or later."


    "Do academics and critics make money?"


    "Though it doesn''t look like it''s going to be much. That''s why I''m counting on you, my second son. I didn''t raise you for nothing."


    Saying that, my mother tapped me on the shoulder with an oddly enthusiastic tap.


    After that conversation, I went back to my room, put the book cover Izumi had given me on the paperback book I was reading, replaced the bookmark, and put it on my desk. The red book cover that Izumi had given me was the only thing that stood out on my plain desk.


    Then I leaned back deeply in my chair. In the silence, I could feel Izumi''s presence coming from behind the wall. Finally, I felt that the routine of this house had returned.


    As I sat in my chair, I looked at the calendar. It was marked for the next few days. It was the day of the live broadcast of my brother''s TV show.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.8

    In front of me, Yuriko on a swim ring is being swayed by the gentle waves. The light reflecting off the surface of the ocean is dazzling and my vision flickers.


    We were in the latter half of August. A few days ago, my brother suddenly invited me, Izumi, and Yuriko to the beach, and we came to a beach on the border of the Kanto and Chubu regions. We left home early in the morning in a car driven by my brother and arrived at this beach before noon.


    Yuriko had her hair up like she did at the summer festival and was wearing a white, polka-dot, separate swimsuit. Izumi on the beach was wearing a less revealing red swimsuit with frills on the chest and a light pink hoodie that she had worn at home during the rainy season.


    It had been a while since I had seen a girl of about my age in a swimsuit, a girl I knew very well, so when I saw them, I was a little nervous, but after an hour or so, the excitement that made my heart beat loudly, whether it was good or sad, gradually faded away.


    At first, while the two girls were applying sunscreen to each other in the shade of a tree, my brother and I laid out a plastic sheet that we had brought with us and put up a beach parasol. Then Yuriko and I went into the water, while my brother and Izumi stayed in the parasol. Izumi was relaxing and looking at the sea, and my brother was reading a book he had brought with him while lying down.


    The other day, my brother made a TV appearance. To sum up, he successfully completed the task without any major problems.


    The program was a live late-night debate on the theme of how we should live in the super-aging society of the 21st century. Several young people were invited to appear on the show as representatives of the youth, and my brother was one of them.


    There were well-known politicians on the show, and although my brother, who was not well-known to the public, did not have much to say, the discussion centered on the conflict between different generations and was lively. There were some harrowing moments when he seemed to be arguing with an older, more important person who was a researcher at some think tank or an economic commentator, but my mother did not watch the program, and Izumi gave up about 20 minutes into the show, saying, "I''m getting too nervous and my stomach is starting to hurt"---there were a few articles on summary sites, but most of them were like fried statements of famous politicians, and there were no problematic statements about my brother that caused a firestorm.


    "Ryuuichi-kun, I saw you on TV." In the car, Yuriko was also worried about whether he had had a bad day or not, but my brother said, "I''m fine, I''m fine. I''m sorry for worrying you," he said with a pleasant, fresh smile.


    Right now, my brother was talking with Izumi, looking the same as usual. Izumi waved her hand at me, perhaps noticing that I was looking in her direction.


    Once again, I thought my brother was an amazing person. If only I could be that dynamic, quick-witted, and fearless person, life would be easier for me.


    I was a little envious of him, but then I thought about what my brother had been through and how much trouble he might get into, and I quickly rethought that it would be a bit of a nuisance.


    "Jeez, I''m getting kind of sleepy."


    Yuriko, who was floating in the water, suddenly muttered next to me.


    When I looked at her profile, both eyes were sleepily squinted. Her upper and lower lashes overlapped. Yuriko''s legs, which were out of the swim ring, had a thin layer of white tan where her pants and soccer socks used to be, the so-called "soccer burn."


    I slowly leaned back and let my body float on the surface of the water. The white clouds were towering over us like a castle in the sky.


    "The sky is so blue," Yuriko murmured. Yuriko''s eyes were now open, with a slight sleepiness.


    "Yeah."


    When I nodded, Yuriko said something incomprehensible, "But maybe the blue that I and Kenichi are seeing is not the same color."


    "I''m sure they''re the same."


    "You think you see it that way, but maybe you see it differently. You can never really know how other people see color, you know."


    "Ah. That''s what you''re talking about."


    I once read a book that touched on a topic similar to what Yuriko is talking about.


    "Don''t you get anxious when you think about that?" Yuriko said, looking at me.


    "There''s no need to think about that kind of hassle."


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    When I replied, Yuriko laughed briefly, said, "How rude," and splashed water on my face with her hand. I wiped the seawater from my face with my hand, and the salty taste spread into my mouth.


    We talked about such trivial matters for a while, while Yuriko kept drifting on the swim ring and I dove and swam for a short distance. Eventually, Yuriko said,


    "It''s time to go. It''s almost lunchtime."


    Saying that, Yuriko got off the swim ring.


    I walked alongside her through the water and onto the beach. As soon as we were on the beach, water dripped from Yuriko''s swimsuit, which was strangely so vivid that I couldn''t help but look away.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


    We decided to have lunch at a caf¨¦ on the beach where we could enter in our wet swimsuits. The interior was lined with wooden floors and tables, and we were shown to a terrace that extended out over the sandy beach.


    My brother and I sat side by side with Yuriko and Izumi in front of us. Both girls were wearing hoodies over their swimsuits. We had just finished ordering from the waitress when Yuriko said,


    "Ryuuichi-kun, have you ever been here before?" Yuriko asked my brother.


    "Yeah. I came here last year with my girlfriend. I quite liked this place because it was not too crowded and there were many stores with good taste."


    "Hmm. Are you still dating that person?"


    "No, we broke up a while ago."


    "Ah, I see.......I''m sorry."


    Yuriko apologized apologetically. But since it was him, I thought there was absolutely no need to apologize. My brother also laughed and followed up with, "It''s okay."


    "Why did you break up?"


    When I asked him about it, he looked at me delicately and began to talk.


    "I don''t think there was a clear reason. We started not seeing each other more and more, and then the relationship turned to, "I think, that''s enough,'' and we never spoke again."


    "You mean you two have gotten cold to each other?"


    Yuriko asked.


    "Yeah. She was the same age as me. I think it might have been due to a change of environment after she got a job. There are girls who try to change everything at once when they start a new life. Maybe something like that."


    "Well, this is a little difficult for me to understand," Yuriko said that with a difficult expression on her face.


    "But I wonder if that''s more common when you''re a college student."


    "Not really. It depends on the person."


    "I had a friend who broke up after being dumped, and she was so shaken up about it that she thought it was the end of the world."


    My brother laughed shortly, saying, "It would be terrible if the world ended at that level."


    Perhaps Izumi was not good at this kind of talk, she took pictures of the food with her phone, then scooped the pilaf with a spoon, occasionally smiling and giving an adorable expression, but eating without participating in the conversation the whole time. Perhaps sensing this, my brother was talking to Izumi about Aunt Tomoko. Yuriko, too, had shown some interest in Izumi''s mother.


    After we finished eating, we went back to the beach.


    "Let''s play with the sand, Izumi-san."


    Under the beach parasol, Yuriko took off her hoodie and reapplied sunscreen, then put on her hoodie again and invited Izumi to join her.


    "Yeah," Izumi nodded with a smile, and the two of them walked toward the shore. They sat down in an empty place and began to make some kind of pile.


    "Why did you invite us here today?"


    I asked, curious since it was the first time I was alone with my brother that day.


    "I had promised Rina-chan that we would hang out again when I went over to our house the other day. It could have been just the three of us, you, me, and Rina-chan, but I knew she''d hate me for that, so I asked Yuriko to join us."


    "What''s that?"


    "You know what I mean."


    After saying that, my brother gave me a derisive smile.


    "But even without that, I''m glad I got to talk to Rina-chan about a lot of things."


    "What did you talk about?"


    "I''m not talking about anything weird. Like, how is your life at home and so on. Probably, Rina-chan is thinking about how to interact with you more than you think."


    I wondered what Izumi had said to my brother. I was curious, but I didn''t think he would tell me if I asked.


    "Well," he said, sitting up.


    "I think I''ll join them so they won''t be picked on by playboys. It''s like I''m asking you to go after two girls or something, huh. Those two girls are a little mature for high school students."


    "......I never thought I''d see a time when I could count on a playboy master."


    "Shut up."


    Saying that, my brother put on his beach sandals and walked toward Izumi and Yuriko.

 Volume 2 - CH 2.9

    ......I could hear the sound of the waves.


    I opened my eyes thinly and saw a red and white parasol. Apparently, I had fallen asleep while lying alone. When I woke up, I saw something soft and white in front of me.


    "Oh, are you awake?"


    I heard Izumi''s voice and turned my gaze in that direction. Izumi had her hair up and was smiling at me. Her feet were very close to me. As soon as I recognized it, my heart jumped silently. Her red swimsuit was sticking out from the bottom of her hoodie, and her white thighs stretched out from it. She was sitting right next to me, her legs slanted and folded at an angle. She was not holding a phone, a book, or anything else.


    "What are you doing?"


    When I asked, Izumi replied, "Nothing," shaking her head, and then gave me a mischievous look.


    "I think this might be the first time I''ve ever seen Kenichi sleeping."


    I wonder how long I had fallen asleep by Izumi''s side. What kind of sleeping face did I have? As my consciousness became clearer, I began to feel embarrassed. I coughed and sat up. I put my hand on my head and checked to see if I had any bed hair.


    "Are you done playing with the sand yet?"


    I asked Izumi as I sat beside her, holding her knees.


    She nodded and pointed to the beach.


    "It''s been hit by a few waves, and it''s pretty much crumbled."


    At the end of her finger, there was a crumbling pile of sand, about fifty centimeters high, like melting ice. Nearby, Yuriko was playing with my brother in her swimsuit, kicking and throwing a football-sized beach ball.


    "You don''t swim, Izumi?"


    When I asked Izumi that, she smiled wryly and shook her head.


    "I can''t swim. But I did go for a short swim in the sea with Mori-san a while ago."


    Saying that, it was true that her feet were a little wet. Her white skin had a few drops of clear water on it.


    "I see."


    I looked back to the front again. A large wave came in, scraping off the mountain from the sand Izumi and Yuriko had made, and then it returned to the sea, foaming white.


    "Somehow, I feel like I''ve been missing out all this time."


    Izumi suddenly muttered. I looked at her, not knowing what she was talking about. Izumi was staring at Yuriko and my brother.


    "I''ve been at home all my summer vacations until now. I didn''t go to my mother''s relatives'' house, and this is the second time I''ve come to play at the beach. My mother took me once when I was in elementary school, but that was the only time."


    "So, aunt Tomoko has been busy since before."


    "Yes. However, I am grateful and respect her because she raised me all by herself. Sometimes I think about how lonely I used to be when I was in elementary school."


    It was the first time I had ever seen Izumi being sentimental. Even though we lived in the same house, I had never been exposed to her inner life.


    "Lately," Izumi said in a mumbling voice.


    "I''ve been feeling that I''ve been intruding too much into Kenichi-kun''s territory, or rather, into his life."


    "No, that''s not---"


    The next words were already in my head, but embarrassment and shyness got in the way, and I retracted them once. There seemed to be a slight nuance of annoyance or loneliness in Izumi''s profile as she looked at Yuriko and my brother.


    Speak up. I scolded myself.


    "I am glad I got to know Izumi. When I think that maybe we never would have met, it makes me feel lonely."


    Izumi looked at me as if she had been jolted. The moment our eyes met, Izumi''s body trembled for a moment, and then she quickly returned her gaze to normal.


    "Yeah. I''m also glad to have met you and the others, Kenichi-kun. Although I still don''t really know how to keep my distance from you......"


    "---Just leave it as it is. Izumi is a person who pays a lot of attention to various things, so I think it''s just fine for her to act a little careless."


    I did not know if it was the right thing to say, or if I was replying to her concerns, but I said that as if I was trying to squeeze the words out of myself.


    "Yes," Izumi nodded.


    "Thank you."


    As soon as she said that, I felt so embarrassed by what I had said that my ears began to heat up.


    The conversation stopped there, and silence fell. However, the sound of cicadas chirping like a shower, the joyful voices of people playing in the sea, and the repetitive sound of waves filled the silence.


    A little later, I said, "I''m going for a swim," and headed out to the sea. I took off my sandals a short distance away from the black dampness of the waves and walked on the beach, it was so hot that I felt like I was going to burn the soles of my feet. When I stepped into the damp area, the sand crumpled and my body sank.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


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    When the sun began to set, we got out of the water, got ready to go home, and decided to walk along the beach for a bit. Yuriko was wearing a blue tank top, black shorts, and sandals, and Izumi was wearing a sleeveless one-piece.


    The warm sea breeze felt good on my tired body after a day outside. The clouds over the sea were tinted a soft pink, and the city was dusky blue. From the surrounding trees, I could hear the chirping of cicadas and a hornbill. As I walked for a while, the darkness of dusk slowly thickened, and the shadows on the ground melted into the gloom.


    In the car on the way home, Izumi and Yuriko, who were sitting side by side in the back seat, kept talking about something, but after an hour or so I couldn''t hear their voices again. I was sitting in the passenger seat.


    I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the two of them lying with their eyes closed and their heads collapsed. They were leaning against each other, Yuriko''s head resting on Izumi''s shoulder.


    "Kenichi."


    My brother called me over. He held the steering wheel in his dark-tanned hands, his gaze straight ahead. Occasionally, the light from the tunnel lights reflected off the silver jewelry on his wrist.


    "What?"


    "Have you thought about what I said the other night when we went out for yakiniku? I was getting a little worried when I saw you today."


    So he whispered.


    I glanced in the rearview mirror. The two of them still seemed to be sleeping peacefully.


    "Don''t make them cry," my brother continued shortly.


    "I know," I replied in the same low voice. We can''t stay in this relationship forever. I could already feel what Yuriko had said.


    The vibrations of the car made me feel drowsy. The lights in the tunnel pass us by, front to back.


    The two of them woke up just as we were approaching the city where we lived. First, we stopped at Yuriko''s house, then back at the Sakamoto house, and then my brother got on his moped and headed back to his apartment.


    Izumi, who had been asleep in the back seat the whole time, entered the house, rubbing her eyes, probably still quite sleepy.


    When I went to bed that night, my body still remembered the rhythm of the waves. My consciousness, my body, was swayed by the waves in my memory.


    The summer, in which so much had happened, was about to pass. As I closed my eyes in the darkness, many of the events of the summer came to mind.


    I fell asleep in the early hours of the night and woke up in the early morning. I looked at the screen of my phone and saw that it was only just past five o''clock.


    The room was dimly lit. However, the navy blue curtains were lightly bathed in light, and I felt a hint of morning.


    I approach the window and open the curtains.


    I looked out at the early morning, almost gray, pale blue sky, then opened the window and stepped out onto the balcony, propping on my flip-flops, which I use to hang the laundry out to dry. The morning air was chilly and refreshing.


    The city was still asleep. I could hear the sound of cars driving in the distance, but the small echoes made me strongly feel the silence of the entire city.


    Then I suddenly noticed a dead cicada lying at my feet. It was lying on its belly, its legs contracted, not moving an inch. The cicada carcass seemed empty, as if it had been squeezed out of everything.


    August is almost over.


    Although the sun still seemed to be shining strong for a while, the sun was setting much faster than it had been at the end of the rainy season.


    I picked up the dead cicada. It was as light as paper. I tossed it toward the soil in the garden. I stayed outside for a while. The distant stars in the sky, which still had the colors of night, gradually faded into the brightness of the morning.


    Even though we have entered September, the hot days are still continuing. But the cool early morning air made me feel that the summer was slowly slipping away.

 Volume 2 - CH 3.1

    On the morning of the opening ceremony of the second semester, I went down to the living room and found Izumi eating breakfast in her short-sleeved school uniform.


    When I went to club activities, I wore my school uniform even during summer vacation, so when I woke up in the morning and got ready to go to school, I did not feel that the second semester had started. However, once I saw Izumi in her school uniform, I instantly felt that it was the beginning of the second semester.


    My mother and Izumi greeted each other with a "good morning," and I took my seat and began to eat my breakfast. Vienna sausages, fried eggs, and lunch boxes were on the table for the three of us.


    All three of us were not talking much, and breakfast time passed in a short time. Before long, Izumi got up from her seat, said, "I''m off," slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked out the door. After that, my mother also finished her coffee and left for work.


    I finished breakfast, cleaned up the dishes for the three of us, then locked up and left the house. I rode my bike out to a large street that led through the morning residential area and saw many cars and students on their way to school. It was a normal, weekday morning, just as it had been before summer vacation.


    On the first day of school, there were no classes. We had an hour of homeroom, and after lunch, we had club activities in the afternoon.


    During the time before club activities, I was eating my lunch with Nagai at my desk. Many students had left the classroom for club activities or to go home, but there was a group of girls in the back talking loudly about something, and the noise from the hallway was echoing, so it was a bit noisy in the classroom. As we were having lunch while chatting, as usual, Nagai suddenly said in a mysterious manner, "I have something to tell you,".


    "What?"


    When I stopped moving my chopsticks to ask him what was going on,


    "I''ve decided to go out with Tachibana."


    Nagai suddenly said that.


    I was so surprised that I unconsciously looked around. There was no one within earshot of our conversation. Besides, no one in the classroom was paying any attention to us.


    "For real? Since when?"


    "About a week ago, we went out together. On the way home, Tachibana brought up that topic."


    "And then, did you give her an answer?"


    "Yeah. At that time, I told her to wait a bit, but the day before yesterday, I answered her on the phone."


    "So, you''ve fallen in love with Tachibana."


    When I said that, "well," Nagai nodded a little shyly.


    "I was honestly not very interested in her at first, but as we hung out and played together, I gradually came to like her. I''ve also started to find her cute since I realized that she likes me........."


    "You two were holding hands the other day, right."


    "---I knew you could see it," he said.


    "......I''m sorry. I could see it."


    "No need to apologize. I also knew that you and Mori were trying to get together."


    I was at a loss for words.


    After all, they were aware of it. But I also thought that anyone who didn''t notice it would be too slow to notice, after being so blatantly obvious about it.


    This is not the first time I have experienced a friend having a girlfriend. But somehow, sitting face to face with Nagai, I felt a rush of embarrassment. I could sense an air of embarrassment from Nagai''s side as well.


    "Let''s go to the ground already. I''ve decided to tell only you and Mori, but please keep it a secret from the others."


    "Yeah. Got it."


    We packed up our stuff and left the classroom together.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


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    Even though September had arrived, it was still hot and humid outdoors in the early afternoon. We changed into pikes at the outside storage area and finished basic practice in pairs, but we were soon drenched in sweat.


    While the other members were practicing, the two managers were kicking a ball in the corner of the field. After having such a talk with Nagai, I suddenly found myself looking in her direction. Watching Tachibana kick the ball a few times, I noticed that she had improved considerably. She used to not be able to kick the ball with good form, but now she was able to properly send the ball inside and in front of the golfer.


    When it was time for a break, I went to the water supply to cool my neck with water. Then Tachibana also came to wash the water tank. The two of us ran the water side by side, and the sound of the water filled the area. I put my head under the faucet and splashed water from my hot neck to the back of my head, then twisted the faucet to turn off the water and sat up. Tachibana, her hair tied in two with an elastic band, rolled up her short-sleeved gym clothes to her shoulders, filled the tank with water, and rinsed it out with a clattering and shaking motion.


    "Nagai has told me about what is going on."


    I said to her back, and Tachibana stopped her hands and turned her head vigorously to look at me. A member of the brass band practicing outside was playing their instrument, and several men and women from the track team wearing shorts were walking nearby, laughing. Tachibana looked a mixture of surprise and embarrassment at being caught off guard.


    When I said, "Good for you," she turned her gaze back to the front and said, "T-Thank you," in an elevated whisper, still acting a little strange. Then she smiled wryly and said, "fufufufufufu," and dripped detergent on the sponge. The joy was so deep inside her that she couldn''t help but loosen her cheeks.


    Before the whole practice resumed, I went back to the field and started practicing free kicks by myself. I placed the ball in an appropriate spot around the penalty area and kicked ball into the unmanned goal, assuming the position of the wall and the keeper. With each kick, a cloud of dust rose from the dry ground and was swept away by a slight breeze.


    A little later, some of the club members, including Yuriko, also came to the goal, one of them taking over as keeper, and we took our turn kicking the ball.


    Yuriko said, "I''ll kick next," and launched a curved shot with her right foot from right in front of the goal. The ball was slow and smooth, but it had a good course, and it slipped past the keeper''s hand and went into the goal. "Oh," the boys around her exclaimed, impressed. "Mm-hmm," Yuriko jokingly said, puffing out her chest with pride. She, too, should have known about Nagai and Tachibana, but her behavior was as usual.


    That day, Tachibana and Nagai seemed to be going home together.


    Nagai said, as he and I were on the field, "We''re meeting at the entrance gate." After club activities, Nagai and Tachibana met up at the entrance after changing clothes and waiting for the club members to leave. Yuriko and I were there with them, and the four of us walked together until we left the school gate. The atmosphere between the two of us was not strangely tense and did not seem to have changed much from before.


    When Yuriko and I were riding our bicycles home after leaving Nagai and Tachibana, we talked about them.


    "I think they might be a good match. I think they will last a long time. Well, if they break up, it would ruin the atmosphere of the club, so I need them to last at least another six months."


    When we entered the residential area where we lived from the busy national highway, Yuriko said that.


    "As long as Tachibana doesn''t get tired of it. Nagai will be fine. He''s been thinking about the club activities beforehand."


    "I see. I don''t think Akari will be tired of it either......maybe."


    She said that and groaned a little worriedly.


    "There are some types of girls who are fine while they have unrequited love, but after they start dating, they gradually grow tired of it."


    The traffic light in front of me turned red. I stopped my bike and looked up at the sky. The blue was fading and the sky was becoming dim, and there were scaly clouds floating in the sky, glowing red in the setting sun. When I looked to the side, I saw Yuriko looking at me with a blank expression. She let out a small breath and rolled up the sleeves of her long-sleeved blouse, which was slightly above her wrists, to just above her elbows. Then,


    "By the way, when does Izumi-san be back her home?"


    She asked in a casual tone of voice. The topic of conversation suddenly turned to Izumi, and I had to pause for a moment before replying.


    "......Umm. January. Probably right after the new year."


    "I see.......About four more months, huh?"


    Saying that, she fell silent for a moment, then,


    "It''s kind of long and kind of short," she said to herself as she turned her gaze back to the front.


    I looked at the traffic light in front of me, too. The gray-painted chassis connected to the telephone pole looked slightly yellowish in the color of the evening sun.


    A car with its headlights on crossed the street in front of us. The signal light changed from red to green. Without saying a word, Yuriko and I started pedaling our bicycles again. When we reached Yuriko''s house, she said briefly, "Bye," got off her bicycle, and gave a small wave.


    When I arrived home and entered the living room, I found Izumi folding laundry. She had probably been home for a while already and had changed into a beige blouse and skinny jeans that were half-length.


    "Oh, welcome home."


    "I''m home."


    I put my luggage down and helped her fold it up.


    I picked up a nearby T-shirt and folded it. The soft smell of freshly dried laundry wafted through the air. Izumi was sitting on her knees, folding towels in her lap as if she had been used to doing so. In the dim evening light, her hair shone honey-colored in the light shining through the window.

 Volume 2 - CH 3.2

    "Please accompany me shopping."


    On a Friday in the middle of September, when I was finally getting used to my resumed school life, I was cooking dinner when Izumi, who had just returned home and was dressed in her school uniform, said to me.


    "Yes?"


    I was in the kitchen making miso soup for dinner when I stopped what I was doing and replied dumbly.


    When I asked her what she was shopping for, she told me that a male teacher who had been in the hospital for several days would be returning soon, and the class had decided to give him a gift to celebrate his return.


    "I''ve never bought anything for men before, so I don''t really have an idea of what I''m looking for. So if you have time, please come with me just for a moment."


    Izumi, who was sitting facing me at the dining room table, bowed her head and said.


    Thus, we met up in the living room at ten am on Saturday morning next day. When I went downstairs at exactly that time, I found Izumi sitting on the sofa in a long-sleeved brown one-piece dress, with her shoulder pouch that she always carried with her when she went out, looking ready to go.


    As we put on our shoes at the front door and left the house, my mother, who was watering plants in the garden, called out to us, "Take care,". Izumi replied, "Yes," and lightly waved her hand.


    Our destination was the department store in front of the station. Since we planned to take the bus to the street in front of the station, we walked side by side to the nearest bus stop.


    The bus arrived just in time. There were only two seats available, so we sat down side by side. After we sat down, the bus closed its doors and started running. A woman''s voice announcing the next stop echoed through the bus.


    During on the bus, Izumi told me things about her school, such as how she was going to do a recitation play at the school festival and that the returning teacher was the same height as I was.


    Both hands were on her lap, and on her left wrist was the same watch she had been wearing when we first met. That suddenly brought back to my mind the nervousness I felt when she moved in. And I realized that the distance between me and her had changed a lot in the past three months.


    Now, Izumi is smiling and talking about school without the stiffness she had then, and as for me, the words come out naturally without me having to search for them in my head.


    I feel like Izumi has been living in that house for a long time now. How my mother and I had lived together before she came to our house, that feeling had become more difficult for me to recall.


    Twenty minutes later, we arrived in front of the station. We got off the bus and walked down the nicely paved street to the department store. This was the busiest street in the city, lined with tall buildings and apartments, a movie theater, and trendy cafes and restaurants.


    After a short walk, we entered the department store we were headed for. We took the escalator up to the menswear floor.


    "I stopped by on my way home yesterday, and I had a few choices in mind then......"


    Saying that, Izumi proceeded down the floor and entered a formal-looking store that handled suits and jackets. Then she picked up two neckties.


    "Please stand there for a moment."


    Izumi said, standing in front of the mirror placed by the tie display shelf. When I got there, she put them on my chest in sequence. The backs of her fingers touched my throat softly.


    "Kenichi-kun, since you came in wearing a white shirt, it was just perfect."


    Izumi smiled at me closely and mumbled, "I wonder which one would be better," as she thought about the gray one with a thin blue line or the calm navy blue one, which she repeatedly held up to my chest. Then, "Is it for a gift?" a young male clerk with black hair spoke to us.


    "Oh, yes. I''m wondering between either of these......"


    "I see," Saying that, the man thought for a moment, then said, "I think the gray one here will suit the young man better."


    He said and took the gray one into his hand. Then Izumi waved one hand in front of her face with a troubled smile.


    "Oh, but I''m handing it to a teacher at school. He''s about forty years old......"


    "Oh, is that so?"


    The clerk said as if in a panic, looked at me again, and said, "I''m sorry,". Somehow I felt sorry too, and I apologized in the same way, saying, "I''m sorry". Then,


    "If it were Kenichi-kun, which would you prefer?"


    Izumi asked me.


    "Ummm..."


    I can''t say for sure, since I only wear ties with my winter uniform, but,


    "I think I like this one better. The more calm shades would be easier to match."


    Saying that, I pointed to the navy blue one.


    "I see!"


    Izumi then carefully considered it for another minute or so and decided on the one I had chosen, saying, "I''ll take this one,".


    "Eh, are you sure about that?"


    "Yes, I''ve decided,". Izumi nodded and went to the cashier.


    Izumi put the box of ties that had been wrapped by the cashier into her backpack. Perhaps the money had already been collected, Izumi took out some 1,000 yen bills from an envelope and received a receipt.


    "Thanks for your help. Thanks to you, I think this will be a good gift."


    She said as we left the store.


    "No......I don''t know if just this much means I helped you......"


    "No, no. You''ve been very helpful," Izumi said.


    We spent the next 30 minutes or so wandering around, stopping at the bookstore floor and the interior design store floor, before returning again to the ground floor.


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    Then, as we passed a general store near the entrance to the department store, Izumi slowed her pace, as if something had attracted her interest. Her gaze turned toward the store.


    "Wanna take a look?"


    When I asked her because she obviously wanted to drop by, she turned her head to me and said, "Eh,"


    "Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Then, just for a moment.


    Saying that a little embarrassed, Izumi went into the store. In the store, there were aroma oils and loungewear for women. Many pastel colors such as white and pink were used on the shelves and posters. Many of the customers around the store were young women dressed in casual fashion. A humidifier-like device in the front of the store was emitting steam that smelled good.


    Izumi was looking at a soap (I guess) with a color and shape like ice cream, muttering, "Cute,". It wasn''t like she was saying, "When I say cute, I''m the cute one". Unless Izumi is a wolf in sheep''s clothing beyond my imagination, this is just the way she is.


    "I sometimes stop by this store on my way home from school. Just looking at them is soothing!" Izumi said in a relaxed tone.


    "Is that so?"


    "Yes. Looking at cute goods takes away the fatigue from my mind."


    "Hmm."


    After Izumi looked at soaps and aroma oils, and then at fluffy wear, we left the department store. I opened the glass door and let Izumi through, followed by myself.


    It was almost noon, the sun was high in the sky, and the city was bathed in white light. The sunlight reflected off metal poles, street mirrors, traffic light frames, building windows, and the corners of pedestrian bridge railings in the form of many sharp glints.


    Izumi had bought a gift for the teacher, so our objective for the day was over, but it was nice outside, and it seemed a little regrettable to just go home. Besides, when walking with Izumi, I was able to see worlds I had never known before, such as the grocery store we had just visited, which was fun.


    These feelings made me slow down my steps toward the bus stop. Izumi suddenly stopped and tilted her head. She was looking at me.


    "What''s wrong?"


    I said, a little flustered, wondering if she had seen what I was thinking. "That dog," Izumi said, pointing behind me.


    As I looked in that direction, I saw a small dog tied to a pole in the shade. Izumi walked up to the dog and looked back at me as I followed her.


    "It''s Stella-kun, probably."


    Saying that, she crouched down beside the dog. The dog wagged its tail when he got up and looked at Izumi. She stroked the dog''s back with her palm, perhaps convinced by his reaction.


    Maybe it is true, I thought, too. This brown fur and the pouty expression on his face were familiar to me.


    "I wonder if Hoshino-san or someone from her family is nearby."


    "No idea."


    Izumi stood up and glanced around. I took my eyes off Stella too and looked around. Then I immediately spotted a girl I recognized. She was wearing a gray hoodie over a checked skirt.


    "......There she is."


    On the ground floor of the department store, the elevator hall is made of glass, so you can see into the building from the outside. And right near us, there was Hoshino-san wandering around, looking at her phone.


    "Eh, where?"


    Izumi looked at me, and I pointed at Hoshino-san with my gaze.


    "Oh. It''s really her."


    Izumi said.


    We went inside the department store again and approached her in the elevator hall.


    Hoshino-san, who was walking and looking at the phone, did not notice us.


    "Wa!"


    Perhaps wanting to tease, Izumi suddenly called out from behind Hoshino-san with her hands clasped behind her back.


    "Whoa!"


    Hoshino was startled, raising both shoulders with a jolt. In that moment, I caught a glimpse of the screen of her phone. I saw the screen of an AR game, which is very popular these days.


    "What, Rina-chan. Aah, I was so surprised......"


    Hoshino-san exhaled. Then she noticed me, too, and said, "Oh......" She paused for a moment, then said, "You too, Sakamoto-san. It''s been a while," she greeted me.


    "What are you doing?"


    I asked.


    "No, I''m just capturing......I was supposed to be taking a walk around the neighborhood, but before I knew it, I ended up here......"


    Somehow, Hoshino-san said, gesticulating, as if trying to make an excuse.


    "Capture?"


    Izumi tilted her head.

 Volume 2 - CH 3.3

    Since Stella was with us, we decided to walk slowly to our neighborhood instead of taking the bus on the way back. It was almost noon, the temperature was gradually rising, and I was sweating a little. Stella was also walking with his tongue hanging out.


    "What were you two doing?......I mean, we''re walking together, is that okay?"


    Hoshino-san asked Izumi as soon as we started walking. Izumi tilted her head curiously and asked, "Why?".


    "I was thinking of choosing that present. I thought it would be better to get a man''s opinion, so I asked Kenichi-kun to help me. He has similar height and hairstyle," she replied.


    "Oh, so that''s what happened," Hoshino-san said.


    "I thought you were in the middle of an event that forced me to wish for a romantic comedy manga-like explosion of a date between relatives who live together......."


    Hoshino-san finished such a long line in one breath. Izumi just smiled wryly, whether she understood what it meant or not.


    On the way home, Izumi and Hoshino-san said they were going to buy lunch and went into a bakery. It was a personal store that also had a small caf¨¦, and although I had never been inside, it seemed to be one of Izumi''s favorite places in the city. The lodge-like building with its green roof and red arcade had a stylish atmosphere that Izumi seemed to like.


    I gave Izumi some coins for my part, and waited outside the store with Stella in the meantime. We went into the shadows under the arcade and I stood with the leash, while he sat quietly at my feet.


    After a while, they came back with a paper bag of bread. Then Izumi said, "It''s a nice day, so let''s go to the park," and we headed for a grassy park at the end of the residential area where we lived.


    On the way, Ms. Hoshino said, "I''m going to get my stuff to play in the park since my house is close by," and we decided to stop by her house as well. Hoshino-san''s house was a house similar to ours, the same size and design as the houses that line this residential area. She handed Izumi Stella''s leash and strode into the house, quickly coming out with a small sports bag.


    "Sorry to keep you waiting," Hoshino-san said. The bag apparently contained a plastic sheet and an extendable leash.


    Then, when we entered our destination park, we each bought a drink from a vending machine, spread out a plastic sheet in the shade of a tree, and sat down. Stella''s leash was tied to a nearby tree, and he lay down on the grass.


    Hoshino-san and Izumi were sitting across from each other, talking about school. I was sitting near Stella, drinking mineral water from a plastic bottle I had bought from a vending machine and stroking his head. He didn''t look particularly happy, just expressionless.


    "What kind of present did you buy?"


    "Well, this. This one."


    Izumi took her phone out of her pocket and showed Hoshino-san a picture of the tie she had just bought. Hoshino-san and Izumi are looking at the screen with their heads almost touching each other.


    "Speaking of which, why was Izumi put in charge of picking out a gift for the teacher?"


    When I asked somewhat curious, Hoshino-san turned to me and replied with a smile.


    "Rina-chan is in charge of fashion in our class."


    ......What''s that?"


    Not understanding what she meant, I asked back, and then Izumi,


    "By the way, Aiko-chan is in charge of the manga."


    She said that happily. Hoshino-san looked down and whispered, "I''m an Otaku anyway......". Izumi, who apparently did not quite catch it, tilted her head and said, "Otaku?", Hoshino-san shook her head hurriedly and said, "It''s nothing."


    "What kind of charge is that......"


    That was my only reaction. If this is the way of the girls'' school they attend, it seems too strange for me to understand.


    I took a bite of the sandwich Izumi had bought me earlier and drank some water from a plastic bottle. I had somehow followed Izumi here, but I felt out of place.


    The sun was hot, but it was cool and comfortable in the shade. Entering the middle of September, the number of cicadas had decreased considerably. Every once in a while, as if reminded of them, their cries would echo out from somewhere, but they would soon and abruptly cease. Touching the grass in the shaded area by the plastic sheet, I found it surprisingly cool.


    "How did you do on the practice test the other day?" Hoshino-san asked Izumi. The two were talking while eating sandwiches they had bought earlier.


    "Same as ever. I hope my science subjects will improve a little more."


    "Have you thought about which college you want to go to yet?"


    "Yes. I''m thinking about applying to a few places."


    "I see. Guess I should start thinking about it too."


    They were talking about things related to entrance examinations, such as mock exams and open campuses. While I was impressed that two students from a preparatory school were already in such an atmosphere, I thought with a little impatience, as I had not made any preparations that seemed like preparations.


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    Nearby, a tennis ball that Mr. Hoshino had brought rolled out of the bag. I picked it up and rolled it to Stella. He got up, walked a little, picked it up with his mouth, and dropped it in my hand with a plop. I rolled it again to his feet. He dropped it to me again with a plop.


    While Izumi and Hoshino-san were talking, I continued to play an unmotivated game with the dog, and then Izumi asked me, "Kenichi-kun, are you thinking about your career path or something?"


    "Ah, yeah. I''m planning to go on to higher education for now. I''m probably going to apply to a liberal arts school, but I haven''t decided on the details yet."


    "Do you have any plans for what you want to do?"


    "I haven''t made it clear, but there are a couple of things I''d like to study. What do you have in mind, Izumi?"


    "I''m embarrassed to say this, but.......I''ve been doing some research lately on what kind of studies will help me get the job most easily."


    Saying that, she moved her legs, which were bent at an angle.


    "Aiko-chan, is there anything you want to do?"


    Then Hoshino-san replied, fidgeting a bit.


    "Yeah. I''m going to think realistically about my career path so that I can get a proper job.......However, I draw illustrations as a hobby, so I would like to keep doing that. I''m not that good at it, but it''s fun to draw and I make a lot of friends at events......"


    "That''s kind of nice," Izumi said. Then,


    "I wonder why Ryuuichi-san decided on a career path like the one he is on now," she said, as if asking me.


    "You''re right."


    I tilted my head, too. Even though our parents were against him, he had attended a famous university and had good communication skills, he would have had no trouble finding a job.


    "I wondered if it was better to live by what you want to do, or to think carefully about what you can do."


    When I muttered, "It''s an eternal problem," Izumi said, and bit into her sandwich.


    A breeze was blowing from somewhere. It was a chilly autumn breeze. The leaves on the trees were shaking, and green leaves were falling in flakes. But the outlines of the green leaves were beginning to turn slightly red and yellow.


    The sky was not the heavy, dark blue of summer, but a light blue that seemed to go on forever.


    Suddenly my eyes met Izumi''s. Izumi sometimes gets lost in her thoughts, and she seemed to be absent-minded at the moment.


    "What''s wrong?"


    When I asked, Izumi seemed to come to her senses, then smiled bitterly and said, "Speaking of which,"


    "I was thinking about the next year, and I realized that I would no longer be in this town. When I was thinking about the future, I just remembered."


    Then Hoshino-san, who had been fiddling with her phone, looked up.


    "I wish you could always stay here. If Rina-chan leaves, I''ll be alone to go to school again."


    "Ahaha......But it''s Kenichi-kun''s house, so I can''t do anything about it on my own."


    Izumi said with a small, troubled smile, "Oh, I see. I''m sorry," Hoshino-san said that, looking at me and then turning her gaze downwards a little apologetically.


    "---I don''t mind if you stay."


    I thought the words would fall within the realm of social pleasantries, but my voice almost shook with embarrassment. Besides, after I said it, I began to feel that it was a slightly creepy remark. Izumi was also a little puzzled.


    "Oh, thank you.......I''m glad to hear you say that. I''ve been forgetting lately that I''m going back home someday. I guess I''m getting used to life here."


    After saying that, she seemed to regain her composure and said cheerfully, "Anyway, let''s do our best so that the three of us can pass the exam together."


    Hoshino-san chimed in on the tension with an "oooh!". At the same time, Stella, who had been sleeping beside her, let out a loud yawn.


    The air, which had been getting a little heavy, changed, and Izumi took out another croissant from the paper bag and began to eat it, and Mr. Hoshino, perhaps making some progress in the game she was playing, " This!" She turned her eyes back to the game with a happy look on her face.


    ......I felt like I was going out of tune in a space with two girls who were going at their own pace.

 Volume 2 - CH 3.4

    As the second semester began and several typhoons passed, the heat gradually eased.


    On a certain holiday in October, Yuriko said she was going to participate in a women''s soccer match, so the three of us, myself, Nagai, and Tachibana, decided to go watch the match. At first, it was just Nagai and me, but when he told Tachibana about it, she wanted to come with us.


    "When I talked about it, Akari said she wanted to come, too, so could I take her?" On the night before, I received a message from him via a messaging app.


    When I read that, I immediately felt uncomfortable.


    ---Akari?


    That was Tachibana''s given name.


    When did he start calling her by name? When I think back to my memory, I don''t recall that guy ever calling her by her name. If I had heard it even once, I would have surely felt a sense of discrepancy and remembered it.


    But it seemed silly to bring up such a thing in a message exchange, so I simply replied, " Got it," at the time.


    It had been a while since they first started dating, but at club activities, they still looked almost the same as before. From what I saw, I don''t think anyone in the club had noticed the change in their relationship yet.


    The next day, Nagai got off with Tachibana at the bus stop where we were to meet. Tachibana was wearing a floral mini-skirt and a long-sleeved white top. Her hair looked like it had been perfectly arranged. Her medium-length hair ends were curled inward, and her bangs were pinned back. There was a blush on her cheeks and lips, and it looked like she was wearing a little makeup.


    The three of us started walking together. Our destination was a municipal ground on the riverbank, about 10 minutes from here.


    While walking, listening to Nagai and Tachibana''s conversation, both of them were as expected calling each other by their given names. Nagai was called "Keita-kun" by Tachibana. Listening to the conversation from the side, for some reason, I felt a sense of embarrassment that sent a shiver down my back.


    I said, "I see you''ve started calling each other by name," to which he replied, "When we''re outside of school,"


    "Sounds great."


    "You call Mori by her name too, don''t you?"


    "It means something completely different than it does in your case. I''ve said it a lot of times."


    "I don''t know. I think we''re the same. In the sense of intimacy?"


    "No, it''s not."


    "You''re surprisingly detailed in that way, aren''t you? Is that why you call Izumi by her first name as well?


    "Ha?"


    "No, because don''t we usually call our relatives by their given names? Especially since you live with her."


    Then Tachibana made a sudden appearance in our direction,


    "Hm? Do you live together?"


    She tilted her head and said that with suspicion.


    "What do you mean? Izumi-san is senpai relative, whom we met at the summer festival, isn''t she?"


    I made a bitter face, and Nagai apologized with his eyes, "My bad."


    "Ah......I''m sorry, that was a weird thing to say. She was staying over at Sakamoto''s house for a while."


    "Staying over? What do you mean by that!?"


    Tachibana raised her voice in surprise.


    "I mean, you know, relative stay-over sometimes, right? You said you two are like a cousin, right, Sakamoto?"


    "Ah, yeah."


    Nagai was trying to cover it up somehow. "What do you mean by like a cousin?" Tachibana was still a little suspicious, but since Nagai was the one who said it, she would probably listen to him. Besides, even if we were relatives, a story about just staying over for a short time would be more convincing than the outrageous story of a boy and a girl of the same age living together.


    As for how to call Izumi, in the beginning, I thought about calling her by her given name a few times. But the first thing that came out naturally was her family name, and before I knew it, I had settled on the way I called her now.


    I was also trying to maintain a distance from her without getting too close. But now that I think back on it, I feel that this had the opposite effect. As Nagai said, it is probably more normal for relatives to call each other by name in a casual manner.


    What kind of relationship do I have with Izumi after all? What kind of relationship do I want to have with Izumi in the future?


    My life with Izumi will end at the end of the year. But that doesn''t mean that our relationship will be completely cut off at that moment. I have no idea what will happen after that. Will we not see each other much anymore? Or......


    As I was thinking about this, the topic of conversation among Nagai and Tachibana shifted away from Izumi to something else. Anyway, I was relieved that Tachibana did not find out that I was living with Izumi and that it did not become a problem.


    We were almost at our destination, a field run by the city. There was a small flower bed by the sidewalk where we were walking, and pale purple cosmos flowers were blooming. Persimmon trees were planted in the yards of the surrounding houses, bearing reddish fruits. The sweet smell of golden osmanthus drifted in the cool breeze, mixed with the smell of exhaust fumes from the occasional passing car.


    With a sidelong glance, I saw him talking with Tachibana and thought he was a cool guy. It was neither self-conscious nor superficial; he goes to school normally, studies normally, participate in club activities, date girls, and takes good care of his girlfriends.


    I felt kind of stupid for feeling jealous of him a few times over Izumi. I was all alone, fretting and self-loathing ....... I sighed, thinking that I had been totally misguided.


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    The destination field, located on a riverbank, consists of a baseball field and two soccer courts separated by a fence. The soccer court is a little bumpy, but it is planted with grass and is often used for soccer practice games between local elementary and junior high school students. Yuriko and I had played here several times when we were in elementary school.


    When I looked around the field, I found Yuriko sitting in the middle of the field, stretching, wearing the blue jersey of our club. It was a practice game between the junior college and women''s college teams that would be held today, and Yuriko had apparently been asked by an acquaintance to join. The dozen or so people around Yuriko are all wearing matching jerseys.


    There was a concrete tiled slope between the field and the driveway, and we sat there.


    Around us, there were a few people who had stopped in the middle of their run, and a sparse group of young people who looked like they had come to watch this match. Among them was a woman in her forties with a parasol and a small girl. It was Miyuki-chan, Yuriko''s cousin. The woman with her was probably her mother.


    My eyes met Miyuki-chan''s. She smiled, pulled the bottom of the woman''s dress beside her, said a few words, and then came running toward me.


    "Kenichi-kun, did you come to see the game too?"


    "Yeah. It''s been a while."


    Nagai and Tachibana looked at me suspiciously as I was talking with Miyuki-chan.


    After talking for a while, Miyuki-chan ran back to her mother again. She was going out with her mother by car today, and they had stopped by this ground on their way.


    "That Sakamoto-senpai is being longed for by a little girl! Why!?"


    Tachibana exaggerated as Miyuki-chan walked away.


    "Seriously, what the heck do you think I am......? She''s a junior member of my elementary school team. A relative of Yuriko''s."


    "Heh. When you say that, indeed, she somehow has the appearance of Mori-senpai."


    Tachibana said, looking at Miyuki-chan from a distance.


    "I wonder if senpai has something that makes him popular with soccer girls."


    I heard her mutter something like that, and when I asked her back, "What?"


    "No, it''s nothing. Please don''t be concerned about it. More importantly, I made a lunch box! You can have some, too, Sakamoto-senpai!"


    Saying that, Tachibana took out a cloth package from her bag and unfolded it. She placed some rice balls wrapped in plastic wrap and a Tupperware box containing karaage and meatballs on her lap.

 Volume 2 - CH 3.5

    Yuriko, wearing a pink and blue uniform, wore the number 11 on her back and was in the forward position. Her position was the center of the lineup of the three forwards. It was where she was best at. Yuriko scored two goals in that game, even though everyone surrounding her was probably older than she was. One was a diagonal dribble after receiving the ball on the left side, and a shot with her right foot, and the other was a counter-attack, in which she got behind the ball and scored past the keeper in a one-on-one confrontation. Her ball control was precise, and there was no sign of the ball being taken away from her. Even when pressed, she was always looking around and playing with a sense of composure. As expected of a player who has been playing with the boys for so long, her composure was the most striking thing about her on the court.


    "I knew she was good."


    At the end of the match, Nagai said.


    "She''s modest about it, but at the level of our club, she''s a force to be reckoned with, isn''t she?"


    "Yeah."


    I nodded my head.


    I tried to move away from them a little, thinking that maybe I shouldn''t be sitting with them, but they stopped me, telling me that I could stay with them, so I sat with them until the game was over.


    After the game was over, Yuriko, who had been stretching and talking with people from the same team for a while, stood and talked with Miyuki-chan and her mother, then walked up to us. She was smiling and waving to Miyuki-chan, with a white enamel bag slung over her shoulder, her soccer pants on the bottom, and a blue jersey on top.


    "Thanks for your hard work. I knew it was cool to see senpai playing soccer," said Tachibana.


    Yuriko looked refreshed after her physical activity, "Thanks," she said, and took one of the karaage as recommended by Tachibana. After munching and chewing, she looked at me and beckoned me over.


    "Kenichi, hey, hey. Come here."


    "What?"


    I stood up and walked over to Yuriko.


    "I''m thirsty, let''s go to that vending machine over there to get some water."


    Yuriko looked at me and indicated a vending machine on the side of the road a short distance away. "Okay," I nodded.


    "I''m going to go for a bit then. Tachibana, thanks for the onigiri and all. They were delicious."


    "Yes. Enjoy yourselves, senpais."


    Tachibana said with a smile. Leaving them alone, we walked to a vending machine a short distance away.


    "They seem to be doing well," Yuriko said, putting in some coins and taking a sports drink, which fell with a clatter.


    "Yeah."


    "But Kenichi, why are the three of you sitting together? You have to be more considerate."


    "No, I tried to leave on the way too, but they said I could stay......"


    "Hmmm. I thought you were getting better lately, but I guess Kenichi is still Kenichi.


    Saying that, Yuriko gulped down her sports drink.


    "Sit here."


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    Yuriko sat down on the slope. When Tachibana and Nagai noticed us sitting at a distance from them, they looked at us as if to say, "Huh?" Yuriko just smiled and waved her hand at them.


    "But I didn''t think it would go so well......I mean, they''re a little too clingy, aren''t they? I was getting kind of pissed off when I saw it. How could you have been in between them?"


    "Indeed......"


    They were sitting closely together, eating the rest of their lunches. Tachibana was smiling and looked very happy. She was even bringing a meatball she had pierced with a toothpick to Nagai''s mouth.


    ""Uwah......"" Yuriko and I said, our voices overlapping, as if we were taken aback, as if we had seen something we weren''t supposed to see.


    Yuriko observed them, thoroughly, and then looked at me with a sidelong glance.


    "......What?"


    When I said that, she simply said, "Nothing."


    There was only a distance of one person between Yuriko and me. Her cheeks were still a little red and her skin looked a little damp with sweat.


    Three people from the team Yuriko was mixed up with walked by us. One of them asked her, "Is that boy Yuriko''s boyfriend?". Yuriko replied with an amiable smile.


    "No. He''s a friend from my club."


    "Ah. I''m sorry. I didn''t realize that."


    Saying that, they glanced at me. I vaguely bowed and averted my gaze. The three of them let out something like a chuckle, clapped Yuriko on the shoulder, and walked away. The flow of cars on the road behind us had died down, and the area suddenly became quiet. Yuriko let out a small sigh,


    "......I wonder if it would have been better if I had fallen in love with a guy like Nagai."


    "Huh?"


    I was at a loss for words, wondering what she was saying out of the blue. I could guess what Yuriko''s words meant, but I couldn''t say anything in response.


    "Because, you know......"


    Yuriko held her knees up and looked down. She picked up a pebble that had fallen nearby and threw it forward. With a gentle parabolic motion, the pebble hit the slope of the asphalt and made a clattering sound. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tachibana and Nagai sitting together at a distance, almost as if they were attached to each other.


    "As expected, I''m getting anxious as time goes on."


    She muttered and threw another stone forward with no energy.


    Silence fell, and the sounds of cars passing by and trains passing over the railroad bridge over the river echoed around us. The reverberations faded away as if absorbed by the high, clear autumn sky.


    "I''m in a bit of a hurry. Summer has already passed, and autumn and winter will soon pass while you are still like this. People''s feelings change as well."


    Yuriko looked down and said that.


    High in the sky, below the cirrocumulus clouds, gray, moist clouds were moving at a visible speed. Another autumn typhoon was approaching, or so they said on the news.


    ---That''s right. It has been almost three months since that day when the thunderstorm hit. A season has passed. I had promised to respond to her on the day of the summer festival. I still hadn''t done so.


    "Sorr......"


    I was about to say, "Wait," when Yuriko still looked down and said,


    "I don''t want to hear something like that."


    She sounded like a sulky child.


    "Sorry," I apologized again in my mind.

 Volume 2 - CH 3.6

    On the way home, Yuriko and I took separate buses from Tachibana and Nagai. Tachibana and Nagai seemed to walk a little toward the front of the station before returning home.


    We got on the bus and sat down side by side in the seat that was just empty. After a little while, Yuriko began to doze off beside me. Her head swayed dizzily, and fell onto my shoulder. The round head took up most of my vision, and I could smell the sweet shampoo and then her sweat that I had felt during that kiss. I leaned back a little and saw her expression through the gap in her bangs.


    Her eyelashes are overlapping each other. Her chest rises and falls slightly and quietly in time with her breathing.


    Suddenly, my mind drifted back to a day in the sixth grade when we traveled by bus to a distant venue for a tournament. After playing three games from early in the morning until dusk, we were all exhausted, and on the bus ride home, almost everyone was asleep. When I woke up to the vibration of the bus, I saw Yuriko''s face with her head still asleep. When I regained consciousness, I turned her head back to the original position, but Yuriko did not wake up. Then, her head fell back on my shoulder.


    It was right around that time. I began to recognize her as the opposite sex, even though we had played soccer together and played around together until then.


    I looked at Yuriko''s face and thought, "She''s the same,". Her cheeks were a little puffier than the boys'', and she had a thin neck, fine hair, and long eyelashes. Even though her hair was longer and her expression more mature, Yuriko''s face at that time overlapped with it.


    Looking back, there were many moments when I noticed the changes in her. However, these small feelings of awareness and discomfort were soon drowned out by the daily routine of my life. Perhaps the feelings I had for her were the same.


    The snowy day that summer began clearly showed me that I was no longer with the Yuriko I had known before. As Yuriko said the other day, our relationship cannot stay like this forever.


    Our relationship must have changed definitely since then, but I have been unable to accept the change, and we have continued to spend strange times together, as if nothing has changed on the surface.


    As the bus stop approached, I called out to Yuriko.


    "---Yuriko. We''ve almost arrived."


    "......Hmm. Yeah."


    She lifted her eyelids heavily and exhaled.


    "Are you tired?"


    "No. I''m fine."


    She shook her head and let out a coughing sound from the back of her throat as she sat up from her deeply sunken position in the chair.


    The bus door opens, and we put our fares in the fare box and step out. The red evening sun was staining the walls of the houses in the residential area. The contours of the floating clouds glowed gold, and wisps of light leaked into the city through the clouds.


    A short walk from the bus stop, we soon arrived in front of Yuriko''s house. Without any particular conversation, we walked that short distance. Yuriko has her hair tied in a ponytail, her jersey zipped up to her chin, and her bag slung over her shoulder.


    "Then, see you. I enjoyed the game."


    When we finally arrived at her house, I said, Then, as I started to walk away, Yuriko took a step toward me.


    "Kenichi, say,"


    Her shadow stretched long behind her, bathed in the setting sun. She was stretching the sleeves of her jersey up to her fingertips, as if out of habit. Her white socks were stained with a few traces of brown mud.


    "What?"


    "Please don''t lie, Kenichi, because I will wait for you to answer to me. Whether it''s good or bad for me."


    Hearing her words, I felt a strong pain in my heart. I wondered what this pain was. This pain that felt like a numbness deep inside my body. I closed my eyes tightly for a moment, like blinking, to bear the pain. I knew intuitively that this pain was an emotion. Something unspoken, something that goes beyond words. I didn''t know that my body ached just because my mind was shaken. I was stunned for a moment by this realization.


    "Yuriko."


    Eventually, I called her name without thinking.


    "I''ll be sure to respond to you. I''m going to do everything right, including replying to you and all that. I''ve been thinking about how I need to change since that day."


    When I said that, Yuriko remained silent and nodded.


    "Thanks for inviting me. See you."


    When I waved my hand, "Yeah," Yuriko raised her hand and nodded somewhat anxiously.


    Even after I left her, my heart was pounding, throbbing, silently, strongly. I tried to get it under control as I walked more slowly than usual down the road to my house. The red sky at dusk, the clouds in black shadows, the telephone poles with faded posters, the electric wires stretching to many houses and surrounding the sky, the weeds growing through the cracks in the asphalt, all these things that I see every day, they all seem so fresh.


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    When I returned home, I found my mother sitting in the dining room chair facing her laptop computer, and Izumi, her hair tied back in a single elastic band, sitting on the opposite side of the table, studying with her notebook and books spread out.


    "Welcome home."


    Izumi said as I entered the living room. My mother looked at me from her laptop screen,


    "Did you go somewhere?" She asked.


    "Yeah. I went to Yuriko''s soccer game with friends."


    "I see."


    Then my mother, who had started to face the laptop again, said, "Ah,"


    "My god. I was going to ask Kenichi to buy groceries for me, but I forgot to call you."


    "Oh, then, I''ll go. I was just thinking of going for a walk."


    Saying that, Izumi put down her writing utensil and closed her notebook.


    "Really? Then, may I ask you for a favor?"


    "Yes," Izumi said, getting up from her seat.


    While I was walking home, there was something I was thinking about. If I didn''t do it now, I would lose my resolve.


    Okay, I fired up in my mind. If I told her that I would go shopping, I would be able to say it naturally while telling her that I had something else to do.


    "Umm."


    When I call out, Izumi tilts her head and gives me a "what?". Immediately, the words are withdrawn. My mind goes blank. The silence, which would have lasted at most two or three seconds, felt incredibly long. However, I felt that if I didn''t say it out loud, the silence would continue for a long time.


    "Rina......-san......"


    Ahhhhhh, I could hear the sound of my body boiling.


    I thought this is what they mean when they say fire comes out of your face. After I said it, my body was burning, but my consciousness was strangely calm, and I wondered what I had done so hastily. I don''t know why I added "san" to her name.


    Izumi stood there in a daze with her mouth hanging open, not saying a word, then came to herself with a shiver  and said, "W-What is it......?"


    ......It was extremely awkward.


    The air between me and Izumi instantly turned awkward. It was as if we were back to the days immediately after Izumi moved in three months ago. Then, "What are you calling Rina-chan by her name so casually!?" my mother said, stunned. And with that, the frozen time started moving again.


    ---Though wasn''t casually, not at all.


    Afterward, I asked my mother, as if pushing her with all my might, "I''ll go shopping, what should I buy?" I jotted down the list on my phone and immediately left the house again, heading for the supermarket.


    The breath coming out of my mouth was hot and feverish for a while as I cycled along the dimly lit road where the red-setting sun and the dark blue of the night jostled against each other.


    Since a while ago, I''ve been acting strange. I''m losing my composure. I felt strange, as if I was floating on a high fever. The autumn evening breeze felt unusually cool on my burning skin.

 Volume 2 - CH 3.7

    In the end, the way I called Izumi remained the same as her family name. My mother made fun of my "Rina-san" remark several times after that, and Izumi smiled as if she was troubled by it, but after Izumi and I were away for a few days on a school trip at the same time, the atmosphere at home and the relationship between her and me were back to normal.


    Two weeks later, on the first holiday in November, the Sakamoto family decided to put out a kotatsu.


    The kotatsu itself had a halogen heater, but the kotatsu cover was old, and my mother was thinking of buying a new one soon, so the three of us went shopping for winter household goods that afternoon.


    Izumi was happy that it had been a long time since she had been shopping. She was wearing a deep red turtleneck sweater with a long black skirt and her usual leather pouch slung over her shoulder. The wintery, calm colors of her fashion suited her well.


    We drove to the shopping mall where we had gone the day after Izumi''s arrival at our house in June. The atmosphere of the stores had changed a lot since then. Fan heaters and stoves were lined up in the home appliance section, which used to display fans and air conditioners with background music of wind chimes, and mannequins wearing sweaters and coats were standing in the clothing section, which used to display summer clothes.


    We bought kotatsu covers, tatami chairs, and cushions at an interior design store, and at the request of Izumi and my mother, we also bought an expensive ice cream containing chestnuts for more than 300 yen, which is only available in autumn, and sat down in a food court crowded with holiday shoppers. The leaves on the trees by the window were tinged with red and yellow, fluttering and falling in the wind.


    Izumi was talking to my mother about a school trip. The destination was in Kyushu, the same area as my school, but the place of stay and the dates were different. Izumi and I each bought a box of sweets as a souvenir, and just like during the summer vacation, our box of snacks increased in quantity.


    After spending our autumn holiday in this way, we returned home when the sun began to set. I put down the electric carpet, took out the halogen heater kotatsu that had been stored in the closet in my mother''s room, and placed it in the middle of the living room in front of the sofa.


    Then, I removed the tabletop and placed three tatami chairs between the kotatsu covers that my mother and Izumi had chosen after consulting with each other. The chairs were brown and simple, which was fine, but the kotatsu cover was red with a floral pattern, and the atmosphere in the house suddenly became very girly.


    Izumi and my mother immediately sat down on the chairs and turned on the heater.


    "It''s so warm," Izumi said happily, still dressed in her clean clothes for going out.


    "I''m glad since I haven''t used a kotatsu much."


    My mother also smiled and said, "I see."


    "The only heaters we used were fan heaters."


    "They say apartments are warmer than single-family homes."


    "I think I''ll make progress if I study here. I guess I''ll study for my next test here."


    "Rina-chan, as expected you''re a serious girl. Kenichi and Ryuuichi used to play video games on the kotatsu all winter long when they were little."


    "Hmmm. Speaking of which, do you have any pictures of Kenichi-kun and Ryuuichi-san from that time?"


    "Unfortunately, we don''t take pictures of that kind of thing at all."


    "It''s kind of sad, isn''t it?"


    "Yeah. Now I kind of wonder if I should have left more stuff behind."


    "I guess so."


    When the conversation between my mother and Izumi settled down, Izumi said to me as I sat at the dining table drinking tea, "Kenichi-kun, why don''t you go into the kotatsu?"


    "Ummm"


    I was a little embarrassed to join the kotatsu with Izumi and my mother in it. It seemed to me that sitting around the kotatsu was more intimate than sitting at the dining table.


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    ---I think I''m overthinking this.


    This kind of shyness and such must be overcome.


    "Come here, come here," Izumi said, excitedly. She had been looking happy since this morning.


    "Kenichi, do bring me some snacks on the way," my mother continued.


    I knew that refusing to do so would also make me overly conscious of my distance from her, so I took one of the boxes of snacks from the kitchen cabinet, placed it on top of the kotatsu, and then entered the kotatsu. My toe touched someone''s foot. Izumi jumped. Our eyes met. I apologized just with my eyes, and she gave a small shake of her head.


    Then my mother turned on the TV and the three of us drank tea together.


    "Kotatsu is great. We didn''t use them at home, so I didn''t really understand. It makes one feel like family," Izumi said, and my mother agreed with her.


    "Since we''ve brought out the kotatsu, let''s have a nabe for dinner tonight."


    "Nabe in kotatsu! We''ve never done this at home!"


    Izumi''s eyes lit up.


    After that, I returned to my room, leaving Izumi and my mother eating sweets on the kotatsu. The air in the room I had just entered was colder than in the living room where the three of us had been together. It was already dark outside the window. I turned on the light and the glass reflected me in my long-sleeved T-shirt and the inside of the room.


    I sit down on a chair, took a mechanical pencil out of my pen case, and somehow twirled it around in my hand. This is the third notebook for independent study that I have kept on my desk with my textbooks and reference books. The study that I began in the summer had been going on to a surprising extent, even for me.


    However, this was more due to Izumi''s influence than my own will. I saw her many times studying in the house, and I became concerned about the idle time I was spending at home, which I had not even been aware of before.


    When it came time for dinner, I went downstairs and helped prepare dinner. I put the portable stove and earthenware pot on top of the kotatsu and filled the gas cylinder. In the middle of the cooking, Izumi changed into her loungewear, a parka and long pants, and came downstairs to put tofu, shirataki mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and ribs, which my mother had cut up, into the pot.


    As the pot came to a simmering boil, a delicious aroma and warm steam spread throughout the living room. The udon noodles were added when the ingredients were eaten, and the portable stove was turned on again to simmer.


    After the udon noodles were cooked and softened, we drank tea for a while after eating. The living room was further warmed by the pot. The windowpane was hazy and foggy.


    Today''s dinner was much larger than usual. A little while later, my mother returned to her room after receiving a call on her cell phone.


    Izumi and I were both playing with our phones, when she suddenly said, "I ate well," stretched out, and fell down from her chair to the side. Her hair hung down noiselessly and spread on the carpet. A satisfied smile appeared on Izumi''s face as she lay back down.


    As I watched this figure, my eyes met Izumi''s, who had rolled over. The front of her parka, which had been left unzipped, was now open, and I could clearly see the bulge of her chest through her shirt, at a strange angle.


    Izumi rushed to get up, muttering, "Ah," with her smile still on her face. Then she sat back down in her chair,


    "I''m so full, I just can''t......help it."


    She said that with an embarrassed look on her face.


    "......Yeah...... No, it''s fine...... Sometimes I fall asleep on the kotatsu too......"


    Then she tilted her head slightly to the side with a "Hmm?"


    "I wonder why people catch colds when they sleep under a kotatsu."


    "Who knows......?"


    Izumi seemed to be curious and began to search on her phone.


    The TV, which was left on, was showing the weather forecast. The weekly forecast showed that the temperature was going to drop day by day. The newscaster informed us that November is the month when the temperature drops the most during the year. The new red kotatsu cover, still unfamiliar to me, smelled like a new winter.


    "It seems that the difference in temperature between the lower and upper body causes the body to have trouble regulating its temperature."


    "......I see."


    Izumi said that, exhaled with a huff as if refreshed, and put the phone on the kotatsu.


    Izumi had somehow become deeply integrated into our home. She no longer seemed as stiff or stuffy as before. And Izumi Rina, a distant relative who had seemed like a stranger at first, had become as close to me as if she were a real family.


    At the end of the year, Izumi would return to her original home. That day was gradually approaching. When I thought about it, a feeling of loneliness sank coldly into the depths of my consciousness.

 Volume 2 - CH 4.1

    That day, when I woke up in the morning, the air was dim and damp, and it looked like it was going to rain. The morning news said that a strong cyclone was approaching and that it would start raining heavily in the Kanto area later in the evening, so it would be better to go home early.


    In the classroom, which is instantly getting buzzy after the day''s classes are over, I clear off my desk and get up from my seat. It has been the exam period for final exams for a while now, and there will be no club activities for a while. Nagai, who was seated nearby, started walking with the other boys who commute to school by train. After exchanging a brief goodbye with them as they walked past my desk, I too walked out of the classroom carrying my school backpack that I used when I did not have club activities.


    At this time of the day, the rain had not yet fallen, but fine particles of water, like mist, were dancing in the air. Gray clouds covered the sky without gaps, and the entrance gate was dimly lit.


    I had planned to take the bus home if it rained, but I decided it was still safe to ride my bike now. But while I was heading home, a light rain began to fall, soaking my uniform. My bangs stuck to my forehead and cold winter water droplets ran down my cheeks and neck.


    As I hurried toward home, I spotted a familiar red umbrella at the bus stop nearest my house. Izumi had just gotten off the bus, which had just stopped. She was wearing a gray duffle coat and a checkered scarf, and she was fidgetily packing the IC card case in her hand into her bag.


    When her eyes met mine, she opened her mouth in the shape of an "ah" and her expression brightened. As I approached and slowed down, she looked surprised and said, "Kenichi-kun, you''re soaking wet."


    "Yeah......It''s a little cold."


    When I nodded, Izumi looked flustered and said, "Of course it is! Don''t mind me, go ahead, you''ll catch a cold."


    Of course, that was my intention. I said, "Well then," and pedaled my bicycle. The house was just around the corner.


    I parked my bicycle in the garden and entered the house. I took off my shoes and wet socks, and went up to the front door. My feet were wet, and the wooden floor felt cold. I threw my socks in the basket, took off my wet and heavy blazer, and was wiping my face and hair with a towel when I heard the front door open and Izumi''s voice saying, "I''m home."


    When I came out of the changing room, she took off her shoes and changed into her fluffy winter slippers.


    "Is your uniform all right?" Izumi said, looking at me.


    "Yeah. Fortunately, it''s the weekend. I''ll take the dry cleaning out tomorrow."


    "I see. It must be hard to commute to school by bicycle, isn''t it?"


    "I''m sure it''s more troublesome for you because it takes a lot of time. You have to change buses and trains."


    "Well, I''m gradually getting used to it......I''m sure it''s a good amount of exercise, and when I get back home, I may feel like I''m not getting enough exercise."


    "That''s absurd," I said, and Izumi laughed.


    November has come to an end, and the second semester is almost over. When the new year begins, she will return to her home in Tokyo. So she would only have a few more days left to go to school from this house.


    "You should take a shower and stay warm so you don''t catch a cold."


    "Yeah. That''s what I''m going to do."


    I nodded and went upstairs to get a change of clothes. I heard the sound of Izumi''s slippered footsteps coming from right behind me.


    I took a shower, then changed into sweatpants and a hoodie, and stayed in my room until the evening.


    The sky was covered with thick rain clouds and the city was already quite dark even after three o''clock, so I turned on the light in my room. As I studied for my final exam, I could hear the sound of the wind, like the roar of an animal, mixed with the sound of me running my mechanical pencil and the rain.


    Soon, it was six p.m. My concentration to study tended to break down. I went down to the living room and opened the refrigerator. There was some cabbage, carrots, and bean sprouts left. In the food cabinet, there was some leftover sauce from a ready-made vegetable stir-fry. I started to cut the vegetables, thinking that this would be easy enough, when Izumi came downstairs, dressed in her loungewear. She was wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt with a small ribbon on the front of it.


    "The wind is getting stronger, isn''t it?" she said.


    "Yeah," I replied, putting the chopped vegetables in the frying pan. The sound of oil popping echoed around us.


    She helped me put dinner on the plate. She was busy in the kitchen, clacking her slippers, setting out plates, and putting out the pot of tea.


    After we ate a simple dinner of instant potato soup and stir-fried vegetables that were left over at home, I made a pot of tea and went into the kotatsu.


    It was a cold rainy night. The temperature outside was said to be below 10 degrees Celsius. The rain was heavy, and the news program at dinner reported that it was causing flooding and landslides in various parts of the Kanto region.


    I was about to clean up the dishes and go back to my room when Izumi said,


    "Kenichi-kun, you can take a bath first. I already filled it when I came downstairs."


    "Ah, yeah. Sorry......I''ll put in the bath salts from home."


    Izumi nodded with a smile, "Yes," she said.


    I put in the bath salts my mother had bought at the drugstore and soaked in the bathtub. It was quiet in the bathroom, and the sound of the wind and the rain could be heard loudly. After getting out of the bath, I dried my hair and headed for the living room.


    Izumi was still in the kotatsu watching TV. It was unusual for her to sit still and watch TV by herself for so long.


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    "The bath, I''m done."


    When I called out to her, she looked at me and nodded, and then replied.


    "Okay.......but, I thought I''d watch this first."


    Hearing those words, my sense of discomfort grew stronger. Izumi always bathes as soon as it is her turn. She had never seemed to have a favorite TV program.


    On the TV with a text message about heavy rain was a documentary program about a university''s marathon team, which is said to be a formidable team.


    "Izumi, did you like athletics?"


    When I asked, "Eh?" Izumi said in a puzzled tone.


    "Hmm......it''s not like that."


    There was a short pause. The sound of the rain, pounding hard, echoed through the house. Izumi returned her gaze from me to the TV screen.


    "It looked like someone who might be my father was going to appear......."


    Now it was my turn to be puzzled.


    "Izumi''s father? Eh? Why?"


    "He''s probably the director here."


    Izumi said that and pointed at the TV screen.


    I looked at the screen, still not understanding what was going on. On the screen was a group of college athletes practicing.


    I sat down on the sofa. I heard the sound of Izumi drinking tea and putting her mug on the kotatsu.


    Soon, a video of the director being interviewed began to play. The name Yoshioka Tadateru was written on the screen.


    The person did not give me the impression that he resembled Izumi at all. One would think that a person with a close bloodline would have some similarity in atmosphere, but I did not feel any such similarity through the screen. He looked like an ordinary man of about 50 years old.


    "This person?" I asked.


    "Don''t know. Maybe he has the same name. Cause I only know his name. We don''t look alike at all, so it might not be him."


    "......How did you know his name?"


    I was not sure if it was okay to ask or not, but I did. Izumi did not seem shaken and replied in the same way as she would in a normal conversation.


    "When I was little, I once went into my mother''s room when she was away and found some documents. There were a lot of papers with his name written on them, along with my mother''s name. I wrote down that name in my notebook. After that, I asked my mother, "Who is this person?", "Rina-chan doesn''t need to know who this person is!" She got very angry. That''s when I learned that the man with this name is my father."


    "So that''s what happened......"


    When I heard about Izumi''s parents the other day, she said they had a fight and broke up, but she wouldn''t even tell me his name, so I wonder what happened between her and that person.......


    "I always kept the notebook, so I still remember it, and when I started using my cell phone, I would search for it every once in a while. That''s how I found out about this program......."


    "You really have never met him at all?"


    "Yes. When I was little, I had a feeling that I wanted to meet him, but now I don''t really care. I''ve never had any problems without seeing him, and since I grew up assuming he was not there from the beginning, I didn''t feel the loneliness of not having a father."


    "I see......"


    As we were talking about this, my phone, which I had left on the dining room table, trembled and made a faint sound. I got up from the sofa and looked at the screen to see that it was an incoming call from my mother.


    "What''s wrong?" I put the phone to my ear. She said, ¡ºOh, Kenichi?¡» and then,


    ¡ºI''m staying at the office today. The road I''m using seems to be closed. Is everything okay over there?¡»


    She said. I looked at the TV screen. The text message said that the heavy rains were causing rivers to rise and landslides to occur, adversely affecting the traffic situation in the Tokyo metropolitan area.


    "I''m fine. Nothing to worry about."


    ¡ºRina-chan is already home?¡»


    "Yeah. We came back when it was still a light rain. Right now, she''s drinking tea under the kotatsu."


    ¡ºThank goodness. Then, take care.¡»


    When I hung up the phone, Izumi looked at me as if to say, "Who is it?"


    "My mom, she said she won''t be home today. I heard that the road is closed."


    "---That''s terrible. But it''s dangerous, so maybe it''s better that way."


    I put my phone in my pocket and sat down in the chair. The moment I saw the profile of Izumi looking at the TV screen in my eyes, I suddenly became conscious of her figure, which I had not thought about before.


    Thinking back, this was the first time we were alone together until morning. But what difference would it make to the days before, just because my mother was not home at night? There''s nothing, I told myself.


    The sound of the wind rumbling can be heard from outdoors. I hear the sound of something breaking, perhaps a flowerpot from some house that has fallen over.


    ""Ah.""


    My voice overlapped with hers. Suddenly, the sound of the TV went off and the whole house went dark. I got up, thinking that the circuit breaker had tripped, but the electricity was soon restored.


    Izumi was standing very close to me. Maybe she was trying to walk somewhere too, just before we bumped into each other. Her breath brushed against my neck. Her moist, lukewarm breath tickled my skin. The electronic sounds of appliances turning on echoed through the house.


    "S-Sorry......"


    I apologized, taking a step backward.


    "No......"


    Izumi shook her head and sat back down in her place.


    "I wonder what that was."


    "Don''t know......I didn''t hear any sound, but maybe some lightning hit the power substation."


    The sound of heavy rain and the wind kept echoing.


    Just like, I thought.


    The dimness of the enclosed equipment room, the sight of Yuriko drenched in rain, the feel of her lips and tongue, and other jumbled memories of all five senses came to mind.


    Just like that summer day when Yuriko and I kissed.

 Volume 2 - CH 4.2

    I got into the kotatsu with Izumi and continued watching that program for a while.


    The man named Yoshioka-san, who might be Izumi''s father, is just in our parents'' generation in terms of age, and his name is a little unusual, so I think the probability is pretty high.


    A quick search on the Internet gave me a rough idea of his background. He had been a marathon runner since his school days, and had been a member of an organization that competed in international competitions for many years after that.


    "Can you run fast, izumi?"


    I suddenly thought that if she was related to him by blood, she might have inherited such abilities, so I asked her about it,


    Izumi shook her head.


    "No. I''ve always been bad at running......."


    "What about the marathon?"


    "I like to run slowly outside, but my marathon positions were always faster counting from the back......"


    He replied with a wry smile. The TV screen showed a group of college students dashing around the track and Yoshioka watching them with his arms folded.


    ......After all, maybe he''s not her father. After a while, that person, Yoshioka-san, started talking again. Izumi watched it, while pouring green tea into a mug and eating little bits of the little cookies on the kotatsu. I gradually lost interest in the program and watched the day''s news on my phone.


    "Strange."


    Izumi said to herself.


    "About what?"


    I asked back, keeping my eyes on the screen of my phone.


    "I guess the depth of people''s connection isn''t the depth of their blood ties."


    Izumi turned her eyes from the screen to me and smiled bitterly.


    "Even if this man were really my father, Kenichi-kun and his family would be more like family to me."


    I looked up in shock. Izumi was looking at me with a casual expression.


    The lively background music of TV commercials was echoing through the house. I noticed that the wind, which had been roaring, had, by the way, quieted down. I hear the sound of rain, which had previously been drowned out.


    "Somehow, the wind has stopped," Izumi muttered.


    "......Yeah."


    I ruminated over what Izumi had just said. Who is she to me? What kind of relationship does she have with me? What kind of relationship do I want to have with her? I have been thinking about this since the summer.


    What she just said in a casual tone of voice has gradually sunk deep into my heart. If she really felt that way, I felt very happy.


    After living with her for almost six months, I now know deeply what kind of person she is. She is no longer a stranger to me. She is also not just a distant relative.


    Now, I felt I could call her more naturally than before.


    Her name, "Rina," spilled out of my mouth. It melted and seeped into the silence of this house.


    She shook her shoulders as if she were shocked and said, "Y-Yes......," straightening her back. She looked at me with somewhat nervous eyes. When our eyes met, as expected, a little bit of embarrassment came to the surface.


    "Ah, sorry so suddenly. I didn''t have any particular reason for calling you, but we live together.......If we are family, I thought it would be better to call you by your given name. I felt like we were like a stranger when we used surnames. And I don''t think it''s a good thing for our relationship. Though it''s a little late for that."


    She remained silent for a while with a nervous expression on her face, as if she was pondering something. But after that,


    "I guess so. I think it''s better that way, too."


    She said and nodded with a smile. Her tone was calm. Somehow, I got the feeling that she already understood what I meant by the way I called her.


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    The first few times, I was still embarrassed. But the embarrassment of calling her by her name gradually faded each time I called her "Rina" after that.


    As time went on, Rina, who had grown bored with the program and started to take her eyes off the TV and fiddle with her phone, brightened her expression as if she had a good idea and said, "Hey, Kenichi-kun, can I take a picture?"


    "Eh, of what?"


    "This house and Kenichi-kun. As Aunty said, I think it''s better to keep a lot of memories in various forms."


    While I was wondering what part of the house she was going to capture in the photo, Izumi stood up and sat down beside me, and leaned in close to my face.


    While I was taken aback, she said, "I''ll take the picture," then snapped a quick picture and quickly pulled her face away.


    "Thank you. I haven''t had many pictures of my family. Next time I''ll take one with Aunty."


    "Ah, okay......."


    Leaving only a soft scent in the air, Rina went back to her chair again, and I remembered that I had always been told that my expression was gloomy and that I was not good in photos.


    ......Photos, I''m not good at it, but suddenly she took a picture of the two of us.......I wonder what I looked like in the picture. I''m curious, but it''s hard to ask her to show me......


    She then went to the bath. The sound of her hair drying with a hair dryer over a long period of time leaked out from the changing room. Wearing loose-fitting loungewear with a light blue and pink border, Izumi returned to the living room, sat down at the dining table to drink mineral water for a while, and then went back into the kotatsu. Her straight black hair reflected the white light of the electric lamp.


    The TV was still on, and the news program was showing information about the heavy rain. Once it had calmed down, but a short while ago, the rain and wind had begun to intensify again.


    On the side of the river that is about to flood, a reporter exclaims, "This is a very dangerous situation!" The people listening to the report in the studio listened to the exclamation mysteriously, frowning with furrowed brows.


    "That''s dangerous, isn''t it?" Rina said.


    "Yeah."


    "I wonder if it''s safe over here."


    "This area is far away from the river. There''s no information about evacuation, so we''ll probably be okay."


    Rina soon brought her study materials from her room, and with a marker, she flipped through her textbook. I brewed a fresh pot of hot tea and kept the news program on while we spent the rest of the evening amid the sounds of wind and rain, talking from time to time.


    ¡î ¡î ¡î


    The rain did not stop, and soon, the date changed.


    Rina was usually supposed to be in bed at this time. But she still showed no sign of returning to her room. She had already stopped eating sweets, saying that she would gain weight if she ate after this time, but she was still reading her textbook with a marker pen in one hand and occasionally fiddling with her phone, which was kept in a notebook case.


    "You''re not sleepy?" I asked. Rina looked up from her textbook and replied.


    "I''m a little sleepy, but just a little more. I want to sleep as soon as I get back to my room, so I''ll push myself to the limit," she said.


    The TV, which had been left on, turned to a sports program. Highlights from the European soccer league were playing.


    Rina suddenly stopped and looked at the screen and muttered, "Oh. They are playing soccer."


    "Since I came to this house, I''ve become much more well-informed about soccer. I can recognize some famous players now," Rina said.


    "Since Rina came, I study more at home than before," I said.


    "Does that have anything to do with me?" Rina tilted her head.


    "Well, how should I put it, Rina''s diligence has been transferre---I mean, I''ve learned from you....... I''ve come to think that I have to do it."


    "You were just about to say transferred to you, right?"


    Saying that, Rina pouted a little. I immediately brought up another topic of conversation.


    "Speaking of which, have you found anything you want to do?"


    "Hmm. I kind of like Western clothes and sundries, and I''m starting to think vaguely that it would be nice to have a job in those fields. But I don''t think my life is all about what I decide now, so I''m going to take my time and think about it," she replied.


    Rina and I talked about our career paths, examinations, and how we have been living. Rina seemed to be enjoying her time with her Aunty. I talked about what my father was like and how my brother was in middle and high school.


    It was almost 2 a.m. when we finally returned to our own rooms.