Chapter 26: Sparks Fly (Yukiya’s Point of View)
[Sorry, but I’ve decided to stay at this high school until graduation. I realized the wider world here suits me better than that narrow world over there. Well, I’ll come back there for New Year’s and long breaks, and I’ll even take the entrance exams for universities on your side.]
After that email, Souta stopped replying altogether, so I immediately went to talk to his sister.
“I’m sorry, Yukiya-san. A lot happened, actually… and he hasn’t learned his lesson at all, so he was forcibly sent back…”
She muttered that at least he managed to avoid permanent relocation.
Forcibly sent back, permanent relocation. What are they even talking about?
“No, that’s just our side of things… um, the family meeting concluded it’d be better for my brother to be placed in a new environment… and he needs to go on a diet too…”
For some reason, his sister looked completely fed up.
“Officially, it’s being treated as a family matter and an issue with his future path, so please leave him alone for now. I’ll personally make sure that Yukiya-san and Kanae-san won’t be troubled any further…”
I don’t remember being troubled, but if it’s a family matter and his future, then there’s nothing more I can say.
Apparently, it’ll be possible to contact him again after a while, and it seems he’ll be coming back periodically too. If it’s Souta with all his talent, maybe overseas really does suit him better.
So I just sent him a message saying, “Let me know when you come back.”
And then, on the way home from school that day.
I’m walking hand in hand with Kanae.
This was something I couldn’t have imagined a few weeks ago, and I almost want to tell the me who trudged home depressed along this same road about how things are now.
It should be a happy, prideful feeling, and yet for some reason, my chest doesn’t feel clear.
“Hmm… Yuki-kun, can you look this way for a second?”
As she pulled my hand, I turned my whole body toward Kanae, and she hugged me straight on.
“There, there… Yuki-kun, you’re lonely because Souta-kun is gone, aren’t you…?”
Kanae stretched both her arms as far as she could and gently rubbed my back.
“I guess so… maybe. But if that’s the case, then Kanae, you too…”
But Kanae smiled with a troubled look.
“Hmm… fufu, it’d be a lie to say I’m not lonely at all, but maybe that’s the difference between boys and girls.”
Kanae somehow feels very mature and reliable. And being treated with this much consideration really makes me want to lean on her.
“Yuki-kun, can you bend down a little?”
I’d heard those words before, and I bent down just as she asked.
Then Kanae’s small hands reached out and gently held my face from both sides.
“Stay still, okay…?”
She whispered that and slowly leaned her face straight toward mine, and instead of my lips, my eyelids flew wide open.
At the impossibly soft sensation touching my lips, my brain went numb and heat surged through my core.
But Kanae’s face quickly pulled away.
“Hehe, ehehe… if I could fill even a little bit of Yuki-kun’s loneliness, I’d be really happy…!”
Saying something so earnest, Kanae smiled shyly with a bright red face.
Forget filling the loneliness. It felt like a massive tower stamped with Kanae’s seal had been constructed there instead.
I apologized in my heart. Sorry, Souta. All my sadness about you has been completely filled in with the memory of my first kiss with her. Filled in, and then a tower was built on top.
I’m sure that no matter how many years pass, when I think back on today, the only thing I’ll remember is kissing Kanae.
“Fufu, but now we really did kiss, so that rumor about the photo has actually become true… uhehehe.”
Kanae’s face melted into a goofy grin.
“Ah, yeah, I guess that photo really did turn into that kind of story.”
With my head still overheated, I suddenly remembered that mysterious “fuu fuu” photo of unknown origin that had been declared a cold case.
“Yeah, because of that photo, people thought you and I had kissed, and I was happy about that in its own way… but since we actually hadn’t, I kept feeling like I was missing out somehow…”
From the way she said it, it seemed she’d felt that not actually kissing was a loss.
Feeling like I was being wanted made my self-esteem tingle.
At this point, I almost felt grateful to Souta and the people who caused that whole photo incident.
And thanks to Kanae’s devotion, we ended up even closer, and now we started walking again, pressed snugly against each other.
Then Kanae spoke again, peeking at me cautiously.
“Um, Yuki-kun… I’ve been feeling lonely, or maybe anxious too… th-this area’s kind of dangerous in a lot of ways, right…?”
Kanae’s attitude was way too unnatural. And when she’s like this, it’s almost always because she has a favor to ask or something she wants to talk about. What is it? I want her to say it.
“Yeah, I guess you might be right.”
It felt transparent even to me, but I went along with her.
“R-right? It’s dangerous and scary…!”
“Yeah, danger sure is dangerous.”
Joking a little, I urged her to continue.
“S-so then! If it’s okay, I want you to live with me at my house, starting today!”
Ah. I see. So that’s what this is about.
If I hadn’t had prior information, I probably would’ve stared blankly for a moment before completely panicking.
Maybe realizing her explanation was lacking, Kanae started flustering and panicking herself.
“Ah, no, that’s not it! I really do want you to live with me, but not forever, and ah, but I do want to live with you forever, Yuki-kun! So, um… huh?”
Kanae tried her hardest to explain, but partway through she tilted her head like she’d gotten lost.
Kanae’s innocent gesture made my chest tighten, and it was hard to keep the grin off my face.
“Ah… could it be that while Auntie and Uncle are away, I’d be dropping by Kanae’s place a lot, and maybe staying over sometimes?”
“Eh… h-how did you know…?”
Kanae asked nervously.
“Well, apparently that same talk reached my house from Kanae’s family too.”
It was about a week ago.
“Hey, runt. For a while, you’re gonna be going in and out of Kanae-chan’s house.”
“Kanae-chan’s parents’ll be away for a bit, and they’re worried about leaving her alone, so you go check on her, and depending on the situation, stay over. Even you can at least serve as a guard dog or a shield, right?”
Out of the blue, my parents handed down that decree.
No, seriously, I hate to say it myself, but if you’re worried, why bring in a dangerous object like me?
Embarrassed and chickening out, I made a fuss about ethics and common sense.
But there was no way excuses like that would work on my old man.
“Shut up! Both families already settled this! Stop whining and go!”
A shaved head towering over two meters tall. He’s basically someone who belongs in a prison or a zoo cage.
Normally, I’d still resist, but the base and lecherous part of me that’d be in trouble if this were really withdrawn shut its mouth firmly from that point on, and I accepted without another complaint.
Yeah, I’d already understood the situation a week ago.
So I’d been looking for a chance to bring it up with Kanae too. In the end, though, she beat me to it.
“Uu… Mom didn’t say a single word about that!”
Kanae said resentfully as she pressed her face into my chest, rubbing it back and forth.
The ticklish sensation and Kanae’s nice scent naturally stirred up some very not good feelings inside me.
“W-well, even if Kanae and I are dating, of course our parents would talk things over.”
And since they’re even letting me come over to the house, I really want to make sure I don’t betray that trust.
“So then, how about we start by having dinner together tonight? I’ll bring some side dishes from my place. I can collect the empty plates when I head home, so it won’t be any trouble.”
At my peaceful proposal of starting with a meal instead of suddenly staying over, Kanae tilted her head deeply.
“Eh, going home? What are you talking about?”
Clinging to me, Kanae looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
“From here, we’re going straight to Yuki-kun’s house to grab a change of clothes and the things you need, right? I’ll help you carry them.”
A moment of silence as Kanae and I stared at each other.
For just a second, it felt like sparks flew.
Phew. Looks like we need to have a talk.
I began explaining to my beloved girlfriend the dangers of adolescent boys.