Chapter 11 | I Want to Be Your Friend

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“Look! I made a flower crown~”

In the park, where the setting sun was shining, I was playing with Karin as usual.

She seemed a little tired today, so she wasn’t moving around too much. However, Karin was still as energetic as ever.

“Karin, that’s so cute.”

Kotomi stroked Karin’s head, as if saying “You did a great job.”

Karin jumped around with a happy smile on her face.

“I’ll make one for big sister and big brother too!”

Saying that, Karin started gathering flowers by herself again.

“I hope she’ll keep that energetic smile even when she grows up,” Kotomi muttered as she watched Karin.

(Come to think of it, they’re sisters, but they have quite different personalities… They look alike, though.)

Karin was always smiling, energetic, and innocent.

On the other hand, Kotomi was quiet and didn’t show much emotion, even when she smiled, it was a forced smile.

“Were you like that when you were young, Amase?”

“No, my parents told me that I was a quiet child.”

Kotomi added that she had been a boring child since she was young.

However, if a person with that kind of look was too close, it would also be a problem.

I might have withdrawn myself if that had happened.

Thinking like that, I could easily imagine the situation when Karin got to be my age.

“What kind of childhood did you spend, Hanazawa-san?”

Kotomi asked me the question back.

I remembered my childhood.

It was hard to say and embarrassing, but I decided to talk about it.

“I think I was pretty naughty… Not a bossy kid, though.”

“For example?”

“I threw mud balls at my kindergarten teacher and made her angry, and I secretly stole a piece of omelet from the kid next to me…”

The me from back then had a personality that was unimaginable now.

The kid next to me was Chisato, but she didn’t know about that.

Even if I told Chisato now, I thought she would reply with “Huh? What are you talking about…?” so Chisato would never find out about it.

It was a childhood memory, but I remembered it.

“I can’t imagine it with your current personality. You’re much more calm now, and I can’t imagine it.”

“Right? I was pretty energetic until I was about in sixth grade…”

“Did something happen?”

I seemed to have a dark expression on my face while remembering the past, so I quickly switched to a different expression.

That was all over. There was no need to care about it.

My current self was also formed thanks to that incident in middle school, so I was even grateful for it in a way.

“It’s nothing… I just thought I had to grow up, so I tried to calm down starting from middle school.”

Rather than calming down, it was more accurate to say that I had built up a wall like Kotomi now.

I was getting closer to Kotomi, but there was a wall, so we would probably not get any closer.

The wall on her side was gradually thinning out, but that was probably better for Kotomi, who was trying to keep her distance from both men and women.

By not wanting too much, I would not create any negative feelings.

That’s what I believed.

“I see.”

Kotomi didn’t pursue it any further, and the conversation ended there.

Then, there was a moment of silence.

I tried to think if I had anything to talk about, but nothing came to mind.

As a result, I came to the conclusion that it would be fine if I could just break the silence even with a meaningless conversation.

I glanced at Kotomi.

Then, she seemed more restless than usual. Was she cold?

“Amase…”

“Um…!”

When we tried to speak at the same time, our timings overlapped.

I decided to let Kotomi go first.

“Go ahead.”

“Ah, yes… Um! W-Would you… W-Would you please be my friend…?”

Her face was redder than usual.

However, she was looking straight into my eyes.

“Please be my friend,” she said, her voice getting softer and softer, her face becoming redder.

Then, she looked down.

My heart started beating wildly from Kotomi’s words and gestures.

Was this excitement fear or anticipation?

In my heart, I wanted to be friends with Kotomi.

However, I also feared getting hurt.

I knew she wasn’t that kind of person, but I just couldn’t break out of my shell.

“Is it… not okay?… I’m sorry. Please forget what I just said.”

Not changing meant that there were few negatives and positives, which was boring.

I had been trying to live a boring life.

However, Kotomi was warm. I felt relaxed when I was with her, and the reason I didn’t refuse her was because it was Kotomi.

I didn’t know much about her true self, but I knew that she was kind, polite, and warm, and that she cared about her sister.

If I were to follow my heart, there was only one thing I should say here.

“No, I also want to be friends with you, Amase. So, shall we… become friends?”

“Uh… yes!”

It might be better to be friends with Kotomi than to continue living this boring life.

The pounding in my chest subsided, and my mood became clear.

“…So, what do friends do?”

“You’re right… I don’t have much experience of having what you can call friends in the past, so I don’t know either.”

Neither of us knew what friends were like.

There was another moment of silence. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s fine if we just act normal, right?”

“That’s right, it will become awkward if we are too conscious of it.”

Then, as we were talking normally, Karin, who had finished making the flower crowns, came over.

She had done a very good job, and they were colorful. I couldn’t help but be impressed.

“I’ll give this to big sister~!”

“Thank you, you did a great job.”

“And this one for big brother~!”

“Thank you, is it okay if I put it on?”

“Yes! Put it on, put it on!”

Kotomi and I put on the flower crowns that Karin had made.

We couldn’t check it because we didn’t have a mirror, but we could see each other.

Kotomi and I looked at each other.

I had expected it, but Kotomi was shining more than usual.

Rather than an angel, she was more like a goddess.

I didn’t notice it because of Kotomi’s radiance, but it was already five o’clock, and it was starting to get dark.

I suddenly noticed this and called out to Kotomi.

“It’s getting late, shall we go home soon?”

“That’s right. Karin, shall we go home now?”

“Okay!”

Karin’s reply sounded more cheerful and energetic than usual.

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