Chapter 39: Going to Meet You

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Translator: Soafp

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The Shinkansen window scenery rushed by at high speed.

It was Saturday today, the perfect day to go see Miko, who had moved far away.

Last night, I asked my father again whether he could contact Miko's parents.

My father didn't press me for details, as if he had known from the start, and simply put me in touch with them.

I wasn't feeling nearly as composed as usual either, so I was grateful for that consideration.

My parents and Miko's parents had originally been friends through neighborhood ties, and before Miko moved away, our families had gone camping and on trips together, so they had apparently kept in touch even after we drifted apart.

Still, was this the first time I'd seen her in three years?

It felt much longer than that.

Maybe that was because I had deliberately tried not to remember her.

That fake-confession incident had torn Miko and me apart completely.

Back in middle school, I had accepted a confession on the rooftop without realizing it was fake, only to be made a laughingstock in front of everyone when the truth was revealed.

Honestly, I didn't care how much those bystanders mocked me.

I paid each of them back later, but that was just an extra little bonus.

What really shocked me was being betrayed by Miko.

I wondered why she would do something like that.

And I got angry.

In the end, we split up without ever managing to have a proper conversation.

The Shinkansen stopped at the platform.

I grabbed my luggage and stepped outside.

As I took in the chaotic, bustling atmosphere full of people, I could hear conversations mixed with Kansai dialect coming from everywhere.

After walking through the long concourse and passing the ticket gates, the realization that I was really about to meet Miko again made my back straighten.

She was probably standing alone at the meeting spot.

If we passed each other somehow, that would be a problem.

Now then, where was she?

Maybe after three years, she had become more grown up than the Miko I remembered.

Worst case, I might not even recognize her… but for just a moment, that worry crossed my mind, and then I found her almost instantly.

I could tell at a glance, even from a distance.

A girl nervously turning her head around, scanning her surroundings.

Her black hair, long enough to reach her back, was the same as it had been back then, and although she had grown a little taller, she still carried that helpless, fragile air.

The nostalgia was so overwhelming that I ended up stopping for a few seconds just to look at her.

What should I say?

No, thinking about it would just be a waste of time.

It would feel better to move forward than to keep hesitating.

“Long time no see, Miko.”

“…Huh?”

I called out to her from the front, and she looked my way.

She stared at me blankly, tilting her head in confusion, and a few seconds later she finally seemed to understand who I was.

Her eyes flew wide open, and she froze completely as her face rapidly turned red.

She let out strange little sounds like “fweh?” and “huh??” before her reddened face suddenly went pale, which somehow seemed busy all on its own.

“Su-Subaru?”

“Yeah. It's been three years.”

“N-No way. Why are you here…? I-is this some kind of coincidence…?”

“It's not a coincidence.”

“Huh?”

“You were told to go pick up a relative at the station, right?”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I was the one who made that lie up.”

“!?”

Miko nearly stumbled and fell, but barely managed to catch herself.

Tears had gathered in her frightened eyes.

“You didn't tell me.”

“Because if I had, you wouldn't have come. You ran away from me and moved away, remember?”

“…!”

When I spoke with my father, I'd already suggested that this would be the best way to handle it.

I hadn't spent years quietly watching over her from behind for nothing.

I had prepared thoroughly for this.

When Miko looked like she might bolt, I quickly grabbed her shoulder.

“Eek!”

“I already know your address and phone number. It's useless no matter where you run.”

“H-How do you know all that? That's scary!”

“I got everything from your parents.”

“Mom and Dad are idiots!”

If I wanted to, I could even dig up Miko's current friendships.

I had come all this way on purpose.

Of course I'd set up my backup plan completely so I could settle this once and for all.

“Anyway, take me somewhere we can talk calmly. Preferably a place with good coffee.”