Chapter 48: Looking Up at the Same Scenery

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Translator: Soafp

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The next day, I packed my things to take the Shinkansen home.

“You could stay a little longer.”

“That's right. Why don't you stay for about a week?”

Satsuki and Jun suggested it.

“I'm sorry, but I've had a lot going on, and my attendance is already in pretty bad shape. I can't afford to miss school.”

The two of them visibly slumped their shoulders.

“That's too bad. But you're always welcome here, Subaru.”

“Yeah. Come visit again and spend some time with Miko, just like you used to.”

Even though I had shown up out of nowhere, I couldn't thank the two of them enough for treating me so warmly.

When Miko and I returned home from the park last night, the two of them had been shocked to see her eyes swollen from crying. But when we told them that we had made up, they let out relieved sighs.

Satsuki even had tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she silently stroked both Miko's and my heads.

She had acted cheerful in front of me, but she must have been worried about our relationship all this time.

I said goodbye to Satsuki and Jun at the entrance of their house.

Miko accompanied me to the station where I would catch the Shinkansen.

Along the way, we talked about trivial things.

What high school was like, whether we had made any friends, and other random things like that.

I no longer sensed any awkwardness from Miko.

After crying herself dry yesterday, she must have managed to come to terms with things, at least somewhat.

It was nice talking with my childhood friend again after so long.

We arrived at the station.

In front of the enormous station building, which was tall enough to make you crane your neck to look up at it, the place was packed with waves of office workers in suits and travelers.

“You can stop here. I'll be fine on my own from here.”

“…Subaru.”

I looked at Miko as she muttered those words in an uncertain voice.

Seeing her anxiously furrowed brows, I gave her a wry smile.

“Don't look like this is some final farewell. I told you, didn't I? We're childhood friends. We'll see each other again somewhere.”

“…Yeah, you're right.”

“Oh, come to think of it, we never exchanged contact information.”

“Is that okay?”

“Wouldn't it be inconvenient without it?”

When I held up my phone, Miko's face immediately lit up with a smile.

For the first time in several years, my childhood friend's name appeared on my phone.

“If you ever have a problem, contact me anytime. You don't have to hold back anymore.”

“…I will. I definitely will. I'll send you pictures when the baby is born, and if I get into a fight with my friends, I'll ask you for advice.”

“Well, try not to contact me too often, okay?”

It would be a lot to deal with if she started contacting me all the time.

As if I didn't already have someone sending me messages every single day.

“Well, I'm going now.”

“…Subaru!”

I took a step forward, but Miko called out to me in a loud voice, stopping me.

When I turned around, she pressed her lips together, her eyes glistening with tears, and took a deep breath before letting it out.

“Thank you for coming to see me!”

“…”

I relaxed my cheeks into a smile and waved at her.

Before entering the station, I looked up one last time at the sky above the town where my childhood friend lived.

Miko followed my gaze and looked up as well.

After spending all this time constantly missing each other, we were finally looking in the same direction.

The endless blue sky was beautiful.

It was July.

Summer was coming.

---

About a week passed.

With so many problems happening one after another lately, it felt like I was finally able to get some proper rest for the first time in a while.

During the day, I attended my classes diligently. After school, I relaxed in the clubroom. On my days off, I visited some of my favorite shops, and on the way home, I got to pet dogs I happened to encounter out on walks.

…Ah, wonderful.

It reaffirmed for me that this peaceful life was exactly what I had been searching for.

On Monday, I called out to Naginaki, who was organizing her notes in the classroom.

“Are you doing okay with your studying?”

“…Huh?”

“The final exams are coming up. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me.”

Perhaps because she had barely attended school during middle school, her grades were always just barely scraping by. The fact that she had managed to get into high school despite being a truant student was impressive in itself, but compared to the other students, there was no denying that she was constantly walking along the edge of a cliff.

“Th-thanks…”

“It's nothing. Don't worry about it.”

When it was time to move to another classroom for a lesson, I stopped Shinonome in the hallway.

“How have things been lately?”

“…Huh?”

“Are the other girls still harassing you? If anything happens, tell me immediately. I'll help you too.”

“…Okay.”

During lunch break, I ran into Sakura, who had come to the vending machines to buy a drink.

I noticed a subtle change in her that I might have overlooked if I had only glanced at her for a moment.

“Did you cut your bangs a little?”

“Oh, you noticed? Seriously? Yeah, I did. Just a tiny bit, to change things up. But wow, you really noticed. How does it look? Cute?”

Sakura happily played with her bangs as she asked.

Seeing her expression, I sincerely gave her the answer I thought she was looking for.

“Yeah. I think it looks really cute.”

“…Huh?”

“I pay pretty close attention to you, so of course I'd notice if you cut your hair.”

“…???”

I bought a coffee and headed straight to my usual spot in front of the emergency staircase, where I ate my favorite egg sandwiches.

Then, as usual, Naginaki, who was sitting with me, gave me a suspicious look.

“Hey… Hatsukade-kun.”

“What?”

“Could it be… that you got a girlfriend?”

After finishing the first of my delicious egg sandwiches, I immediately reached for the second.

The fluffy, sweet white bread combined with the savory, salty egg filling was amazing.

“I didn't.”

“Th-that unusually composed attitude of yours is making you look even more suspicious!”

What was she talking about?

“I'm exactly the same as always.”

“No, you're obviously different. It's like… you have this mature calmness about you. Like you've become completely enlightened about life. Something definitely happened!”

Naginaki glared at me with a “Hmmmm…” expression.

Well, if I had to name something, I suppose I did feel a little freer after making peace with Miko.

Though, for her to notice even such a small change in my state of mind…

Apparently, Naginaki had surprisingly sharp powers of observation.

“Don't worry about it.”

“～～～I can't!”

Good grief. Maybe she was annoyed because I hadn't been able to spend much time with her lately.

I suppose I had no choice.

“I want to spend some time together next weekend, since it's been a while. Could you keep your schedule open?”

“Fweh!?”

Naginaki's face turned bright red as she rubbed her hands together and looked up at me.

“…I'm happy.”

“I see.”

“I'll make sure I'm free no matter what plans I have.”

“Thanks. I'll tell Shinonome and Sakura the same thing.”

“…Hm? What do you mean?”

“Wouldn't it be better if everyone were there? I'm looking forward to it. They send me pictures all the time, but seeing them in person is still hundreds of times cuter.”

“D-do you mean when you said you wanted to see me…”

“Of course, I meant Hulk.”

“…!”

Fufufu. If Pii-chan and Ronney-kun came too, it would make for the perfect weekend.