Chapter 22: Gradually…
Translator: Soafp
Daiki continued to watch until Wakaba entered the house.
Even after Wakaba entered her house, he continued to stand in the yard.
The scene he had just seen kept playing in his mind.
After standing there for a while, his mother came out of the front door.
“Daiki?”
Perhaps he had been thinking so much about today that he didn’t even hear his mother’s voice.
She said she had been calling for him many times, but he had not noticed her at all, so she had come outside.
“Is everything all right, Daiki?”
Suddenly coming back to himself, Daiki said,
“I’m sorry, I’m fine!
I thought I saw something in the yard, so I just looked!
I didn’t see anything, so everything is fine!”
He went inside the house and went straight to the bathroom.
After showering, he took a bath.
Decided to soak more slowly than usual.
While soaking in the bath, all the scenes of the day came back to his mind.
Despite not wanting to think about anything else, he couldn’t stop thinking about them.
By the time everything had calmed down, he felt like he was going to get a little tipsy, so he got out of the bath.
Still a little tipsy, he decided to lie down on the sofa in the living room and take a short rest.
His mother, seeing him, immediately realized that he had gotten a little too hot, so she gave him a drink and held an fan over his head.
“Daiki, are you all right?
It’s unusual. Is there something wrong?
You looked like that earlier, did something happen?”
She asked him as she looked up at him with a fan.
Daiki said,
“I was having so much fun at the festival that I had to take a long bath in the tub to relive it.”
Daiki replied.
He closed his eyes and tried not to talk until he calmed down.
His mother had her own thoughts, but she could not force Daiki to listen to what he did not want to say, so she kept looking up at him with a fan for a little while.
He felt a little better, so he decided to return to his room.
He told his mother.
“I feel much better!
Thank you!
I’m going to bed!
Good night.”
And he went to his room.
His mother was still worried.
But she knew that something had happened with Wakaba.
But being young, she decided not to tell Wakaba about today, thinking that tomorrow things would be back to normal.
Daiki was still thinking about it when he entered his room.
Still, it was late and he decided to lie down on his bed.
After returning home, he realized that he had not looked at his cell phone, so he checked it and found that everyone had contacted him.
Of course, Wakaba had contacted him too, but he didn’t want to respond to her right now.
He checked the messages from his friends and replied that he had arrived safely.
One of them said
“Wakaba was worried that you didn’t reply to her when she contacted you?”
And there was a message from a female friend.
After replying to the friend, he checked Wakaba’s message as well.
“I’m sorry I left before you.
Did you get home safe?”
At first it came.
Wakaba called me back too.
“Is something wrong?
Are you okay?
Call me as soon as you see your cell phone.”
Another message came in.
Not knowing what to say back.
“Sorry, I was in the bath!
I’m fine!
You cool your feet and then go to bed!
Good night.”
He decided he was in the bathtub.
And with an appeal to sleep so that the exchange doesn’t even have to be made.
“I was worried something was wrong!
But thank God! You look okay!
Now I’m relieved, I’m going to bed!
Good night!”
Wakaba immediately replied.
Daiki felt happy, but he could not be honestly happy today.
“You seemed to be having a good time with Shiraishi…
A beautiful couple, well-matched…”
Again, he was lost in thought.
Scenes kept coming to his mind like a loop.
Before he knew it, he fell asleep.
Daiki was also dreaming.
He was gazing at Shiraishi and Wakaba talking happily, and Wakaba blushing as Shiraishi carried her on his back, and himself staring at her alone from a distance.
In his dreams, he even thinks it’s the best thing to do.
Daiki is afraid that his normality will be broken.
He controls his emotions unconsciously.
He believes that the best way to prevent the breakdown of normalcy is to keep the relationship as it is now, unchanged.
If he is always spoiled by Wakaba, he will be a hindrance to her.
He will continue to watch over Wakaba as he has in the past, and as a childhood friend, slightly further removed from her than before.
He was dreaming, but he thought that on his own.
Daiki acts when he thinks like that.
He is accustomed to holding back.
It may be an immature idea, but for Daiki, it was the right thing to do.
“After the summer vacation, I will gradually distance myself from Wakaba and support her with her love life.”
Wakaba is not in love with anyone.
But to Daiki, it looked that way.
He is close to her, yet he can’t ask her about it.
He is close to her, yet he can’t understand her.
Little by little, they are crossing paths…
End of volume 1
TL: And so it begins
karnal0z
October 15, 2022 at 12:58 amHere we go again.
Stompound
October 15, 2022 at 2:45 amThis seems to be the opposite of crossing paths. They are instead groeing further apart. More like their paths are diverging. So the title seems a bit weird to me.
Sithis
October 15, 2022 at 4:18 pmWell, this one is frustrating. Everything would be solved if there was real communication between the characters, but no, there is just lack of communication and that leads to misunderstandings.
In my opinion none of the charactes (whether main or side) are free of blame.
Let’s start with Daiki.
He is just the epitome of lack of communication. He keeps everything to himself and never tells anyone what he really wants. He just assumes that he is a burden to everyone (especially to Wakaba) and therefore, he can’t be greedy.
I understand he is on the verge of being broken, but his lack of communication is what makes him miserable. If he talked to Wakaba and told her what he really feels for her, everything would be solved and he would change from broken to brand new.
Wakaba is another case. I mean, she is not courageous or bold enough to say no, or even worse, she doesn’t say what she wants, she is not clear with her feelings, just because “she doesn’t know what love is” and that leads to those misunderstandings.
Daiki’s mother couldn’t be more useless. It’s as if she didn’t understand what being a parent means. She doesn’t help Daiki in any way. It’s like she thinks of Daiki as a fragile vase and she can’t get near him or he will break. She can only do everything from afar.
Shiraishi(t): I can’t stand this character. I mean, I don’t know if he’s dense or plain stupid and obnoxious. It seems he doesn’t understand that Wakaba does not think of him as a potential romantic partner yet he is like a tick. Whenever possible he sticks to Wakaba. Of course Wakaba won’t shoo him away, because she thinks he is just a friend and she doesn’t make it clear that she is not interested in him. Besides, he is very clueless as he doesn’t know when to stop and step aside. He is a nuisance and must be dealt with promptly, so that he knows his place.
Akash Narjinary
October 15, 2022 at 4:55 pm@sithis well you can’t blam shirahashi.. he have crush on wakaba so he obviously will for force wakba to his girlfriend ..daiki already in depression .he only have now wakaba ( right now he can’t fully trusting his father/mother) but main problem is wakaba character… She thinks in her heart she have to be with daiki but in reality she flirting with shirahashi .. ..i really wish wakaba not FMC ..
One more thing don’t try to expect anything from wakaba .. author is a women i think and she wrote 4/5 more story’s but her every story’s ntr ..
Sithis
October 18, 2022 at 9:10 am@Akash Narjinary, Well, I disagree with you. Even if Shiraishi(t) “likes” Wakaba, it is not ok to force anything. Let me rephrase it: Is it ok for Shiraishi(t) to force a kiss on Wakaba or have his way with her just because he “likes” her? Is it ok for him to do anything he wants to Wakaba, just because she doesn’t say no?