Chapter 122Letter
In the morning, I realized that I had just received messages from Haru and Hiro for the first time after a long time. In short, Haru sent a serious apology message without any emoticons or stickers saying, "I'm sorry that I said something insensitive", and Hiro also apologized on Haru's behalf. Wait, why would Hiro do that too? There's a hint of "boyfriend apologizing on behalf of his girlfriend" in there, but is that the case?
When I imagine a bald baseball player while wearing his uniform apologizing to me, it feels very sincere. The people on that baseball team have a polarized image of good guys or bad guys. There are no perfect humans out there.
"—Oh! Good morning, Sajocchi!"
"Good. Morning, Ashida. Have you just finished your morning workout? Isn't that crazy, huh?"
"No, it's not crazy, though."
I met Ashida in front of the entrance. Early in the morning, I felt uncomfortable and awkward as she, who was a member of the Volleyball Club, showed me an "I'm already sweating!" attitude. Even though I came to school normally, I felt a strange sense of guilt. As if my lifestyle was very unhealthy.
"You guys didn't send me a message in the group chat yesterday. I felt a bit lonely because I didn't receive any notifications after my club activities."
"Um... ...I happened to be busy. Natsukawa is probably feeling that way lately too."
"Hmm...? —Oh! Speaking of the devil!"
"...!"
Ashida's voice startled me. This happy reaction... ...I knew it was Natsukawa without even having to check. Yesterday, we parted at the last minute because I felt awkward, but while I'm aware of the relationship I used to have with her, I don't think I'll be able to just forget about it. Because of that, I couldn't just play along, but that didn't mean I couldn't be nice to her, so I decided to treat her the same way I did to Ashida.
"Good morning, Aichi! Can I hug you?"
"Good morning, Kei. It's hot, so please stop!"
"Good morning, Natsukawa."
"Good mor— Oh...!"
I didn't think about Natsukawa's awkwardness towards me.
Oh, no! She seemed to turn her face away from me. She seems very awkward. No, calm down, me...! ...No need to worry, we've agreed to continue getting along as usual, right? Even if someone not on the same level as Natsukawa realizes it, it's not because they're a weak character, but it means they're just a shadow character.
"...? Did something happen to you two?"
"Eh? N-No? Nothing, though?"
Ashida's sharpness made me very scared and stammered. How could she come to that conclusion on her first guess? Normally, even if she felt something was wrong, she wouldn't have to wait and figure it out right away, right...? This was Ashida's prowess. She was the type of person who could instantly come to the right conclusion on this matter with just her common sense. Maybe she's Kindaichi*'s natural enemy, this person can solve this case in the name of Chocolate Caramel Frappuccino**. The culprit is probably you ★.
(TL Note: *Kindaichi refers to the manga series: Kindaichi Shōnen no Jikenbo (Detective Kindaichi in Indonesia / The Kindaichi Case Files in English), is a mystery manga series published from 1992 until now, written by Yōzaburo Kanari and Seimaru Amagi, and illustrated by Fumiya Satou, featuring the main character named Hajime Kindaichi, a high school detective and his story of solving criminal cases; **Chocolate Caramel Frappuccino is one of the menus of the fast food restaurant, St*rb*cks).
"It's so hot, let's get to the classroom."
"I'm used to it."
"It's dangerous, isn't it?"
"It's not dangerous, though."
"..."
I felt a strange gaze peeking out from the edge of of vision. I don't think Natsukawa could hear my conversation with Ashida, and she might still feel a bit awkward after yesterday's incident. It's good that I'm heading to the classroom soon. I need to leave Natsukawa whose heart is in turmoil.
"Sajocchi, a while ago, you used to run around a lot at night, didn't you? Summer was the perfect opportunity for you to start doing it again. You're used to it, aren't you?"
"No, I wasn't used to it. What kind of perfect opportunity is that? You see when I ran a lot, it was because I was running for a purpose— ...Oh?"
"Whoa...? What did you drop from there, Sajocchi—Hmm!?"
"Eh...?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
...Okay, anyway we all know that it's bad. Let's stop the bad trick. Let's resolve this situation objectively. That's right, objectively.
I opened my shoe locker. Something fell out from there. It was some kind of letter. It was sealed with a cute pink sealing wax and seemed to have just fallen out. The handwriting was neatly written and slightly rounded, saying "Dear Sajou-kun!".
"A-A-A-A love letter to me!"
"Calm down, Sajocchi! I think that's creepy! Is there even such a thing as a love letter in this day and age!? I'm sure someone is trying to set Sajocchi up to make fun of everyone! Besides, how can there be such a thing as love letters in this day and age?! That's right! You completely misunderstood! That's ridiculous!"
"Are you also going to deny it even though she's an outdated person?"
"Oh...!?"
The joy of getting this letter outweighed the sadness of having the existence of the love letter denied outright. It felt as if I had found a Tsucinoko*. No, this is serious. If I find a wooden stick lying around, I'm going to stab the creature with it.
(TL Note: Tsucinoko is a snake-like creature in Japanese folklore.)
After I let the letter cut my flesh which is called mentality and broke my bones which is called forgetfulness, I quickly picked it back up before Ashida, who is good at talking but can't move yet, could move to pick it up.
"—Alright. Let's go."
"Hey, that thing isn't here anymore...!? Why did you carelessly put that thing in your pocket!? I'm really curious, though!"
"Hmm, you see, this letter is addressed to me, right? I consider this an important document, so I'll take a close look at it myself later."
"You can't hide how happy you are, huh?! Show it to me too, show it to me!"
"Wait. No, there's no need to wait. I won't show you this letter. It's addressed to me, right? So only I can see the contents of it. I will carry it to my grave. I will bury it along with my bones."
"Ugh~...!"
Fuhehehehe... ...I can only smirk. Is this a love letter? If so, this is the first time in my life that I've gotten this thing. But what Ashida said has a point too, love letters are a bit strange in this day and age, could this not be a love letter...? No, it's not! Let's stop thinking negatively just this once, me! It could be some kind of "Come to the rooftop after school-!" call. Let's be as happy as we can at times like this, I'm crazy.
"Sajocchi~...!"
"S~to~p! Don't pull my sleeve... ...Hey...!"
Ashida pulled my sleeve hard. As I turned around with a happy face, I suddenly regained my composure. I found Ashida looking and complaining like a spoiled child, and behind her, there was Natsukawa who was making a troubled face as if she had something to say.
Eh? Wait! Natsukawa saw me earlier. Something like that happened yesterday, and although we were both aware of our relationship with each other, I could see that depending on which position we were in, in the end, she might see me and another girl talking about love and dating.
No, don't worry about it, that's another story. Natsukawa and I are "over". There's nothing wrong with me being seen by a girl who can't be in that kind of relationship with me. I'm sure I'm too insecure to think about what Natsukawa will think when she sees this.
I'm sure she'd be even more shocked to see me jumping up and down for joy because I got a love letter from someone else in front of someone who's a popular idol. Am I a bit too much of a crush, huh? I'm a pretty simple boy. This atmosphere smells like a bunch of boys flocking to "unattainable flowers" beautiful girls and I'm having a quick flutter by myself so quickly, right?
...This little thing is the best!
No, it's probably a love letter, right? If so, isn't this my landslide victory? It might be rude to look at it in terms of status, but I think it raises my standards as a high school boy. I might not feel inferior to Natsukawa and other talented people, and I might be able to talk to them so openly...
Natsukawa is a bit much to say. I'm just someone who got a love letter, while Natsukawa is a Goddess.
♦
Ashida had been very noisy since we had just sat down in our seats.
I was chased by her as she said "Have you looked at it? Have you looked at it?". She whispered to me, threw crumpled pieces of paper at me, she kicked the bottom of my seat from behind, I wondered why she was so interested in me. Was she like that? Did she just utter those curious words about love stories that are typical of every girl? What makes her think that I'm going to tell her what's in it? I can't see the contents of it because of you!
You see, Ichinose-san next to me even glanced at me! I thought she was upset and silently said, "Shut up!". But it turned out that she didn't look as annoyed as before, but she still made a face that said "Um... ...I'm sorry, but can you be quiet?" kind of thing! I'm sorry, Ichinose-san!
"Then, let's change your seat positions now!"
"Eh-!?"
"Alright, let's do it—!"
"Hooray—!"
Nice, Ootsuki-chan! A loud cheer echoed through the classroom arena!
I knew it! A versatile homeroom teacher is so different. As expected of an English teacher who is loved by her students. She was the kind of teacher who made you want to talk to her as if she were your friend. Ootsuki-chan is a cheerful teacher, I love the way she takes events like this seriously. One of her weaknesses is that she is a bit hard on the gloomy students... ...I think the cheerful girls hate the gloomy boys, sometimes they look at the boys with a frown, as if they were avenging their parents.
"Eh–? Sajocchi, read it now!"
"You're such a b*stard!"
"I'm very curious, after all!"
"No, that's why I don't want to read it...! Didn't you say yourself that there's a possibility that the contents of it aren't important?"
"I don't mind if we can still sit in our current seats, though."
"I don't want to. Although it's a bit strange, if I'm sitting in the front row, I often get kicked and get a surprise attack from behind."
"A surprise attack? What do you mean?"
"D*mn you."
If I had gotten a seat behind her, I'm sure I would have given her a little kick.
Author's Note: Erasers, used papers, sticky notes, checked.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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