[Warning 15+]
Part Two~Save That Old Energy Only For Me, Seriously!~Chapter 64Oh, So We're Starting from There, Huh...
Hayato and Mori Iori ended up at a family restaurant right by the station.
Since it was still pretty early after school, the place was crawling with other students just like them.
"Pfft—ahahaha! Kirishima, for real, was that seriously your first time in a famires?!"
"...You got a problem with that?"
"Haha, my bad, my bad!"
Mori Iori was practically doubled over in the booth, clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. Across from Iori, Hayato was brooding with a massive pout on his face.
The whole reason for the scene was Hayato looking like a total amateur, fumbling with the touchscreen menu and the self-serve drink bar.
Panicky questions like, 'Did the order actually go through?' and 'Wait, is it seriously unlimited refills?' had apparently hit Mori Iori's funny bone way too hard.
Hayato awkwardly sipped his iced tea.
Once Mori Iori finally finished laughing, he shifted gears and got straight to the point.
"So?"
"Yeah?"
"What actually happened at lunch?"
"What do you mean, 'what' happened...?"
That was a total fastball of a question. And definitely not something Hayato could just be brutally honest about.
Slrrrp. Hayato made a loud noise with his straw, scowling at his drink.
(But still...)
If Hayato didn't say anything, based on how Haruki had been acting all day, people's imaginations might start running wild in the wrong direction.
"Well, see, we were cleaning up in the Library Prep Room, right? And this couple started getting all lovey-dovey in the Library. So, eh, yeah... ...things got weird."
"Gotcha. Yeah, that'd definitely make things awkward. Nikaidō's pretty popular, but I guess she's not great at handling that kinda stuff?"
"I mean, sure Nikaidō's popular, but she's got this wall up so people kinda keep their distance. She even told me she's never been confessed to directly, so she probably just has zero resistance to that kind of vibe."
"Huh, is that so? By the way, Kirishima, you sure know a whole lot about Nikaidō's private life, don't you?"
"You think so?"
"Yeah. Nikaidō almost never talks about herself."
"...Haha."
D*mmit. By the time Hayato realized his mistake, it was already too late.
Mori Iori was just sitting there, putting a massive, smug grin as he stared Hayato down. Hayato'd basically just blurted out a confession, and Mori Iori had played Hayato like a fiddle.
A strained laugh escaped Hayato's lips, and he could feel a cold sweat running down his spine.
Man, what am I supposed to do now...? — Hayato let out a massive sigh, frantically scratching his head.
"Well, putting that aside for a sec..."
"Huh?"
"So, about me and Isami—I mean, Ema. We've actually been dating for less than three months."
"Oh, really? Is that so?"
Talk about a sudden 180 in the conversation.
Hayato was so sure he was about to get grilled over his thing with Haruki, so this sudden change of pace totally threw him off.
"We've been in each other's faces since kindergarten, so I thought I knew everything there was to know about Ema... ...but man, I was dead wrong."
"...Huh."
Hayato didn't get what Mori Iori was driving at.
But looking at Mori Iori's dead-serious expression, Hayato knew this wasn't the kind of talk he could just tune out.
"Like, Ema's obsessed with crane game plushies, and even though she says frilly clothes don't suit her, she actually loves 'em. Oh, and her parents have allergies but she's always wanted a cat... ...I've been discovering all these things I never knew about her only after we started dating."
"...Are you seriously flexing your love life right now?"
"Haha, yeah, totally flexing."
"For someone who's flexing, I never see you guys getting all lovey-dovey at school. And you've only been together for three months, right?"
Mori Iori rubbed his nose, looking a bit sheepish as he looked away.
Hayato still couldn't quite wrap his head around what Mori Iori was really trying to get at.
"Well, we were just friends for so long, so we never really went out of our way to hang out just the two of us. But now that we've started going on actual dates, I'm constantly surprised and even a bit dazed by all these new discoveries... ...but honestly, getting to know all these different sides of Ema feels fresh, and I don't hate it at all."
"...I see."
"Anyway, my point is—hanging out together really lets you see a lot of different sides of someone. It's not just about Nikaidō, but why don't you two join us next time we head out? You're always such a ghost after school, Kirishima."
"Yeah, I guess so. That sounds like a plan."
It felt a bit like unasked-for advice to Hayato.
It was better than having people get the wrong idea, but it's also true that Hayato didn't quite know how to process all this in his head.
(...Come to think of it, we haven't really gone anywhere together since that time she tagged along to help me buy my smartphone.)
Sure, they saw each other every single day. But there was nothing special about it; They were just together because it was part of their daily routine.
Out of nowhere, Hayato started drifting back to the old days.
The hills in Tsukinose, the paths between the paddy fields, the creeks, the shrines, the bamboo groves, and the local workshops. They turned every corner into their playground and every piece of junk they found into a toy, stacking up smiles and memories along the way.
Hayato probably knew more about Haruki than anyone else in that school.
Like how Haruki loved catching cicadas, how she was crazy for ramune soda, or how she loved building secret bases out of scrap wood—but that was all in the past.
How much did Hayato actually know about the Haruki standing in front of him right now?
Haruki still loves gaming, lives off convenience store bentos, has a total train wreck of a fashion sense—and she's all alone.
The lonely look Haruki'd get every now and then reminded Hayato way too much of Himeko back then, and he absolutely couldn't stand it.
"Hang out, huh...?"
So, to Hayato, it actually sounded like a pretty solid plan.
Even if the places and things were different now, if they just hung out like they used to, Hayato was sure they'd rack up plenty of smiles and new memories. Maybe he could even start filling in that seven-year gap between him and Haruki.
Just thinking about it made Hayato start to crack a smile—but then, his brow furrowed in a deep scowl.
"...Kirishima?"
"Nah, it's just..."
Mori Iori let out a confused mumble when he saw the sudden mood swing.
Sure, Mori Iori's suggestion was great and all, but there was one fatal flaw staring Hayato right in the face.
"When you say 'hang out,' where are we even supposed to go? And what the heck do people even do?"
"Oh, so we're starting from there, huh... ...pfft—kukuku."
I mean, in Tsukinose, "entertainment facilities" literally don't exist. For a boy like Hayato, whose weekends consisted of nothing but gaming or helping out with farm work in the neighborhood, this was a legit nightmare of a question.
Hayato could only give Mori Iori a resentful glare while the Iori's shoulders were practically vibrating from trying to hold back his laughter.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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Hayato and Mori Iori ended up at a family restaurant right by the station.
Since it was still pretty early after school, the place was crawling with other students just like them.
"Pfft—ahahaha! Kirishima, for real, was that seriously your first time in a famires?!"
"...You got a problem with that?"
"Haha, my bad, my bad!"
Mori Iori was practically doubled over in the booth, clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. Across from Iori, Hayato was brooding with a massive pout on his face.
The whole reason for the scene was Hayato looking like a total amateur, fumbling with the touchscreen menu and the self-serve drink bar.
Panicky questions like, 'Did the order actually go through?' and 'Wait, is it seriously unlimited refills?' had apparently hit Mori Iori's funny bone way too hard.
Hayato awkwardly sipped his iced tea.
Once Mori Iori finally finished laughing, he shifted gears and got straight to the point.
"So?"
"Yeah?"
"What actually happened at lunch?"
"What do you mean, 'what' happened...?"
That was a total fastball of a question. And definitely not something Hayato could just be brutally honest about.
Slrrrp. Hayato made a loud noise with his straw, scowling at his drink.
(But still...)
If Hayato didn't say anything, based on how Haruki had been acting all day, people's imaginations might start running wild in the wrong direction.
"Well, see, we were cleaning up in the Library Prep Room, right? And this couple started getting all lovey-dovey in the Library. So, eh, yeah... ...things got weird."
"Gotcha. Yeah, that'd definitely make things awkward. Nikaidō's pretty popular, but I guess she's not great at handling that kinda stuff?"
"I mean, sure Nikaidō's popular, but she's got this wall up so people kinda keep their distance. She even told me she's never been confessed to directly, so she probably just has zero resistance to that kind of vibe."
"Huh, is that so? By the way, Kirishima, you sure know a whole lot about Nikaidō's private life, don't you?"
"You think so?"
"Yeah. Nikaidō almost never talks about herself."
"...Haha."
D*mmit. By the time Hayato realized his mistake, it was already too late.
Mori Iori was just sitting there, putting a massive, smug grin as he stared Hayato down. Hayato'd basically just blurted out a confession, and Mori Iori had played Hayato like a fiddle.
A strained laugh escaped Hayato's lips, and he could feel a cold sweat running down his spine.
Man, what am I supposed to do now...? — Hayato let out a massive sigh, frantically scratching his head.
"Well, putting that aside for a sec..."
"Huh?"
"So, about me and Isami—I mean, Ema. We've actually been dating for less than three months."
"Oh, really? Is that so?"
Talk about a sudden 180 in the conversation.
Hayato was so sure he was about to get grilled over his thing with Haruki, so this sudden change of pace totally threw him off.
"We've been in each other's faces since kindergarten, so I thought I knew everything there was to know about Ema... ...but man, I was dead wrong."
"...Huh."
Hayato didn't get what Mori Iori was driving at.
But looking at Mori Iori's dead-serious expression, Hayato knew this wasn't the kind of talk he could just tune out.
"Like, Ema's obsessed with crane game plushies, and even though she says frilly clothes don't suit her, she actually loves 'em. Oh, and her parents have allergies but she's always wanted a cat... ...I've been discovering all these things I never knew about her only after we started dating."
"...Are you seriously flexing your love life right now?"
"Haha, yeah, totally flexing."
"For someone who's flexing, I never see you guys getting all lovey-dovey at school. And you've only been together for three months, right?"
Mori Iori rubbed his nose, looking a bit sheepish as he looked away.
Hayato still couldn't quite wrap his head around what Mori Iori was really trying to get at.
"Well, we were just friends for so long, so we never really went out of our way to hang out just the two of us. But now that we've started going on actual dates, I'm constantly surprised and even a bit dazed by all these new discoveries... ...but honestly, getting to know all these different sides of Ema feels fresh, and I don't hate it at all."
"...I see."
"Anyway, my point is—hanging out together really lets you see a lot of different sides of someone. It's not just about Nikaidō, but why don't you two join us next time we head out? You're always such a ghost after school, Kirishima."
"Yeah, I guess so. That sounds like a plan."
It felt a bit like unasked-for advice to Hayato.
It was better than having people get the wrong idea, but it's also true that Hayato didn't quite know how to process all this in his head.
(...Come to think of it, we haven't really gone anywhere together since that time she tagged along to help me buy my smartphone.)
Sure, they saw each other every single day. But there was nothing special about it; They were just together because it was part of their daily routine.
Out of nowhere, Hayato started drifting back to the old days.
The hills in Tsukinose, the paths between the paddy fields, the creeks, the shrines, the bamboo groves, and the local workshops. They turned every corner into their playground and every piece of junk they found into a toy, stacking up smiles and memories along the way.
Hayato probably knew more about Haruki than anyone else in that school.
Like how Haruki loved catching cicadas, how she was crazy for ramune soda, or how she loved building secret bases out of scrap wood—but that was all in the past.
How much did Hayato actually know about the Haruki standing in front of him right now?
Haruki still loves gaming, lives off convenience store bentos, has a total train wreck of a fashion sense—and she's all alone.
The lonely look Haruki'd get every now and then reminded Hayato way too much of Himeko back then, and he absolutely couldn't stand it.
"Hang out, huh...?"
So, to Hayato, it actually sounded like a pretty solid plan.
Even if the places and things were different now, if they just hung out like they used to, Hayato was sure they'd rack up plenty of smiles and new memories. Maybe he could even start filling in that seven-year gap between him and Haruki.
Just thinking about it made Hayato start to crack a smile—but then, his brow furrowed in a deep scowl.
"...Kirishima?"
"Nah, it's just..."
Mori Iori let out a confused mumble when he saw the sudden mood swing.
Sure, Mori Iori's suggestion was great and all, but there was one fatal flaw staring Hayato right in the face.
"When you say 'hang out,' where are we even supposed to go? And what the heck do people even do?"
"Oh, so we're starting from there, huh... ...pfft—kukuku."
I mean, in Tsukinose, "entertainment facilities" literally don't exist. For a boy like Hayato, whose weekends consisted of nothing but gaming or helping out with farm work in the neighborhood, this was a legit nightmare of a question.
Hayato could only give Mori Iori a resentful glare while the Iori's shoulders were practically vibrating from trying to hold back his laughter.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
If you like our work, please consider supporting us on Ko-fi. 🙏
Support Us: https://ko-fi.com/ninjacross
Donations are very much appreciated.
Your donations really support us to finish this novel from here until the end, so please consider to support us.
Follow Our Official WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaRa6nHCsU9OAB0U370F
Read in other languages: