Chapter 28: Chapter 3
24th of August (Monday)
When I woke up early in the morning, nobody was in the living room. I knew that my old man and Akiko-san wouldn't be there. My old man is off to work, and Akiko-san has yet to co ho from work. She contacted us saying that she'd be ho late (or I guess early in the morning in this case?).
However, not even Ayase-san, who would normally be awake at this point, was around. Maybe she's in her room? It's not like there's any reason to do so, since the living room was a perfectly comfortable temperature… Wait, a comfortable temperature? Only then did I realize that the A/C in the living room was blowing out cool air. It's fixed, huh? Since I got ho so late, and pretty much stayed in my room without eating dinner, I didn't even notice. I guess my old man got a hold of soone who could repair it. Maybe he prioritized that over their shopping trip.
Since it was running, he probably knew that I'd wake up not long after he left. I looked over at the dining table and saw breakfast prepared for . I suddenly got a hunch and checked my ssages, and I found a LINE from Ayase-san.
'I prepared breakfast, so you can eat it whenever. I already finished mine.'
I guess Ayase-san is awake already after all. Maybe she's sitting in her room, studying or cleaning or sothing. I sent her a thank-you ssage over LINE and sat down at the dining table.
"Today it's Japanese style, huh?"
On the pale blue plate was grilled salmon, along with radish cut up into a small mountain in the corner, and small Japanese plums. On the plate next to it was a cluster of seasoned seaweed, and salad on another large plate. It was like a breakfast you'd see at an inn. It looked like there was a lot of effort put into this.
After confirming the food I was dealing with, I picked up my empty rice bowl and miso soup bowl and stood up. While warming up the miso soup, I put so rice into my bowl, and after filling it up with miso soup, I returned to my seat.
"Ti to dig in." After putting my hands together in thankfulness for the food, I started eating the precious breakfast Ayase-san prepared for .
I poured so soy sauce onto the radish to let it soak in and put it on top of the salmon, eating the pieces of salmon along with the radish. The sweetness of the fish and bitterness of the radish mixed on my tongue. The fish is as delicious as well, a different kind of taste from at. Thanks to the radish, the aftertaste was non-existent, and I found myself able to eat several refills of rice.
While admiring the fact that such a simple breakfast could still be so delicious, I reached for the miso soup next. The miso soup base this morning was nako mushroom. It was easy to drink, going right down my throat. As always, Ayase-san's miso soup couldn't get any better. I really felt like sending her another LINE ssage telling her exactly that, but I didn't want to bother her, and that's about all I could tell her anyway. So I just sent her an imaginary ssage of gratitude instead. Thank you for the delicious miso soup as always, Ayase-san.
After finishing my breakfast, I washed the dishes and cleaned everything up a bit more leisurely, since I had so more ti until my part-ti job started. While thinking about what to do until then, I decided to clean up the living room a bit. The dining table had a thin tablecloth on it so it wouldn't get dusty. I thought maybe I should clean the fridge, and since Akiko-san should be coming ho soon, I figured she might prefer her grilled fish not being too cold. If she doesn't feel like eating it, I can always put it in the fridge later.
I cleaned from top to bottom, since the dirt would fall to the lowest layer. I wiped everything clean that I could, and after sweeping the floor, I mopped it as well. Whenever I'm doing sothing that I'm fairly used to, it really gives my head ti to think about sothing else in the anti. For example, about how Ayase-san has been acting weird as of late. I think it basically started two days ago.
'If you're wondering about Maaya, then don't worry about it. We don't have the kind of relationship where we would hang out during sumr break. Just to let you know.'
No matter how much I thought about it, I failed to see a reason why she would co over to my room just to say that. Even more so if it's Ayase-san, considering how this is clearly unlike how she usually acts.
"Hmmm…"
My hand stopped mid-cleaning, and I let out a sigh as I rested my chin on the wooden grip of the mop. Oh yeah, I rembered sothing else. According to Maru, the whole pool plan that Narasaka-san put together was supposed to include as well. But I hadn't heard anything about it. Of course, this makes total sense, since Narasaka-san doesn't know my LINE address or any other way to contact .
If so, what would Narasaka-san do? She would most likely get Ayase-san to relay her invitation to . Of course, if Ayase-san herself doesn't want to go, then that's her own decision. However, it's not natural and easily explainable why she would keep silent about the invitation that was directed at .
What would I do if I was in Ayase-san's position? For example, what if Maru ca up with a similar pool plan, and told to invite Ayase-san? Well, I probably would tell Ayase-san, even if I didn't plan on going. Sothing along the lines of 'Maru told to invite you'. If not, I would basically be stealing a chance for her to enjoy herself. Since we're so clear about being fair in our relationship, it would be going against the rules.
So why did Ayase-san keep quiet? Sothing is off. But when I reached this thought, I realized that I had stopped cleaning entirely.
"Not good, not good."
I redoubled my cleaning efforts in the living room, but Ayase-san's irregular actions wouldn't leave my mind. I had finished scrubbing the floor when the front door opened and Akiko-san ca staggering towards in a wobbly and sleepy manner.
"Ahhh… Yuuta-kun… morning…"
"Welco back, and good morning. Would you like sothing to eat?"
"Yeah… I'll eat so ice cream and then get so sleep." She spoke with her eyes half-closed.
I opened up the fridge and took out the ice cream (which was Akiko-san's favorite, thus my old man always kept the fridge stocked full of it). It was a strawberry flavored ice cream stick.
"Oh yeah, you fixed the A/C yesterday, didn't you?"
"Mmm… Ahh, right. Taichi-san called a technician…" She must have been exceptionally sleepy. Her words ca out slowly and with a lot of pauses between them.
From what I understood after Akiko-san sat on the chair and started licking her ice cream, the reason our A/C malfunctioned was dirt in the filter, and my old man trying to fix things on his own apparently only made things worse. Then again, I imagine he really just wanted to show off to Akiko-san.
"It was running perfectly fine with a cool face up until yesterday, and then it suddenly broke down. Machines sure are weird." Akiko-san said.
Upon hearing these words, my heart skipped a beat out of shock. Running perfectly fine with a cool face… and then it suddenly broke down. These words reminded of what Yomiuri-senpai told about a diligent person suddenly breaking down from stress and pressure. Maybe humans are fairly similar to machines in that respect.
—Being too diligent makes them unable to stop.
One day, their heart might break. If I see that soone needs to stop, I should force them to by telling them… However, would she really accept this?
"Hey, does Ayase-san hate people who force others to be honest with their desires?"
For starters, I need to understand Ayase-san's personality further. With this in mind, I decided to ask Ayase-san's mother, Akiko-san, about it. Upon hearing my question, Akiko-san stopped licking her ice cream and looked up at the ceiling.
"Hmmm? Are you asking if she hates people who force themselves on her?"
"F-Forced…"
Well, I guess it's sothing like that. However, I feel like the nuance in what she said is different from what I was initially talking about.
"I was thinking more along the lines of coming up with plans and making her tag along."
"So you're asking if she would hate soone strong-arming her out on a date? Let think… Judging from her personality, she would probably dislike that. But things would be different if you actually set up a plan with her and everything."
"So she would dislike that… I figured."
Even just as far as I could tell, Ayase-san's personality was fairly close to how Akiko-san described. If so, then what could even be done to stop her…?
"Hm, do you want to invite her out on a date? Say, Yuuta-kun… Have you fallen in love with her by any chance?"
This sudden comnt from Akiko-san interrupted my thought process entirely. What? Um, what did she say just now? I frantically tried to recall the conversation leading up to this point. Is Akiko-san actually having a terrible misunderstanding by any chance?
"N-No, of course not! I wasn't talking about it in that kind of way. I just felt like Ayase-san has this personality where she goes too far at tis."
I need to explain the circumstances properly, so I told Akiko-san about my conversation with Yomiuri-senpai yesterday. As a result, Akiko-san gave a smile like she finally understood what I was talking about, which allowed to sigh in relief.
"So that's what you ant. I totally thought you ca to like Saki as a girl."
"That's not—"
—going to happen. After all, Ayase-san is my little sister. That's just impossible. It's not allowed to happen.
"You're right, though, Saki really can be like that." When Akiko-san said this, I felt more tense. "Around the ti she moved up to middle school, and I ended up getting busy myself, Saki started to grow up really rapidly, and she tried her best to be considerate of and not increase my workload. She was far more mature than her peers."
"That… I can picture."
"Indeed. And it might seem like a good thing, but considering that all of that happened because I wasn't there for her… you know. I'm reflecting on it, and the fact that I couldn't spoil her as much as she deserved. I wanted her to be able to stay a bit more selfish, you know, allow her to stay a child for longer." Akiko-san's words stabbed right in the heart.
I rembered Ayase-san in the picture I was shown. The Ayase-san who would beg for ice cream or beg to go to the pool that she had told about. However, Ayase-san forced herself to stop acting like a child and decided to live independently more than everyone else. At first, it was probably just her trying to take so of the weight from her mother's shoulders, but that probably isn't the only reason anymore.
"Yuuta-kun." Akiko-san called out to . I raised my head and found her giving a serious gaze. "I know this isn't sothing I should ask my step-son for, but I want you to help her and make sure she doesn't work herself into a corner too much. If she says that she doesn't want to, then I think you should be more pushy about it, just like how you asked before."
I hesitated for a mont, but still nodded in compliance with Akiko-san's request. So far, I've lived my life without trying to overstep my boundaries with other people. I don't take responsibility for how other people live their lives, nor do I want to. After all, I don't like it when people step into my own territory. Trying to carry each other's burdens just sounds like so much of a pain that I couldn't be bothered. I rembered what Ayase-san told when we first t…
"I won't have any great expectations of you, so I want you to do the sa for ."
These words gave great relief and reassurance. This clearly was the best way of going about things in order to form a relationship that wasn't too intrusive. However, I also can't ignore the fact that Ayase-san might break down in the near future… Even if she hates for it.
"It's fine. Even if she starts to dislike you for it, I'll tell you sothing she really loves."
"What she loves, huh? You an sothing that will cheer her up?"
"Of course!" Akiko-san looked at with a bright smile.
Naturally, I was a bit doubtful that such a convenient thing existed, but I still asked Akiko-san to help if need be. I really don't want Ayase-san to hate . We're living together after all, and she's my little sister.
The faint sound of the A/C running filled the living room.
"Thanks for that." Akiko-san said, throwing the popsicle stick into the triangular corner of the sink.
She must have been pretty tired, since she staggered her way back to her bedroom. I just hope she doesn't fall over. Good work today, and good night, Akiko-san. Now then, as for … I put the grilled fish back into the fridge and made my way to Ayase-san's room, knocking on the door.
"What?"
The door opened slightly, and I could see Ayase-san's desk. On it were workbooks and notes, and in her hands she was holding her usual headphones. This ti, she was wearing over-ear instead of in-ear headphones. Maybe she's studying while listening to lofi music. The A/C was turned on, creating an even more cool atmosphere inside the room. I think Akiko-san ntioned that Ayase-san was weak to the heat.
"Listen, about the whole pool thing with Narasaka-san."
"I'm not going."
I wasn't given any ti to finish my sentence. Ayase-san must have seen at a loss, as she quickly made sothing of an excuse.
"I don't have the ti to waste at the pool after all."
That's exactly what I'm worried about. It's not that Ayase-san is trying to make angry or anything. She still has this mindset that any ti spent playing or fooling around should be avoided like the plague. She doesn't think she needs ti to just relax and focus on sothing else. Her heart is like green bamboo, endlessly growing but only straight up. There was an old saying that I faintly rember that said sothing like that. So I started thinking. If I try to follow her lead, she'll just get even more stubborn.
"Alright, that's totally fine. I was just thinking that maybe I wanted to go after all. So could you tell Narasaka-san's contact information?"
For now, I started acting interested in this event, so I gave Ayase-san a chance to let down her guard and maybe rethink her choice. Ayase-san then finally looked in the eyes.
"Don't wanna."
"Eh? …Um, what?" I was shocked to say the least.
After all, I didn't expect to get denied sp forcefully and directly. Ayase-san dislikes acting according to emotions with no logic behind them. I didn't expect her to have such a grumpy response just because I asked for Narasaka-san's contact information. Not to ntion that Narasaka-san was probably planning on contacting in the first place. Also, despite being the one who said it, Ayase-san seed shocked by what she herself had said.
"Um, wait, no. Giving other people soone's contact information… is bad manners after all."
"Ahhh…"
That does make sense. That would explain her reaction. You've gotta protect personal information after all. That's very much like Ayase-san. Yep.
"Let ask Maaya for you. I'll let you know if I get a response."
"Got it."
She must be using LINE or email, I guess. If so, then I didn't expect it to take too much ti. And since she said she wanted to study so more, I left her alone. Since we'll see each other later for our part-ti job shift, I could wait. I closed the door and headed back to my own room. The current problem is that I don't think I can even drag Ayase-san to the pool. Right now, Ayase-san is like an immovable mountain focused only on the giant amount of studying and part-ti work in front of her. Judging from that, she must be under a lot of ntal pressure.
It's not a problem to make her go to the pool. I just want her to take a breather before she breaks down entirely. That's all I was thinking about, and all I honestly wished for. So I decided to ask her later during our part-ti job.
Once afternoon rolled around, I left the house. I pedalled my bike through the steaming heat rising from the boiling concrete. I took several breaks on the road up the hill, and had put several water bottles in a bag in my bike's basket, so I was protected against possible heatstrokes. I felt the sweat building up on my body, but suppressed my desire to stop and wipe it. It's not like I disliked this exercise, though.
In the midst of Omotesando where you could watch university students bustling around, I found a single formal building that didn't seem well-suited to the location. It's a famous prep school targeted at people attempting to pass the entrance exams at Todai1. Whenever I stopped my bike and entered this building, I felt relieved. Rather than all the places full of normies and party-goers in Shibuya, this place filled with diligent students made feel much more at peace. Near the prep school were also popular boutiques and a pancake store that was popular on Insta, which attracted a lot of female university students.
I entered the classroom and took a seat in the corner of the room. Unlike at school, the seats at prep school aren't assigned or anything, but I guess it's just in my nature to seek out an open spot. By the way, I'm not a prep school student or anything, I'm just here for the special sumr classes. A lot of students around were the sa in that regard, and didn't even talk much with each other, simply focusing on their workbooks and the questions in them.
Although Suisei High is known as a high-level school, it's not like everyone in it is that much of a diligent student, so the difference in atmosphere between stiff and relaxing doesn't co as much from grades or personalities, but rather simply the human relationships going on inside the classroom. Speaking about the students, they generally have black hair, don't wear any flashy accessories or makeup, and don't attempt to stand out in any weird way. Here, it's all people who would be regarded as diligent from a general point of view. They're different from the students at school, especially in how they are constantly looking at their workbooks.
They're more like Ayase-san, at least in my opinion. Her fashion, color of hair, and outer appearance completely contradicts this, but her diligent nature and seriousness of intention were very similar. She goes at life full-force, seeming to possess no ti to relax. She's different from soone like who's just trying to get sowhat okay-ish grades in order to get into a university I find passable. She has the eyes of soone who's fighting.
However, Ayase-san's way of pushing herself is still quite different from the people here. After all, she wants financial success and she wants to be able to stand on her own two feet, which is why she isn't even participating in these sumr supplentary classes, since she would want to pay for them herself. If the average run-of-the-mill examinee tried to make do with self-study, they'd be just ridiculed and seen as arrogant and soone who's trying to buck the trend, but when you see Ayase-san getting all the highest grades in almost every subject and morizing everything related to it, you can only stay quiet with a wry smile.
Even her weakness with Modern Japanese has sohow flattened out since last month, and she's slowly turning into a perfect examinee student… Well, for soone like who isn't a madman who thrives off effort, slowly but steadily increasing my knowledge is about the best I can hope for. It's important to know your own skills, after all.
"Um…"
"Eh? Ah, yes?"
A faint voice suddenly called out to , and I gave a belated response. Since this was the first ti another student had spoken to during sumr supplentary classes, it took a second to notice. The owner of this voice was a girl sitting next to . It hasn't been every ti, but I feel like I've seen her sitting next to a few tis before. Her looks and fashion didn't particularly make her stand out, and you might even call her plain, but there was one part that really stuck with —Her height.
I would assu she was about 180cm tall. A girl taller than was talking to , and I felt an odd pressure for so reason. And yet her voice was devoid of any confidence.
"You dropped sothing."
"A-Ah, thank you very much." I must have dropped my bookmark when I opened my workbook.
I thanked the girl and picked it up, then I t eyes with her again.
"That's a bookmark from the sumr fair, right? The one you get from the bookstore near the train station."
"Y-Yes, that's right."
I couldn't tell her I worked there part-ti. Sothing inside of prevents from telling random people personal information about myself.
"I pass by there pretty often. What a coincidence."
"It's pretty much the only place you can buy books in the area, after all."
"You're right, ahaha." The tall girl let out a light laugh.
That's where our conversation ended. It's not that she necessarily wanted to talk with or anything, but she rather spoke to because of the bookmark, and found a common topic of conversation for a brief mont. It was an average type of conversation with no particular aning behind it. I glanced at the girl, who had already turned back towards her own desk, but then felt like sothing was off.
…Has she ever co into the bookstore? Since we're both high school students, our current daily lives should almost be the sa, but I've never seen her at the cash register. I don't think I would forget soone who had the stature of a model like her. Well, it's not like I work there 24/7 either, and she might not be a faithful regular or anything. We might have just missed each other. With that thought, I turned towards my own desk.
That was about the only notable event compared to my usual sumr classes. I didn't exchange any further words with the girl, either. I just spent my ti the sa as ever.
From the afternoon until the evening, I focused on my exam studies. After the final ti block ended and I checked the ti, I still had about 40 minutes until my shift would start. The bookstore was about ten minutes from there on my bike. Naturally, that's sothing I kept in mind when I chose this prep school.
I stuffed my workbooks into my bag and quickly stepped out of the prep school. I grabbed my bike and was about to ride off. Since this flow of action had repeated over the course of sumr break, becoming sothing like a routine, my brain executed these actions automatically. However, sothing different happened today.
"Huh?"
I subconsciously blinked in confusion. Right as I was bedalling on my bike, I spotted soone sitting at the window seat of the pancake store right in front of the prep school. Her long black hair was kept up tidy with a katyusha headband, and she was wearing what looked to be a stylish flare skirt. Of course, this person who gave off the air of a prim and proper young lady was none other than my senior at work, Yomiuri-senpai.
The people with her must be friends from her university. They were seated at a seat for four inside the store, having a serious discussion while munching their pancakes. Since I was fairly close to them, and because they were talking with quite loud voices, I could make out pieces of their conversation. Two of them seed to be Yomiuri-senpai's age, and were probably university students, but the third woman had a much different air about her, which stood out in his heat.
After all, compared to the other girls who were wearing clothes befitting the hot sumr weather, she was clad in a long-sleeved cardigan, observing the faces of Yomiuri-senpai and the other two.
"Now, who can disagree? Our humanities research is being compared with other natural sciences and being called a soft science because it can't contribute to society. We're even having our existence questioned. At this rate, all your research and its validity will be nullified."
The university students seed to be unable to say anything in the face of this harsh statent. They just shrunk in place while exchanging helpless gazes. At the sa ti, the knowledgeable woman smiled without a care in the world, picking up another piece of pancake and lifting it to her mouth. No matter how you looked at it, this wasn't a conversation to have in a popular pancake store, but the other custors around them either had no idea what they were talking about and thus didn't intervene, or just ignored it as another piece of background noise. Amidst this heavy atmosphere, one person finally opened their mouth. It was Yomiuri-senpai.
"If we were to define natural sciences with the act of proving reproducibility of laws through experints, as far as the inventions gained from natural sciences go, they clearly have a higher contribution towards human society. As long as this is a generally accepted fact, there is no room for us to deny the natural sciences from our point of view."
"Clever. It seems like you've accepted the fact that twisting the truth to disagree with a statent is just foul play."
"Yes, and I say that there is a aning behind humanities research."
"For example? Researching literature or historical facts is but a simple fool's errand. I disagree with the idea of the royal family offering resources towards research that provides us with no benefits."
"Discovering the truths behind the history our ancestors took is a primitive and essential question on how human beings should behave."
"Is that so? Literature and history are nothing more than mories passed down to the present from people in the past. Even if you grasp this concept, it won't allow you to understand the tendencies of a modern and average human being."
"Know the past, and you shall know the future. Should we not search the past to find hints for how to solve modern problems?"
"You're saying that history will repeat itself?"
"Yes. We can see that there are reasons for social conflict that have repeated themselves over and over in the past. So would it not be fair to say that learning from the past will open a path to find adequate answers in the present?"
"Ahh, that's quite illogical, Yomiuri-kun."
"Huh?"
"The very maxim that history will repeat itself is nothing but an impression from a person in the past. With no substantial data that exists from the past, it is impossible to prove any reproducibility no matter how much you research it."
"Urk…"
Yomiuri-senpai must have been stabbed where it hurt, and she lost her ability to make a counterpoint. The knowledgeable woman, for her part, held a piece of pancake on her fork and twirled it around.
"The present age has made it possible to observe data from any event you could imagine. The acquisition and gathering of this has been done quite easily, and this brings the truths of people who supposedly were unable to be substantiated to the foreground. Whether or not the people of the future can learn a lot from the past or not, this is the present day for us right now. If one wants to gain hints from the past to solve a problem, it should be your first priority to do so with the help of natural sciences, correct? Are there any objections?" The woman jerked her chin as she asked this, and Yomiuri-senpai responded imdiately.
"Yes. The values of people in our present day have remained unbroken and exist atop our culture. By learning about literature, you learn of the past, learn of their religion, learn of their manners, which then allows you to gain an adaptable and accurate observation as to how we ended up the way we are right now. For example, a certain country's artist creates a music video which looks down on another country's religion, which then creates an outbreak of anger from these citizens. Is there any scientific way to prove the reason for this anger? Can you co up with any estimation or formula for how to quell their anger? A researcher of humanities would surely co up with several different tentative theories."
"Hmm, quite the aggressive objection, but your reasoning is not wrong."
In fact, her actions showed that it must have been quite a strong argunt. For the first ti, the woman stopped playing with her fork and started to think about what Yomiuri-senpai had said. However, it took her a re few seconds to speak up again.
"How can you even prove the causality that this anger is related to and originated from that country's history and religion?"
"Eh?"
"Did this anger arise solely because their culture had been looked down upon? Maybe the music might have made the inhabitants uncomfortable, and the format of the video aided in amplifying this anger?"
"That correlation could be revealed with thorough investigation and social experints with the people involved."
"Checkmate, I'd say."
"Eh? …Ah."
Yomiuri-senpai froze up, and the woman stole a piece of her pancake with a smile. Unbefitting of her mature and knowledgeable age, the woman started chewing on the slice she stole like an innocent child.
"You can't defend against that. Basically, you just admitted yourself that looking through past literature was aningless, and that we should focus on research about what is occurring in the present. What a sha, prepare a better logic next ti, Yomiuri-kun."
"Urk…" Yomiuri-senpai held her head in frustration and defeat.
After that, she stabbed her fork into her pancake and stuffed it into her cheek. Seeing her aggressively chew on it while still pouting made her seem much more childish, which honestly surprised . The whole question and answer spiel, and even the sight of her right now, was completely different from how I knew her at work. Since she always shows nothing but leisure and superiority towards , seeing her at a loss for words and beaten into a corner was oddly refreshing.
"Kudou-sensei, how can you make so many objections for the opposing side? You're also part of the faculty for humanities." Yomiuri-senpai asked.
It seems like this knowledgeable woman was nad Kudou. Judging from the fact that Yomiuri-senpai called her 'Sensei,' she must be a professor, or rather an associate professor. I read in a book once that you can't beco a professor without reaching a certain age, and this woman didn't look that old to begin with.
"It's simple, really. I understand that true feelings and lip service are two different things."
"I see… So then, what argunt would you have made, Sensei?"
"I would have started by asking 'What's wrong with being a soft science'?."
"…Eh?"
"It's true that humanities is categorized as a soft science, but you can still argue against the premise that it doesn't posit any contribution to humanity. It's true that the natural sciences' research and progress will directly impact and influence humanity's well-being as a whole, but sadly the happiness of humanity is not sothing that has a direct value associated with it. Righteousness and happiness sadly don't share any common tendencies across all of humanity. For example, I personally see this ti of eating sweet and delicious pancakes as the greatest happiness there could be, but what percentage of people in this world would agree with ?"
"Isn't leaving behind children in this world generally seen as a shared happiness between humans?"
"So are you saying those who don't want to have children can never be truly happy?"
"…A valid point. There are a lot more people in today's age who do not want children."
"Exactly. As things stand, the thesis of humanity's happiness—or how humanity should continue to exist—is exceptionally vague. Even the results and inventions of natural sciences can only achieve things that are superficial. Precisely because we are part of the soft sciences, and a practical science, you should accept our studies if you do not want society and this world to fall to ruin. That's probably what my answer would have been."
"Ahh, when you put it that way…"
"Bringing attention to communication with other countries wasn't a bad attempt. If you had accepted the fact that we are a soft science, but then showed the value we offered, it might have been a better attempt."
"Very interesting… Thank you very much, Kudou-sensei." Yomiuri-senpai lowered her head towards the woman slightly and let out a sigh. "Man, I really can't beat you."
"No. You're amazing, Yomiuri-san, I couldn't follow at all from the very beginning."
"Right, right~"
"Hey, you two. Don't act like this doesn't have anything to do with you. I'm treating you to so expensive pancakes, so you have to entertain . Now, for the next topic of our debate…"
"Ehh, there's no way we can win against Yomiuri-san!"
The university girls raised groans of despair. As for Yomiuri-senpai, right when a new topic of conversation ca up, she averted her gaze from her friends, probably to hide her frustration. In doing so, she coincidentally looked over in my direction… or maybe not so coincidentally, judging from the circumstances. She then t eyes with as I stood next to the street. Crap, I thought.
I might have accidentally picked up parts of their conversation, but if you think about it objectively, I was pretty much just eavesdropping. I can't really say I was doing anything above-board there. However, Yomiuri-senpai looked away from imdiately and glanced down at her wristwatch.
"I'm sorry, Kudou-sensei, I need to head to my part-ti job."
"Yes, feel free. Don't worry about the paynt."
"Thank you very much for treating ." Yomiuri-senpai gave a polite bow, put her bag over her shoulder, and left the store.
When she passed by , she gave a faint glance that looked more like a ssage than anything, so I followed after her. A few minutes later, when the pancake store wasn't in sight anymore, I spoke up to Yomiuri-senpai.
"I'm sorry about what happened before."
"Since you've apologized, you basically admit to your guilt, correct?"
"Okay, hold on. That's a misunderstanding. I didn't do it on purpose."
"So you're a criminal who doesn't know when to give up, I see. …Well, I don't think you were stalking or anything."
"I'm glad to have received your good faith."
"Since you're pretty clever, you'd probably use an even more sick thod if you were stalking soone."
"I really didn't want that kind of good faith, okay?" In the face of such harsh criticism, I opened my bag and showed her my reference books. "I just ca from my sumr classes. I'm taking them at the prep school nearby."
"Ahh. I see, my friend."
"Waah, so much trust and reassurance in your weird choice of words."
"Basically, you weren't just waiting for , but were also listening in on our conversation?"
"That's…"
She set up. I walked right into her guided question, leaving unable to say anything. Seeing this, Yomiuri-senpai burst out laughing.
"I was just joking. Just paying you back a bit since you saw in such an embarrassing situation. Co on, let's go."
"Ah, yes."
I hurriedly got off my bike and started walking next to Yomiuri-senpai, pushing it as I went. I briefly glanced over at her. With her beautiful black hair, her prim and proper clothes, she gave off the air of a noblewoman as she was bathed in the white sunlight. Although it was already getting close to evening, it seed as bright and sunny as noonti. It was nightti last month when we went to the movie theater, but these clothes made her seem even more neat and tidy than usual.
"I didn't think you'd be there to see have my logic destroyed and frustrated like that. My pride as a senior was greatly injured."
"No, that's not…"
I never had any respect for you to begin with—I forced myself to stop before I said these words. However, the nuance in what I had said before then seed to have been conveyed, as Yomiuri-senpai gave a sharp glare. Feeling like I was being stabbed by a million needles, I quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, who was that person just now?"
"Are you talking about Kudou-sensei?"
"Yeah, her."
"That's Junior-kun for you. You had three young university students at your disposal, but you looked at the ripe woman instead."
"Aren't you being the rude one for talking about her age?"
"Those kinds of things are allowed if it's between won, Junior-kun."
I wonder if she learned about that from this Kudou-sensei as well. Of course I didn't even dare to ask. I don't want any more trouble than I've already gotten myself into today.
"Kudou-sensei is an associate professor at my university. I imagine you must have guessed as much from her age, right?"
"Yes, vaguely. But aren't you on sumr break right now? Do you usually eat pancakes with your professors like that?"
"She sotis invites us out like that. Well, not many people actually join her."
"So you are different. Is that what you're saying, Mr. Self-conscious?"
"50 points for that remark."
"Are you displeased now? Normally you'd always tease like that."
"At least call Ms. Self-conscious. I am a woman after all."
"That's what you're displeased about?"
Apparently she didn't have any complaints about being called self-conscious.
"At my university, I'm actually in the group of diligent people. I doubt you can even imagine how I must be, since I act so completely differently around you."
"I know that you're clever, so it's not that much of an image breaker… I was just impressed that there's always a higher place, huh."
"Kudou-sensei seems like she's living in a different world, yeah."
"I can't really tell much with just that one scene I saw."
"She's pretty much always like that. Like she's bottomless, and it's often hard to tell what she's even thinking~"
"Well that's pretty much how you seem to , Yomiuri-senpai."
She's a girl older than who seems to always have so kind of trick up her sleeve, not allowing to understand anything about her. With how knowledgeable and quick-witted she is, it always feels like she's got dancing on top of her palm. Maybe the age gap between us is sothing I subconsciously beca aware of, which then causes to react like that. Maybe this is sothing totally common. If I were to stand on the sa stage as Yomiuri-senpai, would I be able to fully understand her? While I was thinking that, Yomiuri-senpai made a frank expression.
"Ehh, I don't want that."
"Don't want what exactly?"
"You're thinking about how you'll push down one day, right?"
"Huh?"
Unable to progress what I had just been told, I let out a dumbfounded voice.
"It's frustrating if you lack knowledge and wits, okay? One day I'll tell you."
"Was education always a battle like this?"
"That's how I enjoy it. Did you not expect that?"
"No, it makes total sense."
Judging from her looks alone, she's a prim and proper book reader, and a literary girl who tries to gain knowledge by reading books. However, she also has the rebellious heart of a young girl. That is how Yomiuri Shiori works.
"But holding such a long and serious debate must be exhausting, right?"
"Of course it is. You always have to be on edge so that your logic doesn't fall apart, and you can't relax either. Not to ntion that Kudou-sensei is the type of person who imdiately pries apart any kind of gap or contradiction with your logic. It's so stressful and exhausting that I really don't want to go through that kind of thing before my part-ti job."
"Despite that, you were quite proactive."
"If I'm doing sothing, I go at it full strength. Although it's annoying. Well, if I'm exhausted, I can just recharge my energy in a different way."
"In what way?"
"By teasing you. I get a lot of energy and HP back. Ahh, talking with you is so relaxing, Junior-kun."
"Aren't you just preying on the innocence of other people?"
"Thanks for being the back of my chair, lad~" She sounded like an old lady, putting one hand on my bike's basket and pretending to stagger.
"Um." I was about to ask her to quit using like so kind of walking cane, but I stopped myself.
I see. This is the biggest difference between Ayase-san and Yomiuri-senpai. After we made it through the small alley and reached the main street, the bookstore was right in front of us, with both of us walking here together. Yomiuri-senpai is unable to decline Kudou-sensei's invitation to eat out no matter how botherso it is, and she still participates in the discussion. Of course, she probably sees rits in it large enough for her to pull through all of it, but normally you would want to avoid physical and ntal exhaustion as much as possible. Even so, she manages to keep both sides in balance, which is pretty amazing.
In my case, it makes want to forgive her for anything she does for the sake of her own convenience. Even if she cos up with contrived nonsensical logic at tis, the conversation is enjoyable enough for to ignore it. When you have soone who you can be relaxed around and use to your convenience in the good sense of the word, you can balance your diligent side with your not-so diligent side. Maybe everything would be resolved if Ayase-san had soone like that?
"Ah…"
Right as I was thinking about that, Yomiuri-senpai and I walked into the bookstore, running into Ayase-san who seed to have just arrived herself. It felt like another coincidence that happened today, but then again, we were in the sa shift so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
"Yaho, Saki-chan!"
"Mm. Ah, yes, hello. You two were together?"
It appeared that this encounter was quite unexpected for Ayase-san, and she showed a cool reaction similar to how she would act at ho, but quickly flashed a friendly smile. The only one who didn't notice that anything was off was Yomiuri-senpai.
"We just happened to et near the prep school he's attending, right, Junior-kun?"
"Um… yes, that's right." My response ca out a bit late.
Whether it was by coincidence or not, I started to feel awkward with Ayase-san actually in front of it. Maybe it's because I've been thinking about her constantly. I felt pathetic, even though I hadn't done anything wrong.
"Just so happened to? I see." Ayase-san slowly repeated what Yomiuri-senpai had said like she was chewing on the words, then she smiled. "Well, even if you were close enough to et up outside of work, I, as his family, would be relieved to know that Asamura-kun is with soone as wonderful as Yomiuri-san."
"Ehhh? You're a good teaser, Saki-chan."
"I am rely gifted with good guidance from you Senpai, fufu." Ayase-san's shoulders gently moved up and down as she giggled.
I guess that's about to be expected from her high adaptability. She seems to have already mastered her ability to converse with Yomiuri-senpai. However, sothing felt off to . Did Ayase-san ever do sothing like this? Naly, to banter about the relationships of a stranger she wasn't all too close with?
With that thought plaguing , and also with the conversation about the pool in mind, I had a mountain of things I wanted to talk about with Ayase-san, so I decided to bring them up during work. However, as it had been before, the timing today was unbelievably awful.
Just when I had a tiny bit of ti on my hands, Ayase-san was busy at the cash register, and when I was folding so book covers for later, Ayase-san left to apparently check the condition of the bookshelves. Even when break ti arrived and I asked 'Did you get a response from Narasaka-san?' Ayase-san simply shook her head and left the room to buy so drinks outside. It felt like she was avoiding .
Ti passed until it was already late enough for us to leave. I finished my preparations to leave and waited for Ayase-san like I always would. However, only Yomiuri-senpai ca out of the changing room.
"Ah, Junior-kun. Saki-chan asked to tell you sothing. Apparently she wants to stop by sowhere, so you can go ho without her."
"Eh?" I blinked in confusion.
I didn't hear anything about that, though? I panicked a bit and checked my phone, but I hadn't received any kind of ssage or email from Ayase-san. Right as I was in a baffled daze, my phone vibrated. I panicked and looked down at the screen, and saw a single line on there.
'I'll be shopping for sothing, so you can go ho without .'
That was the only sentence I received over LINE. 'Got it', I responded. It's not like there aren't any stores that are open after 10pm of course. Maybe she's buying sothing that'd be too awkward to purchase with around? That being said, this is all so abrupt that I can't help but be curious about it. Yet again, it felt like she was avoiding . No, no, no. There's no way, right?
While thinking about all of this, I pedaled my bike and quickly reached our flat. I was yet again reminded how quickly I could make it ho if I was riding my bike normally. However, when I asked myself if I really wanted to get ho that badly, then the answer was an obvious no. It seems like I've gotten used to coming ho with Ayase-san over the past few weeks.
I parked my bike in the usual parking lot for the flat and made my way up to our apartnt. Since it was Monday, my old man was already ho, and probably asleep since he had to get up early tomorrow. As for Akiko-san, she must be working right now. I quietly muttered 'I'm ho' so that I wouldn't wake up my old man and headed to the living room. Normally, this would be when Ayase-san would start making dinner for us, but… I can't always rely on her, huh?
I opened up the fridge and spotted so salad. Beside I spotted a small pot covered with plastic wrap.
"Miso soup, huh?"
Figuring that Ayase-san would be ho soon as well, I prepared two bowls for the miso soup and another two for the rice, one for each of us. I took out the salad, wondering what I should make for the main dish. When I checked through the freezer and fridge again, I found so small plastic packs in the freezer.
"What are these?"
When I took them out, they turned out to be cooked rice with added ingredients, but frozen. There was rice colored brown from the soup stock, as well as sliced shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and other ingredients mixed in there.
"I'm ho."
I turned around and saw Ayase-san enter the front door.
"What? Ah, dinner… Sorry, I'll get to it right away." She said.
"Ah, no, don't worry about it. I was thinking I might as well do it myself today. What am I supposed to do with this, by the way?" I showed her the plastic container with the cooked rice.
Since I had lived most of my life without the concept of cooking rice, I never ca up with the idea of putting cooked rice in the freezer.
"Ah, well. I made that in advance, so you just have to warm it up in the microwave."
"…How many minutes?"
"It says on the microwave."
When she said that, I actually had no clue what she ant, so I checked the microwave. On it, there were different recomnded tis for cooking different kinds of things that you'd want.
"Ah, this?"
There was an illustration there with rice inside a bowl that said 'Heat up' on it. We've been using this microwave for a solid five years, and I'd never noticed that icon. I put the frozen container into the microwave and went to press the start button.
"Ah, wait. Take the lid off."
I was confused. "Why is that?"
"If you leave the lid on, the ice inside will lt, and the rice will get all sticky. I don't like it like that."
"I… see?"
I actually had no idea what she was talking about, but if that made it better, I decided I might as well listen to her. As I was warming up the cooked rice, Ayase-san took care of preparing the miso soup she took out from the fridge. Along with the special rice, we also had the tofu miso soup and salad. Ayase-san also took out so tomatoes from the fridge, cut them into small pieces, and put them on top of the salad. It felt fairly luxurious to see the green color of the lettuce, cabbage, and cut radish and the white color of the salad mixed with the red color of the tomatoes.
"It looks really good."
"When cooking a Japanese-thed al for a family, it always ends up looking a bit brownish, so if you add tomatoes or paprikas, it gives it a bit more color."
Paprikas are basically colorful bell peppers that co in a variety of red, orange, and even yellow or green. I'd looked them up online once. Also, they're not as bitter as bell peppers, so with a bit of washing, you can even eat them raw. Ever since Ayase-san beca responsible for the cooking in our family, more and more weird dishes and ideas for cooking started to pop up. Or maybe my and my old man's cooking knowledge is just super outdated. But, leaving aside broccoli or cauliflower, I don't think you'd usually run into stuff like Romanesco or other excotic vegetables.
"There's a lot of inventing going on, huh?" I started to feel apologetic for always eating everything and never thinking about it.
"It's not that big of a deal if you ask ."
"No no, I'm always thankful. Really. I already gave up on searching for that high-pay part-ti job, so I just feel guilty for always being on the receiving end."
"I'm already thankful that you looked for so studying-oriented BGM. So we're even." Ayase-san gave a calm smile.
Only in tis like these did it feel like all the awkward atmosphere from the past few days had vanished. After that, Ayase-san put so tea leaves into the small teapot. I saw her doing this and took out two teacups from the tableware shelf, putting them in front of Ayase-san. After she finished brewing the tea, she poured it into both the cups so we would have sothing to drink with our dinner.
The ward-up rice went perfectly with the soup stock, and it was delicious. Not to ntion that, just as Ayase-san had said, the rice didn't stick together too much, which made it even better.
"If that's not enough, you can warm up another pack from the freezer."
"No, it's pretty late already. This is enough."
When I looked at the clock on the wall, I saw that it was getting close to 11pm. Now that I've eaten, I should take a bath and then head to bed. Not to ntion that Ayase-san would always take her bath after , so the longer I took, the longer she'd have to stay awake. However, it was indeed a comfortable dinner. I'm hesitating now. I almost felt like ending the day without cleaning up the whole thing we had gone through this afternoon. With a sigh, I forced myself to speak up again.
"So… about the whole pool thing with Narasaka-san."
"We're still talking about that?"
"I an, I still haven't gotten her contact information. If she's waiting for my response, then I figured it would be rude to make her wait."
"…Alright, I'll tell you." Ayase-san sounded a bit annoyed. She grabbed her smartphone from the dining table and started searching for Narasaka-san's contact address.
"Wait." I put up my palm, gesturing to her to stop.
Ayase-san gave a sowhat puzzled expression.
"I actually don't care about Narasaka-san's contact address at all."
"…What?"
"To be more accurate, I'm not all that interested in going to the pool with Narasaka-san."
Ayase-san's sowhat suspicious expression now turned into one of confusion. She was making the kind of face that basically read 'What is he talking about?' Or maybe I'm just saying sothing she didn't expect to. And she's not wrong, because I'm going to say sothing that would go against anything she would have anticipated to say.
I don't mind the fact that Ayase-san doesn't want to go to the pool. And if I wanted to respect her freedom of choice, I should wait for her to change her mind. People who willfully disregard other people's opinions are just egoists deluded by their own stories. Reality is not so kind of story, which is why this kind of action is sothing toxic, sothing that could only hurt others. I know that, but that doesn't an I'm not allowed to worry about her.
"I want to go to the pool with you, Ayase-san."
"I don't get it." Ayase-san looked like she had seen an alien—or rather, I had never t an alien, so I have no way of knowing what they look like—but she gave that kind of look.
I, however, ignored this and continued.
"The reason I said I wanted to go is because I thought maybe you were interested in going yourself. The reason I wanted to know Narasaka-san's contact info was because I was hoping that maybe you'd be jealous about being the only person having fun."
"?"
"You."
"Why would I be jealous?" Ayase-san looked like she had lost all context for the current conversation.
If only this had overlapped with the feelings she simply hadn't realized yet, I might have just been able to have a bit more relief.
"You want to go to the pool, right?"
Ayase-san's mouth closed, and it seed like she purposefully puckered her lips close so that no words could co out.
"I heard about it from Akiko-san. You're bad with the heat, so you'd always ask for ice cream, or beg her to visit the pool with her when you were younger, right? And even right now, you can't handle heat all too well, right?"
"That's…"
"It's true, right? I an, when the A/C broke down, you imdiately stayed in your room. Knowing that you work like that, you at least would be a bit interested to visit the pool with your friends, right?"
"Why are you so dead-set on getting to go to the pool?"
"Rember what my old man said? Once we're third-year students, we have to focus on university entrance exams, so we should have so fun now while we can."
"Yeah, he did…"
"I understand that you want to beco independent as quickly as possible. But if you keep stressing and pressuring yourself like this every single day, you'll collapse before you even reach your goal. I'm worried about that, okay?"
"You're worried…?"
"That's right. I want you to take a step back, Ayase-san. I figure it would be best for you to spread your wings and get a bit of rest."
I had said everything I wanted to, so all I could do was wait for Ayase-san's response.
"You can't… say that for sure." Ayase-san's gaze dropped to the table, her eyebrows narrowed downwards. "I don't have the ti to go to the pool. I really don't."
"Ayase-san…"
With her lips tightly pursed together, she reached for a sticky note on the table, scribbled down sothing that she was reading from her phone, and put it in front of with such force that it felt like she was slapping it down on the table.
"I'm going to study now." She said. She put her dishes in the sink and went to her room.
"No good, huh…?" I let out a sigh and dropped my gaze down to the sticky note.
It was a phone number, with a handwritten, albeit not-very-neatly-written, 'Maaya' below it, so this must be Narasaka-san's phone number.
"Why would I go there all on my own…?" I slumped my shoulders in defeat and returned to my room after cleaning up the dishes.
───
1 The University of Tokyo, probably one of the most difficult universities to get into.
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