Volume 1 - CH 2.2

It's been relatively sunny today, as it has been for the past few days.

The clouds covering the sky were gray, close to white, and a little sunlight was leaking through the gaps. The concrete of the paved road is also almost dry.

After riding my bicycle for about 20 minutes straight along the wide national highway between large stores, I see Irisawa High School, the high school I attended. Although it was supposed to be a preparatory school, it was an ordinary public high school where only a few students could pass the entrance exam to prestigious universities and medical schools. There were no strong clubs, including the soccer club I belonged to.

Passing the school gate with a bronze sculpture of a woman holding a ball in one hand and holding it up to the sky, I got off my bicycle and joined the crowd of people on the paved road with cherry blossom trees planted along the side. I park my bicycle at the prefabricated, roofed bicycle parking lot and head toward the entrance to the school.

I change my shoes in front of the shoe box, walked up the stairs into the classroom, and sat down on my seat by the window. It was about ten minutes before homeroom started. The classroom was crowded with the chattering voices of students who had arrived at school one after another.

Since this is not a school where only the talented or those with poor grades gather, there are many different types of people in the classroom, from serious-looking students who wear their uniforms properly to the more flamboyant ones who are dressed down and lightly dye their hair. The groups were usually divided by fashion trends.

The boys had formed three particularly close-knit groups. But I am not in any of them. Nagai, who is in the same club, is in my class, so I spend most of my free time with him. I have never had any inconvenience because of this.

When I look at the type of people who try their best to create a character or constantly stay connected and communicate with each other, even online, I think it's amazing in both an honest and twisted way. I didn't have the ability or the motivation to participate in the tedious classroom communication game of choosing friends and groups to hang out with and tuning myself to them.

After sitting down, and a short time later, Nagai came to school with an enamel bag slung over his shoulder. Sitting diagonally in front of me, he said lightly, "Yoo,". I responded in a small voice.

After that, the homeroom teacher came to the classroom to check attendance, and after about ten minutes of homeroom, the first-period class began.

It's obvious, but just because Izumi moved in doesn't mean my school life will change. I was in the same class and followed the same timetable that I had repeated over and over again. For some reason, I felt at ease in this familiar routine. I had never felt such a thing before, so I thought that maybe I had been a little tense after all because I had a new roommate for the past two days.

Then, at lunchtime after four hours of morning classes, a female student with a short skirt, a short-sleeved blouse, and medium black hair with a few waves appeared at the classroom door.

"Kenichi, hey."

I was about to put away my study materials and was about to open my lunch box. Yuriko entered the classroom and approached me. The boy in the seat in front of me had gone away, so she sat down in that seat and rested her cheek on my desk. A white scrunchie, which she sometimes uses during club activities, was wrapped around her wrist.

"You know, I saw you at the Irisawa Mall yesterday afternoon."

I let out a small breath. I knew you were going to talk about that, I thought. I stopped unwrapping my lunch box.

"There was Oba-san and a girl, right? Who was that girl?"

I pondered for a while what to say, but finally, I answered shortly, "A relative,". Yuriko's eyes narrowed and she continued her question, still looking doubtful.

"Did she has some business to do at your home?"

"No, well,......"

It's hard to tell her when it comes to something like this. However even if I hid it, Yuriko, who lives nearby, would surely find out someday, and if I continued to hide it and she did find out, she would misunderstand me. I thought it would be a good time to tell Yuriko what had happened, so I whispered to her.

"Actually, we're going to take care of that girl for the next six months."

"Haa!?"

With her voice, Yuriko's narrowed eyes widened, she lifted her hips, and let out a loud voice, loud enough to quiet the hustle and bustle of the lunch break.

Yuriko noticed that she was attracting stares, and then she sat down in her chair, smiling wryly at those around her.

"But, she looked about the same age as us. Is she a cousin or something?"

"No... I think our parents were second cousins or something."

Yuriko raised her eyebrows when I answered.

"Isn't that mean you two are a stranger?"

To these words, I immediately replied, "No, we're relatives,". I tried to shake off the image of Izumi in her light clothing that I had seen the other day and continued with my explanation.

"Our mothers are relatives and good friends from long ago. Her name is Izumi Rina, and her mother had to be away from home for a long time for work, so she decided to come to our house. All the other relatives were in the countryside, and apparently, we were the only house within commuting distance of Izumi's high school, so she came to our house two days ago. That's all."

"... Hmm. But, you seemed to be getting along pretty well, though. She seemed to get along well with Oba-san also."

"It seems that my mother has met her several times."

"How about you?"

"I met her for the first time two days ago."

Yuriko gave me a suspicious look with her steady eyes. I don't understand. I'm sure I have nothing to hide.

"Is it okay to do that even if you're a relative?"

"I don't know what to say, but I'm not the one who made the decision. At the moment, Izumi and I hardly interfere with each other. We just have meals together."

"Hee."

Yuriko looked at me with mean eyes.

Then Nagai, who had gone to the school canteen to buy something, came back. He was holding a juice box in one hand and a bag of bread in the other.

"Huh? Mori, what's wrong?"

Nagai said to Yuriko as he sat in his seat diagonally in front of me. Yuriko also turned to Nagai and said, "Hey, listen, Nagai."

"Wait a minute, don't tell everyone what's going on in my house!"

I said impatiently, and Yuriko's lips twitched.

"What? If you're going to keep quiet about it, you must have a guilty conscience."

"I'm not!"

"I can't believe it."

Nagai, who was watching our exchange with a blank expression on his face, said,

"I don't know what's going on, but you guys are as close as ever."

He said that and smiled bitterly.

Yuriko groaned.

"How can you look at this situation and think that we are getting along?"

"It looks like a lover's quarrel to me."

Nagai said teasingly to Yuriko. Yuriko was about to say something in response, but I impatiently nailed him.

"Hey, seriously, don't say it. I don't want any weird rumors to come out about us."

She bent her mouth into the "へ" character, groaned for a moment, and then said, 

"Well, let's just say I've got one new weakness. It can't be helped. So, buy me a drink next time as hush money," she said to me with a doubtful expression on her face. She looked like she still didn't have enough explanation, but it seemed that Yuriko had read the atmosphere of the situation.

"Okey okey, I know."

"Looks like you were talking about something I wasn't supposed to hear."

With that, Nagai brought his chair closer to my desk, opened the bread package, and inserted a straw into the juice box.

After we had managed to get through our conversation, I opened my bento box as well.

The menu was almost the same as usual, with Karaage and egg rolls.

Then Yuriko, who was about to leave her seat, saw it and,

"Ah, your bento is a little different from usual," she said. I was caught off guard and was taken aback.

"Huh?"

"It's different from Oba-san's bento. She always put nori on top of her rice."

What the h*ll is this girl. So you pay attention to such things, huh. But it is true. If you look closely, you can see that the bento Izumi made for me has the same menu as usual, but the way it is arranged is a little different from usual.

Nagai, who did not understand the context of the conversation, tilted his head, but perhaps thinking it was none of his business, took a bite of the yakisoba bread and sipped his orange juice through a straw.

Yuriko looked at me and the lunch box alternately and said, "Hmmm," meaningfully.

"What is it?" I said.

"Nothing at all."

And with that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the classroom.

After Yuriko was out of sight, Nagai asked me.

"So, what happened? Did you get in a fight?"

"No, we didn't."

We didn't, I guess. I didn't explain myself clearly, and I may have made her a little annoyed, but I don't think it was anything to the extent of a fight.

"So that's it. However, she seems to be in a bad mood."

"Yuriko is always like that."

"That's true, But if Mori gets really mad, we will get in trouble during club activities, so do something for us. If she doesn't do her job, our practice will be less efficient."

I don't know what he meant by 'do something for us' but I nodded my head and said, "Yeah."