Volume 1 - CH 4.5

I parked my bicycle in the bicycle parking lot and entered the park with the girls.

The structure of the park is a bit unusual, with a grassy field and a pond side by side. The two are surrounded by a paved road in the shape of figure eight. The sidewalk was flanked by large sakura and ginkgo trees, and at this time of year, when the leaves are in full growth, the sidewalk is flooded with a slightly green-tinted light that shines through the foliage.

The three of us walked along that paved sidewalk, and every time Stella went to smell the plants on the side, we stopped and waited for him to start walking again.

There were a few other people running on the sidewalk beside us. A few birds were pecking at something at the roots of the surrounding trees.

While walking, Hoshino-san and Izumi were talking about school. The names of people I don't know, whether they are friends or teachers of the girls, were flying around. Izumi's tone of voice was almost the same as when she talked to me and my mother at home.

As I walked behind them, Stella would occasionally look back at me and give me curious eyes. As if to say, "Why is this guy following me?" I smiled bitterly every time I saw his eyes. Then, with 'pui', Stella turned her head forward in a cute way.

There are several gazebos around the pond at the back of the park. We took a break in one of them.

A sign was attached to the wooden railing facing the pond that said, "Do not feed the Koi." But as I approached the pond, a large number of Koi, obviously expecting to be fed, gathered around, making a lot of splashing noises, and peeked out of the water.

"They looked like zombies."

Izumi, who came next to me, looked down at the Koi and said so. Indeed, the Koi were gathering like zombies. There were also several water birds and turtles swimming in the pond.

Hoshino-san sat down on a large, square, wooden bench, pulled out a water bottle from the knapsack she was carrying, and began to drink. Stella, perhaps tired from his stroll, lay at his feet, flat on the ground up to his chin, in a perfect resting position.

When the wind blew, the sound of the leaves on the surrounding trees rustling could be heard loudly. The surface of the pond in early summer, which looked slightly greenish with clusters of aquatic plants, reflected the sky like a mirror.

Izumi and I leaned against the railing for a while and watched the raging Koi silently, and then we sat down on the bench where Hoshino-san was sitting, side by side.

For a while, we could hear the noisy sound of the Koi splashing around in the water, but after Izumi and I were out of sight, the area became quiet.

"How long have you been Izumi's friend, Hoshino-san?"

I coughed to dispel the silence and asked her this, and she closed the lid of her water bottle. Then, she replied to my question, though her tone was still nervous.

"We had known each other since middle school, but last year we were in the same class for the first time. Then we became good friends."

I said, "I see," and nodded my head. As I thought, Hoshino-san had been attending the same private school as Izumi for a long time.

Then, "What is Izumi like at school?" I asked her what I was most curious about. Hoshino-san smiled softly.

"She' s reliable, stylish, and popular with the other students in her class."

"That's not true."

Hearing Hoshino-san's answer, Izumi smiled bitterly and was modest, but if she is as diligent as she shows at school and at home, I am sure it must be true.

Then we fell silent again and sat on the bench for a while, listening to the rustling of leaves. Suddenly, damp wind blew. Then the sun went down and the area suddenly became dark.

"Oh, it's raining."

A waterfowl flew out of the pond, as Izumi muttered.

The rain drizzled down and made a black stain around where we were. I thought it might be an evening shower, but the rain was not that heavy. Stella reacted to the sound of the rain by twitching his ears and lifting his head from where he was lying.

"Did they say it was going to rain today?"

Izumi said as she looked up at the gray sky. Looking at the weather website, it looked like rain clouds were moving into the area where we were. It's not that big of a cloud, so it will stop soon.

"Maybe it's just temporary. A small rain cloud is moving in," I replied.

"I see."

Izumi stood up and looked at the sky, then sat down on a bench. The wooden roof and the sound of rain falling on the pond echoed around us. Raindrops were falling on the surface of the pond, creating an intricate ripple pattern of countless round patterns that interfered with each other. We sat and stared at the scene. The sound of the park's trees catching the rain filled the area.

"Sakamoto-san, you are a relative of Rina-chan, aren't you?"

Then, Hoshino-san opened her mouth and asked me, who was sitting beside her.

"Ah, yes."

I nodded, and she continued her question in a casual tone.

"In which area is your home?"

Izumi, who had been quietly staring at the pond, suddenly looked up.

"Well..."

As I was mumbling how to reply, Izumi interrupted from beside me, "You know,"

"---The house I moved into is Kenichi-kun's house."

"Eh?" Hoshino-san's voice seemed to leak out spontaneously.

"But, the other day......"

Then she looked at me. I felt a little guilty at her gaze, which contained a hint of doubt. It seemed that Izumi had not yet told Hoshino-san that we were living together. I felt I had to tell her, so I opened my mouth.

"I misled you. I thought it would be too much trouble to explain the situation to you. ............... Sorry."

The truth is, it wasn't just that. Without knowing what kind of person Hoshino-san is or what kind of relationship she has with Izumi, I had a lot of selfish assumptions that Hoshino-san might have bad thoughts about us.

"......So you two live together?"

Hoshino asked, looking at the two of us.

Izumi nodded her head in a firm manner.

"......Relatives, right?"

"Yeah. Relatives. I'm going to be staying with them for a while from now on."

Hoshino-san remained silent for a few moments, holding the water bottle on his lap with both hands, and then smiled, "Geez,"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Her tone was not angry, but light, as if she was trying to end this conversation.

"I'm sorry. It was a little hard to say," Izumi said with a smile on her face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," I said, apologizing from the side.

"But living with a boy your age is like something out of a manga, isn't it? I like that kind of situation. Ah, but I'm not imagining anything weird about Rina-chan and you."

Hoshino-san, who was a bit excited, said so, and Izumi bitterly laughed.

"Do you like manga?"

When I asked, Hoshino-san nodded, a bit embarrassed.

"She likes it very much. Aiko-chan has a bookshelf in her room that is as big as Kenichi-kun's, and it is lined with manga. Especially stories about boys and boys in love......"

As Izumi continued her story, Hoshino shouted, " Waah--!". Startled, Stella raised her head.

"You can't talk about that---"

"Eh? Why not? You said before that this is literature. Kenichi-kun, he's a book lover, so maybe we can talk about it. Err, what's it called again? Bi-el......?"

"Stop it!!"

Hoshino-san turned bright red, and Izumi, perhaps not understanding what was going on, looked puzzled, but still feeling overwhelmed by her desperation, apologized and stopped talking, saying, "S-Sorry......,". I had generally figured out Hoshino-san's hobbies as we talked, but Izumi seemed to have no knowledge of that side of the world.

I pretended not to have heard anything, and while scratching my head, I muttered, "I hope the rain stops soon," and looked at the pond.

A private all-girls junior and senior high school is a completely different world to me, and I had no idea what it was like to live there, but this exchange gave me a glimpse of how Izumi and Hoshino-san were spending their time at school.

After about ten minutes, the rain began to drizzle and then stopped. The sky was still covered with thin clouds, but the surroundings were becoming brighter, and the slight red of the setting sun was beginning to mix with the sunlight.

When the rain stopped, we left the gazebo, walked along the pavement, and headed for the park exit. The smell of fresh air was rising from the rain-soaked plants, along with the humid heat.

After leaving the park, Hoshino-san's house seemed to be in the same direction as ours, so we walked together along a residential street.

Although many of the buildings in this area are relatively new, the street near the park is lined with several old-fashioned private stores. A barbershop with a red, blue, and white spiraling sign, a butcher shop with a cash register on a glass case in front of the store, a ramen shop with an old sign with faded letters and reddish-brown rust on it, a bakery with flowers in a planter in front of the store, an Izakaya with their red noren curtains, stained with grease. All of them are small stores that seem to have blended into the daily life of the neighborhood over a long period of time. 

T/N : noren, sign curtain hung at shop entrance, Izakaya is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks.

As we passed through these streets and eventually came to a crossroads, Hoshino-san stopped with Stella and said, "We're going this way."

The road pointed out by Hoshino-san was a steep slope. At the top of the hill was a tall steel tower with long, bending power lines stretching in two directions. Under the setting sun, the steel material looked like a dull copper color. 

"See you later, Rina-chan."

"Yeah. See you at school."

Izumi replied, then folded her knees and gave him a pat on the head, "See you later, Stella-kun." Stella's tail wagged from side to side as if to say, "Bye-bye," with a clear expression on his face.

I also raised my hand in a small gesture, saying "goodbye," and Hoshino-san bowed in return. Then she took Stella's leash and headed up the hill.

"Shall we go home, too?"

"Yeah," Izumi nodded her head as she watched Hoshino-san walking up the hill.

It is only a few minutes from this crossroads to our house.

As we walked together down a street lined with similar-looking houses, somehow Izumi was taking more distance from me than usual. The rain from earlier had left the concrete black and wet, and the weeds on the roadside were covered with numerous droplets of water, reflecting the surrounding scenery on their transparent spherical surfaces.

"I'm sorry. It was better to explain at that time after all."

I opened my mouth as the house was in sight.

"It's all right. Besides, it's not only Kenichi-kun, but also I was hesitant to say anything about it and kept silent.

Izumi looked down slightly and said so.

"I see."

I wondered if she felt the same embarrassment about living with me as I did, even though she seems to be simple, full of holes, and not very good at relationships with the opposite sex. Thinking of this, for some reason, a small feeling similar to happiness spread like a ripple in my chest.

Finally, we arrived at the house, twisted the doorknob, which reflected the setting sun, and entered the house. As soon as the door was closed, the unlit entranceway suddenly became dim.

"I'm home," Izumi said, perhaps to my mother in her downstairs room. She changed from her running shoes to slippers and gave me a diffident look.

"Umm, I'm sweating a lot, Can I use the shower first?"

"Yeah," I nodded as I took off my leather shoes.

"Thank you. Then,"

Izumi went straight to the bathroom and I went into my room. I turned on the light and put my enamel bag on the bed.

When I sat in my desk chair, a mild feeling of drowsiness overcame me. As I closed my eyes in slumber, I heard the faint sound of a shower in the silence.