Volume 2 - CH 2.7

The foot injury was nothing serious after all. After a night's sleep with a new compress, I was back to almost no pain or discomfort, so I decided to attend practice again on the third day.

On the first night, the club members were in high spirits, and the room was noisy until late, with members having pants-off fights and playing weird videos on their phones. On the second day, however, everyone was tired and soon fell asleep. I slept well and was feeling good on the morning of the third day.

In the morning, before practice, Yuriko and Tachibana wrapped tape around my injured area yesterday while looking up how to do taping on their phones. It was painful to have the tape removed after a few failed attempts, but after that, I was able to get through the morning practice and the practice game against a nearby high school in the afternoon without hurting my leg again.

The practice game consisted of three 30-minute games with a break in between, followed by a 20-minute half-game with mostly first-year players. I only played in one of the 30-minute games and the second half of the 20-minute game.

Then finally, at 6:30 that afternoon, the camp was over. After we had cleaned up the grounds, we changed into our uniforms and went home. After all, the tension peaked on the first night, and by the time we broke up, everyone was exhausted, with little to say.

We drove through the dusk-red streets, and when we reached the residential area where Yuriko and I lived, we stopped at a convenience store. There I was finally able to give her a souvenir.

I took out the plastic bag in which I had put it so that it would not be crushed by other luggage and handed it to Yuriko, who sat down on the bench.

"Here. I know it's late."

"Oh. It's quite cute. Maybe you have good taste, Kenichi."

Yuriko held the box in her hand and looked at the illustration on the front.

"How was your visit to the cemetery?"

"I visited the cemetery without delay. I was only in front of the grave for about ten minutes, so I felt more like I was visiting my father's relatives than visiting his grave."

"What was the town like?"

"The atmosphere of that town is not so different from ours. The atmosphere of the town is not so different from ours. Also, the cicadas are very loud because of the proximity to the mountains."

"Hm," Yuriko said.

"I was very grateful to him in the past, and I would like to visit uncle's grave someday," she continued.

"Yeah......"

I nodded vaguely, unable to say either "you should come" or "let's visit there."

I suddenly remembered that three years ago, when my father had just died and I was having a hard time emotionally, Yuriko and I had talked here. In the early fall of my second year of junior high school, Yuriko approached me at this place and asked me to go out with her for the first time, just the two of us. It had been a little while since the hectic funeral, and although the shock had worn off, I was still feeling depressed. 

We just wandered around the shopping center and walked slowly through the city, but I could really feel Yuriko's concern for me. Looking back, Yuriko helped me a lot at that time.

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"Thank you for this," Yuriko said, and put it in her black backpack, which she had been holding on her lap. Then she turned her head toward me and asked,

"And by the way, let me ask you, this is not meant to be your answer, right?"

I felt an uneasy color in Yuriko's expression. I tried to suppress the emotions that were shaking deep in my chest, and said,

"Please wait a little longer."

Saying that, Yuriko looked away from me, nodded her head, and said, "Okay," and then stepped over to her bicycle parked nearby.

"I'll take that as a sign that you're thinking in the best direction. Then, see you."

With these words, she headed home. I couldn't see her face clearly because of the hair covering her profile.

☆ ☆ ☆

When I returned home, I noticed that the atmosphere in the house had changed from before I went to the camp. Izumi's sandals were neatly arranged in the entrance hallway, and her voice was leaking through the living room door.

Izumi, wearing a long navy blue skirt and a white T-shirt, was sitting at the dining table.

When our eyes met, Izumi smiled and said, "Welcome home," It had only been a week, but I felt as if I had not heard her voice for a long time.

"Welcome back," I said.

"I bought some souvenirs."

It seemed that Izumi and my mother had laid out various souvenirs for each other on the spot. There were quite a lot of them, including some from my aunt. I was somehow looking at that table full of sweets.

Then Izumi took something out of her backpack that was under the table.

"Kenichi-kun, here," she said, handing it to me. It was a book cover with a Japanese pattern and leaves.

"I thought it was cute. I found it at a general store in Hakone."

I was a little touched that Izumi had bought me something. When I thanked her, she smiled at me and said, "No problem."

"I bought something for you too, Izumi. Although it's only sweets."

Saying that, I handed Izumi a small box of madeleines I had stashed away on the kitchen shelf. I was a little discouraged by the fact that the ones she had bought for me looked more expensive than the ones I had bought for her, but,

"Thank you, for going out of your way to buy this for me."

She said that happily.

Afterward, after the three of us had dinner together for the first time in a while, when Izumi came back upstairs, I started talking to my mother.

"Did you hear that Ryuu-kun is going to be on a debate show?"

Then, she let out a long sigh.

"Yeah. I got a call while you were at camp."

"Did you have a fight?"

"I was a little angry with him, not to the point of a fight, but a little bit. Well, I don't think he listens to others, though."

I thought it was going to be something more serious, but my mother was cooler than I thought.

"I'm starting to feel like just go ahead and do whatever you want. I don't think he'll end up like your father. He won't be a child forever. I don't care if he gets hurt or becomes rich. Ah, but it would be nice to be rich. I'll have to renovate this house sooner or later."

"Do academics and critics make money?"

"Though it doesn't look like it's going to be much. That's why I'm counting on you, my second son. I didn't raise you for nothing."

Saying that, my mother tapped me on the shoulder with an oddly enthusiastic tap.

After that conversation, I went back to my room, put the book cover Izumi had given me on the paperback book I was reading, replaced the bookmark, and put it on my desk. The red book cover that Izumi had given me was the only thing that stood out on my plain desk.

Then I leaned back deeply in my chair. In the silence, I could feel Izumi's presence coming from behind the wall. Finally, I felt that the routine of this house had returned.

As I sat in my chair, I looked at the calendar. It was marked for the next few days. It was the day of the live broadcast of my brother's TV show.