CH 57

Chapter 57: Let's Chat Under The Bed

TL: Akabane

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After cleaning up from the BBQ, it was time to take a bath. Normally, I would have been in the mood for a hot spring bath,, but instead, the guys kept asking me about Igarashi to the point that I was sick and tired of it. All the guys were crazy about Igarashi. I really think she is a devilish woman. Because of this, I couldn't enjoy the hot spring at all. And even when it was time for bed, I was kept talking about Igarashi by the guys in the same room until the very last minute. It was tough. So I went to sleep right away. I must do my best again tomorrow.

I felt a soft touch on my cheek.

"Hey. Wake up."

It was a familiar feeling. I open my eyes. I see Igarashi's face in front of me. She was wearing pajamas, sitting by my bedside, tapping me on the cheek.

"What?!!!"

I lost my voice when my head bugged out. Igarashi smiled kindly, probably because she saw that I was awake. Then she crawled into my futon. I quickly get under the covers and turn on the backlight of my phone. A faint light gently illuminated Igarashi's face under the covers.

"Why are you here?"

I ask in a small voice so that the men sleeping around me don't notice.

"I wanted to talk to you. But I haven't had a chance ... so I'm here."

I remembered that in my previous world, this woman sneaked into my new place after cheating.

"I'm not stupid either, so I understand. It seems that Houjou and some other rich girl want to be in the same group with me. Tomoe overheard from the representative that tomorrow they're going to put Tokiwa and I in different groups as much as possible...even though we're going on a trip. We're not together."

Igarashi gently caressed my cheek. She smiles a fragile smile.

"I see. That's... yes. I'm sorry..."

"Yeah. This trip is fun, but I'm not happy. Hey, Tokiwa. What if... I was still next to Chusho when you called me?"

"I hate that guy."

"Fufufu. I know. So. If I had stopped traveling like Tokiwa-kun said. If you had come to pick me up, where would I have gone?"

I still don't have a clear answer to that question. My past is nagging at me to just give it to someone else. But when asked if I wanted to keep it for myself, the memory of the betrayal tied my feet and hands. I was punished for not making any decisions. And I'm back in the past. All my mistakes are gone. But I still hold a grudge. But I love her so much for being with me.

"I want to know that, too. I don't know where to go by pulling your hand. But..."

I hold Igarashi's hand as she caresses my cheek. Our fingers slowly intertwine.

"I didn't want to let go of your hand no matter how much it hurt... that's all..."

In the eyes of the world, they are just in a deplorable state of sarellari. They hurt each other with their unresolved feelings. And yet they can't leave each other. Reason whispers that this feeling is unconvincing. But my heart is still wavering in the back of my mind.

"I see. Tokiwa is in pain too. It hurts a lot...I feel a little relieved. That's strange. Even though it hurts, your heart is strangely cute."

We hold each other's other hand, the one we weren't holding. We bring our faces so close together that our foreheads are almost touching. We look at each other.

"We won't be together for a while, so let's chat a lot."

"Oh, okay. Let's chat a lot."

It was a chat about nothing. About the trivial events of our days....

"I walked from campus to Shibuya the other day. But I was a little off and ended up in Harajuku instead of Shibuya. Hey, what do you know about that town? Show me your knowledge of that town like you always do."

"Harajuku, huh? I don't know much about that place, but I like the atmosphere of Urahara better than Takeshita-dori. That is the birthplace of culture."

"Culture, huh. You sound like an intellectual. And I was in Urahara too..."

...or about her days on campus.

"That pond in Komaba looks kind of shabby when you see it after you enter the university, doesn't it?"

"I know what you mean. It doesn't look like a famous place. The pond at Hongo is so cool."

"It's nice there. The library is cool too."

"The buildings are cool there. I really like the new buildings on top of the old ones in Hongo."

"Haha. That's weird! It's good to preserve history, but it's too much! Ufufu."

A man and a woman are alone in a futon, but they're just holding hands and chatting. There's nothing sexy about it, but why does it make my heart flutter?

"Hey, when you say honeymoon, you mean Hawaii, right?"

"Yes, it is. I can't think of any other option than Hawaii."

My honeymoon in the previous world was in Hawaii. It was a very fun trip, even if it was a bit silly.

"I think so too. But you know what? If it wasn't Hawaii. Where would you like to go?"

"Well...I like architecture."

"Yeah. So, what do you want to do?

"Well, in Turkey, there are ruins of the oldest city in the world. I want to go there.

"The oldest human city?"

"Well, after being hunter-gatherers for so long, we finally chose to settle down in one place, and that was the beginning of architecture, right? You could call it the beginning of architecture, right?"

"Heh. I didn't know there was such a place. That's nice. I wonder if the people who lived there held hands like we did?"

"I'm sure they did. After the days when we didn't know where we were going, we lived there all the time and slept holding hands together. A place where we welcomed those days."

"I wonder if we have a place like that."

"I want it. Or..."

"Or what?"

"Haha. I'm in the architecture department. I'm just now wondering if I should build it myself."

"Fufu. I guess Tokiwa is like that, right? I bet he's going to be the type of dad who is obsessed with building his own home. He's going to build weird things in the yard with his Sunday carpentry skills. And then his wife and daughter will laugh at him."

"Even Igarashi. That's what happens. surely. She's going to change the position of the kitchen and the bed and the pattern of the house to suit her mood, and she's going to make her husband and son feel like she's the one who's doing the shaking."

What a sweet future scene. But it was a dream that never came true. I gave up on my dream and Igarashi ended it. But maybe we are now at a crossroads. My face and Igarashi's naturally came closer. Our foreheads touched. The distance between us is both near and far. But I wanted to go beyond that point, so I brought our lips closer together. That's when it happened. I heard the sound of a smartphone vibrating from Igarashi's pocket. Igarashi took the phone from her chest pocket and looked at the screen.

"Tomoe seems to have woken up. She noticed I'm not next to her...fufufu..."

Igarashi mumbles as she puts her head against my chest.

"I knew it. Me. I must be cursed."

She then slowly exited the futon.

"See you, Tokiwa."

"...Yeah. See you, Igarashi..."

We said goodbye to each other at the bedside. Igarashi quickly left the men's room. I quietly looked around. Everyone was sleeping quietly. Good. Even more than the fact that they knew she was here, I was so glad that the conversation was only between us. There was still her warmth and sweet lingering scent on the futon. It was a very gentle touch that lulled me into a comfortable sleep. I fell asleep and thinking, "I wish we could chat about the rest of this in my dreams."