“……Don’t tell me you don’t remember what happened yesterday?”
Minase asked half-exasperated, half-cautiously.
“I think you were talking to me, at least.”
“Sorry, I don’t really remember much about yesterday.”
When she put it that way, I did feel like I might have had some conversation with Minase last night, but I couldn’t remember any of the important details.
“Then I guess that was all unconscious too.”
“That?”
“You said all sorts of things. Like ‘work is so hard~'”
“Ugh……”
“And also ‘I’m lonely alone at home~'”
“Please forget about that.”
“Is it true that you talk to Alexa at home all the time?”
“Please forget about that!”
“You really drank way too much.”
Minase giggled, apparently finding it quite amusing.
Why do I have to create more embarrassing memories at my age?
And with the girl I used to like, of all people.
B-but everyone talks to their appliances, right? I often talk to them when I’m lonely at home. The recent ones actually respond.
“But it’s fine, isn’t it?”
Minase leaned against the wall and stretched her back with an “mm.”
Her thin T-shirt emphasized the shape of two soft swells.
Not sure where to look, I averted my gaze, and in my field of vision that showed only the flooring, her gentle voice reached my ears.
“When you’ve lived for nearly twenty-eight years, there are times when you can’t get by without drinking. I think it’s much better than bottling things up.”
Those words seemed to come from some experience Minase herself had gone through.
Her tone carried a strangely real feeling.
“But in moderation, okay? Getting too drunk at our age is, well, a bit much.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Even though it was for entertaining clients, I’m never drinking that much again.
“So, getting back on track……this is my house.”
Minase said this as if starting fresh.
“Just so you know, I got your permission too. I couldn’t just leave you collapsed outside like that. Well, you don’t seem to remember any of it.”
“Sorry about that.”
Even so……Minase’s house.
I’d been vaguely suspicious, but it really was that.
While I found it odd that the room was full of cardboard boxes and looked so barren, if Minase said so, there was no room for doubt.
It felt strange to be in the house of a girl I’d liked in high school, meeting her again after ten years.
But now that I knew this was Minase’s house, I couldn’t overstay my welcome.
“Sorry for all the trouble. I’ll leave right away.”
“Is your body okay now?”
“Yeah, I think I’m fine.”
My head was pounding from the hangover, but I should at least be able to walk.
The question was how far Minase’s house was from mine.
Fortunately, today was Saturday.
No work, so even if it took some time, it wouldn’t be a problem.
I wanted to get something in my stomach as soon as possible and get back to bed to sleep, but I’d have to endure that.
However—
A ridiculous growling sound suddenly echoed.
The source was my stomach.
“……Um”
Minase showed signs of hesitation, then said with a wry smile:
“Since you’re here, why don’t you have breakfast at my place? I was just preparing it anyway.”
Life is full of unpredictable things, but I never expected to see the girl I liked in high school cooking.
I was sitting cross-legged in front of a wooden low table.
This was the dining area. The layout of this house seemed to be 2DK—no living room.
That’s why I could clearly see her in an apron from my position. A plain, light-colored apron, and the kitchen overflowed with a lived-in feeling optimized for usability.
However, does being invited to breakfast mean there might be some romantic possibility? I thought, then immediately stopped.
I’d had enough of getting hurt thinking that way in high school.
Just because she talked to me, sent me emails, walked home together just the two of us—in high school, I’d misunderstand that level of interaction as romantic interest.
But since becoming a working adult, going out to eat alone with someone of the opposite sex after work became nothing particularly unusual.
Simply because we could talk about work. Or because we were work colleagues. And because getting closer would make work easier. There were always such calculated motives behind it.
Since becoming a working adult, I’ve been treated more harshly, but I’ve also been treated more kindly—but ultimately that’s just people forcing debts on you.
If you keep ignoring them, someday you’ll be asked to pay them back with interest.
That said, it’s male nature to not be able to completely abandon the possibility of genuine romantic interest.
No matter how much I age, my mentality hasn’t changed at all from high school.
The only things that have changed are that I’ve gained more experience getting hurt, and the amount I spend on mobile games has increased dramatically. ……Please mature at least a little, me.
“Here. I just threw something together, so it’s nothing special.”
Minase placed a plate of rice balls and a bowl of miso soup on the low table.
Steam rose from the miso soup, and the rice in the onigiri seemed to glisten somewhat alluringly.
Yesterday was all about entertaining clients, so barely anything besides alcohol went into my stomach.
Honestly, rice is what I want to eat most right now.
“Horikoshi-kun, are you okay with rice balls that other people made?”
“Yeah. I don’t particularly worry about it. At home, even if I drop food on the floor, I pretend not to see it and eat it anyway.”
“You should definitely throw that away.”
Minase looked exasperated.
“But is this really okay?”
“Yeah. Well, I was preparing this anyway. Besides, your refrigerator at home is completely empty right now, isn’t it?”
“……How do you know that?”
“Because you were lamenting about it while drunk.”
Hey. What the hell was drunk me talking about yesterday? I hope I didn’t accidentally reveal my bank account PIN or something.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
“So don’t worry about it. It would bother my conscience to know that and just leave you alone.”
Apparently, she was treating me to breakfast out of pity.
But it was too late now. Since she’d prepared it for me, I might as well accept her hospitality.
Minase pushed the plate toward me saying “go ahead.”
I picked up a rice ball and put it in my mouth—
“……Delicious.”
The rice ball had perfect salt seasoning, with crispy seaweed that matched perfectly.
When I sipped the miso soup, it warmed me from the core of my body. It seemed to have ginger in it. The saltiness of the miso also went well with the rice ball.
While I tend to choose bread for breakfast for convenience, rice really is good.
If I didn’t have to deal with the hassle of using a rice cooker, I’d want to eat it every morning.
And as I was eating while repeatedly saying how delicious it was,
“……You’re not doing that on purpose, are you?”
For some reason, Minase was giving me a half-lidded stare.
“On purpose……what?”
“Never mind. If it’s not on purpose, then it’s fine.”
Minase turned her face away with a huff.
However, the tips of her ears were dyed vermillion as if they were hot.
“……Horikoshi-kun, you’ve changed.”
Minase showed her beautiful profile while turning away, glancing at me only with her eyes.
“In high school, when I talked to you, you didn’t really respond much.”
“Was that so?”
“Yeah, you seemed a bit curt and taciturn.”
That was probably just because I didn’t know what to talk about.
It was gradually coming back to me. I was curt because I was being talked to by one of the cutest girls in class.
I don’t really remember what conversations we had, but I think I used to roll around on my bed at home thinking “why couldn’t I have talked better?”
“If we’re talking about that, Minase, you’ve changed too.”
I started this topic to change the subject.
My high school days were nothing but embarrassing memories.
Fortunately, Minase went along with it.
“Really? Have I changed?”
“You have changed……you’ve become more mature.”
I tried to list specific changes, but nothing came to mind.
I was surprised by this fact myself.
The impression that she’d become more mature wasn’t a lie.
However, in terms of appearance and personality, she hadn’t changed that much.
Rather, what exactly had changed?
That’s when I realized.
Not about the parts that had changed over ten years.
But about the reason I hadn’t noticed.
Ultimately, I don’t know anything about the woman called Minase Ayana, not then and not now.
Back then she was just a classmate.
And now she’s just a former classmate I’m meeting for the first time in ten years.
We didn’t talk much. In high school, I just watched her from afar. To claim I knew Minase based on that would be far too arrogant.
The same goes for how Minase sees me.
“What’s that? Of course we’ve both gotten older—that’s natural.”
Minase smiled.
But that was exactly right.
Yes. Natural. It’s been ten years, so some changes are only to be expected.
We could only speak in such generalities because we knew so little about each other.
Not in the past—and not in the future either.
At that time, I still believed this without question.
“Thanks for everything.”
After finishing breakfast, I was putting on my shoes at the entrance to go home.
I tried to at least pay for breakfast, but Minase wouldn’t accept it. Because she said she hadn’t done anything significant.
“Well then, see you sometime.”
I gripped the door handle and turned back only with my face to say goodbye.
This would probably be the end of my interaction with the girl I’d liked ten years ago.
I wasn’t planning to keep in touch after this, and Minase probably wasn’t either.
To begin with, our reunion itself was like some god playing a prank—pure coincidence.
We just happened to match up. After this, we wouldn’t even pass by each other.
That’s the extent of the relationship between me and Minase.
However—
“I think ‘sometime’ will be pretty soon though.”
Minase’s voice sounded somewhat wryly amused.
I had opened the entrance, but I barely heard those words.
“……Huh?”
The scenery beyond the entrance was familiar.
An ordinary residential area.
Just a quiet neighborhood with condominiums and apartments lined up.
But that view was exactly the same as what I could see from my house.
Or rather,
“……The same as my apartment?”
A two-story wooden apartment building. Minase’s house had “201” engraved on the nameplate.
Looking next door, the nameplate showed “202” with “Horikoshi” written on it.
Horikoshi—in other words, my house.
“……W-when did this happen?”
I thought something was strange.
The large number of stacked cardboard boxes. The somewhat familiar room.
And most importantly, I’d collapsed in front of my own apartment, so how did I end up in Minase’s room? There’s no way drunk me could have gone very far.
“I moved in a week ago. But I never thought the [Horikoshi] next door would be Horikoshi-kun.”
When I turned around in shock, Minase was laughing as if she found it amusing.
But it all made sense.
This past week, I’d been at the company from morning to night most of the time. There were times I pulled all-nighters and didn’t come home. Even if a new resident had moved in next door, there’s no way I would have noticed.
“So, please take care of me from now on—Horikoshi-kun.”
Minase said with a smile full of adult composure.
Just like when we first became classmates ten years ago.
“When you want someone to say [welcome home], maybe we should have a drinking party next time.”
“……Did I say that kind of thing while drunk too?”
When I tried to predict how that statement came about, instead of putting it into words, Minase replied with a beaming smile. ……I probably did say that yesterday, drunk me.
But I knew this invitation from Minase was just social politeness.
When you’ve lived twenty-eight years, you can somehow tell when invitations are obviously just social politeness. Well, I still misunderstand plenty of times though.
So I responded with social politeness too.
“Yeah, I’ll look forward to that.”
And so, I reunited with my former classmate whom I’d liked in high school ten years ago, and learned that she lived next door.
But.
That wasn’t all I learned.
“Aya-chan, where are you……?”
A small girl appeared from the back of the room.
I couldn’t tell her age, but she definitely didn’t look like a kindergartener. Which means she was probably in the lower grades of elementary school. She was rubbing her eyelids sleepily with her arms.
The girl turned toward us while drowsy, and had an angelic, innocent face. She would definitely become quite a beauty in the future.
“Um……who is this child?”
Who could this be?
When I couldn’t help but ask, Minase declared clearly:
“This child? This is my daughter. Right, Airi?”
“……Mm.”
While being patted on the head by Minase, the girl—Airi—gave a vague response as if she didn’t quite understand.
However, the relationship between those two was definitely that of parent and child.
“……Seriously?”
I had also learned that my former classmate, whom I’d reunited with after ten years, had a [daughter].
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