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With my painful introduction finally over, homeroom is dismissed which brings my first day back at school to a close. I leave Ritsuka at the main entrance where her parents are waiting for her, as I head to the front gate to meet with Mom. Mom, who is standing beside the gate, waves at me as I walked toward her.
“Ah. Tsukasa, you’re finally back.” (Mother)
“Ugh, gross. It"s only been about three hours since I came to school.” (Tsukasa)
"To be apart from Tsukasa for three hours felt like an eternity to your mom.” (Mother)
“Although it wasn’t an eternity, it felt like a paid vacation.” (Tsukasa)
All at the low price of being a high school soph.o.m.ore again.
“So, how was it? Did you make any friends in cla.s.s?” (Mother)
“Mom, I"m not a child. I made a friend.” (Tsukasa)
“Really? That’s great! Is it a boy? Or is it a boy?” (Mother)
Mom’s eyes are glittering. It makes me wonder if you are expecting a ‘boyfriend.’
“It"s a girl.” (Tsukasa)
“Oh, really? That’s too bad.” (Mother)
Don’t look so disappointed.
“Tsukasa~♪” (Mii)
“Wah!” (Tsukasa)
I yelp in surprise; suddenly hugged from behind. When I look back to see who it is, Miyuki is grinning mischievously back at me.
“Mii-chan, don’t stick to me like that here.” (Tsukasa)
“We’re outside, so it"s Onee-chan.” (Mii)
Ah, so that"s why you"re whispering so that no one can hear you. Miyuki then lets go of me to stand by my side.
“Tsukasa seems to be a very popular subject. They were also talking about her in my cla.s.s, so one of the kids in my cla.s.s, who was anxious to get a peek at her, snuck off to go see the entrance ceremony. When he came back to cla.s.s, he told me, "I fell in love with her at first sight".” (Mii)
In love? With me? That’s hard for me to understand. No one had ever had a crush on me before. Objectively I think I look pretty d.a.m.n cute, but I think there are girls who are far more beautiful and cute than me. Really, why me?
“Maybe you"ll have a love letter or something in your shoe box tomorrow.” (Mii)
“A love letter in the shoe box is so old-fashioned.” (Tsukasa)
“You never know. There are people who still do it.” (Mii)
“You can’t be serious?” (Tsukasa)
“Really.” (Mii)
These days, cell phones are the popular way to do things. Even though the letters are electronic, it’s still writing a love letter. Do you really want to leave a physical record of your sordid past for future generations to find?
“I"m looking forward to tomorrow.” (Mii)
“It"s depressing.” (Tsukasa)
Next to me, Miyuki has a huge smile, while I hold my head in my hands.
“Oh, yes. I met a friend from high school I hadn’t seen for a long time, so I"m going out for tea with them. Do you two want to come along?” (Mother)
“Why do you want us to go?” (Tsukasa)
“I want to introduce ‘my beloved daughter’.” (Mother)
“Mii-chan let’s go home.” (Tsukasa)
“Outside of the house, it’s ‘Onee-chan,’ right?” (Mii)
“Oh, that’s right. We’re out of milk, so please buy it on your way home.” (Mother)
“Okay Mom. Hey, Mii-chan, let"s go.” (Tsukasa)
“You mean Onee-chan.” (Mii)
“Yes, yes, okay.” (Tsukasa)
“You have to call me ‘Onee-chan’ properly.” (Mii)
As I walk through the school gate with a very noisy Miyuki, I looking back to see a woman about the same age as Mom exchanging greetings with her. I"m sure that person was a cla.s.smate of Mom from her high school days. When Mom looked and pointed at us, she looked at us and I bowed politely to her. She smiles and nods back with a surprised expression. Well, my appearance does make me stand out in a crowd.
When I see Mom stealthily take out her digital camera and begin to take pictures, I speed up a little. I wish Mom could at least pretend to be a normal person in front of her friend.
“You want to get milk? Then we have to go back to the main road.” (Mii)
“There"s a convenience store on the back road. I"m going to make a small detour.” (Tsukasa)
“Really? I didn"t know.” (Mii)
Walking on the sidewalk while watching the car’s driving down the road, we cross the main road, where it turns from a wide thoroughfare, to a side street. From there, it heads to the bank of the Esumi River. The bank road of the Esumi River is well maintained and flower beds are installed on both sides. Since it’s spring, there are many varieties of flowers which are vividly blooming.
When I first attended high school, the Esumi River was very dirty and smelled even worse. Now, thanks to the work on the retaining walls, sludge and garbage removal from the bottom of the river, and daily cleaning by volunteers, it has become a beautiful river with clear, clean water flowing through it. However, due to the narrow paths along the banks, there are very few people who use this place. Not to mention, there are no street lights, so hardly anyone walks through here at night.
Mom has repeatedly told us not to use this road because you can run into problems in less bustling areas. However, the main street, which Mom and I took this morning, is the long way and has many signals. Therefore, Miyuki and I also use this back road without telling Mom. Mom says ‘back road’ as if it"s something dangerous.
“Tsukasa, in front of you!” (Mii)
Ah! I seem to have been lost in thought. When I looked in front of me, a grandmother with a cane was walking down the pathway toward us. Since I couldn’t move out of her way fast enough, I lightly b.u.mped her shoulder. She didn’t fall over, but she did wobble a little.
“I"m sorry. Are you alright?” (Tsukasa)
I apologize to her while holding her shoulder to support her.
"Yes, I’m okay. Thank you.” (Grandmother)
She thanked me for some reason. She then bobs her head in my direction and walks away.
“…Onee-chan, you have a different air about you.” (Mii)
“Oh, really?” (Tsukasa)
“Yes. You have a soft and gentle manner. You act like a real girl.” (Mii)
I’m like a real girl? I suppose that’s a good thing, but somehow it seems preposterous.
Now that I think about it, I was like that when I was at school too.
“Did you see what happened this morning?” (Tsukasa)
“Yes, from the cla.s.sroom. You were caught by Rissen-senpai before you could even enter the building.” (Mii)
Miyuki is smiling as she says it, but it somehow makes me feel as if she is laughing at me.
“She"s not changed one bit from when she was a soph.o.m.ore, in spite of being a senior this year. She’s not acting like a senpai at all.” (Tsukasa)
“Onee-chan, are you going to join the entertainment department again?” (Mii)
“I"m not going to join.” (Tsukasa)
“Well, why not? Wouldn’t that make Rissen-senpai jump for joy?” (Mii)
"That"s exactly why I won"t. Just who do you think would end up being groped?” (Tsukasa)
“That’s certainly true.” (Mii)
Miyuki murmurs with her arms crossed and nodding in agreement. Even if I do say so myself, it’s strange to enter a club when even they don’t know what their activities are.
Although…
“That club was a lot of fun.” (Tsukasa)
As I say that, I can feel my resolve waiver a little.
After walking on a little while longer, we come to the stairs to leave the riverbank. I look behind me at Miyuki, who has a somewhat curious expression, as I wave my hand to beckon her to me.
“The convenience store is just up here.” (Tsukasa)
“Oh right, the convenience store.” (Mii)