Chapter 7: The Snow Which Falls in SpringIt was in the spring of last year when I first met Awayuki-san.
There was no extraordinary event, we just had cleaning duty together.
However, encountering her would change me greatly.
After school that day, we had gathered in the courtyard with cleaning tools in hand to clean… or that was the plan, but…「Even though cleaning the cherry blossom petals can be troublesome, isn’t it surprising that everyone decided to skip out?」
「…… isn’t this how cleaning duty in high school usually turns out?」
There should have been other people cleaning here too, but Awayuki-san and I were the only ones here cleaning.
Sweeping up the cherry blossom petals that had fallen beneath the cherry trees was a tiresome ch.o.r.e.
Even as we swept, it felt like there was no end.
Because of that, I had thought one or two people might skip out, but…
「I understand how the people who wanted to skip out on sweeping the cherry blossom petals felt, but I definitely didn’t imagine there would be n.o.body but us here. How bothersome.」
「That’s true. What about Yamato-kun? Didn’t you want to skip too?」
「Even if I thought about doing that, it’s not in my nature to do so.」
Put nicely, I’ve always been diligent; but you could also say that I’ve always been indecisive.
It’s painful if you say that I do things half-heartedly, so please don’t say that.
「Ara, isn’t it fine if you’re a serious child? I like those kinds of people.」
She gave me a kind and radiant smile.
It was the first time I had talked to her, but I had heard the rumors.
The young lady of the rich and famous Sudou family was one of our cla.s.smates.
Just that was enough to garner my interest, but for her to have been such a gentle girl……
Her figure was good, she carried herself elegantly, and she had a friendly personality. It would have been impossible for her not to become popular.
「Well then, though it’s just the two of us, shall we start cleaning?」
「Aah. Even though the cherry blossoms are beautiful, cleaning up afterwards sure is troublesome.」
「Because even though people praise the sight of the falling cherry blossom petals as beautiful and fantastical, the fallen cherry blossom petals are treated as garbage. I’ve said something terrible, huh…」
We talked while we started cleaning with the brooms in our hands.
As expected, as soon as the cherry blossom petals were swept up, the wind would rain the next set of petals down.
Because there was no end, let’s just stop at a reasonable place.
Even if I remained quiet, there was nothing else to do, so I tried asking her.
「I’m curious, did you dye your hair?」
Awayuki-san’s hair was a beautiful hazel color.
It was not a showy color, nor was it especially rare for people to dye their hair to just that extent.
While she stroked her hair,
「This? This isn’t dyed. My hair has been naturally light since I was born. People often ask me if it’s dyed because its base color is brown.」
「I thought so. Even though it could have been dyed, I thought it was very beautiful. My mother also has natural brown hair, so I thought that might be the case.」
「…… heeeh, so Yamato-kun’s mother is also like me.」
Natural brown hair will appear to be light brown.
People with this condition were rare, and though my mother had it, Nadeshiko and I both had raven-black hair and didn’t inherit it from her.
「However, my family is an old family, or you could say it’s a family with a long legacy, so my grandmother didn’t have a good impression of me..」
「Is it uncomfortable?」
「Not really. My mother also has the same hair color. Her hair is also naturally brown. Because this is something I inherited from my beloved mother, so it is an important thing to me. Because of this, I can feel that I am my mother’s daughter.」
She touched her hair as she murmured with what looked like a wistful expression on her face.
It seemed like she really loved her mother.
I could tell just from listening to Awayuki-san’s words.
In the midst of the scattering cherry blossoms, towards her, I unconsciously……
「It’s beautiful.」
「Eh?」
「Because Sudou-san’s hair is very beautiful, so you should have more confidence.」
When I said those words to her naturally, she made a surprised expression.
As her cheeks dyed red from embarra.s.sment,
「Thank you…… but it is embarra.s.sing if you compliment me with such a serious face.」
「Eh, did I say something strange?」
「No… I see, so Yamato-kun was such a type. Mr. Dense, hmm.」
She let out a giggle, and then freely laughed aloud.
「Yamato-kun, you sometimes inadvertently make advances towards girls, wouldn’t you agree?」
…… In my heart, I had some knowledge of that fact, so I could only give a bitter smile.
I had heard that this person not only had light colored but also a different eye color.
Now that I looked more closely, her eyes and hair were the same hazel color.
「…… Yamato-kun, if you stare at my eyes that much, even I would feel rather embarra.s.sed.」
「Ah, s-sorry. I did something rude.」
It was definitely impolite to suddenly stare at the face of a girl I had just met for the first time.
I averted my gaze immediately, but,
「……?」
When I looked at her profile, I felt a mysterious feeling.
Graceful long hazel hair.
The figure of a beauty that would charm anyone.
Even though I should have been meeting her for the first time, it didn’t feel that way.
Do I know this girl from somewhere?
No, and our junior high schools were also different, so undoubtedly this must be our first meeting.
Yet, there was a feeling like I had met her somewhere before…… what was this mysterious feeling?
「…… Sudou-san, have I met you before, a long time ago?」
「Ara ara, am I being hit on by Yamato-kun?」
「That’s not it! It wasn’t a pick-up line or anything, I really felt that way.」
While I denied it in a panic, she looked as if deep in thought.
「Uuun, though even I think that today is my first meeting with Yamato-kun?」
「…… Yeah, that’s right. I asked a weird question」
「No… it was because you were embraced by a sense of familiarity from me, right?」
Rather than showing an unpleasant appearance towards my words, she gave me a gentle smile.
「Yamato-kun is really a very pure person. That pleases me very much.」
「……is being pure-hearted really a compliment for a guy?」
「It is a compliment. I don’t really have a good impression of boys.」
She told me in a low voice only I could hear.
「Though I’m not overly self-conscious, but I am easily liked by boys.」
「That’s to be expected. A beautiful person like Sudou-san would definitely curry interest from the guys.」
「Even so, however, for all the boys who approached me to be so openly stained with their desires, or better said, it has been only untrustworthy people! There didn’t seem to be any decent boys, so I had given up, but, for some reason, Yamato-kun seems different from the others to me.」
Whether or not she could be called popular was debatable, because she was liked by various kinds of guys.
「Although I don’t think I’m the only person who thinks that way?」
When I tried making a joke, she gave me a radiant smile as if her point was proven.
「I can understand just from your att.i.tude, that Yamato-kun is a good person. From my point of view, if Yamato-kun also didn’t have an ulterior motive, then you would also seem like a two-faced person to me. I can place my trust in such a person. I hope to get along with you from now on.」
「I hope to get along as well.」
When I nodded and answered as such, she seemed glad.
「This is the last chance to see the cherry blossoms this year. Let’s enjoy the beautiful cherry trees next year as well.」
While we admired the cherry blossoms that were scattering, the cleaning was finished.
From that day forth, that girl and I continued our close friendship in that style to this day.
Was my encounter with her destiny, or―
【 To be continued 】