Supporting Childhood Friends - C7
Chapter 7
"...Wait, maybe I was the reason why
it kept failing."
"As far I can tell, you weren't even able
to achieve anything."
I boasted about my past, but I wasn't even
able to do anything.
I confidently told Takagaki, and all I got
from her was that I was incompetent.
"I thought you did all the right
things because you sounded too proud about it."
"Ugh...sorry."
"Well, I know what middle school
students are only capable of."
Takagaki looked at me with the same
expression as yesterday.
From the moment she breathed out a full
sigh, she seemed like that tired office lady she was earlier in the morning. How
fitting.
"What's with that strange
expression?"
"I-it's nothing,"
"...I'll pretend I don't know what
you're thinking."
It seemed Takagaki was able to see through
my thoughts, maybe because she had a strangely sharp intuition. Perhaps that
was why she wasn't pursuing the matter.
Wait no, this wasn’t important. I should ask
her to cooperate with me in the future.
"And that's all there is,
Takagaki-san."
"Why honorifics?"
"Would you like to help me?"
"..."
"Huh, why are you glaring at me?"
The answer that I got was a sharp gaze.
The classroom was so quiet that I could
clearly hear the voices of the sports clubs outside, and I couldn't help gulp unintentionally.
I understood that she was exasperated after
hearing my shortcomings, but I wondered if she really had to glare at me like
that. Looking back earlier to that time where she knew what I was thinking,
some part of didn't really expect much from this.
"...Okay. Just for a bit."
"Eh? Really? A girl's opinion might
actually be helpful."
"You should have done this back in
middle school."
"Hehe, I was too confident in myself
at the time."
Takagaki, who stopped staring daggers at
me, reluctantly accepted. Takagaki had a point, but my surroundings were
invisible to me back then aside from the two of them, and in the end, I was
never able to share this to any girl.
Maybe something might have turned out
different if I did, but it couldn't be helped now.
"Then, I'll give you a piece of advice
as a commemoration."
"Woah! Already?! By all means!"
Takagaki pulled back as I leaned in
involuntarily. I felt something, but I should focus on Takagaki's advice first.
It was definitely not because I was hurt or anything.
"You're overlooking something
important."
"...Huh? Is it about me? Wait no, it's
not."
"I won't say anything more today. From
now on, I'll be cooperating in this way."
"Eh...it's something like a
consultation, I guess?"
"Please continue to struggle from now
on."
Then, Takagaki stared outside. Seeing that figure of hers, I realized that
she wasn't in the mood to listen anymore, and so I just directed my gaze
outside as well.
The sunset stung my eyes again today.
★★★★★★
He doesn't understand anything.
This was my impression of Shindou, who
closed his eyes as he began to happily narrate about his past as if he was
bragging about some kind of treasure.
He seemed like your usual, ordinary guy.
His messy, black hair that he didn't bother with in the morning was still the
same after school, swaying along his gestures. Compared to his best friends
Asumi-kun and Ayane, he stood out in different way.
I heard about how it was and what he did
back then, but it seemed like everything ended up being a failure.
It had been 15 years since I was born. Even
though I was a high school student, I had only seen little of the world, but
then I saw for the first time a person who was blindly influenced by a romance
manga they read when they were a child.
Even girls around me back in middle school
were excited about wanting to try something romantic, though I wasn't the same.
Because I understood that reality was not as sweet as stories made them out to
be.
They said that love was blind, and I
wondered if this guy in front of me was aware of it. No, he probably didn't
notice.
I could confront him about the reality, but
those people should do that themselves.
That's why I would only point out what is
necessary. There was another reason as well.
I was kind of interested in how the guy in
front of me would react if he was told the truth.
High school might not be as boring as I
would have expected.
※Because
I only write whenever I come up with the idea, I might correct some
inconsistencies in the future plot, although I'll try to not change the flow.
Sorry about that.
So his two friends is a girl all along?
ReplyDeletenever considered that lol, although it seems weird they wouldn't have said anything until now
Deletehmm maybe the girl chidlhood friend is interested in him instead.
ReplyDelete