A Story About a Girl Who Took Life for Granted and Fell in Love With a Kind and Introverted Boy - Chapter 6.2

When I returned from the restroom, Saito greeted me with a smile.

“Kana, how about we have lunch soon?”

“Lunch?”

“Yeah, it’s almost noon. How about we get something to eat at one of the restaurants in the park?”

“…Okay, I understand.”

“Miyuki, how about you? Are you hungry?”

“Yes! I was just thinking I wanted to eat something!”

“Great, then let’s go!”

With that, the three of us headed into the restaurant inside the zoo.

In the bustling restaurant, we sat at a table for four. I sat next to Miyuki, and Kenji sat across from us.

I ordered carbonara, Kenji had cold soba, and Miyuki ordered super spicy curry rice.

As the dishes were placed in front of us, Miyuki’s super spicy curry rice stood out dramatically. The smell of my carbonara’s cream and Kenji’s refreshing cold soba was completely overshadowed by the spicy aroma of the curry.

“Miyuki…are you really going to eat that?”

“Huh? Of course. Why?”

“Why? …Hey, Kenji?”

When I turned to Kenji, he hesitantly asked Miyuki, “Um, are you okay? That curry…”

“Yes! I’m crazy about spicy food!”

“O-Okay…I’m sorry for butting in. If that’s what you like, then go ahead and eat it…”

Kenji and I exchanged glances and shrugged, sharing a wry smile.

At that moment, I felt a bit happy, as if Kenji and I were in sync for the first time.

We ate our meals while lightly chatting. It was mostly Miyuki who led the conversation.

“Kenji, do you have any hobbies?”

“Hobbies? Well…I like reading. I read manga and novels.”

“Manga? What do you read?”

“Um, lately, I’ve been hooked on ‘DARK BLUE.’”

“Oh! I read ‘DARK BLUE’ too!”

“Really?! That’s surprising. It’s pretty brutal, though.”

“A friend loves it, so I watched the anime with her, and I got into it.”

“‘DARK BLUE’ is so interesting! I’ve reread it many times!”

“I really like the main character, Rigel. I think he’s cool!”

“Rigel is great! He has that bittersweet vibe, seems a bit unreliable but strong! It’s really charming.”

Kenji and Miyuki got really into discussing manga.

Since I didn’t know much about manga, I couldn’t follow their conversation. Feeling a bit sulky, I rested my chin on my hand and turned away from them.

…Now that I think about it, I didn’t even know what manga Kenji liked. I had never asked him about his hobbies, either.

“………………”

Well, what good would it do to know? It’s not like I needed to know. After all, we would part ways in three weeks.

“………………”

“Kana.”

“Eh?”

Suddenly, Kenji spoke to me.

“What’s your favorite manga, Kana?”

“…Um, well, I don’t really know much about manga.”

“Then how about movies or dramas?”

“…Um, well, I do watch movies, but only sometimes for dramas.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. If it’s a drama, I might watch ones with handsome actors.”

“I see! Any interesting ones?”

“Um? I don’t know. I’ve never really paid attention to whether the story is interesting or not…”

“Hmm, I see. Well then…”

Beep, beep, beep!

At that moment, Kenji’s phone rang.

“Oh, excuse me. I’ll be right back.”

Kenji apologized to us and answered the call. While he was on the phone, Miyuki leaned closer to me and whispered.

“Hey, sis, how did you meet Kenji?”

“…How did we meet? We’re just in the same class.”

“Really? That’s nice! I’m envious.”

“Envious?”

“Oh, um…”

Miyuki’s face turned red, and she looked away from me. I wondered why she was suddenly blushing when…

“Kenji! Are you planning to leave me behind?!”

…A loud voice came from Kenji’s phone. Though we could only hear it faintly, it was clear that someone was yelling at him.

Miyuki and I instinctively turned to look at Kenji, who sighed bitterly.

“…Mom, there’s no way I’d do something like that. I’m just out at the zoo with…a friend. We talked about this yesterday, right? I told you I was going out.”

“I didn’t hear any of that! If I had, there’s no way I would have allowed it!”

“………………”

“You’re just making excuses to get away from me! You want to abandon me, don’t you?!”

“That’s not true. It’s not like that.”

Kenji squeezed his eyes shut and slowly said, “…Fine. Then I’ll come home right away.”

“What do you mean?! That’s probably another lie!”

“It’s not a lie! It’s the truth. So…please wait for me.”

With that, Kenji hung up the phone. He placed his smartphone on the table and looked down for a while.

“………………”

Seeing Kenji silently looking sad, I wanted to say something to him. But Miyuki spoke first.

“Um…Kenji, is something wrong?”

“…I’m sorry. I have to leave suddenly.”

“I heard what your mom was saying…”

“………………”

Kenji seemed hesitant but eventually said, “My mom…she’s been struggling with her mental health.”

“………………”

“She became like this after my dad left her a few years ago. She’s extremely afraid of being alone, and it makes her very unstable.”

“………………”

“Of course, there are times when she’s okay…but today, it seems she’s not doing well.”

“…I see. That sounds really…Kenji, that must be tough for you.”

“…It can’t be helped. When someone you love betrays you, I think anyone would feel this way.”

…When someone you love betrays you.

At that moment, those words carved themselves deep into my mind.

“Well, I’m sorry. I need to leave now.”

Kenji stood up and lightly bowed to us.

“…Hey, Kenji.”

“What is it, Kana?”

“Here, take this.”

I handed him a zoo pamphlet.

“Show this to your mom. It’ll prove that you really went to the zoo.”

“…Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll do that.”

“Right.”

“Thank you as always. Your kindness always saves me.”

“………………”

“I’m sorry, so I’ll see you another time. Miyuki, let’s talk when things settle down.”

“Yes! Please be careful!”

With that, Kenji waved goodbye and hurried out of the restaurant.

In front of us, Kenji’s half-eaten cold soba sat alone on the table.

“…It sounds like Kenji’s home life is tough.”

I replied to Miyuki with just a “Yeah.”

“…Hey, sis.”

“Yeah?”

“How did you and Kenji get together?”

“How did we get together?”

“Like…who confessed first?”

“…It was me.”

“It was you?!”

“Yeah.”

“I see…So, sis…you really do like Kenji.”

“………………”

“I’m sorry, I was a bit…worried. Sometimes, you seem distant with Kenji, and I thought maybe you didn’t like him at all. I thought maybe you were just dating him because he confessed and you felt you had to…”

“──!”

“But if that’s not the case…that’s good. Kenji is a wonderful person. He’s always kind and cares about you. He seems so sincere. I’m envious of you.”

“………………”

Once she said that, Miyuki suddenly snapped back to reality. She turned to me and said, “N-No, that’s not it, okay?!”

“W-Wait! I don’t have any intentions to do anything with your boyfriend!”

“Eh? Oh, okay.”

“I’m not thinking of doing anything with your boyfriend! I promise!”

“Yeah, I get it. I understand.”

“R-Really?! You really understand?!”

Miyuki’s face turned bright red as she denied it, her voice echoing in the restaurant.