Beyond The Bad End - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Haru’s POV

I first met Maki Sawara when I was in my second year of grade school.

She is the daughter of Saki-san, my mother’s friend from high school. Although my mother and Saki-san lived in a different prefecture, they came to visit us several times a year, and since Maki is the same age as me, we often played together in my room and at the neighbourhood park as well.

The idea of friends with someone who is the opposite sex of me outside of school seemed like a special relationship to me, so I looked forward to see her every time we met.

Then, as the time went by, I was getting more attracted to Maki who was getting cuter and cuter.

Unlike at school, I could do whatever I wanted and even do bold things freely without having to worry about my friends seeing.

Even though I said bold, all I did was just hold hands with Maki.

I wonder how Maki felt about it.

Come to think of it, she gave me Valentine’s Day chocolates once.

In the sixth year of my grade school, I receive Valentine’s Day chocolates from Maki, my mother and my older sister made fun of me because I got so excited about it. I was so embarrassed and I tried my best to hide my excitement.

I didn’t eat the chocolate for more than a week, I just looked at it in happiness every day.

In the end, Nee-san told me that she would eat the chocolate if I didn’t eat it. So I hurriedly eat it.

If we spent our youth living far away from each other, I’m sure that these childhood memories will be faint memories, eventually we would fall in love with someone else and these memories would completely fade away.

However, Maki’s parents got divorced in the summer of our first middle school year.

I did not know the details our their divorce, but later Maki told me that it’s because her father was having an affair with another woman.

Saki-san divorced her husband, changed her last name from Kudo to Sawara, and moved with Maki to an apartment near our house. Saki-san mother decided to move here because it is her hometown. My mother also helped them after the divorce.

The apartment is owned by my grandfather, which is my mother’s father, it is an old apartment building that was nearly twenty years old. My grandfather allowed the Sawara family to live there almost for free.

My family runs a Chinese restaurant called ‘Manpukuken’ at our house.

My grandfather is the one who started the business, but then it’s run by my mother and my father.

Saki-san immediately found a job right after she moved here. Therefore, Maki was often left at our house while she worked.

My family was very concerned about Maki’s condition. She was obviously hurt by her parents’ divorce, forced to move into another prefecture, leave her friends there, and often left in someone else’s home almost every day.

My grandfather and my mother told me over and over again,

‘You have to be nice to her. You have to support her.’

It was in the beginning of August during summer vacation when Maki moved here, at that time, I was not in any club activities, but I was helping out my parents at the store every day.

My father and my mother were against me helping out at the store, but I was allowed to help on one condition.

I must accompany Maki so that she wouldn’t get lonely.

Since Maki was at our house every day, she often spent her time studying and help out at the store when it got busy.

My mother often told me to go out and play with Maki.

So I often got some allowance and went out to play together with Maki.

I showed her the middle school she would be attending soon and took her to some shopping areas at the commercial facilities that girls would like. After that, we went to a place to hang out like the seaside park and the library.

It was so heartwarming to see Maki who seemed down and reserved to our family, finally light up and smile as if the burden on her chest had all been lifted.

It was really fun to go out and play with Maki.

In the end of August, when the summer vacation was almost over, we were on our way back from the store where we had ordered Maki’s new uniform.

On our way home, we bought ice cream at the convenience store and sat on a nearby bench in a park to eat it.

At that time, Maki opened up to me and told me many things.

The reason of her parents’ divorce.

The fact that it was so hard for her to move here and leave her friends.

Things that made her anxious about living here.

That she felt very grateful for how kind my family had treated her.

Maki also told me that she was really glad that I was there with here.

I could only respond with ‘I see.’ at that moment.

But, after hearing Maki’s words, I realized that I fell in love with her.