It’s Too Early to be Having Newlywed Syndrome! ~Childhood Friends Who Rekindled their Love for Each Other ~ - 1 - 1 Together Once Again

Together Once Again

“Nao-kun, did you know?”

Asked Morita Naoto’s mother, who came to greet him on the entranceway while he is removing his shoes and loosening his necktie.

“How many times do I have to say, stop calling me that.”

Said Naoto, in his routine protest though he is halfway getting tired of doing it.

“I spoke with Nat-chan’s mother earlier. It looks like Nat-chan have cystitis.”

“Hey, is it okay talking about that?”

As he was telling her mother, Naoto thought to himself:

What kind of condition is cystitis?

(TL note: Cystitis is urinary bladder inflammation caused by infection. It commonly occurs in women though there are very few cases of it happening to men.)

Oshida Natsuki, or Nat-chan, is Naoto’s classmate in high school. They are neighbors in the same apartment complex. Natsuki’s family moved in around the time Naoto started grade school.

But that does not mean they always have a close relationship. Their parents just love to exchange stories about the two of them. That has been the relationship between the two of them for the past few years.

According to one information Naoto once heard from her mother, Natsuki was chosen to be the student’s representative during her middle school graduation ceremony. It seems Natsuki grew up to be a proper honors student.

Natsuki’s parents also shared that she never misses giving them presents every Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. Meanwhile, Naoto has lost count of how many times he heard his mother say “Our son doesn’t even help with house chores.”

Because of their parents’ incessant comparison between the two, recently Naoto becomes annoyed whenever he hears stories about Natsuki.

From the start, Naoto has been shy to strangers, but since entering high school he has been considerably aversive to speaking with girls. Leading his high school life in a co-ed school, Naoto have developed a difficult personality.

When he entered high school, the first thing that surprised Naoto was Natsuki’s popularity. During his class’ first P.E. class, Naoto, who has no sense of direction, struggled to find the gymnasium. Because of this, he went to the neighboring class to ask for Natsuki’s help. When he did so, he saw that even though he has to make one new friend yet, Natsuki is already surrounded with crowds of students.

If it is someone who was chosen to be the student representative at the middle school ceremony, it is no wonder how easy it is for them to be able to make friends. However, Naoto and Natsuki went to different grade schools and middle schools, so Naoto had no idea of how Natsuki behaved at school. So, seeing Natsuki being able to respond to a conversation with a smile was a great shock to him. He was not able to form a voice to call her out, and until the school chime rang, just stood at the door to her classroom gazing at her back.

————Naoto arrived fifteen minutes late to his P.E. class.

Before long, Naoto noticed that Natsuki has grabbed the attention of the boys that they were often talking about her. Natsuki has grown to a beautiful girl that she has become the topic of the boys’ conversations.

As that realization nags on his mind, Naoto has become nervous around Natsuki that he began treating her like other girls at the school, thus he was not able to strike a conversation with her.

Then 1 year passed, Naoto and Natsuki were assigned to the same class. Even if they were already classmates, Naoto was only able to make talk with the lowest caste of the class. With that situation unchanging, spring, summer, and fall has passed.

Even now, in the winter of their second year as high schoolers, Naoto struggles to speak with Natsuki.

With that relationship continuing as the status quo, Naoto has learned that the not-that-close-with-him Natsuki has developed cystitis. Though Naoto have heard of the word before, his not that detailed about it, so he starts searching about cystitis on his smartphone.

As Naoto investigates, he has learned that one of the main causes is holding it in instead of going to the restroom. However, he still doesn’t quite understand it.

She is not the type to hold it in whenever nature is calling. Her eating habits doesn’t seem to be bad as well. If something like stress is the cause, treatment seems likely to be difficult.

While Naoto is engrossed in looking up information about cystitis, he noticed that a great deal of time has passed. While a little bit wondering on his actions just now, Naoto released a heavy yawn. Then, as he was lying down in his bed, he suddenly remembered the bed on the Nurse’s office.

——–Could that be the reason for that thing last week? When I went to the nurse’s office to sleep because of a headache, for some reason, when I woke up, she was there waiting for me. She even walked home with me just to make sure I am really alright. Could that be the reason for her stress? Could it be, that my parents asked her to check on me and she just agreed and went reluctantly? That time, the air between us is so awkward that we didn’t talk at all, however she might have been actually mad at me because I was making a weird face.

If only we could talk to a place with no other people at least once. But it is hard to find such a convenient opportunity…………

While thinking of such things, Naoto fell asleep.

Unexpectedly, he quickly found himself in such an opportunity.

“Whoa!”

While Naoto was waiting for the elevator to close, he saw Natsuki coming out of her apartment and heading towards the elevator, so he kept the elevator door open in a panic.

As always, Natsuki, while surprised, greeted “Good morning” with a smile while half-running as she rushed into the elevator. At that moment, Naoto thought to himself that she really acts as an honors student would. For some reason, Naoto thinks he did her wrong for forcing her to hurry due to his action and felt bad about himself. Ever since they both start going to the same high school up until the present ———-October of their second year of high school——, even when the two of them does not really talk even though they take the same elevator every day, Naoto really wants to ask Natsuki about her health condition.

Naoto took a deep breath, I’m going to ask her, I’m going to ask her, while saying it to himself two times to prop himself up,

“I heard about the cystitis. Are you alright?”

He finally asked what’s on his mind.

“Really, mom! You talk too much!”

Blurted out Natsuki

“No, no, that’s not it! It’s the fault of my mother for talking about it even though I’m a guy. The Oshida family’s matriarch is a good person.”

Naoto hurriedly replies as he tries to cover for Natsuki’s mom.

“Is that really it…”

Natsuki replied with a smile, causing Naoto to calm down a bit.

Naoto returned to the topic at hand

“So, is cystitis causing you pain?”

Asked Naoto again.

“You know, don’t you have a better way of speaking about it? Cystitis here, cystitis there…”

Natsuki asked while making an embarrassed face.

“Well, cystitis is called cystitis. What else should I call it?”

“You can just ask ‘How is your body’s condition?’ or ‘How is your stomach’s condition?”, you can just ask that way, can’t you?”

“But if someone like me asked like that, won’t you feel, suspicious? Wouldn’t you think of it as sexual harassment?”

Naoto somehow feels reluctant asking her that way.

“That won’t happen.”

“Then, ummm…… Your stomach’s…. condition… mnph… buhaa!”

Naoto, who is not used to speaking to Natsuki like that, felt weird that he accidentally let out a laugh.

“Hey! You laughed didn’t you. Ah, I want to die! It’s not even a laughing matter!”

Natsuki let out a complaint, thinking that Naoto is laughing at her.

“That’s not it, it just felt weird speaking in such a roundabout way. I really do worry about you. That much is true!”

Naoto apologized in a hurry, but Natsuki still continued grumbling.

However, after 3 minutes passed, Natsuki noticed something. She thought to herself how Naoto is matching her pace while walking.

Normally when he walks fast, Naoto’s back quickly shrinks. That same Naoto is always walking beside her.

When she internalized it, Natsuki felt her face suddenly heat up. She lost her will to keep grumbling.

Noticing that Natsuki suddenly stopped talking, Naoto peered into her face.

“Are you alright? If it feels like talking to me is difficult, should I move a distance away?”

“No, talking with you is okay…… I’m not angry anymore, so stay beside me.”

Somehow Natsuki only replied that.

Natsuki wasn’t able to look at Naoto’s face for a while.

“So, how is it? Your bladder, I mean.”

Restarting the conversation anew, Naoto asked Natsuki.

“Don’t speak about it at school, okay?

It’s just a minor condition, seems like it will heal if I keep drinking lots of water and always go to the restroom once I need to.”

“What, so it’s as simple as that, huh?”

Naoto felt relieved when he heard its just a minor condition,

“It’s not that simple, you know.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, whenever it’s break time, I am immediately surrounded by my friends. By the time I can go to the restroom, it’s already time for the next class.”

“That kind of thing happens?”

Not having time for restroom because you are surrounded by your friends. Naoto can’t comprehend such a thing at all.

Does that really happen to anyone popular? Sure, it looks like she’s having fun having conversation with friends, but isn’t that a bit too exaggerated? Naoto tried to think about it, but he still can’t quite understand it.

“It always happens, you know—–! So much it’s become troublesome.”

“Well, no, but can’t you just tell them to wait cause you’re going to the restroom for a little bit?”

“There are guys in class, I can’t just say that out with a large voice. There were also a few guys among circle of friends.”

“Eh? Then what does the other girls in your group do when they want to go?”

“They sneak out before everyone gathers, they hold it in, or they say they will go someplace without telling where they’ll go, then leave.”

“Do every girl in your group try to hold it in?”

“I can only speak for myself, but I think everyone has done it at some point.”

Naoto became bothered when he suddenly remembered something that happened in the past.

“Oshida-san, I think you should absolutely stop doing that for your own good.

Where I work part-time, there is a temp worker onee-san. Since temp workers were paid high hourly wage, it seems the store manager wasn’t fond of her at all. Because of that, whenever she’s on the job, she found it hard to excuse herself to the restroom, even on days when she has her monthly.

Then one day, maybe because her stomach hurts so much, she suddenly fell on her knees on an aisle. Even me who has not seen such a face before can tell the color of her face that day, it’s horribly pale.

Well, I can’t say if her situation is the same as someone who has cystitis. But if Oshida-san continue holding it in, you may suffer worse than what happened to her back then.”

While talking about the experience, it all came back to Naoto like it just happened, causing for him to be somewhat irritated. Due to this, he kept talking without pause using a very strong voice.

“I should really stop it, huh? But I feel bad about my friends that I find it hard to excuse myself to the restroom.”

“Just tell them to bear with you since you have cystitis. Can’t you do that?”

Naoto questioned.

“There are some that I am not that close with, so won’t it be hard to do that? I also don’t want them to worry about me.”

“If Oshida-san suddenly fell and got sent to a hospital, won’t your friends worry about you all the same? Even your mother will worry about you. Didn’t you love her so much you never miss giving her a present every Mother’s Day?

You got your priorities all wrong. More than any present you could give her, just seeing you living in good health will make Oshida-san’s mother happier. It will just be bad for your health if you continue acting like this.”

Naoto is making a very serious face.

At that time, Natsuki was so surprised, she was once again moved by how Naoto felt. It was the first time that Naoto strongly scolded her like that.

“Un, I really understand, but…”

Naoto became inpatient to Natsuki who gave a very vague response

“Then how about this? Whenever you want to go to the restroom, just send me an email. I’ll then come to your class and pretend to be inviting you out to the hallway.”

“Wouldn’t that be embarrassing, in more ways than one?”

“Falling over in the hallway because of stomach pain or going to the nurse’s office while in the middle of class is more embarrassing than my idea, don’t you agree?

If you really hate exchanging emails with me that much, then there’s nothing I can do about that. We’ll just have to seriously think of another countermeasure.

Since you also need to drink lots of water, naturally you’ll end up having to go to the restroom frequently. Eventually, you’ll need to go to the restroom a lot of times. If we don’t sort out this restroom problem, your condition will just get worse.”

Naoto absolutely doesn’t want to ignore that problem. He eagerly persuaded Natsuki.

Natsuki is still hesitant about something, but she thought for a bit while looking at Naoto’s face,

“Then let’s go with the email. Tell me your contact info.”

She replied.

—————-With this, the two began walking together once again.