It’s Too Early to be Having Newlywed Syndrome! ~Childhood Friends Who Rekindled their Love for Each Other ~ - 4 - 15 - Not Scary at All

Not Scary at All

For the time being, the four walked until they reached the public square in front of the train station, and sat on a bench.

“Hey, when will you show me your novel?”

Natsuki coiled her arms around Naoto’s and acted like a spoiled child on purpose. She had already grasped most of the things that makes go to cloud nine.

While being all lovestruck, Naoto,

“I still have to check it for mistypes and omitted letters or words, so wait for a few days.”

He told Natsuki.

“You don’t need to do that, I’ll be the one to check those things for you.”

“No, this isn’t the time to be talking about that right now, is it? I’ll have to quickly call Sasahara-san and apologize to her.”

Naoto changed the topic.

“A—, you just tried to change the topic, didn’t you?”

Natsuki, thinking it’s boring, parted herself from Naoto.

“Pardon me, Ninomiya-san, but can you lend me your phone once more? Is Sasahara-san still awake at this hour?”

“Far from being asleep, she might be feeling too excited to fall asleep.”

“Ah—- but if I happen to call her……”

Naoto suddenly began to ponder.

“Er, Iida might call my phone to say ‘We’re on the way back’. I would be jealous if Natsuki ended up talking to him, so what to do? Ninomiya-san might be questioned by Sasahara-san as well.

Hirose-san, can you talk to Iida in my place once he calls my phone?”

“Got it.”

Sakurako happily replied.

“Once I our call with Hatsumi starts, what should I say first?”

Aki asked Naoto.

“Let’s see——, well, how about ‘Iida has some business with you so I’ll be passing the phone to him’?”

“Understood.”

While placing a hand on her chest, Aki tapped the call button.

“——Ah, hello. Is it fine right now? Yeah, yeah. Um, listen, seems like Morita-kun has something he want to talk to you about.

Yup, that’s right. Right now. No, we’re not alone, though. Okay…… got it.”

Aki passed the smartphone to Naoto.

“Good evening. It’s me, Morita.”

“Yes, this is Sasahara.”

“Um, there’s something I want to ask of Sasahara-san.”

“Next time, my best friend will be going with his first love to Health Land. You know Health Land, right?”

“I haven’t gone in one, but I read about it in manga. There are lots of baths, and places to sleep……”

“That’s right. Then, I was suddenly asked by my best friend to invite that first love to go have fun there. Moreover, until that first love came back from the restroom, I only had ten seconds to think about it. I can’t think of any other alternative so I ended being the one to invite her.

At that time, it would’ve been fine just to invite her normally, but I thought that there needed to include a reason. So I told them that there’s a group discount if the required number of people go together.

I just felt that if I didn’t include a reason that would easily make them to join like that, that they would see through our ulterior motive. It would be in bad taste if I just invite her straight up saying to come play with us. It’s just like wanting to ask someone to a date, but beating around the bush saying that I happen to have an extra movie ticket. Would it be difficult to understand from a girl’s point of view?”

“No, it’s easy to understand.”

“Also, right now, erm…… I already received an okay from Oshida-san to join us. Have I already asked Hirose-san and Ninomiya-san?”

“It’s an okay from me.”

“It’s an okay from me.”

Aki and Sakurako energetically said.

“——It looks like Hirose-san and Ninomiya-san will be joining us as well. If it’s alright with you, will Sasahara-san also come with us?

That first love has a fear of men, you see, so having at least one more girl would be good. The boys will only be me and my best friend, and we’re not planning on increasing it to three. We’ll not going there to pick-up on girls so you can be assured that our intentions are genuine. I don’t think my best friend will act overly-familiar, and if he does, I’ll immediately send him home. Of course, I’ll also act seriously there.

It might be the last moment that my best friend and his first love will share together, so I want it to be the best memory they have of each other. So if you feel like it, won’t you consider it if you have the time? Of course, I’m not forcing you to do it if you can’t join us.”

“I understand.”

“……E—r, for details, please ask Ninomiya-san. Thank you very much.”

Saying that, Naoto returned the phone to Aki.

“Eh? What about the novel?”

Being asked by Natsuki,

“While thinking about Iida while speaking on the phone, I completely forgot about it.”

Naoto said with a red face. Without holding back, Natsuki and the others laughed.

“I’m sorry, Sasahara-san. I still haven’t gotten to the main topic I wanted to talk to you about, so is it alright with you staying on the line with me a bit longer?”

“Okay.”

“You see, I’m writing a novel.”

“As I thought—?! You did talk about something weird at school, and you’re together at this time, so I thought something strange is definitely going on. And you have the same voice as the person I was talking to earlier.

However, you began talking about something serious, so I thought ‘Eh?! Did I get it wrong?!’”

Once she heard about the novel, Hatsumi began talking in a rapid-fire manner.

Naoto suddenly felt light. No matter how much he tried to discern it, it doesn’t sound like the tone of an angry person, after all.

“I’m sorry. Ninomiya-san coerced me into telling that first love about my novel.”

He jokingly said.

“That thing you spoke about earlier, that first love, it’s your best friend’s, right?”

“Ah, not really. Just as that person was my best friend’s first love, so were they mine. That much was true.”

“Eh, that’s so complicated. That talk about going to Health Land is true, right?”

“It is. I’ll explain at a later day. Please let me apologize again tomorrow. As expected, are you angry, Sasahara-san?”

“There’s no way I’m angry. It was Aki who told you to say such things anyway, right?”

“That’s right. I didn’t want to lie to Sasahara-san, but she said that she’ll reveal about my novel to the person I’m in love with now……”

“So who’s the person you’re in love with, Morita-kun?”

“I love Oshida-san very much. I’m serious about it.”

“Oshida-san is indeed kind, and she’s also cute, right? What do you like about her?”

“Let’s see——. When I was a kid, I couldn’t ride bicycles. It’s not like I wanted to ride one, and I always refused practicing. I have no sense of direction, so I found no point in being able to ride it. I always silently complained why I have to practice riding such a thing.

But when my parents to me to the park to practice, Oshida-san who’s my neighbor happened to pass by. When I fell down, she took care of me, she even told me that we’ll eat cake one I learn how to ride. If I didn’t learn how to ride it soon, I will only be a bother to her, so I don’t really have a choice but to take it seriously, right? When I did, I was able to ride a bike.

That kindness of hers, and the fact that she made me grow are the things I love about her.”

“What’s with that? Anyone would fall in love with someone like that.”

“No, that was before I hit puberty, so at the time, it didn’t make me fall in love with her yet. Though I did think from then on that she’s such a kind person.”

“Ah—, you’re still kids back then, after all.”

“A while after that, upon reaching puberty I awakened to sexual desires. I dragged Oshida-san in my house, and when I tried to push her down, she refused me. After that she stopped coming to my room.”

“Eh——! What are you doing, Morita-kun?”

“We became estrange for many years after that.”

“Things escalated too quickly.”

“During my middle school’s field trip, I found a sea urchin. I thought that if I gave it to Oshida-san as a present, then we’ll be able to make up with each other, so I planned on taking it home. But I felt like that sea urchin’s looking at its friends, and when I took it out of the water it immediately lost its vitality. So I couldn’t carry it further after that.”

Sakurako and Natsuki talked to each other, ‘He’s planning to give you a sea urchin as a present, he said.’ ‘I haven’t gotten any sea urchins, though.’, and while laughing, they listened to him talking.

Naoto continued talking while looking at Natsuki.

“However, even if I asked my friends to, they didn’t have anything to carry it with. Then my friends talked to their friends, until it reached the other classes, then I received a plastic bag from a student named Nagatomo-san. But when I put the sea urchin in the plastic bag to take it back where I found it, its spines were so sharp, it made a hole in the bag and the water I put in together with it leaked out. When I grabbed the hole my hand and uniform became soaking wet. I didn’t know if it’s because it’s already dead or what, but the sea urchin became flattened, so a local staff cut it open for us, and a guy named Iida ate it for me. I don’t know if it’s because my uniform got wet, but even though it’s not cold at the time, a sneeze came out of me. After that, inside the bus I felt sick and threw up. Maybe it’s because my body lost its resilience, but on the way home, I completely developed a cold.”

“Gee……”

“After I got home, I got a 40-degree fever, and while I’m painfully sleeping, Oshida-san came to check on me. It’s been quite a long time since she came to my room, so it made me happy. I thought that she really is kind. However, we weren’t able to talk to each other like we did when we were kids. If it’s like before, I would easily gripe to her something like ‘When I thought of getting a sea urchin as a present for Natsuki, I caught a cold’ or such. I thought that if said my complaints back then that she might come to hate me and find me disgusting.

While wondering why I couldn’t speak to her, while falling asleep I looked up a bit at Oshida-san’s face, and I found her really cute. I ended up looking at her a second time. At that time, I have someone that I have feelings for, but more than that person, at that moment I found Natsuki cuter.

I was shocked. I don’t have anything like an idol that I like or so. Even the girls in my class are quite the beauties, but I didn’t really find them much different from each other. I lived my life believing that humans are about personality. So much so that I despised boys who called someone ugly. But on that day, I finally understood that that is what the word cute means.

But until that, in my mind, I hated the idea of developing feelings of love to a person just because of their face. On the night of our field trip, there were lot of guys who were saying ‘She’s cute, so I like her’ about the person I had a crush on, and I hated that, but to think that three days——- or was it four days? —— after that, I would end up just like those guys.

When I thought that, I couldn’t tell her ‘Natsuki, you’ve become really cute, huh’ at all. I did try to push her down and she refused me, then I neglected nurturing human relationships since I found them bothersome, so telling her ‘You’ve become really cute, huh’ felt cowardly and the worst.

As she was nursing me, my mind kept going gloomier, when I told her ‘You don’t have to take care of someone like me. Aren’t you scared?’, she told me ‘This weak Nao-kun right now is not scary at all.’, and after many years she held my hand again, and smiled at me. But I felt that Oshida-san’s hands were shaking. I didn’t know if the shaking was because of my weak body, or if Oshida-san’s hands were really shaking, I couldn’t really see from my angle on the bed, but I thought that I should apologize if Oshida-san’s hands were shaking. While coughing, I told her ‘I will never do such a thing to you again.’, she replied ‘Don’t force yourself to talk. More than that, I’ll be glad if you get better quickly.’ As expected, I cried.

The whole time I was crying, she kept holding my hand.”

“I would fall for her myself if that happened to me!”

“No, if you treat that thing as me barely falling for her because of her looks, then that wouldn’t be called pure love. The moment I fell in love with her was far later than that.”

“What’s with that pickiness?”

“When Oshida-san’s health deteriorated when we became second year high schoolers, I couldn’t help but be worried about her. She let me reach out to her, and we came back to being friends. Three days after that I fell deeply in love with her. Even though she’s a hundred in looks, she’s two hundred in personality, and I completely fell for her. That happened during December of last year. That’s why I’m so happy that I ‘m able to talk with Oshida-san.

Even so, Ninomiya-san coerced me into revealing to her about my novel. Right now, I don’t want my sexual feelings to be known yet. It might sound pathetic, but I’m afraid of making Oshida-san read my novel.”

“The prospect of that is scary, isn’t it?”

“That’s why, I wasn’t able to oppose it. Even if her orders kept escalating, I had no choice but to do as Ninomiya-san says, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, I’ll tell her for you. Is Aki there?”

“Ah, yes. Then, I’ll have Ninomiya-san on the phone.”

Saying that, Naoto gave the phone to Aki.

“Hello?! Um, here me out, what Morita-kun said right now is a lie. I didn’t coerce him. I’m telling you, I didn’t order him to do anything!”

Aki started to explain everything to Hatsumi from the beginning.

“That’s also a lie. I didn’t do anything. No, that’s not it. Morita-kun’s love for Natsuki is true, they’re already dating as it is. They’re super close, he’s even flirting with Natsuki throughout the whole day today and yesterday as well. Ah, it’s also true that Natsuki didn’t know about his novel, though. Yeah. Natsuki hasn’t read it yet. But wouldn’t the contents make her angry?

A—-h, that huh? But Natsuki doesn’t really look like the type to hate Morita-kun just by reading his novel.

Yeah, Natsuki also loves him. She loves Morita-kun so much, she’s become an idiot. No, it’s true. Should I put Natsuki on the line?”

When Aki took a glance at Natsuki, Naoto blocked Natsuki’s mouth with his hand.

“Looks like it’s impossible. So that Natsuki can’t talk, Morita-kun has his hands over her mouth. Yeah, really. ——Idiot, there’s no way he’ll really shut her up like that, right?! We’re I front of a train station, after all. Yeah. I was invited to go to health Land. No, that’s not it. We’re just accumulating numbers, so it really doesn’t matter what Hatsumi’s reply will be. It’s alright if you give your answer tomorrow.”

While Naoto was listening to what Aki’s saying on the phone, his smartphone vibrated. It was a call from Iida.

“I might still have to speak with Sasahara-san, so as we planned earlier, won’t Hirose-an answer the phone for me?”

Sakurako made sure “It’s from Iida-kun, right?” Naoto nodded.

Sakurako took the smartphone while feeling nervous.

“——Hello, it’s Hirose.”