It’s Too Early to be Having Newlywed Syndrome! ~Childhood Friends Who Rekindled their Love for Each Other ~ - 4 - 2 - Naoto, Sakurako and One More Person

Naoto, Sakurako and One More Person

The always same breaktime in the always same classroom. After being captivated by Natsuki, Naoto came to his senses. Normally Naoto will spend the time staring leisurely at Natsuki like that, but right now, he’s occupied.

Naoto stood up planning on meeting Iida when he saw Sakurako alone on the classroom’s balcony. It was rare finding Sakurako alone, so he changed his plans to thank Sakurako for the other day.

“Thank you for yesterday. I’ve caused you such trouble.”

“It’s all fine, all fine. I had fun as well.”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Nnn—-n. A weird bug appeared near my desk, so I escaped here in panic. It looks like it has already been dealt with, but the guys who got rid of it are still loitering around my seat, so here I am.”

Sakurako explained the sequence of events matter-of-factly.

Naoto had no idea what Sakurako’s current mood was. Was she in a bad mood because of the bug, was she displeased with the guys still occupying her seat, or was she not in a bad mood at all, Naoto couldn’t decide which is which. However, for some reason, he found it hard to ask Sakurako about it.

“Bugs are unpleasant, aren’t they? Back in grade school, I was stung by a bee, so since then I found bees terrifying. Aren’t they saying that being stung by a bee more than once is dangerous?”

Naoto continued the topic in the meantime.

“Uwa! Was it painful?”

“Well, it really hurt so much, but more than that, the face of the person I’m going out with right now paled asking what should we do if it was poisoned.

She then suggested that we sleep together so that she will immediately know if I became ill. So that day, the two of us ended up sleeping together.”

“That really sounds like something she’ll say!”

Sakurako the two of them as children snuggling close to each other, then laughed. Naoto felt relieved seeing Sakurako laughing.

“The next morning, saying it’s to celebrate me getting better, she made hotcakes, it was delicious, but I wasn’t able to honestly tell her about it.”

“But right now, you can say what’s on your mind, right? Lately, that girl’s happy when her food’s being praised, it looks like she’s doing some intensive cooking training.”

“Is that so? I’m really grateful, but I don’t want her to cook that much.

……Speaking of which, Hirose-san, who do you usually eat lunch with?”

“Whoever I end up eating with. Everyone seems to be on a diet, so there are no fixed members, once we go to the cafeteria, we sit nearby any friend whose seat beside them are available.”

“So that’s how it is, huh.”

Saying that Naoto gazed at the scenery outside, because of strong winds the trees wildly swayed. Even in the balcony the wind blew, so it was hard hearing a conversation even at point blank range due to the loud noise produced by the wind.

Knowing that if they spoke in a low voice, the everyone inside the classroom will not hear what they’re saying, Naoto loosened up his guard and cut to the chase of what he wanted to talk about,

“If it was not agreed on beforehand, do you think the five of us eating together yesterday would not be thought of as strange?”

“It’s perfectly fine, probably.”

“Today might be the day we would be talking it out with that person, so if you’re free I wanted everyone to come. Before that I also wanted ask for advice about it at noon.”

“Has Iida-kun ascertained his feelings?”

“Eh? No, I don’t know what Iida’s feeling. However, the point of meeting was to understand how he really feels, right? That’s how it is for me.

Deciding to settle it with a phone call due to shyness, then realizing that he really loves her when they meet at a reunion party, but it was already too late, that would be the worst that can happen.”

Naoto, because of having first-hand experience of it, doesn’t want to give up on a personal meetup.

“It was his first love, after all.”

Sakurako has not experienced being passionately in love yet. However, hearing Naoto’s story the day before of how he saw the person he had a crush on after a long time and that she appeared shining in his eyes, Sakurako’s heart jolted.

“Speaking of first love, there’s something I’m wondering about.”

“What is it?”

“Was that person my first love? Or is it the person I’m going out with right now?”

“Isn’t it the person you’re going out with right now? I have a feeling that’s the case.”

“If that is so, then my actions for these past few years were considerably the worst, right?”

“For that girl, instead of being concerned with that, wouldn’t she be happier being told that she was your first love?”

Sakurako said while showing an odd smile.

“I don’t really know.

Back in grade school, I forgot how the conversation went in that direction, I was talking with the girls in my class, then the conversation became about boyfriends-girlfriends or something. I told them that I have a person I promised to marry. When I said that, the boys deliberately joined in on the conversation, then, rather than calling it making fun of it, they teased me because of it. That was really humiliating.

After I arrived home, there was the person I’m going out right now, I suddenly hugged her while crying. I asked her we will definitely marry right, it’s not a lie.

Then, after some days, that person brought a fake marriage registration paper for playing purposes, and had us both sign in it. I think maybe she searched for and bought it together with her parents. I was really overjoyed by it, even now, it’s very important to me that I’m keeping it in a secret place.

However, the only thing I remembered that day was about being overjoyed about it. At that time, what did I think of that person, I don’t really remember what my own feelings were back then. Did I alone had my own selfishness granted, did I only think of her as a convenient friend? Or perhaps, did I love her?”

“It was love. It’s better to think of it that way. ——-Is what the face of the person standing behind you is saying.”

Sakurako, with amusement, turned her gaze past behind Naoto.

“Eh?!”

When Naoto turned around, standing there was Natsuki, who was hiding more than half of her face with her hands.

Without saying anything, Natsuki turned around, then with quick steps, took her leave.

“What should I do? That person, she was clearly angry.”

Naoto, in a panic, implored Sakurako.

“Now, that’s not the face of someone angry, is it?”

While saying that Sakurako, in contrast to Naoto, was acting carefreely.

“Really? She just left in disgust, though.”

“It’s all fine, all fine. She just went in the direction of the restroom. Won’t she just be crying tears of joy in there?”

“We don’t know about that. In the meantime, please tell her I apologize.”

Naoto, not quite convinced with Sakurako’s words, asked her.

“I don’t think it’s something worth apologizing for.”

“But, not throwing that marriage registration paper and keeping it instead might’ve been too much for her. She might be saying ‘He’s still keeping that piece of paper that was only a plaything, that guy’s scary’ and she must be in fear right now.”

“Eh——. Well, it can’t be helped. I’ll go see if she’s fine.”

Sakurako readily consented. From the start, she’s been thinking it would be amusing to go and tease Natsuki.

“Thank you! Please tell her that I know marriage paper is just a thing from the past, so she shouldn’t think much about me keeping it. That I’m fine with the pace our relationship is going on right now.”

“Okay, oka—-y.”

Sakurako felt envious of Naoto who was able to ask her to deliver such a message without any hint of embarrassment.

When Sakurako entered the restroom,

“Natsuki—-?”

She faced one of the cubicles and called out.

“Yes?”

After confirming that the other cubicles were unoccupied,

“Mr. Husband’s worried about you.”

She teased Natsuki beyond the door.

“He’s not a husband.”

Natsuki went out of the cubicle while lightly wiping her eyes.

“He said that you don’t need to be concerned with the marriage paper, that you can keep your relationship at its current pace.”

“I know that much!”

“Called it.”

“Ah—- geez. I’ll send him ‘Stupid’.”

“A—–a, would I also have that much fun if I have a childhood friend?”

“You don’t have any childhood friends?”

“None. I was quite the fatty in the past. And I have no contact anymore with any of my guy friends back then. I haven’t even experienced having a puppy love. See these stretch marks? They’re quite grotesque.”

She showed Natsuki her bare body.

“Isn’t that much just fine? Nao-kun told me that guys like things like birthmarks, moles, or operation scars.”

“Eeeh——?”

“It seems Iida-kun likes them very much as well.”

“Really—–?! Whenever at stare at it like this, it only creeps me out, though.”

“I seemed like before they had a talk about how they read in a manga that ‘If such a person who is conscious of such things were to come to a pool, in contrast I would be overjoyed’, which I’m not quite convinced.”

“But isn’t that, like, only applicable to cute girls? It was just a matter of Morita-kun and Iida-kun being smitten with the cutest girl in their middle school. There’s nothing beating number one cutest girl.”

“But didn’t Iida-kun took a liking to Sakurako’s okonomiyaki?”

“Isn’t it just the okonomiyaki he liked? If we talk about which type of girl Iida’s first love is, then she looked like she would be similar to Aki. It seems he has a think to gentle-speaking girls.”

“Ah, that’s right. Nao-kun told me something along those lines this morning. Something like it would be better for Hirose-san to avoid approaching guys with kindness too much.”

“Eh, I just acted considerably kind to Morita-kun just now, though.”

“He said guys are the incarnation of lust, so it would be dangerous to act kind to them or to touch them.”

“Setting aside touching, isn’t it too absurd not to act kind to them? If he says something like that, then I wouldn’t be able to make okonomiyaki for Iida-kun, would I?”

“Well, just resolve yourself to be pushed down when the time comes when you make him okonomiyaki.”

“No, do I need that much resolve for such a thing?!”

“I had seen Nao-kun’s strange state, so I somewhat know the risks. It would be safer if you conduct yourself thinking guys are dangerous.”

“That’s right, Natsuki experience being pushed down after all.”

“That’s right. It’s dangerous to touch them. It’s also dangerous to act kind to them.”

“Eh—— but…… wouldn’t it feel too pitiful to him if I told him I won’t be making him okonomiyaki anymore? Wouldn’t it be fine as long as it’s not just the two of us?”

“Yeah, about that. According to Nao-kun, girls are generally kind, so little by little, before you know it, you will be spending time with just the two of you.”

“No, that’s just absurd. I would at least have the common sense to refuse an invitation that would make us alone. I even had no experience of being locked in a room with a guy, probably.”

“Back when they were making preparations for their middle school’s sports festival, while they were talking about how Iida’s parents were too busy to come and cheer for him, when Morita-kun revealed to everyone there that ‘Iida’s dream is to have someone to make him miso soup at his house on his birthday, then for that someone to eat with him leisurely with only the two of them’, about two percent of the girls offered to do it for him. The two of them panicked, they strongly dissuaded them, saying that they absolutely shouldn’t go to the house of a guy who doesn’t even have a girlfriend.”

“Ah——, that, being told something like its his dream is cunning……”

“However, he told me that from a guy’s pint of view, it’s a very simple trick.”

“But doesn’t being told that he wants to drink miso soup at his birthday make you want to do make it for him?”

“He told me that’s being too kind. ‘If it was me, even if I hear such a thing, it won’t make want to make miso soup for him.’, is what he said.”

“Isn’t that a tad different? Morita-kun and Iida-kun are of the same gender, after all.”

“That’s what I told him too, but he countered with ‘If Hirose-san or Ninomiya-san performed dogeza and asked you to make miso soup for their birthday, you would definitely make it for them, wouldn’t you?’”

“Ah—- I see. Even I would make it if that happened to me. Does that mean I’m too kind as well?”

“Based on Nao-kun’s logic, yes you are. He told me you should take care around guys.”

“Eh—– but Morita-kun and Iida-kun are my friends, you know. Are they that resolved to push down a girl even if it risk destroying the friendship they have?”

“In our case I treated him as part of my family, but he still pushed me down.”

“Uwa, is that so?”

“It might be better being worried about treating guys like strangers if we can avoid something like that.”

“Treating Iida-kun like a stranger? That’s a pretty scary thought.

……But that’s the case, huh—-, if his dream is to someone to make him miso soup on his birthday, was he really happy when I made him okonomiyaki?”

“I think so.”

“If it’s okonomiyaki, I want to make some for him again……”

Sakurako muttered, then let out a big sigh.

“Haa—-……thinking about it just made me tired. As I thought, I would be most at ease if Iida-kun and that person from their middle school’s feelings are mutual. Okay, today I’ll be giving all my support to Iida-kun.”

Seeing Sakurako’s eyes getting wet while saying such things, Natsuki couldn’t say anything.

Sakurako sensed that Natsuki was being bewildered,

“—–But, you know, even though he treasures that marriage paper, he still planned to assault you, was Morita-kun’s sense of reason absent that day?”

In order to turn Natsuki’s attention away from her, she cheerfully said.

“Recently, when we did a compatibility test, his reasoning power was zero points. Said he has to learn how to ‘wait’.”

“Is Morita-kun a dog or something?”