My Sex Friend Is My Childhood Friend? - 32-33

Chapter 32: They Really Went for It

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I walked down the mountain path from the grave, crunching fallen leaves beneath my feet.

“Thanks for today, Mahiru.”

In response, Mahiru jogged up next to me.

“No, thank you for inviting me. I prayed for your father’s peaceful rest too, Nagi-kun.”

As far as I knew, Mahiru had only met my father once. I wondered if she still remembered that. We returned to the old lady’s roadside stand. For some reason, I gave her a little report.

“Thank you. We were able to visit the grave.”

The old lady squinted her eyes kindly.

“Oh my. Looks like the three of you are going back now?”

Three? No matter how you looked at it, there were only two of us. Was the old lady seeing something she wasn’t supposed to? I felt a chill run down my spine but said goodbye to her anyway, knowing we’d probably see her again in a few months.

Mahiru spoke up.

“Nagi-kun, the old lady said there were three of us, didn’t she? But it’s just us two. Maybe it was a ghost?”

Hey, stop. I was trying not to think about that. Would you take responsibility if I couldn’t go to the bathroom at night?

After that, we returned the buckets to the temple and headed to my family home. It was about a twenty-minute drive from there. That was my mother’s family house, and after my father passed away while I was in high school, I had lived there too.

“Haa…”

I let out a sigh. When I invited Mahiru, I only meant to visit the grave and go right back home. But somehow, we ended up planning to stop by my family house as well.

I parked the car in front of the house and rang the intercom.

“Coming!”

My mother’s voice came from the entrance immediately. We messaged each other regularly, but hearing her actual voice still made me feel a bit more at ease. When she opened the door, she glanced at the two of us.

Mahiru bowed politely.

“You must be Mahiru-chan. Welcome.”

My mother looked momentarily surprised, raising her eyebrows, but said nothing and let us in. She showed Mahiru into the guest room and asked her to wait a bit. As I stood up to leave the room, my mother immediately spoke to me.

“That girl… She’s Maya-chan, right? Did she change her name?”

This was going to be hard to explain. There was no way I could tell my mom that I’d turned my childhood friend into a sex friend.

“Ah, yeah. She started going by Mahiru as a nickname after entering college. I just call her that now too.”

My mother gave me a deadpan look.

“Hmm.”

Then she smacked me on the back.

“Well, alright. I’ll play along. You and Maya-chan went through a lot, after all.”

It seemed she was going to pretend not to know. Everyone deserved to have a mother who could read the room like her. Though…I still felt nervous as hell.

As my relationship with Mahiru deepened, I’d come to understand things that I hadn’t when we were in middle school. She always acted cheerful, but she was incredibly sensitive. There was a fragile, glass-like quality to her.

I felt like if I pushed too hard, if I dug too deep into the past, she might flutter away like a butterfly. But at the same time, I couldn’t say that staying in this limbo forever was good either… With how cute and smart she was, she really was someone way out of my league.

So, for now—this was enough.

Well, we’d seen my mother’s face, so there was no need to stick around too long. As I was thinking that, my mother spoke to Mahiru.

“Maya-chan, you should stay and have lunch.”

The air froze.

Man… My mother really knew how to stir things up.

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Chapter 33: My Father’s Stamp of Approval

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Mahiru froze for a moment. My breath—and even my heartbeat—felt like it stopped. Then, after blinking a few times, Mahiru responded.

“…Yes. I’d love to. Thank you so much. Oh, let me help with the preparations.”

With that, Mahiru stood up. She started helping my mother carry dishes and plate the food. The clinking of tableware echoed as she busily moved around.

I watched her quietly. Normally, this would have been a precious, heartwarming scene. But right now, I felt like my soul had left my body.

We had both realized who the other was long ago. As long as we didn’t try to force our relationship beyond a friends-with-benefits arrangement, it would be fine. Surely, it would be fine. I kept telling myself that. My mother only called Mahiru “Maya Hatsuharu” that one time.

I didn’t know if it had been a mistake or intentional.

Lunch was soon ready, and we all sat down to eat together. Since my mother lived alone, she probably didn’t get the chance to talk with others very often. She looked like she was having a great time.

Yeah, that made sense. Meals were more enjoyable when shared. Coming home had been a good idea after all. As for Mahiru…

“This rolled omelet is amazing!! How do you make it, Mother?”

…She was acting normal, at least on the surface. But watching her made me nervous. We were both walking on thin ice. At least, that was what it felt like to me. 

As the meal reached its peak, the topic turned to my father. We told my mother about the old lady at the food stall who shared stories about the past, and about how we had cleaned the grave. When she heard that, my mother looked toward the family altar and smiled.

“That old lady’s still doing well, huh? You know, back when your dad and I were still dating—or maybe even before that—we visited that grave together.”

Mahiru leaned forward with interest and asked my mother a question.

“Did you already get married by then?”

As expected, girls seemed to love these kinds of stories. Then my mother suddenly stood up. She lit some incense at the altar, and continued talking.

“No, we weren’t married yet. So Mahiru-chan, you went to the grave with Nagi, huh~”

What the heck. That sounded way too suggestive. Apparently, Mahiru thought the same.

“Wait, what happens if you go together? Like… Does a third person follow you home or something?”

“No, nothing like that. That cemetery is where generations of the Takasaki family are buried. And there’s this old belief that if you bring an unmarried woman there, you’ll definitely end up marrying her.”

…Whoa, that was the first I’d heard of that. My mother went on.

“Even I was like that. I thought, ‘No way could I ever end up with someone so curt and unfriendly like him’… but well, look how it turned out.”

I remembered the conversation we’d had at the food stall. So that was why the old lady referred to Mahiru as “the bride”? If that were true… That was seriously freaky. I looked at Mahiru. At least for now, she didn’t look disgusted or uncomfortable.

Thank god.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief. It seemed Mahiru remembered the gift she had brought. She handed the paper bag to my mother. 

“Sorry I’m giving this so late, but… This is for your husband.”

My mother thanked her and peeked inside the bag—then she smiled.

“Thank you. These are out of season… How’d you manage to get them? They were my husband’s favorite.”

Inside the elegant gift box were perfectly ripe mikan oranges. So that was what she’d offered at the grave earlier. …But how did Mahiru know those were Dad’s favorite? My mother walked over to the altar and placed the mikan there as an offering. Then she beckoned us over.

“Since you’re here, go ahead and offer some incense to your dad.”

Mahiru covered her mouth in surprise.

“I’m so sorry—I should’ve done that first… I didn’t realize…”

My mother waved her hand as if to say “that’s not it.”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just… I felt like things were turning out just like your dad once said they would.”

“Huh? What did he say?”

My mother touched her chin, thinking for a moment, then smiled.

“Hmm… That’s a secret. I’ll tell you next time you visit.”

After that, the three of us joined our hands in prayer before the altar.

Then, with my mother waving goodbye, we got into the car. Mahiru sat in the passenger seat, waving energetically out the window. Once my mother was no longer in sight—

Mahiru reached out and held my hand. Then she looked at me intently.

“Nagi-kun. Um…”

She looked down, closed her eyes tightly, and clutched the chest of her sweater. Her hand trembled slightly as I glanced at it. A few seconds of silence passed between us and then, Mahiru opened her mouth.

“…Yeah, the truth is—”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

I cut her off before she could finish. I already knew. Whatever she had tried so hard to say with shaking hands, I understood it already without her telling me. She was probably about to talk about our past—when we had just been normal childhood friends. But I didn’t want her to force herself to say it now.

I wanted her to tell me only after she’d sorted things out inside herself. So, for now… She didn’t need to say it. This wasn’t kindness or some noble gesture. In fact, it was probably just cowardice.

As I glanced toward the ridge dyed in vermilion light, two birds flew side by side. A pair, maybe. The look on Mom’s face when she talked about Dad earlier… She had looked so happy.

When I was a kid, I envied other kids whose dads were pilots or lawyers or whatever. I used to think that it was only natural for fathers to provide for their families—and that children had a right to receive things from their parents. But now that I was an adult… I had nothing. I couldn’t even make the person I loved smile. I could only made her cry over and over again.

…Dad. You really were incredible.

As we got on the highway, a message came in from my mother.

『You know, when your father met Maya-chan a long time ago, he said this to me. “So this is Nagi’s girl? If she’s the one then everything will be alright.” When I saw the mikan she offered at the altar, it reminded me of the conversation I had with your father. She even remembered your father’s favorite fruit. What a thoughtful girl she is. While you… You’re his son. You should at least remember your father’s favorite food. Don’t rely on Maya-chan for everything.』

…So Father once said that, huh? And I… I was just a worthless son who forgot his father’s favorite food.

『Don’t rely on Maya-chan for everything.』

Yeah…No kidding. Mother really did say the same kinds of things as Father. I had wanted to introduce Mahiru to him at the grave… But maybe… That hadn’t been necessary after all.

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