The Case of My Unknown Childhood Friend Who Became My Girlfriend Without Me Even Knowing It - Chapter 14 - The Beginning of Hot Springs Trip
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- Chapter 14 - The Beginning of Hot Springs Trip
Chapter 14 – The Beginning of Hot Springs Trip
This is what it feels like to be burned by fear.
I was still tormented by the words she left out.
Next time I get angry with her, someone will die, apparently.
I seriously think now that she would do it.
I remained frozen on the doorstep for a while.
Eventually I came to my senses, slowly returned to my room and turned on the TV…
Professional baseball coverage had begun.
I liked it because I could spend my evenings watching TV in a daze, but…
Now I’m afraid of the night.
I’m afraid of the dark.
And yet…
…I also realized that I couldn’t get a certain image out of my head.
I’ll never forget her teary-eyed, reddened face.
That too-happy, slightly smiling expression just won’t go away.
…What the hell is going on…
“Pin-pon.”
The doorbell rang.
Could it be… No, it must be her.
But I couldn’t ignore it, so I opened the front door.
“Yes… What is it?”
“Good evening, Kanata-kun.”
“I asked you what is it?”
“Hmm, I just wanted to see your face.”
“…Then look at my pictures at your home.”
“Hahaha, you’re not like your pictures. Show me more of your face.”
“……”
She stared at my face and smiled after a while.
Honestly, it’s cute.
But also frightening.
I shuddered at the thought that she really came just to see my face.
“Did you just come here to see my face?”
“Hmm, I’ve got some business to attend to.”
“What the hell, get on with it.”
“Hmm…”
“…What the hell is it?”
“I just wanted you to give me a goodnight kiss.”
She’s small and cute, with slightly pouty lips.
Sakatoki Aya stepped inside.
“Kanata-kun did it to me earlier and I think I got into the habit.”
“…No, I’m not really…”
“You like it, don’t you?”
“……”
“You like it, don’t you? Who doesn’t like a goodnight~ kiss from their girlfriend?”
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
I thought there was no point in talking to Sakatoki, who proceeded as if she had never pointed a knife at me earlier, so I gently offered her my lips.
Well, I don’t see this as a perk.
I am rather aware that I am only strangling myself.
Still, I kissed her for temporary safety…
“…Fufu, Kanata-kun’s lips, they’re soft. I love it.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Ah, you suspected that I did it with other people just now, didn’t you?”
“What? No, nothing like that.”
“It’s okay. I won’t let any man other than Kanata-kun touch me, not even a finger.”
“…I see.”
I’d like to say thanks for that, but…
I’d also like to ask why it has to be me?
No matter how much you like me, you like me too much.
Why do you even like me like this?
“Hey Aya, what do you like about me so much?”
“Hmm, why?”
“N-No, I’m just curious.”
“Fufu, you’re weird. There’s no reason to like someone. If I want to be with this person all the time, I have to be with that person. That’s how love is, isn’t it?”
“…Something like that, I guess.”
I’ve honestly never liked anyone.
I certainly had a sense of pleasure or superiority in being popular.
That’s why I wanted to stay that way, and chose to be the one who was admired by everyone, rather than the one who was happy dating someone else.
I didn’t want to ruin my reputation with boys and other girls, so I didn’t have the courage to make a move on a girl who came up to me, and I ended up in high school without ever having even kissed a girl.
And I’ve lost my lips to a stalker.
…But I don’t understand how Sakatoki feels about me.
I don’t understand how hard it is to love someone, how much it can drive you crazy.
I wonder if I’ll end up like her one day when I love someone else…
When I think about it, I still can’t yearn for love.
“Well, good night. Tomorrow we’ll have breakfast and then we’ll leave.”
Sakatoki visited the room at night and quickly went back to her room.
After that, it was a quiet night.
I took a bath and relaxed after a tiring day, looking up at the ceiling.
In this way, I wonder if everything that happened earlier was a dream.
I tried to think so, but when I got out of the bath and looked at my phone, I realized it wasn’t a dream.
I got a message from my mom.
[Be careful tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing you back with Aya.]
Of course I didn’t contact my mother.
Seeing this, I realized that Sakatoki and my mother already have a close relationship.
I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever be able to break it off with her again.
But… If there is a chance, it will be when I return to my parents’ house.
My mother is on my side no matter what.
So I’ll be honest and confide about Sakatoki.
I’ll get my mother to talk with her.
Then, she won’t be able to do whatever she wants like now.
…It’s the Golden Week of victory.
◇
“Good morning, Kanata-kun.”
I slept better last night than I have lately.
The fact that Sakatoki came to my room and told me she would come back the next day probably made me feel relieved.
I’m in her hands now.
But I can see a little bit of light when I realize that I might be able to finish that in a few days…
I haven’t given up hope yet.
“Good morning, Aya. Are we going by train today?”
“I’m thinking about taking the bus. It would be fun to see the scenery. Will you get motion sickness?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Then, I’ll make breakfast, so just relax. All you need to pack is a change of clothes.”
Sakatoki stood in the kitchen of my apartment, looking completely familiar and began to cook.
I’m not going to be so flummoxed by this anymore.
Now… I wait for the right moment.
There won’t be a lot of chances, but they will come.
In my room, I kept simulating how I would have a chance to confide in my mom, and soon the smell of baking bread wafted through the air…
“Here, toast and soup. I want to eat a lot of lunch over there, so let’s have a light breakfast.”
“Itadakimasu. Hey Aya, come to think of it, where did you live before you changed schools?”
I know it’s too late now, but I just had to ask that question.
She seems to have been in and out of my house all the time. Maybe we were neighbors, but if that’s the case, we went to the same secondary school.
But I’ve never heard the name Aya Sakatoki.
I still wonder what this all means.
“Hmm, remember the Japanese-style house next door?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a pretty big house, isn’t it? I think it’s the one with the tiled roof.”
“There.”
“…What?”
“I lived there. I could see Kanata-kun’s room really well.”
“B-But then you… Which middle school did you go to? If you were in that area, there was only one secondary school.”
“I told you, didn’t I? I was by Kanata-kun’s side all through middle school.”
“……”
Again, is this a delusion?
It can’t be.
How could she tell a lie that would be easily discovered, that she had been with me all the time?
I’ll take this opportunity to look at my middle school graduation album when I get back.
If anything, it would be nice to look at it with her.
After that, it’ll be clear that she’s a lying bastard, and I’m going to expose her in front of my parents.
“Well, let’s go after we eat. I’m looking forward to the hot springs trip.”
“…Thanks for the food. I’ll clean up.”
“Eh, no, it’s okay, it’s okay, I’ll do it.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“It’s useless.”
“Huh?”
When I tried to shake her off as she tried to hold the dishes, she suddenly changed her tone and said something out of context.
It’s useless.
I stopped moving at those words.
“W-What is?”
“I can at least understand what Kanata-kun is thinking. But it’s useless.”
“…I have no idea what you’re talking about, though.”
“Haha, it’s fine. I’m just going to get to know Kanata-kun better on this trip.”
“……”
“Besides, I’m looking forward to seeing Mother. I wonder if I can go back and soak up a lot of nostalgic memories at your parents’ house.”
“Memories…”
My parents’ house is full of memories of me up to middle school.
Among them, of course, are many photos taken in middle school.
But she’s not one of them.
She’s not supposed to be in my memories.
And yet…
“I’d love to see your graduation album with you.”
“What?”
“Hahaha, you still think that I’m lying, Kanata-kun. But, I told you, you can’t lie to your lover, right? I would never lie to Kanata-kun.”
Her confidence makes me hold my breath.
However, I don’t know how much of this is true.
It could all be a bluff. But if not…
“Come on, let’s go. It’s almost time.”
“Y-Yeah…”
After cleaning up the mess and dishes in the sink, Sakatoki washed her hands and headed for the front door first.
I turned off the light in my room and went to her standing in the slightly dimly lit doorway.
At that time, Sakatoki said, “This is exciting.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I just said, “Yeah.”
Again, Sakatoki laughed.
Fufu. After a leaky laugh, basked in the light of the outside…
With a smirk at the corner of her lips, she said…
“Today’s hot spring, you see, is a mixed bath.”