The Childhood Friend I Had Grown Distant From Started Acting a Little Strange

Chapter 6

…I stood in front of this house, and it felt really long since I last came here.

To be precise, I came here during the incident with Mimura, but I had no time to care about such things then. I really wanted a different reason to come, but oh well.

The word “Yuki” was carved on the nameplate. I confirmed it once more and slowly pressed the intercom.

…Well, I hope everything resolves without any issues.

After that, Maya stopped coming to school. In fact, she stayed absent the entire week.

The class atmosphere turned bad, and Amano Chie looked visibly depressed. Even Shige, who didn’t have a good impression of Maya, seemed a bit concerned.

The homeroom teacher said Maya had a health issue, but… well, that’s not true, right? It’s definitely because of that incident. Does that mean Maya is indeed the stalker?

But I don’t understand the reason. Why did Maya, who rejected me so thoroughly, end up like this? …Now that I think about it, I started feeling her gaze after the incident with Mimura. Something might have changed in Maya back then.

…Well, no matter how much I think, I’m not Maya, so I can’t know the truth. Then, I have no choice but to ask her directly.

If I leave things as they are, there’s no guarantee Maya will return to school, and the class atmosphere remains awful. Above all… I myself can’t leave Maya alone.

Even if she rejected me, Maya is my childhood friend. Those past memories still remain in my heart.

And so, on Saturday morning, I came to Maya’s house.

<Hello>

A voice came through the intercom. It wasn’t Maya… but it sounded familiar.

“Uh… is that Haruna-san?”

<…? Yes, that’s me…>

“It’s me, Matsuda Yuma. I used to visit often before. Do you remember me?”

At that moment, the sound cut off, and loud footsteps echoed, audible even from outside.

Then, the front door swung open… and a woman who looked a lot like Maya… Maya’s mother, Yuki Haruna, came out.

“…Wow! It’s Yuma-kun!”

“Guh!”

Haruna-san rushed at full speed and hugged me tightly. A sound like a crushed frog escaped me, but she seemed too excited to loosen her grip.

“Wow, it’s been so long! You’ve grown so much, but your face is still as cute as ever!!”

Stop poking at my complex.

“L-Long time no see. Haruna-san, you haven’t changed at all.”

“Oh, come on, I’m totally an old lady now. You’ve even gotten good at flattery.”

No, I’m genuinely surprised because you haven’t changed. Haruna-san looks exactly the same as in my memory… even though it’s been almost ten years.

“The last time we met was… uh…”

Haruna-san, who spoke cheerfully until then, hesitated. What’s that about… oh, I see. That makes sense.

“Was it at my mom’s funeral?”

“…Yeah, it’s been a while since Yukie passed away.”

When I was in second grade, my mom died in an accident.

Since our families were close, after my mom passed away and Maya distanced herself from me, we stopped interacting. That was it. My dad was even busier with work than now and didn’t keep up with neighborhood relations.

So, that was the last time with Haruna-san. I still had some contact with Maya for a while after that, but one day, things became like they are now.

“…Oh, right. I came to check on… Yuki. Is she okay?”

I remembered my original purpose after thinking that far. Nostalgic talk is nice, but now it’s about Maya.

“Maya’s?”

“Yes. She hasn’t come to school at all… I heard it’s a health issue, but…”

Well, it’s probably not a health issue, but I can’t exactly say, “Your daughter was stalking me, and after I pointed it out, she stopped coming,” right?

So I asked vaguely, but… Haruna-san stepped away from me and clouded her expression.

“…Yeah, she’s not doing too well. She hasn’t come out of her room at all. I’ve tried calling out to her a few times, but…”

She paused for a moment and continued.

“Now that I think about it, maybe she’s been forcing herself all this time… After she stopped interacting with you, Yuma-kun, she’s been acting a bit strange… Oh, I don’t mean it’s your fault, Yuma-kun!”

“Ha…?”

…What does that mean? At least from what I saw, Maya always seemed surrounded by people and perfectly fine…

“…Yuma-kun, you came to see Maya, right?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Then, I have a request. Please talk to Maya. Maybe… if she talks to you, Yuma-kun, something might change.”

Saying that, Haruna-san beckoned me and went inside the house.

…I don’t quite understand, but oh well. I came to talk to Maya anyway. Thinking that, I followed her into the house.

Maya’s house didn’t seem to have changed much since back then. Of course, some parts looked newer, and the furniture had changed a bit.

While thinking about that, I followed Haruna-san and arrived at a door. The word “MAYA” was written on a pink nameplate… It’s Maya’s room. It’s the same as before.

“…Well then, I’ll step out for a bit. Take your time talking.”

“Uh, you don’t have to go that far…”

“Take care of it.”

Leaving those words, Haruna-san went down the stairs.

…I’m starting to feel oddly nervous. I swallowed hard and knocked on the door slowly.

“…Yuki, it’s me, Matsuda.”

A clatter came from the other side of the door. She seems awake.

“Uh… you haven’t been coming to school lately, so I wondered if you’re okay.”

…No response. Well, if I were in Maya’s position, I wouldn’t want to face me either.

“…If it’s about that time, I’m not mad or anything, and I won’t tell anyone. You can rest assured about that.”

In fact, it didn’t cause any real harm. Plus, I kind of thought it was okay if it was Maya.

“That aside, I want to talk about a lot of things. About this time, and about the past too. So, I’d be glad if you could open the door… Is that not okay?”

…No answer came back. But I’m not going to give up that easily.

“…Please, Maya. Just give me a chance to talk once.”

…For a while, no response came. Should I just go back? As I thought that, I heard the sound of the lock turning.

“!”

The door opened slowly. Standing there was Maya in pajamas. She looked up at me with fearful eyes and slowly opened her mouth.

“…I-I want to change first, so can you wait?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry for coming suddenly…”

Yeah, that makes sense… I felt a bit embarrassed and looked away without thinking.