Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 47: Signs

Today, too, it was late at night, so we ended up staying at the hotel where we stayed yesterday. On the way back. There was a complicated atmosphere between me and Nanase.

Awkward.

Because Kanade-san said something strange.

Right now, I sent resentment to the Bullet train that would be speeding at 300 km/h.

Then I noticed. The fact that I’m so disturbed by Kanade-san’s remark about the depth of our bond means that at least I’m aware of Nanase as the opposite sex.

“Hey”

“Hy-hya?”

“I’ll hit you on the road.”

“Where did that idea come from?”

“From around here. I’ve been wondering… why did you try to get Shinoda-san  to play the piano?”

It took me a few seconds to swallow the meaning of that question.

“Weren’t you also trying to get her to play, too?”

“You started it, Takahashi-kun. You suddenly wanted Shinoda-san to play the piano without any context.”

“Ahh…”

That’s right, it was.

“It’s not a big reason. …Kanade-san seemed to be a picture of myself 10 years from now, and I couldn’t stand it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I haven’t told you the reason why I ran away from home yet, have I?”

“I’ve heard you had a fight with your parents, but I don’t know the reason.”

“I had a dispute with my parents about YouTube.”

Nanase was quietly waiting for my next words.

“Currently, I’m making a decent amount from YouTube, and in the future, I was thinking about getting a job related to videos. A video creator or managing a video channel… So, when I put a video-related vocational school or the information department of the College of Arts on my career survey sheet, my parents blew up at me. They were like, ‘What the hell, after all the money we’ve spent to get you into a good school?’

I think it’s a common story.

The profession I want to pursue in the future is not what my parents would consider a stable job, or the return on investment doesn’t match.

Especially for my father, a national civil servant, and my mother, a former local civil servant, who have a very rigid sense of values, they must have been shocked when their son suddenly started saying, ‘I want to make a living with videos! The time is YouTube!’

“My father yelled at me, and my mother pressured me to delete my YouTube channel… it felt like everything I’ve done up to now was being denied, and I got really angry. So, I decided to run away from home…”

The beginning of all journeys. It’s like going back to the prologue.

Nanase was quietly listening to my story.

“I don’t think it’s a bad life to listen to my father and mother, give up everything I want to do… give up YouTube, study, get into a good university, join a decent company, get a decent salary… But if I do, I won’t be able to do what I really want to do, and I’ll be tormented and regretting somewhere in my heart that I gave up YouTube, spending my days in nothingness… Because Kanade-san embodied that… Yes, that’s right. In the end, I think I wanted Kanade-san to play the piano for my own ego.”

“…I see, I understand.”

Nanase listened to my long and not-so-interesting monologue without a hint of distaste.

“Thank you for talking.”

She put a cushion on it, saying, “This is just my view,” and opened her mouth.

“As I said before, I think what you’re doing on YouTube is amazing and you should continue it. In the future, choosing a path where the skills and knowledge you’ve cultivated through YouTube activities will be useful will make you happier in life, Takahashi-kun.”

“That’s… thank you.”

“Just to be clear, I’m serious. You understand, right?”

I understand. Nanase is not the kind of person who would flatter in a situation like this.

I had come to understand this very well over the past few days. That’s why I was happy. Really, I was happy.

“As I imagine it”

Nanase starts.

“Takahashi-kun, did you appeal to your parents emotionally?”

“Guh…”

I can’t deny that. Seeing my reaction, Nanase said, “I thought so,” and then…

“I’m sure you fought back with emotional arguments that were mostly baseless, like, ‘I’m definitely going to succeed,’ or ‘This is what I want to do,’ or ‘YouTube is hot right now.'”

“Were you there?”

That’s what I simply thought. Well, that’s not the case. Just as I came to understand Nanase over the past few days, she must have come to understand me.

It warmed up around my chest. Being understood by others is a happy thing. However, Nanase went on to say something that was not so pleasant.

“Anyway, you should convince your parents to feel at ease. Not emotionally, but logically. If it doesn’t work the first time, try again and again. If they understand your future prospects and your enthusiasm, they should be convinced.”

Nanase’s words are reasonable.

Right.

But I couldn’t agree.

One of the big reasons why I’m continuing this journey is to escape from the conflict with my parents. Accepting the choice to have a proper conversation and reconcile with my parents means losing one of the reasons for the journey.

Rather, it’s fair to say that it’s an additional reason to return. I felt that it was not a good idea to create that situation now. Somehow, intuitively. Unable to agree, disagree, or even hold off on a response to Nanase’s proposal, I was silent when my smartphone started vibrating.

Looking at it, it was from my parents.

What timing.

“Do you not need to answer?”

Nanase asks.

It sounded like there was a subtext of ‘isn’t it better to talk about it now?’. Still trembling, I silenced my smartphone by switching it off.

Facing Nanase, I tried my best to wear a bright smile, and said,

“It’s okay. Because I’m here with you now, Nanase.”

As I said that, Nanase showed an emotion on her face that I had never seen before.

Anger? Sadness? Or perhaps, guilt?

The only certain thing was that it wasn’t a positive emotion.

“Nanase?”

“……It’s nothing.”

The all-too-familiar ‘it’s not nothing’ moment.

I was quite perplexed by Nanase, who was clearly in a subtle mood.

…Maybe.

Was what I said just now incredibly creepy? I realize. Imagining the phrase “I’m here with you now, Nanase” with a cheesy grin instead of a bright smile, it’s, to put it mildly, hellish.

It’s not something a loner like me should be doing. No wonder she’s in a bad mood, yeah…… I convince myself, and drop my shoulders in regret.

I felt like any attempt at clarification would only make things worse, so all I could do was follow behind Nanase, who had begun to walk a bit faster than before.

— Later, I would realize.

At this time, I was under a big misunderstanding. I thought I understood Nanase, but in reality, I didn’t know anything about her.