VOLUME 2 — SUMMER
Chapter 8: Pink
“Alright, done! Shiori, it really suits you!”
With a firm slap on my back, I involuntarily leaned forward.
Feeling the suffocating weight of the yukata, I shot a protest glance backward, only to meet cheerful eyes laughing at me.
“(Geez! Mom, that hurts!)”
“Haha, sorry sorry. But seriously, going on a festival date with your boyfriend while wearing a yukata. Shiori, you’re quite something!”
“(N-No he’s not my boyfriend!!)”
“Well, Shiori, you like him, don’t you? It’s written all over your face.”
“…..”
“You’re such a lovely girl. If Itsuki-kun becomes Shiori’s boyfriend, I’d be thrilled!”
It was a few weeks ago that my dreamy-eyed mother came face-to-face with Senpai as she cleaned out the box that had contained my yukata.
Itsuki-senpai… as a boyfriend…!
Even just imagining it feels inappropriate, but the term ‘boyfriend’ sounds so wonderful… I’m such a hopeless case.
Indeed, since that day when Itsuki-senpai came to see me, we’ve been in much more frequent contact compared to before.
It ranges from casual small talk to complaints about part-time jobs or study advice, and even plans to meet at the library.
While we’re not texting each other every day, it’s more like the exchanges you’d have with friends, similar to how I communicate with Ayu-chan or Renji.
…Or at least that’s how it seems.
Each time Itsuki-senpai contacts me, my heart leaps with joy, so it’s not just a simple friendship.
Previously, even if we happened to meet at the library, it was just a coincidence… but now, we inform each other of our schedules and planned days, turning those “coincidences” into “inevitabilities.”
Spending time with Itsuki-senpai, even if it’s at the library and can’t be called a date, is irreplaceable and important time to me.
And after spending time at the library together, Itsuki-senpai always insists on walking me home.
We usually concentrate on studying in the library and often don’t talk much, so instead, we end up chatting briefly on the way home.
─── One day.
By chance, my mother, who came from shopping, and Itsuki-senpai encountered each other in front of the house.
It’s not like I want to hide my relationship with Itsuki-senpai or anything, or that I don’t want to tell my mother, but I didn’t know how to explain it.
Are they friends, just a senior-junior relationship, or just acquaintances?
I didn’t want to worry my mother, and I hadn’t talked about the incident with the molester, which was the reason for meeting Itsuki-senpai in the first place. So, it made it even harder to talk about it.
I couldn’t find the right words to explain, and I wasn’t prepared for such an unexpected encounter, so I just panicked…
But contrary to my reaction, Itsuki-senpai smiled gently at my bewildered mother and politely bowed his head.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Itsuki Souma. I’m currently a third-year high school student and have recently become friends with Shiori-san. We were studying together at the library and it got late, so I escorted her here. I’m sorry for keeping your daughter out late. I’ll make sure to bring her home earlier next time.”
My mother’s lips parted with a soft “Araa,” and a smile spread across her face as she listened to my senpai speak so smoothly and gently.
Adapting to any situation, my mother was also taken aback by my devilish senpai who charmed everyone regardless of their age.
Since then, whenever he accompanies me home from the library, Itsuki-senpai always engages in light small talk with my mother as a form of greeting.
I told him several times that he didn’t have to worry about it and that it was okay, but Itsuki-senpai insists on this minimum level of politeness.
He’s so considerate, or maybe just cunning. He truly knows how to melt people’s hearts.
In the end, because Senpai continued to treat me in such a polite manner throughout the summer vacation, my mother has become completely enamoured with Itsuki-senpai.
“Oh! How about next time, we invite Itsuku-kun over for dinner at our place? After all, he said he lives alone, right? So, it’d be nice to have a meal with a group of people, wouldn’t it?”
“(…You just want to talk with Itsuki-senpai, don’t you?)”
“Oh dear, did you find out?”
While chuckling, my mother stuck her tongue out, and I protested with my gaze before returning my attention to my phone screen.
[See you at 5 PM as planned at the coffee shop in front of the station.]
Subduing my racing heart, I replied to my senpai’s email that had arrived a few minutes ago with a simple “Understood,” only to find a green light blinking on my phone again.
[I’m looking forward to seeing Shiori in a yukata.]
“…”
Reading that, I could easily imagine the expression on Itsuki-senpai’s face as he typed those words…
And of course, my senpai knows exactly how I’ll react to this.
With just a single sentence, Itsuki-senpai manages to stir up my emotions, and this upcoming “festival date” with him.
Staring at myself in the mirror, I made a new vow to myself: Today, I will be fully prepared.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Hey hey, what are we doing for the festival this year!? Gramps said this year Akki and Itsuki will carry the mikoshi for sure!”
When summer vacation was halfway through, Aki and Tama came to my house to take a break from studying for entrance exams.
Aki initially aimed to attend university to study sports medicine as originally planned, and Tama, who initially claimed he had no plans yet, eventually decided to pursue a career as a car mechanic and hoped to attend a professional school.
Now that each of us has decided on a specific path, summer vacation for students preparing for exams is not really a vacation at all.
No matter what we do, the word “exams” is always looming, and for someone like Aki attending cram school, summer courses keep him busy.
Even though it’s the last summer vacation of my high school life, it’s honestly boring not being able to fully enjoy it… I blame these two for that.
The previous summer and last summer, we spent our vacations to the fullest – going to the beach, watching fireworks, attending summer festivals, having barbecues, and even having sleepovers at my place, playing games until the morning.
Thinking about how the two of us will “go our separate ways” in the near future makes me feel lonely to be honest… the old me who just entered high school would probably be surprised to hear that.
…But I’ll never tell them that, even if I wanted to.
“Ah, sorry. I have summer classes until 3 PM that day, and then… I made plans to go to the festival with Mari in the evening.”
“Mari” is the girlfriend that Aki dotes on.
It seems that since Aki started going to cram school, they’ve been spending less time together.
Still, the two of them, being close friends, make time to see each other when they can, so there doesn’t seem to be anything for us to worry about.
“Eh?! Then Akki can’t make it. Then how about Itsuki!? Itsuki and mikoshi are such a mismatch!!”
“I’m passing too. I’m planning to attend the festival as a guest that day.”
“Huh!? W-Wait… you mean with girls?! You’re not going to the festival with girls, are you?!”
“…There’s no way I’d go to a summer festival with a guy other than you guys.”
“W-Wait a sec! What was that just now?! I almost had a heart flutter for a moment there, Itsuki! I almost fell in love with you for a second!! But that means you’re going to the festival with a girl! You traitor…!”
“Are you going with Shiori?”
“…Yeah.”
It was only two weeks ago that I talked about Shiori to Aki, who asked me about it with a soft smile, while Tama was holding his head and screaming.
…Somehow.
For some reason, I felt like I wanted to tell Aki about Shiori and my father, and when I did, Aki’s face lit up with joy.
“Shiori?! Which Shiori are we talking about?! Is it a Shiori I don’t know?!”
“…I don’t know which Shiori you know.”
“Kyyyy!! Itsuki, you traitor!! You erotic high schooler!! What kind of erotic girl are you deceiving now?!”
“…Shiori is not like that.”
“Huh?! And who are you to say that?! Even though you have “suspicious friends” all around! Even though you’re in the opposite world of “innocent”! Because of guys like Itsuki, lonely men like me exist!! Kyyyy!! Explode with real happiness, normies!!”
“Ugh… Tama, calm down. You have the mikoshi with grandpa, right? You can just carry it this year too.”
“Akki, that’s not comforting at all!”
While saying this, Tama let out another squeal and collapsed onto the carpet in an exaggerated manner.
Watching him from the corner of my eye, I thought about what Tama had just said, and a sharp pain pierced my chest.
…It’s all my own fault.
Everything Tama said was true, and the unchangeable past and all the facts were now coming back to haunt me.
I may not have initiated things, but I did have relationships with girls when they offered. I never treated them sincerely.
Of course, it was all with their consent.
It was a codependent relationship between me, who was never serious, and a girl who was content with that.
I avoided girls who had genuine feelings for me, like puppy love, just because I thought it was too much trouble and I hated feeling guilty.
…Truly, I think I’m the worst.
I have no excuse for it. I’ve done the absolute worst thing I could do as a person, as a man.
Unable to argue with Tama’s words, I looked out the window.
The sky, now tinted with the colors of the night, seemed to reflect myself, feeling so incompatible with the morning light… I couldn’t help but think about the obvious.
“…But you’ve stopped doing that kind of thing, right?”
“Huh?”
“Because lately, whenever a girl calls you, you don’t answer at all.”
“I know, right?! I totally thought Itsuki had finally awakened to the other side!”
“…And even with your phone, you used to reply with a bored face all the time, but lately it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.”
“…”
“That’s right, that’s right! Sometimes you even smirk!”
Even I hadn’t even noticed, and I was surprised by the unexpected observation.
Aki gave me another soft smile and tapped the pure white page of the notebook open on his desk with his fingertips.
“…The important thing is ‘now’, right?”
“…”
“I think it’s wrong to be bound by the unchangeable past and let go of the changeable future.”
Staring at the open notebook, memories of interactions with Shiori flood in.
Her handwriting, always neat and delicately drawn.
Just by reading each sentence, I felt a warmth that enveloped me.
With each moment spent with her, every exchanged word and feeling became something invaluable to me.
It was a feeling I had never experienced before.
…An emotion I had never harboured.
The time spent with her, nurtured by her sincere feelings, gaze, and kindness directed straight toward me.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her, like a flower blooming between the concrete cracks, possessing both strength and fragility.
…I truly treasure her from the bottom of my heart.
The thought of losing her made me afraid, unable to voice my feelings, turning me into a coward.
“…If it’s Itsuki, it’ll be okay. I’ll always be rooting for you.”
I wasn’t that insensitive or stupid not to realize that this was love.
＊ ＊ ＊
—Thirty minutes before the promised time, I arrived at the coffee shop and passed the time by drinking iced coffee.
From my counter seat by the window, I could see the bustling station and the occasional girl in a yukata strolling by.
To be honest, I don’t like summer festivals.
Not just summer festivals, I dislike crowds in general.
Yet, the reason I ended up going to the summer festival this time was because of a conversation I had with Shiori some time after summer vacation had started.
“It’s already festival season, huh?”
I was on the way back from the library one day.
I stumbled upon a small summer festival being held in the park in our small neighbourhood and stopped, uttering those words as if to myself.
As if searching for where those words went, I casually glanced at Shiori.
Next to me, Shiori had stopped too, her gaze turned towards the festival lights, her eyes seemingly gazing into the distance.
The dimly lit profile of her face made me feel as though she had given up on something… yet still seemed to carry a hint of longing. Without thinking, I blurted out:
“Shiori, do you have plans to go to the festival or something?”
I regretted it as soon as I said it.
Because, when I said that, Shiori looked up at me with a slightly surprised expression, quickly lowered her eyebrows and smiled, and then lowered her gaze to her phone.
“(I don’t have any plans. I haven’t been to that kind of place in a while.)”
…I should have realized that without even asking Shiori.
If we went to the festival, and we got separated in the crowd, she would have to call out to me immediately, or she would get lost in no time.
In that case, Shiori, being Shiori, would probably think “I don’t want to cause trouble for others”… and even if she wanted to go to the festival, she would probably refuse.
And as she continues to do this over and over again, her friends would eventually stop inviting her out and Shiori herself would naturally start avoiding such places.
However, if things like this continue to increase, Shiori would have to endure and give up even more in the future.
“…If you say you haven’t been able to go, does that mean you want to go if you could?”
“…”
“Then, how about going to the festival together this year?”
In response to my question, Shiori raises her face in a burst of energy and stares at me wide-eyed.
Just from her reaction, I can confirm the answer I had just imagined in my head.
And I could understand what confused thoughts Shiori was having about my invitation.
…How earnest.
I could make such a small wish come true for her, no matter how many times she asked.
Seeing Shiori look up at me again then furrow her brows in confusion, I gently narrowed my eyes. Maybe Shiori understood what I wanted to say, as her beautiful eyes glistened with tears.
“I want to know what you’re thinking, Shiori. You don’t need to hold back or endure anything. Let me hear your true feelings.”
“(Sen…pai)”
“Here, take your phone. Type out everything you’re thinking.”
“…”
Hesitating for a moment at my words, Shiori seemed to have made up her mind and started typing on her phone.
“(…Before I lost my voice,)”
“Hm?”
“(Before I lost my voice, my grandmother made me a yukata… I was really looking forward to wearing it and going to the festival.)”
“…I see.”
“(But… still, I feel guilty about inconveniencing the person I go with, and I’m afraid of bothering them. So, it’s sorry to inconvenience you too, Senpai…)”
“Huh… Does Shiori think I’m a petty guy who would consider things like that bothersome?”
“(Th-that’s not it! To be honest, there are parts of me that don’t even know what’s okay, and…)”
“And?”
“(Well, Senpai seems to dislike festivals…)”
“…”
“(Or rather, it seems like he doesn’t like crowds, not just festivals…)”
She hit the mark.
She hit the mark so hard that I couldn’t say anything and just shut my mouth.
Seeing me like that, Shiori, again looking flustered, glanced at her phone and typed a message, then directed it toward me.
“(That’s why…even if I go to a place Senpai dislikes, it would be sad to see you looking bored, and I’m not in a position to go to a festival either…!)”
“(If you wear a yukata, I won’t be bored or dislike it.)”
“(Huh?)”
“If you’re wearing a yukata, I’d be more than happy to go to the summer festival or anywhere crowded.”
“…”
As I said that with a mischievous smile, retaliating against her hitting the nail on the head, I gently slid my hand across her soft, white cheek.
“Shiori in a yukata… She’d definitely be adorable, wouldn’t she?”
Whispering that, I gently covered Shiori’s lips with my index finger, preventing her from resisting any further.
In response to my sudden actions, Shiori froze in place and blushed so intensely that it seemed like she might make a popping sound. Her furrowed eyebrows turned into a figure eight once again.
＊ ＊ ＊
Five minutes before our agreed meeting time.
After arriving at our meeting spot and sending a message to Senpai saying “I’ve arrived,” I placed my hand over my chest and let out a quiet breath.
As I shifted my gaze from the coffee shop in front of the station toward the ticket gate, I caught sight of girls in gorgeous yukatas.
(…Will it be okay?)
Seeing the lovely girls, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.
The yukata my grandmother had sewn for me was adorned with simple and cute dianthus patterns.
I liked it, but compared to the yukatas everyone else was wearing, it might be a bit plain.
Still, to me, it was a yukata filled with precious memories with my grandmother.
When my grandmother gave me this yukata, she secretly told me, “A dianthus patterned yukata… they symbolize elegance and smiles.”
A yukata that I have always wanted to wear, but have never been able to wear.
It’s a yukata I received from my beloved grandmother.
So when Senpai suggested going to the festival, I was super happy .
But at the same time, I felt a great deal of anxiety.
Senpai told me it would be okay, but if I got lost, I would be in more trouble than I imagined. I didn’t want to cause my senpai any trouble.
But honestly, I don’t even have the time to worry about that much. I’m so nervous about going on a first date with my favorite senpai, I think I’m going to be a mess…
“…You’re too cute, I couldn’t tell who you were for a moment.”
Oh no. I’m sure I’m going to be a mess.
When I suddenly raised my face in response to his words, there was Senpai, looking at me with a gentle smile.
“…The yukata suits you.”
— Double eyelids, balanced eyes that are captivatingly long, deep black eyes.
A well-shaped, thin lips on a straight nose, a sharp jawline, and flawless skin.
A voice full of allure, a sweet voice.
The sleeves of his long black T-shirt were rolled up to just below his elbows, and his collarbone peeked out from the neckline.
Light-colored slim jeans and navy and white deck shoes.
The outfit is so simple, yet it all accentuates my senpai’s great style and neat features to the fullest.
As I looked up at Senpai, who was flawless as always, I forgot to respond, and my cheeks flushed. Senpai let out a voice that sounded impressed for some reason, saying, “Oh…”
“A dianthus-patterned yukata, huh? You can feel the love your grandmother has for you in it.” Senpai said.
“…”
It’s not just his appearance. Sometimes, I seriously wonder if Senpai has the ability to read people’s feelings.
Senpai seems to see through the meaning of this dianthus-patterned yukata, too.
“Anyway, shall we go?”
(Huh?)
While I was still looking up at Senpai in a daze, he gently extended his beautiful hand to me.
Without thinking, I alternated between looking at Senpai’s face and his hand, and before I knew it, he grabbed my free hand.
“If we hold hands like this, we won’t get lost, right?”
“…”
“But you won’t get lost, I promise.”
Saying that, Senpai, who smiled for a moment, turned his back to me for some reason.
Confused by the sudden turning of his back I hurriedly stood next to my senpai, who then silenced me with just a glance.
“…I’ll say it myself, but…”
“…?”
“I’m quite embarrassed too.”
“…”
As he spoke, Senpai’s ears turned red as he turned to face forward.
Finally understanding everything, I blushed again. Senpai, who didn’t say anything more, just took my hand and walked towards the ticket gate.
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『Pink（ナデシコ）』
Pure Love・Admiration
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