A Pleasant Time

After the takoyaki party, we lingered in Kasahara’s room, chatting for a bit. Well, “chatting” mostly meant Hayashi and Kasahara talking, while I was stuck playing the listener or the punching bag—hardly glamorous roles.

Kasahara seemed thrilled beyond measure to reunite with Hayashi, her smile brighter and more genuine than anything I’d seen from her in high school.

The conversation dragged on for quite a while.

I don’t often get the chance to visit a girl’s room, so at first, I was uncharacteristically nervous. But Hayashi and Kasahara barely paid me any mind, and before I knew it, I was hit with a ferocious wave of drowsiness.

“Yamamoto.”

“Ngh?”

I must’ve dozed off in Kasahara’s room.

When I opened my eyes, Hayashi was staring at me with a look of utter exasperation, while Kasahara laughed heartily.

“Time to head out.”

“Huh? …Oh, yeah.”

I’d embarrassed myself in front of Kasahara. My face burned. For some reason, even more than before I came here, I desperately wanted to leave. I tried to drag my groggy body upright.

“Wait a sec.”

Kasahara noticed something and stopped me.

She grabbed a few tissues and pressed them gently to my cheek.

“…You’ve got drool.”

“…My apologies.”

As Kasahara wiped the drool from my face, I was probably red as a beet, obvious to anyone watching. I wanted to hide my face from the world, but I couldn’t until she was done. It should’ve been a fleeting moment, yet time seemed to stretch on endlessly.

“There. All good.”

“…Thanks.”

I stood up. My sleepy haze had completely vanished.

I could feel the piercing gaze of the girl standing beside me, waiting.

“Sorry for making you wait.”

This time, I was clearly in the wrong.

I offered Hayashi an apology.

“…I wasn’t waiting. It’s not a big deal.”

“…Oh, right.”

For some reason, an awkward tension hung between me and Hayashi.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Hayashi suddenly grabbed my wrist and started walking briskly.

“There’s a big sale at the usual supermarket. Come with me.”

“What are you, my mom?”

Knowing why Hayashi was in such a rush, I let out an exasperated sigh.

“Listen, they’ve got eggs dirt cheap—one pack per person. We’d be crazy not to hurry.”

“Like I said, my mom.”

“Ugh, whatever. We’re going. See ya later, Akari!”

“Yeah, see you! Bye, Meg, Yamamoto-kun!”

With barely a proper goodbye—well, I didn’t get to say one at all—we finally left Kasahara’s place. Chasing after a hurried Hayashi, we rushed to the supermarket near our apartment. Miraculously, we managed to snag two packs of eggs.

“Pretty good, right?”

“Yeah. Aside from nearly passing out from running right after waking up, it’s a flawless victory.”

“So, a flawless victory then.”

“Stop casually ignoring my suffering.”

On the way back from the supermarket, we walked side by side.

The sun was setting. Summer break was nearly over, but the air was still thick with heat.

When Hayashi first started staying at my place, she’d worn long sleeves or sweatshirts to hide her bruises. Lately, though, the bruises had faded, and she could wear breezy short-sleeve shirts. The bandages on her wrist came off last week. The painful scars from that man who got her in trouble with the police were finally healing.

“…Hey, I was thinking. Wouldn’t it have been better to stay at Kasahara’s place?”

Seeing Hayashi slowly reclaim her old life sparked a thought.

Kasahara lives two train stops away from our apartment—a much closer distance than back in our hometown. It’s close enough to crash at her place anytime.

“Why not just live with Kasahara instead of at my place?”

More than anything, wouldn’t Hayashi feel safer sleeping at night with someone she’s close to, like Kasahara, rather than sharing a space with me? Sure, I’d never dream of harming her, but she has no way of knowing I’m harmless.

“Are you trying to piss me off?”

“How does anything I said sound like I’m trying to make you mad?”

“…Let me tell you something. The kind of person I hate most? Cold-hearted jerks.”

Cold-hearted jerks.

Yeah, that tracks. Back in high school, whenever I’d spout some half-baked nonsense, Hayashi would get visibly annoyed or straight-up snap at me. She never took kindly to my flippant attitude.

Sincere, considerate, devoted.

The so-called “queen” Hayashi might set a slightly lower bar for those around her, but it makes sense.

I think I finally understood why Hayashi got mad at me just now.

In other words, she was saying, Don’t lump me in with heartless people like that.

“…No matter how much I do for you, I can never repay the debt I owe. So, staying by your side and looking out for you? That’s just my duty.”

My back felt oddly itchy.

“Tch, weren’t you the one trying to move out not too long ago? Talk about convenient.”

“…I thought, from your perspective, you’d want me gone as soon as possible. But you said it, didn’t you?”

“Said what?”

“…It’s not a bad feeling, I guess.”

I’ll never forget that moment.

When Hayashi couldn’t rent a place due to her circumstances, those were the words I told her. They were blunt, but coming from someone like me, with my rough edges, those words carried a lot of unspoken meaning.

One of those meanings was, without a doubt, that I wanted to keep living with Hayashi.

And it seems she picked up on that.

I was genuinely surprised.

Not because she understood the intent behind my words back then. No, what shocked me was that Hayashi didn’t seem to doubt for a second that I wanted to keep living with her. Most people would second-guess themselves, thinking, Maybe I’m reading too much into this. Maybe they don’t actually feel that way.

But she…

My face felt hot again. Maybe my senses were sharper than usual after waking up? No, probably not. So why…?

“What’s for dinner tonight?”

“Tenshin rice.”

“Sounds good.”

With that brief exchange, we headed home. After that, we barely spoke. The supermarket was about five hundred meters from our place, and with traffic lights, it took about five minutes to walk.

In those five minutes, we hardly said a word.

Yet, there wasn’t a hint of awkwardness.

…When Hayashi first started staying at my place, the silences were excruciating. I’d think, Say something, Hayashi. I felt that way more than once.

But now, even these quiet moments felt… comfortable.

…In the distance, a crow cawed.

Near the park, the lively chatter of children echoed.

“Hey, Yamamoto?”

Hayashi spoke up.

“Do you like Akari?”

No one’s gonna stop me! I’m going full speed ahead!

Don’t blame me if things get wild!

Well, even if someone tried to stop me, I’d keep going anyway!

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