Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330658028208231/episodes/16817330659476734499
“Aikawa kun, over here.”
She is calling to me from a little distance away.
There were many people in the pool, and if I was not careful, I might bump into someone.
In the middle of it all, Watanabe san was waving to me as she floated in the pool.
“Watanabe san, wait !”
We were a little awkward for a while because we were conscious of each other after I complimented her on her swimsuit, but when we finally got into the pool, the tension dissipated and before I knew it, Watanabe san was smiling and enjoying herself.
The pool we entered was for adults and the water was deep, and I chased after her while swimming. She had the grasp of the float, while I was on my own, so I was desperate not to be separated from her.
“Watanabe san, don’t go too far!”
I shout so that everyone around me can hear me. I talk loudly to her, who is moving ahead of me because of the flowing pool.
After all, the people around her have been looking at her since a while ago, so it would be troublesome if she got hit on.
“Haa haa, I finally caught up.”
I finished swimming under her and put my hand on the float that Watanabe san was on.
“Fufufu, good job.”
I was out of breath and Watanabe san patted my head.
“Watanabe san?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I just…….”
I don’t know if it was unconsciousness, but she said her hand moved on her own because my head was right in front of her.
She apologized and moved her hand away from my head.
When I think about it, it feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve had someone stroke my head.
My mother died when I was very young, and my father never spoiled me because he wanted me to be a full-fledged person, so I have never had my head stroked.
“Aikawa kun?”
I fall silent, and Watanabe san looks into my face.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Her hand has already left my head, and the feeling of her stroking me is gone.
A desire for more stroking comes to mind in me, but I’m ashamed to say it.
“Well, since we’re here, let’s have some more fun.”
I said, and with my hands on the float, I flopped around and played in the pool with her.
“My whole body feels pretty tired.”
“Ahahaha, Aikawa kun. You’re too excited.”
A few hours had passed since we started swimming. We took a few breaks during the swim and played in the pool, talking and chatting with each other as we soaked in the water.
After becoming lovers, we had temporarily lost sight of the distance, but gradually we began to remember our usual exchanges, and now our conversation is as lively as it was before we started dating.
“It’s because you want more and more, Watanabe san.”
It’s a flowing pool, so the waves would carry us along even if we didn’t do anything, but she insisted, so I swam and kept pushing the floats.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
Watanabe san looks into my face to see if she took my lighthearted comment seriously. The purity with which she took my joke seriously was perhaps the cutest part of her.
“I-I’m fine.”
Watanabe san gently touches my arm. Perhaps it is because she is wearing a swimsuit, but I find it difficult to look at the part of her body that I cannot normally see.
She tilts her head and gives me a quizzical look. I can’t point it out, so I gently distanced myself.
“Even so, it’s quite crowded.”
It was lunchtime and the restaurant was overflowing with customers. The seats were over 90% occupied, and the remaining 10% of the tables had not been cleared, so there was still a waiting list.
I casually followed the part-time workers running around the floor, looking busy.
“Perhaps you’d like to help out or something?”
“How did you know?”
I was surprised that she could guess what I was thinking. Because I had been thinking about what I would do if it were me.
“Aikawa kun, you don’t like it when it’s not neatly cleaned up, right? You were very efficient in cleaning up the table at the beach house, and even now you are looking at the untidy table with your eyebrows furrowed.”
I wondered if that was a replica of my expression, but Watanabe san raised her eyebrows and made a frown with her finger for emphasis. It was so cute that I was momentarily taken aback.
“That may be true.”
Living alone with my father and being in charge of the housework, I’ve developed a habit of getting what needs to be done first.
Because of that, I feel strangely uncomfortable when I see things that are not done.
Watanabe san, who sees through my mind, looks at me as if she is smiling, and puts her hand on her cheek.
“But isn’t Watanabe san also very strict about that?”
She is a woman who is completely uncluttered from the way she stands and behaves. Her private room must be neat and tidy.
“I’m also concerned, but…..”
Her words, which had some kind of implication, caught my attention, and when I looked at her suspiciously, she spoke up with an excuse.
“I’m usually tidy, but just today my room is a bit of a mess. If I don’t clean it up when I get home, my father will be angry with me.”
“Really, how in the world did that happen?”
It must be an irregularity, because she says she is usually tidy. I was a little concerned when she said the situation was that she couldn’t tidy up.
“For today’s date….I was wondering what kind of clothes I should wear….so I’m worried…..”
Watanabe san’s face fell in embarrassment as she told me why her room was untidy.
“I-I see……then, I guess it can’t be helped, can it?”
In other words, Watanabe san had taken out all the outfits she had on hand and agonized over them in order to please me.
“That’s……um……thank you very much.”
Hearing her unexpected effort, I thanked her. I was so happy that she thought of me that much.
“A-Aikawa kun, even you did your hair ! I’ve never seen you dressed like that before ! I’m glad you dressed up.”
When I thanked her, she complimented me this time.
“At least that much, since I get to go out with Watanabe san…….”
As long as I’m with her, I’ll be careful not to embarrass her. But since I didn’t go so far as to unfold my entire wardrobe, I feel like I’m losing out to her in my enthusiasm for this date.
“Because of that, the surrounding women’s eyes turn to you and……no, Aikawa kun is my boyfriend, so I have no problem with you being popular,……but still…..”
Watanabe san puts her hand over her mouth and begins to mumble. After a while, the conclusion came out, when I glanced at her,
“I think you should let your hair down, Aikawa kun.”
She made such a suggestion.
“Eh, It’s easier this way, you know”
I was not good at setting my hair at first, but I’m getting used to it, and the fact that it does not fall into my eyes is very good.
Could it be that she is saying that it does not suit me in a roundabout way?
I observed the anxious expression on Watanabe san’s face,
[Brrrrt]
“Oh?”
“What’s wrong?”
I was startled when my phone rang.
Basically, the people I keep in touch with are my father and Watanabe san.
Until recently, Aizawa and Sawaguchi san also contacted me, but since the fireworks festival, the communication has been quiet.
Considering that Watanabe san is right in front of me, my father is the most likely candidate.
“Can I take it for a minute?”
If it is my father, it is most likely an urgent matter. Because we see each other every morning and evening, so if there is something we need to tell each other, we tell each other in advance.
“Yes, it’s all right.”
With Watanabe san’s approval, I opened my phone,
Aizawa: [Yo, wanna go out for fun?]
It was Aizawa who sent me the message.
“What’s wrong, something not good?”
“Oh, no. It’s not like that at all.”
Watanabe san looks at me with concern, as if it was shown on my face.
I replied to Aizawa with impatience.
I was worried because he had not responded to any of my messages for the past week, even though they had been read. I was relieved to finally get a message.
I told him I couldn’t make it today, so I told him of a possible date when I was free, made an appointment, and put my phone away.
Watanabe san was waiting for me to finish the exchange, and she was staring at me.
“That message was from Aizawa.”
When I told her this, Watanabe san’s eyebrows twitched and she asked.
“I see. Did he appear to be well?”
Aizawa’s name came up for the first time in a while, and for a moment I thought about the fireworks festival, and a silence fell between us.
“Yeah, he’s just like usual, so I’m disappointed. We’re going to play together next time.”
I’m relieved that my relationship with Aizawa has not changed, but Watanabe san’s expression is as grim as ever.
“How are things going over there?”
Normally, I don’t venture into other people’s friendships. Even if it was my girlfriend, I would not have mentioned Ishikawa san or Sawaguchi san because she might have felt uncomfortable if they were probed.
But when I see Watanabe san sinking, I think about what I can do about it.
“Originally, we had a chat room that the three of us created together, so we talk there every day. We didn’t mention that matter.”
According to her, Ishikawa san has said little, but she is generally regaining her energy.
Both Sawaguchi san and Ishikawa san seem to have made the topic of the fireworks festival taboo since that day, and Watanabe san does not mention it either, so it is apparently impossible to read what these women are thinking in their hearts.
But the silence in the chat room with the five of us is probably the answer.
I can’t turn back time. When I thought that the fun times at the sea would never come back,
“Still, Aikawa kun and I are together now. I know it sounds terrible, but maybe if Riho san hadn’t been dumped……even one thing had been different, we wouldn’t be together like this right now.”
So regretting here is wrong. Watanabe san’s eyes appealed to me that way.
It may be true. If Watanabe san had not told me how she felt, I would have kept a lid on my heart for a long time, and she would have given up on me at some point.
Our relationship, Aizawa and Ishikawa san. It is on the basis of Sawaguchi san’s misfortune that our relationship began.
But is it best to just leave things as they are?
Is it best for us to stay apart?
Don’t the other three have regrets?
I find myself wondering if they have any regrets about the good times we had together.
“I’ll ask Aizawa.”
The relationship between the group, which was originally supposed to be broken off, is barely connected through a single thread–me and Watanabe san.
Aizawa and Ishikawa san may never get together in the future. However, they may be able to regain their relationship as friends again, just like that day at the beach.
When I explained that,
“That’s right……I’m not giving up yet. Riho san, Maho san and Aizawa kun are my dear friends. I hope we can all be friends again.”
We looked into each other’s eyes and nodded.
After that, while enjoying our date, we discussed how we could get back together as a group again.
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