Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330658028208231/episodes/16817330659600300749
The Bon holiday is over and there are only two weeks left of the summer vacation.
We students, who had enjoyed the summer so much, are beginning to be aware of the start of a new semester, and a somewhat melancholy mood is in the air.
It was a perfect day for fishing, as the weather outside was as clear and calm as ever.
Normally I would have happily grabbed my rod and headed out to the fishing port, but today I was unwillingly holed up in my hot and humid room.
“Haa…..I had to do my homework……”
I feel a silent pressure from the assignments piled up in front of me.
Normally, I’d do my summer vacation homework diligently every year, but this year I had a part-time job with Aizawa right after the summer vacation started, and after that, I had a fireworks display, a date with Watanabe san, and the fulfilling days continued.
Perhaps due to fatigue, I was not motivated to do my summer vacation homework, and before I knew it, I had hardly finished it at all.
Now that I had crossed the obvious line, the end of the Bon Festival, I knew that if I didn’t get my act together and finish my homework, I would be in for a hell of a time ahead.
Even if I turn my attention away from my homework and go fishing, I will not be able to enjoy it as much as I want to, because I have not finished what I have to do.
That’s why I’ve been working hard all morning to get all my assignments done as soon as possible. ……
–Ping–.
I received a message. Since Watanabe san is the only one I have been communicating with recently, I quickly check the contents.
Watanabe san: [Aikawa kun. Are you free today?]
She always sends me messages like this, asking me if I’m free.
She has asked me about my weekend plans at the school several times, but there is no way I can say no in front of her eyes, which are a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.
Normally, I would immediately reply, [Yeah, I’m free.] but……
I feel pressure from the assignments piled up in front of me.
Ryoichi: [I’ve been working on my summer vacation homework since this morning. It looks a little bit bad if I don’t work hard.]
I replied with a resolve to tear my heart out.
I don’t want to neglect my new girlfriend either, but if I don’t lead a self-disciplined life, my grades will suffer. If I did, my father would restrict me in many ways, and as a result, I would have no free time to play.
I must cherish the present and not take the easy way out for a time.
As I was thinking about this, a message came back to me.
Watanabe san: [Your homework. Won’t you do it with me?]
Did she type it continuously, the message slides.
Watanabe-san: [I haven’t finished my homework yet, either.]
Ryoichi: [Sure ! Let’s do it together !]
I quickly type the message, put the assignment in my bag, and leave the house.
In front of the station, I look around.
It was just before noon and the sun was shining so strongly that I was sweating just standing there.
It was too much of a drain on my energy to be directly exposed to the sun in this situation, so I took shelter in the shade.
Her house is just on the opposite side of the station from mine.
I keep looking in the direction she is coming. A little later, Watanabe san appears.
Today she was wearing a checkered one-piece dress with an ice-gray bag slung over her shoulder.
The office workers, who were wiping their sweat with a handkerchief, the female office workers taking a rest on a bench, and the college students who were enjoying themselves were all surprised at the sudden appearance of an angel in the blazing sun and followed her with their eyes.
[Sorry to keep you waiting, Aikawa kun.]
She gives me a gorgeous smile when she comes in front of me. She had become even more beautiful after just a few days of not seeing her, and even though I was supposed to be used to seeing her, I couldn’t help but admire her.
“No, it’s fine. Moreover, it’s getting hotter.”
While everyone around me is paying attention to her, I start a normal conversation.
“It’s true, I’ve been feeling a little under the weather for the past few days, so I’m here.”
Watanabe san’s face fell a little as she played with her hair.
“Is everything all right? Shouldn’t you take it easy?”
Don’t underestimate summer fatigue. You’ll get a heatstroke and collapse.
“I’m fine,……I don’t want to go home like this even though I was able to meet Aikawa kun.”
Watanabe san’s sweet words made me choke on my words. Why does she unknowingly release words that make me happy like this,……?
“If it’s getting tough, don’t hesitate to tell me, okay?”
“Yes, I understand.”
She replies, and we quickly start moving. Today’s destination is the library in the station building, a co-working space there.
But first, I had something I wanted to say.
“Aikawa kun?”
Watanabe san gives me a quizzical look as I stop to go to the library.
The outfit she is wearing today is also something I’ve never seen before. The fact that she was a little late for the meeting probably means that she had trouble coordinating her outfit again.
I looked around and then put my mouth to her ear,
“You look awfully cute in today’s outfit, too.”
The next moment, Watanabe san turned as red as a mailbox.
“Aaahhh…….”
Hiding her face with her hands, I took the embarrassed girl with me and headed for the library.
I can hear the sound of a pen running, a keyboard tapping, and the pages of a book being rolled out.
After that, we arrived at the library and sat down side by side in the co-working space for two, and each of us started working on our remaining summer vacation assignments.
Next to me, Watanabe san was working on an assignment, her pen running smoothly.
Her concentration was so strong that she never stopped writing, and it seemed as if she was immediately working out the answers to the problems and answering them all at once.
The desk is a two-seater, so the width is quite wide, but for some reason she is sitting with her body toward me, and the scent of citrus fruits is wafting from her body, taking away my concentration.
She is in a different class from me, so I can’t see her in class, but I guess she looks like this in class at the school.
I admired her profile and felt jealous of the boys in the same classroom.
“Can I help you?”
She noticed that I was staring at her. The serious look on her face disappears and she gives me a soft smile.
“I was thinking about the answer to this question.”
I show her the problem with a pen. It was a math problem, but as I thought about it, it became so complicated that I couldn’t come up with a solution.
“For this question, try applying this formula. There are parts where it is easy to stumble in the calculations, so if you’re paying close attention, I think you will be able to get a good answer.”
Watanabe san leaned forward a little and showed me how to solve the problem.
Her teaching was easy to understand, and the questions that had been bothering me until a few minutes ago were easily solved.
“Is this right?”
I finished solving the problem and checked with her.
“Yes, good.”
Watanabe san nodded her head in agreement.
For a while, we concentrated on each other’s homework.
Sometimes I would get stuck on a part that I could not figure out the answer to, but every time I did, Watanabe san would notice and show me how to solve it.
I can’t help but be grateful to her for taking such good care of me, even though she probably has her own homework to do.
“Phew……”
I finished a book of homework and closed the notebook.
“Good work, Aikawa kun.”
She looked at me with gentle eyes.
“Shall we take a break?”
I whispered in her ear and she nodded.
After leaving the coworking space, Watanabe san and I came to a break area one floor above.
The walls here are made of glass, from which we can see the view.
There is no power supply, but a round table and two sets of chairs are set up there, perfect for chatting.
We headed to the vending machine and decided to buy a drink.
“I’ll buy mine from the coffee machine there.”
Between studying, I crave caffeine. I don’t mind the canned coffee from the vending machine, but I always drink it when I come here because this one grinds the beans right before brewing, and the coffee is more aromatic.
“Then, I will do the same.”
I explain, and we both buy a cup of hot coffee and move to a round table.
The freshly brewed coffee is still hot, and when I put it in my mouth, the bitter and sour taste stimulates my tongue and stimulates my brain, which was tired from studying and my consciousness had become foggy.
“By the way, thanks to Watanabe san, I’ve made a lot of progress.”
I thanked her and thought back to today’s results.
I achieved my goal several times faster than when I was doing it at home. This was also due to the fact that she helped me every time I got stuck on a problem,
“Were you okay with teaching me, Watanabe san?”
I don’t think I heard her running her pen through the pages during the course of the day. This bothered me because we had gotten together to do homework and she was only here to teach me.
“Um…..it’s okay.”
She looks away from me and gives me an awkward look.
I could tell that she was hiding something just by looking at her.
I stared at her and questioned her with my eyes, she gave up, let out a sigh and confessed.
“Actually……I’ve already finished my homework.”
“Hm? Really?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Watanabe san shrugged and looked apologetic.
“Then you didn’t have to come all the way out here, did you?”
She shouldn’t have had to go to the trouble of accompanying me to study at this place. I was curious as to why she did that.
“Because,…..I really wanted to be with Aikawa kun.”
“Eh?”
“I understand that Aikawa kun has to do his summer vacation assignments, but I wanted to be with the person I love as much as possible. So I thought it would be okay if I took care of your studies…….”
I don’t mean to blame her, but when she looks like a child who’s getting scolded while making excuses.
When I see her like that, I can’t help but feel itchy,
“Fwueh? Aikawa kun?”
I found myself stroking her head.
“I’m sorry, maybe I’m not a good boyfriend.”
“T-that’s not true…….”
Watanabe san tried to deny my words.”
“I also really wanted to be with Watanabe san for a long time. But I tried to refuse because I had to study. As a result, thanks to Watanabe san’s thoughtfulness, we were able to be together like this and I was able to make progress in my studies.”
But that was only because Watanabe san suggested that we do our homework together, otherwise I must have spent a boring day holed up at home today.
“You’ve always been so kind to me, Watanabe sam. I wish I could give something back too…….”
There is not much I can do for her, who is smart and caring. At the very least, I’d like to make sure that our relationship is not just one-way charity……
“You’ve already given me one back.”
She looked at me with kind eyes as she said that.
“Oh, but you’re right. If you insist, may I ask you one thing?”
“Yeah, you can say anything you want.”
I’m willing to do whatever she wants.
Watanabe san put her lips to my ear and whispered,
“I want a cup of coffee made by you, Aikawa kun.”
After this, I was to take her home with me.
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