Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818023212603480991/episodes/16818023212606661790
The last Saturday in September.
Kingo’s moving day arrived.
His sister had called three helpers,
Kingo called me in addition to Yuka and Yutaro.
The first time I met his sister, she was a beautiful, tight-fitting woman.
As the conductor of the moving work, she was very strict in giving orders,
She was also very careful not to put all the hard work on one person.
Two hours later, after the oversized garbage had been taken to the incineration plant and the large furniture had been moved to the new house, the house was empty.
“Then we’ll go clean up the new house. You can do the rest.”
The sister left with a group of college men in tow,
The cleaning was finished, so we had a short time to ourselves.
I wanted Kingo to tell me about his happy memories of his sister,
I asked him about the scratches on the pillar (horizontal, colored red and black) that had been bothering me.
“Hey, Kingo. Are these scratches on the pillar a comparison of Kingo and your sister?”
“…….Yeah, they are.”
Kingo’s expression clouded over.
Apparently, it wasn’t like he and his sister were comparing heights, but it was a matter I shouldn’t have touched.
Reflect ! Just as I was thinking that, the doorbell rang.
Who could it be?
I followed behind Kingo with Yuka and Yutaro,
There was a pretty, slightly chubby woman of about 40 years old at the door.
“Auntie…”
“Kingo kun. Are you moving out? Why?”
She had teary eyes and her voice was trembling.
Kingo quickly sat up straight and bowed deeply.
“………Yes. I owe a lot to Aunty and Uncle. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I was moving out.”
“Kingo kun, look up.”
The lady hurriedly grabbed Kingo by the shoulders and made him look up.
Who is he?
She seemed to be very close to him…..
“It’s okay. I should be the one to apologize.
Your mother asked me to take care of you guys.”
“Aunty really, really helped me out, so don’t apologize.”
“I really wanted to help you with this move, too.
But now it’s all over…..”
“I’m sorry I ran away.”
“Don’t worry about us anymore.
But why are you moving?
What about your father? And Momo chan?”
The lady glanced toward the back of the house.
Kingo stiffened and clenched both fists.
“Well, my sister is at her new house.
We’re moving because…well…my father is getting married…in Niigata…so he’s selling the house, which he doesn’t need, and we’re moving to a new place.”
“Oh, no !”
The lady was so distraught that she began to weep.
“Oh, my God…
She asked me to take care of you !
I’m so sorry ! I couldn’t help you ! I’m so sorry !”
“You helped me a lot. Thank you.”
“I wish I could have helped you more……
I’m so sorry.”
Kingo and the lady repeated this back and forth.
We had no idea what was going on, but we felt strongly that we should not interfere.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“We’ve already done all the cleaning, and all we have to do now is carry the small things.”
“I see. I realized it too late.
I’m sorry. I’m not much of a help.”
The lady’s shoulders slumped as if she had given up.
Then she turned to us and smiled reassuringly.
“But it looks like you have good friends.
I’m glad.
You should eat this with everyone.
Take care. Say hi to your sister for me.”
Kingo took the bag offered to him,
As Kingo was about to accept the bag, the lady gave him a gentle hug.
“I’m sorry, Kingo kun.”
“It’s okay. Thank you very much.”
The lady and Kingo cried again as they hugged each other.
After she left, we all looked into the paper bag she had given us.
There were many financiers, madeleines, strawberry daifuku, etc. in the bag.
And then there was a pouch bag.
Inside the bag was a small envelope containing 30,000 yen and a note that read [Take care ! Good luck !]
Seeing this, Kingo continued to quietly shed tears again, not caring about our eyes.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
It was around 1:00 p.m. when we moved to the new house and finished arranging the furniture,
We were no longer able to help with this move.
“Thanks for all your help, guys.
Thanks to you, it went so fast. I really appreciate your help.
Also, I’m sorry I look so miserable.
I’m gonna buy you a meal as a thank you and an apology. My sister gave me a lot of money.
How about some Kobe beef?”
Yutaro slapped Kingo on the back, forcing a smile.
“When I’m sad, I like to eat yakiniku ! All-you-can-eat, let’s go !
Kingo, since you cried so much, I’ll feed you to death!!”
“Hey, be moderate.”
“Come on, Kingo “!
Yuka also slapped Kingo on the back.
“It hurts !”
And me, too. With all my might !
“Come on, Kingo !”
“I told you, it hurts !”
Kingo’s expression was a little better as pouted at me.
He ate to his heart’s content, and when the pile of meat, vegetables, and rice on the table was gone, Yutaro spoke to Kingo.
“How are you doing, Kingo? You can’t eat anymore?”
“Yeah. If I run as fast as I can right now, I think glitter will come out of my mouth.”
“Gyahahaha ! You can’t mosaic it, so it’s probably the color of poop !”
“Don’t say that in a restaurant~!”
Kingo pulled back his smile and bowed deeply.
“Thanks. I’m fine thanks to you.
There’s something I haven’t been able to tell you. Will you listen to me?”
Yutaro, Yuka, and I looked at each other,
and then looked at Kingo firmly.
“The lady from earlier is a good friend of my mother’s.
She has a girl the same age as me.
I’ve been playing with her since I can remember.
When I was in the early grades of elementary school, I was a wimp and was being bullied by guys in my class,
and this childhood friend saved me.
I was so happy～.
After that, we remained close,
On Valentine’s Day in the second year of junior high school, I received a large box of chocolates from that childhood friend,
I was overflowing with feelings of love and confessed, [I love you ] to her
At the time, my childhood friend was about 10 cm taller than me, and she seemed to be into tall guys,
[Only if Kingo is taller than me.]
So I ate a lot and drank a lot of milk every day.
Oh yeah, Yuri asked about the scratches on the pillars at the house before we moved in, right?
The black one is me and the red one is not my sister, but my childhood friend.
We used to compare our heights every year, and I always lost by five centimeters.
Oh, I left out the part about aunty and uncle.
Since my mother passed away two years ago, I’ve been staying with a childhood friend of mine from time to time,
they used to treat me to dinner every now and then.
Aunty always made a table full of delicious food.
When I would leave, she would give me two lunch boxes and tell me it was breakfast for tomorrow.
The food was really delicious, and I sometimes felt uneasy because I didn’t have any relatives to rely on,
But my sister and I were happy to know that we had uncle and aunty around us, adults we could rely on.
Oh, and when my sister got paid from her part-time job, she treated me to dinner, so she wasn’t excluded from the group.
I got along well with my uncle and we played chess every Sunday.
He also forced me to be the advisor of the chess club.
Since we were both beginners, it wasn’t a question of who was stronger,
It was more like a comparison of two poor players.
Uncle and aunty had only one daughter,
They loved me like a son and really supported me after my mother passed away.
Oh, and both my aunt and uncle are high school teachers in the city.”
Kingo stopped speaking once, moistened his mouth with oolong tea, and chose his next words.
Just like me…
I can’t stop having a bad feeling …
“I studied a lot with my childhood friend and we got into the same high school.
I was so happy.
By that time, I had grown so much that I was as tall as her for the first time.
Finally, we started dating.
Again, I was really, really happy.
We spent the whole spring break having fun.
I was wishing school would never start,
But then, we were in the same class together !”
In the same class !
Not only me, but also Yuka and Yutaro were horrified.
“But on the day of the entrance ceremony, I was dumped. The other person is the boy she bumped into when she was trying to enter class 3.
That’s when she fell in love with him.
She said it was love at first sight.
By the way, the other guy thought so too.
It was true love.
As you may have guessed by now, my ex-girlfriend is Yagi Saki,
And this fated love is Matsukubo Takuma.”
“Are you serious?”
“I can’t tell a lie like that.”
“No, that’s true. Is that possible?”
Yutaro asked himself a question and muttered, [No.]
“…..If I had been in such a situation, I wouldn’t have been able to help but feel that way.
I mean, you’ve done so well so far.”
Yuka looked at Kingo tenderly.
“My sister kicked him in the butt and said, [Don’t let Saki beat you !]
I did my best in my studies.
……But when I looked up, I could see Yagi and Matsukubo,
I always kept my head down.
I couldn’t speak to my classmates by myself.
So, Yutaro, thank you so much for helping me and being my friend.
Thank you so much, Yuka and Yuri.”
Kingo’s words were filled with so much feeling.
It was the first time anyone had ever thanked me so heavily.
“Stop ! But it’s so frustrating ! So frustrating ! Did you try to get revenge?”
Yutaro must have been embarrassed, and he ruined the atmosphere.
“Oh, I thought about it at first.
It was crazy painful, but I just got dumped, so you know.
I just don’t want to get involved now.
Ah, before the final exam, they asked me to teach them math, but I coldly refused!!”
“Eh～, that’s a weird thing to ask.”
“I don’t know how they can do that.”
“Well, they said that if they took remedial classes, they wouldn’t be able to make music videos.”
“Haha, you must have been in a tight spot.
But I think they did put the music video on YouTube,
I’m sorry to hear that～. It’s a shame.”
“Yuka is a mean person.”
“Well, for me, you three are more important than them.”
“Thanks.”
Kingo happily agreed to these words.
The end time of the all-you-can-eat buffet had arrived, so we left the restaurant.
“Hey, Kingo, let’s do our best in the second semester !”
“Yeah, I’ll do my best.”
“Oh !”
Yutaro encouraged him again, and Kingo had a nice smile on his face.
“Yuri. What’s wrong? You should cheer up too.”
Yuka looked into my face.
“I ate a little too much…”
What should I do !
It is still unknown that Takuma has also dumped me and switched to Yagi Saki.
But he will find out sooner or later. Probably.
He might find out why Takuma dumped me, just for the sake of curiosity.
Then he would find out that my mom works at a snack bar,
And then Kingo and I would become estranged…
And then the whole class will hate me again…
Maybe I should just tell him myself?
I don’t think Yuka and Yutaro will change.
But Kingo will hate me…
I know it would be much worse if I didn’t tell him.
…..But I’m still afraid to tell him myself !
I don’t know what to do…
The three of them were talking happily, but all I could think about was that.
–
–
If you enjoy our content, feel free to donate, Thank you in advance !