Summer break was over and school was just about to start up today.
It's not like I hate school or anything like that but waking up early in the morning hurts. Moreover, if I go to school, I'll end up seeing Mamiko. I was finally able to get over the wounds from breaking up with her, but seeing her in person would still feel awkward.
… I don't want to go to school. These thoughts ran through my head as I laid on top of my bed, but I'm too serious of a student to take a day off of school without any reason. With such complex feelings, I take my bike to the station.
When I arrived at the station, it was just like how it was normally. Since it was the opening ceremony for a lot of schools, there were slightly more people, but other than that, the people that I saw there were those that I usually see everyday. I head back towards the second car as I usually do, but then I remembered that if I get on the second car like I normally do, I'll be seeing Mamiko again. Yeah, I'll definitely end up bumping into her. I want to at least avoid that. It would be awkward for both me and her after all.
Thinking that, I decided to get on the first car of the train and moved myself to a position further up front along the platform. 7:52 and the two-car train arrived at the platform. I got on the train and looked around for an empty seat.
"Ah…"
Then, I noticed it. Mamiko was standing there leaning against the wall while holding a handrail. Why is she here in the first car? Isn't she always in the second car? I said those words inside my heart. Well, anyways, it would be better to stay away from Mamiko for now. Fortunately, she hasn't noticed me, so I quickly tried to put distance between the two of us. However, when I looked around inside the train, the only open space in the train was around Mamiko.
Then, there's nothing that can be done. There's only space near Mamiko after all. I slowly walked to about three meters away from Mamiko and put my hand on the handrail. Mamko also ended up noticing me and let out an uneasy "Eh…" but I ignored it. There was no choice, there was no other place to stand besides here. As I keep telling myself that, I take a quick glance at Mamiko out of the corner of my eyes.
Then, our eyes met. Mamiko was also looking at me. I quickly diverted my eyes, but her face kept surfacing within my mind. Her face was slightly red, and she seemed a little bit happy. What is this… isn't that unfair? If she make a face like that, I'll end up being happy too.
The distance between Mamiko and me was about 3 meters. It was a lot farther than the zero distance between us that we had before summer break, but it somehow felt like I was still commuting together with her just like before. That's why, a smile naturally appeared on my face.
Then, I end up thinking again. I want to get closer. As I thought, I want to be together with Mamiko more.
When I arrived at school, the class was slightly noisier than usual. There, just like usual, my close friend Sagami was the first person to talk to me in the morning.
"Hey, Setsu. Did you enjoy your summer break?"
It was great to see him so energetic.
"I was able to enjoy it."
"I see I see, that's good."
Yeah yeah, Sagami smiled as he nodded. Then, in the next moment, he suddenly brought his face to my ear and spoke to me in a voice so that the other classmates wouldn't hear.
"And, how far did you go with Kii-san? Maybe you did some stuff… like this or that?"
"We didn't do anything in particular. More importantly, we broke up."
Sagami's eyes widened at my words. However, he quickly brought back his original energy.
"Y-yeah, I see! Welcome back brother!"
He ended up saying that very happily.
"Of course it's like that. You and Kii-san never did match. In order to cheer you up, let's go bowling together!!"
He was unexpectedly high tensioned for it to still be the morning. How happy is he about me breaking up? Still, when he ends up saying it so clearly, I end up not being able to get mad. I would have snapped if it was just after I broke up though. Well, this is what makes Sagami amazing after all. I really want to go bowling with Sagami, but I actually have plans after school.
"Sorry. I have stuff to do today so I can't go."
"I see I see. I understand, we can try again another time so remember it."
While smiling, Sagami returned to his own seat just when the homeroom teacher came in and started the homeroom period.
Since there was the opening ceremony today, we ended school early. After school, Sagami and a few others invited me to hangout, but I declined them all. It was because my father called me out today. He's probably going to ask me about his manga again.
Since I like talking about stuff like that, I was really looking forward to it. I left the classroom with a lightened mood. However, at that time, I saw a scene Mamiko talking with another male student, so I ended up feeling a little bit hurt.
"Hey, you came just in time."
When I arrived at the workplace, my father was inside working at his usual spot on the sofa, with a woman wearing glasses and a suit. This was the first time I saw her, but she was quite pretty.
"And, this person is the person in charge of me, Itou."
"Ah, is that so. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you. Yoshiki-kun, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Thank you."
"… Ah, thank you."
Eh, what is she thanking me for? That question surfaced in my mind, but I said nothing. After all, it's rude to keep asking questions to someone you just met for the first time. Just like that, my greeting to Itou-san ended and I faced my father.
"Then, what will be doing today? Did you run into another block?"
"Nono, it isn't anything like that. Today, Itou-san had some interest in you."
"Eh, is that so?"
I once again face towards Itou-san. She gave a subtle smile as she waved her hand at me. Itou-san is in charge of my father, right? Why would a person like that be interested in me? While I was thinking about that, Itou-san moved a little bit closer to me.
She continued to show me a slight smile. Somehow, it's a bit scary. Maybe, she'll end up making me do something weird. Eh, scary scary, what is this, what should I do? While feeling uneasy like this, Itou-san continued to move towards me. Then she stopped moving about one meter away from me.
"…W-what is it…?"
I asked that while showing my uneasiness. However, Itou-san's expression didn't change. Then, she slowly opened her mouth.
"Yoshiki-kun, would you like to try making a manga?"
"Whaaat!?"
This moment was probably the second, maybe even first, most surprising thing that has ever occurred to me.