Volume 2 - CH 10

“Excuse me.”

“I’m home.”

On Monday after school, Kanade and I had our first study session.

Kanade, like Hanaka, once she concentrates on something she’s devoting herself to it, but she is not very good at sustaining it. However, she is not bad when it comes to the groundwork, such as building a soccer practice method, so once she learns how to study, she may surpass me in no time.

“I think it’s been a while since I’ve been in your room.”

“Yeah, it sure has. It’s been since that day.”

“Oh… sorry. Did I remind you of something bad?

“No, not at all. I’m going to get you a drink, so you can go to my room first.”

“Yeah, I understand. Thank you, Yuu-kun.”

With that, he headed to my former room and opened the door to my new room, saying, “Oh, I made a mistake.” Seeing her like that, my heart was very warm, even though I felt sorry for her. I felt very happy that Kanade had come to my house again.

“Oh! You’re full of enthusiasm!”

When I entered the room, Kanade had already put out her textbooks, problem books, and notebooks and was in study mode.

“Of course. I really came here to study. Yuu-kun, I’m looking forward to working with you today.”

“Yeah. Let’s do our best to go to college together!”

“Yeah!”

Then we concentrated and began to study silently. Kanade’s ability to concentrate is amazing. And she’s so open-minded. Whenever I gave her a hint, she immediately understood and came up with the answer one after another.

“Nnnnn… Oh, it’s been two hours already. My parents might be back, so don’t go into the living room for a minute.”

“If Auntie is here, I’d like to say hello, so I’ll go with you.”

As I headed for the living room, Kanade followed behind me. In the living room, Hanaka and my mother were sitting on the sofa, chatting while watching a drama they had filmed.

“Ah! It’s Kana-chan! What’s wrong?”

Hanaka took one look at me over the back of the sofa, noticed Kanade’s presence, and called out to me in surprise.

“I’m studying with Yuu-kun starting today. Next year we have to take the college entrance exam, so we have to do our best.”

With that, Kanade turned to my mom and greeted her by saying, “I’m sorry to bother you.”

“I see…you’re about to take the college entrance exam. I don’t want to study like that anymore.”

“Haha, Hanaka-chan, you just finished the entrance exam. I thought I didn’t want to go back then, too. Two years went by so fast…”

“Uuuu… Now I’m going to escape reality and do what I want to do.”

“It’s possible that you may have to repeat the year in high school, so you shouldn’t let your guard down, Hanaka. Also, since that’s the case, Kanade will be coming over to our house often from now on to study.”

“Of course, that’s fine Kanade-chan, you can take it easy as usual. Next time you come, let’s have dinner together here.”

“Yay! I’m so happy! I’ll tell my mom that when I get home today since I’ll be visiting tomorrow.”

———

We went back to our room, but we couldn’t regain our concentration once it was broken, so we talked and laughed at each other about silly things.

“Oh, what shall we do about the two of us handing over the club?”

“I wanted to talk about that too! As expected, Yuu-kun, you’re so good at remembering things!”

“It’s not that big of a deal, is it?”

I giggle at Kanade who compliments me on everything.

“Is there anything you want to do, Kanade?”

“Let’s see. Well, I’d like to go to a summer festival with you.”

“Oh, a summer festival sounds great!”

“Right? I know it’s a little ways away, but the exams are over! I’ll be able to enjoy it to the fullest.”

“Oh, yes.”

The keyword “summer festival” made my heart beat loudly for a moment. The summer festival was one of the memorable events that Hazuki and I first kissed and cherished at the time. But that’s all. It is a memory of the past that I don’t need right now.

“You know Kanade, you remember before spring break when I collapsed during a club activity?”

“Hmm? Yeah, there was. I was really worried about you at the time.”

“Ha-ha-ha. I’m sorry you’re always worried.”

“I’m telling you the truth!”

She glares at me with her mouth agape and her cheeks puffed out, but soon she says, “I’m just kidding!” and Kanade smiles. Seeing that expression always makes me smile naturally, too.

“So, in the infirmary, when I meditate, I have flashbacks of those images. But then I realized that I don’t see them at all anymore. I think it’s because Kanade has been with me since then.”

“No, that’s not true.”

“I’ve been thinking lately, ‘That was fun today. What should I do next?” And when I’m thinking about what to do, Kanade is always by my side. Thanks to Kanade, I can look forward to tomorrow. I really appreciate it. Thank you.”

Kanade, who had been listening with her face down in the middle of the conversation, opened her mouth after a short pause.

“I’m really glad that you think it’s fun. I was actually worried that you might think I was annoying. I thought Yuu-kun is so kind that he would never say anything, but I was still worried too…”

After a short pause, she looked up and stared at me. There were a lot of tears in Kanade’s eyes, and they looked as if they would flow at any moment by some impulse. However, the tears did not spill over.

“Let’s have lots of fun together from now on.”

Kanade had a very kind, warm, and wonderful smile as she said this.