Chapter 17: CH 17

“Haruka-chan. I want to eat cheesecake when I get out of the hospital.” (Grandma)

“Grandma, you really like sweets…” (Haruka)

Grandma loves eating sweets. She loves everything from Japanese sweets to Western sweets. I think she got mad at me for eating them every day in the hospital…

Cake… I’m pretty sure he laughed and said he was spending his birthday in the hospital. I don’t know anything about him, but I wonder if Yoshizumi-san likes cake.

“I didn’t think I would get a birthday cake this year, so I’m extremely happy.” (Hiroto)

I feel like I gave it to him in a weird way, but I’m glad he’s happy.

“It’s unusual for Haruka-chan to make a cake for a boy.”

Yoshizumi-san was discharged from the hospital a few days ago, and I went to the hospital to pick up my belongings. Grandma was surprised that I had given him a cake. Why did I do it…?

Could it be because he reminded me of a boy I hadn’t talked to in a long time… or because they had the same first name?

He is Hiroto Yoshizumi, not Hiroto Sakurai…

Even though he’s not Hiroto-kun…

He reminds me of him when I talk to him…

“I love you, Hiroto!”

“I love you too, Haruka-chan!”

I was always with the boy who lived next door.

The boy’s name was Hiroto Sakurai.

He was my childhood friend and I was with him from the time I was born up until I was in the second grade. At that time, I wasn’t very good at talking to people, and only “Hiroto-kun” was in my world.

I wasn’t very social, so the boys in the classroom would tell me over and over again to “show my face” or “speak up”.

Looking back, I think this was the reason why I’m not good with boys.

Hiroto-kun was the shortest in the class, but he was always there to protect me if anything happened.

He took piano lessons and I took violin lessons in the same classroom.

When he was playing the piano, he had a serious expression on his face, not the smile he had when he was with me, but I loved the different Hiroto-kun.

I think I was attached to Hiroto-kun to the extent that he thought I was annoying.

We went to kindergarten and elementary school in the same classroom, and our attendance numbers were back to back, so we were always seated next to each other.

“Hiroto Sakurai” and “Haruka Sato.”

We used to laugh at each other and say, “We have the same ‘sa’ in our names.” [TLN: Don’t tell me I messed up her name the whole time…]

We did our homework together and did well on our tests. I worked really hard to keep up with him.

I think his birthday in the second year…was the last time I spent time with him.

I made my first cake with my mother. It was, of course, a birthday cake for Hiroto-kun.

“Happy birthday, Hiroto-kun ♪! Today I made a cake with my mom!”

I can’t do it as well as my mom, but I hope he’ll be happy.

“Oooh, it’s a strawberry cake! Looks delicious!” (Hiroto)

I knew he’d be happy.

“Can I have some?”

“Of course, mom will cut it for you, so please wait.” (Haruka)

I ate the cake with Hiroto-kun.

Hiroto-kun said, “It’s delicious,” “Haruka-chan is amazing,” “Will you make it again?” He smiled and ate it.

I laughed and said, “I’ll make it again, and we’ll eat it together next year.”

That was the last birthday cake I ate with Hiroto-kun…

I promised to make it again, so I practiced over and over, but the second time never came…

Hiroto-kun… I practiced over and over again, you know?

I was reminiscing about the days I spent with Hiroto-kun.

I wish I could see Hiroto-kun…

I cried a lot…

I wonder where he is now…

I wonder what kind of boy you’ve become…

Hmph… I shouldn’t think too much. Yoshizumi-kun is Yoshizumi-kun. He’s different from Hiroto-kun, so it’s rude to compare them. But when I meet him, I still get a strange feeling…

Ah! I have to prepare for the new semester starting tomorrow. I have to call Aya-chan and set a time to meet up.

A new school year starts tomorrow…