Vol 1 Chapter 6 (1/2)
Finis.h.i.+ng the double encore, Haniwa’s concert came to an end with great success.
I only intended to sing the new song, but I got introduced as a member by the MC……
In the end, I stood on stage until the very end as the keyboard-player and part of the chorus.
“Oh, the after-festival started.” {the bonfire and dancing event after the last night of the festival}
Looking down at the courtyard while leaning on the railing, Len-kun speaks in a happy voice.
Standing beside him, I just mumble “yeah” in a slightly hoa.r.s.e voice.
There’s no one else on the roof.
No wonder, this place is usually locked and entry is forbidden.
This time, as a student council member, Chika secretly lent us the key and specially let us up. Apparently as a services prize for livening up the cultural festival.
In contrast to the lively stage, silence flows on the roof.
There’s a lot to talk about that I can’t put into words, but I could only let my gaze roam.
Len-kun too, he held his breath as if it’s unbelievable that he had been inciting the crowd until just now.
“For the new song, I decided on a t.i.tle……”
It was a quiet voice that seemed to melt into the dusk.
From my dry throat, I somehow squeeze out a reply.
“What is it?”
“……How does ‘Like Hate’ sound?”
“Just as it is, huh.”
“Rin likes curve b.a.l.l.s better?”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Len-kun mischievously smile, it cheers me up a little.
Wanting to cover up that tears welled up in my eyes, I shook my head after I pretended to think for a bit.
“I guess I like straight ball games better.”
Just by saying ‘like’, my heart trembled.
(I have even more incredible things to say after this, will my heart last?)
Taking a breath and filling my lungs with the air that had considerably cooled down, I turn towards Len-kun.
“Uhm……”
“Uhm, hey”
“ “Ehh?” ”
Our voices overlapping, we both blinked.
In the next moment, Len-kun continued without hesitation.
“Sorry for not showing up for club activities all this time.”
“Th-the same goes for me! Sorry.”
“……Why is Rin apologizing? I’m the one who troubled you.”
“No. Well, originally, I misunderstood and……”
To cut off the rest, Len-kun exaggeratedly shakes his head.
“I, that day…… Rin told me that she really hated it, I thought that I can’t keep trying my best anymore…… I thought I shouldn’t try my best.”
“But it’s about that! Len-kun, there’s something I want to say–“
Once again, Len-kun stole away my words.
This time, with a gaze br.i.m.m.i.n.g with an intense light.
“But hearing the message from Kanata, I thought I’d bet on the last possibility.”
That I’ll definitely deliver the new song’s lyrics, Len-kun believed in those words.
That’s why they prolonged the new song’s intro until I appeared.
“Len-kun, why are you so……”
“–– Hey Rin, the day we first talked to each other, do you remember it?”
“Eh? The after-festival when we were first years, right…….?”
“Aaah, so that’s how you perceived it after all……”
Saying that, Len-kun laughed as if he were troubled.
“We talked even before that. To be frank, at the high school entrance ceremony.”
“Eehh? Why, that much earlier……? We weren’t even in the same cla.s.s.”
It doesn’t look like he’s lying, I think it’s probably the truth.
But I, really don’t have the slightest memory of it, not even a bit.
“After the ceremony ended, you were making a phone call beneath the row of cherry trees, right? Then, you suddenly broke down crying.”
“Ah……”
To Len-kun’s words, I realized that the doors of my memory are being thrown open.
For me, that day was a time of ‘departure’ in a double meaning.
The day before the ceremony, my pet dog Suzu, who was struggling against a disease for a long time, suddenly fell into a coma.
We were always together ever since I was little, I brought her up like we were sisters, and not wanting to leave her side even for a short time, I planned on being absent from the entrance ceremony until right before it.
(But, Suzu miraculously woke up……)
As I was heading to Aisaka Academy, and then after the ceremony ended, I got a call from the hospital.
“Just now, she breathed her last.”
What I heard was the cruel truth, I ended up breaking down crying right there.
Where I was, the gazes of the people around me, all of it flew away.
That’s why I completely relegated the person who lent me their handkerchief far off into my memories.
(……That, was Len-kun……)
I wonder why I forgot?
Why didn’t he name himself until now?
When I vacantly stared at Len-kun, he looked back with a kind gaze.
“Ever since then, I was always curious, the next time was when I came across you playing the piano after school in the music room, right? Then, you were crying again and singing ‘Crybaby Boyfriend’ all alone.”
(Tsurumaki-kun told me already, but he really did see me……)
Because of embarra.s.sment and feeling like running away, I couldn’t say a word.
And Len-kun too, his voice trembled.