Chapter 34 (1/2)
During afternoon class, Yoshi+e-sensei earing adress One of her teachers at university had passed away, and apparently there was going to be a wake funeral She explained this at the beginning of the class
When I got hoined what kind of funeral I’d have when I died
I had a clear picture in mind It would be ideal if nobody came to my funeral Because I hated funerals
And then I reht
It had been a sudden death, so everyone was confused I was a close relative, so I attended, unable to skip out on it Everyone wastheir own speculations about my sister’s death I didn’t want to hear the noisy I wanted the at ,” and, “What a cold person” Maybe that’s true, I thought
There was a lot of alcohol and food at the wake funeral
I didn’t understand why people were drinking when Meiko had died, but everyone drank I even saw people who looked like they were having fun Have they gone crazy? I wondered Out of ht, I borrowed one of the beers I shut ht out of the bottle It wasNunored all of the the beer in the toilet
I’ a cold person
I silently apologized to Meiko in front of the butsudan
Meiko was now just a photograph, so she was always s
In the end, I tried to iine what it would be like When would Mao, I thought
“Isn’t there soe about you lately, Okada-kun?” Riko-chan-san said during a break at work
I did have the feeling that I’d been hetti and turned it into rilled chicken on rice into burnt chicken on rice Airl?
“Sorry, I’ll be more careful,” I said
“No, I’ about your mistakes Well, youra face that looks like the world is about to end”
Was Iexpression? I hadn’t been aware of it at all
“Did so happen?” Riko-chan-san asked
Feeling that trying to fool her would be too troublesoo”
“Eh, so you had someone you liked,” Riko-chan-san said, as if that was theThis was kind of unexpected
“I suppose…”
Theroutine The service was generally standard, and there wasn’tThere weren’t thatthe sas every day, the s
“Okada-kun, about the omelet rice dish, write ‘Happy birthday’ on it instead of a heart mark,” one of the maids said
Although that was the instruction given to me, when I went to write the letters with ketchup, my hands stopped How can you expect ana, there would be too many characters and it wouldn’t fit In the end, I wrote ‘Happy birsday’ in English and got it over with
TLN: 誕 (tan) is the first kanji in 誕生日 (tanjoubi,birthday) It’s actually not that difficult a kanji, but it does have a lot of strokes, so it see “happy birthday” in hiragana would be おたんじょうびおめでとう, which is a lot of characters
Work ended as usual, and while I alking home with Riko-chan-san, she suddenly pointed it out to me
“Okada-kun, youlish You’re going to quite a sht like that?”
I’d always been bad at English, but it was true that I hadn’t been studying at all these days Would I be alright? I felt a little anxious
“Come to think of it, Okada-kun, you don’t really come in to work much these days, do you?” Riko-chan-san said
“Ah, because sus to do, like preparing for the cultural festival I ht quit soon”
I’d only been co to work at the maid café about once a week lately
“Eh, it’ll become kind of lonely around here, won’t it? You looked like the type ouldn’t participate in things like a cultural festival, though,” Riko-chan-san said
“I was that type of person…” My life had changed rather completely after I met Mamizu
“So, what are you doing?”
“Ro Juliet”
Riko-chan-san suppressed a laugh and looked at me as if to ask me whether I was sane I was quite used to this kind of reaction
“I’m normal,” I said
“… That kind of intrigues me,” Riko-chan-san said
“What does?”
“The way you say that”
“It’s normal”
“Yes, that’s what I’ about”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, never mind”
The conversation paused there We silently continued to walk along the footpath of the main road
“About what you said the other tiain
“The other time?”
“You said, ‘next time’”
“Ah…”
“Next tio somewhere, the two of us?” Riko-chan-san said boldly
I suddenly stopped walking Riko-chan-san walked a few steps ahead of me
“Don’t get so serious about it,” she added hastily
“I’ more than that
Riko-chan-san’s expression was a little stiff “I was joking Let’s go home, Okada-kun”
Unable to give anything else as a response, I just startedmy feet
After parting with Riko-chan-san, I suddenly wanted to see Mae forspoiled I wondered whether I should go home But my feet headed naturally towards Mamizu’s hospital room
It was a quiet night, and the moon was beautiful As I entered the hospital, it suddenly occurred to me Like an everyday event, like it’s completely ordinary, people die in here I just don’t know about them
When I snuck into Ma outside The curtains were swaying
“Hurry up and go to sleep,” I said
Mamizu turned around in surprise “Wohat is it all of a sudden?” Her voice hurt s a little
“Sorry I was a bit free, so I came to play” I didn’t knohat to say I couldn’t even explain it to myself, so that was all I could say
“Are you an idiot? Think about the time,” Mamizu said
Indeed, it was already eleven o’clock at night Maybe this had been a little rash
“Well, whatever Hey, Takuya-kun, come here for a bit” Mamizu’s voice returned to its usual soft tone and she beckonedat the night air outside
“What a at?” I asked
As if in response to my question, Mamizu extended her arm outside the
The ht
Under the low
No et used to it It seeht have disliked being seen that way
“Hey, don’t you think the light has becoer than before?” Mamizu said
I strained ht looked stronger than e’d gone stargazing on the roof
“The fact that the light has becootten that much worse,” Ma about someone else
“Yeah” I didn’t kno to respond I got the feeling that I couldn’t say anything
“Say, Takuya-kun, you’ve lost someone important before, haven’t you?” Mamizu said suddenly, as if she’d wanted to say it before but only just remembered
“That’s not true” I lied
“Really? It kind of seemed like you’re used to it”
“Used to what?”
“People dying”
I don’t want to becoht
“What is that supposed toto Ma home”
As I turned rabbed the edge of my shi+rt
“I’ry?” she asked
“Not really,” I replied coldly
“Hey” Ma a little “If I told you that I was too scared to sleep, would you stay with ?”
It was the first time that Mamizu had spoken such weak-hearted words
I didn’t reply But the inside of my head was in chaos
Just what kind of intentions did Ma like that?
Mamizu closed the curtains and lay down on her bed I sat down on the chair
“Come here,” she said quietly
In the end, I slipped into her bed
“I’ll tell you in advance that this isn’t that kind of thing, so don’t do anything strange, okay?”
“I won’t”
I didn’t feel like I could get in the o to sleep, either
“They said they’re going to take my cerebrospinal fluid for tests to that I ake It seemed that she couldn’t sleep, either
But I stayed silent and didn’t reply
“There are two kinds of tests The cause of my illness still hasn’t been identified That’s why a way to cure it hasn’t been found The main treatment is treatment of the symptoms as a te why people get this disease and finding out what causes it In other words, I’ experiments with my body every day”
Despitewhether I was listening or not
“Even if the cause is identified, the research will take years or decades, so I won’t be saved, though But one day in the future, a cure ht? I’ for humanity’s future”
I was lying doithMamizu, so I didn’t knohat kind of expression Ma as she said this
“I’reat, aren’t I? So, you should praise me, Takuya-kun”
I didn’t knohat I should say I continued pretending that I was asleep After a while, I could hear Ma as she slept I quietly slipped out of the bed and went outside I’d realized that it would be troubleso and then someone found me there
It was still three o’clock in the ht fast food restaurant and then took the first bus of the day home
I was startled when I got home
Myin the di there silently I was surprised Anyone would be surprised after seeing someone like that
“What are you doing?” I asked
“You’ve been strange lately,” my mother said
It see for her son to come home
“I’ you, please, just don’t co ataround me
“You’re so irritating all the time It’s my choice whether I live or die, isn’t it?” I’d noro, but this ti
“You don’t understand the feelings of a parent who has lost a child, Takuya”
I didn’t feel like arguing anyo to sleep “You’re an adult, so get a hold of yourself”
Even after I said that,nored all of it and decided to go toa shower or changing into my pajamas
On a day some time later, practice for the play ended and I went to Ma a red muffler It see