Chapter 38 – Shouko and Occasion
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“Sousuke, umm, do you remember the occasion that started us off as friends?”
Shouko asked me on the way back from the ocean while we were sitting atop Mashiro.
I answered while trying to recall the details, “…If I remember correctly, it was around the time when we went up to 2nd year, right? It was about doing a mixer.”
“Yep, that’s it.”
“Well, in the end, we didn’t participate, though.”
With the location being a karaoke bar, Chiyu was out of the picture from the very start. My dear childhood friend doesn’t like singing overly much. I’m not really good at it either, but thinking that it might be mean to turn them down after they invited me, I had planned to join from the start.
“Right. It’s good for that boy to have found his keys.”
On the way to the karaoke bar, we ran into an elementary school boy who was crouching next to a thicket while bawling. When we called out to him, unable to let it pass unnoticed, he confessed that he dropped his keys on the way back home. His parents were at work and so he had been searching for the keys as he wouldn’t be able to enter his home without them, but he was apparently at a loss since he couldn’t find them anywhere.
Accordingly, I decided to help him search for the keys. Back then, Shouko helped out as well.
“It took us all the way till evening to find them though.”
We thought that it’d occasionally happen to drop something, but when I suddenly looked up after we were unable to find the keys, as we only looked on the ground, given that they had been “dropped,” I happened to see them caught on a high fence. We suspected that a passerby, who found the dropped keys, might have left them there out of kindness, but the owner didn’t manage to see them there.
“You see, since then I-I’ve been thinking…that you’re a g-great guy, Sousuke.”
“I too, considered you a kind gal, Shouko.”
Shouko laughed lightly, asking, “What’s that supposed to be?”, and then continued, “Did you hear what the other people of our class said back then?”
“Hmm? No, I don’t really remember.”
“Some said stuff like 『Aww, so pitiable』 or 『I dropped mine as a brat as well』, but most of them didn’t even look at the boy. And even those who had noticed him moved on to the next topic right away, asking, 『How much further to the karaoke bar?』 or 『What are we going to sing?』”
“That’s the normal reaction in this day and age. Sometimes people, who call out to others out of consideration, are even treated as suspicious.”
In the first place, I think it’s a tall order to expect a generation that has been raised while being told not to talk to strangers, to actively call out to a stranger, even if it might be a child in trouble. After all, they’ve been taught in the past that they themselves will be regarded as 『Stranger』 by that child.
“That’s not it, Sousuke. All of them thought that it was a bother. They simply prioritized the mixer as it might decide their future standing and friendships in our class.”
“…..”
“But you helped the boy without any hesitation. You encouraged him that you’d definitely find the keys and started to search while crawling around on the ground without a care about your uniform getting dirty.”
“…I don’t have any intention to become a hero, but I’d like to at least help those who are in trouble in front of my eyes. Besides, you helped out as well, didn’t you Shouko?”
She said so earlier, but this became the start of us two talking with each other.
“You don’t remember? I was somewhat late in doing that. Just a moment ago, I said stuff that sounds like I blame our classmates, but I’m not all that different from them. I mean, I also wavered for a moment.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m sure I unconsciously read the mood. Like making sure not to spoil 『having fun with everyone』. But, if it’s a mood that gets dampened by us helping a child in need, it’s not necessary to worry about keeping it up in the first place.”
“Yeah…but well, everyone’s different, right? I’m sure you’ll find quite a few people who do everything they can to experience their springtime of life fully. Since I don’t think of that as worthwhile, I’ve simply been doing whatever I want to do…”
Rather than covering for my classmates, it feels creepy to be praised for something that’s only natural.
“A springtime of life, where you can be gentle to others as if it’s normal, is much, much better.”
Being told that, I hesitated to deny it any further.
“…So you’ve been talking to me ever since then, huh?”
Shouko wasn’t a 『gal who’s kind to otaku』 or a 『gal who’s kind to everyone』. She was simply a girl who had taken a liking to me due to that one incident.
“Yep. Though I didn’t expect you to be such a huge perv.”
“Ugh.”
After bursting into laughter due to my reaction, Shouko continued with a gentle voice, “But, you were as kind as I thought.”
“Shouko…”
“A-Also, you gave me your handkerchief, didn’t you?”
“Handkerchief…wait, you mean the one you used to find me?”
I’ve been assuming that the belongings we initially had with us when transferred to this world consisted of the stuff we had on us when going back home the day before. The girls’ underwear, my inner wear, and the handkerchief, which Shouko borrowed from me on that day, served as proof of that. And Shouko was able to quickly find me on the first day by combining my handkerchief with Mashiro’s sense of smell.
“About that…it’s not that I forgot to wash it…umm, I left it like that on purpose.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“I-I was happy that I got you to lend me something…and, umm, I thought I could use that as a topic to start a conversation with you for one or two days.”
She probably expected our talk to go something like this: 『Sorry, I forgot to bring the handkerchief you lent me』 -> 『Ah, don’t worry about it. You can bring it back anytime』.
“So even you think about such things, eh?”
“I-I mean it’s frickin’ difficult to find a cue to talk with the guy you’re i-interested in, you know…?”
Given that Shouko said that while sulking, I quickly apologized, “Well, I suppose that makes sense. I fully understand.”
“Really?”
You’ll be nervous when talking to someone you’re close to. Also, it’s rather difficult to overcome the existing hierarchy and groups inside a class.
Come to think of it, Shouko ignored all of that and chatted me up many times. Considering that courage of hers, I feel something warm spreading inside my chest now.
“Yes, really. Once we get back to Earth, I promise I’ll talk to you from my side.”
“…You promise for sure, right?”
Her voice was somewhat shrill, filled with expectations.
“Yep, yep, absolutely. Of course,” I tried to imitate the overenthusiastic phrasing Shouko occasionally uses.
“Pfft, hahahaha. Nice, let’s make this popular…!”
I wonder about that, but well, since it’s making Shouko laugh, all’s well.
Mashiro slowed down and before long our home came into sight.
“Thanks, Mashiro. Oh right, once we get back home, I’ll make a hut for you.”
Mashiro barked cheerfully.
Soon, he jumped over the stone wall, marking our arrival back home. After he chose a good spot to sit down, Shouko and I got off him.
Now then, I wonder whether the other three have already come back as well.
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