Chapter 36: His Origin (1)
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Two days later.
The sky was cloudless and azure as if to bless the students welcoming their day of departure into a new life. Unlike the times when I would need to wait for school to finish, we had plenty of time today since we’d start before noon.
Probably because it was a normal weekday morning, the pedestrian traffic was low in front of the stained glass at Sendai Station, our meeting place, allowing me to discover her quickly. With the sunlight-reflecting glass as background, Satoha waited there for me with a fairly big reusable shopping bag in her hand. Today we planned to clear a C-Class dungeon she had discovered.
“Morning, Satoha. Somehow it feels weird to meet at this time of the day.”
“Hehe, that’s true. Usually, we met much later. Anyway, let’s go.”
She turned her back on me and headed towards the station’s exit, forcing me to chase after her.
“It kinda feels very indulgent to head into a dungeon in the morning of a normal weekday.”
“…Nope, we’re going to take it easy first, okay? I’m the one knowing the location of the dungeon after all!”
For some reason she held her arms akimbo and threw out her chest. I don’t know the location of the dungeon and it’s not like I got any other plans. As such, it looks like today she’s going to take the initiative.
Leaving the station premises, we walked through the area surrounding the station. This place would be a lot busier during holidays, but today was a regular weekday, so it doesn’t feel all that bustling. Following Satoha who advanced with no doubt in her stride despite not looking on any maps, we walked through an alley of Japanese zelkova near the city hall.
This main street gave off a calm and historic atmosphere. Satoha looked up to the sky. Verdant and lush leaves would usually decorate the trees during other seasons, but now they were naked, looking like withered scrags, or even carcasses.
She stood still by herself in the center of the street as a gentle breeze weakly teased her hair.
Her golden blue back hair looked like branches and a sagging willow.
“This place has pretty nice illumination in December.”
“Illumination? What’s that?”
Satoha looked in my direction, her head cocked in confusion.
I replied to her genuine question, “…Ah, many small light bulbs are hanging all over the place, illuminating the whole place dazzlingly with a pretty brilliance.”
I guess this is outside her ability of imagination. She tried to come up with a hint of an idea of what illumination could be, but failed and was now looking depressed. Moreover, quite depressed, to top it off.
“Heeeh…how unfortunate. I wanted to see it at least once…”
“You just need to wait for December this yea. Then you’ll be able to see it.”
“…You’re…right.”
Aimlessly walking around she soon noticed a bench along the street. She laughed happily, blowing away all the gloom that had been hanging in the air around her.
“Hiro, let us first have a meal. Over here. Tadah!”
She held up the bag in her hand and took out its content. After sitting down on the bench, she tapped on the free spot next to her on the right, telling me to sit down.
I did as asked and accepted what she handed me. The bench was quite small, so we were basically glued to each other.
“I quickly made some sandwiches this morning. It’s my first time making these, though.”
“T-Thanks, Satoha. I had wondered what to do about lunch, but I totally hadn’t expected that you’d make something for me.”
While embracing a feeling of feeling really apologetic for making her go out of her way, I decided to gratefully accept the sandwich she apparently made herself. It was a ham sandwich with plenty of sauce. The tomatoes and lettuce counteracted that. Its crispy sensation and taste put it one level above sandwiches you can buy in stores. I finished wolfing it down in no time. Next I received an egg sandwich from her. It had a good amount of salt and pepper added to it, giving it a somewhat strong taste, but it was still extremely delicious.
“You’re a senior high-school student, so I thought that you might like this sort of taste. Ah, starting with today you’ve stopped being a high-school student, haven’t you?”
Satoha giggled with her chin held by both hands as if she was peering into my face. Afterwards she passed me a thermos from her bag.
“Here you go. It’s the coffee you like so much.”
“Oh, thanks, Satoha. It’s all incredibly tasty.”
“…That’s great to hear. It makes me happy.”
Satoha took out a sandwich for herself and started to eat. Us two and a desolate avenue. It also served as a road for cars and thus it felt slightly different from what you’d call a picnic, but I was able to spend a relaxed time.
｡ ₊°༺🫀༻°₊ ｡
After we finished eating up all the sandwiches, we chilled a bit while drinking her coffee. Just two weeks ago I’d have considered this to be a waste of time and immediately headed into a dungeon, but nowadays I couldn’t help but regard this way of spending time as very valuable.
Satoha had poured her filling of the coffee into the cover of the thermos and was currently blowing at it to cool it down. She apparently disliked hot food and drinks. Previously I had already thought that all of this would have been unthinkable two weeks ago, but I think it’s the same for her as well.
“Hmm? Why are you staring so intently at me, Hiro?”
“Well…I just felt that my association with you has been going on for quite some time now. And no, I don’t mean in regards to the time spent, but it simply feels like that because we meet almost every day.”
“True…this situation is hard to imagine, if you consider that we crossed blades at first.”
“Hahaha, no kidding.”
Closing the thermos with the cover, she sat up after having leaned back on the bench until now.
I thought about various things since that time when I ended up injuring her. And I think there’s something I must tell her who’s spending her time with me nowadays.
“Hey, Satoha, do you remember the time when I selfishly left you behind and dove into a C-Class dungeon by myself?”
“…! Yes.”
“Back then, you see, you asked me why I was continuing to fight, right?”
She gasped. Putting on a serious expression, she looked just as dignified as on that day.
“You have to know, I still haven’t sorted things in my head and thus don’t have anything where I would say this is the reason why I fight. But, I’d like to talk to you about the things I think might be related to this.”
I was very nervous. So far, no person had ever come so close to me. No person had moved me to this extent.
However, I want her to be in contact with me. I want her to know. For some reason, this desire welled up so strongly inside me that I couldn’t contain it. I wonder whether she’s going to listen to me.
When I raised my head, she, who was a beauty in all respects, was thoughtfully looking my way.
“Of course, Hiro. You can take it slow. And if you start disliking the idea halfway, I won’t mind, even if you stop. If you’re fine with someone like me, please allow me to hear your thoughts.”
I swallowed. Rather than feeling happy, I feared what response I would trigger thereafter.
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