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Chapter 207 – Our Secret Talk
“Hehe, I know this isn’t good manners, but I’m going to leave the snacks and drinks on the floor, okay?”
Saying so, Amami-san lowered the tray onto the carpet and sat down on a cushion. Umi and I followed suit and sat down on a rather large cushion on the floor.
“…Now that I think about it, it’s been a while since we sat down together like this, huh? When was the last time we did this? Last year’s festival?”
“Yeah. You used to come often back then. You even stayed over a few times. Nowadays, you keep clinging to Maki-kun. Like right now~”
“U-Uu… L-Leave me alone! I-I feel more comfortable like this, okay?”
Since Amami-san was the only one here, Umi tightly wrapped her arms around mine and refused to let go. It wasn’t because there was no space on the cushion. It was just something she always did. Whenever we were together, no matter where we were, whether it was on a couch, kotatsu or even on a bed, she would cling to me without fail.
“A-Anyway, what’s up, Yuu? What do you want to talk about?”
“Ah, well, you see… I’m just worried that you two feel ignored by me because I didn’t talk to you much today… It’s nothing big, really. Also, don’t be too harsh on Nagisa-chan. She’s actually a kind girl and she does well in class. Unlike me, I always feel sleepy in class…”
“That last part sounds like something big to me. You know we’re going to take our entrance exam next year, right?”
Yeah. It was easy to forget, but we would have to prepare for our entrance exam starting from next year.
We wouldn’t be using all of our time studying, but it would be harder for us to gather together like this as the exam got closer. All the more so when we graduated.
“I guess so… We’ll become adults soon, huh? Back when I was little, I never thought about that…”
Looking back, it had been more than ten years since I started attending this place called ‘school’. Starting from grade school, it felt like a lot of time had passed. Our time as children would be up in a little over a year.
“I don’t want to think about my childhood too much… But I remember that before I met Umi and the others, I didn’t enjoy going to school… Back then, I was too shy to make any friends and everyone avoided me because of my hair. Everyday I only went with the flow, going to school in the morning, listening to the teachers listlessly then going back home after lunch.”
“You had rough times in your life too, huh, Amami-san?”
“Do you think so? Compared to you, mine was nothing, you know? Come to think of it, what were you like when you were in grade school, Maki-kun? I know you keep transferring schools, but I’d never heard about the specifics. You’re curious too, right, Umi?”
“Yeah… I want to know too, but you know, Maki’s situation is a little complicated, it concerns his family too, so…”
Umi held my hand tightly. Well, it wasn’t like I was trying to keep my past a secret. No one asked me about it before, so I never brought it up.
I held Umi’s hand back and nodded.
“Are you sure, Maki?”
“Mhm. It’s not like I’m trying to keep it a secret anyway. Ask away if you’re curious.”
Well, I’d be reluctant to tell random people, but since Umi and Amami-san were the ones asking, I wouldn’t mind. Besides, it would be unfair of me if I didn’t tell them about my past even though I heard about theirs.
“Here, a question! How many schools have you transferred to so far?”
“Alright, Amami-san… Um… I don’t know… If we are talking about grade school, I think I went to five schools? No, I believe it’s six. On average, I moved once a year, though I stayed in one school longer than the others…”
“Woah… I also transferred back in grade school, but I only did it once. If I were you, I’d get sick of it quickly. My dad also had to move a lot because of his job, but ever since we moved here, he never transferred away again.”
“I see… What’s his job if I may ask?”
“A civil servant, he works for the prefectural government currently. He said he met my mom because of work… Ah, by the way, don’t mention him in front of mom, she’ll start boasting about how much she loves him, you’ll get sick of it quickly.”
If you go to the city hall, where Amami-san’s dad worked, you’d see a lot of posters for various projects. Maybe they met through one of those projects. Whatever the case, it was an interesting turn of events for them.
He wasn’t attending the birthday party because he was busy with work, but maybe we’ll get a chance to meet one day.
“My turn next. You said you didn’t have any friends, but did you not have anyone to talk with at school? Transfer students usually attract a lot of attention, no? There should be some nice people among those who tried to talk to you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure there were, but back then, I actively tried to make people stay away from me. There were plenty of friendly people, but they weren’t good-natured enough to approach me after I clearly rejected them.”
That was what made Umi special to me.
“Hehe, aren’t you glad, Umi? You’re the first girl Maki-kun accepted and really got close with~”
“I-I don’t care about that!”
“Liar~ I could see your nervous face when Maki-kun was talking about his past~”
“I should sew that mouth of yours shut.”
“No~ Maki-kun, help me!~ Umi is bullying me~”
“Acting like Nina won’t help you.”
Those two were making a fuss without minding me, who was sitting in between them. Well, I wasn’t against it, it was nice to see them having fun.
Eventually, I joined them and made a lot of noise too, to the point that Eri-san walked into the room and warned us about it.
After that, we spent the rest of our time talking about various things. From the things that were currently trending in school, what we were doing for fun, our complaints about our families and stuff that we wouldn’t talk about with them.
Before we realized it, it was already late.
“Oh no, it’s already this late. I’m sorry you two, because of me, you two couldn’t spend time together…”
“It’s fine. I got to hear about Maki’s past, so it’s a win for me.”
“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s rare for me to have this much fun talking about random topics like this. Thank you, Amami-san.”
“I see… If you two say so then… Thank you for listening to my selfish request…”
Well, she was the star of the day, so she had the right to be selfish. Umi and I could hang out together whenever we wanted to anyway.
Compared to my relationship with Umi, my relationship with Amami-san was a feeble one. There was a possibility that we would drift apart depending on our career paths.
She was an important friend of Umi. If possible, I wanted to keep a good relationship with her too, so I would try to help her in any way I can.
“See you later, Umi, Maki-kun.”
“Mm, see you later, Amami-san.”
“Don’t oversleep, okay, Yuu?”
After saying our goodbyes to Amami-san, we went on our way toward Umi’s house, where Sora-san and Riku-san had been waiting for us. The birthday party was over, but that didn’t mean my day was over. I was tired, but I’d be alone with Umi after this, so I just needed to bear with it a little longer.
“Maki-kun! Umi!”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Yuu?”
“We’ll always be friends, right? You two will always be my friends, right?”
“Of course. You won’t be able to get rid of me even if you want to, Yuu.”
I nodded to show my agreement.
It was obvious. Yeah, maybe we wouldn’t meet as often when we got older, but as long as we keep in contact with each other regularly, we could stay friends.
“Hehe… Thank you! I love you two!”
Amami-san waved her hands in the air with a big smile and we waved our hands back in return.
“Jeez, what’s with her? Overreacting like that.”
“Well, that’s just like her, isn’t it?”
“I guess so. She’s so cute.”
The three of us waved until we could no longer see each other.