Chikasugiru Karera no, Juunanasai no Tooi Kankei [LN] V1 Chapter 4.3

Chapter 4 - Inside her room

After that, when my mother came home, I tidied up the game console and Izumi put the food my brother had cooked in the microwave.

"Ryuu-kun was here a while ago."

"Is that so."

When I told her about my brother's visit, my mother responded half-heartedly as she placed her luggage on the sofa. For someone who is always so concerned about him, her response was surprisingly cold.

"He also made that dinner."

With a "hmmm," my mother sat at the dining room table and drank the tea Izumi had brewed.

Before long, Izumi took a plate out of the microwave and held it out in front of my mother.

"Thanks, Rina-chan," my mother replied with a pleasant smile that she showed only to Izumi among our family, and then she ate the dinner that my brother had prepared nonchalantly. She didn't seem to think it tasted particularly good or bad.

After that, Izumi went back to her room and I turned on the TV and watched a news program that was on. Then my mother talked to me, "Kenichi, just a minute."

"What were you talking about with him?"

My mother had finished her dinner, she put her fork on an empty plate, took a cup of tea, and turned her head toward me.

"What were we talking about... well, many things. It seems that Ryuu-kun's objective was to meet Izumi."

"He didn't say anything weird, did he?"

"It was relatively all right......"

I said, remembering what my brother had said and done earlier. He hadn't said anything harsh or vulgar, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with what he said.

"Relatively, huh."

My mother let out a sigh that sounded both relieved and dismayed. I then briefly explained what had happened since his arrival.

"We also talked a bit about Ryuu-kun. Why he went to graduate school and what he's studying now."

Then she said, "Hmm," and my mother began to speak with a serious face.

"When Ryuuichi said he would go on to higher education, I was indeed against it quite strongly....... but since Ryuuichi is smart even though he is an idiot, I think he has enough potential to become a scholar...... Recently, there are not many positions available at universities, and it seems to be a difficult world, but I am sure he will do well, including the option of working for a company."

"But," my mother continued after taking a sip of the tea she was holding in her hand.

"Ryuuichi was a boy who often bumped into people. I'm worried about that."

"............ you mean, like quarreling?"

"Not that, but physically. When we went shopping or to the library together when he was younger, he would wander around, blocking other people's way and causing trouble. In short, he was unable to look at his surroundings. He only thought about the world as he saw it, and never considered the possibility that someone might come up behind or beside him. There were many times when he would bump into an adult and burst into tears."

My mother looked somewhat nostalgic as she said this, and a faint wry smile crossed her face. Imagining that scene, I thought to myself, "That was very Ryuu-kun-like." I don't know what my brother was like when he was younger because we are so far apart in age, but he certainly seemed to be pretty active.

"Maybe that's why Ryuu-kun was so bad at playing soccer. That sport requires not only technique and physical strength, but also a sense of how people will move next."

When I half-jokingly said, " Perhaps," my mother nodded her head.

"When I look at Ryuuichi now, I see that the spirit of the triplets has not changed at all. When he was little, he was always going out somewhere where people would gather, so I was always a little worried. In the future, I hope he doesn't bump into someone somewhere and end up upset."

"Indeed, he looks like he has a terrible relationship with women."

When I somehow said this, my mother put her hand to her forehead and let out a deep sigh.

"What's the difference with you?"

The words came back to me harshly, and I could only give a vague reaction, "Hmmm.

"---Well, in that aspect, Kenichi was a boy who looked at his surroundings properly and put himself in a position not to bother others. Although he was shy, he was quiet and easier to take care of than Ryuuichi."

It had been a long time since I had had such a long talk with my mother. Since Izumi's arrival, I felt that even the environment, which should have had nothing to do with her presence, had begun to change in subtle ways.

When the conversation was all settled, I got up from my seat.

"I'm going back to my room. You can leave the dishes as they are. I'll wash them later."

"Okay. Then, please. I'm going to take a bath and go to bed."

"Good night."

I said that and left the living room.

I turn on the light on the staircase that Izumi had so diligently turned off. Warm light filled the room. As I reached the top of the stairs, I heard a low sound from behind the door of Izumi's dark brown room, as if a closet was being opened. It was the time when the date was about to change. It takes her an hour and a half to get to school, and her morning comes early. She has laid out the futon and is probably going to bed. A cool breeze blew weakly through the screen door in the upstairs hallway.

☆ ☆ ☆