Wasuresasete yo, Kouhai-kun [LN] V1 Prologue Part 1

Prolog

If you meet a fortune dolphin, your [Stopped unrequited love] will start to move.

I think I heard such a story from someone a few years ago.  　

Perhaps I'm hoping in the corner of my heart.  　

The gears that had rusted and stopped---start moving again. 

Otherwise, I wouldn't have skipped studying for exams after school and come to the beach during the tidal season.

I wonder if a fortune dolphin or something like that might pop up out of the sea's surface, but I know that such a scene would be too surreal to imagine it.

In the first place, what's a fortune dolphin?...... I think in Kisarazu, a fortune tanuki would still be easier to find. I don't know.  　

Walking along the seaside is a change of pace from studying for exams or an escape from reality due to frustration about the future.

Nothing more, nothing less.    

"Hey, young boy over there."

I'm tired of seeing the Aqualine in Tokyo Bay and the hazy silhouette of Kawasaki on the other side of the bay.

Let's go back.......students who are having exams in July are not supposed to be strolling around carefreely. 　

The sun begins to set.

I turn back to the wharf in the evening, dazzled by the horizon, and try to return to the parking lot of Kanada Mitate Beach.

"Hey, you bitter-looking young boy over there."  　

Someone is calling behind me.

I don't know exactly where the boy is, but hurry up and give her a reply.

"Hey, it's you. The boy who looked like he was escaping from reality by looking at the ocean from a while ago."

I didn't think it was possible, so I turned around slowly, and...... our gazes crossed.

"I thought you couldn't see me because you kept ignoring me!"  　

A petite woman facing me. No, an innocent little girl.

She smiles playfully at me, reflecting my idiotic face in her curiosity-filled eyes.

"...... me?"  

"Is there another boy nearby besides you~?"  　

There was only me and the girl on the wharf, the sounds of the beach and our voices emphasizing our presence.

I immediately understood what the small uncomfortable feeling was.

It was probably because a younger-looking girl in a local junior high school uniform treated me like a young boy with a casual tone of voice.

"If you're a local, you can probably tell by my uniform, but I was in high school."

"If you're a local, you can probably tell by my uniform, but I was a junior high school student~!"

Brilliantly ignoring my approach to being older, the junior high school girl, who seems to be in a good mood, reveals her identity.

The first impression one gets from the bright facial expression and energetic tone of voice is that she is an over-familiar and easily carried away person.

"Hey~ Don't look at me like you are licking my whole body~"

This cheeky JC teases me regardless of the fact that we have just met.

"Unfortunately, I prefer older women to younger children."

"But you were looking at me in a weird way, weren't you~? Well, high school boys are probably totally obsessed with cute girls, aren't they~?"

"Well, yes, that's true. I was looking at them."

"......You are so naughty, aren't you?"

The junior high school girl lets out a disgusted voice as she narrows her eyes.  

"It's not the naughty eyes, you know. That's the point."  

"Yes, yes~, it's an impulse that a healthy young boy can't help."  　

Although I get so much teasing, I'm a senior who is older than you.　

I'm just trying to be calm and don't get angry or upset.  

"Leaving aside your fondness for growing-up junior high school girls~"

"My type is older, mature seniors, and I want to be cared for by a kind, tolerant, and receptive woman. Understand? Grow up a little more mature and then come back."

"I think I look pretty mature for a junior high school student, you know~?"

The junior high school student, perhaps confident of her own growth, proudly puffed out her chest, but......she was still a child in compulsory education. She was slightly taller than the other students, and her mature scent brushed my nose slightly for a junior high school student, but the difference in sex appeal was obvious compared to "a certain senpai" who immediately came to mind as a target of comparison.

Forgive me if I unintentionally laugh scornfully.  

"...... haa, that's praise for the future."

"Hey, you pervert brat. You laughed through your nose just now, didn't you~?"

"You're the one who's a pervert brat! I'm Onii-san that older than you!"

"Haa~~, you're a naughty Onii-san, aren't you~?"

What are you sighing about, I'm more tired than you are.

"...... So, what can I do for you? I'm not free, even though I look like this."

Let's get back to the story that was derailed by the teasing.

I was more or less curious as to why she suddenly called and stopped me. It's because I've definitely never met this girl before, and I haven't established a relationship with her to talk to her even though I have no business with her.

"Eh~? You're free no matter how you look at it~"

"I may look like this, but I'm a student who studies every day for the exam."

"Does looking out at Tokyo Bay make you smarter? I didn't know that~"

I can't reply anything to the junior high school student who is sneering at me.......  　

Satisfied with toying with an older third-year high school student, the junior high school student walked slowly...and sat down on the back seat of a motorcycle that was parked in a parking lot on the beach.  

"The seat is hard and not very comfortable."

"Shut up. Don't complain when you get on the motorcycle without permission."

"And isn't it a bit shabby in its own way? Can this one be driven properly on public roads?"

"I'm sure it's fine, it's been inspected. It's not in bad condition for a 1960's motorcycle."

The retro iron scooter, faded and rusted, is a Rabbit S301 Super Flow. In other words, she showed her boldness by straddling my motorcycle with her legs.  

"Which way are you going back~?"

"Me? Toward Mimachi Street."

"You're going in the same direction as me! Yeay~!"  　

The junior high student flapped her legs, which stretched out from her skirt.

I'm starting to get an idea of what you're thinking, you know......

"We met here for a reason, so please give me a ride home!"  　

Obviously. That's the only thing I can think of.  

"Maybe......you just talked to me because you were too lazy to walk home from here?"  

"Not just that. I wanted to have a chat with you when you looked so lonely, something like that?"

Your round eyes are swimming, you know?  

"Actually, my bicycle got a flat tire..."

"So?"

"It's too far to walk home from here."

"So?"

"Give me a ride, please."  　

A junior high school girl who honestly confessed and bowed her head. She suddenly came to me in a polite manner.

"You wouldn't leave a girl in trouble, would you......? Right, right?"  　

Stop with the moist eyes like an abandoned puppy.

  

"The first ride costs 300 yen, and after that, 80 yen is added depending on the distance. Feel free to take a ride."

"That is terrible! You're going to charge a junior high school girl like a cab? I don't have that kind of pocket money~, older dependable senpai♪"

Only on such occasions does she treat me like a senior......!

"Please, Onii-chan?"

"I prefer a junior setting to a sister......Well, I can't help it."  　

I put on my own helmet and pulled the lever as I stepped over to the driver's seat. Turning the key I inserted into the vehicle to ON, I stepped on the foot brake with my right foot, touched the cell switch, and started the rather aged scooter.

A small engine noise begins to sound, mechanically polluting the sound of the sea.

"There' s a wonderful benefit for you if you let me ride with you~"

"Hmm, what is it?"

"To put it bluntly......it's a sweet and sour memory of your youth, touring around your hometown with a beautiful junior high school girl in the back of your bike! Isn't this a situation that any boy around your age would long for? Right?"

"I'm an idiot for asking."

"You should admire me to death, you stupid test-taker."  　

Apparently not pleased with my weak reaction, a junior high school student sitting right behind me chops me through my helmet.  

"If you leave me behind, I'll give you the curse of failing the entrance exam."

"If you do, I'll give you back the curse of failing the high school entrance exam."

"Ugh, you're such a scum brother."

"What are you saying, scum sister."

Only this time, let's give her a ride as a local. When in trouble, we help each other. I believe that "senpai"  whom I know well would give her a gentle hand in such a situation. 　

I handed the junior high school student a spare helmet and watched as she tried to put it on.  

"Well, as a first-time-only service, I'll give you a free ride home today."  

"Yay, even a gloomy, dull boy has some kindness in him. He wasn't just a useless high school student, was he?"

"Get the hell out of the bike."

"Just kidding, You are a cool guy. I'm already falling in love with you. Yeah!"

While being completely taken in by the mischievous junior high school student's thoughts, I realized that the effeminate thoughts that had been swirling in my head while gazing out at the sea earlier had temporarily disappeared.

It might have been a nice change of pace.

My mood was somewhat better now, unlike a few dozen minutes earlier when I had come to this place.

"Hold on to me so you don't fall off."  　

I took the sensation of a junior high school student leaning over and grabbing me by the side as a cue to take off the stand, then let go of the brake while turning the gas pedal gently.

With the unpleasant exhaust fumes melting into the sea breeze, I drove my old beloved bike.

From one seaside to another.  　

The junior high school student, with a voice loud enough to bounce off the wind noise while driving, guides me the way home, and then I park Rabbit in the parking lot near the playground equipment area "Magokoro Hiroba" at Torisaki Seaside Park.

"I can walk straight home from here! Azaashita~!"

Taking off the helmet, the junior high school student landed on the ground and flashed a smile of gratitude.

"Hn~, what's with that bitter look on your face? You felt the blue spring with a cute junior high school girl sitting so close to you, didn't you? That's a small price to pay, isn't it?"

I can't hide my dry, bitter smile. She shrugs her shoulders in a tone not much different from that of a child being admonished and gives me the impression that I'm not mature enough.

"Young boy, thank you♪"  　

---I was suddenly patted on the head, and my heart beat jumped unintentionally.

You've skillfully used mischievous behavior and a sweet surprise attack......!  　

Even though I understood that she was teasing me, I was a little glad, boys are such creatures.  　

The junior high school students slowly walked away from the park.  　

I was looking off the back of the girl, astride my motorcycle.

"I hope something wonderful happens to you, too, after you did something wonderful for me!"

The girl, illuminated by the bright early summer sunset, looks back at me and tells me this with a big smile on her face.

Suddenly, my gaze was drawn to a certain point.  　

The hairpin that the junior high school student had in her hair resembled a dolphin.

Although it was not because of that, I felt that it suited her bizarrely, and it seemed somehow beautiful.

As I look at her with my mouth tied, the junior high student shows a movement of her lips but I can't hear her voice.

---And, I'm sorry.

This is completely speculative.  　

If she was apologizing, I wasn't sure why.