Chikasugiru Karera no, Juunanasai no Tooi Kankei [LN] V2 Chapter 1.9

Chapter 1 - After The End Of The Rainy Season

Several groups were playing taiko drums and Japanese instruments on a turret in the middle of the park. The sun was still high in the sky and the sunlight had not diminished at all. It was terribly hot, but more and more people were coming.

We were walking back to the park from the shrine, looking at the surrounding stalls. Then suddenly Yuriko slowed her pace and pulled out her phone from her pocket.

"Ah, Akari and Nagai are here. I'm going to pick them up. I'll be right back, so wait for me near the turret."

I replied, "Okay," and Yuriko said, " Well, then," and disappeared into the back of the crowd. I asked Izumi,

"---That's what she said, but what would you do, Izumi?"

"Aiko-chan will be here soon, so I'll just say hello."

Izumi said with a smile.

"Then let's wait together."

Then, when we started walking, near a yakisoba stall, a voice called out to me.

"Hey, you boy, want to buy some yakisoba?"

When I turned around to find such a flirtatious voice, I saw a young brown-haired man wearing white soccer wear and a hand towel around his neck. I almost ignored him, thinking he was just an ordinary yankee, but when I looked closer, I saw that it was my big brother.

"Oh, Ryuuichi-san?" At the same time, Izumi also seemed to have noticed that it was my brother.

"It's been a long time, Rina-chan. It's been about two weeks. Your braids are so cute. It looks really good on you."

Immediately, he started talking flirtatiously, and Izumi smiled in a troubled and embarrassed manner.

"Ahaha.......Thank you."

"What are you doing here?"

I said, looking at my brother who was becoming a stall-keeper.

"I'm grilling yakisoba. You can tell by looking at it. A friend of mine from junior high school was in charge of this place. It looked like fun, so I decided to help out."

"Right?" my brother said familiarly to the muscular man with blond hair and a dark tan beside him.

"Is that Ryuuichi's brother?" the stern man said, glancing at me.

His eyebrows were as thin as lines drawn with a ballpoint pen and his eyes were sharp. He had the look of someone you would never want to make eye contact with on the street.

"Yeah. My brother and the girl next to him are my sister," my big brother said, looking at us.

""What?"" Izumi and my voice overlapped.

"Let's put it that way. In my mind, that's the position Rina-chan is in."

My brother leaned toward us and said in a small voice.

"Y-Yes......hello......" Izumi said with a troubled smile. My brother's friend looked less interested (and definitely didn't believe him), said, "Hmmm," looked at us, and then started doing some manual work.

"Well, we're off now. I'm meeting up with Yuriko."

When I said this, my brother looked surprised.

"Oh, are you three going to play together?"

"No, with other friends."

"I see. I was a little surprised to see you alone with Rina-chan. So that's how it is."

"Mori-san stayed at our house yesterday," Izumi said after me. "really?" My brother had a surprised look on his face.

"I didn't expect that. So that's what Kenichi's message from yesterday was about."

Then he looked at me with a complacent smile on his face.

"Kenichi, you tried to run away?"

I could see Izumi tilting her head next to me. I looked at the ground, unable to say anything. I looked at the ground, which was cracked and scorched by the intense sunlight, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Izumi's laced-up sandals and cherry-red toenails.

"Well, it's okay. We're open till night, so come on over when you're hungry. I'll treat you to yakisoba."

"Really?" Izumi said happily.

"Yeah. Hey, if you have a meet-up, don't be late, get there early."

"Yes. I'll be back again," Izumi replied with a high-spirited smile.

I then stood by the turret with Izumi and waited, and within a few minutes, Yuriko returned. Nagai was dressed simply in brown chinos and a white shirt, while Tachibana was wearing a yukata with a white and pink morning glory pattern on a purple background. She was also wearing makeup, her cheeks and lips were red, and her atmosphere was a little different from usual.

Nagai greeted me with a "Yo,". I raised one hand in a small gesture, and Nagai called out to Izumi, who was standing beside me.

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"It's been a long time, Izumi-san."

Izumi put on her usual pleasant expression and said, "It's been a while. Thank you for the other day," she said, bowing her head. Following that, Yuriko introduced Tachibana.

"Izumi-san, this is Tachibana Akari, my junior."

"Hello. Sakamoto-senpai has been taking care of me."

Tachibana, who was introduced to Izumi, put on a formal manner, and bowed to Izumi. 

"No, no, it's my pleasure. It's nice to meet you, I'm Izumi Rina. Your yukata has a cute pattern."

"Ehehe. Thank you."

It was kind of strange to see Tachibana and Izumi talking. When the three girls started talking and Nagai and I stood there beside them, he asked me, "Are the five of us going around together today?"

"No," I shook my head.

"Izumi has a meet-up with a friend already. She just came to say hello."

"Yes, that's right. I have to go," Izumi continued, perhaps having heard our conversation.

"I see. Too bad."

"I'm sorry. I'll see you later when the time is right," Izumi said with a smile. Yuriko then took a step closer to Izumi.

"Thank you, Izumi-san, for what you did yesterday. Can I see you again before you go home tonight?"

"Yes. I will call you later."

After saying that, Izumi went to the meeting place to meet Hoshino-san.

When she was out of sight, Tachibana turned to me and Yuriko. 

"Senpai, isn't that dangerous? She has long black hair and a short one-piece dress that looks really good on her. I was kind of nervous when I talked to her."

"You're annoying, and I know what you're talking about."

I don't know what Yuriko understood, but anyway, she became a little grumpy.

"I mean, why aren't you wearing a yukata, senpai? I'm the only one wearing a yukata among the four of us, and that makes me look out of place."

"It's too hot and it's too much work."

"You have to put your courage into it," Tachibana said firmly. I wondered if it took courage to put on a yukata, but it was true that the sleeves were long and it looked hot. Yuriko replied in a tiresome manner, "Ah, yeah."

"So what are we going to do after this?" I said.

"Hmm. Let's walk around and find a place where we can sit down. Then let's get something to eat."

Yuriko replied and we started walking. As time passed, more and more people came. Colorful lanterns were hung, the sound of taiko drums echoed, and the space had been transformed into a park festival space where few people are usually found. Yuriko and Tachibana walked a little ahead of us together, while I walked and talked with Nagai.

He had previously told me that he would be sent to a summer course if he did not finish in the top ten of our grade in the first semester's final exam. I heard that he had cleared it, but that he had been sent to a short-term course only for the first half of the summer vacation.

As we approached the entrance to the park, Yuriko and Tachibana entered a stall where they were displaying accessories. While I was waiting outside waiting for them, Nagai started talking about Izumi.

"I think the atmosphere Izumi-san wears is cute after all. I haven't seen her in a while, though." Nagai said.

"......Yeah," when I replied vaguely, "If the guys in our club find out that you're living with her, they're going to kill you."

Nagai said this in a joking tone of voice, and I laughed a little.

"---Have you been in contact with Izumi recently?" I asked, lowering my voice a little.

"Yeah. I wanted to be friends with her, so I thought I'd send her a couple of messages, but we've only exchanged one."

After saying that, he muttered, "Oh, right," as if he had just remembered something.

"Speaking of contacts, can I talk to you about something?" 

"...... What?"

I was inwardly horrified, wondering what I would do if it were about Izumi, but his counsel was different.

"I've been in touch with Tachibana recently. We haven't stopped chatting since the summer break."

"---Is that so?"

As I reacted back, I was just relieved. My feelings of jealousy were suddenly overshadowed by the fact that I was looking at Tachibana in her yukata, who was looking at accessories with Yuriko in the store, and I said, "You should go out with her now," in a joking manner. Then Nagai laughed and said, "You say that lightly."

"We're in the same club, so if things get weird, what are we going to do afterward? If I go out with her lightly and then break up, it will be difficult for both of us to stay in that club."

For a while, I couldn't say anything. I regretted having said such a frivolous thing, even though I should have been well aware of it myself.

"Sorry," I apologized. It's not the kind of banter I'm used to, I thought.

"No. Well, I don't even know if Tachibana is really that way or not. I'm sorry that I talked to you as if I was conceited. If I'm wrong about this, I'm pretty creepy."

He said the last part in a slightly playful tone.

"No, it's not like that."

So I replied. At that moment, the two of them returned from the stall. We naturally stopped talking about it.

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