Chikasugiru Karera no, Juunanasai no Tooi Kankei [LN] V2 Chapter 3.5

Chapter 3 - The Change of Seasons and Feelings

Yuriko, wearing a pink and blue uniform, wore the number 11 on her back and was in the forward position. Her position was the center of the lineup of the three forwards. It was where she was best at. Yuriko scored two goals in that game, even though everyone surrounding her was probably older than she was. One was a diagonal dribble after receiving the ball on the left side, and a shot with her right foot, and the other was a counter-attack, in which she got behind the ball and scored past the keeper in a one-on-one confrontation. Her ball control was precise, and there was no sign of the ball being taken away from her. Even when pressed, she was always looking around and playing with a sense of composure. As expected of a player who has been playing with the boys for so long, her composure was the most striking thing about her on the court.

"I knew she was good."

At the end of the match, Nagai said.

"She's modest about it, but at the level of our club, she's a force to be reckoned with, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

I nodded my head.

I tried to move away from them a little, thinking that maybe I shouldn't be sitting with them, but they stopped me, telling me that I could stay with them, so I sat with them until the game was over.

After the game was over, Yuriko, who had been stretching and talking with people from the same team for a while, stood and talked with Miyuki-chan and her mother, then walked up to us. She was smiling and waving to Miyuki-chan, with a white enamel bag slung over her shoulder, her soccer pants on the bottom, and a blue jersey on top.

"Thanks for your hard work. I knew it was cool to see senpai playing soccer," said Tachibana.

Yuriko looked refreshed after her physical activity, "Thanks," she said, and took one of the karaage as recommended by Tachibana. After munching and chewing, she looked at me and beckoned me over.

"Kenichi, hey, hey. Come here."

"What?"

I stood up and walked over to Yuriko.

"I'm thirsty, let's go to that vending machine over there to get some water." 

Yuriko looked at me and indicated a vending machine on the side of the road a short distance away. "Okay," I nodded.

"I'm going to go for a bit then. Tachibana, thanks for the onigiri and all. They were delicious."

"Yes. Enjoy yourselves, senpais."

Tachibana said with a smile. Leaving them alone, we walked to a vending machine a short distance away.

"They seem to be doing well," Yuriko said, putting in some coins and taking a sports drink, which fell with a clatter.

"Yeah."

"But Kenichi, why are the three of you sitting together? You have to be more considerate."

"No, I tried to leave on the way too, but they said I could stay......"

"Hmmm. I thought you were getting better lately, but I guess Kenichi is still Kenichi.

Saying that, Yuriko gulped down her sports drink.

"Sit here."

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Yuriko sat down on the slope. When Tachibana and Nagai noticed us sitting at a distance from them, they looked at us as if to say, "Huh?" Yuriko just smiled and waved her hand at them.

"But I didn't think it would go so well......I mean, they're a little too clingy, aren't they? I was getting kind of pissed off when I saw it. How could you have been in between them?"

"Indeed......"

They were sitting closely together, eating the rest of their lunches. Tachibana was smiling and looked very happy. She was even bringing a meatball she had pierced with a toothpick to Nagai's mouth.

""Uwah......"" Yuriko and I said, our voices overlapping, as if we were taken aback, as if we had seen something we weren't supposed to see.

Yuriko observed them, thoroughly, and then looked at me with a sidelong glance.

"......What?"

When I said that, she simply said, "Nothing."

There was only a distance of one person between Yuriko and me. Her cheeks were still a little red and her skin looked a little damp with sweat.

Three people from the team Yuriko was mixed up with walked by us. One of them asked her, "Is that boy Yuriko's boyfriend?". Yuriko replied with an amiable smile.

"No. He's a friend from my club."

"Ah. I'm sorry. I didn't realize that."

Saying that, they glanced at me. I vaguely bowed and averted my gaze. The three of them let out something like a chuckle, clapped Yuriko on the shoulder, and walked away. The flow of cars on the road behind us had died down, and the area suddenly became quiet. Yuriko let out a small sigh,

"......I wonder if it would have been better if I had fallen in love with a guy like Nagai."

"Huh?"

I was at a loss for words, wondering what she was saying out of the blue. I could guess what Yuriko's words meant, but I couldn't say anything in response.

"Because, you know......"

Yuriko held her knees up and looked down. She picked up a pebble that had fallen nearby and threw it forward. With a gentle parabolic motion, the pebble hit the slope of the asphalt and made a clattering sound. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tachibana and Nagai sitting together at a distance, almost as if they were attached to each other.

"As expected, I'm getting anxious as time goes on."

She muttered and threw another stone forward with no energy.

Silence fell, and the sounds of cars passing by and trains passing over the railroad bridge over the river echoed around us. The reverberations faded away as if absorbed by the high, clear autumn sky. 

"I'm in a bit of a hurry. Summer has already passed, and autumn and winter will soon pass while you are still like this. People's feelings change as well."

Yuriko looked down and said that.

High in the sky, below the cirrocumulus clouds, gray, moist clouds were moving at a visible speed. Another autumn typhoon was approaching, or so they said on the news.

---That's right. It has been almost three months since that day when the thunderstorm hit. A season has passed. I had promised to respond to her on the day of the summer festival. I still hadn't done so.

"Sorr......"

I was about to say, "Wait," when Yuriko still looked down and said,

"I don't want to hear something like that."

She sounded like a sulky child.

"Sorry," I apologized again in my mind.

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