Chikasugiru Karera no, Juunanasai no Tooi Kankei [LN] V2 Chapter 4.7

Chapter 4 - Something That Lingers In Them

After parting with Hoshino-san, I walked with Rina along the empty street. 

Come to think of it, it had been a while since we had walked side by side. Rina's short boots made a steady thumping sound. Her breath was turning white.

"Kenichi-kun," Rina said.

"Were you going to meet a friend earlier?"

"---Yeah."

"Mori-san?"

Rina continued, and I nodded.

"Can't you contact her?"

"Sort of, you know, things happened, and we had a fight and.......I thought she might be over there."

"I see," Rina mumbled, and then,

"......I'm sorry if I was the cause of that fight."

She said that, turning her head down. Unintentionally, I wondered if I had said the words in such a nuanced way. Rina will be going back to her own house soon. I didn't want to cause her unnecessary worry. I wanted Rina's memories of this town to be good ones.

"No, it's not. Rina had nothing to do with it."

When I said that, she nodded vaguely and said, "Okay......"

We walked in silence again for a while. Our footsteps echoed under the pale blue sky. A cold wind blew, and I caught a glimpse of Rina's scarf and the hem of her skirt fluttering at the edge of my vision.

Suddenly, Rina looked at me. Then she said,

"If Mori-san and Kenichi-kun start dating in the future, please let me know."

"......Eh?"

I had never imagined that she would say something like that to me. It took me a while to understand what Rina was saying.

"It's all about that, isn't it?"

"Yeah.......but......."

Rina smiled teasingly and smirked at me.

Then, she put the pouch on her shoulder in front of her body, put her hand inside and rummaged around in it, and offered me a small white paper bag, saying, "Here."

"What is this?"

"It's for you."

"? Thank you......"

I took it, looked inside, and saw that it contained a good-luck charm with a note that read, "Family safety."

There was a sort of explanatory note, in which it said, "Your family will be at peace and free from illness or accident". When I saw this, I felt a warm feeling in my chest.

"Thank you," I said again.

"You're welcome. I hope you do well this year, too."

"Yeah. Rina too."

I replied, putting the charm I had been given in my pocket.

The afternoon sun in the west was beginning to turn colors. The soft, weak winter sunlight made Rina's white coat look slightly yellow.

We entered the house together. Rina sat down on the doorstep, took off her short boots, said she was going to put her luggage and jacket, and went upstairs.

I went into the kitchen and boiled some water for a cup of tea. Then my mother, who was sitting on the kotatsu with her laptop open, said, "Make me a cup of coffee too," so I boiled water for the three of us, including Rina, who had already returned to her room. Soon after, Rina appeared in the living room. "Welcome home," my mother said. "I'm home," Rina replied. Her face and ears were still covered in vermilion, as if the cold weather outside had left its mark.

"Rina, do you want some coffee too?" I asked her while making coffee for my mother.

"Yes. Could you please?" Rina nodded, so I got out the mug she usually uses and brewed a cup of drip coffee.

I put the mug in front of Rina at the dining room table and said, "Here you go. Rina accepted it and said, "Thank you!" added milk and sugar, stirred it, and then went into the kotatsu. There, she also gave a good luck charm to my mother.

When I returned to my room with a mug of coffee, I carefully put away the charm she had given me in the drawer.

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Several empty cardboard boxes are lined up on the wooden floor.

Two days have passed since the new year began.

The day before Rina went back to her house, I helped her pack her things. I helped Rina put away her reference books, the alarm clock she bought here, rug mats, cushions, accessories, and so on, into cardboard boxes.

We started working in the afternoon and finished by the time the sun started to set. The desks and chairs were still there, but there was less stuff, and the place looked completely empty. The stuff will be sent to Rina's house tomorrow.

I was sitting on the floor and Rina was sitting in her desk chair. There were no books, pens, or desk lamps on the desk, only air fresheners.

I noticed that it was getting darker and darker outside. The light outside the window was beginning to fade. The shadows in this room were deepening before I knew it. One of the metal fittings on a nearby telephone pole was reflecting light sharply and strongly toward me. 

"Thank you for helping me," Rina said.

"No. This is the least I can do."

I replied and we both closed our mouths. Silence falls. The shadows in the room spread. The sun is setting slowly. The room is filled only with the presence of our breathing. The sound of Rina's body shifting and the rustling of her clothes echoed silently.

"I'll see you off at the station tomorrow. Thank you for everything. You've been a great influence on me."

I spoke up. Rina put her hand on the edge of the miniskirt she was wearing over her tights and shook her head.

"No way. I was also glad to meet Aunty, Kenichi-kun, and Ryuuichi-san. It was a wonderful time."

"If that's the case, I'm happy too."

"Yes," Rina smiled. Then she stood up and pulled the cord of the switch. The fluorescent light flashed on and off several times. The shadows in the room were engulfed by the white light. Rina's image clearly appeared in the bright light.

"I've even made friends over here."

Rina said as she sat down on the chair again.

"---You mean Yuriko?"

"Yes. Yesterday, too, I hung out with her."

The word "Eh?" leaked out.

"Really?"

Come to think of it, she was out from afternoon to evening. I didn't think she was meeting with Yuriko. Rina nodded and continued talking.

"We walked around here together and had tea at a cafe."

"What did you and Yuriko talk about?"

"Something like, I'm going to miss you, and I hope we'll keep being friends."

"Is that all? Is there anything else?"

When I asked her, Rina smiled bitterly, as if she was troubled.

"Hmm. Then, I'll tell you one thing: Kenichi-kun is indecisive and troublesome."

"Eh? What's that!!?"

"I'm joking."

"Is that a joke?"

"No."

"Come on!"

Rina smiled smugly. I thought back to the previous time when I had been agonized by this kind of ambiguity. It was during the rainy season when Yuriko and Rina first met. Come to think of it, I never heard what they were talking about at that time.

"Are you curious?"

"......Not really."

I replied, annoyed that she was teasing me. She seemed to be enjoying herself, so I figured that at least Rina had not been displeased. If I knew that much, it was enough.

"Good luck reassuring Mori-san," Rina said with a chilling but gentle smile.

"......Yeah. It's my fault, though, I kinda, you know, aggravated things a little bit. Guess I'd better get back to my room."

"Okay. I was also thinking of going down to the living room."

The two of us left the cold room together. Before closing the door, Rina turned off the light switch.

At night, as we had done when Rina arrived, my mother bought a variety of side dishes at the supermarket and we ate them together.

"Be well when you get home," my mother said as we sat down at the dinner table.

"Yes. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me."

Rina bowed to my mother.

"If something happens, please call me. If Aunty gets sick or is in trouble, I'll come right away."

In the middle of saying that, Rina's voice began to shake and she wiped her eyes several times. My mother looked at Rina with gentle eyes.

"Thank you. I'm also glad that my own two kids can be friends with an honest girl like Rina, because they're both such a mess. I won't be able to see you off tomorrow......but please come visit us whenever you want. I'll make sure you can sleep over. This house is too big and lonely for just Kenichi and me. "

"Yes. I will come to see you again," Rina replied, wiping her eyes again.

After dinner, we took turns taking baths and spent some time in the living room. The last night went by as usual.

Rina, who had been on the verge of tears at dinner, was back to her normal self when she got out of the bath. She was chatting with my mother on the kotatsu, just like they always do.

Even after I got ready for sleep, I spent some time in the living room with Rina and my mother. I brought a book I had been reading from my room and sat in the dining chair reading it while drinking warm tea and replying to the stories they would sometimes dump on me.

Soon, the time for the date to change was approaching. My mother, who had to work the next day, went back to her room first.

"Good night, Rina-chan."

"Yes. Good night."

Rina replied. The TV was already turned off. Once we were alone, a late-night silence descended. Then Rina said, "At first, I was a little afraid when I came to this house."

I replied, "I bet you were."

I would have been, too, if I were in her position. It must have been a very anxious experience to live for six months in a strange city with relatives you barely knew.

"I would like to tell myself back then that the next six months were going to be fun."

Saying that, Rina got out of the kotatsu.

"It's time for me to go to bed, too."

"Yeah. I'm going back now, too."

I got up and turned off the fan heater. Rina switched off the kotatsu and turned off the light. Going upstairs, Rina put her hand on her doorknob.

"Good night," Rina said.

"Yeah. Good night."

I replied as usual and went into my room. I went into my room and lay down on my bed without turning on the light. I got under the covers and in the darkness, I thought back to the night Rina first came to this house.

At that time, I wondered what would happen in the future. Now I felt nostalgic for that unrest and bewilderment.

At that time, Rina was a stranger to me. I was trying to get through the next six months without any problems as a stranger to Rina. I had never imagined that I would have this kind of relationship with Izumi Rina, with whom I had no sense of distance at that time.

Although we lived in close proximity to each other in central Tokyo and its suburbs, and although we were related by blood, we had lived our entire lives without ever meeting. Tomorrow, when Rina returns home, we will go back to our previous days.

But we are not strangers anymore. I am sure that we will see each other at various timings in the future. And at that time, we will be able to talk about our recent situation with each other, just like relatives do in the world. I felt it was very reassuring to have someone to grow old with at such a short distance from me.

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