Chikasugiru Karera no, Juunanasai no Tooi Kankei [LN] V2 Chapter 4.8

Chapter 4 - Something That Lingers In Them

The next day, the day Rina was to return to Tokyo, a light rain was falling silently, like during the rainy season.

At 10:00 a.m., as I waited in the living room, Rina came downstairs carrying a backpack and a case.

"Is everything in place now?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Then, let's go."

Saying that, we walked to the front door. First I put on my sneakers, then Rina put down her wheeled case, took off her slippers, and put on her boots.

I opened the front door. I heard a cold metallic clunk. Rain clouds were spreading across the sky, and I could smell the damp air.

Rina stepped out of the house.

"Thanks for having me."

Saying that, she looked back at the house and opened her red umbrella.

The ground in the garden, planted with hydrangeas and other plants that were losing their leaves, was moist and stained brown from the rain.

At the end of the garden, I open the chest-high outer gate and step out of the grounds.

It takes about five minutes to get to the bus stop from here. Rina used to take the bus to school, so it was a path she walked every day.

I carried a plastic umbrella and Rina walked with a red umbrella in one hand and the handle of her case in the other. There was no one around, just the sound of the rain and her brown boots.

We stood in line at the bus stop, and soon after, a bus arrived with the sound of its exhaust.

When we stepped inside, a seat for two was available. When I offered Rina a seat near the window, she bowed, put down her case, and sat down with her backpack in her lap.

Inside the bus had a heater. The windows were foggy inside with a few droplets of water on them.

There was barely any conversation between us. Rina kept looking out the window.

After about twenty minutes, we arrived in front of the station. I said, "I'll carry it," and took Rina's case, got off the bus first, and opened the plastic umbrella. There was no roof from the bus stop to the station, so we had to walk with the umbrella for a little while. Rina came down after me and opened the red umbrella.

"Thank you," Rina said, reaching out her hand as she looked at her case.

"I'll carry it to the ticket gate."

"Okay........" Rina said and pulled her hand back.

Slowly, we walked to the station.

When we eventually got under the roof, we both closed our umbrellas. The station was busy with the sounds of people coming and going and train announcements.

We took the escalator up to the ticket gate. The tiled floor was soaked with the wet umbrellas and shoes of people walking in the station.

We walk straight to the ticket machine. Rina took out her IC card from her pocket. Then we stopped a short distance away from the ticket gate.

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My eyes meet Rina's.

"Thank you," she said, extending her hand. I handed her red case.

We stood in silence for a few moments, still facing each other.

......On that day when I met Rina, I had no idea that one day I would be feeling this lonely.

Looking at the electrical board, I saw that there were only five minutes until the next train was due to arrive.

"Thank you so much for the past six months," Rina said suddenly. Every time I heard her voice, the loneliness of parting surged up from deep within me.

"If you ever need anything, call me. I don't think there's anything you need my help with, but if there's anything I can do to help you or Aunt, I'll be right there."

"Yes. If anything happens to Kenichi-kun or Aunty, I'll be going to that house right away."

There were only three minutes left until the next train arrived.

I had decided to say goodbye with a smile. Because this was not a sad goodbye at all.

"Then, see you."

Rina smiled a bright, very gentle smile, waved her hand, and started walking toward the ticket gate.

"See you," I said in return.

I tried to smile, but I couldn't smile right away. I hadn't smiled sociably in a long, long time. I forced the edges of my mouth to lift up into a smile and waved my hand.

I don't know what I looked like, but Rina looked at me once, and she, too, smiled and gave a small wave of her hand from the side of her face.

Beyond the ticket gate, Rina's figure disappears. She mingles with the flow of people heading for the platform. Her round head disappeared from sight as she rode down the escalator.

I felt a variety of emotions welling up in my chest. 

Once it passed, the six months I spent with her passed in a blink of an eye.

It seems like only yesterday that I saw Rina's face appear out of the crowd on that rainy day.

It was not as if I would never see her again. Rina's house is about an hour away from here. If I wanted to see her, I could see her immediately. I can communicate with her on the phone or over the Internet. But when I go home, Rina is no longer in that room.

Loneliness spreads in my heart. She is going back to her own house. Aunt is safely back from overseas, and she's going to live with her mother again. It will be good for her.

Don't let this emotion swallow you up. Let's go home happy that I made it through the six months that I thought would be tough.

On the way home, I rode the bus alone to my house. While I was riding the bus, I was looking at the scenery outside. The same scenery I had seen a short time before was flowing by. I closed my eyes. And I wished that she would continue to live her days happily and in good health. This thought came naturally to me.

Then, the phone in my pocket shook. I looked at the screen and saw an SNS message from Rina. There was a photo attached to it. It was a picture taken at home on that heavy rainy day at the beginning of winter. Rina and I were sitting side by side on the kotatsu in front of the sofa.

I had a surprised and puzzled look on my face, and Rina had a mischievous look on hers.

---So this is what Rina and I were like.

For the first time, I was able to objectively see the two of us together in the form of a photograph.

We were neither lovers, nor siblings. But the closeness that we had lived together for a short period of time was reflected in the photo.

"The photo from the other day, come to think of it, I haven't sent it to you yet. I was happy to have more people like family."

That's what was written in the message. As soon as I saw it, my mouth relaxed. 

"Be well."

I replied shortly.

I arrived at the nearest bus stop and walked alone with a plastic umbrella all the way to my house.

When I entered the house, of course, there was no sign of her who had been in the house until then. The dimly lit house was filled with the quiet sound of the rain. 

I went upstairs. The door to Rina's room was slightly ajar. Through the gap, I could see the empty brown wooden floor, and the feeling of loneliness that I had been suppressing tingled faintly in the depths of my chest.

I thought that for a while, this feeling of something missing would not go away. I softly closed the door to Rina's room and went back to my room. 

The six months that Rina and I lived together came to an end in this way.

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