Two Friends
Light background music played in the Western-style interior of a store, which one would not expect from an old private residence looking from outside.
It is a small Western-style restaurant with only a few seats at the counter and four tables.
Inside the restaurant, ladies on their way home from shopping enjoy their tea time.
Two young men sit facing each other at a table, silently tucking into pasta placed on the table.
The boy with well-defined eyes, nose and hair dyed light brown attracts the keen eyes of the women regardless of the age difference, while the other guy who was facing him in a well-accustomed manner… aka me, is absorbed in eating his meal.
This is a Western-style restaurant in the style of an old private house, facing a street with only a few izakaya (Japanese-style pubs), in the back streets off the central road of the shopping district.
I wondered if such an elegant restaurant could exist in this countryside.
No, I mean, you would never think it was a restaurant if you only look at it from outside.
It was a hidden place with no signboard.
I would never have come here unless Yuuto, who was sitting across from me, brought me here.
I used my compensatory day off for the school festival to go out to eat with Yuuto.
The reason was simply, we ran into each other as we walked out of the convenience store from our house to have lunch.
Neighborhoods are scary.
Yuuto’s parents were working on a weekday, so he was just out to do some random shopping.
Just because of this coincidence, I asked him for his recommendation for a cozy restaurant, and was brought to this restaurant.
The cod pasta was inexpensive, but the taste was more than satisfactory.
I would certify this restaurant as one of Minato-kun’s favorite places to dine.
To cleanse my palate, I poured the water from the table down my throat.
“How was it?”
“…Delicious.”
I replied to the question asked without any extra words.
The smug look on his face when I did so was extremely unpleasant, but the food was really good so I’ll brush it off.
Despite the lighthearted atmosphere in the restaurant, things remain quiet between me and Yuuto.
I wonder how long it’s been since we’ve been alone in a situation like this with no one close by.
Our relationship, which had begun to drift apart before the summer break, showed signs of repair at the school festival.
However, we haven’t had a proper conversation for a few days since then.
This is partly due to my personality, as I am not the type of person who uses a smartphone to communicate with others.
It is troublesome to think of sentences, and the meaning of a message may differ depending on the recipient.
I was waiting for a chance to talk to him face to face, even though I knew that Yuuto would be able to handle such a situation.
But still, it is difficult to start a conversation because we are both men.
I get the sense that Yuuto as well is sensing the atmosphere since his sense of embarrassment gets him first.
“…For your help at the festival, thank you.”
“Aah, about students from other schools started flirting with you… don’t worry about it.”
Yuuto then looks down at the coffee in his hand.
Likewise, I dropped my gaze too.
It’s water, that’s funny.
I too thought I would see a serious expression on the black surface of the coffee, but it was water.
Well, I have to rule out any joking thoughts right now.
Shaking my head and bursting out unnecessary words, I tried to look for appropriate words to start the conversation.
“The sky is …crying, isn’t it?”
“It’s sunny, though.”
Yuuto, said indifferently with his eyes closed.
Somehow, I was relieved by his reaction.
Yuuto took his mouth away from the cup and let out a quiet breath.
“Suddenly, there’s a distance between us.”
“…”
The lonely sound of his voice turned my emotions into a calm one.
It is pathetic that I was so nervous to talk to someone I should have been used to.
I guess what I am looking for is the same response.
So, I respond to him in the same way that he used to respond to me.
It would be weird if men got along with each other forever…
“That’s true.”
Yuuto’s reaction is the same as ever, and he smiles a little happily.
I wondered what he was thinking now about while looking at me. I spelled out the words in a voice at such a low volume that it was almost drowned out by the conversation of the ladies around us.
“I know it’s all my fault, I know I’ve been so unmotivated, I know I’ve taken the liberty of thinking I could win the election, I know I’m creating my own reasons for being distant.”
In response to the words he spoke, the memories of the past replayed in my mind.
I don’t even think that Yuuto is the only one to blame in general, and I guess it was only a matter of time before a distance was created between me and this guy.
It was just bad timing and he has nothing to apologize for.
And I’m not going to apologize either.
Aside from the Shizuku’s matter, the election and the cultural festival were both the result of actions that I had hoped for and agreed to take part in.
I was so pessimistic about Yuuto’s attitude that I had to suppress my desire to immediately answer him that it wasn’t true.
If I don’t finish listening to what he has to say now, our relationship will not change in the future.
“I’ve been thinking lately that maybe we can go back to joking around like we used to.”
The look he said it made it look like a question.
The relationship between Yuuto and me was the same as when we were in junior high school, and the same as when we had just moved up to the first or even the second year of high school.
I can relate to that feeling in no small degree.
No one should desire to have to be uncomfortable with the first friend of the same sex they have made.
“…We can’t.”
That is why I have to deny the words Yuuto just now spoke to me.
Yuuto looks lonely for a moment after hearing my response, and then he makes a face like a boy who is about to cry.
There are no do-overs in life.
The relationship between me and Yuuto reached a turning point after the Golden Week.
We can’t go back to the old days when we exchanged words without worrying about anything.
But I must add some words so he doesn’t reach the wrong conclusion.
“Neither you nor I can go back and start over, because …there is no such thing as a save point.”
It shouldn’t be hot, but I feel a dry sensation in the back of my throat, which I cover up by involuntarily by drinking water.
In addition, I checked Yuuto’s expression one more time before I spoke.
“For better or worse, we gave our answer to her at that time. If you think it was wrong, fix it, if it was false, correct it, that’s all you can do.”
It is as if I am saying these words to myself.
Just as Yuuto feels guilty, I have others who feel the same way.
But I can only show them through my actions and attitude from now on.
It is not too late to be pessimistic after taking some action.
“If you’re mistaken, I’ll make it clear …for me, the fact remains that Ogiwara Yuuto is my friend.”
If the relationship became a little awkward and it meant I had to quit being friends, I wouldn’t have gotten involved.
There is no meaning to a relationship that is fake and only on the surface.
Why am I saying these lines on a weekday afternoon?
From my perspective, I can see the ladies behind Yuuto grinning and smiling at me.
I was so embarrassed.
I take the glass in my hand as if to fool them, but I noticed that it was empty and strongly put it back on the table.
“Minato, have you changed a little?”
“Oh? What?”
I give him a sharp glare to Yuuto, and he smiles as if to muddle it up, passing it up as ‘It’s nothing.’
However, that expression didn’t make me feel uncomfortable, unlike the smiles he usually gave to my classmates.
“I’m going to get another cup of cocoa, Minato do you want something as well?”
“Cocoa…”
“I’ll make it more sweet, with more milk.”
“…”
Somewhat happily, Yuuto stands up as he asks for what I wanted to order.
I let out a sigh as I watched from afar as he went to the owner to ask for more and exchanged a word or two with the ladies.
I still don’t these teenage drama scenes.
BrutalBot Tl 