#9
The time when the sunset has set and the moon has risen.
It must have been the most luxurious dinner of my life, I ate my stomach full and staggered back to the dormitory as if crawling.
“Ugh… … ”
Loud—
To prepare for bed, I poured warm water on my body and rubbed every nook and cranny, and I was quickly exhausted.
In this state, when you lay down on the bed, there is no other heaven.
If I ascend to heaven like this, I am confident that there will be no free time. The soft scarlet lighting that dyes the son-in-law adds a more drowsy atmosphere, so I was barely holding on to the thought that it would be tomorrow morning if I closed and opened my eyes.
There are a lot of people who would like to say, ‘Isn’t it okay to just be married?’, but it is not. There are days when I do not want to sleep even when I am sleepy. There were times when the desire to stay up all night with bloodshot eyes spurred on, despite the frequent exhaustion.
That was today.
“… … ”
The day was too long.
From dawn, I hurriedly packed my things to prepare for admission, took the train to the capital, and came to the frontier entrance where people were bursting and met Mew.
I thought that was the end, but there was also Rubia.
Those two alone can’t be enough, the cheeky blond kid… I couldn’t get my mind to go over the glass.
It was surprising to see the great man of the century at the time of the entrance ceremony, and it was strange to befriend Gabriel, a mean barbarian from the north.
If it was my original personality, I wouldn’t have had that type of friend. If you put him next to him, he would be quicker, so he would have distanced himself from me first.
Other than that, if the harvest was the harvest that I had a few conversations with Stella during dinner, would it be a harvest?
right.
I thought that Stella was a friend who was very noble and handsome, but her behavior was exactly that.
Each gesture contained an aristocratic and elegant atmosphere. He looked fundamentally different from the nobles of other empires he had seen as a child. It was like seeing what blue blood really means through Stella… …
I lay in bed and just think.
Looking back at dinner time, there were quite a few things worth pondering over.
That cute appearance from the other day is gone, and the moment I had a fight with Yuri, who returned as a kid who didn’t want to go back, is the same… … Maybe I’m just being sensitive.
Rubia’s condition was a bit strange.
‘Isn’t it delicious? You look bad.’
‘yes? Oh no? Not at all? did i look like that Excuse the cooks, eh heh… Absolutely delicious! It’s so delicious that I want to eat another bowl. yes… ‘
Even when they each sat down with what they wanted to eat, their expressions looked a little unsatisfying. It has been over three years since I last had the same meal with Rubia face-to-face, but the experience I had in the past was telling me intuitively.
Right now, Rubia is in a bad mood.
Subtly lowered lips.
He always drew a gentle curve, but today the corners of his eyes soared up very slightly.
Much less, what was contained in the jewel-like green eyes was a faint displeasure and confusion.
He must have been aware that his condition was strange. I didn’t really ask for confirmation, but it probably did.
Hmm… …
Why did I feel bad?
I wondered if the assumption that I was offended by what had happened in the hallway before dinner would be more correct.
Rubia then embraced me and took my side and rebuked Yuri for wrongdoing, but it was as if I was holding Yuri again. It may be a sad feeling.
However… … It was a little different from that.
Even now, I don’t know everything about Rubia, but Rubia usually shows off when there is something that makes me sad.
Of course, it’s not because they want to pay, but just looking at them makes it seem natural to be sad.
My shoulders are droopy, and I’m sad because of you, so I give out a lot of tea to comfort you. It may be that my habits have changed over the years since I was with you, but what do you mean?
From the point of view that Rubia was usually like that when there was something sad about me, it didn’t seem like I was the cause of Rubia’s upset.
okay.
not me but someone else.
He seemed offended by that person.
… … Who is it? stellar? glass?
Except for me and myself, I am one of the two.
But Stella didn’t do anything on the spot.
At the most, the only crime is to come out at the end and say that it is good for you to eat with me. No, that’s not a sin.
Anyway, Stella did nothing wrong.
So is it glass?
I guess that’s right. there is only glass
I do not know.
Rubia isn’t the kind of person who usually leaves a lot of sediment.
However, it seems that Yuri used her powers on me, so I was quite angry, and considering that it continued until dinner, there is no possibility at all.
Still, it seems that I became very close with Yuri.
You’re not a great person to have such bad feelings for your friend for so long, Rubia.
Besides, Yuri also apologized to me. Although it was hard to hear because it was the size of a mosquito, it was clearly in the form of an apology. Maybe that alone was enough to relieve the old feelings.
“… … ”
Thoughts sink deeper and deeper into the abyss.
Now that I think about why I have to keep Rubia’s emotional state in mind, I don’t think there’s anything else really stupid.
Wasn’t it me who wanted to cut off the past relationship with Rubia?
There was no reason for me, who had already changed, to know everything about Rubia, and if Rubia was offended by someone else, I just had to hope that the two of them worked out smoothly. Why are you thinking so much and getting frustrated? … I think so.
It was just, a little, weird.
Just because he was concerned, he lay down on the bed like this and looked around.
why… …
I was eating food without a word with a gloomy, anxious face, and when I suddenly found the bacon roll I liked before, I guess he secretly looked at me.
Then he carefully asked me if I didn’t like this food before, and when my reaction didn’t seem right, I guess I just put a fork in my mouth.
After that, looking at Rubia, who had become even more gloomy, when I asked what happened in the countryside as if Yuri was trying to evoke the gloomy atmosphere of the dining table, I wondered if he had been appealing for something while looking at me again.
Reluctantly, when I first brought up the conversation I had with Rubia on my side, I guess I smiled faintly at that time… …
Because Rubia’s condition was strange in many ways.
At the same time, I just had a lot of thoughts.
‘Lou, Rubia-san and Ezio-san… wow… … ‘
‘What-? is he? Baby girl-? Nonsense! really cool! The image doesn’t match at all! uh… ‘
Were you talking more than you thought back then?
I don’t know why, but Stella looked at the two of us with envy, and Yuri just listened to Rubia silently and sometimes looked at me with jealous eyes, or showed a reaction close to astonishment that my actions at that time didn’t match up with me now. also gave
Also, I knew that Rubia and I were friends, but it seems that they didn’t know that it was a long-distance relationship. When I asked Rubia why she had known this guy since childhood, I wanted to slap her on the forehead, but I resisted it. It seems that the way you look at me has changed a bit since those conversations, but whatever.
Rubia looked really nostalgic when she talked about the memories she had with me in elementary school, but to be honest… ‘Cause now it’s just All I had to do was hit it in moderation.
“… … Whoa.”
I just sigh
Rubia, who was in poor condition when she just started eating, showed that her energy had recovered by the end of the meal. Maybe that’s what happened at first.
There was nothing more for me to worry about now.
My mind was confused just because of the faint thought that the memories with Rubia inside of me were turning into faded pieces of paper.
If it was a pleasant memory, I should have laughed.
why can’t i do that
it’s really like
… … really.
“… … ”
Outside the curtains were completely engulfed in darkness.
The light in the dormitory across the street was still on, but after a while, all of that would be turned off.
If that happens, all that is left is a few lights on the site and the moonlight in the clouds to illuminate this place.
Whoops.
I picked up the file lying on the table.
I haven’t submitted this to the lobby yet.
I got up in soft slippers, put on a light cardigan, and got ready to go out for a while.
Then he quietly opened the door.
profit-
The day was very long.
So tonight, it will be especially long.
#10
After submitting the file to the lobby.
Tub, tumble—
Without going back to my room, I opened the dormitory door and walked slowly through the quaint garden and headed somewhere.
sting… …
The grasshopper is crying.
The yellow moonlight dazzles the whole area.
As I walked along the moonlit path made among the fresh vegetation, I came to the entrance of the walking trail the other day.
“It feels good.”
It was a light night walk.
I came out because I thought I would regret something if I fell asleep like this.
Fortunately, no one was on the wet, cool trail. Most of the freshmen are tired and stretched out first.
Seniors, well. If we meet, we should say hello.
I just walked without thinking.
At the end of this winding road, there is a small building that used to be a small auditorium.
A small hut covered with moss, vines and leaves.
I was planning to take a short break there.
It is said that there is also a mechanical engineering machine that brews tea inside, so sipping hot tea and staring blankly out the window where the moonlight shines is more elegant healing than that.
I didn’t like the moonlight that much, but I like the dark night environment itself. It feels like everyone in the world is sleeping quietly except for me.
When I quietly close my eyes in the pitch-black darkness, it seems that the real time has come when I can be for myself.
So, the reason I went out for a night walk was just to calm the confusion of my mind as I walked vaguely with my head empty.
So.
I wanted to avoid meeting anyone as much as possible.
“… … ”
The night gets deeper and deeper.
At the end of the promenade, I saw someone crouching on a moss-covered bench, dyed with a warm hue of pure white negligee.
There was a mysterious girl with hair color resembling cherry blossom petals, not noticing it at all until I got closer, and looking down at the serene pond as it was under the dreary moonlight.
“… … ah.”
Then at some point.
Because it is transparent and clear, the emerald-colored eyes that reflect the surface of the lake are reflected, and the me who was standing on the other side of it is put inside again.
However, their eye level was far from each other, so the girl looked up at me with her head buried in her lap.
The softly wavy hair flows down like a waterfall along the shoulder line that shines smoothly with reflected light.
So, powerlessly holding up her very slender wrist, as if it would break if hit, Rubia carefully waved her hand at me.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, Ezio… hi.”
I just wanted to say hello and go back.
I had a sudden feeling that this would not be the case.
“… … I know. What are you doing here?”
let me answer that
Rubia turned her gaze toward the pond and murmured.
“I was just thinking. I can’t sleep. It’s the first day of school, so I’m very excited. … I have an early class tomorrow morning, and I shouldn’t go to bed too late, but it’s a big deal. Ehehe… … ”
Rubia, who was smiling like a fool, suddenly turned to look at me.
It was an innocent look, as always.
“… Ezio can’t sleep either?”
I slowly shook my head.
“… … No, I was really sleepy, but I didn’t want to sleep, so I went out for a walk.”
“I see… I’m glad I didn’t force myself to sleep.”
“yes?”
“Yes. Nope.”
Rubia smiled softly and looked back.
“… Remember, Ezio?”
“what?”
At my question, Rubia pointed her hand to the hut.
“You know, it looks very similar to the house Ezio used to live in here. I didn’t know such a place existed here. At first, I was completely surprised… Coming here made me feel so at ease, I thought I was lucky. I think I will come back often, this trail.”
“… Is that so?”
“yes.”
The conversation was cut off for a while.
In front of a small pond in a hut that looked very similar to my house, which Rubia used to frequent as a child, Rubia and I stood silently facing each other for a while.
But they weren’t looking at each other.
It was just a habit to keep an eye on the transparent surface of the water right next to us.
Rubia’s voice permeated the still air.
“Because I’m doing this, I’m just reminded of something from the past.”
“… … ”
Rubia calmly unraveled the story as if singing.
“It wasn’t in front of Ezio’s house, but there was a pond like this nearby. Were we nine years old? I was playing around with Ezio and I stumbled and fell into a pond. At that time, the pond was deeper than I thought, and I couldn’t swim at all… I really thought I was going to die. I’m scared, so I’m drowning and just calling out Ezio’s name.”
“… It was.”
Rubia chuckled.
It was a little, helpless laugh.
“But Ezio couldn’t swim either. Then I had to call an adult, but we were the only ones there, so we had to walk for a long time to get to the village. We couldn’t even call an adult to help us.”
“It was dangerous.”
Rubia shivered playfully for a moment as she recalled the incident, then suddenly smiled faintly and muttered quietly.
“Yeah, really. It was dangerous. If it wasn’t for the person next to me at that time.”
“… … ”
“You really jumped in without any worries. Even though he doesn’t know how to swim. Holding a branch that looks like it would float on the water, I somehow managed to swim to where I am… Dive down and step on yourself, then send me up. Then, even though I struggled a lot, you gave me one anger and calmly dragged me out of the water until I was on a rock. At that time, Ezio also had to hide from time to time, so he used me as a support. Ehehe… … ”
… That’s it.
Although the pond was deeper than I thought, it was fortunate that it wasn’t very deep, and if it had been a little deeper than that, we might have both died there. As Rubia said, it was very dangerous.
Rubia put her head on her crossed arms and shook it rhythmically.
“Then we both barely went out to the waterfront and vomited up everything we drank a lot of water, and it was cold and we were shaking… But in the end, something was funny, so I lied down on the dirt floor and laughed a lot.”
“… … ”
Rubia continued, wiggling her white feet.
“I just suddenly remembered that time. It was so much fun, I was happy without any worries… … do.”
“… … ”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun than that. So, the memories of playing with Ezio in elementary school are very precious to me… It’s a memory I don’t want to forget again.”
“… … ”
“… Ezio, do you think so?”
Rubia’s eyes looking at the pond turned to me.
It had softened than before, and the crooked corners of his eyes seemed to contain a little sad emotion.
I replied with words rolling in my mouth.
“It was an unforgettable memory.”
“… … ”
Rubia asked quietly.
“… … So, if you could forget it, would you have forgotten it?”
“… … ”
A familiar silence came.
Why?
I couldn’t answer that quickly.
Rubia slightly blinked her fluttering eyes.
“You know, Ezio.”
“… … uh.”
Rubia thought about it for a really long time at the brief words.
I struggled to get those words out.
“I… … Did you hate it a lot?”
asking me such a question
Rubia’s softened eyes began to contain the water of the pond she was looking at.