♦
After Orihara and Momo went home, I lay on my bed for a little while and pondered while I stared at the ceiling. A bunch of different things that a bunch of different people had said were spinning around in my head.
“When you fall in love, it makes you really embarrassing, huh?” I said, speaking to the void. “Now that I think about it...she said the same thing too.”
During summer break, when I went camping, I ran away from everyone when I got into an argument with Kana about the love triangle that happened in middle school. Since I fell into the river when I was running away, I went back to the cottage to change, but that woman barged in without even knocking and saw me naked... Yeah, I probably don’t need to remember everything about that time.
Anyway, she came chasing after me, and we ended up talking about a bunch of things. In the midst of it all, she said, “Maybe everyone is like that. It’s ironic. When you fall in love with someone and try to get them to like you, the more you try your best to look cool, the more uncool you end up looking. In other words, it’s proof that you’re that serious about it. Things stop making sense because you’re earnestly thinking about that other person. You start to hate yourself and wonder if you were always this lame.”
Even though I was so pathetic and ashamed about not being able to get over my heartbreak in middle school, she didn’t laugh at me. On the contrary, she validated me and acknowledged how serious I must have been because of how lame and pitiful I was.
Oh yeah, that’s probably when I fell in love with—
“Izumi-kun, I’m coming in.” The door to my room opened with a thud. It was my mom.
“...Knock first.”
“I did. You didn’t hear me?”
I didn’t. I must have been really lost in thought.
“Momo-kun and Orihara-san went home.”
“Yeah, I saw them from the window.”
“They ate dinner too. Oh, there’s food for you left over as well, so come down when you feel like eating.”
“...”
It looks like after Momo left my room and went downstairs, he and Orihara were forced to eat dinner by my mom. Orihara said that she was going to help my mom make tea when she went downstairs, but I guess the reason she didn’t come back was because my mom made her help make dinner.
I swear... I hate when my mom meddles like this.
“Momo-kun...sure has gotten much more masculine since the last time I’d seen him,” my mother said to herself, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. “Could it be that he’s already gotten a girlfriend?”
“...Who knows?” I said, dodging the question. There was no way I could tell her that Momo’s twenty-seven-year-old aunt is his beloved girlfriend.
“It would be slightly shocking if he did have a girlfriend. Momo is really my type after all. Kana-kun has a nice face and looks way more handsome, but Momo-kun is my favorite.”
“Don’t talk about my friends like pieces of meat.”
Also, don’t keep repeating that Kana has a better-looking face. I feel bad for Momo.
“Your friends... Ha ha, that’s right. They’re your precious friends.”
“...”
“You don’t have a lot of them, but you’re blessed with friends.”
“...Shut up,” I said, and my mom giggled.
“Oh, by the way, Izumi-kun. Don’t you have to get ready? Didn’t you plan on doing a livestream at eight o’clock today?”
“...Why do you know that?”
“If nothing else, I’ll at least indulge in checking my son’s Twitter, Uranus-kun.”
“That’s a violation of my privacy, so knock it off.”
“There is no privacy for a child who got their parents to spend hundreds of thousands of yen on streaming equipment for them.”
“Bah.” I got up from my bed, went to sit down in my gaming chair, and pulled out my smartphone. “Today’s stream...is canceled. There’s something I have to do,” I said.
♡
That evening, right before I went to bed, I got a phone call from Ibusuki.
“Check this out! Urano got in touch with everyone!” Her voice buzzed with relief and joy. According to her, Ura sent a message to not just her, but to everyone in their group chat. He apologized for his absence due to his inexplicable fever. Also, he sent a bunch of files regarding preparations for the festival. There were detailed instructions for Ura’s own work, as well as the work assignments for the rest of the class.
“Urano went along with my lie and said that it was all because of a mysterious fever...”
“Yeah, that gives off a much better impression than just skipping school.”
It wasn’t necessary to tell the class the truth; if they knew, it would just cause trouble for Ibusuki and, of course, Ura. It was for the best that the truth was known by only a select few.
“It’s all thanks to you, Momota. You went to Urano’s house today, didn’t you? Seriously, thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything. I just had a little chat with him.”
“...Yeah, but, thank you. I appreciate it...” Ibusuki repeated her apology, but her voice gradually sank. “I’m happy that Urano contacted us, and it really helps that his instructions were so precise, but...they were for tomorrow, the day after, and the day of the festival.”
His instructions were for tomorrow, the day after, and the day of the festival? So that must mean...
“I wonder if Urano isn’t going to come to the festival...” Her voice trembled with uncertainty.
“We just have to have faith in him.” All I could do was console her.
“...That’s right. All we can do is believe in him and wait.”
Our phone call ended, and I looked up at the ceiling as I let out a deep breath. I don’t want to get complacent and think that I did all I could do. I mean, I don’t know what I should or shouldn’t do... Also, this whole time I’ve been wondering about just how much I should actually get involved in this problem... I wanted to do something about it, but I also think that sometimes it’s important to wait.
What should I do? What should I do for Ura right now?