Chapter 2: 2

Chapter 2 A Girl Named Kazemiya

Translated by Dawn

 

Chapter 2 A Girl Named Kazemiya

The first-period class on Monday at Hoshimoto Gakuen Senior High School was mathematics.

It was the first day after a holiday. On Monday, when the performance of students and adults was probably at its lowest, we had to deal with a list of numbers. It was a regular topic of conversation in our class to complain about the devil’s curriculum that the school set up for the first period on Mondays.

“So, what’s it like? Living with your new family.”

There was a guy who stepped into people’s private lives as if he didn’t know such a standard. He had a friendly smile and was slightly shorter than the average height of high school boys. Even his slight stature, which would put him in the lower middle of the height scale, became his charm.

The way he smiled and waited for my response was like a dog wagging its tail.

“You know, Natsuki. That’s not what I want to hear when I have to stare at some numbers right now.”

“When you’re having a bad day, you want something to chat about to take your mind off of it.”

“If that were the case, surely there would be something else to talk about……”

We had known each other since kindergarten and, coincidentally, we were in the same class. We had never been in different classes. Even now that we became second-year high school students, the streak continued, and he himself said, “I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next year.”

And to add to that, he said, “I would have preferred a cute girl if I was going to have a childhood friend!” but that’s my line.

“Well, you know. I don’t want to intrude on my best friend’s private life either, but Kouta, you’ve been working part-time ever since your mother remarried. Thanks to that, we can’t even hang out, and that bothers you, doesn’t it?”

You might think he was an insensitive guy who stepped in without hesitation……but, Natsuki was pretty good at recognizing the line. Even in this conversation, Natsuki was drawing a line that I didn’t really mind, and more than anything, I could tell that he was concerned about me, so I couldn’t treat him badly. Moreover, Natsuki would seriously help me out if I really hated that house and wanted to run away from it. That kind of attentive, generous, and…exquisite behavior might be the reason why people gather around this guy, I thought to myself.

“…don’t ask me that, I still have a hard time staying home. That’s all.”

“I see. It’s only been about a…month since your mother remarried and you moved into your new home”

“And on top of that, I have a stepsister who is one year younger than me. I honestly don’t know how to treat her.”

“So you intentionally put in more part-time work and spend time at a family restaurant at the end of your part-time job……right?”

I nodded at Natsuki’s question as if to confirm.

—-During spring break, just before I was about to advance to my second year of high school, my mother remarried.

The other party was a businessman working for a certain toy manufacturer.

He was not a bad person. In fact, I would say he was a good person. I had no complaints if it was the man my mother had chosen. She raised me with her own hands, so I wanted her to find her own happiness, and I congratulate her from the bottom of my heart.

With that, my mother and I had to move into his house.

We had been living in an apartment, but now we were in a beautiful two-story house. Overall, I thought our standard of living had improved. My new father was a good man, and he treated me well. I felt happy. I must be blessed.

But there were two problems.

One was that he had a daughter. Furthermore, she was a junior, one year younger than me, who entered Hoshimoto Gakuen High School this spring. She had excellent grades and was good at sports. She even represented the school as a representative of the new students.

Under one roof with different surnames of about the same age. I was honestly concerned about how to deal with her.

Moreover, the way she looked at me was somewhat cold. At first, I thought she was distrustful of men, but she was talking normally with her father, and when I saw her at school, she was also talking normally with a male teacher.

And the second problem was…this one was simply that I wasn’t comfortable in the house.

I still hadn’t adjusted to my new family. I didn’t fit in at that house either.

So, I had to put in extra hours at my part-time job and drop by a family restaurant after my part-time job to kill time.

“Maybe I’m meddling a little. Is that okay? After all. I think she would be concerned if you started taking on more part-time work or coming home late as soon as she remarried and started her new life.”

“I know that, and I feel bad for my mom and my new dad. But……still, it’s hard to stay at home……”

I couldn’t help myself with this one. I knew what the cause was and I knew I had to fix it, but I still hadn’t been able to do so.

“Sigh. I see. There are things that are uncomfortable, and there are things that can’t be helped, huh?”

Here, he didn’t say “Try your best to walk up to her!” and not force me to do so, which was what I liked about Natsuki.

“A part-time job or a family restaurant is fine, but if you want to kill some time, you can come over to my house. Let’s play together once in a while.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’ll be counting on you then.”

Perhaps this was what Natsuki was trying to say.

That I could always use him as an escape.

I was grateful for that. Natsuki was the only one I could relax with, especially since he knew about my previous father.

“Hey, Kazemiya-san. I have a little favor to ask you.”

Suddenly, what reached my ears was a conversation among the girls in my class.

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“……what?”

It had been about a month since we advanced to the next grade. Even without the fact that she was still getting used to her new classmates, Kazemiya’s attitude was not very friendly to my eyes. Although she was originally a somewhat cool and solitary individual, even without that, her attitude was still somewhat unfriendly. She never took her eyes off her phone, to begin with.

The girls who talked to her probably felt the same way, but she still talked to Kazemiya, not to be outdone.

“Umm, Kazemiya-san’s sister is the singer Kuon-san, right?”

The female student asked somewhat excitedly. The Kuon she referred to was a singer (technically speaking, I think she was a singer-songwriter) who was currently very popular, especially among high school students.

Kuon, whose real name was Kazemiya Kuon, was apparently Kazemiya’s older sister. This fact was known to most of the students in this school, and because of that, her younger sister, Kazemiya, was a bit of a celebrity. Well, there was another reason why she was famous in this school.

“That’s right. So what?”

“I’m a fan of Kuon-san. So…please! Could you introduce me to your sister?”

“No.”

Kazemiya brushed off her classmate’s pleas in an instant.

She must have been asked for such a favor many times before. I couldn’t help but applaud in my heart the very deftness of Kazemiya’s action.

“Then…can I just get her autograph…I’ve been a fan of Kuon-san since her debut…!”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

It was clear that her voice had taken a step colder.

“I said no.”

“…….”

I wondered if it was exactly what they meant by “pressured”. The girl who had spoken to her fell completely silent, turned her back on Kazemiya, and went back to her seat.

Before long, the classmates who had been paying attention to their interaction returned to their own chit-chat as if nothing had happened.

“Well, she stepped on a landmine so cleanly that it’s almost refreshing.”

“Landmine?”

“Yes. I heard that Kazemiya-san doesn’t like it when people talk about her older sister. I heard that last year, a lot of girls like her came to her and it seemed like she had a hard time.”

“Hee. I didn’t know that.”

“Well, we were in different classes. I only overheard what someone else said. ……And if anything, Kazemiya-san has other rumors too.”

“Ah……that.”

I knew about that one, too. Rather, I more often heard rumors about a girl named Kazemiya Kohaku.

“Rumors that she’s out at night or hanging out with bad people, I don’t even know if they’re true or not. I don’t really like those kinds of rumors. It’s hard for me to listen to them.”

Does the fact that Natsuki is talking this way mean that it’s less credible?

This guy had a wide range of friendships. Because of this, the number of rumors and information that came to him was different. He didn’t just believe what one person told him, but he would carefully match the information he got from several people, and sometimes he would work on his own to get the truth. That was the type of person he was.

“……Well, whichever rumor is true, it doesn’t really matter to me.”

“Haha. Indeed, if it’s Kouta, you might be right. It’s my policy not to meddle in other people’s families.”

“Who doesn’t?”

“No, no. You know, there are many people who step into other people’s families with their feet in the dirt out of selfish interest or curiosity. Like that girl earlier.”

That was quite a harsh thing to say to the female student earlier.

I wondered if Natsuki had any thoughts on the exchange just now.

“……..”

Kazemiya continued to look at her phone nonchalantly.

Her appearance was no different from when she was at a family restaurant at the night.

She was acting as if she had already…forgotten about the exchange she had with the female student earlier. Was it just me, or did it look like it?

“Ah, that’s the chime.”

As if to interrupt my thoughts, a chime echoed through the school, and my classmates, including Natsuki, stopped their chit-chatting and took their seats.

(……Whatever)

I didn’t care what Kazemiya thought or what kind of relationship she had with her family. I had no interest in it.

I would not get involved in other people’s families.

I couldn’t even afford to have one in my own home.

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