Chapter 10: Epilogue
“Sora, hurry up and get ready! The intercom is ringing!”
“I hear you! I’m coming right now!”
Replying to the voice of Kanami Tsuzuki coming from the first floor of our home, I hurriedly left my room.
“Geez, why don’t you go pick her up yourself once in a while? Every single day, you just wait carefree at home… where is your pride?”
When we met face-to-face at the bottom of the stairs, my older sister sighed in exasperation.
“It’s not like we arranged to meet up; she just comes to pick me up on her own.”
“Even so. Sora, you really don’t understand a maiden’s heart, do you? If you went to pick her up, even on a whim, I bet she’d be super happy.”
“If I went to pick her up, she’d just end up worrying.”
It was true that she might be happy, but this is how our mornings have begun for a long time.
For a little while longer, I wanted to continue savoring this nostalgia.
Moving to the entrance while talking to my sister, I tied my shoelaces and looked at myself in the mirror to do a final check that my uniform and hair weren’t messy.
“Alright. Well then, I’m off.”
“Yeah, take care.”
Finally finishing my preparations for departure, I exchanged greetings with my sister and placed my hand on the doorknob.
Beyond the opened door was her figure, smiling as always.
Wearing a white dress shirt, a black blazer, and a striped tie—a girl dressed in men’s clothing. My childhood friend since elementary school, Yua Yushiro, had come to pick me up today as well.
“Sora, mornin’!”
“Yeah, morning. Sorry for making you wait so long.”
“Don’t worry about it! I’ve been coming because I want to since way back, you know?”
“If that’s the case, then fine… But I made you wait too long today, so let’s hurry a bit.”
I took my bicycle out of the parking area, and Yua and I began pedaling forward.
Although our relationship had gotten complicated for a while—to the point where we didn’t even speak—we reconciled last Sunday, and now we were safely back to how things used to be.
She was someone with whom I could connect just by spending time together. Being apart from Yua for several days made me painfully realize, once again, the sense of security I felt just having her by my side.
At the same time, it dug up that sense of emptiness I had felt back in elementary school.
The gaping hole that had opened in my heart after Yua transferred away… Even though I had already experienced that once, I had nearly brought those same feelings upon myself again through my own actions.
I couldn’t help but sigh at my own inability to learn.
That said, since we were back to our usual daily life—weaving together days like those in elementary school that had once been cut short—I guess all’s well that ends well.
However, not everything had gone back to exactly how it was.
During the days we spent following our miraculous reunion in high school—days that felt both long and short—my relationship with one specific person had changed drastically.
We rode our bikes to the station, took the train, and when we arrived at the station nearest Mebuki High School, that “big change” was waving noisily at us… or rather, at Yua.
“Ah, she’s there again…”
Yua muttered under her breath, then said to me as I walked beside her, “Let’s go.”
“Yu-sama! Yu-samaaa!”
On a route to school crowded with students wearing the same uniform, she was shouting earnestly without showing a hint of embarrassment. It was just like fans waiting for an idol.
“Geez… She really doesn’t have to go out of her way to welcome me, does she?”
“Yua, you are the one saying that?”
“Haha. True, I guess you’re right!”
Saho Minakata—a high school girl near the top of the class hierarchy with striking blonde twin-tails.
Minakata was mixed in with the “Yu-s,” the group still waiting for Yua’s arrival, but she had become a particularly conspicuous presence even within that crowd.
Flaunting the title of “friend” she had earned through her own actions, Minakata pushed her way through the mass of waiting fans and reached Yua.
“Good morning, Yu-sama! Shall I carry your bags?”
“Good morning, Minakata. But you don’t need to be that attentive to a friend. Sora, why don’t you ask her to hold yours instead?”
“Quit joking. I wouldn’t want her holding mine either…”
“Ugh, Sora Tsuzuki… How long have you been there?”
“From the beginning!”
Compared to before that incident, her attitude had changed drastically.
On the day the three of us gathered due to Yua’s scheme, Minakata viewed me as a “love rival” and declared war, stating she wouldn’t hand Yua over to me.
Since then, the image of the kind-hearted girl I used to see has vanished completely. Now, she unreservedly throws her true feelings—stripped of any social niceties—at me whenever we talk.
Along with that, the admiration I held for Minakata also faded. Our relationship has shifted to her just being a female friend—no, hardly even a friend, just “someone I hang out with usually.”
But that isn’t necessarily a bad change.
My world, which had stopped because I was too trapped in the past, started moving again upon reuniting with Yua.
The change in my relationship with Minakata is also proof that my life is moving forward. If Yua weren’t here, I definitely would have ended my high school life still harboring that admiration for Minakata.
From now on, my life will continue to change, in ways big and small.
I’m not sure yet what will happen to the relationship between me and Yua in the midst of that.
There is a possibility we will be separated again. Or perhaps, a future where we fulfill the “promise” I had convinced myself would never come true… might actually still be possible.
The girl with the feminine appearance in my memories overlapped deep in my eyes with the girl she is now—dressed in men’s clothing and looking far cooler than I do.
“Let’s get going, Yua.”
I grabbed her hand so we wouldn’t be swept away by the wave of people gradually gathering.
“…Yeah, we have to hurry!”
She wore a somewhat nostalgic, innocent expression.
Although she was a little surprised by my action, Yua gave a small nod with a smile.
For now, I will just weave memories with her, enough to fill the blank of these past several years.
Even if the environment and appearances change, the foundation remains the same.
Even if we have walked different paths and experienced different pasts, surely we can reclaim those days.
I pulled Yua’s hand and started walking down the route to school, just like always.
~ FINISH~
